Falling Free by Lois
McMaster Bujold, Book #4 of the Vorkosigan series
Introduction
Falling Free by Lois
McMaster Bujold is book four of Vorkosigan series. They published the book fourth
in the series but the events happen two hundred years before the earlier books,
so it is possible to read this book first. GalacTech assigns Engineer Leo Graf to
the Cay Habitat at the farthest edge of inhabited space. He came to the habitat
to teach space workers but becomes involved in his students’ struggles with the
company supervisors of GalacTech. Leo must decide between retiring or risking
his life protecting his students.
Summary
In Falling Free, space engineer Leo Graf arrives at the Cay Habitat to teach his short course on advanced welding and non-destructive testing. His students are called quaddies. Quaddies are genetically engineered humans designed to work in free-fall. They were created by the recently deceased Chief of the Project, Dr. Cay. Leo meets his new boss, Bruce Van Atta, the current Chief of the Project and Leo’s former student. Leo’s best quaddies student is Tony. Tony has a quaddie girlfriend Claire and their infant son, Andy. After talking to GalacTech psychologist Dr. Sondra Yei and to Bruce, Leo realizes that GalacTech is using the quaddies as slaves in a high-tech disguise.
When Bruce changes assignments in the habitat which mains that Tony and Claire will be separated, Tony and Claire plan to escape the habitat. They get Silver, another quaddie, to help them stowaway on a shuttle to the surface. Bruce is preoccupied with the inspection tour of GalacTech Operations VP Apmad. Leo and Sondra find out Tony and Claire are missing and try to get to them before Bruce finds out. Bruce and Apmad consider terminating the Cay Habitat project, but Leo realizes that the solution is an engineering problem. He plans a daring escape for the quaddies and the experience changes him.
Recommendation
Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold is a fun self-contained space opera romp. Leo Graff and his quaddie friends are easy to like and to root for. The science is believable, and it’s interesting that the solution was an engineering problem. The biggest issue in the story is the villains. Bruce and Dr. Curry are to one dimensional. Their focus is to defeat Leo and the quaddies at all costs, logic not applied. I will continue to read the Vorkosigan series. The first three books are about Miles Vorkosigan’s parents and the rest of the series is about him. They published this novel in Analog magazine in four parts; December 1987, mid-December 1987, January 1988, and February 1988. I kept the magazines for 31 years unread. I’m glad I read the story now but wish I had read it back then.
Links
This is the link to the
Goodreads page of Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold.
I bought and used the editing program Pro Writing Aid to edit my novel, Assassin in New Marl City. I edited and typed Assassin Chapters 30, 32, and 33 in August 2018, reviewed Chapters 34, 35, and 36 in September 2018, and I completed the review in February 2019. Reduced total chapters to 30. Reviewed Chapters 1 to 18 using Pro Writing Aid and submitted it to my novel-writing class. I submitted Chapter 18 in September.
I completed the first draft of Assassin in New Marl
City totaling 99,981 words in July 2018. Completed pre-draft two (30 chapters
long) in December 2018 at 89,072 words. I completed draft two edits for
Chapters 26 and 27 in August; Chapters 28, 29, and 30 in September; and plan to
review chapters 21 and 25 in October. I will start the third draft edits after
draft two is complete.
In September, I did not submit a story to the Introductory Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio
library.
I made five posts on my Goodreads account; created a Gravatar for my website; and updated the books page and the home page of my website in September.
In the past, I submitted the stories The Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to
the Point, LARP Film noir, and Sleeping Sickness to magazines.
Statistics of magazine submissions for 2019 are; 1
different story submitted 1 time with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 1
rejection.
Events from September 2019
The next conference I plan to attend
is the Indy Writer’s
Conference in Parma, Ohio on October 12, 2019, sponsored by the Cuyahoga County
Library.
I plan to write five blog posts for garydavidgillen.com
including my Writing Progress Report for October 2019.
I plan to work
on second draft edits for Chapters 21, 25, 28, 29, and 30 of Assassin in New
Marl City using Pro Writing Aid.
After the second draft is complete, I plan to work on third draft edits for Chapters 1
to 18 of Assassin in New Marl City using comments from the Advanced Writing
Workshop at Parma, Ohio. I started the third draft edit for Chapter One used at
the first pages workshop at Confluence 2019 in July. I plan to complete third
draft edits for chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 in October.
