Month: January 2025

ConFusion Detroit 2025 Conference

ConFusion Detroit 2025 Conference Recap

Introduction

I attended the ConFusion Detroit 2025 Conference at 21111 Haggerty Road Novi, Michigan at the Sheraton Detroit Novi from January 24, 2025, to January 26, 2025. I also attended ConFusion Detroit in 2019, 2020, (2021 was canceled due to COVID-19), 2022, 2023, and 2024. The Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association Sponsored the conference. I attended the opening ceremonies, the guests of honor dessert reception, three panels, a concert, and two author readings. This year’s theme was Monumental Confusion celebrating the fiftieth time they have put on the conference.

This is a link to the ConFusion website.

http://confusionsf.org/

The Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association sponsors Detroit ConFusion.

This is my badge for ConFusion Detroit 2024.

[insert badge here]

Summary

ConFusion Detroit 2025 Conference Recap

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Recommendation – Conclusion

[insert recommendation here.]

Links

This is my post about the SF conference ConFusion in Detroit, Michigan from January 19 to 21, 2024. The theme was the Labyrinth of ConFusion. My star of the con was Author John Scalzi.

ConFusion Detroit 2024 Conference Recap

In January 2023, I attended the SF conference ConFusion in Detroit, Michigan. I still want to write a post about that.

I attended the SF conference ConFusion in Detroit, Michigan from January 21 to 23, 2022. The theme was Rising ConFusion. My stars of the con were Guest of Honor author Jim C. Hines and Science Guest of Honor Dr. Jordan Steckloff.

ConFusion Detroit 2022 Conference Recap

I attended the SF conference ConFusion in Detroit, Michigan from January 16 to 19, 2020. I attended four panels, two readings, and one interview. The con theme was How to Train Your ConFusion, based on the movie, How to Train Your Dragon. My star of the con was John Scalzi. He gave an excellent reading of Chapter Two of his upcoming book named The Last Emperox. My other highlights were Kameron Hurley’s interview and the lecture on Edible Insects and Human Evolution. I’ll be back next year.

Conference Recap ConFusion Detroit 2020

I attended the SF conference ConFusion in Detroit, Michigan from January 18 to 20, 2019. The con’s theme was Storming the ConFusion, so they chose the areas with names related to the movie The Princess Bride. I had a great drive to Detroit just before the snowstorm came. My star of the con was John Scalzi. He gave an excellent reading and was engaging in the panel I attended. My other highlights were Ada Palmer’s interview and watching The Princess Bride at the Con. I’ll be back next year.

Conference Recap ConFusion Detroit 2019

Confluence Pittsburgh 2024 Conference

Confluence Pittsburgh 2024 Conference Recap

Introduction

I attended the Confluence Pittsburgh 2024 Conference from July 26 to 28, 2024 They held the conference at 1160 Thorn Run Road Coraopolis, PA in the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. I also attended the conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023. COVID-19 changed the conference to a virtual con named C’monfluence in 2020 which I viewed online. The Parsec organization of Pittsburgh runs this literary science fiction, fantasy, and horror conference. The events included panels, readings, interviews, writing workshops, and filk concerts. I attended two panels, one reading, and a concert.

The link to the Confluence website.

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

They held the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport.

Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2024 Program Guide Cover

Picture of my badge from Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2024

Summary

Saturday, July 27th at 10 AM

The Challenges of Writing a Long Series panel with Richard Kadrey, Frederic Durbin, and Barbara Doran

[Insert comments here]

They held the panel in the Commonwealth East Room with 11 attendees.

Saturday, July 27th at 11 AM

Not Everything is a Series: The Best Stand-Alone Novels of the Last Decade panel with Rich Horton, Albert Wendland, Lawrence C. Connally, and Alan Bailey.

[Insert comments here]

They held the panel in the Commonwealth East Room with 13 attendees.

Saturday, July 27th at 12 PM

Reading by Marie Vibbert.

She talked about the three novels she has published. They are Megadeth, Galactic Hellcats, and the Gods Awoke.

She read three pieces at the reading.

