In October 2022, I submitted Chapter 24 of my novel titled Cuba Liberto to the Novel Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library. It is the final chapter of the first draft of the novel.
I missed the Fiction Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library in October 2022 because I was on vacation in Florida.
Writing Progress from October 2022 Continued
I made five posts on my Goodreads account in October 2022.
In the past, I submitted the stories; Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, and Grognard to magazines.
The seven Flash Fiction Stories I submitted 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 submission for 2022.
Events from October 2022.
I attended no events in October. I missed going to the Capclave Washington Conference 2022 from September 30 to October 2, 2022, in Rockville, Maryland.
Writing Goals for November 2022.
In November 2022, I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for November 2022.
I plan to submit a story to the Fiction Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library in November 2022.
In November 2022, I plan to submit a short story to the Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
I plan to submit a story to the critters workshop in November 2022.
In November 2022, 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 submit the stories White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.
Writing Goals for November 2022 continued.
In November 2022, I plan to make five posts on my Goodreads account.
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.
Planned Events for November 2022.
The next conference I plan to attend is ConFusion in Novi, Michigan, from January 20, 2022, to January 22, 2022. The Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association Sponsors ConFusion.
Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan, Book Eight of the Wheel of Time series.
Introduction
Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan is the eighth book of The Wheel of Time series. The novel follows four main plot arcs. Elayne, with the help of the Kin and the Sea Folk, seeks to use the Bowl of the Winds to stop the hot weather created by the Forsaken. Perrin and Faile seek to bring the Prophet back to Rand in Cairhein. Egwene seeks to bring her army to Tar Valon. Rand fights the Seanchan near Ebou Dar and talks with Min in Cairhein. When Rand fights the Seanchan, will they defeat him, or will he win across the Path of Daggers?
Summary – Prologue
The prologue has three point-of-view characters, and each point of view sets up a plot arc.
Queen Ethenielle of Kandor is the first viewpoint character in the prologue. She attends a meeting of the four leaders of the Borderland kingdoms. The other leaders are Queen Tenobia of Saldea, King Paitar of Arafel, and King Easar of Shienar. They want to meet the Dragon Reborn and decide if they want to follow him.
Verin Mathwin is the second viewpoint character. She finishes up the plot of the aftermath of what happened at the end of the last book at Dumai Wells.
Moridin of the Forsaken (Chosen by their reckoning) plots against Rand, the Dragon Reborn.
Summary–Groups of characters
Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan has four main plots.
Elayne, Aviendha, and Brigitte are in Ebou Dar. They plan to use the Bowl of the Winds to cancel the heat wave that the Forsaken has unleashed on the land. They have the Kin and the Sea Folk help them. The Seanchan invade Ebou Dar and compromise their escape.
Perrin brings the army Rand has given to him to Ghealdan looking for Masema, the Prophet of the Dragon. The army is made up of the Winged Guards of Mayene, Aiel, and the people of the Two Rivers. Rand wants Perrin to bring Masema back to him in Cairhein. Perrin tries to convince Masema to come with him and Faile has other ideas.
Egwene seeks to bring her army to siege and capture Tar Valon. Her army is in Murandy. She must negotiate with the nobles of Murandy, build up her army’s strength, and find a way through Andor to achieve her objective.
Rand prepares his army in Ilian to stop a potential Seanchan invasion from Ebou Dar. He fights the Seanchan and must live with the aftermath of the battle.
Summary–Best Plot Points
Three Plot Points stand out in Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan.
Chapter 6, Threads is the chapter where the Bowl of the Winds plotline resolves.
Chapter 23, Fog of War, Storm of Battle, and Chapter 24, A Time for Iron detail the battle between Rand’s army and the Seanchan. The multiple viewpoints in these chapters show the complications caused by the fog of war.
Chapter 26, The Extra Bit covers two initiatives of Elaida of the White Tower. First is the effort of a group of Aes Sedai to uncover the Black Ajah at the White Tower. Second is the group sent to defeat The Black Tower, the home of the Asha’man, men who can channel.
Recommendation
Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan has some brilliant scenes but misses conclusions to the plot arcs explored.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan.
This is the link to my review of Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan. When Rand forces the hand of one of the Forsaken, will the Forsaken defeat him or will he earn a Crown of Swords?
This is the link to my review of Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan, Book Six of the Wheel of Time. Chaos reigns in the Westlands. They push Rand to the edge of insanity. Will he survive the box?
