Month: August 2018

Website Anniversary Report August 26, 2018

Website Anniversary Report August 26, 2018

Introduction

On August 26, 2016, I created my website at garydavidgillen.com. Making a website was part of my plan to become a social media experienced writer. I had written a novel and a few short stories over the years, but I had stopped writing in 2012. In December of 2015, I decided to start writing again. I finished the story I was writing in 2012 (called Dystopia then, now called Kay-Eye.) in that month and created a plan for 2016.

My 2016 plan called for writing four short stories, begin attending conventions, creating Facebook and Twitter accounts, and starting a website. I wanted to become a better writer and then expand the short novel that I had written in 1995 (it was called A Gathering in New Marl in 1995 and I have renamed it Assassin in New Marl City). I joined a writer’s workshop group at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Public Library and two at the Parma-Snow Library. It has been a busy two years and I expect a busier year in 2019.

Writing Progress from August 2016 to August 2018

Worked on Assassin in New Marl City. I wanted to expand the novel from 20 chapters to 36 chapters (100000 words total). I wrote six chapters from January 2017 to August 2017. Wrote the other ten chapters from August 2017 to July 2018. Cut six chapters of the ten and plan to use them in the sequel novel. Editing the novel now and it is planned to total 88000 words.

Bought a Map for Assassin in New Marl City from Fiveer in April 2017.

This is the link to the Fiveer website.

https://www.fiverr.com/

I bought a banner from Fiveer for my website, Facebook, and Twitter accounts in April 2017. (It is the banner at the beginning of this report.)

Writing Progress from August 2016 to August 2018

January 2016 to August 2016 I wrote Four Humors and Space Station Sunyata.

August 2016 to October 2016 I wrote White Bracer and Mage Squad.

January 2017 to August 2017 I wrote the flash fiction short stories LARP Film Noir, Hybrid-Dog Confession, and Get to the Point.

September 2017 to August 2018 I wrote the flash fiction short stories Torso Secret History, Sleeping Sickness, Memorial Board, A Yacht at Midnight (a scene from Cuba Liberto), and Tales of the Sacred Band (prequel story from the Gairn series).

The stories Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, and LARP Film Noir has been submitted to magazines.

Statistics of magazine submissions from December 2016 to August 2018 are; 5 different stories (Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, and LARP Film Noir) submitted a total of 15 times with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 15 rejections.

This post is my 94th post in this last year for the website including 50 Book Reviews, 24 Writing Progress Reports, 11 Conference Recaps, and 9 Random Posts.

Events from September 2017 to August 2018

September 23, 2017, Western Reserve Writers Conference in South Euclid, Ohio

November 14, 2017, Indy Writer’s Conference in Parma, Ohio

March 9 to March 11, 2018 Concoction in Cleveland, Ohio

May 12, 2018, Marcon in Columbus, Ohio

June 9, 2018, Mystery Writers Getaway in South Euclid, Ohio

July 14, 2018, Cleveland Writing Workshop in Independence, Ohio

July 28, 2018 Confluence in Pittsburgh, PA

August 4, 2018, Cleveland Inkubator in Cleveland, Ohio

Writing Goals for August 2018 to August 2019

Edit Assassin in New Marl City (about 88000 words) and try to get an agent to sell it to a traditional publisher or prepare to self-publish it.

Get a cover for Assassin in New Marl City.

Self-publish Searcher of Riven (about 11000 words) and Ruins of Yarnud (about 24000 words) by August 2019.

Have a screenplay called Cuba Liberto (about 24000 words). I want to turn it into a novel and expand it to about 72000 words. Plan to complete a draft of this novel by August 2019.

Complete the novelette called Chemthurgy (I expanded it to 5500 words in February 2018. The finished story will be about 11000 words)

Continue to submit Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, and Get to the Point to other short fiction magazines.

Polish and submit the stories White Bracer, Mage Squad, Time Traveler One, Prisoner of Tarnal, Kay-Eye, LARP Film Noir, Void-Dog Confession, and Sleeping Sickness for submission to short fiction magazines.