Polish and submit the stories Caliburnus, Space-Dog
Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short
fiction magazines.
Submit The Four Humors,
Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, LARP Film noir, Sleeping Sickness to other
short fiction magazines.
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.
Write a story for the Introductory
Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.
Work on a story for the Wednesday Writing Workshop at
the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Library.
I plan to make five posts on my Goodreads account; update the information on my Facebook and Twitter accounts, and update all the pages of my website in October.
Planned
Events for October 2019
I plan to attend the Indy Writer’s
Conference in Parma, Ohio on October 12, 2019, sponsored by the Cuyahoga County
Library.
In the Black Book by James Patterson and David Ellis, Billy Harney has a problem. Someone shot him in the head and doesn’t remember what happened in the two weeks before the incident. He is a detective for the Chicago PD. His father, Daniel, is the chief of detectives and his sister, Patti, is also a detective for the Chicago PD. Billy doesn’t know who to trust. His detective partner is Katherine (Kate) Fenton. They are investigating a case involving a high dollar madam, her influential clients, and a missing black book. Billy gets romantically involved with his partner and the assistant state’s attorney, Amy Lentini, prosecuting the brothel case. Who’s telling the truth. Who has Billy back? He needs to know; He needs to remember, or he’s going down for murder. What will happen to Billy?
Summary
The novel starts with Patti
coming to a call where Billy, Amy, and Kate are found shot and presumed dead. Billy
was shot in the head, has surgery, and goes into rehab. When he gets out he
doesn’t remember the two weeks before the shooting. He talks to police department
psychologist, Dr. Jill Jagoda, to access his memories. The plot goes back and
forth between the present and the past as Billy remembers. The POV’s bounce
between Patti, Billy, and Kate. In the past, Billy investigates a suspected
murderer who frequents a brothel. When Billy and Kate bust the brothel it
causes many complications that lead to Billy getting shot in the head. There
are many suspects in this novel, but Billy must figure out who pulled the
trigger. Read the novel to find out.
Recommendation
The Black Book by James Patterson and David Ellis is a great novel with a mix of mystery, thriller, and police procedural. I was worried that the amnesia plotline would go a predictable way, but I was pleased with its handling and conclusion. Billy is not a likable character, but he has enough redeeming qualities to make him a great conflicted protagonist. He’s a jokester, he loves his sister, and has a rewarding relationship with a cancer patient. There were many twists in this tale. The final twist hit perfectly. If you were expecting a happy ending, you weren’t paying attention. David Ellis is a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court. He brings a knowledge of the setting to this novel. This is his fifth collaboration with James Patterson, I plan to read more of their novels. I highly recommend this novel.
Links
This is the link to the
Goodreads page of The Black Book by James Patterson and David Ellis
Unclaimed Victim by DM Pulley is a story about two women, separated by time, but connected by the Torso Killer of Cleveland, Ohio. In April 1999, the police call Kris Wiley back to her hometown to identify the butchered remains of her father, Alfred. The clues she finds at her father’s house leads her back to Cleveland following the legacy of the Torso Killer. In March 1938, Ethel Harding finds herself in the middle of the Torso Killer’s rampage against the destitute brought down by the depression. She is a prostitute who loses her home and is desperate to find shelter. Kris and Ethel must solve the mystery of the Torso Killer or face their deaths.
Summary
In March 1938, Ethel
Harding, a prostitute, finds herself homeless. It scares her. The Torso Killer
has been killing destitute people from the hobo village at Kingsbury Run in
Cleveland since 1935. Some victims are people she knows; Edward Andrassy, Flo
Polillo, and Rose Wallace. Ethel is worried that she could be the killer’s next
target. She finds sanctuary with the Harmony Mission. They run the Harmony
Mission Press, a printing press that makes Bibles, but they are not what they seem.
The Tremont Place Lofts inspired the Harmony Mission Press Building on West 7th
Street. Sister Mary Alice Eberly and a mysterious girl help Ethel. Ethel suspects
Brother Milton. She also becomes the target of the Silver Shirt Legion, a Nazi-sympathizing
group organized to overthrow the government. Ethel pretends to be someone else
to uncover the truth.
