LibertyCon celebrates 29 years of sci-fi and fantasy literature

New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Maberry is the literary guest of honor for this weekend's LibertyCon. He has won multiple Bram Stoker Awards for his horror writing.

"Astrophage," an acrylic on canvas by Melissa Gay, special guest of honor at this weekend's LibertyCon.

When Brandy Spraker says that the LibertyCon science fiction and fantasy literary convention is a family event, she's speaking both literally and figuratively.

Spraker's father, Tim Bolgeo, started the convention in 1987, serving as chairman of the event until its 25th anniversary in 2012, when Spraker took over. For years, her mother was the event's head of registration. Her mother-in-law was its head of hospitality. Her husband, whom she met during the second year of the convention, is now her vice chairman, and both her children have grown up attending the three-day event.

"We take it seriously when we say LibertyCon is a family," laughs Spraker, who works most days as an engineer at TVA.

"It was great growing up because I spent my formative years at LibertyCon and many other conventions," she adds. "It's a very accepting environment where it was very cool to be smart in science and mathematics. Those are the people who often go to science-fiction conventions. It's like having a huge extended family. I have so many aunts and uncles, both authors and fans who have attended since I was a kid. It's been great."

LibertyCon celebrates its 29th iteration this weekend with a schedule of more than 250 programmed events during a sold-out, three-day residency at the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

When he founded the convention, Spraker's father capped attendance at 750 people to create a more intimate environment, one where convention goers can realistically expect to have meaningful interactions with a plethora of special guests. This year's list of visiting professionals includes about 150 authors, artists and scientists, including five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry, celebrated fantasy and science-fiction illustrator Todd Lockwood and computer programmer, astrophysicist and futurist Dr. Ben Davis.

The scheduled events for this year's convention feature a mixture of meet-and-greets, readings, board gaming and table top roleplaying sessions, panel discussions on a variety of topics and more.

"It's just the right size to have enough to do. You're not bored - there's plenty to do. But you can still have that personal time with guests," Spraker says. "It's not so big that you're standing in line for an hour to get an autograph or to see someone for five seconds.

"Everyone who is there is there because they love science fiction and fantasy literature. We just want to make it a great weekend."

Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.