Planned Events for August 2018 to August 2019

October 13, 2018, Indy Writer’s Conference in Parma, Ohio

November 2 to November 4, 2018, Book Baby Writer’s Conference in Philadelphia, PA

January 17 to January 20, 2019 Confusion in Detroit, MI

February 14 to February 17, 2019, Capricon in Chicago, IL

February 2019 Winter Fiction Fest in Cleveland, Ohio

March 1 to March 3, 2019 Concoction in Cleveland, Ohio

April 19 to April 21, 2019 Conglomeration at Louisville, KY

April 2019 Western Reserve Writers Conference in South Euclid, Ohio

May 10 to 12, 2018 Marcon in Columbus, Ohio

July 26 to July 28, 2019 Confluence in Pittsburgh, PA

August 2019 Cleveland Inkubator in Cleveland, Ohio

Links

Website Anniversary Report August 26, 2018

I wrote a first-anniversary post on garydavidgillen.com in August of 2017 linked below.

Website Anniversary Report August 26, 2017

Son of Cayn by Jason McDonald, Alan Isom, and Stormy McDonald

Son of Cayn by Jason McDonald. The Cayn Trilogy Book #1

Introduction

Xandor the ranger has a mission from Marcus, the leader of the Kral’s Secret Service. Xandor must infiltrate a caravan headed out of the city of Pazard’zhik with his crew including Chert, Jasper, and Grendel. The caravan is smuggling soap. Soap? Yes, soap. Xandor’s crew must determine where and why the soap is being smuggled. The answer to those questions will task his courage and determination.

Summary

Jasper is hired as the caravan’s cook by the caravan leader, Dragahn. Dragahn drives the Chuckwagon and Jasper rides with him. The second wagon is driven by Sachin, the financier of the caravan who has just hired Grendel, a half-orc, as his bodyguard. The third wagon is driven by Pyotr, the horse doctor, with the cook’s helper Lucky sitting by his side. Xandor is a Ranger and Chert is a dwarven cleric. They try to discover the secret of the soap but are unsuccessful before the caravan leaves the city. They follow the caravan trying to complete their mission. The caravan goes through the Plague Lands, into the haunted forest, and approaches its destination.

Xandor and Chert fight deadly foes along the way. The people of the caravan must also contend with Marco the Knight, Kourash who is a beast, and the unnamed villain leader. Secrets are revealed, enemies are uncloaked, and the next book of the series is set up.

Recommendation

Son of Cayn is a brisk and well-drawn adventure quest. The novel was influenced by Dungeons & Dragons. There is a human Ranger, a dwarven cleric, a human mage, a half-orc, trolls, orcs, elves, and other fantastic beasts. The novel reminded me of the first law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie because both series are about a group on a quest and the setting is dark. I like the smuggling soap plotline. It was very inventive. There were a few things that could have been better. It took too long to establish that Marcus sent this crew to investigate the smuggling operation of the caravan. That should’ve been clearer earlier. There were one too many battles with Xander and Chert defeating a fantastic beast. They both almost get killed again and again and Chert heals them back to full health. Xandor’s powers, like the cat thing, appear unestablished.

My main issue was the villain wasn’t revealed until over halfway through the novel. Early viewpoints from the villain would have increased the tension. I like the Russian names and background including the references to the Christian church. The orcs and other beings are referred to as Sons of Cayn which is an interesting background element. I like Xander’s crew and plan to follow them on their next adventure in book 2 of the trilogy.

The Speed of Sound by Eric Bernt

The Speed of Sound by Eric Bernt. Speed of Sound Thrillers Book #1

Introduction

Dr. Skylar Drummond has recently been hired at Harmony House. Harmony House is run by Dr. Fenton and is a place where kids with autistic disorders are housed. These kids were specifically picked by Dr. Fenton because they have savant knowledge along with their autism. Skylar connects with her patient Eddie Parks who has Asperger’s syndrome. Eddie’s project is to create a machine that can replicate sound waves, an echo box. He wants to hear his deceased mother sing. If he can make the device work, Dr. Fenton and other government agencies will take it from him. They will kill to get the device. Skylar cannot let them take it from Eddie.

