I attended the 37th 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.
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
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.
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 36th 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.
I attended the 34th 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.
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 Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association sponsors Detroit ConFusion.
The 2022 Logo for ConFusion Detroit 2022.
ConFusion Detroit 2022 Program Guide Cover
This is my badge for ConFusion Detroit 2022.
Summary
ConFusion Detroit 2022 Conference Recap
Friday, January 21st at 7 PM
Rising Confusion Opening Ceremonies with Jim C. Hines, Dr. Jordan Steckloff, Rachael Quinlan, and Anna Carey:
[insert discussion here]
They held the opening ceremonies in Ballroom D with about 60 attendees.
Saturday, January 22nd at 11 AM
Panel on the Wheel of Time Geekfest with presenter E.D.E. Bell:
[insert discussion here]
They held the panel in the Marquette room with 4 attendees.
Saturday, January 22nd at 2 PM
Reading with Author Guest of Honor Jim C. Hines:
[insert discussion here]
They held the reading at Ballroom D with 18 attendees.
Saturday, January 22nd at 3 PM
Lecture with Science Guest of Honor Dr. Jordan Steckloff, the Risks of Space-Borne Pathogens:
[insert discussion here]
They held the lecture at Ballroom D with 35 attendees.
Saturday, January 22nd at 5 PM
Panel on Space Station in Sci-Fi with Jason Sanford, Anthony W. Eichenlaub, and Patrick S. Tomlinson:
[insert discussion here]
They held the panel at the Marquette room with 16 attendees.
Saturday, January 22nd at 6 PM
Black Gate interview with Author Guest of Honor Jim C. Hines:
[insert discussion here]
They interviewed at the Marquette room with 16 attendees.
Sunday, January 23rd at 12 PM
Lecture with Science Guest of Honor Dr. Jordan Steckloff, Apocalyptic Impacts in Reality and Hollywood:
[insert discussion here]
They held the lecture at Ballroom D with 16 attendees.
Sunday, January 23rd at 1 PM
Panel on The Expanse with Dennis Tabaczewski, Dr. Jordan Steckloff, and D. Mark Haynes:
[insert discussion here]
They held the panel in the Marquette room with 9 attendees.
Recommendation – Conclusion
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.
Links
I attended the SF conference ConFusion in Detroit, Michigan from January 16 to 19, 2020. I attended four panels, two readings, and one interview. The theme of the con was How to Train Your ConFusion, based on the movie, How to Train Your Dragon. My star of the con was John Scalzi. He gave an excellent reading of Chapter Two of his upcoming book named The Last Emperox. My other highlights were Kameron Hurley’s interview and the lecture on Edible Insects and Human Evolution. I’ll be back next year.
I attended the SF conference ConFusion in Detroit, Michigan from January 18 to 20, 2019. The theme of the con was Storming the ConFusion, so they designated the areas with names related to the movie The Princess Bride. I had a great drive to Detroit just before the snowstorm came. My star of the con was John Scalzi. He gave an excellent reading and was engaging in the panel I attended. My other highlights were Ada Palmer’s interview and watching The Princess Bride at the con. I’ll be back next year.
They normally hold the Cleveland Inkubator Writing Conference at the Louis Stokes Wing of the Cleveland Public Library, 525 Superior Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44115. This year they presented a virtual event using Zoom between July 11, 2021, to July 25, 2021, for the Cleveland Inkubator Writing Conference 2021. Over the two weeks, they presented forty-two workshops, panels, and special events. I attended two panels, one craft talk, and one workshop (which was held over two days).
Literary Cleveland sponsored the event. Literary Cleveland’s mission is to create and nurture a vibrant literary arts community in Northeast Ohio. The group sponsors writing workshops, author interviews, and a monthly group meeting mixer.
I attended two panels, one craft talk, and one workshop (which was held over two days). I will summarize the four events I attended in the next four sections.
Workshop with D.M. Pulley
They split this workshop into two days, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, from 4 PM to 5 PM, and Wednesday, July 21, 2021, from 4 PM to 5 PM. The topic was Writing Multiple Storylines. She taught the workshop using a PowerPoint presentation. The conference coordinator distributed a copy of the presentation to the participants after the workshop. I have noted the four most important ideas I learned in the workshop in the following paragraphs.
She talked about five structures used in multiple storyline novels and gave an example for each. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr uses a Dual Narrative Structure. It features two protagonists on the same timeline. The Girls by Emma Cline uses a Dual Timeline Structure. It features a single protagonist with an early and later timeline.
The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis uses a Dual Narrative and Dual Timeline Structure. It features two protagonists each with an early and later timeline. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan uses a linked Short Story or Novella Structure. It features many characters and many timelines with linked narratives. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut uses a Gestalt Timeline. It features one protagonist with many scattered timelines. There are other examples.
Writing Exercise #1 was to describe what your story is about. Writing Exercise #2 was to figure out whose story your work is about.
She gave examples of the guideposts, transitions, and plotting from the five novels listed above.
Writing Exercise #4 was to draw a three-point plot arc for your story. Writing Exercise #4 was to storyboard your story.
D.M. Pulley is a historical mystery writer with four published novels. No One’s Home is her most recently published novel. I linked the Goodreads page to No One’s Home below.
This craft talk was on Wednesday, July 14, from 7 PM to 8:30 PM. The topic was So You Wrote a Short Story-Now What? She presented her talk using a PowerPoint presentation. The conference coordinator distributed a copy of the presentation to the participants after the talk. I have noted the three most important ideas I learned in the talk in the following paragraphs.
When submitting a short story, follow the submission guidelines posted on each website of the magazine where the submission is going. Each magazine has specific requirements, if not followed will diminish the possibility of a sale. Submissions should follow the Shunn format rules linked here. https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/
She presented a live demonstration of submitting a story. She tracks her submissions at the Submission Grinder website. https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/ Each author has a password-protected account. The website is a submission tracker and a market database. The website search engine helps the author find suitable markets to submit each unique story. She submitted one of her completed but unsold stories to the Clarkesworld Magazine in the demonstration. http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/
She says to expect a lot of rejections. On Submission Grinder she has tracked her submissions for the last six years. She has over 900 submissions with 73 accepted stories. The highest number of rejections for her for a story before it sold was 42. She is an accomplished author, and it was instructive to see her record of submissions.
Marie Vibbert is a science fiction short story writer. On the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (isfdb.org) she has 43 short stories listed. They published her first novel Galactic Hellcats this year. I linked the Goodreads page for Galactic Hellcats below.
From Dream to Reality: A Panel with Four Debut Authors
They held this panel from 10 AM to 11:30 AM on Saturday, July 17, 2001. The four authors in the panel published their debut novels in early 2021. The novels were The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson, Bride of the Sea by Eman Quotah, On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu, and Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter. Laura Maylene Walter was the moderator and posed questions for the panel to answer. Each author started by repeating the elevator pitch for her novel. I have included one question and answer I thought insightful from each author.
What was the most challenging part of writing your novel? E. Lily Yu answered learning Persian was necessary to complete the novel.
Explain your experience of the agent side of publishing. Nancy Johnson answered the key was an excellent query letter. She used the phase Hook-Book-Cook to describe what you need in your query. The Hook is your elevator pitch; the Book is a brief summary of your book (only add your most interesting points), and the Cook is adding any works published and workshops attended.