I went to the Cleveland Guardians baseball game on October 8, 2022. They beat Tampa Bay 1-0 in 15 innings to win the wild card series. This is the picture I took of the Pepsi, hot dog, and rally towel I got at the game.
Writing Progress from September 2022.
I wrote two blog posts for my website, garydavidgillen.com. One post was my writing progress report for September 2022, which is linked below.
In August 2022, I submitted Chapter 23 of my novel titled Cuba Liberto to the Novel Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library.
I missed the Fiction Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library in September 2022 because I was on vacation in Florida.
Writing Progress from September 2022 Continued
I made five posts on my Goodreads account in September 2022.
In the past, I submitted the stories; Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, and Grognard to magazines.
The seven Flash Fiction Stories I submitted 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 submission for 2022.
Events from September 2022.
I attended no events in September. I missed going to the Capclave Washington Conference 2022 from September 30 to October 2, 2022, in Rockville, Maryland.
Writing Goals for October 2022.
I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for October 2022.
I am working on a novel titled Cuba Liberto. The first draft was a script. My plan for the rewrite is to convert the story into 24 Chapters. I plan to complete writing Chapter 24 in October 2022 and submit it to the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library. It is the final chapter of the first draft of the novel.
In October 2022, I plan to submit a story to the Fiction Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
I plan to submit a story to the critters workshop in October 2022.
I plan to work on third draft edits for Assassin in New Marl City using comments from the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio. In October 2022, 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 submit the stories White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.
Writing Goals for October 2022 continued.
In October 2022, I plan to make five posts on my Goodreads account.
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.
Planned Events for October 2022.
The next conference I plan to attend is ConFusion in Novi, Michigan, from January 20, 2022, to January 22, 2022. The Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association Sponsors ConFusion.
Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie, First Law World Series Book #7
Introduction
Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie has thirteen stories from the World of the First Law. The stories are arranged chronologically by the date the story was set. They are either novel chapter outtakes, scenes set between the novels, or part of the sequence featuring Shev and Carcolf. Six stories were first published in this anthology, four stories were first published in other anthologies, and three stories were published as extras in the author’s novels in this series. Will the protagonists in these thirteen fantasy action stories prevail or fail in their efforts?
Summary
Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie has these thirteen stories from the World of the First Law.
A Beautiful Bastard whose main character is Sand dan Glotka from the main series.
Small Kindness which features the first appearance of Shev the thief.
The Fool Jobs feature Curden Craw and occur in the North.
Skipping Town is another Shev story.
Hell occurs in Dagoska and features Temple the beggar.
Two’s Company is another story about Shev.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time occurs in Styria during the events of the novel named Best Served Cold.
Some Desperado features Shev.
Yesterday, Near a Village Called Barden… is an outtake chapter from the novel named the Heroes.
Three’s a Crowd is about Shev.
Recommendation
Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie fills in the blanks between the six novels of the World of the First Law. The stories are excellent, but I enjoyed two of the stories the most. Yesterday, Near a Village Called Barden… is an outtake chapter of the novel named the Heroes. The story shifts between six POV characters including Colonel Bremer dan Gorst resulting in a surprising ending. Tough Times all over was first published in the Rogues anthology. The story wraps up the Shev and Carcolf story sequence. It has fourteen different Pov characters. I like how both stories are constructed, connected, and build to a satisfying ending. Reading all the stories in this anthology will help the reader to understand the background of the First Law World better. Reading the six novels first will help the reader to put these stories into context.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie, First Law World Series Book #7
This is the link to my Book Review of the Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie, Age of Madness Series Book #3. They defeated the rebellion, but all is not well in the Union. Will the wisdom of crowds start a revolution and bring down the Union once and for all?
In August 2022, I submitted Chapter 22 of my novel titled Cuba Liberto to the Novel Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library.
I submitted my short story, “The Last Supper,” to the Fiction Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library in August 2022.
Writing Progress from August 2022 Continued
I made five posts on my Goodreads account in August 2022.
In the past, I submitted the stories; Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, and Grognard to magazines.
The seven Flash Fiction Stories I submitted 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 submission for 2022 yet.
Events from August 2022.
No events were attended in August.
Writing Goals for September 2022.
I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for September 2022.
I am working on a novel titled Cuba Liberto. The first draft was a script. My plan for the rewrite is to convert the story into 24 Chapters. I plan to complete writing Chapter 23 in September 2022 and submit it to the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
In September 2022, I plan to submit a story to the Fiction Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
I plan to submit a story to the critters workshop in September 2022.
