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* - * - * - Contents:
* REISSUE OF SIME~GEN NOVELS
* NEW VAMPIRE NOVEL
* CONTEST
* WELCOME NEW GATE MASTER
* JACQUELINE'S LEPRECON REPORT
* JEAN LORRAH'S MEDIAWESTCON REPORT
* AWE-STRUCK OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS
* SIMECENTER
* VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHTS
* BYGONE DAYS UPDATED
* NEW AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTS
* NEW REVIEWS
SITES TO REMEMBER
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS
* - * - * -

** REISSUE OF SIME~GEN NOVELS
Meisha Merlin Publishing, Inc. will be re-issuing the S~G novels in trade paperback and hardcover. This company has reissued the work of some of my all-time favorite authors and successfully revived series.

The Sime~Gen titles will have all new art on the covers -- and each will have an omnibus title.

The titles for the omnibuses are still under discussion -- ultimately that's usually a publisher's choice, so the ones used below are only working titles.

Target date for beginning publication is around July 2003

The first Omnibus will contain HOUSE OF ZEOR, AMBROV KEON, and ZELEROD'S DOOM - probably titled THE UNITY TRILOGY.

Very soon after that will come Jean's TO KISS OR TO KILL -- which she has almost finished.

Then the tentatively titled FORT FREEDOM - will contain FIRST CHANNEL, CHANNEL'S DESTINY, and some short stories.

Jacqueline's THE FARRIS CHANNEL will follow or accompany the second Omnibus. It will have the Founding400 listing in it.

Finally, we will have DIGEN FARRIS AMBROV ZEOR (or whatever title they choose) -- the Digen Trilogy - UNTO ZEOR, FOREVER; MAHOGANY TRINROSE; and RENSIME.

Jean has another work after that - which occurs in Gulf Territory during Digen's lifetime - but we're now way too far into the unforeseeable future to discuss that. Whether we can sell them future books will depend on how well received the reprints are.

To see what prices run for MM titles - enter their website, click one of the titles, and the price information appears in the box above the list of titles. Typically, their omnibus editions are around $20 or less, depending on size. They also do some hardcover editions on select titles.

These new S~G editions will be available on amazon.com and the usual sf/f bookstores - and many other outlets.

Meisha Merlin have a gift certificate program available on their website. You can save up for your copies by buying yourself gift certificates.

** NEW VAMPIRE NOVEL
Margaret Carter is happy to report that her latest vampire romance, CRIMSON DREAMS, is now on sale from RFI West and can be ordered at http://www.rfiwest.com/futuristic.html#CD .

It belongs to the same universe as DARK CHANGELING and SEALED IN BLOOD. CD was a deliberate attempt to write (1) to the requirements of the romance formula, and (2) something a little "darker" than SEALED (but not as dark as DCh).

** CONTEST
Enter the Sime~Gen Slogan Contest! Vote for your favorite entries! Win prizes!

The original Sime~Gen novels by Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Jean Lorrah are being published, along with new novels, by Meisha Merlin Publishing .

The first volume, the UNITY TRILOGY consisting of HOUSE OF ZEOR, AMBROV KEON, and ZELEROD'S DOOM, will appear in July 2003. It will be followed by TO KISS OR TO KILL by Jean Lorrah, a brand new Sime~Gen novel. Find out more at http://www.simegen.com/releases/ .

To promote these volumes and the books to follow, we need to make flyers, bookmarks, buttons, book bags, T-shirts, coffee mugs, caps - anything that can carry a slogan.

What slogan? That's the contest!

We are looking for Sime~Gen slogans, some that will appeal to fans of the series, and some that will attract new readers.

Of course we will use UNTO ZEOR FOREVER and UNTO KEON FOREVER, but we need some new ideas - clever and witty sayings of fifteen words or less. An example of the kind of slogan we are looking for is SIMES GIVE NEW MEANING TO THE PHRASE "LATERAL THINKING."

Our contest opens on Saturday, June 15, and closes at midnight on Sunday, June 30. Winners will be chosen by popular vote beginning Sunday, July 7.

Complete information on the contest can be found at http://www.simegen.com/contest/.

** WELCOME NEW GATE MASTER
Lorana is one of our newest gate masters.

She is 35 and a single parent of a fifteen-year-old daughter. They live in Colorado; but neither of them skis, preferring the ocean and horseback riding to tumbling out of control down a mountain.

She is a government bureaucrat in training.

She will be running Logan GenFarm, or the GENFARM JOURNAL, which will be a new zine whose foremost goal is to provide aspiring S/G writers an opportunity to get their stories into publication in a zine quickly. She will be working closely with the school to provide writers with constructive feedback, for those writers interested in going through such a process.

** JACQUELINE'S LEPRECON REPORT
I got to the hotel for LepreCon about 9AM on Sunday - a few hardy souls were dragging themselves into the restaurant for breakfast but few were around.

I asked someone wearing a Program Participant badge where Registration was. I got coffee in the Green Room/Con Suite area (very nicely managed areas) and later got my badge and schedule. Later saw him and had a half-hour talk with him about publishing etc. He had come all the way from Texas.

