Tag Archives: gay geeks

My FLAMECON Photoessay

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Central Hall at FLAMECON

I arrived at FLAMECON not sure what to expect. The Grand Prospect Hall, a catering hall in Brooklyn that was built in 1892 as a showplace for wealthy Park Slope residents, was transformed into a multi-room convention center.

Gay Geeks of NYC

The first people I met were this cute couple from Gay Geeks of NYC who organize gaymer events at the LGBT community center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Golden Girls as cats

Browsing around, I was not surprised to see Golden Girls artwork. Though I’ve never seen them turned into cats.

I took a selfie with a guy dressed up as Green Lantern. That was a popular costume for guys and girls.

I took a selfie with a guy dressed up as Green Lantern. That was a popular costume for guys and girls.

YA Panel

I attended a YA Panel with (l to r) David Levithan, Sara Farizan and Adam Silvera. The room was overfilled, and it was nice to see lots of young people in attendance.

The Freaky, Fantastical Four

This was the table for the Freaky, Fantastical Four (l to r): David Swatling, Daniel W. Kelly, Tom Cardamone, and me. I was happy that I sold six books.

This was some artwork that caught my eye.

This was some artwork that caught my eye.

MASSIVE

As did this booth: MASSIVE artwork by Gengoroh Tagame and Jiraiya.

All in all, it was a fantastic day, and I even took a photo with the FLAMECON mascot.

All in all, it was a fantastic day, and I even took a photo with the FLAMECON mascot.

Help Support Bent-con and Come out for the Festivities

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I made a pledge to Bent-con’s Kickstarter campaign. Can you?

Bent-con is a really important organization that supports the creative community and its fans. From the organizers:

BENT-CON is the premiere convention that celebrates and recognizes LGBTQ (and Allies) contributions to pop-culture and geekdom. BENT-CON is committed creating a space where EVERYONE is safe to share and express their particular brand of creativity and fandom proud and out loud!

Here’s their Kickstarter video:


This year’s convention, November 7th – 9th in Burbank, California, will be its fifth annual. As a non-profit venture, the event relies on contributions from the community to promote and advertise, which in return benefits the artists, writers and fans who participate.

I went to my first convention last year. Beyond the wonder of discovering a vibrant segment of the LGBT community (I had tweeted: I have died and gone to gay geek heaven), I was really impressed by the range of programs and the plentiful interaction between convention guests and fans.

This year, in addition to being part of Bold Strokes Books exhibition booth, I will be leading one panel “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Atlantis” and speaking in another “Gay Wizards and Lesbian Sorceresses”. Be sure to say hello if you have a chance to stop by.

And if you haven’t done so, please consider making a contribution to Bent-con’s Kickstarter.

2013 Bent-con Adds Qweirdos Panel

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I’ll be speaking on a panel next Saturday, November 9th 5pm at Bent-con in Los Angeles, along with authors Diane Anderson-Mitchell, Jess Faraday, Daniel W. Kelly, and Felice Picano.

The title of our program is: Qweirdos! LGBT Voices for a Generation of Gay Geeks and Freaks.

I never considered myself a geek before, at least not with a capital G, until I got into researching Atlantis. Now that I can happily hold my own in conversations about the origins of Aquaman, the Bimini theory versus the Thera theory, and Lewis Spence’s concept of the Atlantean Culture Complex, I think I have qualified for that title.

Here’s a description of our program from the Bent-con website:

Forget circuit parties and lesbian golf events. The Qweirdo is a fresh gay subculture obsessed with comic conventions, the SyFy Network, Harry Potter, True Blood, and drag queen midnight movies. A panel of Bold Strokes Books authors considers why an LGBTQ community is emerging so strongly in genres usually dominated by straight geeks who can’t get dates, why general horror, sci-fi, and fantasy fiction aren’t enough and we need LGBTQ voices in the genres, finding our audience, and more.

Sound like your idea of a good time? Come join us, and while you’re at the con, stop by the Bold Strokes Books table to get an autographed copy of The Seventh Pleiade.