LexiCon News 
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Three months to go!
It’s three months until LexiCon! We’re looking forward to welcoming you at the Suncourt three months today, for a weekend full of panels, presentations, workshops, cosplay, gaming, and hanging out in the bar.
Read on for updates on our programme, accommodation, competitions, merchandise, and more...
Things are getting a bit heavy...
We’re very pleased to announce that on Friday night we’re going to be bringing you a screening of This Giant Papier Mache Boulder is Actually Really Heavy..., the world’s biggest low budget space movie ever (possibly), in which three ordinary guys are thrust into the parallel world of an old sci-fi movie. Trapped in a low budget universe they must somehow fight their way home.
Then on Saturday, director Christian Nicolson will talk about the making of the movie, what it takes to create a low budget, high action movie in New Zealand then take it to the world.
We’re delighted to have Christian joining us, and hope you will enjoy this addition to our programme.
Speaking of our programme…
You may have noticed our programme growing as we confirm new participants and events, so keep an eye on our events page as we move closer to the con. There are even more exciting events in the works!
Make sure you get in quick for our advanced sign-up events - places are limited.
Competitions
We’re running several competitions as part of the con and - in order to have judging complete in time to publish the winners in the conbook - the writing competitions are coming to an end soon. Write us a short story that includes a rat or a drabble on an invented word (the drabble competition is particularly good for new writers or those who are pressed for time) and prizes could be yours!
Our art competition is also open - we’re looking for work in any medium, on the theme of fire or water (or both!). Check out our competitions page for more information on all of our competitions.
Cosplayers and filkers, you haven’t been forgotten; we’ll have competition details up for you shortly.
SpecFicNZ Grants and Con or Bust
SpecFicNZ has announced that they are accepting applications for their travel grant fund to help members attend LexiCon. If you’re a SpecFicNZ member, and could use a little assistance getting to LexiCon, check out their post for more details.
And for Fans of Colour/Non-White Fans, a reminder that you can apply for a free membership - and possibly other assistance - via Con or Bust.
Convention Packs
Are you an author, artist or other creative? Want to promote your work to our members? We’re offering members the opportunity to send us bookmarks or similar promotional material for our conpacks. Contact us for more information and details of where to send these - we will need them to reach us by the first week of May.
If you’re involved with an organisation that might be interested in donating swag (such as lollies or pens) for our conpacks or items for prizes, we’d also love to hear from you.
Accommodation and Transport
We’ve booked out the Suncourt! We didn’t expect this to happen this early, but we’re very pleased so many of you have confirmed your plans. Unfortunately, other than a couple of options for fans who need wheelchair-accessible accommodation - contact us if this is you - this means there are no more rooms available at the Suncourt. However, there are plenty of other hotels, motels, backpackers, and more close by, and we’ve researched a few of them. If you still need to book accommodation, check out our recommendations here .
And on that note, as con weekend is a holiday weekend, if you need to book transport we recommend doing so sooner rather than later. You might want to check out Sounds Air for flights from Wellington, Air New Zealand for flights from Auckland (with connections to other centres), and Intercity for bus services from… pretty much anywhere.
Reading Time
We know many of you like to have a read of books by the Guest of Honour before conventions - and we recommend doing so - some things will make so much more sense if you do! Seanan McGuire is, however, unusually prolific, so where to start? Here are our recommendations:
- Do you like your characters accustomed to danger, your world populated with more species than you can imagine, a touch of romance in your reading, and your belief that everything in Australia really does want to kill you vindicated? The Incryptid series, starting with Discount Armageddon, is for you.
- Do you like your fantasy a bit darker, a modern Californian setting infused with some very old magic? Pick up Rosemary and Rue and start reading the October Daye series.
- For the zombie fans, or those who like to see conspiracies unravelled in their fiction, we recommend Newsflesh (written by Seanan McGuire as Mira Grant), starting with Feed.
- Love zombies but looking for something different? The Parasitology series (starting with Parasite, and also by Mira Grant) has new horrors in store.
Full details of all McGuire’s work are on her website, so check out your local bookshop or library, and get reading!
SJV Nominations
Speaking of reading (and watching, and listening, and looking at), nominations for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards are now open. If you’ve read, watched, or seen some great NZ Science Fiction or Fantasy from 2016 (we hope all of you have!) check out the nomination form and get nominating.
Have you checked your badge name?
Your badge name is the one that will be printed on your membership badge, which you will wear for the duration of the convention. We’ll be printing these in advance, so please make sure it’s the name you want other fans to recognise you by. Most people use their legal name - or a variation thereof - but feel free to use online handles, nicknames, whatever best fits. You can check - and if necessary change - your badge name here.
Have you paid your membership fee and accommodation deposit?
Please take a moment to check if all money owed has been paid. You can do this by looking at the membership page - if we have not confirmed receipt of your payment, it will show as “pending”. If there’s still something to pay, we’d really appreciate you doing so as soon as you are able.
Merchandise
LexiCon merchandise is now available for purchase. We have attire for all ages and genders, and it’s only available online, so take a look now.
Spread the word!
While we’re really happy with how membership numbers have been climbing, the more people we know are attending in advance, the more awesomeness we can add to the convention. If you have friends you think might be interested, please point them to the sign-up page. Shares from our Facebook account and retweets also help get the word out, and are always appreciated.
Thank you all for your support so far! We’re looking forward to seeing you all - whether you’re regular con-goers or first-time attendees. We will be in touch with further updates over the coming months - and do feel free to contact us if you have any questions.