Talked to the people at the ConJose table and the people running the WesterCon table for Seattle next year as well as the LepreCon committee people bidding on the following year's WesterCon. And got in touch with several other local conventions.

I won't be able to make most of the cons this year because I'm so over-booked already, but if I roam from Los Angeles to mid-New Mexico, there's a whole schedule of them to get to next year. LosCon - in Los Angeles is Thanksgiving Weekend.

The Westercon at SeaTac people are looking for someone to run a pre-con writer's workshop. Do we have anyone on this list from Washington/Oregon who would be willing to help with that?

I scoured the art show (LepreCon is an art-oriented convention - the show was more spectacular than the Dealer's room).

I toured the dealer's room and signed books for one dealer who runs a store. He had a paperback of ZELEROD'S DOOM in perfect condition that he said would sell on the Internet for $40 -- and said that when paperbacks get that expensive, it's past time the book was reprinted.

I arrived at the Writer's Workshop panel I was to be on about a half hour early, and Peter David -- who was the only panelist to show up for the previous panel (early Sunday Morning syndrome) grinned in relief and invited me to sit in. So we told Star Trek stories and Hollywood stories that kept the audience awake.

At the panel on writer's workshops, I met several new people - and talked with the woman who runs the Writer's Workshops at Worldcons, Adrienne Foster who had, I think, suggested this panel. After that, at my autographing session (1pm on a Sunday - people were already leaving) -- I talked with one of the panelists, Janeen O'Kerry (who writes Lovespell Romances with a strong fantasy twist and admitted being impressed with Sime~Gen lo these many years ago) and with a woman from the audience who became interested in WorldCrafters Guild. That was a fast hour.

The talking was interrupted by signing (we were, after all, sitting at the autograph table in the dealer's room). I signed a copy of one of those index-books that lists writers -- this one was I think women in sf up to the mid-1980's -- and it was brought to me by one of the co-editors of the compendium. Janeen also was asked to sign in the back because she hadn't started publishing at that time. And I signed several first editions of STAR TREK LIVES! You'd think by now I'd have signed all the ones ever printed!

At the end of the day, I had a Diet Pepsi in the Green Room and gossiped with concom members and pros, picking up a lot of information about local fandom.

All in all, I met a number of local people, and basically talked myself hoarse. I'm famous for that.

It was a wonderful Sunday, and next year I'm hoping to stay at the hotel for the whole thing. LepreCon is a small convention - about 550 people, or a little more - about the size of Darkover Grand Council. I love this kind of convention because you get a chance to talk to people with more than a hello-goodbye on the escalator.

It would make a great home for the Sime~Gen annual gathering -- and from comments when I mentioned that, the concom would be amenable to hosting us. With the timing in May, it's possible Jean could make it to this one usually.

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** JEAN LORRAH'S MEDIAWESTCON REPORT
I was on two back-to-back panels this afternoon, one called "The Elders Speak" (whom are they calling elders?) about how fandom was conducted in the days before the Internet and VCRs. That was followed by a panel comparing the various media representations of Lex Luthor-- I said I would do SMALLVILLE panels, so ended up on this one, which wouldn't have been my preference. However, it went very well, with the audience virtually taking over the discussion.

Maybe by tomorrow I'll be able to go listen to a couple of panels. BTW, I'm disappointed to see that the writing workshop has been changed to all in one day (tomorrow [25 May]), and that I'm no longer on it.
...
I'm at my computer at my almost-empty dealer's table, with people packing boxes around me as the last con attendees drift through looking for that elusive fanzine that will provide the thrill they're looking for. In about an hour we will pack up and leave, too.

MediaWestCon 22 is almost history. It was a good convention. I talked to lots of people, sold out of all the copies of BLOOD WILL TELL and NESSIE AND THE LIVING STONE that I brought, as well as at least half of the used books on my table. I passed out about 150 flyers on the reprints and new novels, and talked to many excited, delighted fans. But oh, how often I heard, "You mean we still have to wait another YEAR?"

I was on a panel on "Academics and Fandom" (more and more of us as time passes) and the difference between academics studying us (the old tradition) and our using our fannish knowledge in academic pursuits. Then I was on a panel on THE WEST WING, which I watch and enjoy, but which really had little to do with the things we are interested in.

The "Buffy/Spike--where is this going?" panel was very enthusiastic and audience driven. Obviously there is still tremendous life in this show as it goes into its seventh season.

Buffy came up again, among many other fandoms, in this morning's panel on ageless characters in fanfic-- why do the characters not age when we can see the actors aging? That led to a freewheeling discussion about the purpose of fanfic and the graying of fandom.

** AWE-STRUCK OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS
For a short time, Awe-Struck E-Books will be open to general submissions. Please go to the Authors Submissions page to read the instructions for submitting a manuscript. Submissions will only be open at the longest until July. So please spread the word and act fast. We become inundated, and we are already looking at books for MID-2004.

The categories that we are now looking for are:
Romance: Regencies; Georgian; other historical period romances, including the middle ages; Inspirational Romance for our Silver Linings Line; Young Adult Fiction for our ByteMe line; Ennoble Line (plots with heroes who have disabilities); Contemporary romance; Paranormal romance; SF/romance; Historical romance-western; Romantic suspense

SF and SF cross-genres: SF, Light horror/suspense (nothing too gory, please)

Suspense: Medical Suspense, Romantic suspense

Mainstream: Western historicals, Native American

Nonfiction: Textbooks (assigned to a specific course at a specific institution)

We do not accept mysteries. Sorry. Maybe some day we will, but right now we don't! We don't do well with heavy military adventure, espionage, or totally gross horror. Spy stuff, government intrigues, murdered prime ministers--I'm not good at that either. We don't do poetry, or confessional-type writing.

If you have titles you think we might be interested in, please act in a timely manner and send to kdstruck@mchsi.com.

We prefer that you have a recommendation from an Awe-Struck published author to use as a reference before submitting. An e-mail reference from a published author will suffice as well.

Please follow our guidelines for submissions very carefully. We are getting so many manuscripts that it is becoming imperative that we follow our own rules! If your manuscript does not fit our guidelines (including an articulate cover letter) or requested genre, it will not be read. Sorry to be so "corporate"--but this is the downside of the democratization of writing! (If a manuscript comes in Word Perfect, I cannot read it. I don't own the program. If you copy/paste Word Perfect files into a Word program, that crashes my computer.)

Kathryn D. Struck, Awe-Struck E-Books

** SIMECENTER
Exciting new art and stories await you in SimeCenter.

We have two new recipients this month:
    - Humane Society of New York. The Society's veterinarians provided emergency triage near 'Ground Zero' after the disaster. Medical staff are still ready on stand-by, to render emergency off-site care as needed.
    - The Delta Society-- mobilizing trained therapy animal teams to assist counselors and therapists, in New York and in other areas where children or adults are struggling to come to grips with '911' aftereffects.

We hope you will take the time to visit their pages, and donate to these worthy organizations, by way of thanking them for their efforts...and in return for enjoying the excellent stories and artwork our contributors have donated.

...Don't forget to tell them that you were 'referred' by SimeCenter.

---

In the Art department, there are two of the amazing photographs by Anthony Bermani. (You may not recognize the name, but you have probably seen his work. He says these two are his personal favorites. The entire slide show is available on his website.)

---

Our first story is "Lady in the Lamp" by Lillian Caldwell, wherein we find that an ordinary place may hold an extraordinary secret.

Our second story is "Catacombs" by Jayge Carr, originally published in AMAZING. On a far-off world: a tiny act of understanding and cooperation...and all is new.

---

Please visit SimeCenter to enjoy these offerings, and make donations to our 'Special Edition' recipients.

** VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHTS
The Volunteer Spotlights website is OPEN.

   - http://www.simegen.com/bios/spotlights -

The first volunteer is CAROL CASTELLANOS!

This site spotlights volunteers who work for Sime~Gen, Inc.

** BYGONE DAYS UPDATED
New story: "The Duenna" by Kurt Giambastiani

New review: A FAR BETTER REST by Susanne Alleyn

** NEW AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTS
In the Historical section is Cindy Vallar.

In our Authors Are People Too!!! Section is Amanda Ashley.

Here is the main link to the site-- http://www.simegen.com/writers/spotlights .

** NEW REVIEWS
Fantasy:
MOONRUNNERS by Mary Lennox

THE SEVEN ISLES OF AMEULAS by Casey Fahy

"The Book of the Gods Series" by Fred Saberhagen

Historical:
FEATHER ON THE WIND by Catherine Snodgrass

WRONG SIDE OF LOVE by Diana Lee Johnson

Mainstream:
ANGLOMERIKA by Zane Smith

THE CALICO BUFFALO by EJ Stapleton

THE CHAOS SCROLL Book one of the Poppan Valley Trilogy by Larraine Stacy

THE MEAN GREEN MACHINE by Alan M. Brooker

MONERO by James Baily

P.S. I'VE TAKEN A LOVER by Patricia Lucas White

RAT by Edward Keyes

TAROT OF THE CAT PEOPLE: Deck and Book Set by Karen Kuykendal

TIME IN A BOTTLE by Karen Sandler

VIOLET AND CLARE by Francesca Lia Block

WEB CRAZE by Ron Cox

Science Fiction:
BEASTS ARE US by ATK. Butterfly

Film:
HIMALAYA DIRECTED by Eric Valli

LAGAAN: ONCE UPON A TIME IN INDIA Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker

***** Sites to Remember *****
Author spotlights:
vampires
romance

Chats

Romance articles

Reviews

Shopping: books
gifts

Sound files of Jacqueline Lichtenberg pronouncing Sime~Gen vocabulary words can be found at sound files .

To sign up for classes, go to school forms .

To volunteer, go to volunteers for the latest openings.

*Please Note all material posted on Official Virtual Tecton is copyright (c) by Sime~Gen Inc. and all rights are reserved. To get your Sime~Gen(tm) material sanctioned for web posting or to get permission to repost from official materials, e-mail ambrovzeor@aol.com, contact simegen@simegen.com. Sime~Gen (tm) is the trademark of a fictional universe copyright (c) by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986 and Sime~Gen Inc. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002.

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