SLF Chicago Chapter info: I had set up a tentative meeting for today, which I’m cancelling — the date didn’t work for most.
BUT, we had a great meeting on Thursday (present: C. Gockel, Chris Bauer, Dain Broadbent, Jeremy John, Anaea Lay, and me), despite the cold I’m fighting that made me a little tired and cranky (apologies to all who had to endure me), and I think we have some good next steps in place. We’re going to definitely move ahead with the Chicago chapter, so yay!
Initial plan is to have monthly meetings, no chapter dues for the first year, and let almost everything else develop organically. But we ARE looking towards workshops of some kind, and at least a day of SLF chapter events the last weekend in July (coinciding with the end of my book tour, when I get back to Chicago). Chris is going to send out a Doodle to those on the planning list (do you want to be on that list? Let us know!) to gauge what day of the week and time would work best for a monthly meeting in 2020. (For example, I can’t do first Wed of the month, as I have a standing commitment then.)
Chris will be Chicago chapter co-chair; we need at least 1-2 more people to share that role for 2020, so if you’re interested in having that be you, maybe just write to me and let me know? Ideally, I’d like it to be someone who is organized, who will get out meeting minutes within a few days to the group, and who can help Chris keep the Chicago chapter on track for actually doing the things they say they want to do. 
I do think it’d be nice to do a December event of some kind. Maybe a potluck at my place? It’d be good to just keep meeting and getting to know each other. I’ll send out a Doodle to the planning group for dates soon, once my holiday schedule has firmed up. (Almost ready.)
Finally, while we won’t have Chicago chapter dues, the SLF is in the middle of a membership drive; if you can do $2 / month to support our activities, it’d be a huge help. Here’s the ask (and if you’re not a member of the SLF’s FB group, it’d be great to join, to hear more about our broader projects; we’ll be setting up some separate communication channels for the Chicago chapter soon):
Join the SLF as a member! http://speculativeliterature.org/membership
More about this:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/144837912219938/permalink/2615352948501743/
Yay, SF/F writing community. This is going to be fun.