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Capclave Conference Recap

Capclave Conference Recap 2016.

This is my recap of the Capclave Conference Recap 2016 Washington.

Introduction

The Capclave Conference Recap 2016 was held on from October 7 to October 9, 2016, in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

http://www.capclave.org/capclave/capclave16/

I attended the Capclave Conference Recap 2016 on October 7, 8, and 9, 2016. I drove from Cleveland, Ohio to the conference that was located at the Hilton Washington DC North/Gaithersburg Hotel. The conference is run by the Washington Science Fiction Association of Washington. It is a literary science fiction and fantasy conference which focuses on short fiction. The events included panels, readings, interviews, writing workshops, and filk concerts. I was focused on attending many readings and attending most of the appearances by Tim Powers, one of the guests of honor. I attended 13 panels (including 6 with Tim Powers), two interviews of Tim Powers and 8 readings.

http://wsfa.org/site/

Friday: October 7, 2016, Capclave Conference Recap 2016

Following a long drive, with a detour, I arrived at my hotel (not the one that held the conference) at 3:15 PM. The first panel was at 4:00 PM, so I thought that I would make the panel in plenty of time. Alas, my hotel screwed up at my check-in and by the time I drove to the other hotel, registered at the conference, and figured out where the first panel was located, I arrived at 4:20 PM. On top of that, there were no more chairs so I sat on the floor in the back of the room. This was rather annoying because this was one of the four panels that I was most looking forward to attending.

On the other hand, I am very glad that I saw the forty minutes that I did because it was one of the best panels at the conference. The panel was about writing effective reviews and I am interested in that topic because I just started a website with a blog that includes book reviews.

Writing Effective Reviews Panel

Writing Effective Reviews was about how to write an effective book or movie review. The key to writing an effective review is to determine who the target audience is for the book and to write the review with that audience in mind. The review is for the readers. It is about the words on the page, do not make the review about the author.

Alternate History Panel

Alternate History: How to Make It Work examined how to make an alternate history plot work. Know your history and why things happen. Search history for pivot points and ask what would happen if the pivot point was changed. Give a moral, but do not preach. Historians are guided by their times, so when reading history for research understand how the interpretation of history changes based on the time the book was written.

Fictionalizing Real People Panel

In Fictionalizing Real People, the panel discussed how they used aspects of real people in their fiction. Be careful of potential defamation of character lawsuits.

Tim Powers Interview

The next program that I attended was the Fast Forward TV Interview of Guest of Honor, Tim Powers. Fast Forward is a monthly show available on the group’s Youtube channel where the host interviews a contemporary science fiction author or editor. The interviewer touched on Tim Powers’ method of storytelling and examined his background relating to his writing. For him, research drives the story. He reads history, looking for those ideas that are too cool not to use. When he finds enough of these ideas, then he has a book.

In writing his form of secret or hidden history, he creates a calendar of real events and acts as a cold case detective by taking the facts and determine what really happened. By really, he means finding the supernatural element that he wants to write about, which cannot be refuted by the historical timeline. He also talked about how his first two novels were published by Laser Books.

https://www.youtube.com/user/FastForwardCrew

Podcasts and Short Fiction Panel

At Podcasts and Short Fiction, the panel looked at how podcasts are expanding the market for short fiction. The panel consisted of two people, Scott H. Andrews, the editor, publisher, and podcast editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Jim Freund, the podcast editor and host for Lightspeed Magazine. Since there were only two people on the panel, it seemed like an interview. Lightspeed does one story per week as a podcast and Beneath Ceaseless Skies does one podcast per issue. Since early on, podcasts were always free for listeners, so there has never been a monetary benefit to the podcast, but as a companion to the written word a podcast is useful. It takes about one hour to edit the podcast per one page of text, so it is a major commitment to podcast multiple page stories.

Cover Text

https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/

Saturday: October 8, 2016, Capclave Conference Recap 2016

Steven H. Wilson Reading

Steven H. Wilson read from his unfinished novel called Sacrifice Play. The novel is a space opera dealing with telepathy. It was based on the science fiction audio drama called The Arbiter Chronicles. He ran a kick-starter campaign to complete the novel in May 2016.

Books

Anthony Dobranski Reading

Anthony Dobranski read from the galley copy of his finished novel The Demon in Business Class. The novel is an international modern-day fantasy featuring office politics, demons, and psychics.

https://anthonydobranski.com/demonbizclass/

Alternate and Secret History Panel

Alternate and Secret History was a panel featuring the guest of honor, Tim Powers, and the editor and publisher of Clarkesworld magazine, Neil Clarke. The panel explored the differences between the two types of stories. Alternate history occurs when the author takes a point in history and chooses a different path for the events. Time travel and allegory stories also fall in this type. On the other hand, the secret history author takes the facts of history and tries to find a story that exists in the spaces between the facts. Conspiracy theory stories also fall under this category. The final question of the panel was to ask if history is arbitrary or intentional. Depending on the author’s answer to that question could lead to the type of story the author would choose to tell.