In April 1999, Kris
Wiley goes to the Auglaize County Sherriff’s Office in Wapakoneta, Ohio to identify
the remains of her father. They found a
headless body along the river with her father’s identification. She doesn’t
want to believe the body is her father’s. Her father was a medically discharged
police officer. Ben was his partner with the police and best friend. Ben tries
to console Kris and takes her to her hometown of Cridersville. Kris searches
the house and finds her father had information about the Torso Killer and had
been in contact with someone in Cleveland. She lives in Cleveland and goes back
to investigate what her father knew. The clues lead to the abandoned Harmony Mission
taken over by the homeless. Jimmy, who is living at the mission, helps Kris. As
they get closer to the truth, their lives get in more danger.
Recommendation
Unclaimed Victim by Pulley connects two stories in this historical mystery. Ethel and Kris overcome their fears and face human demons. There are many theories about the identity of the Torso Killer and the author presents an interesting one here. I liked the author’s use of real newspaper articles from the 1930s to show the feelings of the people of that time. Of the six books referenced in the Author Notes, I have copies of three. I plan to find copies of the other three books.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Unclaimed Victim by DM Pulley
Shadow in Summer by
Daniel Abraham is the first book in the Long Price Quartet. Saraykehy is the
capital of the cities of Khaiem. The cities were part of a great Empire possessing
great magic. Their Empire and their magic have receded, so the Empire of Galt
plots to overthrow them. The cotton trade is their greatest asset. Their hopes
rely on the poet (their name for magician) Heshai maintaining control of a magical
creature called an andat and nicknamed Seedless. Liat and Itani are important in
helping Heshai succeed. If Heshai’s magic fails, then the Empire of Galt will
destroy all the cities of Khaiem.
Summary
In the Prolog, Otah is an apprentice
called a black robe, at the teaching compound of the monks at the stone towers
of Machi. The monks search for poets who are rare. They also keep the knowledge
of the people. Otah is conflicted with the brutal conditions at the monastery
and makes a decision for his future. Chapter One starts in the city of
Saraykeht. Amat Kyaanis is the senior overseer of the Galtic House Wilson. She
is a native of Saraykeht but works for the foreign house. House Wilson is
involved with the cotton trade. Her superior is Marchat Wilson. He tells her about
a pregnant woman from the islands who is arriving soon. He calls why they
brought her to their house, the sad trade. Maati is assigned by the monks of
Machi to become the apprentice of Heshai. Heshai is the last remaining poet of
Khaiem. Heshai controls Seedless who helps them with the cotton trade. If
Hashai does not control Seedless, then inexperienced Maati would get the duty
of trying to control Seedless. Amat Kyaan teaches Liat Chokavi the duties of an
overseer. She is young, and she is in love with the lower class laborer, Itani Noyga.
Amat wants Itani to be Marchat’s bodyguard for an important meeting. This
meeting sets the plot into motion. Marchat wants his house to succeed, Seedless
wants to be free, Liat wants to do a good job, and Itani wants to stay anonymous.
None of them gets exactly what they want.
Recommendation
Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham is a great first book in a series of a different kind of fantasy. The plot is slow, there’s not much action, and characters maneuver through political and business maneuvering. There is an Asian/formal feel through the characters use of poses and their choice of honorifics. There were many characters, and it took time for the reader to distinguish them apart. Paying close attention to reading the book was rewarding to the reader. The secrets revealed at the end make the second book intriguing. I got this book through the Tor eBook of the month club on July 14, 2018. Tor.com releases a free book to club members almost every month at this website.
Each month’s book
is only available for that month to the members through an e-mail. I enjoyed
The Expanse series and wanted to see what Daniel Abraham would do with a
fantasy novel and I was not disappointed. I plan to read the other three books
of the series within the next year and then read his The Dagger and the Coin series.
Links
This is the link to the
Goodreads page of A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
This is the link to my review of Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey. (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck write together as James S. A. Corey in this Science Fiction series called The Expanse.)
I bought and used the editing program Pro Writing Aid
to edit the novel, Assassin in New Marl City. I edited and typed Assassin Chapters
30, 32, and 33 in August 2018, reviewed Chapters 34, 35, and 36 on September 2018,
and I completed the review in February 2019. Reduced total chapters to 30. Reviewed
Chapters 1 to 17 using Pro Writing Aid and submitted to my novel-writing class.