She read the twelfth chapter of her novel Galatic Hellcats, published on March 9, 2021. The POV character was named Kieth the Worker.

Goodreads link to the novel named Galactic Hellcats.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53388150-galactic-hellcats

The second novel in the Galactic Hellcats series will be published in 2025.

Next, she read from a work-in-progress novel named Mars Strike.

Lastly, she read the third chapter of her novel The Gods Awoke.

Goodreads link to the novel named The Gods Awake.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61815780-the-gods-awoke

They held the reading in the Solstice Room with 4 attendees.

Saturday, July 27th at 12:30 PM

Concert with Gwendolyn Grace.

She performed her concert A Capella. She had a Harry Potter CD for sale named Houses of Hogwarts. The last song she performed was named Love Louder.

They held the concert in Ballroom 1 with 14 attendees.

Recommendation – Conclusion

[Insert Recommendation here]

Links

Recap for the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh on July 30, 2022, at the Sheraton. I also attended Confluence in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. I attended 3 panels, two readings, an improv comedy show, a concert, and the guest of honor presentation

Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2022

Recap for the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh held virtually from 10-02-20 to 10-04-20. I attended the opening ceremony, five panels, three readings, one presentation, the guest of honor presentation, and the conference breakdown.

Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2020

Recap for the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh on July 27 & 28, 20, at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. I also attended Confluence in ‘16, ‘17, and ‘18. I attended five panels, two fiction writing workshops, and the guest of honor presentation

Confluence Conference Pittsburgh 2019

They held the Confluence Conference from July 27, 2018, to July 29, 2018, at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. I attended two lectures, two panels, one fiction writing seminar, one author reading, and the guest of honor presentation.

Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2018

They held the Confluence Conference from August 4 to August 6, 2017, at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. I attended seven panels, one writing workshop, one author reading, and the guest of honor presentation.

Confluence Conference 2017

Recap for the Confluence SF Conference on July 30 and July 31, 2016, at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. I attended 15 panels and the U.S.S. Improvise improv sketch comedy routine.

Confluence 2016 Conference

Writing Progress Report January 2025

This is my Writing Progress Report January 2025.

This was my 2024 Christmas Tree. The picture was taken on December 3rd, 2024.

Writing Progress from December 2024.

I wrote four blog posts for my website, garydavidgillen.com. One of the posts was my writing progress report for December 2024, which I linked below.

Writing Progress Report December 2024

We postponed our Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop until January 2025.

Writing Progress from December 2024 Continued

I made five posts on my Goodreads account in December 2024.

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

The seven Flash Fiction Stories I sent out in 2020 and 2021 were Space-Dog Confession, Sleeping Sickness, Caliburnus, Popular Mechanics Re-brewed, Wormhole Generator, Runs with Scissors, and Principled Rogue.

Magazine submissions for 2021 were 4 unique stories submitted 4 times, with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 4 rejections. No submissions for 2022. None for 2023. None for 2024.

Events from December 2024.

I attended no events in December 2024

Writing Goals for January 2025.

In January 2025, I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for January 2025.

I plan to work on a story for the Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop on a Zoom call in January 2025.

Eventually, 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 split Chapter 1 into two chapters and add a scene to the new chapter 1.

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.

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

In January 2025, I plan to make five posts on my Goodreads account.

Planned Events for January 2025.

The next conference I plan to attend is ConFusion in Novi, Michigan, from January 23, 2025, to January 26, 2025. The Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association Sponsors ConFusion.

Monumental ConFusion

The con theme this year is Monumental, since this is the 50th Confusion.

Marcon Columbus Conference 2024

Marcon Columbus Conference 2024 Recap

Introduction

I attended the Marcon Columbus Conference 2024 in Columbus, Ohio, from May 17, 2024, to May 19, 2024. They held the conference at Crowne Plaza North Hotel in Worthington, Ohio. I attended six panels at the con. I also attended Marcon in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023. They will not have Marcon in 2025. Hopefully, the con will return in 2026, and I plan to be there.

This is a link to the Marcon website.

https://www.marcon.org/home

This is a link to the Marcon Conference Facebook account.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/181050141046

This is my Badge for Marcon 2024.

