“The gate count is over 1,000!”

On August 8, 2015 we were two hours into our library’s first ComiCon and attendance was surpassing anything we had imagined. By the end of our four-hour event, over 1,700 had come to share their love–correction, passion–for everything that the heroes and villains of Sci-Fi, fantasy, comics, games, graphic novels, and gaming meant to them. Community “geeks,” obsessed with their hobby, had discovered our library!

How did four young library staff members, who share their love of geek culture and the literature that inspires this fandom, manage to stage such a fantastically successful event? Never have I met committee members on any project who spoke in such concert, who agreed on their goals from the start, and who never faltered in what they hoped to achieve. What follows is their collective voice relating how they brought the first Electric City ComiCon to our library. Perhaps the specific details and the actual process they went through will inspire you to host a Comic Con at your library.

OUR MISSION
We are fascinated with the geek culture, especially when fans bring their favorite characters to life from literature. We all promote literacy and already had formed a bond through social media. When we found out two years ago that the 2015 theme for Summer Reading would be “Heroes,” it hit us that a comic convention or Con would be the ideal way to culminate the program. Some of us had been to Cons and were already familiar with how they worked, but they were more adult-oriented. We wanted to offer a safe place to our library patrons in real space for their passion and interests, and what place better represents a safe haven to our community than our library! And, more importantly, we wanted to focus on our younger patrons, our Tweens and Teens. We wanted parents to come with their kids to find out what we have to offer, and we insisted that our Con be “family friendly.”

PERMISSION AND PLANNING
We pitched the idea, first, to the Head of our Children’s department. She gave us overwhelming support, became part of the initial planning stage, and was integral throughout the process. Next, we had to convince our library director, Faith Line. She was reluctant to let us hold such a venue without a lot more research on our part. Did we really know what we were getting into? As we worked on gathering more information, she took a leap of faith and gave us the go-ahead. She was a very exacting mentor, and we learned to think more from her position as director and to consider all the issues involved: Library Board approval, security, staffing, and a hundred logistical matters. Well in advance of our Con we had to write our photography policy and post it publically. We wanted to have those who attended in costume have the opportunity to be photographed digitally against the green screen with the background of their choice. Those photographed were advised that their digital photo might be posted on any of our social media sites.

Our learning curve was huge and the planning took us over a year to complete. We deeply appreciate the guidance Faith gave us and the hard work she put in with us, right up through the day of our event.

FINDING FUNDING, PARTNERS & SPONSORS
Faith sent some of us to Spartanburg, SC, to attend their SpartanCon. Their organizers graciously shared all their planning notes with us, but it was obvious from their event that they had a substantial budget while we had zilch to spend. We concentrated on where to find funding. Friends of the Library gave us money and we wrote an LSTA grant tied into the Summer Reading program to help pay for publicity. The Children’s department purchased a green screen for us to use for the photography part of the venue.

This was a brand-new library event and we had no track record to convince potential partners or sponsors. We developed a sponsorship packet, which didn’t turn out as effective as we wanted because we started too late in the year to approach big corporate sponsors. We had no way to judge how popular our ComiCon would be, so we couldn’t make solid projections or promises of return for their participation or advertising. We did a lot of pleading to our sponsors,and they too, had to take a leap of faith.

Books-A-Million and Planet Comics agreed to be our major partners. Smaller local businesses donated gifts for the panelists or food for our Green Room. The Independent-Mail, the local newspaper, provided free ad space. An up-scale downtown inn, The Bleckley, provided lodging for one of our guest panelists. People’s Bank, BlueRidge Security, Forx Farm, (ever taste goat’s milk fudge? Wonderful!), and the SC  State Library sponsored us in significant ways. We were fortunate that, as we evaluated the costs, we only had to use library funds for prizes for the FanArt and Cosplay contest.

PLANNING PROGRAMS
As lead-ups to our ComiCon, we engaged regional artist Enoch Vaughn to hold three Super Hero Creation workshops aimed at teens to adults. We also decided to sponsor a FanArt Contest, which we initiated two months ahead of the Con. FanArt is a huge part of the geek culture, as you can see when you go to Instagram and Tumblr and search the hashtag #fanart. Artists are constantly reimagining characters or placing characters in weird worlds and having character cross-overs. Although FanArt contests are not typically held at ComiCons, we used the contest as an inexpensive way to advertise our Con and to get our community engaged in the world of heroes. We were hoping it would appeal to our teen demographics; however, our contest was open to all ages. Entries would be judged on the day of the ComiCon. Two weeks before the Con, we only had a dozen entrants and we were worried that it wasn’t being well-received. In that last week the entries flooded in and we were blown away by their quality, in all age divisions.

We weren’t sure if the patrons understood what “cosplay” was—that it’s a combination word: costume + role play, not intended for a stage production. Our director bought a dozen or so books on cosplay topics and we set up a display. Those books were checked out immediately! To heighten interest we contacted Sybil Todd of White Knight Cosplay—who knew we had such an expert in our own backyard?–and she presented two “Getting Into Costuming and Cosplay” workshops for teens in early July.

