Blog - Page 7 of 31 - Gary David Gillen

Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle

Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle.

Introduction

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.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13124003-the-last-unicorn

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.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn_(film)

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.

https://viewcomics.me/the-last-unicorn/issue-tpb/1

A fantasy novel that is similar to Last Unicorn is Eyes of the Dragon.

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?

Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

Writing Progress Report July 2022

Writing Progress Report July 2022.

This is my Writing Progress Report July 2022.

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.

Writing Progress Report June 2022

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.

https://www.facebook.com/MARConOH/

Writing Goals for July 2022.

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.

The link to the Confluence website.

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

Banner for Confluence 2022.

Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

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.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7675050-the-drawing-of-the-three

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.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Conference Marcon Columbus 2022

Conference Marcon Columbus 2022 Recap

Introduction

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.

https://www.facebook.com/MARConOH/

Summary

Saturday, May 7th at 11:00 AM

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.

https://www.harptwins.com/

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

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56603442-megadeath

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 Marcon Conference 2019

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

Marcon Conference 2018

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

Conference Recap Marcon Columbus 2017

Writing Progress Report June 2022

This is my Writing Progress Report June 2022.

In May, I hiked in the village of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. This is a picture I took of Chagrin Falls on May 25, 2022.

Writing Progress from May 2021.

I wrote two blog posts for my website, garydavidgillen.com. One post was my writing progress report for May 2022, which is linked below.

Writing Progress Report May 2022

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.

https://www.facebook.com/MARConOH/

Writing Goals for June 2022.

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.

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 link to the Confluence website.

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

Banner for Confluence 2022.

Ice and Fire 2022 Conference Recap

Introduction

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.

http://www.iceandfirecon.com/

The 2022 Logo for Ice ad Fire Con 2022.

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.

ConFusion Detroit 2022 Conference Recap

Writing Progress Report May 2022

Writing Progress Report May 2022.

This is my Writing Progress Report May 2022.

In April, I hiked at the Hocking Hills State Park near Logan, Ohio. This is a picture I took of Cedar Falls on April 21, 2022.

Writing Progress from April 2021.

I wrote two blog posts for my website, garydavidgillen.com. One post was my writing progress report for April 2022, which is linked below.

Writing Progress Report April 2022

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.

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.

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.

http://www.iceandfirecon.com/

Writing Goals for May 2022.

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.

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.

https://www.facebook.com/MARConOH/

Western Reserve Writers Conference 2022

Introduction

I attended the 37^th annual Western Reserve Writers Conference on March 26, 2022. They held the Conference at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library at the William N. Skirball writer’s center at the branch. It was a one-day event with an introduction, a keynote speaker, three breakout sessions, and one first-page critique panel.

This is the link to the Cuyahoga County Library.

https://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/

This is the link to the writer’s center at the library branch.

https://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/Services/William-N-Skirball-Writers-Center.aspx

Summary

Saturday, March 26th at 9:30 AM

Welcome and Conference Overview

Deanna R. Adams is the conference coordinator and Laurie Kincer is the librarian in charge of the writer’s center.

Laurie explained how they set up the library, where the three meeting rooms were located, and about the door prizes available at 4 PM. Deanna introduced the keynote speaker, Erin Hosier.

They held the welcome and conference overview in the meeting room A/B/C with about 90 attendees.

Saturday, March 26th at 9:40 AM

Keynote Speaker: The Who, What, When, Where, and Why of Literary Agents.

The keynote speaker was Erin Hosier. She is a veteran agent and author.

Erin specializes in representing non-fiction biographies, memoirs, and contemporary fiction. She gave an example of one of the books that she sold from submission to publication. Self Care by Leigh Stein is a contemporary fiction novel. It was pitched to 25 editors in March 2019. 23 responded and they held an auction three weeks later. The winner was Penguin books which published the novel on June 30, 2020.

In a Query Letter, it is important to get the comp titles correct and make them recently published.

She went over the steps for a book proposal for non-fiction works.

An editor accepted her proposal for her memoir, Don’t Let me Down: A Memoir. It took her seven years to write it.

She gets about 50 proposals a month and accepts about five per year.

They held the talk in the meeting room A/B/C with about 90 attendees.

Saturday, March 26th at 10:30 AM

Breakout Session: What Authors Should Know About the Law: Publishing Law 101.

The presenter was Jacqueline Lipton. She is a literary attorney and literary agent.

Jacqui wanted to write a book about explaining legal matters simply for writers because that book was not on the market.

She went over copywriting basics.

Trademarks are a tricky concept. She explained it this way. Trademarks (commercial) versus patent (ideas) versus Copywrite (also ideas).

Goodreads link to Jacqui’s book: Law and Authors: A Legal Handbook for Writers

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51852533-law-and-authors

Jacqui is the founder of the Raven Quill Agency found at this web address.

Home

They held the talk in the meeting room A/B/C with about 40 attendees.

Saturday, March 26th at 3:00 PM

Breakout Session: Writing and Submitting Short Stories.

The presenter was Marie Vibbert. She has sold over 70 short stories and her debut novel, Galactic Hellcats.

What is a short story? She describes it this way. It is a complete story of about one thousand to eight thousand words. A short story is enjoyable and impacts the reader emotionally. It has at least four ideas covering character, place, a problem, and a theme.