I plan to work on third draft edits for Assassin in New Marl City using comments from the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio. In Septemeber 2022, 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 submit the stories White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.
Writing Goals for September 2022 continued.
In August 2022, I plan to make five posts on my Goodreads account.
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.
Planned Events for September 2022.
The next event I plan to attend is Inkubator 2022 at the Cleveland Public Library on September 10, 2022. It is sponsored by Literary Cleveland. It is a two-day in-person writing conference with virtual events throughout the prior week.
This is the link to the Literary Cleveland website.
I also want to attend the Capclave Washington Conference 2022 from September 30 to October 2, 2022, in Rockville, Maryland. The Washington Science Fiction Association of Washington runs the conference. It is a literary science fiction and fantasy conference which focuses on short fiction.
In Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, Jaime Gray lost his job and is delivering food now. It’s early in the pandemic and COVID-19 makes Jaime’s job difficult. Jamie’s old friend Tom offers Jamie a job to help the KPS as a grunt. Jaime takes the job and goes through a portal and makes friends with others working for the KPS. Huge creatures called Kaiju live on the land near the portal. Bad people want to use Kaiju for their short-sighted purposes. Will Jaime and their friends save the Kaiju and prevent a catastrophic event from occurring back on Earth?
Summary
In Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, Jaime Gray goes into a performance review by the boss, Rob Sanders, expecting a great review. Jamie works at a food delivery service in New York City. Jamie is demoted to a delivery person by Sanders, who he calls a deliverator. It’s the middle of COVID-19 so there are limited job opportunities in New York City. With the lockdown food service delivery is Jamie’s only viable job opportunity so Jaime starts delivering food for the boss.
Six months later Sanders sells the business and Jamie is out of a job and prospects. On the last delivery ever, Jamie meets an old friend named Tom Stevens. They talk about Jamie’s situation and Tom offers Jamie a contract job as a grunt. Tom says the job is with an animal rights organization protecting large animals. Tom sends Jamie to an intake interview. But those animals he mentioned are not what Jamie expects and the location isn’t either. It’s the beginning of a wild adventure.
Recommendation
I thought Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi was a great and fun novel. The novel was short and featured Scalzi’s dry brand of humor. I liked how the author featured the pandemic in the novel, but the irreverent humor balanced the seriousness of the subject. I wonder if in the future the pandemic will be less than a footnote in future works. In this novel, it is important to the plot. I thought it was interesting that the author didn’t reveal Jamie’s gender. It is like the Locked-In series, where the author doesn’t reveal Chris’s gender. Scalzi doesn’t make a big deal about this, but it makes the reader think about the reader’s preconceptions coming into the novel. I had a good time reading this novel and look forward to reading more like it.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page for Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi.
Redshirts by John Scalzi is a stand-alone novel like KPS, and it features the same type of humor done so well in this novel. I recommend this novel if you liked Redshirts.
Review of Redshirts by John Scalzi, Ensign Andrew Dahl is assigned to the starship Intrepid. Crewmembers on away missions die at an alarming rate, but not the officers. Dahl must discover the unbelievable truth, or he will die like the other Redshirts.
Sixth Wicked Child by JD Barker, 4MK Thriller Book #3.
Introduction
In the Sixth Wicked Child by JD Barker, the hunt for Anson Bishop the Four Monkey Killer heats up. They have implicated suspended Chicago Metro detective Sam Porter in the case and he remains in custody in a Metro interview room. Detective Brian Nash and FBI Special Agent Frank Poole continue the investigation. They quarantined detective Claire Norton in a hospital under a SARS scare. Porter thinks he is the only one who can understand the writer of the diaries. Can Sam Porter find the answers to the 4MK’s motivations in the Diaries and catch the killer?
Summary
The Sixth Wicked Child by JD Barker starts with another murder victim discovered. The four viewpoint characters are affected by the aftermath of the conclusion of the previous novel of the trilogy, The Fifth to Die.
FBI Special Agent Frank Poole entered the case after they discovered the original crime scene in South Carolina. The case took him to New Orleans and now he is back in Chicago after they discovered Porter in a compromising position set up by Bishop. He believes Porter is not telling him something, but can’t get through to him. He seeks Nash’s help because Nash might get through to Porter.