GETTING PANEL PARTICIPANTS
Since our ComiCon was the culminating event of the Summer Reading program, we planned two sessions for our local young heroes in the Children’s Department on “How To Be a Hero.” These were presented by Heroes in Force, a regional group specializing in motivational activities for kids. Thanks to them, Batman made an appearance at our Con and wowed the kids. We scheduled their programs so that panel sessions would not be competing with them.

We sought experts for the authors, cosplay, and artists panels who understood heroic characters for young adults, and we wanted local or regional authors and artists. We also wanted artists of comics and graphic novels who could speak to young people about combining art with words.

We contacted local cosplayers to talk about cosplay etiquette, how to approach weapons and mask making, what steampunk costuming is, and what cosplay design involves. We already had been going where authors, artists, and cosplayers were appearing—the DragonCon and AnachroCon in Atlanta, SC Comicon, and other regional Cons—in order to make personal contact with them. We attended book signings. We sent them brief inquiries via email and told them what we were planning. We also sent out letters and made myriad phone calls inquiring whether stated fees could be waived. We worked on the philosophy of “why not ask?” and took a chance. Our mantra became, “They can’t come if you don’t invite them.” The trick was to get them all to come for free!

One of the most pleasant surprises was to find out how willing authors, artists, and cosplayers were to work with us once we told them our objectives. Those who responded “yes!” are great advocates of libraries and literacy and we were thrilled to have them as our panelists. We owe special thanks to David Weber, Megan Shepherd, Delilah S. Dawson, Robert Venditti, Tara Lynne, George Farmer, Allen Swords, Marla Roberson, Gypsey Teague, and Amanda Finley for their support of our event. On the day of our Con, we were very disappointed when Robert Venditti cancelled due to illness. Enoch Vaughn agreed to substitute and the panel went on as planned. ComiCon people do form a very cooperative community.

STAFFING AND DIVISION OF RESPONSIBILITIES
We shared the responsibilities and all of our decisions were made by consensus, although we each had specific tasks we worked on. We didn’t move forward until we all agreed that what we were going to do met our basic goals. And we also knew that there was no way our library could hold this event without the help of staff.

The Summer Reading/Electric City ComiCon staff T-shirts were designed by Sara Leady. With special ALA approval, she modified the official library logo by dressing the Big L in a green superhero cape with mask. Each staff member who worked our Con wore a special T-shirt, with the same logo on the front as the Summer Reading T-shirt, but with the logos of all our sponsors on the back, a salute of thanks to them for their support.

VENDORS
You can’t have a ComiCon without vendors, but we had to get Library Board approval to waive the rule of no commercial activities in our library. We started looking for potential vendors almost two years ago. We visited vendor booths at all the major Cons, craft fairs, and through location-based searching on the internet. We narrowed our list of over one hundred down to thirteen—the number determined by our space limitations. One advantage for the vendors was that we did not charge a booth fee. The authors had booths and their books were available for purchase and autographing. Some of the cosplay panelists had booths dedicated to costume accessories. Our IT department installed an additional access point to our Wi-Fi so that vendors had internet access from their locations.

MAPPING THE FLOW
We mapped what we thought would be effective crowd flow. We had no idea how many people to expect and how much open floor space in our two-level library we would need for crowds. We wanted everything located in logical, accessible places, with freely-flowing traffic between events, without blocking the day-to-day routines—we performed normal library operations during our Con! For weeks prior, we posted signs throughout the building warning our patrons to expect a lot of noise on Con day.

We debated how we would set up the vendors and eventually agreed to assign them all to one space to allow equal access to the attendees. We had to deal with the main stairway and elevator ingress/egress to the upper level when locating the FanArt display, the panel tables, and audience seating. We were concerned that the activities in the Children’s area on the main level would be overlooked by those immediately going upstairs to the panel presentations and the gaming stations in the Teen Center. Our fears were unfounded. The huge attendance meant that all areas were visited by large numbers of people.

SECURITY
One major concern, of course, was security. Since our building is County-owned, our director arranged for two additional county deputies (three in all) to be on duty throughout the event. One deputy manned the main entrance as a weapons inspector. In cosplay many participants come with prop weapons as part of their costume, and we did see several really convincing Uzi’s in the hands of storm troopers! The deputy inspected and tagged each one to reassure us that they were not real.

The other two deputies circulated through each level during the event. They commented how well-behaved the crowd was. We understood why. For the most part, those who attend Cons come seeking others to bond with, to meet up with others who they may have already communicated with via various social media avenues. We saw several teens from several different schools laughing and talking with each other about their costumes. After all, a Con is a community of fellow-fans geeking together. We also planned a combination vendor supply room and public first aid/lost and found station adjacent to the vendor area and near the main entrance.

FOOD & REFRESHMENTS
We discussed having a public food concessions but our director nixed the idea for valid reasons. We had already bitten off a big hunk of this Con to manage, and having to deal with food, inside or out, would add another responsibility or headache, not to mention burden the clean-up crew. We decided that a Green Room for panelists and vendors would be sufficient for this year.

