e. m. kerkman

Hello everyone! This post is a little bit belated, but in my defense, I’ve been up to some pretty exciting stuff (aka moving. again.) this past month so the time has gotten away from me a bit. No new news on any upcoming stories from me, but in this industry, no news is often good news!

Anyway, as many of you know, I moved to Montana this past year and recently committed to staying here long term. Montana is a wonderful state for my various outdoor interests, but not so much for my nerdy ones—or so I thought.

In early April I was lucky enough to have a day off of work to attend the inaugural First Contact Convention here in Bozeman. First Contact Con was put together by a group of dedicated nerds to bring more nerds together in a space created for us, by us. (And yes, the event’s name is a Star Trek reference—in that universe, first contact with Earth happened here in Bozeman!) The organizers did a wonderful job, from the guest lecturers to the space itself, and it was very cool to see how many people attended. There was a whole room dedicated to board games—where I met some Montana-based indie game devs and learned a few different ways to play sabacc from the team behind Hyperspace Props—and a space to learn and watch mixed martial arts from another local company. In the artists alley, there were fursuit makers, a local bookbindery, a couple of cosplay prop companies and groups, and a number of other vendors from near and far.

On the writing-specific side of things, I got to meet Kathy Tyers—a Montana local and well-known sci-fi author, for both her original works and her Star Wars novels—and the creative team behind Matter of the Imagination, Montana’s very own locals-only print science fiction magazine that releases two editions per year, with their second issue releasing in June 2026. Kathy Tyres gave a talk about her writing journey and how she landed a contract writing Star Wars novels, as well as answered questions from aspiring authors in the crowd, and the MotI creative team discussed the origins, process, and future of their magazine.

Overall, I had a great time at First Contact Con (and no, they didn’t pay me or ask me to write this). There was something for everyone, even kiddos, and I hope the convention will draw an even bigger crowd next year, as it’s very deserving of the attention. The only thing that could’ve made my day better was some dedicated, moderated meetups for different interest groups. Everyone who attended was nerdy in some way, but it would’ve been fun to fill a room with local authors or local cosplayers and get to meet new friends we may have otherwise missed.

So, if you’re a sci-fi nerd in Montana next April, stop in for a day or two and make new friends! You’ll probably (definitely) see me there. I’ll post a haul of all of my convention goodies later—right now, everything is lost in the sea of U-Haul boxes taking up my living room.

That’s all for now! As always, stay awesome.