The Kathi Overton and John Pomeranz Fourth of July party will be Noon till late on Tuesday the 4th of July.
5927 3rd Street North, Arlington VA.
Call 703-5CAT-WAR for directions.

The May First Friday (5-5-17) WSFA meeting began with an announcement of the election. Sam S., treasurer, said if you have not paid your dues, he is ready to take money. We have $xx. There was talk about Sam S and Judy S being paid members but WSFA pays their dues because they host WSFA.

Bob chaired the meeting. Mike said he is ready to hold a meeting, but Bob said he is not enthusiastic. We have to get the RR running. People gave Trumpisms.

Capclave Present. Elizabeth said she’s here. Her convention at work is over. Logan airport is the worst. She prefers Chicago. She is going to Tampa next year. She has spent five days throwing things out. We will have a convention, it will be awesome. Neil Clarke has a patron. Ravencon has lots of people who would be good for Capclave. People should register. Price goes up after Balticon. If you went to a convention and liked something they did, if replicable, suggest it to her.

Click the link for the full text of the May/June 2017 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the May 5th, 19th 2017 / June 2nd, 16th 2017 meetings.

WSFA Journal May-June 2017

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

First Friday meeting in March, 3/3/17, began with President Bob presiding. WSFAns quieted down. “It’s 9:15,” said Bob. “George, tell us what you remember from the last meeting.” George said there was no quorum, nothing significant sticks to his mind. No attendance. Sam S. for treasurer said $XX,XXX.XX. We have 35 paid up members.

The trustees said we will have election in a couple of months. We are looking for new warm bodies to take over from old warm bodies. Bob reminded trustees need a slate by start of April.

Capclave Present: Cathy said Elizabeth has the plague. Cathy said, Elizabeth and Sherin Nicole are working on bookmarks. Tweaking it. We will have them by Ravencon/Lunacon. We sent out invites. Sam S said we have 80 paid members, about what we have normally. For Capclave Future, Cathy had nothing to report. There was a discussion of trying to talk to hotels.

Click the link for the full text of the March/April 2017 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the March 3rd, 17th 2017 / April 7th, 21st 2017 meetings.

WSFA Journal March-April 2017

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

An abbreviated WSFA First Friday (1/6/17) meeting took place after Lawrence Schoen’s reading. Bob Macintosh chaired. The meeting was called to order at 10:23. No business was done at the last meeting. Bob asked the committees to pass unless something important to say.

Sam S. said we have money. “Pay your dues, see me after the meeting.” Dues are $20. We have $X in bank with a Year over Year of $X. For trustees, Mike Walsh said there was a vacancy in the small press award committee. Kim Hargan threw himself in front of bus, err volunteered. There will be an election first Friday in February. Nominations from floor will be accepted.

For Capclave 2017, Elizabeth asked people to register. Sign up now while less expensive.

There is a new WSFA email list in google groups. It will be low traffic, intended for announcements, transactional things. To subscribe, give permission to Elizabeth or see your email.

For Capclave Future, Cathy said she had a productive meeting with Collette about hotels and discussed possible arrangements. Bill has nothing to report for 2020 or WFC.

Click the link for the full text of the January/February 2017 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the January 6th, 20th 2017 / February 3rd, 17th 2017 meetings.

WSFA Journal January-February 2017

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The WSFA First Friday in November, 11/4/16 started at 9:15 with President Bob presiding. Sam L read minutes. Treasurer Sam gave the report. $$ since we paid the hotel bill. The year over year is $??,???.??. Trustees had nothing.

For Capclave past, the chair was not here. There was discussion of registration. There is a core group who loyally come every year of around 200. The number of new people seems to be the same. We went ## in the occassionals. We’re doing fine getting word out, we have a solid core group and it’s building. 16 people since the GRMM year have come each year. We need to increase that or figure out why occassionals weren’t here.

There was a nice thank you letter from Filthy Pierre. We don’t know if broke even yet since don’t have all receipts. Probably close to break even. In terms of getting people, go to regional conventions and promote it. We weren’t getting as many as expected. Prereg at 2016 was up from last year. Books balanced. Thank you to people running reg.

Click the link for the full text of the November/December 2016 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the November 4th, 18th 2016 / December 2nd, 16th 2016 meetings.

WSFA Journal November-December 2016

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) is pleased to announce that on October 8th at the Capclave science fiction convention, Martin L. Shoemaker won the 2016 WSFA Small Press Award for best short fiction published by a small press in 2015.

The winner is “Today I Am Paul,” by Martin L. Shoemaker, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (August 2015).

Neil Clarke, publisher of Clarkesworld Magazine, accepted on behalf of Martin Shoemaker, who was unable to attend Capclave.

