Dear record.first,

It's almost here!!! ArmadilloCon 28 is next weekend (August 11 - 13, 2006) and we hope you are still planning on attending. If you haven't done so already, be sure to get your hotel room and there are just a few spots still available. (Please use the code ZZZ to receive the con rate.) If you are planning on throwing a party during the convention, please contact Fred Duarte (hotel liaison) so that he can make sure you have a good room on the party room.

Sincerely,
Kimm Antell, Chair

The $125 membership fee for World Fantasy 2006 ended on July 31, 2006 and is now at $150. However, for ArmadilloCon attendees ONLY, World Fantasy has extended the deadline to August 20, 2006. You must pick up a flyer at the convention to receive this rate. We will be accepting money at the FACT table at the front of the Dealer's Room.

The program schedule will be published this week. Rest assured, there is a Kong panel.

We have finalized the participant list:

Joseph Abbott, David Lee Anderson, Kurt Baty, Paul Benjamin, Carol Berg, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Scott Bobo, Elizabeth Burton, Bill Crider, Scott Cupp, Bradley Denton, Aaron de Orive, Rhonda Eudaly, Mark Finn, Brad Foster, Bill Fountain, John K. Gibbons, Beverly A. Hale, Joan Upton Hall, Scott A. Johnson, Julie Kenner, Katharine Eliska Kimbriel, Rick Klaw, Joe R. Lansdale, Lee Martindale, C. J. Mills, Elizabeth Moon, John Moore, Chris Nakashima-Brown, Jess Nevins, Gloria Oliver, Cary G. Osborne, Lawrence Person, John Picacio, John S. Quarterman, Jessica Reisman, Carrie Richerson, Chris Roberson, Josh Rountree, Patrice Sarath, Rie Sheridan, Sherlock, Willie Siros, Caroline Spector, Warren Spector, Mikal Trimm, Howard Waldrop, Lynn Ward, Martha Wells and Wendy Wheeler

We will be accepting new and gently used childrens books (ages 6 months to 5 years) for our charity, Capital Area Reach Out and Read. Books may be brought to the FACT table in the Dealer's Room. Please take this opportunity to give and to also attend the charity auction to support CAROR with funds. I have it on good authority that there are at least 3 very exclusive items up for auction! (Plus, how can you not want to listen to Lee Martindale and Mark Finn for an hour. They are a hoot!)

If you would like to donate items for the charity auction, please contact the coordinator. We are also accepting donations of books. Please see the guidelines about which books are acceptable for this worthy cause.

The 2005 Dream Realm Awards for excellence in electronically published speculative fiction will again be part of ArmadilloCon. Established in 2000 and first presented at the now-defunct UncommonCon, the award presentation was without a real-world home until it was added to ArmadilloCon programming in 2003 and has become an integral part of convention activities.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! In today's world, it is so hard to find a group of people with whom you are comfortable. And I look forward to seeing this group at the convention every year. Stop by and say hello if you see me. (I'll be the one who looks like Rosemary Clooney on a sugar high.)

Thanks!
Kimm Antell
ArmadilloCon 28, Chair