Writing and Selling Your Story Panel

In the Writing and Selling Your Story panel, the panelists discussed what engages them as a reader, editor, or publisher. All three areas were represented on the panel. As an editor, the reader must be engaged to care about the main character. Something about the character, world, interaction at the start, or the voice must be present. They story cannot be only competent, it must be special. The author must deliver on the hook, but also must make the ending an inevitable surprise. As an author, make your individuality show through. Read in your genre extensively. Do not be discouraged by rejection, because every author’s journey is unique.

Time to the Power of Tim presentation

The next panel was a presentation called Time to the Power of Tim. It was presented by John Ashmead with commentary by Tim Powers. This setup caused confusion in the audience. I believe some expected this to be an interview of the guest of honor, Tim Powers. It was not. The presentation was a slide show given by the presenter, with comments added by Tim Powers. It was unorthodox, but I felt that it worked quite well as giving a different insight into the author. The presenter’s thesis was that Tim Powers follows a scientific method in determining the nature of his secret history novels. His time-traveling tales follow a rigorous timeline. The presenter showed examples of three timelines for three of his novels.

The Anubis Gates has a steampunk time machine. In this novel time is explored as a river and the issue of freewill versus determinism is explored.

Three Days to Never has a bicycle time machine. The story revolves around Einstein’s daughter and explores the fate of a butterfly. It also debates the LaPlace Transforms and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

Medusa’s Web involves two dimensional entities called spiders in the novel. The protagonists use fractured time to travel back to 1920’s Hollywood to unravel the past.

Tweets by akmed13

A. C. Wise Reading

The author A. C. Wise read from a short story called Harvest Song. Pseudopod Magazine will publish the story in their tenth anniversary anthology called For Mortal Things Unsung. Pseudopod Magazine publishes short horror fiction. The story involved a future soldier’s experiences on an unsuccessful mission.

http://www.acwise.net/

For Mortal Things Unsung

Biggest Mistakes by Beginning Writers Panel

In the Biggest Mistakes by Beginning Writers, the panel wants new writers to put your writing journey into perspective. Know your markets. Listen to your editor, do not argue with rejection. Rejections make you improve. Don’t give up, because determining to finish the story is the first step to success. Protect your writing time, so you can finish the story. Make it a habit to write every day. Conduct yourself as a professional online with your editor and on your social media accounts. Check the submission guidelines for every market that you place a submission. Do not respond to reviews of your work, it only leads to problems. Find a great story, find out whose story it is, and combine idea with character to create the best story that you can write. Make it uniquely you.

Tim Powers Interview

The Tim Powers Interview was moderated by Mike Zipser. Tim Powers was inspired to read and write science fiction by reading Red Planet by Robert Heinlein. He looks for the magic under our lives, the supernatural, for writing material. The seeds for his books are in reading non-fiction biography and history. Powers becomes a cold case detective in identifying the screwy bits in history to create his plots. He talked about writing his first two novels for Laser Books. He mentioned that his novel Declare was inspired by the work of John le Carre. Powers talked about the inspiration of early Hollywood in writing his latest novel, Medusa’s Web.

Ask The Authors Panel

The last panel of the day for Saturday was called Ask the Authors. The five authors on the panel were asked questions from the audience. Sprinkle description throughout the scene. Description should be more than detail; it must mean something. In choosing the point of view character, you must find the character who stands the most to lose, in other words, who has the greatest journey to take. To avoid distractions in writing, set small goals, write 1000 words a day, write the first draft uncritically, and work it out in edits. Determine your goal for writing. Choose to find the time to write, do not wait to be inspired, just write it. Keep improving by writing a lot and reading a lot. Small critique groups can be useful.

Sunday: October 9, 2016, Capclave Conference Recap 2016

Jon Skovron Reading

Jon Skovron read the second chapter of his novel Hope and Red. He describes the novel as a Kung Fu pirate gangster romance epic. The reading was about the origin story for Red. He meets Sadie the Goat and they embark on their pirate adventure.

http://www.jonskovron.com/

Leah Cypess read Cupid’s Compass, a story published in the Sept/Oct issue of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It was about, if you could erase your memories of lost love, would you do it and what complications could develop if you did.

