April 1999
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Feb. 2000
March 2000 April 2000 (#1)

Mars Today is the offical newsletter of MarsCon. Check back here often to find special announcements, the latest information about MarsCon & MarsCon 2000, and schedule information for meetings and other MarsCon activities.

Numerous individuals have registered for MarsCon 2000 over this past month, and the convention organizers would like to thank all of you for your tremendous support of the convention! Thank you for joining us! We can't wait to party with you, and, luckily, we won't have to wait for very long!!! MarsCon is less than one month away - May 12th through May 14th! Here's the latest news:

COME & PARTY! HAVE A CABANA! PARTIES & HOTEL UPDATE
Parties will be centered around the pool area at MarsCon 2000, along with the Con Suite, Blue Mars (film/video room), the Young Aliens Room (youth programming), Krushenko's (literary programming) and the Martian Music / Filk Room. All of the parties promise to be a blast, but there's still room for a few more. Here's our current list-o-parties:

• Invasion Headquarters/IKV RakeHell
• Cosmic Tulip Lounge
• Alien Empire
• Xenaversity of Minnesota
• Zocalo / Whitestar Phoenix & DreamStitcher
• 2001 & Beyond / Girl Scouts
• The Celestial Affiliation of Time Lords & Gargle Blasters
• Minnesota Space Frontier Society
• Taurean Birthday Party
• The Holy Order of the Sacred Kumquat
• Q 2000 / The Q Continuum
• U.S.S. Nokomis
• The Hunt for Red Octoberfest / CONvergence
• The Demon Fleet
• U.S.S. Behr'ak
• Klinza Lounge
• Stone Dragon Press Party
• Diversicon Party
• Second Foundation & the Minnesota Imaginative Fiction Writers' Alliance Party for Readers and Writers
• R.O.G. SF & Fantasy Party
• Trans Galactic Interdimensional Gourmand Society

The remaining party cabana rooms may now be reserved by individuals attending MarsCon as well as by other parties. Parties still take priority, but we encourage individuals who want a cabana to contact us ASAP because you may very well be able to get one. [FYI: The difference in price between the regular rooms and cabanas works out to about $22.50 per night extra for a cabana.] If you have already booked a regular room, you can still convert to a cabana instead...so contact Malasondra at parties@marscon.com for more info or call us at 612.724.0687 if you have any questions (sorry, no collect calls!).

In other Hotel news, the Garden Court is officially reserved for MarsCon weekend. The Garden Court is located next to the swimming pool and hot tub, right in the middle of all the party cabanas, and very close to the Dealers Room...in other words, where the action is! This area can be used as overflow for parties & gaming, and its primary use will be for FAN FAIRE on Saturday, starting at 10:00 a.m. Several tables will be placed in the Garden Court for Fan Faire, where local fan clubs and other organizations may hand out information and tell convention attendees about the great variety of fannish activities which exist in the vicinity of our fair state. All clubs are welcome to join in the fun!

GUEST OF HONOR NEWS
Wonderful news from our Guest of Honor Margaret Weis. Her most recent book, co-written with Tracy Hickman & entitled DRAGONS OF A FALLEN SUN (THE WAR OF SOULS, VOL I) is now a bestseller! Check out this link for more info. Congratulations, Margaret!!

SPOTLIGHT ON PROGRAMMING
Many local authors, artists and fans will be contributing to MarsCon's programming this year. Here is just a sample of some of the many panelists & personalities you may encounter at our programming events:

Gordon R. Dickson - Hugo and Nebula Award-winning local author Gordy Dickson will be joining us at MarsCon, health-permitting. His many works include the DORSAI / THE CHILD CYCLE series of novels and THE DRAGON KNIGHT series. Here are some fun links to info on Gordy:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pkretsch/dragon/dragon.htm
http://home.inforamp.net/~dorsai/songbook/hellogor.htm and
http://www2.lysator.liu.se/sf_archive/sf-texts/authors/D/Dickson%2CGordon_R..mbox

Lyda Morehouse - Lyda Morehouse was stolen as an infant by the Fey -- but was returned two weeks later with a cordial letter saying, "thank you for letting us take a look at your baby - but she didn't quite grab us, alas." Despite this inauspicious beginning (or perhaps because of it), Lyda has been writing science fiction and fantasy ever since. In May of 1999, Lyda made her first professional sale to Science Fiction Age, with a story about a Ukrainian drug dealer on a planet full of people in recovery called TWELVE TRADITIONS. If you're willing to dig, you can also find her other short stories in such intriguing publications as Tales of the Unanticipated, Horizons: SF, Dreams of Decadence, Dark Moon Sisters, and Nocturnal Ecstasy Vampire Coven. She is represented by the James Frenkel and Associates Literary Agency.