POST EVENT ANALYSIS
For us, the Electric City ComicCon was a mind-blowing success! We already have our second Con calendared for August 6, 2016, from 10-5. We learned a lot about how to improve our event:

HOURS AND ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING

• Add three more hours to avoid overlaps in the schedule and provide more time between panels.
• Relocate the panel stage to avoid crowd noise and traffic.
• Add a steampunk panel.
• Have an Artists Alley with prints and posters for sale.
• Host more lead-up events for Tweens and Teens.
• Provide more cosplay workshops.
• Have more comic books for sale.
• Readdress the location of photo station and traffic flow by it. It was such a popular activity that traffic got jammed up and blocked access to other areas for children.

STAFFING

• Involve more geek volunteers. (We had one enthusiastic volunteer this year.)
• Involve more staff in the preplanning.

PROMOTIONS

• Create a brand for our Con that is used on all our advertising and everything we print, display, or digitally broadcast.
• Consider selling Con T-shirts. Many, many attendees wanted to buy our staff T-shirts.

FUNDING

• Start early to solicit corporate partners and sponsors for next year. Funding will always be the big issue, but fortunately we’ll have this year’s impressive gate count to entice more sponsors for 2016!

OTHER ISSUES

• Consider shuttle buses to and from city parking lots to address limited parking issue.
• Investigate providing ATM access.
• Print more programs. We only printed 500 and had to run off copies on-the-fly.
• Encourage survey returns. We had a survey on our website and included a printed survey in the tri-fold program. Although the survey results were overwhelmingly positive–Bigger! Longer!–we didn’t get back a significant percentage of them.

We overheard one of our attendees say enthusiastically, “The library is interested in what I’m interested in!” That’s why we held our own ComiCon, not only to have people come through our doors, but to shift the attitude held by so many of what they think a library is into what we know it can be for them…to see the possibilities of libraries…the possibility of their library. For more information, contact us at: electriccitycomicon@andersonlibrary.org

Resources:

Banaszak, Mark. “Library Articles. Convention Development: Creating A Mini-Con At The Library.” Diamond Bookshelf. January 20, ? http://www.diamondbookshelf.com/Home/1/1/20/181?articleID=130000 (accessed August 28, 2015).

Cruz, Rebecca. “Comics, Super Heroes, Pop Culture, and Libraries.” Public Libraries Online. August 17, 2015. https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2015/08/comics-super-heroes-pop-culture-and-libraries (accessed August 28, 2015).

Hamdan, Kate Denwiddie and Kareemah. “We Put On a Comic-Con (And So Can You!).” Virginia Libraries. July-September 2013. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/VALib/v59_n3/pdf/denwiddie.pdf (accessed August 28, 2015).

Lynne, Tara. “Introducing Electric City Comic Con!” The Geekiary. June 3, 2015. http://thegeekiary.com/introducing-electric-city-comic-con/25050 (accessed August 31, 2015).

MacDonald, Heidi. “How to Throw a Comic Con at Your Library.” Publishers Weekly. April 18, 2014. http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/61940-how-to-throw-a-comic-con-at-your-library.html (accessed August 31, 2015).

Anderson County, SC website: http://www.andersonlibrary.org/

Electric City ComiCon Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/electriccitycomicon

Spartanburg, SC Spartancon website: http://www.infodepot.org/zReaders/Spartancon.asp

David Weber’s website: http://www.davidweber.net/

Megan Shepherd’s website: http://meganshepherd.com/

Delilah S. Dawson’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DelilahSDawson

Robert Venditti’s webpage: http://www.dccomics.com/talent/robert-venditti

White Knight Cosplay: https://www.facebook.com/whiteknightcosplay

Heroes in Force website: http://www.heroesinforce.com/

Enoch Vaughn: https://www.facebook.com/enoch.vaughn

George Farmer’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ArtofGeorgeFarmer

Gypsey Teague’s website: http://www.gypseyteague.com/

Amanda Findley’s Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/AmandaFinleyCrafts

AnachroCon, Atlanta, GA: http://www.anachrocon.com/

DragonCon, Atlanta, GA: http://www.dragoncon.org/

The post Geeking @ the Library: Con is Community! first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Benjamin, Ali. The Thing about Jellyfish (9/22)
Seventh grade narrator Suzy Swanson must come to terms with the death of her best friend after a drowning accident. When Suzy becomes convinced that Franny actually died from a rare jellyfish sting, she sets out to prove it—even if it means traveling the globe for answers. This is an imaginative and multi-layered story that will touch readers.

Cline, Ernest. Armada (7/14)
This follow-up to Cline’s popular debut, Ready Player One, will not disappoint fans. Zach Lightman trades his boring videogame existence to save the planet from an alien invasion. Here, readers will find not a realistic sci-fi plot, but a pop-culture infused coming-of-age adventure story that will unleash their the inner geek. Read on.

Hilton, Marilyn. Full Cicada Moon (9/8)
This historical novel may take place in 1969, but it is chock full of everything that has been happening in children/teen literature in the last few years. Written in verse (fans of Brown Girl Dreaming take note!), the story focuses on half-black, half-Japanese Mimi, recently relocated to Vermont. She encounters bigotry and sexism as she prefers shop class to home economics, and dreams about becoming an astronaut. Give this to spirited girls everywhere.

Hoose, Phillip. The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club (5/12)
Denmark didn’t resist German occupation at the beginning of WWII—this is the true story of a group of teenage political resistors who did. After many acts of sabotage, the boys were eventually imprisoned, but not before inspiring a true Danish resistance and becoming war heroes. Perfect for a non-fiction project.