Free Short Story

https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/toc1609.htm

James Maxey Reading

James Maxey read the first chapter of his novel Greatshadow, book one of the Dragon Apocalypse. The chapter was called Bone Handle Knife. It was about two treasure hunters, Stagger and Infidel, who take a job to steal a dragon skull from a group of pygmies.

http://dragonprophet.blogspot.com/

Alex Shvartsman Reading

Alex Shvartsman read his story called Dante’s Unfinished Business, which was published in the September 2016 issue of Galaxy’s Edge Magazine. It is a humorous story about a pot-smoking slacker, who dies unexpectedly. He becomes a ghost and goes on a journey of self-discovery similar to the plot of Dante’s Inferno, but really funny.

https://alexshvartsman.com/

http://www.galaxysedge.com/index.htm

Dealing With Discouragement Panel

In the panel Dealing with Discouragement, the authors discussed how they have dealt with rejections. Focus on output. Reevaluate where your stories are being submitted. Authors can be a terrible judge of their work. Advice can be found in Dorothea Brande’s book Becoming a Writer. Discipline is not inspiration. Seek your truth.

Great Authors You Are Not Reading Panel

The next panel talked about Great Authors You Are Not Reading. Some were the works of Edgar Pangborn, Pavane by Keith Roberts, A Scourge of Screamers by Daniel F. Galouye, the Sentinel Stars by Louis Charbonneau, World Out of Mind by J. T. McIntosh. The works of James Branch Cabell including Jurgen, The Cream of the Jest, Figures of Earth, and The Silver Stallion. The Return of Fursey by Mervyn Wall, The Ghost Ship by Richard Middleton, and Lud-In-The-Mist by Hope Mirrlees. The works of Charles Williams including All Hallows’ Eve, The Greater Trumps, and War in Heaven.

James Morrow Reading

James Morrow read a galley copy of a novella to be printed in June 2017 called the Asylum of Dr. Caligari. The story was partly inspired by the early horror movie called the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The sections read were about the encounters that the protagonist, Francis, had with Picasso in Paris and with Dr. Caligari in the fictional country of Weiserstadt. Dr. Caligari hires him as the painting therapist for the asylum inmates.

https://tachyonpublications.com/product/the-asylum-of-dr-caligari/

https://twitter.com/jimmorrow11?lang=en

https://www.sff.net/people/jim.morrow/index2.html

http://james-morrow.livejournal.com/

Research, Research, Research panel.

The last panel for the conference was on Research, Research, Research. The panel showed that research is essential even when writing fantasy works. The authors all use research in different ways. Tim Powers says research leads him to his stories. Brenda Clough does her research after the first draft so she knows what she needs to learn more about. Leah Cypess says research is the work and the writing is the fun. She uses research during all aspects of the writing process.

Alan Smale has researched extensively in Roman history. When he brought the Romans to the Americas in his latest novels, he researched the Indian cultures just before the era of colonization. One point that all the authors agree on is that certain aspects of description must be researched extensively because the expert readers will certainly call you out on any mistakes. Those areas are guns, horses, and sailing. It is most important to be plausible rather than accurate in writing fiction.

Wrap-up

I had a great time at CapclaveConference Recap 2016. I learned many things and was glad that I decided to come on Friday and stay all weekend. It was an exhausting full three days. I plan to go to the next Capclave, which is scheduled for October 6 to October 8, 2017.

My regrets are that after seeing her at the Ask the Authors panel, I wish I had followed the other guest of honor, Sarah Beth Durst.

The best readings I attended were by Jon Skovron (Most theatrical reading, Red and Sadie the Goat were very real characters), Alex Shvartsman (funniest reading, Dante was hilarious), and James Morrow (Most intriguing reading, alternate history with an on the eve of World War One setting and early motion pictures added).

The best indication of what I felt moved me the most is that I purchased the novel that Jon Skovron read called Hope and Red. I also pre-ordered the sequel called Bane and Shadow.

Links

A similar Conference to the Capclave Conference Recap 2016 Washington was the Western Reserve Writers Conference 2016. Winter Fiction Fest is sponsored by Literary Cleveland while the Cuyahoga County Public Library sponsors a similar event called the Western Reserve Writers Conference 2016.

This is my recap for the Western Reserve Writers Conference 2016 on September 24, 2016. It was located at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library at the new William N. Skirball writer’s center which is located at the branch. It was a one-day event with an introduction, a keynote speaker, three breakout sessions, and one Q & A panel.

Western Reserve Writers Conference

Indie Author Conference and Showcase

Indie Author Conference and Showcase 2016.

I attended the Indie Author Conference and Showcase 2016.

Introduction

The Indie Author Conference and Showcase were held on November 12, 2016, at the Parma-Snow branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library in Parma, Ohio.

Three lectures were presented concerning different aspects of self-publishing. Following the lectures, a showcase was presented featuring over 50 self-published authors.

The first lecture was by Dana Kaye, called “Your Book, Your Brand”.

She presented the lessons she learned as a publicist and detailed in her book. It is important to create and establish your author brand, which consists of you and your book. To find your brand search for the common denominator in your writing and distill that into a short tagline. To establish your brand, first get your online house in order. Make sure that all the platforms that you use, reflect the message that you want to convey. Update your website. Secure your online real estate. Create accounts even if you do not use them now, because at some time you might want to use them and you do not want someone else to use a site that can be confused with content coming from you. Identify your target audience. Develop a content strategy. Do not be afraid to say no, if an opportunity does not fit your brand.