The other finalists for the 2016 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction were:

“The Art of Deception,” by Stephanie Burgis in Insert Title Here, ed. by Tehani Wessely, published by Fablecroft Publishing, (April 2015);

“Burn Her,” by Tanith Lee in Dancing Through The Fire, ed. by Ian Randal Strock, published by Fantastic Books (September 2015);

“Cat Pictures Please,” by Naomi Kritzer, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (January 2015);

“The Empress in Her Glory,” by Robert Reed, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (April 2015);

“The Haunting of Apollo A7LB,” by Hannu Rajaniemi in Hannu Rajaniemi: Collected Fiction published by Tachyon Publications, (May 2015);

“Headspace,” by Beth Cato in Cats In Space, ed. by Elektra Hammond, published by Paper Golem LLC, (December 2015);

“Leashing the Muse,” by Larry Hodges, published in Space and Time Magazine, ed. by Hildy Silverman, (May 2015); and

“Leftovers,” by Leona Wisoker in Cats In Space, ed. by Elektra Hammond, published by Paper Golem LLC, (December 2015);

The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2015). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

Just a reminder that we won’t be holding our normal 1st Friday meeting on Oct. 7th. Instead the entire club will be ensconced in Gaithersburg MD at Capclave, our annual convention. If you haven’t already bought a membership, you can still get one at the door. It’s going to be an incredible weekend, with two incredible guests of honor, Sarah Beth Durst, and Tim Powers. If you’re not sure who they are, look them up, you won’t be sorry. And in addition to readings, panels, presentations, autographing, filking, and a fully stocked dealer’s room (where WSFA Press Books will be available), we’ll also be announcing the winner of the WSFA Small Press Award on Saturday night.

The 9-2-16 September First Friday meeting began with George Shaner presiding. There was a discussion of DC metro system. “Let’s get this show on the road,” said George at 9:14 on his phone. First Friday of September. Robert is his middle name. George Bob, the 10th Walton said Cathy.

Sam L. read minutes. Treasurer’s report was $$$$ with a year to year of $$$.

Paul said, Capclave Present is present. Reservations for travel for GoH made. He needs to talk to Bob about hotel space. There is a new hotel person at the hotel. The reservation system has been fixed. Elizabeth booked a room, said only Kings left. Paul is still in need of a games master. Zenlizard raised his hand; he will talk to people at games con this week. Crosses fingers, “I believe Capclave is on track.” Colleen said programming going on to panelists shortly. She stole from only the best of cons. Have workshops. Plotting on Friday, Writing on Sat. MicroFiction workshop. Reading aloud workshop, Short fiction contracts, Book design 101, Internet tools for readers on Sunday. Do need to finalize details. Bill asked about online signups, Colleen said when we get all the details it will go online.

Click the link for the full text of the September/October 2016 WSFA Journal, including the Minutes of the September 2nd, 16th 2016 / October 2nd, 11th 2016 meetings.

WSFA Journal September-October 2016

Note: Publication date is set to the date of the Journal, rather than the date posted, for indexing purposes

The Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2016 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction:

• “The Art of Deception” by Stephanie Burgis in Insert Title Here, ed. by Tehani Wessely, published by Fablecroft Publishing, (April 2015);
• “Burn Her,” by Tanith Lee in Dancing Through The Fire, ed. by Ian Randal Strock, published by Fantastic Books (September 2015);
• “Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (January 2015);
• “The Empress in Her Glory” by Robert Reed, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (April 2015);
• “The Haunting of Apollo A7LB” by Hannu Rajaniemi in Hannu Rajaniemi: Collected Fiction published by Tachyon Publications, (May 2015);
• “Headspace” by Beth Cato in Cats In Space, ed. by Elektra Hammond, published by Paper Golem LLC, (December 2015);
• “Leashing the Muse” by Larry Hodges, published in Space and Time Magazine, ed. by Hildy Silverman, (May 2015);
• “Leftovers” by Leona Wisoker in Cats In Space, ed. by Elektra Hammond, published by Paper Golem LLC, (December 2015);
• “Today I Am Paul” by Martin L. Shoemaker, published in Clarkesworld Magazine, ed. by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace, (August 2015).

The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2015).

An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author (and publisher) hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story.

The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (www.wsfa.org) and will be presented at Capclave (www.capclave.org), held this year on October 7-9, 2016 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Fifth Friday Party/Housewarming – Rodger Burns invites WSFA to his brand new condo for Fifth Friday at 9 PM on July 29th in Silver Spring, MD. Email him at eldersphinx@gmail.com for address and directions.

Writer Fran Wilde, author of Updraft and Cloudbound, will speak to WSFA at our 1st Friday meeting, August 5th at 9 PM. The business meeting will take place after the reading.