I completed the first draft of Assassin in New Marl
City totaling 99,981 words in July 2018. Completed pre-draft two (30 chapters
long) in December 2018 at 89,072 words. I completed draft two edits for
Chapters 26 and 27 in August and plan to review chapters 21, 25, 28, 29, and 30
in September. I will start the third draft edits after draft two is complete.
In August, I submitted a story named Wormhole
Generator to the Introductory Writing
Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.
The stories: I submitted The Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to
the Point, LARP Film noir, and Sleeping Sickness to magazines.
Statistics of magazine submissions for 2019 are; 1
different story submitted 1 time with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 1
rejection.
Events
from August 2019
The next conference I plan to attend
is the Indy Writer’s
Conference in Parma, Ohio on October 12, 2019, sponsored by the Cuyahoga County
Library.
I plan to write five blog posts for garydavidgillen.com
including my Writing Progress Report for September 2019.
I plan to work
on second draft edits for Chapters 21, 25, 28, 29, and 30 of Assassin in New Marl
City using Pro Writing Aid.
After the second draft is complete, I plan to work on third draft edits for Chapters 1
to 17 of Assassin in New Marl City using comments from the Advanced Writing
Workshop at Parma, Ohio. I started the third draft edit for Chapter One used at
the first pages workshop at Confluence 2019 in July.
Polish and submit the stories Caliburnus, Space-Dog
Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short
fiction magazines.
Submit The Four Humors,
Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, LARP Film noir, Sleeping Sickness 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.
Put the novel, Assassin in New Marl City, into the
writing program, Scrivener.
Buy e-book covers for Searcher of Riven and Ruins of
Yarnud from Fiveer.
Buy an e-book cover for Assassin in New Marl City from
Fiveer.
Planned
Events for September 2019
The next conference I plan to attend
is the Indy Writer’s
Conference in Parma, Ohio on October 12, 2019, sponsored by the Cuyahoga County
Library.
Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey is the seventh book of The Expanse series. This novel happens 30 years after the events described in Babylon’s Ashes, the sixth book in the series. Winston Duarte and his band of former members of the MRCN are back from Laconia after thirty years of studying the protomolecule. They have the advantage of the Earth-Mars Coalition, take Medina Station. They plan to take over the solar system creating an Empire with Duarte as the leader. Can James Holden and his crew from the Rocinante defeat the Empire threatening to take over the 1300 worlds of man?
Summary
Transport Union President Camina Drummer heads the group that supplies all the 1300 worlds. She is usually at Medina Station, but she is near Earth at the transfer L-5 station to dedicate the station’s completion. The Rocinante heads to Medina Station after completing a mission for the Transport Union. The Rocinante crew are James, Naomi, Alex, Amos, Bobby, and Clarisa. They have been together for thirty years on the aging gunship. Holden and Naomi are ready to retire and make Bobbie the captain. After Winston Duarte’s forces capture Medina Station, they appoint Captain Santiago Jilie Singh governor of Medina station. The Rocinante is stranded on Medina Station. Duarte’s forces plan to take over the solar system. The Rocinante’s crew plan to escape Medina Station with the help of former OPA fighters. They want to free as many friendly forces they can.
Recommendation
Persepolis Rising reboots The Expanse by bringing back the Laconians. It appears to be the first book in a trilogy featuring the Laconians as the antagonists. It is a great novel. I liked the transition of the Rocinante’s crew, the conflicted anti-hero Santiago, and the horror of what Duarte is trying to do to himself. The only misstep is in aging the crew thirty years. It didn’t feel right that they hadn’t changed and stayed together all that time. A few jokes about aging didn’t solve that problem. I’m ready to read Tiamat’s Wrath (Book #8). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28335698-tiamat-s-wrath
Book #9 remains
untitled with an unspecified release date, but I believe that date is in 2020.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey.
Babylon’s Ashes by James
S. A. Corey is the sixth book of The Expanse series. This novel follows the
exciting events detailed in Nemesis Games, the fifth book in the series. A
group of belters led by Marco Inaros calls themselves the Free Navy. They have
taken Medina Station and have gotten the upper hand on Earth, Mars, and the
OPA. Can James Holden and his crew of the Rocinante regain Medina Station and defeat
the Free Navy before the Free Navy can keep the 1300 worlds for themselves?