The second lecture was by Deanna Adams, called “Beta Readers and Editors: Don’t Publish Without Them”.

There is more to creating your best work than just self-editing your manuscript. It is important to invest in yourself and in your book. Search for an editor because they can see what you can’t, they understand the industry, and can help you become a better writer. The Editorial Freelancers Association job listing service is a good place to look for freelance editors at http://www.the-efa.org/ Writer’s groups are a good resource for beta readers. Beta readers in your genre can give insights into where your writing is going right and going wrong.

The last lecture was by A. E. Jones on “Self-Publishing Doesn’t Mean You Have to Do Everything Yourself.”

First, every author must ask some basic questions. Why do you want to publish? Why do you write? What do you want to accomplish? How much can you afford to spend? How much time can you dedicate to writing? Depending on how an author answers these questions, determines where you go next. Everyone needs a support system. You must find your tribe. Your tribe is like-minded individuals that share your goals. Determine what you can do on your own and when you need to call on your tribe.

The following are the steps for publishing your work. Write the book. Determine your goals and motivations. Determine your publishing path, traditional, completely self-published, or independently published. If you choose Indie, then learn the process. Determine what you can do yourself and what you need help on. She handed out an information sheet which gave many examples of the websites that further expand on her steps for publishing.

She offered one of her books for free on https://www.instafreebie.com/ I have downloaded several additional books from the website. The site offers different genre books at different times.

Conclusion

The best thing for me at this conference was that I found one person from my tribe. Cat Russell, the self-described writer, reader, vegan, poetess of the Greek Gods can be found at https://catherinerussellwriter.wordpress.com/ and https://twitter.com/ganymeder

I’m glad I went to this conference, I learned a lot.

Links

A similar Conference to the Indie Author Conference and Showcase 2016 was the Western Reserve Writers Conference 2016. Winter Fiction Fest is sponsored by Literary Cleveland while the Cuyahoga County Public Library sponsors a similar event called the Western Reserve Writers Conference 2016.

Western Reserve Writers Conference

Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey

Caliban’s War by James SA Corey.

Caliban’s War by James SA Corey, Book #2 of The Expanse Series.

Introduction

In Caliban’s War by James SA Corey, the action moves to the moon of Ganymede. Someone captures a girl with a rare disease, they set loose a monster, and the moon base is under attack. James Holden is back and, with the help of new allies, must discover who is behind these attacks and how they can defeat them.

Summary

The first novel in the series only had two main viewpoint characters, James Holden and Joe Miller. Caliban’s War by James SA Corey expands the list to four, which gives more opportunities to see the same events from different viewpoints. Miller is not back and the reason is eventually explained. In the prologue, Mei is kidnapped, and that sets the main plot into motion.

The first viewpoint character is Bobbie Draper. She is a Martian Marine stationed on Ganymede, watching the UN troops also stationed there. She becomes the lone survivor when a monster single-handedly destroys both units.

The second viewpoint character is Holden and he is sent by his benefactor, Fred Johnson, to find out what is happening on Ganymede.

The third viewpoint character is Prax. He is Mei’s father and is desperate to find her. He eventually teams up with Holden. The last viewpoint character is Chrisjen Avasarala, the assistant to the undersecretary of executive administration of the UN. Bobbie ends up on Earth and teams with Avasarala. The two groups face challenges, discover the truth, and then head to confront Mei’s kidnappers.

Recommendation

Caliban’s War by James SA Corey is a great sequel to Leviathan Wakes. It expands the setting and ratchet ups the stakes. My only quibble is that the villains seem too similar to the group from the previous novel. I am planning to read the next adventure of Holden and his crew of the Rocinante in Abbadon’s Gate. Note that the Syfy series introduces Avasarala in season 1 of the expanse. Season two of the show will cover the end of the first novel and part of this novel.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Caliban’s War by James SA Corey.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12591698-caliban-s-war

Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey, book #1 of The Expanse, is a space opera set in the near future when the solar system is settled. Jim Holden becomes the captain of the Rocinante and Detective Miller is on a missing person case. Their paths cross and the fate of the solar system lies in their hands. This is a link to my review.

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin

Fevre Dream by George RR Martin.

Introduction

Abner Marsh is a river steamboat captain on the Mississippi River in 1857. He receives an intriguing proposal by Joshua York who suggests that they enter into a business relationship where Joshua finances Abner’s dream steamboat called the Fevre Dream. The only stipulation is that the first journey of the steamboat is to follow the Mississippi to New Orleans. Abner notices that Joshua keeps unusual hours, has unusual associates, and displays unusual traits.