Her advice is to know and read in your genre. Every genre has its own conventions which you learn by reading. She writes science fiction almost exclusively. Fantasy doesn’t work for her.

Beginnings are crucial. Figure out the beginning of the story to fit with the ending.

So, you have a draft. What now? Here are three ways to find markets to sell.

For Science Fiction stories, you can submit them to any of the SFWA qualifying markets.

https://www.sfwa.org/?s=market+report

Qualified markets pay a professional rate.

Use the submission grinder to track your submissions.

https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/ Use an open call in a Facebook Group.

This is the link to the Goodreads page for Galactic Hellcats.

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

They held the talk at the Homework Center with about 30 attendees.

Recommendation – Conclusion

The Western Reserve Writers Conference 2022 returned well. I attended the conference in 2019, but they canceled the conference in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19. I’m glad they held the conference, and it seems as well attended as before the pandemic. My Star of the Con was Marie Vibbert. She had some brilliant advice for aspiring short story writers. I saw her speak at the virtual conference, Cleveland Inkubator 2021 and her presentation was great then too.

Links

I attended the 36^th annual Western Reserve Writers Conference on April 27, 2019. They held the Conference at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library at the William N. Skirball writer’s center at the branch. It was a one-day event with an introduction, a keynote speaker, three breakout sessions, and one first-page critique panel. I attended the introduction, a keynote speaker, and two breakout sessions. I thought The Western Reserve Writers Conference was well run, diverse in the presentations offered, and informative. My Star of the Con was Bree Barton. Her presentation was fun, the exercises were useful, and I liked her personality.

Western Reserve Writers Conference 2019

I attended the 34^th annual Western Reserve Writers Conference on September 23, 2017. I could not attend last year. This is a link to my review of the 2017 conference.

The Western Reserve Writers Conference

Writing Progress Report April 2022

Writing Progress Report April 2022.

This is my Writing Progress Report April 2022.

Here’s a picture of what should be my last fire for the year. Hopefully, April will stay warm.

Writing Progress from March 2021.

I wrote three blog posts for garydavidgillen.com. One post was my writing progress report for March 2022, which is linked below.

Writing Progress Report March 2022

In March 2022, I submitted Chapter 17 of my novel titled Cuba Liberto to the Novel Writing Workshop at the Parma, Ohio, library.

I submitted my story “Genealogy is a Puzzle” to the Introductory Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library in March 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 started writing a new chapter 1 in February 2020 and finished it in 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 March 2022 Continued

I made five posts on my Goodreads account in March 2022.

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

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 March 2022.

I attended the Western Reserve Writers Conference at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library in Lyndhurst, Ohio on March 26, 2022.

This is a link to the Cuyahoga County Library website.

https://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/

Writing Goals for April 2022.

I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my Writing Progress Report for April 2022.

I am working on a novel titled Cuba Liberto. The first draft was a script. My plan for the rewrite is 26 Chapters. I plan to complete writing Chapter 18 in April 2022 and submit it to the Novel Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio, library.

In April 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 April 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 April 2022, I plan to split Chapter 1 into two chapters and add a scene to the new Chapter 1.

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 April 2022 continued.

In April 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 April 2022.

The next event I plan to attend is 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.

http://www.iceandfirecon.com/

Leviathan Falls by James SA Corey

Leviathan Falls by James SA Corey (Book #9 of the Expanse Series)

Introduction

Leviathan Falls by James SA Corey is the ninth book of The Expanse series. The crew is back on the Rocinante, Jim, Naomi, Alex, and Amos plus a special additional crew member. They start in the Kronos system looking to remain inconspicuous. They dodge the Laconian ship looking for Teresa Duarte, the daughter of the Laconian leader, High Consul Winston Duarte. The Laconian high command sends colonel Aliana Tanaka on an important secret mission. Elvi studies a mysterious object left by the ring gate builders in the Adro system. These three storylines intersect. Can Jim Holden and his crew discover the secret of the ring gate builders and defeat them before they destroy the universe?

Summary

[Insert Summary Here]

Recommendation

Leviathan Falls by James SA Corey brings the Expanse Series to a fitting and exciting conclusion. Elvi learns what she has been searching for. Alex gets his moment in the sun. Holden gets to have his grandstand experience. Naomi keeps it together because that’s her and she must. And Amos has the last word. They touched all the points on in this last book of the series. It’s been a long and worthwhile ride. I wish the TV show had been around long enough to adapt the last three novels of the series. Maybe someday they will.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Leviathan Falls by James SA Corey.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28335699-leviathan-falls

In Tiamat’s Wrath by James S.A. Corey, James Holden and his crew strike back at the Laconians. Will they succeed or will the Laconians start a thousand-year Empire?

Tiamats Wrath by James SA Corey

In Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey, the Laconians plan to take the 1300 worlds. Can Holden and his crew defeat the Laconians? It starts a new trilogy. Great beginning to the Laconian storyline.

Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey

In Babylon’s Ashes by James S.A. Corey, the Free Navy is trying to take the 1300 worlds. Can Holden and his crew defeat the Free Navy? Great conclusion to the Free Navy storyline.

Babylon’s Ashes by James S. A. Corey

This is the link to my review of Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey.

Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey