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Geek Resume

Introduction

I picked up the fan mentality when I was very young, but didn't really find fandom per se until much later, to a large degree after I moved to the States in 2004. I didn't hear about Eastercon, the UK's national science fiction convention since 1948, until I'd attended a Westercon in San Diego!

I discovered science fiction when I was ten, when the BBC broadcast their version of John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids. I was enthralled and my mother, a science fiction fan from way back when, promptly put a copy of the source novel into my hands to read. It proved to be too much of a challenge for me at the time, even though I'd read The Hobbit a few years earlier, so I came back to it later.

However, my interest had been engaged and I asked her what books I should start with to learn about science fiction. She gave me Robert A. Heinlein's juveniles, the Lije Baley books by Isaac Asimov and Clifford D. Simak's Way Station. I was off and running and haven't looked back since.

I was already a horror nut and was collecting everything I could find, in print and on film. I built an especially large collection of the works of Guy N. Smith, to the degree of hand-written manuscripts of unpublished novels. I was proud to move from a fan to friend, IT support and eventually colleague as I handled desktop publishing for a number of issues of his fan club magazine, Graveyard Rendezvous, and laid out three of his novels for Black Hill Books.

Beyond a brief dalliance with groups like ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Appreciation Society, I didn't tap into wider fandom or discover the convention scene until relatively recently. However, over the last few years, I've been going to and working a whole bunch of them and the critters breed, I tell you. Now I'm documenting the history of Arizona fandom at azfandom.org.

In fact, I ended up finding myself active within the film community first, having enjoyed the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival in 2007 so much that I had to become part of it. The two sides tied together when I began, under my Apocalypse Later Roadshow banner, to program mini-film festivals at conventions and, now, to run my own event, the Apocalypse Later International Fantastic Film Festival.

So, here are my varied geek credentials:


Official Positions


Official Convention Positions

  • Assistant Manager of Fashion (2014-2019), Film Manager (2019-present) for Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention.
  • Vice Chair and Publications for Westercon 70 (2017).
  • Fan Guest of Honor (with Dee Astell) for TusCon 44 (2017).
  • Alternating Co- and Vice Chair, Publications and Website for CoKoCon (2018-present).
  • Publications and Website for LepreCon 45 (2019).
  • Bid Chair for Westercon 74 in 2021 (2019).
  • Bid Chair for Westercon 75 in 2023 (2020-present).


Film Festival Programmer


Convention Mini-Film Festival Programmer


Film Festival Submission Screener


Film Challenge/Festival Judge


Panelist/Moderator


MC and/or DJ (as Count Chaos)


Author


Writer

  • As a schoolchild I contributed an article to the Domesday project.
  • I write or have written for Barkisland and Deanhead News, Village Voice (no, not that one), Graveyard Rendezvous and The WOD in print.
  • I write or have written for Cinema Head Cheese, The WOD and Nerdvana online.
  • I wrote The Soul Hunters, based on a proposed novel synopsis by Guy N. Smith for the hardback book, Hell of a Guy: Fans on the Rampage (2016), edited by J. R. Park and Chris Hall.
  • I contributed two chapters to the forthcoming book Hard to Watch: The Films of Steven Seagal (2020), edited by David Hayes.
  • As of August 2020, I've written 2,380+ film reviews and 600+ music reviews at Apocalypse Later, plus 460+ book reviews at the Nameless Zine.


Editor and Publisher

  • I founded and operate Apocalypse Later Press with seven books in print.
  • I edited the Barkisland and Deanhead News for a year or so.
  • I founded, edited and published the Village Voice (no, not that one).
  • I laid out Graveyard Rendezvous for a couple of years.
  • I laid out three books for Guy N Smith's Black Hill Books: The Busker, Cornharrow and An Unholy Way to Die.


Web Archivist


Actor

  • Fight Spectator in The Prometheus Project (2010)
  • Voice actor (two different roles) in Shaolin vs. Frankenstein (2011)
  • Marketplace Extra in Mantecoza (2012)
  • Extra (two different roles) in A Familiar Fate (2012)
  • Extra in We Three (2013)
  • Airline Passenger in Flight Fright (2015)


Podcast/Vidcast Guest


Memberships

I am a member of:

I have been a member of:


Creative Commons License
Last update: 29th August, 2020