Summary
The Free Navy has taken over Medina
Station. Marco Inaros has put Captain Michio Pa in charge of the station while
he works on bigger plans. Marco’s son Filip is with Marco on Pallas Station.
Filip hopes to prove himself to his father. James Holden’s crew is back together
on the Rocinante. James’s crew are Naomi, Alex, Amos, Bobby, and Clarisa. The
governments of Earth and Mars send them to Medina Station to stop the Free
Navy. The Free Navy is trying to capture the colony ships and closing off the
1300 worlds from the Solar System. Naomi faces a difficult choice. What she
decides will affect the fate of The Expanse.
Recommendation
I liked the novel overall and was happy that the author resolved the storylines for Nemesis Games in this novel. The character development of Pa and Filip was satisfying. Checking in with the crew of the Rocinante worked well. I liked how when some scenes were seen from one POV and then from another POV. Marco was a one-note villain, and he ended with a whimper and not a bang. Prax’s story should have been developed more. I’m not sure why there were chapters from the Medina station POV’s since their actions did not affect the plot. The space for chapters on Salis, Jakulski, Vandercaust, and Roberts could have been better used in developing the other plots further.
I received a copy of this novel from winning a Goodreads giveaway. When I read the novel in March 2018, I posted a review on Goodreads. I’m writing this review because I read Persepolis Rising (Book #7 of The Expanse) and wanted to give Book 6 a full review before I reviewed Book 7.
Links
This is the link to the
Goodreads page of Babylon’s Ashes by James S. A. Corey.
I attended the Confluence Conference Pittsburgh 2019 on July 27, 2019, and July 28, 2019. 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, and 2018. The Parsec organization of Pittsburgh runs the literary science fiction, fantasy, and horror conference. The events included panels, readings, interviews, writing workshops, and filk concerts. I attended five panels, two fiction writing workshops, and the guest of honor presentation.
This
workshop was by pre-registration only. She instructed us to bring the first 500
words of our novels to the workshop. Cat Rambo took the nine submissions and
mixed them up. She read the submissions one at a time. After reading the
submission, she commented on what questions she had to the reader from the
submission. I submitted the first two pages from my novel, Assassin in New Marl
City. Her comments were useful and to the point. Her comments make me think I
need to write a new chapter one set before the pages I submitted. I liked hearing
what the other people submitted. This workshop clarifies that the first two
pages of a novel are critical for making the novel publishable. I’m glad that I
attended the workshop.
They held the workshop
in the Boardroom with 9 attendees.
Saturday,
July 27th at 11 AM
NASA Innovative
Advanced Concepts, a lecture by Geoffrey Landis.
The program
started as the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. It operated from 1998 to
2007 under that name. They submitted proposals about concepts that are anticipated
for 40 years in the future. In ten years they submitted 1309 proposals. In 2011
NASA revived the program under its current name, NASA Innovative Advanced
Concepts. The process is to first submit a white paper, submit a proposal, and
then conduct a Phase I study. About one-third of the projects go on to Phase II.
He detailed four
proposals. The Venus land sailor challenge is to create a Venus rover mission.
The obstacles are the need for high-temperature electronics and a method of
locomotion. A wind-powered turbine is workable. The triton hopper would explore
Neptune’s moon, triton, by hopping up to 20 km per day from the pole to the
equator of the moon. 120 hops would take two years covering 2400 km. Other
options are to use the hopper system on Pluto or Europa. A submarine on
Saturn’s moon, Titan, would explore areas not seen from orbit. Kraken Mare is a
lake about the size of Lake Superior. They approved a Phase II study called
Dragonfly.
Geoffrey Landis wrote an SF novel about a manned mission to Mars.
They held the lecture in Ballroom 1 with 42 attendees.
Saturday,
July 27th at 2 PM
Beginnings and
Endings panel with Cat Rambo, Frederic S, Durbin, and Bob Angell (his pseudonym
is R. R. Angell)
The panelists gave
advice about writing story beginnings and endings. The first chapter has to
leave the reader convinced that the story will go somewhere. All scenes must
mean something. There are three levels of editors, development, copy, and
proofreader. They are important in different ways. An editor is experienced at
finding problems but not fixing them, that’s what you as the writer must do.
Successful flash fiction is about one thing. It’s important to orient the
reader at the story’s beginning because the reader needs a reason to care about
the characters. Show an item in action before you explain it. Weave in
something relatable to explain an unknown item. Use cliffhangers, always leave
the reader wanting more. Avoid the unsatisfying ending. Tie everything up and
don’t miss the aftermath. The panelists all gave sound advice.
They held the panel
in Commonwealth East with 43 attendees. (It was a full house, standing room
only)
Saturday,
July 27th at 3 PM
The Guest of Honor Presentation with Tobias S. Buckell.
He started with a speech about himself. He is from Grenada and is of mixed-race but looks white. Buckell came to the US in 1995. He overcame his ADD and dyslexia to become a published writer. His status as a mixed-race person became real for him when Leonard Nimoy passed away in 2015 because Spock was biracial. He became an SF fan after reading Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke when he was nine.
Buckell
read his short story called Toy Planes.
Buckell
finished his presentation with a Q and A session.
His
most recent novel is the Tangled Lands written with Paolo Bacigalupi.
They
held the presentation in Ballroom 1 with 47 attendees.
Saturday,
July 27th at 4 PM
Return to the
Solar System: Recent SF Set in Our Solar System panel with Geoffrey Landis, Ian
Randal Strock, Bill Keith, and Ken Chiacchia.
The panel
recommended authors that have set their stories in our solar system. Some are
Allen Steele’s novels, the Expanse series by James S. A. Corey, and The Quantum
Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. Others are Mike Flynn’s alternate histories, Thin Air
by Richard K. Morgan, and Icehenge by Kim Stanley Robinson. More are Terraforming
Earth by Jack Williamson, Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick, and the Proteus series by
Charles Sheffield. Many good recommendations, I’ll move a few of these up my
Goodreads to-read list.
They held the panel
in Commonwealth West with 29 attendees.
Saturday,
July 27th at 5 PM
Blue-Collar SF and Fantasy panel with Marie Vibbert, Charles Oberndorf, Eric Leif Davin, and Tamora Pierce.
Stories
written from a worker’s POV will be more rooted in reality than wish-fulfillment
stories. As the US changes from an industrial to a service economy it will
change the nature of the stories told. Some authors who use the blue-collar perspective
are Thomas Disch in 334, Alfred Bester in The Stars My Destination, and Mack
Reynolds in Black Man’s Burden. Other writers using the theme are China Mieville
and Cory Doctorow.
They held the panel
in Commonwealth West with 29 attendees.
Saturday,
July 28th at 9 AM
Short Story
Writing Workshop with Cat Rambo
This workshop was by pre-registration only. The participants submitted a story under 5000 words by June first. She distributed the stories of the other participants on July first. She required the participants to-read each of the stories and make written comments on a copy of the stories. At the workshop, the participants followed the Milford workshop format.
1. In the session,
you will speak up to 3 minutes with your critique; you do not need to use up
the entire three minutes, but Cat will ruthlessly cut you off at the
three-minute mark.
2. Focus on the
big picture items, not typos or nitpicks. Pacing, character, plot, world-building,
etc.
3. The author
wants to know what worked, what was effective, and that you’d like to see more
of as much as they want to know what didn’t work, wasn’t effective, or seems
removable.
4. Identifying what’s
broken and why will probably be more useful to the author than suggested fixes.
5. You will give
the author a copy of the story with your notes on it.
Seven people
submitted stories, and we workshopped them in this order.
Kathleen Monin–The
Morality Variable
Deborah Stevenson–Cursed
Good Luck
Brandon McNulty–Insert
Gene Turchin–Machines
Karen Yun-Lutz–Last
Entry
Gary Gillen–Grognard
Richard Lohmeyer–Small,
Fragile Things
After the
Participants critiqued each story, then Cat Rambo gave her critique. All the
stories were great. I think all the stories could be published soon. I
appreciate all the comments on my story and I’m glad that I took part in this
workshop.
They held the workshop
in the Boardroom with 7 attendees.
Saturday,
July 28th at 12 PM
The Evolving Short
Story Market panel with Mary Soon Lee (prolific short story writer), Scot Noel
(publisher of Dream Forge magazine), and Mark Painter (podcast creator).