Novak, Ali. The Heartbreakers (the Heartbreak Chronicles 8/4)
Stella will do anything for her sick sister, Cara, even though leukemia has overshadowed their lives for too long. When her siblings take Cara to see her favorite boy band, it’s Stella who meets the lead singer in Starbucks, and embarks on a relationship that leads them all to heartbreak, adventure, and self-discovery. It’s never too late for a summer romance…

Pearsall, Shelley. The Seventh Most Important Thing (9/8)
After Arthur’s father dies, Arthur loses it when he sees the neighborhood “Junk Man” wearing his father’s hat. Arthur throws a brick at him, earning Arthur court-imposed community service with the very man he assaulted. Inspired by real life artist James Hampton’s life and work, the story follows Arthur as he helps the Junk Man complete his creative masterpiece (collecting the seven most important things along the way) and also learn some life lessons in this coming-of-age novel.

Schlitz, Laura Amy. The Hired Girl (9/8)
Fans of period detail will enjoy Newbery award-winner Schlitz’ story of a farm girl in 1911, as she records her hopes and dreams for the future in her diary. When she is hired as the help to a wealthy Jewish family in Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Joan learns lessons about hate, love, and what it means to grow up.

Stead, Rebecca. Goodbye Stranger (8/4)
Newbery-winner Stead is back with a story of middle-school friendship unlike any you’ve read. With a cast of characters all navigating the awkwardness of being new teens, Stead perfectly captures the perils of love, change, and decision. Give this to a realistic fiction fan.

Check out these other recent titles for middle-schoolers:

Alender, Katie. The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall
Alifirenka, Caitlin & Martin Ganda. I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives
Caine, Rachel. Ink & Bone: The Great Library
Danticat, Edwidge. Untwine
Gaiman, Neil. The Sleeper and the Spindle
Holt, K.A. House Arrest
Johnson, Hal. Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods: 20 Chilling Tales from the Wilderness
Kinsella, Sophie. Finding Audrey
Martin, Darragh. The Keeper
Norris, Andrew. Friends for Life

The post The Latest and Greatest Middle School Reads first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

To prepare for the publication of these books, 1000 trees have been planted in a forest outside of Oslo for the sole purpose of providing paper to print the books. As noted on the Future Library website, “Tending the forest and ensuring its preservation for the 100-year duration of the artwork finds a conceptual counterpoint in the invitation extended to each writer: to conceive and produce a work in the hopes of finding a receptive reader in an unknown future.”

One author we know will be in this library is Margaret Atwood, who was chosen to be the first author to provide a manuscript for the project. She presented her manuscript to the library on May 26^th in a ceremony that included a walk through the Future Library Forest and a conversation with artist Katie Paterson, who created the Future Library concept. Atwood is a natural choice for inclusion in the Future Library as so much of her writing deals with what will happen in the future. “In the case of the Future Library, I am sending a manuscript into time. Will any human beings be waiting there to receive it? Will there be a ‘Norway’? Will there be a ‘forest’? Will there be a ‘library’?” wrote Atwood in an essay for the project. Another futurist author, David Mitchell, was chosen shortly after Atwood’s ceremony to write the second work for the Future Library. His manuscript will be added in 2016.

For $1000, collectors can purchase a printed certificate that functions as a piece of art until the Future Library opens, at which point the certificate entitles the owner to a complete set of the 100 works in the library

Paterson’s other artworks have involved broadcasting the sounds of a melting glacier live to a visitor on a mobile phone, mapping all the dead stars, compiling a slide archive of the history of darkness across the ages, custom-making a light bulb to simulate the experience of moonlight, burying a nanosized grain of sand deep within the Sahara desert, and sending a re-cast meteorite back into space.

Sources:

Future Library – Framtidsbiblioteket – Katie Paterson. Accessed June 9, 2015. http://www.futurelibrary.no/.

“KATIE PATERSON: Future Library Certificate.” James Cohan Gallery. Accessed June 9, 2015. http://www.jamescohan.com/editions/2014-09-05_katie-paterson-future-library-certificate.

“Margaret Atwood 2014.” Accessed June 9, 2015. http://www.futurelibrary.no/Future_Library_Katie_Paterson_Guide_2015.pdf.

The post Opening in 100 Years: The Future Library first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Define “Young Adult Graphic Novel.” – We started by looking at the young adult graphic novel collection, and we decided we were going to pull some of the series that were showing up on “Best Adult Graphic Novels” lists. That should bring a built-in audience to our new adult graphic novel area. Out of the young adult collection came Sandman, Spawn, and Watchman. The young adult collection thus became the bastion of the superheroes of DC and Marvel with a strong Star Wars presence. It’s not that adults didn’t read these books voraciously, but it brought the content of the graphic novels more in line with the content of the young adult novels we had.

Where are the compilations of newspaper comics going? – Libraries put these books in all different places, including non-fiction and young adult sections. Not that it doesn’t happen, but when did you see a high schooler reading Doonesbury? And many people like Dilbert, but searching in the 700s is a daunting task. We rescued the newspaper comics compilation books from 741.5 and put them in the adult graphic novel collection. As soon as we did, they started circulating quite a bit more than they had before.