Chicago Metro detective Brian Nash is the lead investigator of the 4MK case for Metro. He interfaces with Poole. Nash thinks Porter is a good cop but is acting differently since he got deep into the 4MK case. He thinks he can get through to Porter. He is worried about Claire and Kloz, who are in quarantine at the hospital.
Summary Continued
Chicago Metro detective Claire Norton is under quarantine in the hospital because of a SARS scare instigated by Bishop. Chicago Metro IT guy Edwin Klozowski (aka Kloz) helps her at the hospital. They gathered all of Bishop’s potential victims at the hospital. Bishop threatens to release more SARS unless they cure his friend Paul Upchurch. Claire must juggle all those balls while facing the potential of getting sick herself.
Suspended Chicago Metro detective Sam Porter is in custody at Metro pending his involvement in a murder at the end of the previous novel. He has been investigating the 4MK case since the beginning and is deeply involved in Anson Bishop’s plots. There is a question of the depth of his involvement. Porter has been reading Bishop’s diaries all along. He thinks he can sort the fact from the fiction and learn the motives and a way to catch Bishop if he reads the last diaries left by Bishop at the crime scene where they found Porter.
Recommendation
The Sixth Wicked Child by JD Barker concludes the 4MK Thriller trilogy. This novel is a surprising and fitting conclusion to the story. The best things about the trilogy are the complicated antagonist Anson Bishop, the deep mysteries contained within the diary chapters, and the flawed protagonist Sam Porter. I’m glad I went on this trip with them. As 4MK says; Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil, and Do no evil.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Sixth Wicked Child by JD Barker, 4MK Thriller Book #3.
Book Review of the Fifth to Die by JD Barker. Detective Sam Porter searches for the serial killer’s mother, the source of the killer’s deviant behavior.
This is the link to my review of The Fourth Monkey by JD Barker, 4MK Thriller Book #1
Detective Sam Porter is on the trail of the Four Monkey Killer. See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil, Do no evil. An eye, an ear, a tongue, and a body. Will he find the killer’s latest victim before it’s too late? Read and find out.
In July 2022, I submitted Chapter 21 of my novel titled Cuba Liberto to the Novel Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library.
I submitted my short story, “Mixtape,” to the Fiction Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library in July 2022.
Writing Progress from July 2022 Continued
I made five posts on my Goodreads account in July 2022.
In the past, I submitted the stories; Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, and Grognard to magazines.
The seven Flash Fiction Stories I submitted 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 submission for 2022 yet.
Events from July 2022.
I attended the Confluence conference near Pittsburgh, PA, on July 30, 2022. They held the conference at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel in Coraopolis, PA. It was an in-person conference this year.
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
I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for August 2022.
I am working on a novel titled Cuba Liberto. The first draft was a script. My plan for the rewrite is to convert the story into 24 Chapters. I plan to complete writing Chapter 22 in August 2022 and submit it to the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
In August 2022, I plan to submit a story to the Fiction Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
I plan to submit a story to the critters workshop in August 2022.
I plan to work on third draft edits for Assassin in New Marl City using comments from the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio. In August 2022, 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 submit the stories White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.
Writing Goals for August 2022 continued.
In August 2022, I plan to make five posts on my Goodreads account.
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.
Planned Events for August 2022.
The next event I plan to attend is Inkubator 2022 at the Cleveland Public Library on September 10, 2022. It is sponsored by Literary Cleveland. It is a two-day in-person writing conference with virtual events throughout the prior week.
This is the link to the Literary Cleveland website.
I also want to attend the Capclave Washington Conference 2022 from September 30 to October 2, 2022, in Rockville, Maryland. 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.
I attended the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2022 on July 30, 2022. 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, and 2019. COVID-19 changed the conference to a virtual con named C’monfluence in 2020 which I viewed. 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 3 panels, two readings, an improv comedy show, a concert, and the guest of honor presentation
They held the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport.
Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2022 Program Guide Cover
Picture of my badge from Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2022
Summary
Saturday, July 30th at 11 AM
Reading by Marie Vibbert.
She read three pieces during this half-hour reading.
First was a flash fiction story published in Daily Science Fiction on February 21, 2021. The story was named Things from our kitchen junk drawer that could save this spaceship.
They held the reading in the Solstice Room with 7 attendees.
Saturday, July 30th at 12 PM
Reading Short SF: Why You Should Be Reading Short Fiction, Both Classic and New Panel with Neil Clarke, Michael Swanwick, and Vera Brook.
Vera Brook, an author, was the moderator for the panel and asked questions of the panel. Neil Clarke publishes the Clarkesworld online magazine. Michael Swanwick is an award-winning author.
Why should you read short science fiction? If short fiction speaks to you then reading it can be rewarding. They suggest reading the most recent releases and going backward in time.
What short Science Fiction Authors to you recommend? Cordwainer Smith, Phillip K. Dick, Octavia Butler’s collection Bloodchild, and William Gibson’s collection Burning Chrome. They also recommend the latest year’s best anthologies.
Where do we find it? Print magazines, online magazines, single-author collections, and years’ best anthologies.
For the rest of the panel, they talked about the challenges of finding great short fiction. Suggestions were to read beyond your comfort level, be more international in your reading, and English is the language of translation.
They held the panel in the Commonwealth West Room with 29 attendees.
Saturday, July 30th at 1 PM
It Was Fifty Years Ago Today: The SF and Fantasy Year 1972 panel with Geoffrey Landis, Stephen Fisher, Darrell Schweitzer, and Barbara Doran.
The panel talked about events from 1972. They went over the 1972 Nebula awards and the 1973 Hugo awards. The creators of the genre were still alive then and fans could see them at cons. The past was alive. Dangerous Visions was published in 1972. Ben Bova took over Analog (formerly Astounding) Magazine in 1972 and brought it back to prominence. At that time, they thought that the original anthology would replace print magazines, but it didn’t. Playboy was the top market for SF in 1972. Isaac Asimov returned to SF with the Hugo and Nebula-winning novel, The Gods Themselves. He had been writing non-fiction for a long time before this.
World events from 1972 included; Apollo 17 (the last mission to the moon) and the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18.
They held the panel in the Commonwealth West Room with 14 attendees.
Saturday, July 30th at 3 PM
The Guest of Honor Presentation with Neil Clarke was interviewed by Scott H. Andrews.
Neil Clarke is the editor of Clarkesworld online magazine. His interviewer Scott H. Andrew is the editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies online magazine. The interviewer asked him many questions and received interesting answers. Some of the highlights follow. He got into SF after a friend dragged him into an SF con when they were in college.
He started editing Clarkesworld magazine part-time, not becoming a full-time editor until 2006. His goal is to pay authors a living wage. All editorial staff at the online magazine are part-time. His goal is to pay a full-time staff. The industry minimum payment for authors is 8 cents a word and he thinks that is too low. He pays 12 cents a word but hopes to increase it to 15 cents per word in the future.
He’s interested in promoting international SF, especially from China and Korea. He hopes the SF community will continue to support his magazine online and through the magazine’s Patreon page. He hopes the magazine will continue when he eventually steps down.
They held the presentation in Ballroom 1 with 60 attendees.
Saturday, July 30th at 4 PM
Reading by Michael Swanwick.
He read his original short story named The Warm Equations. It will be posted on the website named Sunday Morning Transport as a free-to-read story on August 7, 2022. It’s a great story well worth the read.
The story is about when Charles Magnus Osbourne crashed a hopper on Mercury and the aftermath of his accident. He is looking for receiving glory for his solo research mission, but he needs help to survive. Charles learns things about himself that he never expected to learn.
Link to the story named The Warm Equations posted in the Sunday Morning Transport on August 7, 2022.
They held the reading in the Solstice Room with 8 attendees.
Saturday, July 30th at 5 PM
Where to Next? Trends in Recent SF Panel with Marie Vibbert, Lawrence C. Connolly, and Michael Mammay.
The moderator asked questions of the panel.
What new ideas and concepts are you seeing? Answers included climate fiction, VR, and augmented reality. Their advice is don’t try to beat the tech, speak of the moment.
What trends are there in what they read for pleasure? The answers included epic fantasy in a non-European setting, optimistic SF, and AI envisioning better times.
Talk about style versus substance. Unusual POV and tenses such as first person present tense, the first person using sentence fragments, and third person omniscient.
Where is this taking us? Answers included fan fiction, gaming writing, and the rise in popularity of the novella driven by the Tor.com novellas.
The panel ended with audience questions.
They held the panel in the Commonwealth East with 24 attendees.
Saturday, July 30th at 8 PM
Live Comedy: D & D by Knights of the Arcade.