The three
panelists were knowledgeable on the subject and had varied backgrounds. Some good
markets for online free magazines are Strange Horizons, Uncanny, and Beneath
Ceaseless Skies. Scot Noel publishes a print magazine called Dream Forge. They
have recently published the second issue. https://dreamforgemagazine.com/
Magazines have submission guidelines and the writers must follow them precisely
to hope to make a sale. The writer must know about the magazine they are
sending to so the writer has the best chance to succeed. Social media has changed
the writer’s responsibility. Writer’s need a platform. The publisher wants to
know how the writer can help the publisher sell the story, like a musician’s
responsibility. They suggested getting a 25-year-old mentor, so you can get an
insight into how to sell to that age group.
They held the
panel in Commonwealth with 15 attendees.
Recommendation – Conclusion
I’m glad I attended the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2019. My star of the con was Cat Rambo. She conducted both workshops I attended with insightful comments and relevant anecdotes. She also moderated an excellent panel on writing. I attended five panels, two fiction writing workshops, and the guest of honor presentation. My other highlights were the lecture on NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts and the Guest of Honor Presentation. I also attended Confluence in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and plan to return in 2020. They will hold confluence 2020 from July 24 to 26, 2020 with author guest of honor Martha Wells.
Links
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.
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 guests of honor presentation.
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.
I attended the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2018 on July 28, 2018. They held the conference at 1160 Thorn Run Road Coraopolis, PA in the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. The drive from Cleveland, Ohio was two hours taken in the morning and back in the evening. I also attended the conference in 2016 and 2017. I missed writing this post in 2018, so I am writing it now to prepare for writing my post for the 2019 conference. To write this post, I followed my notes and recollections in writing this post. The Parsec organization of Pittsburgh runs the conference. It is a literary science fiction, fantasy, and horror conference. The events included panels, readings, interviews, writing workshops, and filk concerts. I attended two lectures, two panels, one fiction writing seminar, one author reading, and the guest of honor presentation.
They held the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2018 at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport.
Confluence SF Conference
Pittsburgh 2018 Program Guide Cover
Picture of my
badge from Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2018
Summary
Saturday, July 28th at 10 AM
AI: The Real Deal,
a lecture by Ken Chiacchia.
The presenter explained what they know in the artificial intelligence field and what still needs to be figured out. Machine intelligences do some tasks well, but not other tasks. Steps in the advancement of AI are to identify items in pictures, to identify phrases spoken, to perform written language translations, and to perform speech recognition. Task-specific tasks are current but general tasks are not possible now. Other tasks AI is good at are improving images, predicting severe thunderstorm, and materials discovery for energy applications. A challenge to getting AI right is that bias can lead to large errors. To put AI advancement in SF terms, the Matrix is happening, while Skynet probably won’t.
They held the lecture in Comm0nwealth West with 15 attendees.
Saturday,
July 28th at 11 AM
Set the Controls
for the Edge of the Sun, a lecture by Geoffrey Landis.
They scheduled the Parker Solar Probe to launch on August 8, 2018. This lecture was about what’s planned and what they hope to learn. The lecturer started as a solar cell designer. He went to the Mars project, then the Venus/Mercury project, and now is examining ways to exploring the sun. The issue with a solar probe is that near the sun the heat is too much. We can fix this with angles solar panels or split panels using mirrors.
The Parker Solar Probe goals are to trace the energy that heats the sun’s corona and accelerates the solar wind. Also, to examine the magnetic fields at the sources of the solar wind. The Parker Solar Probe launched on August 12, 2018. Its mission is to fly by the sun from 2018 to 2025. On October 29, 2018, it became the artificial object that has been the closest to the sun.
Geoffrey Landis’s
SF novel about a manned mission to Mars.
They held the lecture in Commonwealth West with 30 attendees.
Saturday,
July 28th at 12:30 PM
A Reading by
Brenda Clough
She read from a Neo-Victorian novel in progress. The assassination of Czar Alexander was a prominent plot point in this part of the novel. The viewpoints alternated between two characters. It was melodramatic and featured cliffhangers including a rail accident and a hippo stampede. She had planned to read from her Time Travel Trilogy Edge to Center due to be released in 2019 but her iPad wouldn’t cooperate.
The River Twice is
the first novel of the Edge to Center Trilogy.
They held the
reading in the Equinox room with 10 attendees.