Where do the graphic novels go that students may be assigned for class? – Maus and Persepolis are good examples of books that teachers frequently incorporate into their curriculum. These books had been living in the young adult section, but unfortunately no one was reading them. However, we had an eighth grade English teacher ask us about other books similar to these, including some of Gene Luen Yang’s books and A Game for Swallows. Would we be getting additional similar titles, he wondered, because he’d like to assign his class to read some of these types of books? To give these titles more cache and also to entice adults who would also be interested in these books but never find them in youth materials, these books were moved. All “literary graphic novels” now live in the adult graphic novel collection.

How is this section not a repository for unloved books? – Given the more conservative view our community has about books for youth, there were a number of graphic novels we didn’t have in the library’s collection. We now have the graphic novel versions of titles by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Janet Evanovich sharing shelf space with the Walking Dead. We have Sin City and Hellraiser. Without this section of adult graphic novels, we couldn’t adequately accommodate many popular titles that appeal to a quiet minority of our community who never requested we purchase these books but seems to be checking them out regularly.

How do you evaluate success? – Obviously, circulation is one way, and the graphic novels have only been their own section for six months or so. It seems like people are reading the books, even if it’s only the staff who are grudgingly admitting that “there might be something to these graphic novels.” Every time we talk to an adult about Maus, Persepolis, or American Born Chinese and he or she decides to check out the book, we have success. However, overhearing that a 24 year-old male patron said to his friends via social media, “You have to come to the Madison Public Library. They have really great comics [referring to our adult graphic novel section].” That is the best sign of success ever.

You know your patrons best. What do they want in their adult graphic novels? You may decide what makes up our adult graphic novels section does not work for you. Use this as a guide, and no matter what you decide, we hope your section is popular with the patrons of your community.

Cover Photo Credit: carmichaellibrary (CC BY 2.0)

Melanie A. Lyttle is the Head of Public Services Madison Public Library. You can watch her YouTube channel, Crabby Librarian, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rv5GLWsUow. Shawn D. Walsh is the Emerging Services and Technologies Librarian at Madison Public Library.

The post What is an Adult Graphic Novel? first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

“The BookMatch program launched quietly about two weeks ago. [This quote is from August 2014 – Ed.] It’s completely free: just fill out the online form telling the nice librarians what you like to read, and they’ll come back to you in about a week with a list of five or six recommendations. You can even specify what type of format you prefer (book, ebook, audiobook, or large print)” (Merlan, Village Voice 2014). In addition to filling the requests, the lists are also anonymously posted on the library’s website, allowing other patrons to browse at their own convenience. Among the topics that already exist are:

• Drama/Suspense
• Historical romance
• Great Gatsby read-alikes
• Father and sons
• All kinds of books/no mushy stuff
• SciFi-Fantasy with strong females and diversity

Since the beginning of this program, the 35 librarians who maintain the website have been inundated with patron requests. This has been a successful launch of a new program, and it may actually prove to be too much for just the 35 librarians to complete each list in under a week if it keeps growing in popularity. This watershed moment of customer service shall work as a tableau for public libraries at large.

I began to think of how this may grow while researching this topic. Many public libraries have more items than books. I’m thinking about music, movies, and even periodicals. This program could increase its scope and therefore its ability to accommodate more patrons. It’s an amazing idea that truly comes from the basics of librarianship and adapting to the current times. Haven’t all librarians at one time or another given recommendations based on one book or movie? This is just taking that customer service to a new and more convenient level for patrons who may be living a hectic lifestyle and don’t have the time to browse the stacks.

This is definitely a program that can work in public libraries all over the world. Thanks, New York; you managed to inspire us once again with your indefatigable efforts at cultural programming!

Works Cited

Merlan, Anna. “A Brooklyn Librarian Will Now Make You a Personalized Reading List, and You Don’t Even Have to Put on Pants.” Village Voice. August 26, 2014.  (accessed September 20, 2014)

The post I’ll Tell You What to Read: Online BookMatch Program Connects Readers to New Books first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Eugie was the 2009 Nebula Award winning author of Best Novelette for the work Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast. She was also the 2011 Drabblecast People’s Choice Award for Best Story winner for The Wish of the Demon Achtromagk. Her work Mortal Clay, Stone Heart won the 2011 Aurora Award for Best English Related Work. She attended many conventions over the years, and was no stranger to JordanCon where she was a frequent panelist who discussed short stories, writing for contents, and of course, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, a series we shared common ground with.

Few people could write short stories the way that Eugie Foster could. It was a gift; I have always admired the finesse, style and depth of her short stories and frequently wished I could emulate her success. As of this writing, she had published over 100 short stories, which is 100 more than I have ever published, and yet she remains relatively unknown among most of the greater fantasy names of the age.  In Returning My Sister’s Face: And Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice Eugie elegantly created characters drawn from Asian folklore and laced it all together with complexity, beautiful thematic elements and touches of humor that shine like starlight; hers is a loss that will be felt in the fantasy community for many years to come. I strongly recommend her works to anyone who enjoys a different point of worldview than their own. She wrote with grace and a certain sense of self-awareness, but it made her works all the more charming and appealing because of it.

Photo of the author from blackgate.com

On Foster’s blog, her husband Matthew wrote that memorial service arrangements would be announced soon, but more importantly:

“We do not need flowers.  In lieu of flowers, please buy her books and read them.  Buy them for others to read until everyone on the planet knows how amazing she was.”

Thank you, Eugie Foster, for all of your wonderful short stories, your advice on succeeding in the writing business, and for just being yourself.  I may have known you only peripherally, but your common sense approach to writing will always be with me. It was an honor to have met you, and I will not forget your many words of wisdom.

To my readers: Please read her books.  Celebrate the life of this wonderful, talented, and special person who made a mark on the fantasy community, and so many others, through her words.  You can find her works on her website, EugieFoster.com, and through Amazon.com.

The post In Memoriam: Eugie Foster first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Resa Nelson has been selling fiction as a professional since 1988, and is a longtime member of the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America). She is also a graduate of the Clarion SF Workshop. Previously Nelson has been the TV/Movie Columnist for Realms of Fantasy magazine (for 13 years) and has been a contributor to SCI FI magazine. She has sold 200 articles to various magazines in the United States and the United Kingdom.  Her first novel was The Dragonslayer’s Sword, and it was recommended for the Nebula Award. It was also a Finalist for the EPPIE Award.  In The Dragonslayer’s Sword, Astrid is a blacksmith who makes swords for dragonslayers. When a strange gemstone emerges from her body, it sets in motion a calamitous chain of events that threatens to destroy her life. As the story progresses, Astrid learns the truth about the people she knows and loves as well as those she has disdained, and the ultimate secret of her mysterious past and the family from which she was separated comes to light. Throughout the story, Astrid is constantly confronted with who she thinks she is and the person that she truly is beneath all the layers she has created to keep herself safe.

In the final pages of her book The Dragonslayer’s Sword, Nelson’s About the Author section discusses some of what went into the writing of the novel, and her methods of preparation are quite intense. While conducting research on The Dragonslayer’s Sword, Nelson took a course in blacksmithing, where she learned how to build a fire and forge iron and steel, and she also took a course at the Higgins Armory in Worcester, Massachusetts in how to use a medieval sword, which led to her joining the Armory Guild. She also studied foil fencing for a year. Nelson participates in the guild’s study of fight manuals from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and participates in demonstration of historically accurate sword techniques. The swordwork in her novel is based on her studies in these techniques.

There are four novels in the Dragonslayer series: The Dragonslayer’s Sword, The Iron Maiden, The Stone of Darkness and The Dragon’s Egg. In addition, Nelson is the author of Our Lady of the Absolute, a fantasy tale of ancient Egypt. You can follow Resa Nelson on twitter @ResaNelson, and check out her books by following the links provided above.

Join me next time as I sit down with Resa Nelson to talk about public libraries, her writing, and the preparation she goes through in writing a novel.

Until then: Keep reading, and may all your stories be epic.

The post Enter The Dragonslayer – A Look at Resa Nelson first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

For readers not familiar with Seanan McGuire (or her pen name, Mira Grant), you are really missing out. As I mentioned, she is a five-time Hugo award nominee this year for Best Novel (Blackout – sequel to Deadline), Best Novella for San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats (As Mira Grant), Twice for Best Novelette(In Sea-Salt Tears and Rat-Catcher), and Best Fancast (SF Squeecast).  She previously has won five Pegasus Awards, was a 2012 inductee into the 2012 Darrell Awards Hall of Fame for her contributions to Mid-south science fiction and her novel Feed (as Mira Grant) was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of their best books of 2010.  McGuire is the author of the October Daye series of books (Six are currently available, Book 7: Chimes at Midnight is expected in September), the Newsflesh series under her pen name Mira Grant (Feed, Deadline, Blackout) and the forthcoming Parasite (October 2013).

Eugie Foster, the 2009 Nebula Award winning author of Best Novelette (Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast) and 2011 Drabblecast People’s Choice Award for Best Story writer (The Wish of the Demon Achtromagk) lives in Atlanta, Georgia and was a recent attendee and panelist for JordanCon 2013 where she discussed short stories and writing for contests.  Her short story collection, Returning My Sister’s Face and Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice, was published in 2009 and has seen use as a textbook at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of California-Davis.  Even though Foster is primarily a short story author, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t contribute to the vastness of Fantasy and should be overlooked by the casual reader.

Finally author Mary Robinette Kowal, a puppeteer, writer, Regency fashion enthusiast and panelist on Writing Excuses, is the 2008 Campbell Award winner for Best New Writer, the 2011 Hugo Award winner for her short story For Want of a Nail, and a 2011 Nebular Award nominee for Best Novel. Her novels, Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass, and Without a Summer, have been described by her as “Jane Austen with magic” but the real magic here is in the way the story unfolds from page to page. For fans of classical literature and fantasy, there is much to keep you enticed. The language is time-period appropriate, the magic is unobtrusive, and the overall story is truly engaging. Fans of Austen will find little, if any fault, with Kowal’s presentation of Austen’s style, and for those looking for light fantasy with great characters, you need look no further than Shades of Milk and Honey, the first in the series.

Be sure to check in next time as I interview Hugo Nominee and Bestselling Author Seanan McGuire! As always – keep reading – and may all your stories be epic.

The post Women of Fantasy Fiction, Part 4: Seanan McGuire, Eugie Foster, and Mary Robinette Kowa first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Ursula LeGuin’s so-called Earthsea Cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, The Other Wind) takes place in the fictional archipelago of Earthsea. The series tells the story of Ged, a young magic user, under the apprenticeship of his Aunt.  Throughout the series, Ged faces many challenges on the road to becoming a Wizard – at one point he is turned into a falcon and attacked by an ancient shadow creature he inadvertently summoned – before he comes to understand himself completely.  A Wizard of Earthsea has won many literary awards, including the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1979, as well as being consistently ranked in the top ten of best all-time fantasy fiction. In 2005, the first two books of the series were adapted into a Sci-Fi channel mini-series (Legend of Earthsea), but LeGuin was more than a little displeased with the ultimate result, saying that she felt the entire mini-series had “white washed” her story. She was also displeased with the Studio Ghibli release Tales of Earthsea (2006), an animated feature film based loosely on the first, third and fourth books in the series.

Author C.J. Cherryh (1942 – ) is a Hugo and Locus Award winning writer for her Science Fiction novels and short stories Cassandra (1979) and her two novels Downbelow Station (1982) and Cyteen (1989).  Her fantasy series Fortress (Fortress in the Eye of Time, Fortress of Eagles, Fortress of Owls, Fortress of Dragons, Fortress of Ice) is a prime example of the sub-genre we have previously discussed called High/Epic Fantasy.  Her series features a medieval fantasy world with a 15^th Century feel, where magic exists alongside sorcery, politics and medieval warfare. This series is different in that its main protagonist, Tristan, is not born of a mortal mother, but rather is created from a spell cast by an ancient wizard named Mauryl Gestaurien.  While Tristan is physically formed to look like a human, he is incomplete; he has no memory, knowledge of the world or personal history. The first books in the series describe Tristan’s coming of age, as well as his developing relationship with the Prince, Cefwyn, heir to the Marhannen throne. Fortress in the Eye of Time was short-listed for a Locus award in 1996, as was Fortress of Eagles and Fortress of Owls.

Join me next time as we continue our discussion of the women writers of Fantasy Fiction that have had a lasting impact on the genre with J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, Laurel K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series and a surprise addition of Nora Roberts, who many readers may know from her work in the Romance genre.

As always: Keep reading, and may all your stories be epic.

The post Women of Fantasy Fiction, Part 2: Ursula K. LeGuin and C.J. Cherryh first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Most readers of fantasy are at least passingly familiar with Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930 – 1999), even if they’ve never read her works. Bradley was a prolific author – 67 novels at the time of her death with 3 in production, not including short stories, omnibus or other works – and literary parent to many fantasy writers of the modern age. Several female authors got their start from Bradley’s work as editor of the Sword and Sorceress anthologies, with Mercedes Lackey being a rather famous example. Her Tarma and Kethry stories first appeared in Sword and Sorceress and were later adapted into stand-alone novels. Bradley is perhaps best known for her Mists of Avalon series, an Arthurian legend retelling from the point of view of Morgaine and Gwenhyfar, and the Darkover series. Bradley is also well known for her co-founding of the Society for Creative Anachronism,an international living history group that studies and recreates mainly Medieval European cultures and their associated histories before the 17^th century.

The Mists of Avalon, first published in 1979, provides a vast and different view of Arthurian legend with a distinct and welcomed feminist feel to the story. Not just a story about King Arthur, religious conflict plays an important role in the story. The main character, Morgaine (known by readers of Arthurian legend as Morgan Le Fey) a priestess of a matriarchal Celtic religion, fights to save her culture in a country where patriarchal Christianity is taking hold and threatening to destroy their pagan way of life. King Arthur, Lancelot, and other members of the round table find themselves taking a back seat in this re-envisioned, captivating story about politics, love and betrayal in a time of great cultural change. TNT made a mini-series adaptation in 2001 out of the book starring Julianna Margulies as Morgaine, Anjelica Huston as Vivianne, and Samantha Mathis as Gwenhyfar.As far as made-for-TV mini-series go, this production warrants a look for those interested in the visual adaptation to the much-loved story.

The Darkover series, consisting of 40 books and short stories, are typically more science-fiction than fantasy. The series begins during the early years of space exploration. Earth-based humans, en route to a new colony, crash land on Darkover, a planet that revolves around a red giant star. Unable to repair their ship or re-establish communications with Earth, the colonists set about to create a new way of life on Darkover. The stories develop over six distinct time periods, and at the time of her death, Bradley had three Darkover novels in the works. Since then, these have either been published posthumously or have been reported as planned for publication. Marion Zimmer Bradley suggested that the books be read in the order of publication, since her writing style evolved so greatly over the years, but many readers prefer to start chronologically with Darkover Landfall.

Join me next time for Part 2 of my Women of Fantasy series where I will be discussing Ursula K. LeGuin, and C.J. Cherryh.

As always: Keep reading, and may all your stories be epic.