Explain how you write a novel with a day job, and how do you keep your motivation up? Laura Maylene Walter answered she gets up before work to write, she takes unpaid weeks off work to write. She doesn’t have kids, so that helps. Her goal is 1000 words per day, or she uses a time goal like a certain number of words per half hour.
What surprises you about the writing and publication business? Eman Quotah answered pay attention to the small successes you achieve. A handwritten card from a beta reader can be the best validation you can receive. Don’t get caught up in other writers’ successes.
Eyes of the Editor: A Panel with Four Editors
They held this panel from 7 PM to 8:30 PM on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. The four editors on the panel were Angela Kim (Berkley, romance), Kate Napolitano (Dey Street, non-fiction), Nadxieli Nieto (Flatiron Books, cross-genre), and Shannon Jamison-Vazquez (Little, Brown, mystery/thriller/suspense). The moderator was Brandi Larson. After the panelists introduced themselves, the moderator posed questions to the panel. I have included one question and answer I thought insightful from each editor.
What is your impression of someone trying to get a job in publishing today? Kate Napolitano answered that publishing is an apprenticeship industry. Earning an MFA is not the only way to get in.
What is a must-have for a query (fiction) or a proposal (Non-fiction)? Nadxieli Nieto answered that for commercial fiction, understand your placement in the marketplace and the relation of your work to the current trends.
What are the hot trends? Shannon Jamison-Vazquez answered you can’t write to trends. The most important thing is to use your voice. That is what is unique about you and will sell your novel.
What do you look for in the opening paragraphs? Angela Kim answered momentum is important. Don’t put too much info in at once. Be active with witty dialog. Use an active voice and a distinctive voice.
Before the panel, attendees volunteered to send in the first paragraphs of their novels. They picked six author paragraphs at random, and the panel read and discussed each.
The panel ended with final thoughts and advice.
Conclusion
I enjoyed the programs that I attended at the Cleveland Inkubator Writing Conference 2021 and plan to attend in person in 2022. My highlights were D.M. Pulley’s Writing Multiple Stories Workshop and Marie Vibbert’s talk about submitting short stories. I thought using Zoom worked well. At the in-person conference, you must pick one of four talks in three different time slots on the Saturday of the conference. Being spread over two weeks enabled me to pick the talks that I wanted to see. I appreciated the flexibility but will like to go back to the in-person conference next year.
Links
I attended the Cleveland Inkubator on August 4, 2018, at the Louis Stokes Wing of the Cleveland Public Library, 525 Superior Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44115. Literary Cleveland sponsored the event. Literary Cleveland’s mission is to create and nurture a vibrant literary arts community in Northeast Ohio. I enjoyed the programs that I attended at the Cleveland Inkubator and plan to attend next year.
They held the Cleveland Inkubator on July 29, 2017, at the Louis Stokes Wing of the Cleveland Public Library, 525 Superior Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44115. Literary Cleveland sponsored the event. Literary Cleveland’s mission is to create and nurture a vibrant literary arts community in Northeast Ohio. I enjoyed the programs that I attended at the Cleveland Inkubator and plan to attend next year.
The Gotham Writers Workshop held the Gotham Writers Conference 2020 as a virtual conference because of COVID-19. Last year they held the conference at the Ace Hotel in New York City on October 25, 2019. This year, they used Zoom to hold the virtual conference from October 16, 2020, to October 18, 2020. On day one they held three presentations featuring writers. On the second day, they held three presentations focused on writers and agents. The last day was for pitching roundtables. They scheduled thirteen roundtables. Each roundtable had eight authors and two agents. Each author presented a query and the first two pages of their work to the agents. The agents gave their feedback.
This is the link to the Gotham Writers Workshop, the sponsor of the event.
The moderator asked questions of the panel and the panelists answered if they had something to say. Here are three examples I liked.
What are you looking for in an agent? You need someone who knows what a contract looks like.
Does the agent say they can cover different genres? I can do anything is a suspect statement.
What is success? The goalposts keep moving. It’s okay if you are writing for yourself.
Josh Sippe conducted a brief audience Q and A session during the last ten minutes of the panel.
Friday, October 16 at 11:25 AM
The Benefit of Your Day Job (even if you dislike it) presentation by Jacob M. Appel.
Alex Steele introduced Jacob M. Appel. Jacob has written 200 short stories, 19 novels, and has 9 advanced degrees. They featured him in an Amazon Prime documentary linked below.
Jacob believes that having a day job helps you as a writer, giving your writing context.
He gave ten things that he has learned to help him write well. Three of his points follow.
Make writing your third priority after family and occupation.
Write a novel to ask a question not to answer a question.
Readers want to read something they don’t know, but the writer does. Know more than the reader.
Jacob had the audience take part in an eight-minute exercise. He had us write a scene using jargon from your specialized field or occupation.
The talk ended with a Q and A session with Josh Sippe as the moderator.
Friday, October 16 at 12:30 PM
Kelly Caldwell interviewed Erin Entrada Kelly about her writing journey.
Erin Entrada Kelly is the 2018 Newberry award-winning author of Hello, Universe. She discusses her writing journey.
Goodreads link to Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly.
The moderator asked questions of the panel and the panelists answered if they had something to say. Here are three examples I liked.
What makes a query stand out? The hook, comp titles, platform (for non-fiction), and compelling first pages.
What is your deciding question for offering representation? Where do you think your career is going? Do we have chemistry, a working relationship?
What qualities are most important to see in an author? (JL) content, character, voice. (ES) voice, sell, communication. (SB) connection, sincerity, engagement.
The talk ended with a Q and A session with Josh Sippe as the moderator.
Saturday, October 17 at 11:30 AM
The Agent and Client–making a connection discussion. Josh Sippe moderated the discussion between Amy Bishop, an author, and June Hur, an agent.
An agent and a client discuss how to connect with each other.
Amy Bishop is an agent at the Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret Agency.
The moderator asked Amy and June questions. These are three Q and A examples I liked.
How important is a query letter? (AB) a well-crafted query letter says that the author is serious. Queries are hard, but don’t need to be perfect to be effective.
Can rejections be positive? (JH) Publishing is a marathon. Rejections are subjective and not personal. Keep your perspective as an author.
What was the timeline for The Silence of Bones? (AB) Query in August 2017, Agreement September 2017, Submitted to editor February 2018, realization that the novel is YA, Big revision to the editor in August 2018, published by Feiwel & Friends in April 2020.
End of discussion.
Saturday, October 17 at 12:30 PM
Alexander Steele conducted the Pitching Game Show with Alec Shane, Alexandra Levick, and.
The contestant’s goal was to practice their pitching skills. They picked a contestant, and Alex Steele drew a character and a situation at random. The contestant had a few minutes to prepare a pitch. The contestant gave the pitch to the agent panel and ended the pitch with a proposed title for the book. They picked four contestants, and they gave their pitches one at a time. The agents could not reach a consensus, so all four contestants received a $50 gift certificate for a class at Gotham Writers Workshop.
Sunday, October 18 from 12:00 PM to 4:30 PM
The SF/Fantasy Pitching Roundtable #2 with Kurestin Armada and Dong Won Song.
Each session was on an individual Zoom call with eight participants and two agents for each table.
The first group session had six tables: Literary/Mainstream 1, Literary/Mainstream 3, Middle Grade/Young Adult 1, Mystery/Thriller/Horror, Non-Fiction 1, and Science Fiction/Fantasy 2.