Saturday,
July 28th at 1 PM
Fiction Skills
Seminar given by Frederic S. Durbin.
The essential writing skills are action, description, dialogue, and point of view. The seminar covered three skills by using prompts given randomly on slips of paper. He gave us five minutes to write and volunteers read their responses. Critiques followed. I will detail those prompts and my response to them.
My Action Prompt was soldiers in combat. I wrote: The sweat dripped through my eyebrow but I could not flinch. It stung my eye and I bit my lip. The enemy was near, A snap of a twig signaled my reaction. I threw off the leaf blanket and jumped into the clearing. I read this response.
My Description Prompt was a teenager at their first job. I wrote: Burnt chicken odor filled the air. I walked behind the counter into another world. The cook’s knife was flying as he sliced the meat and filled the tin. My manager pointed at the counter. The band on my hat was tight and the new tee-shirt was dry. A tray of green peppers lay on the counter. That was my job.
My Dialogue Prompt was an abandoned house. I wrote:
“Quiet, Jerry, I
think the house is abandoned but I’m not sure.”
“Don’t be afraid.
We can get in and out before anyone sees us.”
“This is a crazy
idea.”
“Come on. I picked
the lock. Let’s go in.”
It was fun seeing what I would come up with under time pressure. I’m glad I took part in this seminar.
They held the
seminar in the Board Room with 12 attendees.
Saturday,
July 28th at 2 PM
Private Enterprise
in Space panel with Ian Randal Strock, Kenneth B. Chiacchia, Lawrence Connolly,
Herb Kauderer, and Mark Painter
The panel was about business in space. What happens after Musk, Bezos, and Branson pave the way? We should sell business in space as something exciting. The issue is balancing short term profit versus long term benefit. There must be many draws to make it work in space. This was a panel of skeptics because big projects need big reasons and it’s not clear what those are yet.
They held the
panel in the Solstice Room with 20 attendees.
Saturday,
July 28th at 3 PM
The Guest of Honor
Presentation with Catherynne M. Valente
She read from her recent novel, Space Opera. It was a chapter from the beginning of her novel with the point of view character named Decibel Jones is chosen to perform in an intergalactic singing contest. After the reading, she said that the pitch for the novel was to write a novel depicting Eurovision in space. She had fun with have the galaxy like Earth acts that most current people dislike such as Yoko Ono. Sounded like a fun book. It’s a nominee for the biggest SF awards for 2018.
They have held the Eurovision song contest every year since 1956. One act from each country enters the contest and votes cast determines the winner where the voters cannot vote for their own country’s entrant.
They held the
presentation in Ballroom 1 with 70 attendees.
Saturday,
July 28th at 5 PM
Integrating
Character, Plot, and Worldbuilding lecture by David Levine.
He showed his process for developing characters, plot, and worldbuilding simultaneously and cohesively. His analogy of the interrelation of the three parts is a plant. A plant must have roots (setting), a stem (plot), and leaves (character). The writer’s superpower is revision. Make the story internally consistent. A story has seven points which the author must answer. A person in a situation with a problem tries to overcome it but continues to fail (through three to five-try/fail cycles) until the character succeeds (resolution) and is rewarded (proving it was worth attempting the problem). So, fill in those blanks to have a successful story.
The lecturer had a
handout asking questions an author should ask when creating a story. The three
main questions asked when thinking about the interrelationship between the
three aspects of story writing.
World to
Character. What do they want and why can’t they get it?
World to Plot. What changes can you make in the magic or the tech to make characters’ jobs easier or harder?
Character to Plot. How does the story end?
They held the
panel in the Solstice Room with 20 attendees.
Recommendation –
Conclusion
I enjoyed attending the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2018. My star of the con was Catherynne M. Valente. She was engaging with her reading of Space Opera and Q and A after her reading. I added her novel to my Goodreads to-read list. I attended two lectures, two panels, one fiction writing seminar, one author reading, and the guest of honor presentation. My other highlights were the fiction writing seminar and the Integrating Character, Plot, and Worldbuilding lecture. I also attended Confluence in 2016, 2017 and 2019 and plan to return in 2020. They will hold Confluence 2020 from July 24 to 26, 2020 with author guest of honor Martha Wells.
Links
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.
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 guests of honor presentation.
