Panels, performers, gamers and geeks: ChattaCon 44 in town this weekend

Evan Bates plays Dust 1947 at Chattacon 43.

Timothy Zahn, author of "The Heir to the Empire" trilogy, will be the featured guest at this weekend's ChattaCon 44 in the historic Read House.

ChattaCon, believed by organizers to be the South's oldest sci-fi speculative fiction convention, is expected to draw 1,000 or more guests to participate in games, film screenings, cosplay, workshops, panel discussions and entertainment designed to appeal to those who love the sci-fi genre.

Adding to the atmosphere will be members of Chattoine who will lead a Star Wars-themed quiz show.

Performing over the weekend will be Big Daddy Voodoo, Vamp Valley Vixens, Doc Osborn and Moon Haven Studio.

Workshop topics will range from advice on writing horror fiction, how to cosplay on a budget and how to enhance your costume with props to discovering representation of the LGBTQ community in Star Wars.

Panel topics are equally as varied, discussing the wildest death scenes in movie violence, the strangest creatures panelists have discovered in books and even how the geek life has moved from ridicule to retro and where geeks go from here.

Timothy Zahn

A video game room will offer games for adults and children, and four tournaments have been lined up: Smash Brothers, DDR-Mario Mix, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Smash Brothers Ultimate. For those who prefer games that interact with other human players there is "Do You Want to Date My Avatar," a dating game with cosplayers in character.

Timothy Zahn began writing science fiction has a hobby in 1975, but gave more time to it over the following three years until he sold his first story in December 1978. In 1980, he began writing full-tine.

Since then he has published 55 novels, more than 100 short stories and novelettes, and five collections of short fiction. Best known for his 11 Star Wars novels, he is also the author of the Quadrail series, the Cobra series, the Conquerors trilogy and the young-adult Dragonback series.

ChattaCon's other featured guests will be artist Charles Urbach and author Tim Waggoner.

Urbach's published work includes hundreds of illustrations for the tabletop gaming industry, book covers for many independent publishing projects, cover/branding art for major gaming conventions and graphic design/concept work for the corporate world.

Projects have included miniatures designs for Wizkids' Heroclix, illustrations for "Magic: The Gathering," "Star Wars," "Legend of the Five Rings" and artwork for other games and properties such as "Esper Genesis," "Das Schwarze Auge," "Infinite City," "Doomtown Reloaded," "Noble Treachery," "A Game of Thrones," "Call of Cthulhu" and "Lord of the Rings."

Waggoner has published over 40 novels and five collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. He's won the Bram Stoker Award, been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and the Scribe Award and he's twice had stories selected for inclusion in volumes of Year's Best Hardcore Horror.

This year's ChattaCon will include a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26.

All blood donors ages 18 and older will be entered to win a badge for ChattaCon 45, and a one-night stay at the Read House, valid Feb. 1 until Dec. 30. All donors will receive a fleece blanket.