John Mundt- Artist John Mundt is the creator of the Adventures of Monkey. His comic book, which is self-published, is ostensibly aimed at kids, say 8 to 12 years old (which he calls "The Age of Memory" because it is from this period of development that kids really commit to memory their favorite toy, movie, etc..., and incorporate them into who they will become), but grown-up-types might get a kick out of it too. As the title suggests, the comic features adventures of the super-hero sock-monkey President of The Earth!

John Koblas - John Koblas published over a hundred fantasy stories and poems during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1960, he sold his first poem in the vein of the supernatural to American Poet and over the next two decades was a regular contributor of stories and verse to magazines such as From Beyond The Dark Gateway, Nyctalops, Hoosier Challenger, Poet's Bulletin, and numerous others. His sci-fi work also appeared in four hardcover anthologies during the 1960s. In 1976, Koblas won a short story contest in San Francisco for his short fantasy story, RESURRECTION. He was also a co-founder of a Minneapolis-based fantasy group, which included writers Donald Wandrei, Carl Jacobi, Charles DeVet, E. Hoffmann Price, and Mary Elizabeth Counselman. Most of his work over the past two decades, including ten books and four hundred articles and stories, has appeared outside the genre of sci-fi / horror, although he still considers it his favorite field.

Craig R. Lang- Craig R. Lang is the coordinator of field investigation for Minnesota MUFON, the local chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, MUFON web site: http://www.visi.com/~jhenry. He investigates sighting and close encounter reports in the Twin Cities area, and in surrounding areas in Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin. Craig is a certified hypnotherapist, with the National Guild of Hypnotists. His "day job" is as a computer / biomedical engineer, working with a medical electronics firm in the Twin Cities. Craig has been interested in astronomy, ET life and UFOs since childhood. He is an amateur radio operator (KC0ZH), and also dabbles in writing science fiction.

Dave Page - Local author Dave Page has written SHIPS VERSUS SHORE: CIVIL WAR ENGAGEMENTS ALONG SOUTHERN SHORES AND RIVERS, describing numerous battles between shore fortifications and ships along rivers and sea coasts during the Civil War. Of special interest to Civil War buffs is the travel information that identifies and describes sites of interest. Dave Page is a lifelong student of the Civil War and author of four previous books. He teaches at Inver Hills Community College.

P.M.F. Johnson & Sandra Rector - P.M.F. Johnson & Sandra Rector have co-written numerous fantasy stories such as AND ALL I SEE ARE DARK EYES, A DWELLING IN THE EVENING AIR, DESERT ANGEL, COLOR ME DEAD, and TILL DEATH DO US PART. Their stories have been featured in various anthologies and fantasy story collections, i.e., Witch Fantastic, Amazing, Whatdunits, and Xanadu 2.

Other Programming participants - Robert Subiaga, Jr., author of the mystic SF novel EYES, as well as other stories published in Tales of the Unanticipated, will be participating in programming at MarsCon 2000. Eric M. Heideman, whose works have also been published in Tales of the Unanticipated, will be your host for programming and literary parties at Krushenko's. Authors Paula L. Fleming and Joan Marie Verba, publisher Clarke J. Stone, artist Shawn Van Briesen, and others will also be participating in programming during MarsCon. Here are some links to a few web sites, if you'd like to read more:
Paula L. Fleming: http://home.att.net/~P.Fleming/dss-p.html
Joan Marie Verba: http://www.sff.net/people/Joan.Marie.Verba
Clark J. Stone: http://www.StoneDragonPress.com
Shawn Van Briesen: http://www.wizardschool.com/cafedna/Artists/svb.html

There will be many opportunities to participate in and attend programming events throughout the weekend. To browse through our current version of the Programming Schedule, click on this link.

UPCOMING PLANNING MEETINGS
Our next ConCom Meetings will take place at the Woodland North Apartments Party Room. These meetings are all open to everyone, and we encourage you to attend and become more involved in planning MarsCon 2000. Here is the meeting schedule:

Sunday, April 30, 2000, 1-4 p.m.(Woodland North Apartments Party Room)
Sunday, May 7, 2000, 1-4 p.m.(Woodland North Apartments Party Room)
Friday-Sunday, May 12-14, 2000 - MARSCON HAPPENS!!

Driving Directions
The Woodland North Apartments are located apx 3 miles north of the Northtown / Anoka Library. Travel north on Highway 10 through scenic Blaine and past the library. Turn right onto University Avenue. Travel about 1/2 mile, and you will see a sign for "Woodland North" on your left hand side. The street address is 9240 University Avenue Northwest, Coon Rapids, Minnesota. When you arrive, just buzz the party room in Building D. Map

Hope to see you there!

Don't Panic! M2K is Coming!
Radisson South Hotel, Bloomington, MN May 12-14, 2000