The post The Women of Fantasy Fiction Part 1: Marion Zimmer Bradley first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

The Lord of the Rings series

Arguably one of the most recognized Epic Fantasy series in the world, Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings continues to hold immense appeal to today’s fantasy readers. Long considered the standard in Epic Fantasy, the story and characters have enjoyed lasting fame thanks to big budget motion picture renditions in recent years which have brought this story back into the public eye. The series proper consists of four books: The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, with additional writings that deal with the pre-history of Tolkein’s world contained in other volumes. This series is available in electronic formats.

The Wheel of Time series

Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series has captured the imagination of thousands and thousands of readers of Fantasy since 1991. An enormous fan base has spawned conventions, get-togethers, book groups, and some of the most vehement discussions about characters ever seen among fantasy readers. Entire websites are devoted to the books and characters created by Robert Jordan, including Theoryland and Wheel of Time Wiki. The series has even survived the untimely death of its author, and is currently being completed by Brandon Sanderson. The series is composed of fourteen books currently, with the last volume, which will resolve the countless plots, subplots and major events of the series, due out in early January. Books in this series are: New Spring, The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, The Shadow Rising, The Fires of Heaven, The Lord of Chaos, A Crown of Swords, The Path of Daggers, Winter’s Heart, Crossroads of Twilight, Knife of Dreams, The Gathering Storm, Towers of Midnight and the forthcoming volume is called A Memory of Light. This series is available in electronic formats.

Mistborn Series

Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy (The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero of Ages) provides a fantastic introduction to the Epic Fantasy sub-genre and is highly representative of the genre in general. With a large cast of characters, an end-of-the-world-as-they-know-it storyline and a well-developed magic system unlike many seen before, The Mistborn Trilogy requires far less invested time on the part of the reader, and yet provides a rich, rewarding experience equal to many lengthier epics by the last book’s final page. Sanderson’s trilogy aptly demonstrates that bigger is not always better when it comes to number of books. There is also a fourth stand-alone book, Alloy of Law, which also takes place in the Mistborn universe, set further along in history from the original three books. This series is available in electronic formats.

These three series are essential in every library’s Epic Fantasy collection. With their enormous appeal to modern audiences, including those discovering them for the first time through television and social media, these books will continue to be high in circulation among patrons who enjoy the genre.

Join me next time as I talk about the burgeoning popularity of Historical Fantasy, and select authors that should be considered standards of the genre.  Thanks for reading and as always, may all your stories be epic.

The post Three Essential Epic Fantasy Series That Every Library Should Own first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Any discussion of fantasy should begin with the basics, and in this case that is the many sub-genres that comprise the whole of the genre itself. I have broken it down into six basic types to start (though some die-hard fans might argue with my choices): Epic, Historical, Fairy Tale, Dark, Modern, and Sword & Sorcery.

Epic/High Fantasy When people think of fantasy, with its casts of thousands, lush locations, and serious attention to detail (sometimes several books worth!), epic fantasy is what they are thinking about. Epic/High fantasy can last for many books, has complicated, in-depth plots and literally thousands of characters. If you love high levels of detail, sweeping storylines, and complicated plots, Epic or High Fantasy is for you. Notable authors in this sub-genre include Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, J.R.R.Tolkien, and Stephen R. Donaldson.

Historical Fantasy Mixing real world history with fantasy, this sub-genre typically takes place prior to the 20th century and can include many elements like alternate timelines, magic, and technology and is closely related to the Sword & Sorcery sub-genre. Important names in the sub-genre include authors like Mary Robinette Kowal, Jean M. Auel, C. J. Cherryh, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

Fairy Tales This sub-genre of fantasy deals with many of the traditional aspects of the children’s tales, only written in smart, engaging new ways for adults. Here you will find all the old favorites: Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, along with a host of fairy tales from hundreds of cultures.  Mercedes Lackey, Pamela Dean, Neil Gaiman, and William Deen are authors to look for.

Dark Fantasy Mixing elements of horror with fantasy, supernatural events, and a dark and brooding atmosphere, this sub-genre contains many names that readers of the horror genre will find familiar, including Stephen King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, and Anne Rice, as well as new favorites like Poppy Z. Brite and Laurel K. Hamilton.

Modern Fantasy Consisting of stories set in the real world during the modern era, these stories often contain magic, magical creatures, and alternate worlds that exist concurrent with the “real” world of the story. Important names in this sub-genre include Phillip Pullman, Mercedes Lackey, Charles de Lint, Mary Norton, and J. K. Rowling.

Sword and Sorcery (Also called Heroic Fantasy) Unlike Epic Fantasy, this sub-genre has a tendency to avoid end of the world scenarios and focus more on personal conflict. Usually containing a romantic element as well as the supernatural and magic, these stories are often fast paced with many episodes of violent conflict. Major names in this sub-genre include Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, Mercedes Lackey, Andre Norton, and Marion Zimmer Bradley.

There you have it, a brief introduction to fantasy fiction. In the coming weeks I will be discussing each sub-genre in more detail, so be sure to bookmark this site and watch this space for more inside scoops on magic and mayhem from me in the near future! Thanks for reading, and until next time, may all your stories be epic.

The post Getting to Know Fantasy Fiction first appeared on Public Libraries Online.