Shore Leave question
- Thread starter Smitty
- Start date
It's an annual convention, fan-run, now in its 36th year and I understand limited to 1500 paying attendees. Pre-booking recommended. The only time you see most of them in the one place is for the main actor GoHs talks.
http://www.shore-leave.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ShoreLeaveCon
It started out as a mainly Star Trek con, eventually expanded to SF Media but has been a traditional gathering place for past and current Trek fiction writers. I've just attended my first Shore Leave! Had a ball!
Check out the info still online for #36 and you can download PDFs of the two and a half days of programming. Note how many slots were connected to Trek fiction. "Meet the Pros" on the Friday night (10pm till midnight) is a must-attend for readers of licensed Trek novels, short stories and comics.
http://www.shore-leave.com/guests/authors.htm
Star Trek doesn't have an "expanded universe" per se. It has a bunch of tie-in books and comics encompassing several distinct, incompatible continuities and a great many standalone tales. Shore Leave welcomes all Trek authors regardless of which continuity, if any, they've written for, and in past years has been expanding to include a wider range of authors as well. For instance, this year, for the first time, we were joined by the editor and several authors of Fandemonium's Stargate novel series.
So basically it's a general SF convention with a strong focus on authors. Except heaven help any author holding a panel at the same time as a celebrity appearance, because you'll probably end up with only five or six people in the audience.
So basically it's a general SF convention with a strong focus on authors. Except heaven help any author holding a panel at the same time as a celebrity appearance, because you'll probably end up with only five or six people in the audience.
Yeah, Shore Leave's bread and butter is the actor guests. This year the headliners were Richard Dean Anderson and (via Skype) Leonard Nimoy. There was also Eve Myles, Robert Picardo, Teryl Rothery, Michael Welch, and Silas Weir Mitchell.
But they're also very friendly to authors, and the Meet the Pros event Friday night which showcased all the authors who were present was hugely attended.
But they're also very friendly to authors, and the Meet the Pros event Friday night which showcased all the authors who were present was hugely attended.
I haven't missed a Shore Leave for over a decade. As far the writers go, the big event is indeed the "Meet the Pros" mass autographing marathon Friday night, but we're around all weekend, doing panels and readings and signings. I usually make a point of planting myself down at a local book seller's table for a few hours each day, just to sign books and chat with interested browsers . . ..
Was there any news from the con that authors can share here for those that were unable to attend?
Yes, Peter David confirmed that another "New Frontier" novel was definitely underway and contracted. No comment whatsoever whether it's the seeming fan-expected finale, just that it takes up where the last NF novel left off.
Today on Facebook, David Mack boasted that he's just seen the cover art for his upcoming "Section 31" novel, but can't show it yet.
Thank you Therin! I really want to get to this con someday!
It's quite fun and very inviting. I was able to make it out a few years back - the year of the charity roast of MJF. I brought a couple dozen books (probably closer to 30) to be signed and was able to tell some of my favorite authors how much I've enjoyed their work. I hope to make it out again next year.
I'm sad that I didn't get to any book panels this year. Too few volunteers at the STARFLEET club table and too little sleep. I understand Balticon has a lot of authors in attendance, but not so much of the Trek persuasion (I think Keith goes sometimes...?)
^ I'd love to attend Balticon. They've never invited me.
Same boat here. I've talked to them, and they've been excited about what I do ("We want to do more with comic books and graphic novels! The committee will be in touch!"), and I never hear back. Which is fine, honestly.
Man, I have to get myself back out there again one of these years. I had a blast when I visited...
Stargate tie-in writers have been coming to Shore Leave for quite a while. I was there back in '08, and I know that Aaron Rosenberg, Jo Graham and Melissa Scott have all been to the event before. It was great to see the event hosting Fandemonium Books' 10th Anniversary celebrations, too.
Stargate tie-in writers have been coming to Shore Leave for quite a while. I was there back in '08, and I know that Aaron Rosenberg, Jo Graham and Melissa Scott have all been to the event before. It was great to see the event hosting Fandemonium Books' 10th Anniversary celebrations, too.
True, some SG authors have been there before individually, but I think this was the first time there was such a large, organized focus on the SG novels and authors.
Christopher is correct in that this year there was a more concerted effort -- especially with Richard Dean Anderson as the headline in-person guest, not to mention having Robert Picardo, Teryl Rothery, and Michael Welch -- to have a contingent of SG authors as well as the folks from Fandemonium, not just some author guests who happened to write SG fiction also. It was Sally Malcolm's first time, as well as the first time for David Niall Wilson and Diana Dru Botsford.
I think "contingent" is the word, yes. This is the first time we've had the actual editor of Fandemonium come to Shore Leave and lead an organized charge, as it were, of SG authors who were there primarily as SG authors, rather than as Trek authors who'd also done SG. In my experience, Shore Leave's author focus in recent years has evolved from being mainly Trek-driven, with Pocket editors leading the "contingent" of Trek authors, to being more diverse as various Trek people have moved on to other things like Tor Books or Crazy 8 Press or Farscape comics or self-publishing or what-have-you.
Oh yeah, I totally get that. And it's great to see it, too. As I said, as the author of SG-1, SGA and SGU novels, I only wish I could have been there too to join in the anniversary celebration!
Interesting you put it that way, considering that when I first did Shore Leave in 2008, I'd actually written more Stargate prose fiction than I had Star Trek! I know Aaron and Melissa had both written Trek books before their Stargates, but as far as I know, Jo's not written any Trek stuff...
I have to admit, I like the idea that Shore Leave might "grow the brand" so to speak and become not just the go-to event for Trek lit but maybe also a place for writers and readers of tie-in fiction in general.
The Gallifrey conventions have a similar relationship with Doctor Who tie-ins and writers thereof; and then there's things like the Big Finish Day cons and the Black Library Weekenders here in the UK that are publisher-led events specifically for Doctor Who and Warhammer 40,000 tie-ins. I wonder, are there any other cons out that that have a notable "tie-in factor"?
But it seemed to me that the authors who got invited to the con were mostly (though not exclusively) those who'd done Trek, even if it wasn't their sole or primary work. It was Trek Lit that anchored the writing side of the con, so to speak. Now it seems to be broadening from there.
And original prose SF/fantasy as well, as represented by Tor, Crazy 8, etc.
Similar threads