The Knights of the Arcade presented a live improv comedy routine named D & D. Their logo proclaims that they are a Dungeon and Dragons comedy show of epic proportions. On the audience left was the Game Master, in the center were five game players, and to the right was the keyboard player who accented the routine with clever songs. The routines were enhanced by prompts supplied by the audience. At the end of the routine, all members of the troop sang the last song, the I learned song where they reviewed the events of the show. It was a fun and humorous show.
They held the show in Ballroom 1 with 25 attendees.
Saturday, July 30th at 9 PM
Featured Musical Guest Concert with Tim Griffin.
Tim Griffin was the Featured Musical Guest for the Con. He played fifteen songs in a little over an hour. He sang and played acoustic guitar and ukulele. The songs he played supported his mission to present science, math, and history topics in a musical format to engage children in learning. He also played his signature song, Lucy on the Line. It was an enjoyable and sing-along performance.
Link to Tim Griffin Education website. GriffinED’s goal is to provide you with the best kid-friendly STEM/STEAM/folk/filk music site in the universe.
They held the concert in Ballroom 1 with 27 attendees.
Recommendation – Conclusion
I’m glad I attended the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2022. My star of the con was Neil Clarke. He had a great Guest of Honor interview and was insightful and memorable in the panel of his that I attended. I attended 3 panels, two readings, an improv comedy show, a concert, and the guest of honor presentation. My other highlights were the improv comedy of the Knights of the Arcade and the concert performed by the Featured Musical Guest, Tim Griffin. I also attended the conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. COVID-19 changed the conference to a virtual con named C’monfluence in 2020 which I viewed. I hope to attend Confluence in 2023.
Links
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin, Book #2 of the Broken Earth trilogy
Introduction
The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin follows three different narratives. It’s set on a continent called the Stillness. It’s a post-apocalyptic world or possibly a second-world fantasy land. Essun rests in a safe underground city. Alabaster asks her to summon an obelisk. She plans to continue to search for her kidnapped daughter after she satisfies Alabaster. Nassun is Essun’s daughter. Her chapters describe what happens to her after her father kidnaps her and takes her south. She has the potential for great orogene power and she might end up going against Essun’s purpose. Guardian Schaffa comes out of the battle at Meov with lost memories and purpose. He senses someone who reminds him of his former charge, Damaya. He goes to her, searching for his lost purpose. These three tales intersect and come to a dramatic conclusion which continues in the concluding novel of the trilogy, The Stone Sky.
Summary
The novel follows the stories of Essun, Nassun, and Schaffa. Each chapter has a different viewpoint and the viewpoints intersect eventually. Four Interludes provide important information from characters other than the three main viewpoint characters.
Essun’s story is told in the second person. At the beginning of the first novel, Essun finds out her husband Jija has killed her son and taken her daughter to the South. Essun is an Orogene, someone who can manipulate the energy of the earth to perform magical like acts. In the first novel, she traveled to an underground comm with the help of the mysterious Hoa and Tonkee, a woman without a community. Essun rests in this safe comm named Castrima. Her mentor and former lover Alabaster asks her to summon an obelisk. She plans to continue to search for her kidnapped daughter after she satisfies Alabaster’s request. But first, she must protect Castrima from the people who want its resources since resources are scarce during a Season.
Nassun is Essun’s daughter. Her first chapters describe what happens to her after her father kidnaps her and takes her south. Jija had killed her brother since he was an Orogene. But he didn’t kill Nassun when she exhibited signs of being an Orogene as well. In the South, she might find her destiny. She has the potential for great Orogene power and she might end up going against Essun’s purpose.
Summary Part 2
Guardian Schaffa was hurt at the battle at Meov at the end of the previous novel. He starts this novel with lost memories and purpose. The role of the Guardians is as protectors and controllers of the Orogenes. He senses someone who reminds him of his former charge, Damaya. He travels South to find her, searching for his lost purpose.
The three stories are tied together, and the stage is set for the concluding novel of the trilogy.
Recommendation
The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin is a challenging novel to read, but it is a great novel. The author expands on themes from the first novel and reveals mysteries. Essun’s chapters are all in the second person and past tense. A narrator, who the author revealed in the first novel, talks to her. Usually, the second-person point of view is difficult to read, but it is easier to read in this novel because it is more familiar, since the author used it in the first novel for Essun’s chapters. Nassun’s and Schaffa’s chapters are in the third person and present tense. I’m looking forward to reading the third novel later this year.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin
