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
Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle is a fantasy novel about a female unicorn’s search for the rest of her kind. She faces an evil carnival owner, a creepy king in a lonely castle, and a scary red bull. Her only help is an incompetent magician, a scullery maid, and a prince with a mysterious past. She learns about yearning and loss. Will her question ever have an answer? Is she the Last Unicorn?
Summary
Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle begins in the glade of a female unicorn. She has lived in the glade for hundreds of years and realizes that she doesn’t remember what happened to the rest of her kind. She is worried that she is the last unicorn and decides to leave her glade to find out what happened to them.
The unicorn is captured and put into Mommy Fortuna’s traveling Midnight Carnival. She escapes the carnival with the help of Schmendrick a magician who doesn’t know how his spells will work once he casts them. Sometimes the spells have better outcomes than he expects but usually, they are worse.
Bandits capture them but they are saved by the wife of the leader of the bandits. Her name is Molly Grue and she joins the group. They continue on their journey.
They learn the unicorns might have been in Hagsgate ruled by King Haggard and his son, Prince Lir. The unicorn takes a human form and goes by the name Lady Amalthea. They follow the clues and find the lair of the red bull. The unicorn finds the answer to her question but the story doesn’t end with: they lived happily ever after.
Recommendation
Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle is a twist on classic fairy tales. I enjoyed the mix of fantasy tropes that the author acknowledges in the text. We see the illusions of the Midnight Carnival, the misguided bandits who fancy themselves alternate Robin Hoods, and the evil king in his dark tower. On top of that are unusual choices that the author takes. Examples are using a unicorn as the lead character, the cryptic butterfly, and the parched skull. It all works well together. This is a great novel.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle.
This is the Wikipedia link to the 1982 animated fantasy film the Last Unicorn. Rankin/Bass produced the film. It has a stellar voice cast and excellent musical score including songs from the band, America.
This is a link to the 2011 graphic novel the Last Unicorn from IDW Publishing which is available to view on the viewcomics website. The drawings are great and bring to life the images from the novel.
Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King is a traditional fantasy. King Roland of Delain has two sons. Prince Peter is his heir who is the perfect prince and ready to lead. His younger son is Prince Thomas, who is too young and malleable to Flagg, the court advisor, and magician. Flagg secretly assassinates the King and frames, Peter, for the murder. How will Peter clear his name, defeat the ancient Flagg, and claim his rightful throne?
I went to the Guardians game on June 10, 2022. They beat Oakland 3-2 with three runs in the ninth inning and this is the picture I took of the scoreboard after the win.
Writing Progress from June 2021.
I wrote two blog posts for my website, garydavidgillen.com. One post was my writing progress report for June 2022, which is linked below.
In June 2022, I submitted Chapter 20 of my novel titled Cuba Liberto to the Novel Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library.
I submitted my short story, “The Squirrel Curse,” to the Fiction Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library in June 2022.
Writing Progress from June 2022 Continued
I made five posts on my Goodreads account in June 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 June 2022.
No events from June. The following is the event I attended in May.
I attended the Marcon conference near Columbus, Ohio, on May 7, 2022. They held the conference at the Crown Plaza North Hotel in Worthington, Ohio.
This is a link to the Marcon Conference Facebook account. Their website was down.
I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for July 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 21 in July 2022 and submit it to the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
In July 2022, I plan to submit a story to the Introductory Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
I plan to submit a story to the critters workshop in July 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 July 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 July 2022 continued.
In July 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 July 2022.
The next event I plan to attend is the Confluence conference near Pittsburgh, PA, from July 29, 2022, to July 31, 2022. They will hold the conference at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel in Coraopolis, PA. It will be an in-person conference this year.
Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh was last held virtually from November 2, 2020, to November 4, 2020. I attended the opening ceremony, five panels, three readings, one presentation, the guest of honor presentation, and the conference breakdown.
Drawing of the Three by Stephen King, Book #2 of The Dark Tower series
Introduction
Drawing of the Three by Stephen King is Book #2 of The Dark Tower series. The previous book, The Gunslinger, left Roland, the last gunslinger, waiting on a beach. Roland begins the second book on that same beach. He must discover what the drawing of the three means. Roland searches through three transporter portals. He finds the junkie Eddie Dean and the wheelchair-bound Odetta Holmes. They must work together to continue their journey to the Dark Tower or face death.
Summary
At end of the Gunslinger, the man in black does a tarot reading for Roland. The three cards he draws are The Prisoner, The Lady of Shadows, and Death. The three sections of The Drawing of the Three each feature a different character. Roland accesses a portal at the beginning of the section. Each of the three portals is connected to New York City in three different time periods. In between each section is a chapter named shuffle where the previous section is reset and leads to the next.
Section one, The Prisoner, features Eddie Dean the junkie. Eddie must bring drugs across the border or the mob will kill him if he doesn’t.
Section two, The Lady of Shadows, features Odetta Holmes. She is black and lived during the civil rights movement. She lost the use of her legs, uses a wheelchair, and has a secret that they soon find out.
Section three, The Pusher, features a character that I’ll leave to the reader to learn about when reading. That character is important in the journey to The Dark Tower for Roland, Eddie, and Odetta.
Recommendation
I enjoyed Drawing of the Three by Stephen King better than the previous book in the series, The Gunslinger. The Gunslinger novel was a series of short stories featuring Roland’s fight with the Man in Black and his search for the Dark Tower. I didn’t feel like the stories came together. I think the Drawing of the Three came together. There were three new POVs in the story corresponding to the three sections in the novel. Eddie Dean, Odetta Holmes, and the third character are all important to Roland’s journey. I liked the perspectives of the new POVs and look forward to continuing to read the series to its end.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Drawing of the Three by Stephen King.
The Gunslinger by Stephen King, book #1 of The Dark Tower series, seemed to set up for a climax that never happened. What is there is a trippy and metaphysical non-ending.
I attended the SF Conference Marcon Columbus 2022 on May 7, 2022. They held the conference at 350 North High Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 at the Hyatt Regency Columbus. The drive was two-plus hours taken in the morning and back in the evening. I also attended Marcon in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The missing two years were because the conference was canceled those years. The story going around the con this year was that this might be the last Marcon because the coordinating group of this con will no longer do it going forward. Will someone run the con next year? Stay tuned. I attended three panels and one concert at the 2022 conference.
This is a link to the Marcon Conference Facebook account. Their website was down then and still is down.
It was the best of Kynes, it was the worst of Kynes: The new Dune film, a panel with Denver Karchner, Ted Dickinson, Paul Hahn, Emily Lydic, and Sean Mead.
The panel debated what they liked and didn’t like about the Dune (2021) film. The film covered the first part of the novel Dune. They will make a second film covering the rest of the novel and its scheduled release is on October 20, 2023. They compared the current film with the Dune (1984) film and the Sci-Fi Channel series from 2000. The panelists enjoyed the movie but felt that some concepts could have been explained better for non-book readers. They are cautiously optimistic that the second film will answer their questions.
They held the panel in Salon B/C Room with 19 attendees.
Saturday, May 7th at 12:00 PM
The Harp Twins, a concert with Camille Kitt and Kennerly Kitt.
The Harp twins are identical twins that both play electric harps. They arrange their music. They played nine songs in the concert including Nothing Else Matter by Metallica and Fear of the Dark by Iron Maiden. In between songs they engaged in humorous banter between them and introduced each piece before they played them. A very enjoyable concert, not what I expected, but they won me over.
This is a link to their website which has a bio, links to purchase their music, music videos, and a schedule of upcoming performances.
They held the concert in the Buckeye Room with 70 attendees.
Saturday, May 7th at 1:00 PM
Writing for Hire, a discussion with Marie Vibbert.
The discussion was about the author’s experience in taking a writing for-hire job. She says that a lot of mass-market books are ghostwritten. She told us what it’s like writing someone else’s property to a specification. The book is expected to be released on July 12, 2022. The book is named MegaDeath with the name of the author Tory Quinn. The interesting thing is that the book says Tory Quinn with Marie Vibbert. The other two books “written” by Tory Quinn were written by other ghostwriters. Marie said it was an interesting experience. She was given a specific outline that must be followed in writing the book. The business model for the publisher was pitching a movie concept by having a written novel adapted into a screenplay. There wasn’t much room for creativity but the pay was good.
This is the link to the Goodreads page for MegaDeath by Tory Quinn
They held the discussion in the Capital Room with 7 attendees.
Saturday, May 7th at 2:00 PM
Babylon 5: Reborn or Retreaded, a panel with Lee Shamblin, Rachael Thurston, Denver Karshner, Emily Lydic, and Ken Keisel.
The reason for the panel was to discuss the proposed reboot of the series by the original show writer, J. Michael Straczynski. At the time of the panel, the details of the reboot were hazy. What complicates matters is that the CW channel planned to produce it with a projected release in 2023. Nexstar will purchase CW and that might impact the status of the Babylon 5 reboot. The panel questioned what would happen going forward.
They held the panel in Salon B/C with 27 attendees.
Recommendation – Conclusion
I had a great time at Conference Marcon Columbus 2022. My co-stars of the con were The Harp Twins for their concert and the Writing for Hire discussion presented by Marie Vibbert. I also attended Marcon in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and hope the con will return in 2023.
Links
Recap for SF Conference Marcon Columbus on May 11, 2019. They held it at Crowne Plaza – Columbus North. I also attended Marcon in 2017 and 2018. This year I attended four panels, a performance, and an interview.
Recap for SF Conference Marcon Columbus on May 13, 2017. They held the conference at the Hyatt Regency Columbus. I also attended Marcon in 2018 and 2019. I attended five panels at the 2017 conference.
In May 2022, I submitted Chapter 19 of my novel titled Cuba Liberto to the Novel Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library.
I submitted my short story, “Corsican Red Coral,” to the Fiction Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library in May 2022.
In July 2018, I completed the first draft of my novel Assassin in New Marl City. It was 99,981 words and 36 chapters. In December 2018, I completed a pre-second draft with 30 chapters. It had 89,072 words. I finished the second draft in December 2019. I wrote a new chapter 1 in February 2020 and April 2020. The planned third draft will have 32 Chapters. I finished the third draft edits on Chapter 3 in July 2020. I hope to reset the novel and complete the revisions in 2022.
Writing Progress from May 2022 Continued
I made five posts on my Goodreads account in May 2022.
In the past, I submitted the stories; Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, and Grognard to magazines.
The seven Flash Fiction Stories I have 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 May 2022.
I attended the Marcon conference near Columbus, Ohio, on May 7, 2022. They held the conference at the Crown Plaza North Hotel in Worthington, Ohio.
This is a link to the Marcon Conference Facebook account. Their website was down.
I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for June 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 20 in May 2022 and submit it to the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
In June 2022, I plan to submit a story to the Introductory Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
I plan to submit a story to the critters workshop in June 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 June 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 June 2022 continued.
In June 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 June 2022.
The next event I plan to attend is the Confluence conference near Pittsburgh, PA, from July 29, 2022, to July 31, 2022. They will hold the conference at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel in Coraopolis, PA. It will be an in-person conference this year.
Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh was last held virtually from November 2, 2020, to November 4, 2020. I attended the opening ceremony, five panels, three readings, one presentation, the guest of honor presentation, and the conference breakdown.
I attended the Ice and Fire Con at Mt. Sterling, Ohio, from April 21 to April 24, 2022. I originally had a ticket for the Ice and Fire Con 2020, but they canceled it because of COVID-19. They focus the conference on the works of George R. R. Martin. Especially the Game of Thrones series, including his other works in the world of Westeros. The HBO series called House of the Dragon is an example and will release starting on August 21, 2022. I attended five panels, one guest of honor lecture, one trivia game, a performance by the Manimals, and the closing ceremonies. This year’s theme was A Dream of Spring. It is the proposed title of the seventh book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. We have been waiting ten years for the sixth book, The Winds of Winter.
This is a link to the Ice and Fire Conference website.
This is my badge for Ice and Fire Con 2022, A Dream of Spring.
Summary
Ice and Fire 2022 Conference Recap
Saturday, April 23rd at 10 AM
Significance of the Seven Panel with two panelists:
[insert discussion here]
They held the panel in the Grand Ballroom with about 19 attendees.