The second group session was from 3:00 PM to 7:30 PM and had seven tables: Literary/Mainstream 2, Literary/Mainstream 4, Middle Grade/Young Adult 2, Non-Fiction 2, Non-Fiction 3, Picture Book, and Science Fiction/Fantasy 1.
I took part in the SF/Fantasy Pitching Roundtable #2. In the first part of the roundtable, each participant read their query letter, and the agents made their comments. It took about ten minutes for each query letter. A 30-minute break followed. In the second part of the roundtable, each participant read the first two pages of their novel and the agents offered their feedback.
Recommendation – Conclusion
I enjoyed virtually attending the Gotham Writers Conference 2020. I’m glad they could hold the conference. Last year in New York City I did not have my novel presentation completed in time to earn a spot at the pitching roundtables conducted on October 26, 2019. This year I took part in the Science Fiction/ Fantasy Roundtable #2. My star of the Con was Alex Steele. He gave a great welcome speech, introduced Jacob M. Appel for his presentation, and conducted the Pitching Game Show. The conference was well worth the time invested, and I would like to attend next year.
Links
Recap for the Gotham Writers Conference in New York City, New York on October 25, 2019, sponsored by Gotham Writers Workshop. There were five panels and presentations at the conference. I did not attend on October 26, 2019, for the pitching roundtables.
They canceled Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2020 because of COVID-19. They had planned to hold confluence 2020 from July 24 to 26, 2020 with author guest of honor Martha Wells. I plan to go to Confluence from July 23 to July 25, 2021. They held a virtual conference called C’monfluence the Novelization 2020, from October 2 to October 4. The Guest of Honor was Martha Wells. I attended the conference virtually. Programming began on Friday, October 2 at 10 AM and concluded on Sunday, October 4 at 4:25 PM.
I also attended the conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. 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. They held the conference on four tracks, so they held up to four activities at the same time. They held each event on Zoom, and the attendees had to register for each event to attend the event. I attended the opening ceremony, five panels, three readings, one presentation, the guest of honor presentation, and the conference breakdown.
Videos of the conference are found at the confluence-SFF you tube channel linked below.
Summary for Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2020
Friday, October 2nd at 7 PM
A reading by Marie Vibbert.
Marie read from her novel Galactic Hellcats, which will be released in March 2021. The novel is a story about a female biker gang in outer space, saving a gay prince.
She read four chapters that she selected because each introduced one of her four principal characters; Key, Margo, Zuaka, and the Prince.
The reading had a lot of action and the characters were distinctive. Sounds like a fun book to read next year.
They held the reading on Track 3: Kish Karad with 15 attendees.
Friday, October 2nd at 9 PM
The opening ceremonies featuring Guest of Honor, Martha Wells.
Kevin Hayes introduced Martha Wells and read her bio. Diane Turnshek talked about the anthology book Triangulation: Extinction which she edited and was sponsored by the Parsec group which is also a sponsor of Confluence. Kevin read off the planned events for the conference. Karen Yun-Lutz mentioned that SFWA is a sponsor for the conference. Greg Clumpner talked about the forums on Discord which were open for panelists and attendees to mingle on when they were not attending an activity.
The opening presentation ended with a short interview with Martha Wells. Martha said she wrote the first book in the Murderbot series because she needed some place to put her anger. She said it disappointed her that they postponed the conference in July because she had wanted to explore sites in Pittsburgh this year. She said she had been to Pittsburgh twice to attend the Nebula Awards, but hadn’t had the opportunity to explore the city at that time.
They held the opening ceremonies on Track 1: Sanctuary Moon.
Saturday, October 3rd at 10:30 AM
A Reading by Brandon McNulty.
Brandon read three chapters from his novel Bad Parts that was published on June 23, 2020. It is subtitled a supernatural thriller. In chapter one, Mac is 70 years old and has failing kidneys. In chapter two, Ash Hudson is the lead guitar player in a heavy metal band named Bad Parts. She has to find her lead singer and replace her rhythm guitarist to play the show they have scheduled for that night. In chapter three, they play the show and load up their gear in the van. Some scary dude tails them. How are they going to getaway?
It sounds like an interesting book. I have put it on my want-to-read list on Goodreads.
They held the reading on Track 3: Kish Karad with 6 attendees.
Saturday, October 3rd at 12 PM
Where Does Your World Come From? Panel with Michelle Sagara. Joe Haldeman, Aliette de Bodard, and Tobias Buckell.
Michelle Sagara was the moderator. Her first question to the panel was; where do your worlds come from? They talked about how they got their ideas. Do you build the story to the world or do you build the world to the story? It comes down to the concept that world-building and characterization are intertwined. How had your education, other work experiences, and travel influenced your writing? The answers show that their background influences their writing. How has the pandemic affected your writing? Inconclusive. Is there a difference in world-building between a short story versus a novel? The answers varied.
The moderator’s questions were interesting and the responses from the panel were instructive to an attendee who is a writer.
They held the panel on Track 1: Sanctuary Moon.
This is a link for the you tube video for the panel.
Saturday, October 3rd at 2 PM
The Business of Writing panel with Gay Haldeman, Neil Clarke, Gail Carriger, Tamora Pierce, and Herb Kauderer.
Gay Haldeman was the moderator. She asked questions about the business of writing. The panel related their experiences. Some interesting responses followed. Read your contracts. Don’t be discouraged by rejections. Review guidelines when submitting work every time. Consider Patreon. Work on your social media platform. Everything is tax deductible for a writer. When submitting short fiction start at the top of the market and work your way down. Most agents and editors want a rewrite, so be ready for the rewrite and be flexible. Set up a literary estate.
They held the panel on Track 1: Sanctuary Moon.
This is a link for the you tube video for the panel.
Saturday, October 3rd at 3 PM
An interview with Guest of Honor Martha Wells conducted by Wenmimareba Klobah Collins.
Wenmimareba asks Martha questions, and she answered them. Martha talked about the differences in writing Murderbot, an SF story, in close first person, and her fantasy stories in the third person. She takes about three months to write a Murderbot novella. Fugitive Telemetry is finished, and she doesn’t know what she will write next. Martha doesn’t enjoy plotting; she writes as a pantser. She doesn’t want to figure out too much beforehand because she doesn’t want to get bored with the story before she finishes it.
The interviewer asked for the author’s book recommendations. Some recommendations were: Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo, and The Best of all Possible Worlds by Karen Lord.
I enjoyed getting to know more about the author’s writing process and thoughts about writing.
They held the interview on Track 1: Sanctuary Moon.
This is a link for the you tube video for the interview.
Saturday, October 3rd at 4 PM
A reading by Guest of Honor Martha Wells.
Martha Wells read from her novella, Fugitive Telemetry.
Fugitive Telemetry is a prequel to the Murderbot novel, Network Effect.
She read Chapter One of the novella first. Dr. Mensa has hired Murderbot as a consultant for her on Preservation Station. There has been a murder and Murderbot evaluates the scene.
She read Chapter Three next. Murderbot has to connect to the Preservation Station network and must tell as little of the truth as Murderbot can. This is Murderbot’s first job as a consultant. At the end of the meeting, Murderbot walks with Dr. Mensa.
The channel moderator asked two questions with the time remaining. Martha talked about how her Murderbot short story from May 2020 on Tor.com (Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory) was given to people who pre-ordered Network Effect.
The reason she wrote this prequel was because she wanted to show how Preservation Station would function with Sec Unit Murderbot working as a consultant.
This is the link to Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries #6) by Martha Wells, published on April 27, 2021.
They held the reading on Track 1: Sanctuary Moon with 45 attendees at the start building to a maximum of 58 attendees.
Saturday, October 3rd at 5 PM
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants panel with Marie Vibbert, Joe Haldeman, Bud Sparhawk, and Steven H. Silver.
Marie Vibbert was the moderator. A few questions posed as follows. Is there an SF canon? The answer is; There is a canon, but it doesn’t matter anymore, because the next generation responds to the ideas of the canon without reading the canon. Do you read outside the genre? Reading outside the genre helps you to grow as a writer.
At the end of the panel, they fielded questions from the audience. What are the examples of the lost works of early SF? Examples are Clare Winger Harris and Stanley G. Weinbaum. Who are the giants now? Some authors mentioned were N. K. Jemisin, Martha Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
I checked out a letter that Clare Winger Harris wrote to Wonder Stories in August 1938 on her sixteen plots in SF. Interesting reading. I found a link below.
I took The Artificial Man and other Stories by Clare Winger Harris out from the library. It collects ten of her best short stories. Goodreads link below.
This is a link for the you tube video for the panel.
Sunday, October 4th at 10 AM
I Sing the Plotting Electric panel with Geoffrey Landis, Bud Sparhawk, Joe Haldeman, Bo Balder, and Scot Noel.
Geoffrey Landis was the moderator. He asked the questions, and the panel gave the answers. The panel was a look at the resurgence of space opera. Space opera came from the pulp SF stories of authors like E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith, Edmond Hamilton, Leigh Brackett, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. The term was an extrapolation of the western horse opera to the SF space opera. It began as a derogatory term, but that changed over time as more authors used the trope.
Why do you think there has been a resurgence of space opera? There is a frontier feeling to the stories, a chance for the characters to reinvent their selves. It brings back an old-style plot, good versus evil. With commercial space opening up with Space-X and Virgin Galactic, it stimulates the need for space opera.
They held the panel on Track 2: Opal Night with 28 attendees.
Sunday, October 4th at 11 AM
Let’s get series-ish panel with Michelle Sagara, Martha Wells, Robert Angell, and Jennifer Foehner.
Robert Angell was the moderator. He asked questions, and the panel answered them. What are the pitfalls and pluses? What is it about the stories that dictate the need for more stories? Do the characters demand it, or is there just no end to plots?
They held the panel on Track 1: Sanctuary Moon.
Sunday, October 4th at 1 PM
Mission to Triton presentation given by Geoffrey Landis.
Geoffrey Landis is an aerospace engineer who works for NASA. He presented his proposed future mission to Triton, the largest moon of Neptune. It is an interesting moon that has only been visited once on a fly-by from the Voyager-2 probe in 1989. Triton might be like Pluto, a captured Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) created when the solar system formed. Triton’s mountains are made of water ice, it orbits Neptune in a retrograde orbit, and its pink color is from complex organic molecules on its surface.
When brainstorming the project, he determined that the mission should use the resources of Triton for a long term mission. The vehicle will land on Triton and hop from site to site using a radioisotope powered rocket. Each probe hop would be 5 km each and use Nitrogen as fuel. The probe will do core drills in the Nitrogen ice and test the cores.
The presentation ended with questions from the audience.
They held the presentation on Track 1: Sanctuary Moon.
This is a link for the you tube video for the presentation.
Sunday, October 4th at 4 PM
C’monfluence Breakdown with the Con Committee; Karen Yun-Lutz, Kevin Hayes, John Thompson, Heidi Pilewski, and Diane Turnshek. Also, the tech guy, Greg Clumpner.
They learned a lot about presenting their first virtual conference. Discord was an essential area for discussion before and after the presentations.
There were some challenges. Panelists’ time zones were different, preventing Zoom bombers, and there wasn’t enough staff to monitor a potential Zoom meeting room. Time remaining flashes at the ten minutes and five minutes to go was distracting to the panelists and the attendees. The webinars went very well, the meetings were iffy, and the readings were bad, the lesson learned.
The Kaffeeklatsches had a 15-attendee max, but only 20% were full. Workshops were the most attended panels. A component of the next conference could be virtual because of the success this year of the virtual conference.
They held the presentation on Track 2: Opal Night with 21 attendees at the start building to 24 attendees.
Conclusion for Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2020
I’m glad that they could hold the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2020 virtually. My star of the con was Guest of Honor, Martha Wells. I viewed her at the opening ceremonies, an interview, a reading, and on a panel. She was interesting and entertaining in every activity that I attended. She was named the Guest of Honor before they postponed the conference, and she remained the GOH for the virtual conference.
I attended the opening ceremony, five panels, three readings, one presentation, the guest of honor presentation, and the conference breakdown. My other highlights were the Triton Presentation by Geoffrey Landis and the SF influences panel. (because it led me to Clare Winger Harris’s sixteen SF plots.) I also attended Confluence in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 and plan to return in 2021. They will hold confluence 2021 from July 23 to 25, 2021.
Links for Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh 2020
Recap for the Confluence SF Conference on July 30 and July 31, 2016, at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. I attended 15 panels and the U.S.S. Improvise improv sketch comedy routine.
They held the Confluence Conference from August 4 to August 6, 2017, at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. I attended seven panels, one writing workshop, one author reading, and the guests of honor presentation.
They held the Confluence Conference from July 27, 2018, to July 29, 2018, at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. I attended two lectures, two panels, one fiction writing seminar, one author reading, and the guest of honor presentation.
Recap for the Confluence SF Conference Pittsburgh on July 27 & 28, 2019, at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. I also attended Confluence in 2016, 2017, and 2018. I attended five panels, two fiction writing workshops, and the guest of honor presentation.
They held Dragon Con Atlanta 2020 from September 3 to 7, 2020. This year with Covid-19, it was a virtual conference. I viewed 5 panels, 1 interview, and 2 Dragon Con updates. Three tracks could be viewed at the same time for 24 hours a day from 6:30 PM Thursday to 3:30 PM Monday. The tracks were the main track, a fan track, and a classic track (replays of taped panels from 2008 to 2019). It was a great opportunity for me because Atlanta is far away from me, and I am not likely to attend this con in person.
Games of Thrones panel from 2015 on the Classic Track:
The panel’s moderator was Marc Lee. The panelists were actors from the Game of Thrones show Kristian Nairn (Hodor), Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell), and Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle).
Kristian talked about filming in Iceland, Finn talked about performing a gay scene on his first day of shooting, and Julian talked about always playing the villain in movies, so he was never in the sequels.
I thought it was a fun panel and the panelists were engaging.
Saturday, September 5th, at 1 PM
John Scalzi: Tour of an Author’s Life (and Kitchen), an interview with John Scalzi on the Main Track:
This was a taped interview by Brian Robertson of author John Scalzi. He interviewed Scalzi by remote from each of their homes. The interview was done in three parts.
First, John Scalzi talked about his career in his office. He started as a journalist and posted his work in progress on his blog. That novel was Old Man’s War and the success of that book launched his career as a novelist. He considers it an accidental career.
The second part of the interview was from John Scalzi’s basement. He keeps his musical instruments down there. Playing music is a release for him between writing.
The last part of the interview was from John Scalzi’s kitchen. He enjoys making burritos with anything goes. The burrito he made here featured two-day-old lasagna and parmesan dip. He finished the interview mentioning that his latest novel was nominated for the Dragon Award for Science Fiction Novel.
