Imaginarium 2024

By Elizabeth Donald

The Imaginarium leaders say this year saw more works nominated for the awards than they have ever seen, and I was honored to be among them. My screenplay, “The Train,” was a finalist for the Imadjinn Awards in the category of unproduced screenplays, and Underlord Steven Shrewsbury was a finalist for Reckoning Day in the category of best fantasy novel. Neither of us won, but we had a good time nonetheless!

Imaginarium isn’t really a convention with a lot of cosplay, but we do get the occasional costumes, as seen above. Mostly it’s a writers workshop and film festival, with one of the most writing-intensive panel listings on the circuit.

The convention was a delightful and exhausting time, with good conversation and bad coffee throughout the weekend. I did three workshops and two panels, plus a last-minute reading on Sunday:

“The Art of Legal Prostitution: Selling your work at cons and book fairs.”

“Death, Taxes and Freelancing”

“Nevermore: Edgar Allan Poe and The Raven.”

That third was more of an academic lecture taking the MFA out for a spin, and I was surprised that the con picked it from my list of workshops to present. I was even more surprised when the small room was pretty much full, as a lecture in the life and work of a 19th century poet is not your standard con fare. But it was a lot of fun, and well-received, as were the two business workshops.

I was really dreading the panel on AI and ethics, assuming I would be surrounded by techies who think it’s the second coming, and speaking as a writer, an English professor and a journalist, I have seen little to recommend it. It turned out to be a really interesting discussion, respectful and thoughtful even among those who use AI. I presume I was on that panel because of my position on the Society of Professional Journalists ethics committee, which is funny considering that many members of the committee have a more flexible attitude toward AI than I do.

The other panel was on literary fiction, so once again I took out the MFA and my few literary credits. Any discussion of genre has to start from defining that genre, and that can be problematic because in essence you are defining what it is not, and how it differs from other genres. The official definition of literary fiction is that it focuses more on characterization, language, and subtext/meaning than entertainment. This is frequently interpreted as “literary means boring.“ But you have to start from somewhere, and my fellow panelists and I had some really interesting discussions. I think we could have easily nerded out for another hour or two if it hadn’t been Sunday afternoon.

As Underlord Jim Gillentine had forgotten to fill out his paperwork to be a guest author, he was booth babe all weekend. As you can see, he chose a subtle and dignified appearance to represent the Literary Underworld.

We ran the Traveling Bar both nights, and as usual made as much or more serving drinks and selling books in the room as we do in the dealer’s room. Conversation was pleasant and the vibe was chill, as it often is at Imaginarium.

We debuted our line of merchandise on the table, which did require giving up a little real estate from the books, but was a big hit. We started selling stickers before the dealers room even opened. Once upon a time, we could cover our cost for the booth just by selling Pocky. This got problematic when the hotels said we couldn’t sell food. But if the stickers can cover some expenses, that’s more profit for the authors.

In all, Louisville was a delight and I wholeheartedly recommend the Troll Pub downtown for the post-con dinner. It’s quite nifty.

Now we are back home, the email inbox is staggering and I have about sixty tasks to catch up on all week. I hope you all had a great weekend, and I’ll see you on the circuit next time!

 

Imaginarium ahoy!

We here at LitUnd Towers are absolutely thrilled to be returning to the convention circuit with Imaginarium! Literary Underworld has been attending Imaginarium for every year of its existence with the exception of last year, when a stupid virus ruined everybody’s fun.

Now we’re back, and delighted to bring our booth AND the famous Literary Underworld Traveling Bar back to Louisville, Ky.! Many thanks to Stephen Zimmer and the good folks at Seventh Star Press for helping to make this possible. We always love attending Imaginarium, as we not only get to hobnob with our fellow wizards, but we usually learn a thing or two ourselves.

Imaginarium will be offered as a hybrid convention, with both virtual and on-site events for the weekend of July 9-11. Literary Underworld authors in attendance virtually include Sela Carsen; if you’re on-site in Louisville, you’ll meet Elizabeth Donald, Steven Shrewsbury, Stephen Zimmer and J.L. Mulvihill in person!

If you’re able and comfortable doing so, we hope you’ll join us in Louisville! Look for the Literary Underworld booth in the vendor hall, and watch our social media and signs on the booth for the location of the Traveling Bar. And if you’re not ready to travel, consider joining us virtually! We’ll try to post the panel schedules of our members as we can, including which ones can be accessed online.

Here’s to a fun, safe and delightful return to the con circuit, and to a better year than the last! (Not that it would be hard….)

Also! Mark your calendars for Archon in October and ContraKC in November, because we’re back, baby!

 

Patreons! New projects! Return to cons!

We’ve got a bunch of news to share, but first we’re going to talk about PATREON.

If you’re under a rock and don’t know what it is, Patreon allows people to subscribe to a particular writer, artist, musician etc. and receive regular content on an ongoing basis. Much like the patrons of the Renaissance, you get to be part of supporting independent artists in a culture and economy that doesn’t really make space for the arts. For many of us, it’s a really important part of making our living, and your $1 or $5 a month goes a lot further than you think.

And we have several authors with terrific Patreons and awesome content!

New to the club: Underlord Frank Fradella is launching a brand-new Patreon this month. Frank is the Renaissance man of our time, I swear: he’s been a novelist, a blogger, an editor, a publisher, a stand-up comic, a filmmaker, a podcaster, an educator, an artist, a pirate radio show host, a game designer, a comic book writer, a tarot deck creator, a mindset and empowerment coach, and the dad of three amazing boys. His Patreon will offer art, blogs and other writing, podcasts, serialized fiction, webinars – stop it, Frank, you’re making the rest of us look bad! Check it out here.