This is a picture of the Dealer’s room banner.

Summary

Friday, May 17th at 8:00 PM

A panel with The Harp Twins and the Volkgang Twins

The Harp twins are identical twins who both play electric harps. They arrange their music. The Volkgang twins assisted them with percussion. In this panel, they talked about performing but did not perform at this time.

This is a link to their website which has a bio, links to buy their music, music videos, and a schedule of upcoming performances.

https://www.harptwins.com

They held the panel in Ballroom 4 with 30 attendees.

Saturday, May 18th at 10:00 AM

Dune Part 2 – Open Discussion, a panel with Lee Shamblin, Emily Lydic, and Ken Keisel.

The panel had an open discussion about the newly released film, Dune 2. They compared parts 1 and 2, the book’s adaption into film, and the impact of Florence Pugh’s arrival as the princess. The panel commented on the use of filming in infrared to get the interesting sequence that portrayed the Harkonnen home world. The panel also debated whether casting Christopher Walken as the Emperor was a mistake, distracting, or a genius.

They held the panel in Ballroom 1 with 10 attendees.

Saturday, May 18th at 11:00 AM

Science in Society, a panel with Geoffrey Landis, Rachael Thurston, Robert Lohman, and Charlotte Wolery.

The panel debated which scientific advances have made the most changes in social systems. Robert Lohman said chemistry, Rachel Thurston said vaccines, Geoffrey Landis said birth control and Charlotte Wolery said epigamic trauma. 

They held the panel in Salon B with 10 attendees.

Sunday, May 19th at 10:00 AM

The Movies of Mel Brooks, a panel with Addie King, E. Davis, C. Mandragora, and Alyssa

The panel discussed their favorite movies by Mel Brooks. Do they still find them as funny as when they first watched them and why? Movies that came up were Spaceballs, Men in Tights, Blazing Saddles, History of the World Parts I and II, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, and High Anxiety.

They held the panel in Ballroom 3 with 8 attendees.

Sunday, May 19th at 12:00 PM

The Harp Twins, a concert with Camille Kitt and Kennerly Kitt.

The Harp twins are identical twins who both play electric harps. They arrange their music. I didn’t realize that they had moved the concert from 1 PM to 12 PM so I only caught their last song. Great performance like the others I have witnessed.

This is a link to their website which has a bio, links to buy their music, music videos, and a schedule of upcoming performances.

https://www.harptwins.com

They held the concert in Ballroom 4.

Sunday, May 19th at 1:00 PM

What is Evil, a panel with D. Wyatt Jr., C. Christoff, and R. Partington.

We all like to talk about evil, but what is evil really like? Is it a Godlike Sauron who simply wants to rule? Is it infinite sadism? Or perhaps is simply infinite selfishness? The panel discussed and tried to define evil for writers, readers, theologians, and would-be evil-doers.

They held the panel in Ballroom 3 with 8 attendees.

Recommendation – Conclusion

I had a great time at the Marcon Columbus Conference 2024. My stars of the con were The Harp Twins for their concert and Q and A session. I also attended Marcon in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023 and hope the con will return in 2026.

Links

Recap for the SF Conference Marcon Columbus 2022 on May 7, 2022. They held the conference at the Hyatt Regency Columbus. I also attended Marcon in 2017, 2018, and 2019. I attended three panels and one concert at the 2022 conference.

Conference Marcon Columbus 2022

Recap for SF Conference Marcon Columbus on May 11, 2019. They held it at Crowne Plaza – Columbus North. I also attended Marcon in 2017 and 2018. This year I attended four panels, a performance, and an interview.

Recap Marcon Conference 2019

Recap for SF Conference Marcon Columbus I attended on May 12, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio. I attended four panels and two game shows.

Marcon Conference 2018

Recap for SF Conference Marcon Columbus on May 13, 2017. They held the conference at the Hyatt Regency Columbus. I also attended Marcon in 2018 and 2019. I attended five panels at the 2017 conference.

Conference Recap Marcon Columbus 2017