John Scalzi’s latest novel is The Last Emperox. It is the third and final book of the Interdependency Trilogy and was released on April 14, 2020. This is the link to the Goodreads page.
The panel started with 298 attendees, increased to 335 attendees at 1:10 PM, and ended with 361 attendees at the end of the interview.
I thought it was a great interview. I’ve seen John Scalzi many times and he is always interesting and engaging.
Saturday, September 5th, at 5 PM
Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey panel from 2008 on the Classic Track:
The beginning of the panel was Todd interviewing his mother Anne and the rest of the panel was questions from the audience. She said she got inspired to write because she needed money for her three small kids at home. Anne wrote the Dragonriders of Pern series which became more popular with the success of Harry Potter.
She said that sometimes it is the names that inspire the story other times it is the characters. Geology fascinated her and cartography was important to her novels. She moved to Ireland and horses were important to her. At one point he owned 23 horses.
It was interesting to see this panel from 2008. Anne McCaffrey is one of my favorite authors.
The panel started with 208 attendees.
Sunday, September 6th, at 3 PM
Perseverance – Mars 2020 panel with Dr. Sarah Milkovich and Kim Steadman on the Fan Track:
This was a slideshow presentation with two engineers of the surface operation for the Perseverance rover that launched to Mars on July 30, 2020. The presentation was filmed on July 31, 2020. They plan to land the probe at Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021. It was built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. The mission is to seek signs of ancient life at an ancient river delta.
The engineers discussed the instruments on the rover. The rover will take readings and collect 30 samples at various locations. A second mission will collect the samples and launch them to orbit. A third mission will collect the samples and return them to earth.
These are links to the mission briefing on the JPL website and the NASA website.
I thought it was a great presentation. I hope the rover has a safe landing next year.
Sunday, September 6th, at 6 PM
The 2020 Dragon Awards announced by Cooper Andrews on the Main Track:
The 2020 Dragon Awards were announced. There are 15 categories including gaming, literature, and visual medium. There were nominees in each category and the winners were announced in this half-hour presentation. The last award was for the Science Fiction novel. John Scalzi, the writing Guest of Honor, won for his novel The Last Emperox.
Sunday, September 6th, at 6:30 PM
The Dragon Con Update with Will and Bee:
Will and Bee interviewed Leigh and Jon. Leigh and Jon conduct interviews of the leaders of different tracks at the conference. They want to bring attention to the behind the scenes people at the con. They post the interviews at the unique geek.
The Dragon Con update finished with a heck with Beth about the Fan Interactions Report. She showed pictures from four hashtags that they used.
Monday, September 6th, at 9 AM
Award-Winning and Best-selling Authors panel on the Fan Track:
Bill Fawcett was the Moderator of the panel. The panel was Tasmin Silver (writes urban fantasy and historical fantasy), Robert Sawyer (his most recent novel is the alternate history, The Oppenheimer Alternative), Jody Lynn Nye (wrote in the Myth Adventures series and co-wrote with Anne McCaffery), and John Scalzi (Dragon Con Writing Guest of Honor and winner of the Dragon Award for Science Fiction Novel, for the Last Emperox).
Bill asked the panel a series of questions. The main point was what makes a novel an award winner versus a best-seller. Robert’s answer was a best seller needs a likable protagonist while an award winner might have an unlikeable protagonist. John answered that best-sellers are marketable books with the goal to entertain, while award winners have a bold view and are written for writers.
Other questions included are best sellers a product of the time they are read, social media advice, and advice for new writers.
I thought that all four writers gave insightful answers to the moderator’s questions. I wish the had more time to talk.
Monday, September 6th, at 1 PM
Let’s Build a World panel on the Fan Track:
Michael G. Williams was the Moderator of the panel. The panel was Cecilia Dominic (writes urban fantasy and steampunk), Charles E. Gannon (writes hard SF and Alternate history), and Chris Kennedy (SF author, publisher, and editor).
The panel was about how writers build their worlds. The first question was about how the authors created their setting. The second question was about the most important decision to make in world-building. What do you most hate about world-building? Is it characters first or later when you are designing a setting? Is believability important to you?
They played an exercise on world-building picking four answers to important questions. They picked religion (ancestor worship that is not based on reality), family (with gender fluidity), social conformity (the worst thing to them is to be shunned), and tech (low tech).
I thought the plan was interesting especially how the writers completed the world-building exercise.
Recommendation – Conclusion
Virtual Dragon Con Atlanta 2020 was a great experience. Viewing the virtual con was nice since I would not have made it to Atlanta this year. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I checked out a few presentations Friday evening to see how it was. Before the Game of Thrones panel, I looked at the end of Improvised Dungeons and Dragons. The panelists took a humorous take on a random D & D game. What I saw was funny. I wish I had seen the whole panel. My star of the con was John Scalzi. Other highlights were the Let’s Build a World panel and the Mars 2020 presentation. I hope to attend Dragon Con sometime in the future.
Links
This is my post for a similar conference that I attended in person in January 2020.
I attended the SF conference ConFusion in Detroit, Michigan from January 16 to 19, 2020. I attended four panels, two readings, and one interview. The theme of the con was How to Train Your ConFusion, based on the movie, How to Train Your Dragon. My star of the con was John Scalzi. He gave an excellent reading of Chapter Two of his upcoming book named The Last Emperox. My other highlights were Kameron Hurley’s interview and the lecture on Edible Insects and Human Evolution. I’ll be back next year.
I attended the SF conference named ConFusion Detroit 2020 at 21111 Haggerty Road Novi, Michigan at the Sheraton Detroit Novi from January 16 to 19, 2020. The Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association sponsors ConFusion Detroit 2020. I attended four panels, two readings, and one interview. The theme of the conference was How to Train Your Confusion. It was a play on words promoting the movie How to Train Your Dragon. They showed the movie in the boardroom, but I did not watch it then.
The Ann Arbor Science
Fiction Association sponsors Detroit ConFusion.
Outside the Sheraton in snowy Michigan at the ConFusion Detroit 2020 Science Fiction Conference.
The 2020 Logo for ConFusion
Detroit 2020.
ConFusion Detroit 2020
Program Guide Cover
This is my badge
for ConFusion Detroit 2020.
Summary
Saturday, January
18th at 10 AM
The Future of Space
Travel panel with Jeff Beeler, Elly Bangs, Shannon Eichhorn, and Tobias Buckell:
What do the future
of space travel hold for us in the near term and the far future? They talked about
playing the game Kerbal Space Program. It is a space flight simulation game where
the player manages a space program using green-skinned Kerbals. https://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com/
For the current state of the space program they talked about the 2020 Mars
Lander and BFR Plus spaceship designed by SpaceX. Recommended books and
websites followed. The Case for Mars by Robert Zubin. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56713.The_Case_for_Mars
The Elon Musk Blog Series, Wait but Why by Tim Urban. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29437730-the-elon-musk-blog-series The
SpaceX feed at https://twitter.com/SpaceX They suggest following Gwynne Shotwell, who is
the President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX. She is the one who makes Elon
Musk’s ideas become reality.
They held the
panel in the Interlochen room with 28 attendees. There weren’t enough chairs in
the room, so six people were standing, including me.