Summary

Eddie Parks doesn’t want to be touched, he likes birds and has designed his room to specific sonic specifications. Skylar connects with him partially due to her experience with her deceased brother, Christopher. She helps Eddie rethink his echo box. Three factions want a working echo box. Barnes, Dr. Fenton’s security chief at Harmony House wants the box for Dr. Fenton to secure the funding for Harmony house. A mysterious group called the Heritage Foundation also wants it. They are a group that has money and connections inside the government. The Heritage Foundation put political candidates into office and assassinate undesirable targets. They want the box to record secret meetings. The third group is Homeland Security who wants the echo box to help in the war on terror.

Recommendation

This novel is a techno-thriller. Eddies’ echo box is the McGuffin that everyone wants. Events proceed quickly after the situation is set up. I thought that some of the choices of the author made the novel difficult to follow in the beginning. Giving viewpoints to characters only to kill them off did not help the reader to identify the important characters. The author’s head hopping, even sentence by sentence, disorients the reader. Readers should know that this novel ends abruptly and leaves plot threads incomplete to be addressed in the next novel in the series. I think that the next novel will be better than this one.

Writing Progress Report for August 2018

This is my Writing Progress Report for August 2018.

The Confluence Conference 2018 was held at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport.

Writing Progress from July 2018

Typed chapters 23, 25, 29, and 31 of Assassin in New Marl City in July of 2018. The first draft is complete at 99981 words.

Completed a Query letter I used to find an agent for Assassin in New Marl City and submitted it to the Cleveland Writing Workshop on 07-14-18.

Edited Chapter One of Assassin in New Marl City and submitted it to the Cleveland Writing Workshop on 07-14-18.

Bought and used the editing program Pro Writing Aid to edit the first three chapters for my novel as part of a query submission planned for August 2018.

The stories Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, and LARP Film Noir has been submitted to magazines.

Statistics of magazine submissions for 2018 are; 0 different stories submitted a total of 0 times with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 0 rejections.

Events from July 2018

I attended the Cleveland Writing Workshop on July 14, 2018, at the Holiday Inn at 6001 Rockside Road Independence, Ohio. There were five presentations throughout the day. This year’s instructor, Brian A. Klems, critiqued the query letter that I submitted. Editor Ricki Schultz critiqued the first ten pages of my novel, Assassin in New Marl City. I pitched that novel to Agents Cyle Young and Gabrielle Piraino at the event.

The Cleveland Writing Workshop is run by Writing Day Workshops.

This is the link to the Cleveland writing workshop website.

https://clevelandwritingworkshop.com/

I attended the Confluence Conference on July 28, 2018, at the Airport Sheraton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This is the link to the Pittsburgh Confluence website.

http://parsec-sff.org/confluence/

Writing Goals for August 2018

Type the edits for Assassin in New Marl City Chapters 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 in August of 2018.

Complete a query for submission to Agent Cyle Young.

Edit Chapter One of Assassin in New Marl City and submit it to Pitch Wars on 08-28-18.

Complete a Query letter and a synopsis to be submitted to Pitch Wars on 08-28-18.

Edit Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Assassin in New Marl City using comments from the Advanced Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio.

Polish and submit the stories Space-Dog Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.

Submit Grognard to my writing group. Take the feedback and revise the story so it can be submitted to magazines again.

Submit Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, and LARP Film Noir to other short fiction magazines.

Edit Searcher of Riven.

Hire an editor for Searcher of Riven from Fiveer.

Edit Ruins of Yarnud.

Hire an editor for Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer.

Planned Events for August 2018

Attend the Cleveland Inkubator at the Cleveland Public Library on August 4, 2018. It is sponsored by Literary Cleveland. It is a one-day writing conference.

This is the link to the Literary Cleveland website.

https://www.litcleveland.org/

Pitch Wars is a mentoring program contest where contestants submit a finished but unpublished novel to mentors. Each mentor picks one contestant to mentor for the program length. The submission is online on August 28, 2018. I plan to submit a query letter, a synopsis, a 35-word pitch, and the first chapter of my novel to the contest.

Purchase e-book covers for Searcher of Riven and Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer.

Purchase an e-book cover for Assassin in New Marl City from Fiveer.

Put the novel, Assassin in New Marl City, into the writing program, Scrivener.

Links

Writing Progress Report for August 2018.

I wrote four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my writing progress report for July 2018 linked below.

Writing Progress Report for July 2018