Nick Rowan is offering crafts and pictures, writing and Sexy Saturdays. Some higher levels get goodies in the mail! He writes: “My goals are to improve my writing, both novels and short stories and to continue providing quality content. (Also to decrease my yarn stash!) Welcome to my little corner of the universe. Where drunken PIs stalk the undead, where even demons fall in love and where the Space Exploration Rangers make life a little better for everyone.”

Sara M. Harvey is offering fiction and art history at her Patreon! “This Patreon will be devoted to a series of short stories called Starcrossed about two immortals who are dreadfully ill-matched but become lovers anyway. These tales will span hundreds of years from Ancient Greece to the present day and will be told in the order in which our narrator shares them (so, not necessarily in chronological order). While nothing will be explicit, this is a romance so expect some naughtiness… In addition to Starcrossed stories, I will also be filling in with some blog-type posts about the art history and clothing of the time period I’m writing about. My goal is one piece of fiction and one instructional post per month. (And maybe some bonus silly content like dog and kid stuff.)

Elizabeth Donald does essays, travelogues, photography, fiction, poetry and blogs from the MFA Circus at her Patreon! Posts range from wordcraft and publishing discussion to poems created in workshop to photo shoots on the road and travelogues from around the country (at least when the pandemic isn’t locking her up in her tower).

In other news….

• Congratulations to Underlord John McFarland, whose new collection The Dark Walk Forward is getting great reviews. His earlier novel The Black Garden is being re-released by Dark Owl Publishing with a lovely new cover. We carried the first edition of Black Garden for many years, and it’s a lovely, ethereal gothic horror novel sure to chill you! We will be delighted to carry the new edition, and in the meantime, pick up your copy of The Dark Walk Forward! And check out this interview with John about his work.

• We’re happy to announce that Literary Underworld is going back on the road! After more than a year staring wistfully at the boxes of books, we are booking cons again. First up will be Imaginarium, taking place July 9-11 in Louisville, Ky.; then Archon in Collinsville, Ill. on Oct. 1-3 and ContraKC in Kansas City on Nov. 5-7. In the meantime, of course, all our books are available at our online store!

• Underlord J.L. Mulvihill has a TV show! On the Page focuses on writers and writing, as Jen interviews Michael West, John Hartness, L.A. Story and others. Check it out here!

• Congratulations to Underlord Steven Shrewsbury on his nomination for the Imadjinn Award for best horror novel, honoring Along Came Evening. We don’t have that one yet, but you can bet we’ll be picking it up soon! Good luck, Shrews! Here’s the full list of nominees.

Thanks for sticking with us, friends. Hopefully we’ll see you on the road soon!

Imadjinn award for J.L. Mulvihill!

J. L. Mulvihill, author of the Steel Roots series and The Elsie Lind Chronicles, has now added screenplay writing to her many other accomplishments.

At the recent Imaginarium Convention and Film Festival in Louisville, Ky., Mulvihill claimed the Imadjinn 2019 Best Screenplay Short Format award. Mulvihill’s screenplay, Sand Mermaids, came in the running with a long list of highly seasoned screenplay writers and independent film producers.

Mulvihill was certainly surprised by the award, but extremely grateful for the opportunity and the acknowledgment.

Mulvihill wins the Imadjinn!

Sand Mermaids is a screenplay based off of Mulvihill’s own short story and is now a potential short film. It is about a young boy dealing with the death of his mother and holding a grudge against the world. When the boy focuses his pent-up grief and anger into creating mermaids at a beach on a small island in Maine, an enigma occurs, bringing the mermaids to life.

This fantastic tale, pun intended, is a cross between The Shape of Water and Tom’s Midnight Garden, giving it a paranormal fantasy feel.

J. L. Mulvihill is now looking forward to writing more screenplays and possibly even creating her own independent short film, similar to Sand Mermaids but just a bit darker. This achievement has given her a
super boost in the creative soul, which every writer needs from time to time.

Mulvihill has a lot on her plate already, writing two YA series and working on a science fiction novel as well. However, there is a plethora of story ideas kept in a multitude of files under the desk that can easily be made into film. The possibilities are endless.

Find J.L. Mulvihill’s latest work under Young Adult and Steampunk in the Literary Underworld!

Imaginarium shenanigans!

Many thanks to all those we saw at Imaginarium! If you’re a writer, filmmaker or other creative, Imaginarium is definitely the place to be – we all tend to think of it like a writing workshop and networking event rather than a traditional con.

That didn’t stop us from bringing out the bar, of course!

It was great to meet up with several of the Underlords, as well – J.L. Mulvihill and Steven L. Shrewsbury were on hand, and off-color jokes were the rule of the day. (Any connection between those facts is, of course, entirely coincidental.)

Thanks to Underlord and Imaginarium co-founder Stephen Zimmer and his crew for a fantastic event yet again!

(And once again, multiple members of the Literary Underworld were in the same place and no one took a group picture. Who’s running this outfit anyway?)

However, there was one thing we managed to photograph. J.L. Mulvihill won the Imadjinn Award for best screenplay – “Sand Mermaids,” the first screenplay she’s ever written! Congratulations to Jen for her terrific achievement!

J.L. Mulvihill

Click here for a complete list of winners from the Imadjinn Awards. Congratulations to all the winners!