Saturday, January 18th at 11 AM
Interstellar
Nations and Warfare: Space Opera Worldbuilding panel with Karen Burnham,
Marquel Jacob, Jenn Lyons, and Glynn Stewart:
The
first point is why write space opera if the physics tells us it is not likely
that we will communicate instantly through space and there is no faster than light
space travel? We write space opera because it is fun to extrapolate on current
technology. If the writer keeps the rules consistent internally, then it is okay
to write space opera.
If civilization is interstellar, then there should not be a scarcity of resources. So, where does the conflict come from? The conflict could come with ideas and the scarcity of specific resources. The primal motivations are land, money, and lies. Examples used with FTL travel as conflicts are an unstable FTL travel method in The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi and the scarcity of the spice used for FTL travel in Dune by Frank Hebert. The panel talked about pet peeves where authors get Worldbuilding wrong. Not following the rules of artificial gravity, there is no FTL travel in the story, but there is a fast trip to Jupiter, a one ecosystem planet, and no normal people left.
They
held the panel in the Manitou room with 22 attendees.
Saturday,
January 18th at 4 PM
Reading
by John Scalzi:
John Scalzi read from his soon to be released novel named the Last Emperox, a story from his book A Very Scalzi Christmas, a post from his blog, and he ended the hour with a question-and-answer session.
He read Chapter Two
of The Last Emperox. It is the third and final book of the Interdependency Trilogy
and will be released on April 14, 2020. The Chapter was from Kiva Lagos’s
perspective and concerns the events that occurred at the end of the previous novel
in the series.
A Very Scalzi Christmas
collects 15 short tales about the holiday season. He read one tale named
Resolutions for the New Year–A Bullet Point List. It was brief and was hilarious.
A short Q and A
followed. Scalzi had a question about using the first person in his novel named
Lock In. He remarked that seven years ago there was no narrative about binary
gender identification. Now, only seven years later, it’s not even an issue
anymore. Someone asked Scalzi about how he got the military culture correct in
the Old Man’s War series. He said his father and brother were in the service and
he did a lot of research to make the story work. Someone asked Scalzi about TV
and movie projects. He confirmed that the Redshirts project is dead… twice
dead. Scalzi confirmed that he has delivered 4 of the 13 novels contacted by
Tor. The trilogy is a trilogy and no more, though his original proposal
included a book set 5000 years in the Interdependency’s future.
The whole hour was
fun and perfect. It was my best hour of the conference.
They held the reading
in Ballroom C & D with 33 attendees.
Saturday,
January 18th at 5 PM
Science
Guest of Honor Reading of Edible Insects and Human Evolution by Dr. Julie
Lesnik:
She read from her book
Edible Insects and Human Evolution. Images projected on a screen accompanied
the reading. Most of the images were humorous.
First, we must
understand our aversion to eating insects. Humans display fear and disgust for
the concept of eating bugs. Fear goes with spiders and disgust goes with an aversion
to disease. By taste, humans associate sweet and salty to good and bitter to
bad. Uncooked insects are bitter; thus, people consider them bad to eat.
Insects in the human
diet have gone for absent to adverse through time. Romans consumed insects. Something
happened where insects have become absent in Western Civilization’s diet, and
this absence has transformed into an aversion to eating insects. In modern
times, people in Equatorial regions consume insects. Why is this behavior
observed?
Will humans
overcome the aversion to eating insects? Insects are a great source of protein.
They use Black Soldier fly larva in pet food and they use mealworms in
bioconversion. The most likely source for insect consumption is crickets. They
are not economical now, but the price point is coming closer to feasibility.
She brought edible crickets for those audience members who wanted to try them.
They held the reading
in the Keweenaw room with 31 attendees. There weren’t enough chairs in the room,
so four people stood.
Saturday,
January 18th at 6 PM
Short Fiction
Submission: Advice from the Editor panel with Jeff Chapman, Jennie Ivins, Scott
Andrews, Mur Lafferty, and Alvin Mullin:
The editors in the
panel answered about the dos and don’ts when submitting for magazines and
anthologies. The panelists have a varied background as editors.
Jeff Chapman
reaches writing and is an editor for a literary magazine.
Advice for successfully
submitting short fiction includes use no special formatting, learn about special
requirements for each market where you are submitting, and read an issue of the
magazine to understand the stories the magazine accepts. Read the submission guidelines
and know your market. Note that the submission grinder gives example turnaround
times for each magazine. https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/
Keep your cover letters
short. Try to emotionally detach yourself from rejection. Form rejections are
part of the process. A mistake is a moment to learn. If they reject you, then
you are a working writer.
She talked about the great time she had on her Spanish tour in 2019. She talked about pushing for getting a breakout book which caused her to burnout. It took her four years to write book three of a series when she lost her agent and wondered if she could make a living as a writer. She persevered, got a new agent, and wrote three books in a year. Keep doing the work because you don’t know what book will break out. Continue your journey on how to take feedback. Turn off your critic’s brain when you are reading as an author. Create a realistic success metric for yourself. Write the book of your heart.
They held the
panel in the Charlevoix room with 12 attendees.
Sunday, January 19th at 11 AM
Plan Your Outbreak!
lecture with Keren Landsman:
Keren Landsman is an Israeli writer and doctor specializing in Epidemiology and Public Health. Her science lecture was about from influenza to the black death, discussing what made the largest biological disasters happen and how to use that knowledge in Worldbuilding an outbreak.
Worldbuilding is a
character on its own. It needs a significant role in the story’s plot. A
pathogen causes disease. She talked about various diseases including Tuberculosis,
syphilis, the black plague, rabies, cholera, and Ebola. An example was the Broad
Street Pump. Dr. John Snow figures out the cause for a cholera outbreak by
interviewing patients to determine they all used a single contaminated water pump.
One thing to remember
is that doctors and nurses always get the disease they are treating. The family
members are the next to get the disease. Rabies is not a good disease to build
an outbreak story from since it is only transmitted from animal to human by
biting. Traveling Italian merchants brought The Black Death to Europe. It is
normal to have quarantine for 40 days.
They held the
panel in the Leelanaw room with 10 attendees.
Recommendation
– Conclusion
As I drove up I-75 into Michigan, I drove into a snowstorm. I drove slowly and got there safely. The ConFusion Detroit 2020 conference was held in this location previously. In 2019, I attended the con in another location, so it took me a while to figure out how to get to the conference center from inside the hotel. Once I got to the conference center, the locations were easy to navigate. There was more room at this location and it had more activities than in 2019. I enjoyed the variety. My star of the con was John Scalzi. He gave an excellent reading of Chapter Two of his upcoming book named The Last Emperox. My other highlights were Kameron Hurley’s interview and the lecture on Edible Insects and Human Evolution. I’m planning to return next year.
Links
I attended the SF conference ConFusion in Detroit, Michigan from January 18 to 20, 2019. The theme of the con was Storming the ConFusion, so they designated the areas with names related to the movie, The Princess Bride. I had a great drive to Detroit just before the snowstorm came. My star of the con was John Scalzi. He gave an excellent reading and was engaging in the panel I attended. My other highlights were Ada Palmer’s interview and watching The Princess Bride at the con. I’ll be back next year.
I attended the SF Conference Marcon Columbus 2017 on
May 13, 2017. 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 2018 and 2019. The 2019 convention was from May 10 to 12,
2019 and I realized when I wrote a recap for that conference, I had not posted
a recap for the 2017 conference. This is my recap of the 2017 conference. I
attended five panels at the 2017 conference.
Dystopias 2: this
is the way the world ends, a panel with Karen Dollinger, Courtney Bliss, Joaryn
Bailey, Donald Haynes, and Alyssa Pence.
The discussion was
about dystopias. You don’t need an apocalypse to get a dystopia. Someone benefits
from a dystopia. The story helps us to question how things are now. Books in
this genre are a lens for social commentary. Human nature is not to be static.
Recommended books are Newsflesh by Mira Grant, The City of Ember by Jeanne
DuPrau, and 1984 by George Orwell.
They held the
panel in the McKinley Room with 15 attendees.
Saturday,
May 13th at 1 PM
Humorous Science Fiction
and Fantasy, a panel with Addie J. King, Kandi Hopkins, Deb Wallace, and L.
Anne Wooley.
Who does humor well?
The answers were Terry Pratchett, John Scalzi, Christopher Moore, J. K.
Rowling, Robert Asprin, Spider Robinson, and Jim Butcher.
What makes it
work? If you find it funny, then you may be able to write it. Use humor to
break up the serious parts of your novel. Give the readers a break by using
humor. Try not to over-explain the humor or it will lose its impact.
They held the panel in the McKinley Room with 16 attendees.
Saturday,
May 13th at 2:30 PM
Antiheroes: When
the main character could easily be the villain, a panel with Denice Verrico,
Karen Dollinger, Faye Malcolm, Erin Reilly-Sanders, Van Siegling.
There is a
spectrum of characters from the worst villain Sauron from Lord of the Rings to
the best hero Dudley Doo Right. An antihero works as long as the protagonist is
more hero-like on the spectrum than the antagonist. An Antihero rejects the
norms of society. Examples of antiheroes are Dexter, protagonists in bank heist
stories, Walter White, Saul Goodman, and Scarlett O’Hara.
They held the
panel in the McKinley Room with 21 attendees.
Saturday,May 13th at 4 PM
The
Difference Between Story and Plot, a panel with Shannon Eichhorn, Charles
Ebert, Addie J. King, Linda Robertson, Scott M. Sandridge.
The
story is how you get there and the plot is the mechanics of the story. Ask yourself,
does the plot move the story along? Read what you write. You need to be in love
with your story as you are writing it. Write what you want too in the first
draft but be prepared to kill your darlings in editing to strengthen your story.
When constructing a story understand if your genre expects a series.
They
held the panel in the McKinley Room with 11 attendees.
Saturday,
May 13th at 5:30 PM
Cursed Children
and Fantastic Beasts, a panel with Karen Dollinger, Hannah Blosser, Emily
Lydic, Leah Nicola, and Amanda Caskey.
The panelists were
experts in all things Harry Potter. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One
and Two is a stage play of the theater production. They held the stage
production on July 30, 2016, and the book was released on July 31, 2016. The panelists
talked about both presentations. They released the movie named Fantastic Beasts
and Where to Find Them on November 18, 2016. The panel talked about the movie
and the expected four sequels.
They held the
panel in the Harrison Room with 12 attendees.
Recommendation –
Conclusion
I had a great time at Marcon Columbus 2017. My star of
the con was the panel on Cursed Children and Fantastic Beasts. I had read the
printed stage play for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and watched the movie
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, so I understood the panel and enjoyed
what they had to say. I also attended
Marcon in 2018 and 2019 and plan to return on May 9, 2020.
Links
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.
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.
I attended the SF conference Cleveland ConCoction 2017 at 5300 Riverside Drive Cleveland, Ohio at the Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel from March 10, 2017, to March 12, 2017. The 2019 convention was from March 1 to 3, 2019 and I realized when I wrote a recap for that conference, I had not posted a recap for the 2017 conference. This is a recap of the 2017 conference. I attended three panels, two author showcases, two performances, the state of the con panel, and the closing ceremony. I also volunteered in the ConSuite for twelve hours.
Cleveland
ConCoction 2017 Program Guide Cover. Even though the cover has 2016 listed,
this was the 2017 program. The theme was Grimm’s’ Fairy Tales.
Picture of my
badge from Cleveland ConCoction 2017
Summary
Friday,
March 10th from 4 PM to 9 PM
I volunteered in the
ConSuite Department for five hours on Friday. The ConSuite was in a back bar at the Sheraton Hotel.
Friday, March
10th at 9 PM
A concert by the
Blibbering Humdingers
This
duo played what they called wizard rock. Most of the songs in this concert
dealt with themes from Harry Potter. The songs played were “Love Song of Sirius
Black (Dementor in Love)”, “Voldemort made me crap my pants”, “Lily’s Worst Memory,”
“Best Game Ever,” “Hot Girl in the Comic Shop,” and “Awkward Hug.” I thought “Best
Game Ever” was the best song they played at this session.
They held the concert
in the Orion A Room.
Saturday,
March 11th from 9 AM to 4 PM
I volunteered in the
ConSuite Department for seven hours on Friday. The ConSuite was in a back bar at the Sheraton Hotel. During this time,
I was helping to make Rice Krispy blocks used in patterns. When I did that, I saw
the coffee session with Glen Cook, but I didn’t hear much of the conversation.
Saturday,
March 11th at 5 PM
Author Showcase
(Session 4)
Four authors read
from their works in the showcase.
Brent D. Seth read
from his novel named Shortfuse.
They held the showcase
in the Lyra room with 8 attendees.
Saturday,
March 11th at 6 PM
Common Problems
New Writers Encounter, a panel with Shannon Eichhorn, Sara Dobie Bauer, J.
Thorn, and James Barnes.
J. Thorn outlined
his process. He recommended the book The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne. Know what you
need next he suggests. Look into getting a developmental editor, a line editor,
a copy editor, and then beta readers. Other suggestions for new writers from
the panel were as follows. Write what you are passionate about. Don’t have a
fear of breaking rules. Be cautious of giving too much back story and info dumps.
Know your genre. Books used as examples were Pet Semetary by Stephen King and
The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
They held the
panel in the Pegasus room with 13 attendees.
Saturday,
March 11th at 7 PM
Elevator Pitch Tutorial
Session, a panel with Addie J. King, James Barnes, J. Thorn, Mary Turzillo, and
Linda Robertson.
An Elevator Pitch explains
the essence of a novel. The idea is to give
the pitch to someone who could be interested in representing your book in the time it would take an elevator to go six
floors. In the pitch, you want to describe what your book is about. Think about
your ideal customer when you are designing the pitch. Think about how you would
describe your book to an editor. The Pixar Pitch is a six-line template that can
tell the story of your work developed by Emma Coats. You can find the pitch in Daniel
H. Pink’s book named To Sell Is Human. The pitch fits for the Pixar movies but
can be adapted to any written work. Linda Robertson gave out a handout. In it
the main points were that you need a concept, a premise, ask questions, and
understand the character’s stakes in your story. The concept and the premise
when read together is your elevator pitch.
They held the
panel in the Lyra Room with 7 attendees.
Saturday,
March 11th at 8 PM
A concert by the
Blibbering Humdingers
I
liked the first concert, so I came back to see them again. This duo played what
they called wizard rock. Most of the songs in this concert dealt with themes from
Harry Potter. The songs I saw played in this session were “Hufflepuff Sandwich,”
“Zip Me Up,” and “Natural 20 (a song about playing the Dungeons and Dragons
Game).”
They held the concert
in the Orion A Room.
Sunday,
March 12th at 10 AM
State of the Con Q
and A
The Con Chairs talked about how Cleveland ConCoction 2017 went this week and about plans for 2018.