Saturday, April 23rd at 11 AM
ASOIAF and the War of the Roses Panel with three panelists:
[insert discussion here]
They held the panel in the Scarlet Oak room with about 35 attendees.
Saturday, April 23rd at 12 PM
Choose Your Own Reading Order Panel with two panelists:
[insert discussion here]
They held the panel in the Grand Ballroom with about 21 attendees.
Saturday, April 23rd at 6 PM
Guest of Honor Lecture with David J. Peterson:
[insert discussion here]
They held the lecture in the Grand Ballroom with about 25 attendees.
Saturday, April 23rd at 8 PM
Trivia of Ice and Fire Game with two moderators:
[insert discussion here]
They held the trivia game in the Grand Ballroom with about 31 attendees.
Saturday, April 23rd at 9 PM
Performance by the Manimals:
[insert discussion here]
They held the performance in the Grand Ballroom with too many attendees to count.
Sunday, April 24th at 12 PM
House of the Dragon is Coming! Panel with four panelists:
[insert discussion here]
They held the panel in the Grand Ballroom with about 30 attendees.
Sunday, April 24th at 1 PM
After the Snow Panel with two panelists:
[insert discussion here]
They held the panel in the Grand Ballroom with about 41 attendees.
Sunday, April 24th at 1 PM
Closing Ceremonies with the con runners and guests:
[insert discussion here]
They held the ceremonies in the Grand Ballroom with about 60 attendees.
Recommendation – Conclusion
[Insert Recommendation Here]
Links
ConFusion Detroit was a con I attended this year that is like the Ice and Fire Con. I attended the SF conference named ConFusion at 21111 Haggerty Road Novi, Michigan at the Sheraton Detroit Novi from January 21, 2022, to January 23, 2020. ConFusion Detroit 2020 was the last in-person con I attended. I have attended only virtual cons in the last two years. ConFusion 2022 was my next in-person con after that. The Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association sponsored ConFusion Detroit 2022. I attended the opening ceremonies, three panels, two lectures, one reading, and one interview. This year’s theme was rising confusion. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, the con returned from a two-year absence.
The last in-person conference I attended before Confusion Detroit 2022 was Confusion Detroit 2020. They canceled the con in 2021. They held it in the same place in 2022, with strict masks and vaccination policies in effect. I felt the con went well and enjoyed my attendance. I have two stars of the con. Author Guest of Honor Jim C. Hines gave a spirited reading of his short story, The Creature in Your Neighborhood, and an insightful interview by Black Gate Magazine. My other star of the con was Dr. Jordan Steckloff for the two lectures and the panel I attended he participated in.
In April 2022, I submitted Chapter 18 of my novel titled Cuba Liberto to the Novel Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library.
I submitted my short story, “Nanotechnology,” to the Fiction Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library in April 2022.
In July 2018, I completed the first draft of my novel Assassin in New Marl City. It was 99,981 words and 36 chapters. In December 2018, I completed a pre-second draft with 30 chapters. It had 89,072 words. I finished the second draft in December 2019. I wrote a new chapter 1 in February 2020 and April 2020. The planned third draft will have 32 Chapters. I finished the third draft edits on Chapter 3 in July 2020. I hope to reset the novel and complete the revisions in 2022.
Writing Progress from April 2022 Continued
I made five posts on my Goodreads account in April 2022.
In the past, I submitted the stories; Four Humors, Space Station Sunyata, and Grognard to magazines.
The seven Flash Fiction Stories I have 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 April 2022.
I attended the Ice and Fire Con at Mt. Sterling, Ohio, from April 21 to April 24, 2022. I originally had a ticket for the Ice and Fire Con 2020, but they canceled it because of COVID-19.
This is a link to the Ice and Fire Conference website.
I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for May 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 26 Chapters. I plan to complete writing Chapter 19 in May 2022 and submit it to the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
In May 2022, I plan to submit a story to the Introductory Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.
I plan to submit a story to the critters workshop in May 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 May 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 May 2022 continued.
In May 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 May 2022.
The next event I plan to attend is the Marcon conference near Columbus, Ohio, on May 7, 2022. They will hold the conference at the Crown Plaza North Hotel in Worthington, Ohio.
This is a link to the Marcon Conference Facebook account. Their website was down.