Summary

The opposition, Damon Julian, is introduced in an early chapter as an isolated point of view where it becomes clear that he and his band are vampires. Abner investigates Joshua to satisfy his curiosity about his unusual behavior. Joshua eventually reveals that he and his group are vampire hunters searching for Damon. These vampires are not the traditional ones of legend. They display some aspects of vampires such as extreme sensitivity to light, superhuman strength, superhuman regeneration of injuries, and a thirst for blood that builds until it reaches what is called the red thirst. They also display aspects of werewolves such as the cyclical change in personality that leads to the red thirst. The novel follows Joshua’s gradual reveal of the whole truth to Abner and their confrontation with Damon.

Recommendation

This novel takes a refreshing look at vampires through a science fictional framework. The reader learns who these creatures are and why they do what they do. The novel comes to a logical and satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Fevre Dream by George RR Martin.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12894834-fevre-dream

A similar novel in the fantasy genre is the Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan. Adamat, Tamas, and Taniel fight gods and men in this gunpowder fantasy. This is a link to my review of the novel.

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

The Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.

The Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, Book #1 of The Wayfarers series.

Introduction

In The Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, Rosemary Harper takes a job on the starship Wayfarer to get away from the memories from her home. She meets and bonds with the crew of the starship. They are about to take a long journey where each crew member must confront their fears and make the mission a success.

Summary

The mission of their starship is to punch wormholes between the stars to create fast travel. The problem is that the ship must make the first trip without the benefit of the wormhole, so it will take over one standard year to arrive at the destination. There are eight crewmembers, Rosemary, Corbin, Ashby, Dr. Chef, Jenks, Kizzy, Ohan, and Sissix. Each has a story and each must come to a resolution.

This novel reads like an episodic TV show. We go to Kizzy’s homeworld, we hear Dr. Chef’s backstory, we go to Sissix’s homeworld, there is a planet where Corbin has a run-in with the inhabitants. Each episode is self-contained and resolved. It’s a fun book to read, but there is no conflict. They do what they do, they look and sound cute, but nothing happens that challenges them. Rosemary is the narrator and the summation of her story is that she finds a home on the Wayfarer.

Recommendation

I’m not used to a novel that doesn’t have any conflict and has no opposition character. The opposition in the novel consists of two groups. A group of aliens hijack the ship and get what they want. They leave before the next chapter starts, and don’t reappear. The other group is the Toremi, who owns the small, angry planet and wants the wormhole desperately. That conflict is too little and too late and of course, resolved in one chapter. This was not my kind of novel. I will not be reading the next book in the series.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22733729-the-long-way-to-a-small-angry-planet

A similar novel, Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, book #1 of The Expanse, is a space opera set in the near future when the solar system is settled. Jim Holden becomes the captain of the Rocinante and Detective Miller is on a missing person case. Their paths cross and the fate of the solar system lies in their hands. This is a link to my review.

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany, Book #8 of The Harry Potter series.

Introduction

This book is billed as the eighth story in the Harry Potter series. It is actually a copy of a stage play. The play was co-written by the play’s director and staged in London. It is set nineteen years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, right after the epilog of that book. It follows the relationship of Harry Potter and his son, Albus, as he becomes a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Albus must deal with the legacy of being Harry Potter’s son and challenges of his own making.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two (Harry Potter, #8)

Summary

In the course of the play, we follow Albus during scenes set at different times during his first few years at Hogwarts. Reading the play felt like hearing an oldies rock band replaying their hits. The sorting hat was from book 1, except Albus was sorted into Slytherin and his best friend became Scorpious Malfoy. Albus and Scorpious use the polyjuice potion from book 2. The time-turner they will use is from book 3. The main plot is derived from book 4’s Tri-Wizard Tournament. Cedric Diggory’s father, Amos, wishes to rewrite history. Albus and Scorpious attempt to do so with disastrous results. Was this play an homage or a fanfiction? You be the judge.

Recommendation

It was a fun, short read. I greatly enjoyed reading them playing their hits, but on reflection, I don’t feel that this book should be a canon part of the series. I did not believe the twist at the end was earned or made any sense based on the previous seven books. However, if you have read the first seven books then you must read this one.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29056083-harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child

A similar novel in the fantasy genre is the Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan. Adamat, Tamas, and Taniel fight gods and men in this gunpowder fantasy. This is a link to my review of the novel.

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge, Book #1 of The Zones of Thought series.

Introduction

Johanna and Jefri’s parent’s spaceship has crashed on a planet ruled by the Tines. The Tines are a dog-like race that has communal minds. Two rival groups of Tines capture each kid. On the other side of the galaxy, Ravna and her crew race to get to the kids. Ravna believes that the kids have the clue needed to fight the super-intelligent being called the Blight. She hopes to get that clue before the ships controlled by the Blight intercept her or get to the kids first.

Summary

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge is set in the far future when humanity has gone to the stars and mingles with the beings found there. The world-building is the star in this novel.

There are four areas of the galaxy that are called zones of thought. Knowledge, speed of thought, and speed of travel all increase as one go from the inner core to the outermost edge of the galaxy. The Unthinking Depths have the least of all. The Slow Zone, where the old earth is located, is limited to sub-light travel. The Beyond has faster than light travel. It is where humanity has expanded to and the area where the kid’s spaceship came from. When civilizations become extremely advanced, they head to the final zone called the Transcend.

Researchers in the low Transcend release the superintelligence called the Blight. Only the kid’s spaceship escapes. The plot alternates between the story on the Tines world and Ravna’s crew.

Recommendation

While the world-building of the Ravna plot was intriguing, the actual interaction between Ravna and Pham Nuwen was less so. The better stories were about Johanna’s interaction with the Tine called Woodcarver and the melding of Jefri with the Tine called Amdi. The background is difficult to understand, but the characters make it an interesting read.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77711.A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

November 2016 Writing Progress Report

This is my November 2016 Writing Progress Report.

Writing Progress from October 2016

I wrote three blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my writing progress report for October 2016 linked below.

October 2016 Writing Progress Report

I retitled A Simple Request. It is now known as White Bracer.

I retitled the new story that I was going to call Time Bomb. It is now known as Mage Squad.

Completed the story sheets for Mage Squad.

I wrote all four scenes for Mage Squad. It has about 3400 words, longer than I had planned.

Worked on the story sheets for Dogman, I had planned on completing them.

Events from October 2016

I attended Capclave from 10-7 to 10-9, and I will write a separate post on it.

I went live on my website called garydavidgillen.com, I’m happy about that. It’s a big signpost on my journey to create my writer’s platform.

Goals for November 2016

Complete the story sheets for Dogman.

Write all four scenes for Dogman.

Complete a rewrite of Kay-Eye.

Complete second revisions of Mage Squad and Dogman.

Events for November 2016

Start Facebook and Twitter pages.

Research photographers for website photo.

Attend the Indy Author Conference on 11-12 at the Parma, Ohio Library

Confluence 2016 Conference

The Confluence 2016 Conference.

I attended the Confluence 2016 Conference.

Introduction

The Confluence 2016 Conference was held on from July 29 to July 31, 2016, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I attended the Confluence 2016 Conference on July 30 and July 31, 2016. I drove from Cleveland, Ohio to the conference that was located at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. The conference is run by the Parsec organization of Pittsburgh. It is a literary science fiction, fantasy, and horror conference. The events included panels, readings, interviews, writing workshops, and filk concerts. I was focused on attending as many panels as I possibly could on Saturday and Sunday. I attended 15 panels and the U.S.S. Improvise improv sketch comedy routine.

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

Saturday: July 30, 2016

Ancient Wonders Panel

Ancient Wonders was a talk about the earliest science fiction and fantasy writings.

Communicating with Aliens Panel

Communicating with Aliens was a talk about how communicating with aliens can be written about in science fiction. The nature of determining intelligence is not always clear. How the author describes the communication is determined by if humans have gone to find the intelligent life or the intelligent life has found humans on earth.

The Basics of Ancient Warfare Lecture

Next, Timons Esaias gave an interesting lecture on The Basics of Ancient Warfare. He began talking about local soldiers using their locally available weapons. Professional armies were a threat to the local king, so wars were fought by mercenaries, who were paid and then dismissed after the war was over. This did not change until the development of the heavy infantry of the Greeks, which was called the phalanx. There are three types of warriors; on foot, on animals, and on a ship. Other topics in the talk were the Welsh longbow, Roman artillery, and the Huns and Visigoths use of horses to defeat the Romans.

The How (Not) to Sabotage Your Writing Panel

How (Not) to Sabotage Your Writing was a panel where the panelists gave their unique advice on how they persevered in becoming writers. That advice included; be okay with criticism, collaborate with your editor, engage your audience, know your tools as a writer, and take the time to learn to be a better writer.

Alien Worlds and Races Panel

In the Alien Worlds and Races panel, the panelists talked about they designed alien lifeforms. The P.E.R.S.I.A. acronym for determining a race’s culture was discussed. It stands for political, economic, religious, social, intellectual, and artistic institutions.

What the U.S. Navy Taught me About Starfleet Lecture

Christopher Weuve gave a lecture on What the U.S. Navy Taught Me About Starfleet. He started with giving three points about the U.S. Navy. First point, the history of the U.S. Navy starts with battleships. The torpedo and then the airplane drastically changed naval warfare. Second point, a surface ship uses hiding to avoid enemies. Third point, hydrodynamics affects the ship’s maximum speed. The, he gave three points about Starfleet. First, Starfleet is really not like the navy. It is more like the coast guard because it has multiple missions including law enforcement. Second, Starfleet has a really hard problem. Space is really big. The ships do not have shore support and there is no international law in space. Third, Starfleet has it easy because no one is incompetent and stuff doesn’t break. A final observation was that rank is not a job description.

Promoting Your Writing Panel

The next panel explored how you should be Promoting Your Writing. The panel advises starting promoting a book at least six months before it comes out. The rule of thumb is to spend 80% of your time writing and 20% on marketing. The work does not end when you turn in the manuscript. You are your brand. Plan to attend cons, do readings at bookstores and libraries, participate in anthologies, and also use targeted Facebook and Twitter ads. Create publicity by having a newsletter, an author’s website, a mailing list, a blog, make guest posts on other blogs, and create podcasts.

Mapping the Fantastic Panel

Mapping the Fantastic was about how authors invent worlds that make spatial sense. A map is a perception. Geography dictates much about the plot of a story.

U.S.S Improvise Sketch Comedy Show

The only event at this time was held in the ballroom, where many conference goers arrived to see the sketch comedy show called U.S.S Improvise. I thought that the cast was engaging and funny. Most of their riffs were from Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was a welcome change to hearing seven panels and lectures.

Writing Alternative History Panel

The next panel described how they were Writing Alternate History. It’s important to do the research. There are many pivotal historical events, when changed for fiction lead to interesting stories.

Game of Thrones Panel

The last panel I went to on Saturday was on Game of Thrones. The moderator was unable to attend, so the audience became the panel. We debated different topics on the books and the HBO show. I was exhausted at the end of the day, so I went home after the abbreviated discussion.

Sunday: July 31, 2016

The Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 lecture

The first lecture on Sunday was on The Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 presented by Timons Esaias. The Industrial Revolution led to Iron, Steel, the Steam Engine, and the Railroad Engine. In 1851, an exhibition was planned to showcase the technology of the times. Joseph Paxton designed a huge modular greenhouse to hold the exhibit in Hyde Park in London, England. It was called the Crystal Palace. The event brought people, technology, and ideas from all over the world. In effect, the exhibition was the first World’s Fair.

Indistinguishable from Magic Panel

The next panel asked when do advanced technologies become Indistinguishable From Magic? This panel takes its premise from Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law, which states that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. In other words it was suggested that magic is technology that we do not understand yet.

Near Term Technology Panel

The panelists described what Near Term Technology is available.

Getting There Panel

The next topic was on the technology of space propulsion called Getting There. In non-manned flight laser propelled sails are being researched. The biggest change in manned flight has been the beginning of commercial means of getting to space. In the NASA approach, failure must be avoided because failure leads to review boards. Commercial flight companies are willing to fail because eventual success will pay off well. Nuclear rockets are needed now, electro propulsion should be seen in the near term, and wormhole technology is a long term option.

The Economics of Self-Publishing Panel

The last scheduled panel was on The Economics of Self-Publishing. All four of the panelists have self-published and related their experiences to the audience. Authors who self-publish must design, edit, publish, and market their work. They suggest that it is vital that the author spends money on a professional editor. Book covers sell the product, so money spent on a cover designer is necessary to promote the book. Purchase multiple ISBN codes, one for each format used such as hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audiobook.

Self-publishing is easier now because of print on demand. Self-published authors no longer must pay for a print run of books and then sell them one by one. There are two main print-on-demand formats, Ingram-spark and Createspace (An Amazon Company). I was inspired so much by the panel that I purchased a book from the panel’s moderator, Chris Kennedy. The book is called Self-Publishing for Profit. He details how he became a best-selling self-publishing author.

Wrap-up

I had a great time at the Confluence 2016 Conference. It the first conference that I have ever attended. I learned many things and was glad that I made the time to take the trip. I plan to go to the next Confluence. It is scheduled for August 4 to August 6, 2017.

Links

A similar Conference to the Confluence 2016 Conference was the Western Reserve Writers Conference 2016. Winter Fiction Fest is sponsored by Literary Cleveland while the Cuyahoga County Public Library sponsors a similar event called the Western Reserve Writers Conference 2016.

Western Reserve Writers Conference

October 2016 Writing Progress Report

October 2016 Writing Progress.

This is my October 2016 Writing Progress Report.

Introduction

This is my October 2016 writing progress report. Normally I would state my work completed from September, events from September, my planned work for October, and planned events for October. Since this is my first report, I will also include information prior to September 2016.

June, July, and August 2012

On June 10 2012, I purchased Blake Snyder’s book Save the Cat. I had written a screenplay in 2007 and had studied screenwriting over the years. I was inspired by Snyder’s book to take the lessons of screenwriting and apply them to writing short prose fiction. Screenplays are typically about 24000 words long and I figured that I could tighten my narrative to 6000 word short stories. In a manic brainstorming session, I came up with the basic framework for six short stories.

The first story I planned to write was The Prisoner of Tarnal. It was an easy choice since it was a prequel story to the three Gahrn series stories that I had written in 1993, 1994, and 1995. I had the background and an ending which set up some things I paid off in the other stories. I worked on that story and finished the first draft on August 5, 2012. Since I felt good about completing the story I started the second story. Its working title was Dystopia. I progressed on it but life intervened in October and I stopped writing halfway through.

December 2012

I typed up what I had for Dystopia. By then, I had renamed it C. A. T. because of an idea I had in a dream and put into the story. C. A. T. was 3767 words but only half finished. I stopped writing. C. A. T. and the other four stories remained unfinished.

November and December 2015

I returned to the unfinished C. A. T. story and finished it on December 12, 2015. It was three years later, but I had finally finished the first draft.

January 2016

My 2016 new year’s resolution was to write the four unfinished stories from 2012. The next story I planned to write was the story I had called Time Bomb. I made the story sheets this month and came up with eight scenes for the story. The story had a new name, it was now called 4 Humours. On a plane ride to Orlando for the Harry Potter Celebration at Universal Orlando, which was held on January 29 to 31, 2016, I started writing the first scene.

February and March 2016

I felt like I was ready to knock it out, but by the end of February, I had only completed the first scene. On March 25^th, Good Friday, I wrote the second scene.

April 2016

I started the third scene on April 1^st, April Fool’s Day. At that point I was frustrated. I had not put writing at the top of my list of things to accomplish, so I didn’t write much. My plan was to write one story every three months to get the four done by the end of the year. I had to come up with a way to get that done. It must have been my upcoming birthday that motivated me. I had to find a way to get a reliable number of words written each week.

What was a reasonable amount to write each week? I had to find a minimum amount that I could achieve. It takes about four hours for me to write the first draft of a scene. The scenes are about 800 words long. It came down to deciding that it was worth taking four hours a week to write. So I planned to write scenes three to eight in the next six weeks. I thought that I could do that if I made it my highest priority. I finished scene three and part of scene four in April. That was much better progress.

May and June 2016

I finished 4 Humors on June 5, 2016. One scene was harder to write so it took seven weeks to write six scenes. I felt very successful compared to taking sixteen weeks for two scenes. I could do this. The fourth of the six stories was originally called L5. I would retitle it Space Station Sunyata. Wrote the story sheets, scene one and half of scene two in June. I also typed up two of eight scenes for 4 Humours. In nine of ten weeks, I wrote what was planned.

July 2016

On Space Station Sunyata I wrote the rest of scene two, scene three, and part of scene four.

I also typed rest of 4 Humours

In 11 of 15 weeks I wrote what I planned.

I attended Ohio Readers and Writers Expo held by OhioExpos.com on July 23, 2016. Wrote a separate post on it on 09-28-16.

Attended Confluence in Pittsburgh on 07-29-16 through 07-31-16. I will write a separate post covering the convention.

August 2016

I wrote scenes five, six, seven, and eight of Space Station Sunyata. It was completed.

I also prepared the story sheets for A Simple Request.

In 15 of 19 weeks I wrote what I planned.

Writing Progress from September 2016

I wrote six blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Welcome to my Website post linked below.

Welcome to my Website

For A Simple Request I decided to change my format. I had planned 12 scenes at 500 words each. The plan was to write two scenes per week, which would increase my output from 800 up to 1000 words per week. My future plan is to up my output in 2017 to 2000 words per week.

I took a week off from work and finished the first eight scenes of A Simple Request. I finished scenes nine, ten, eleven, and twelve in the next two weeks. A Simple Request was complete. From start to finish, it took 23 days.

I typed all eight scenes of Space Station Sunyata.

In 19 of 23 weeks I wrote what I planned.

Events from September 2016

I attended the Western Reserve Writers Conference on 9-24. The Cuyahoga County Public Library. sponsored the conference. I wrote a separate post on it on 10-16-16.

https://cuyahogalibrary.org/

Wrote the amount that I intended 22 out of 26 weeks between 04-18-16 and 10-16-16. I think the plan I created in April was a success.

Created a website called garydavidgillen.com by using Bluehost for my web hosting and writing it in WordPress.

Goals for October 2016

I came up with another plan for a format change. I wanted to write shorter stories that could be used in different markets than the five stories that I had completed. The stories are The Prisoner of Tarnal, Kay-Eye (The new name for C. A. T.), 4 Humours, Space Station Sunyata, and A Simple Request. The plan was to write two stories with four 500 word scenes, which makes the story lengths 2000 words.

Complete the story sheets for Dogman and Time Bomb (this story follows the original idea I had for Time Bomb, not the rewrite I used for 4 Humours).

Write all four scenes for Time Bomb.

Events for October 2016

Attend Capclave 10-7 to 10-9.

http://www.capclave.org/capclave/capclave16/

Go live with my website. The content on my website involves my writing journey, book reviews, convention recaps, and monthly progress reports. Make one post per week, rotating on the four topics. Read two novels per month and write a post on each. Post the monthly progress report once a month. So, the fourth post will be about conventions or my writing journey.

October 2016 Writing Progress