They held the
panel in the Orion A Room with 10 attendees.
Sunday,
March 12th at 11 AM
Post-Apocalypse–How
Will It End?, a panel with J. L. Gribble, Weston Kincade, and Brent D. Seth.
The panelists
talked about the novels Flood by Stephen Baxter and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
They also talked about the TV show called The 100.
They held the
panel in the Lyra Room with 3 attendees.
Sunday,
March 12th at 2 PM
Closing Ceremonies
The Guests of Honor were presented and thanked for Cleveland ConCoction 2017.
They held the
panel in the Orion A Room.
Recommendation –
Conclusion
I had a great time at Cleveland ConCoction 2017. It was my first time at this con. I worked twelve hours in the ConSuite and I don’t plan on doing that again because I missed events I wanted to see. My star of the con was the Blibbering Humdingers. I liked both of the concerts they performed. My other highlights were the Elevator Pitch panel and listening to eight authors who read their work in two showcases. I attended Cleveland ConCoction in 2018 and 2019 and I bought my pass for 2020.
Links
I attended Cleveland ConCoction 2019 at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 1 to 3, 2019. Attended the opening ceremony, four panels, and the closing ceremony. I also volunteered in the Programming Department for four hours and in the ConSuite for four hours. This is a link to my conference recap.
I also attended Cleveland ConCoction at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 9, 2018, to March 11, 2018. Attended the opening ceremony, five panels, two author showcases, a performance, and the closing ceremony. I also volunteered in the ConSuite for eight hours. This is a Link to my conference recap.
I attended the Gotham Writers Conference in New York City, New York on October 25, 2019, sponsored by Gotham Writers Workshop. This was the first year for this conference. It was at the Ace Hotel on 20 West 29th Street, New York City. There were five panels and presentations at the conference. Day two of the conference on October 26, 2019, was for pitching roundtables. The roundtables had a group of picked authors pitching their work to two agents in their genre. I did not get picked for the roundtables, so I did not participate.
The Gotham Writers Conference opened with a welcome from Gotham President Alex Steele. He related the story of how the genesis of the conference occurs. Josh Sippe’s job is to go to other writer’s conferences and report back to Alex. Josh asked why don’t we do a con? Alex replied that it was a “terrible” idea, so of course, they put on a conference.
This is the swag
bag we received at the conference. It said “Write” on the back of the bag.
This was the badge
I used at the conference.
Summary
before Lunch
Friday,
October 25th at 10 AM
The
Writer’s View: If I can do it, you can too, a panel with Seth Fried, Kody
Keplinger, Joselin Linder, and David Seigerman (moderator)
The
authors had different backgrounds. Kody is a fiction novel writer, Seth started
with Literary Magazines, and Joselin writes non-fiction using proposals. The
moderator asked questions about their process and experience. There were many
interesting comments. I will detail three of them here that I found
particularly helpful. Use comp titles that have been released in the last
twelve months for your queries. Social media is part of your job as a writer.
Being a professional means you meet deadlines because writing is a job.
They held the presentation
in the Basement of the Ace Hotel with about 160 attendees
Friday,
October 25th at 11:25 AM
Embracing
Rejection, a lecture by Kim Liao
She said to shoot
for rejection instead of acceptance because that puts your fears in a box. Then
you won’t be paralyzed by fear to submit your work.
She asked the
attendees to take three minutes to answer two questions and put our answers
down on paper. What are your biggest hopes and dreams as a writer? What stops
you from achieving those hopes and dreams?
She then asked a
series of five questions to the attendees. Five things to do in the next year
to accomplish your goals or dreams. Four things to do in the next six months.
Three things to do in the next two months. Two things to do in the next month.
One thing to do before next Friday. The questions were helpful to help
prioritize tasks to be completed.
They held the presentation
in the Basement of the Ace Hotel with about 160 attendees
Friday,
October 25th at 12:25 PM
Weike Wong is
interviewed by Gotham President Alex Steele
Alex
had Weike read a passage from her novel Chemistry. In the passage, the unnamed
main character is given a proposal of marriage from her boyfriend. That event
starts off the novel leading to the main character’s dilemma and change.
Weike
wanted to write a novel without shocking turns of events. She wanted a
character-driven story and chose to find other ways to create tension in the
story.
Alex
had Weike read another passage from the novel. The main character is a grad
student in Chemistry. She a psychologist to help her understand why she feels
the way she does.
It
was Weike’s choice to write a first-person novel with no names except for the
boyfriend, Eric. It is a short novel with no chapters. Weike’s advice is to
have a vision and stick to it.
They held the presentation
in the Basement of the Ace Hotel with about 160 attendees
Summary
after Lunch
Friday,
October 25th at 2:45 PM
The Agents View:
What We Talk About When We Talk About You, a panel with Kurestin Armada, Suzie
Townsend, Jim McCarthy, and Susan Breen (moderator)
Susan
asked a series of questions to the panel and they responded. Who was the latest
client you signed and why? They talked about searching the slush pile and
related that it feels like panning for gold. What do you like to see with a
platform? They said it is essential for non-fiction writers but is up to the
author for fiction writers. How quickly do you know you love the book you are
reading? They say within the first few pages. She asked about pay and they said
the going rate for agents is 15%. Is finding an agent only the first step? They
talked about the agent must be a partner you trust and trusts you and that it
is some kind of magic when a book works.
The
panel ended with a question and answer session with the attendees.
They held the presentation
in the Basement of the Ace Hotel with about 160 attendees
Friday,
October 25th at 4:10 PM
The Agent Game
Show with J. L. Stermer, Noah Ballard, Alec Shane, Jeff Kleinman (host), and
Alex Steele (fill-in host)
Jeff was late
because of a time mix-up to Alex filled in as host of the panel. Alex ran the
Game Show by having the agents answer questions and having the attendees vote
on their favorite responses.
Alex’s questions were
the most awkward situation, most uplifting experience, most challenging book
you sold, worst pitch for a book, and name an author you would love to represent.
At this point, the audience favored Noah’s answers.
Jeff continued the
questioning. He asked about elements of a great query letter, is platform
important to you, and after the sale is made what do you do as an agent. Jeff
gave out gag gifts to the panelists at the end with input from the audience.
They held the presentation
in the Basement of the Ace Hotel with about 160 attendees
Recommendation
– Conclusion
I enjoyed attending the Gotham Writers Conference.
Thanks to Josh Sippe for getting me into the conference at the last minute due
to a late cancellation. The Conference was packed with eager writers looking
for advice from the pros. I wish I had gotten my novel presentation completed
in time to try to earn a spot at the pitching roundtables conducted on October
26, 2019. Hopefully next year there will be another conference and I could
submit my novel then. My star of the Con was Alex Steele. He gave a great welcome
speech, conducted an interesting interview with Weike Wang, and filled in admirably
at the Agent Game Show. The conference was well worth the time invested and I
would like to attend next year.
Links
A similar conference I attended this year was the Indie Author Conference in Parma, Ohio on October 12, 2019, at the Parma-Snow branch of the Cuyahoga County Library at 2121 Snow Road Parma, Ohio 44134. The Cuyahoga County Library sponsored the conference for the fourth time. There were three presentations in the morning and a local author fair in the afternoon. The focus of the conference was for writers and authors to learn more about self-publishing. They featured thirty-one authors in the showcase. The listed authors all had at least one published book in either 2018 or 2019 for sale.
