August 2020 - Gary David Gillen

Introduction

Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold is Book seven of the Vorkosigan saga. It is the direct sequel to Shards of Honor, Book #1 of the Vorkosigan saga. Cordelia Naismith of Beta Colony married Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar. She moves to Barrayar as Lady Vorkosigan. The Emperor of Barrayar has died and named Aral as the regent for his young grandson, Gregor. Assassins target Aral and Cordelia to gain control of the Empire. Will Cordelia survive the regency and give birth to her son?

Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold

Summary

In Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold, Cordelia marries Aral Vorkosigan and is pregnant with his son. Emperor Ezar Vobarra names Aral as his Regent for his underage grandson, Gregor Vorbarra. An aristocracy rules Barrayar with each family holding its districts of the planet. The ruler of each district is a Count and they use the honorific preface of Vor. Aral’s father, Piotr Vorkosigan, heads the Vorkosigan family. Piotr doesn’t like that his son has married a woman from outside of the Empire and worries about his only living descendant being their unborn son. The other aristocrats dislike the Emperor’s choice of Aral as the regent. Aral and Cordelia face assassination attempts and must unite the people of Barrayar or face destruction.

Many people help Cordelia in her quest to protect her husband and unborn son. Captain Vaagen if the Barrayaran Military Hospital helps with Cordelia’s son using a uterine replicator. A deadly mission to the Imperial Palace includes Cordelia, Aral’s bodyguard Sergeant Bothari (Konstantine Bothari), Cordelia’s bodyguard Drou (Ludmilla Droushnakovi), and Aral’s personal secretary Kou (Clement Koudelka). Imperial Security officer Simon Illyan provides information for them on their mission. Cordelia’s goals are to protect her husband by preserving the Regency and for a healthy birth of her son, Miles Vorkosigan.

Recommendation

Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold is a space opera mixed with a romance. I enjoyed following Cordelia and Aral on their adventures. There was plenty of adventure and plotting leading to the daring raid on the Imperial Palace. I liked Cordelia as the protagonist. I liked the parallels of the different types of love displayed by these pairs of characters; Cordelia/Aral, Drou/Kou, Padma/Alys, and Bothari/his daughter Elena. Barrayar won the Hugo and Locus awards for best novel.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold.

In Shards of Honor (Book#1 of the Vorkosigan saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold, Barrayaran Captain Aral Vorkosigan takes Betan Commander Cordelia Naismith prisoner. They take a hike in the jungle. What happens when they fall in love?

In Falling Free (Book #4 of the Vorkosigan saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold, space engineer Leo Graf must decide between retiring or risking his life protecting his students. The novel is a fun, self-contained space opera romp.

Writing Progress Report August 2020.

This is my Writing Progress Report August 2020.

You can almost pet the deer in my neighborhood.

Writing Progress from July 2020.

I wrote four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my writing progress report for July 2020 linked below.

Writing Progress Report July 2020

Updated eight posts on my website to improve their SEO rating to good, to leave 35 posts to update.

In July 2018, I completed the first draft of my novel Assassin in New Marl City, totaling 99,981 words and 36 chapters. Completed pre-second draft (30 chapters long) in December 2018 at 89,072 words. Finished second draft edits in December 2019 to complete the second draft edit. I started writing a new Chapter 1 in February 2020 and finished it in April 2020. The third draft will have 32 Chapters and I finished third draft edits on Chapter 3 in July 2020.

In July 2020, I submitted Chapter 1 of my novel named Cuba Liberto to the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.

In July 2020, I submitted the story “Patient X” to the Introductory Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.

Writing Progress from July 2020 Continued

I made five posts on my Goodreads account in July 2020.

In the past, I submitted the stories; Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, and Grognard to magazines.

Flash Fiction Stories I have submitted are Get to the Point, LARP Film noir, Space-Dog Confession, Wormhole Generator, Sleeping Sickness, Caliburnus, and Popular Mechanics Re-brewed to magazines.

I submitted “Wormhole Generator” to Strange Horizons in July 2020.

Also, I submitted “Space-Dog Confession” to Flash Fiction Online in July 2020.

Magazine submissions for 2020 are 6 unique stories submitted 12 times with 0 accepted, 1 pending, and 11 rejections.

I created an Instagram account linked to my Facebook account.

Events from July 2020.

I planned to attend is the Confluence Conference from July 24 to July 26, 2020, at the Airport Sheraton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

They canceled the conference because of COVID-19. I plan to go to Confluence July 23 to July 25, 2021.

They will hold a virtual conference called C’monfluence the Novelization 2020, from October 2 to October 4. The Guest of Honor is Martha Wells. I plan to attend the conference virtually.

Link to Confluence’s website.

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

Writing Goals for August 2020.

I plan to write two blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for August 2020.

The name of my next novel is Cuba Liberto. I plan to write Chapter 2 in August 2020 and submit it to the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.

In August 2020, I plan to submit a story to the Introductory Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.

I plan to work on third draft edits for Assassin in New Marl City using comments from the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio. I plan to complete third draft edits for Chapter 4 in August 2020.

Submit the stories Space-Dog Confession, Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, LARP Film noir, Sleeping Sickness, Popular Mechanics Re-brewed, and Caliburnus. to other short fiction magazines. Three submissions planned for August 2020.

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

Writing Goals for August 2020 continued.

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

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

In August 2020, I plan to make five posts on my Goodreads account and update eight posts on my website to improve their SEO rating up to good leaving 27 posts left to update.

Planned Events for August 2020.

I planned to attend is the Confluence Conference from July 24 to July 26, 2020, at the Airport Sheraton in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

They canceled the conference because of COVID-19. I plan to go to Confluence July 23 to July 25, 2021.

They will hold a virtual conference they are calling C’monfluence the Novelization 2020, from October 2 to October 4. I plan to attend the conference virtually.

http://confluence-sff.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Cmonfluence_315x600_Sidebar.png

Link to Confluence’s website.

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

I planned to attend the Ice and Fire Conference in Mount Sterling, Ohio on April 23 to 26, 2020.

They postponed the conference because of COVID-19. They plan to hold the conference from October 29 to November 1, 2020, and I plan to attend.

This is a link to the Ice and Fire Conference website.

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