Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and
Dave King shows authors how to edit yourself into print. Their goal is to teach
the writer the craft of editing because self-editing gets your manuscript
closer to its potential and more likely to get published. Editing takes a
different mindset than writing. They suggest editing only after you complete your
first draft. What editing techniques will help you improve your writing?
Summary
The book has twelve chapters. Each chapter has three sections. A lesson comes first then a checklist of important points. They complete the chapter with exercises that highlight the points of the chapter. Examples of chapter titles are: Show and Tell, Point of View, and Voice. The first appendix has the answers for the exercises and the second appendix has suggestions for further reading.
Recommendation
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is a great writing book. The exercises help pinpoint common problems of beginning writers. It is worth the effort to complete the exercises. I read this book from February 21, 2018, to February 25, 2018. I completed the exercises back then but did not write a review. Since I am at the self-editing process in writing my first novel, I picked up the book again and reviewed the author’s advice.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
A similar book on writing is Self-Publishing Boot Camp by Carla King. This is the link to my review. It has everything you want to know about Self-Publishing.
Another similar book on writing is How to Write Best Selling Fiction by Dean Koontz. This is the link to my review. It’s from 1981, but the advice is still great.
Washington A Life by Ron Chernow is a one book biography of the first President of the United States from cradle to grave. History has portrayed Washington as a dull, taciturn man of granite self-control, so the author wanted to dig deeper into Washington’s correspondence to present the side of Washington that was vivid and dramatic. How did a British colonial aristocrat become the leader of the American Revolution?
Summary
The author divides Washington’s life into six parts. Frontiersman,
part one, explains the history of the short-lived males of the Washington line.
George Washington learned to become a surveyor and took part in the French and
Indian War. Planter, part two, covers when he has taken control of the Mount
Vernon plantation because of untimely deaths in his family and his marriage to
the widow Martha Custis. General, part three, shows when he became the military
leader of the American Revolution. He faces eight years of battle but only
wishes to return to Mount Vernon. Statesman, part four, covers when the states are
governed by the ineffectual Articles of Confederation. He serves as the
president of the Continental Congress leading to the drafting of the Constitution.
President, part five, is about his eight years in office. It details the
battles in his cabinet between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Legend
part six covers the years after Washington’s retirement to Mount Vernon with
Martha. Second President John Adams named him a Lieutenant General for the last
17 months of his life but did not take a field command. He lived out his last
days and passed into legend.
Recommendation
Washington A Life by Ron Chernow delivers on its premise to show how Washington was a vivid and dramatic person. He was a person of his times but tried to create a party-less government. Washington led by quiet example and held his fragile new country together. He was the only person who could have accomplished his great feats.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Washington A Life by Ron Chernow.
Another book by Ron Chernow is Alexander Hamilton. I read the Washington biography because I liked how he wrote Alexander Hamilton. This is the link to my review of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.
I bought and used the editing program Pro Writing Aid
to edit the novel, Assassin in New Marl City. I edited and typed Assassin Chapters
30, 32, and 33 in August 2018, reviewed Chapters 34, 35, and 36 in September 2018,
and I completed the review in February 2019. Reduced total chapters to 30. Reviewed
Chapters 1 to 15 using Pro Writing Aid and submitted to my novel writing class.
The first draft of Assassin in New Marl City was
completed totaling 99,981 words in July 2018. Completed pre-draft two (30
chapters long) in December 2018 at 89,072 words. I completed draft two edits
for Chapter 17 in May and will start the third draft edits after draft two is
complete.
In May, I submitted a story called Chemithurgy; First
and Last Scene to the Introductory
Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.
In May, I edited and submitted the short story
Grognard to the Confluence Short Story Writing Workshop. The workshop will be
conducted by Cat Rambo at the Science Fiction Convention named Confluence in
Pittsburgh on Sunday, July 28.
The stories: The Four Humors,
Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, LARP Film noir, and Sleeping
Sickness were submitted to magazines.
Statistics of magazine submissions for 2019 are; 1
different story submitted 1 time with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 1
rejection.
Events
from May 2019
I attended the
Marcon Conference on May 11, 2018, at the
Crown Plaza – Columbus North in Worthington, Ohio.
This is my Recap for the SF Conference Marcon Columbus 2019 on May 11. They held it at 6500 Doubletree Avenue Worthington, Ohio at the Crown Plaza – Columbus North. The drive was two-plus hours taken in the morning and back in the evening. I also attended Marcon in 2017 and 2018. This year I attended four panels, a performance, and an interview.
I plan to write five blog posts for garydavidgillen.com
including my Writing Progress Report for June 2019.
I plan to work
on second draft edits for Chapters 18 to 30 of Assassin in New Marl City using
Pro Writing Aid.
I plan to work
on third draft edits for Chapters 1 to 15 of Assassin in New Marl City using
comments from the Advanced Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio after the second
draft is complete.
Polish and submit the stories Caliburnus, Space-Dog
Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short
fiction magazines.
Submit The Four Humors,
Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, LARP Film noir, Sleeping Sickness to other
short fiction magazines.
Edit Searcher of Riven.
Hire an editor for Searcher of Riven from Fiveer.
Edit Ruins of Yarnud.
Hire an editor for Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer.
Put the novel, Assassin in New Marl City, into the
writing program, Scrivener.
Buy e-book covers for Searcher of Riven and Ruins of
Yarnud from Fiveer.
Buy an e-book cover for Assassin in New Marl City from
Fiveer.
Planned
Events for June 2019
The next conference I plan to attend is the
Confluence Conference from July 26 to July 28, 2019, at the Airport Sheraton in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’m excited to participate in two workshops at the
conference both instructed by Cat Rambo. I will attend the first pages workshop
and the short story workshop.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, Book #1 of the Imperial Radch series
Introduction
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie is the first book of Imperial Radch series. Breq was once part of the Radch but has begun her own dangerous quest in this space opera. She has been planning her revenge on the Lord of the Radch, Anaader Mianaai, of the Imperial Radch for the past twenty years. Her plans are in jeopardy when Breq befriends the disgraced former Captain Seivarden Vendaai. Will Breq carry out her goals or will the powerful Lord defeat her?
Summary – Shis’urna
Ancillary Justice chapters alternate between two stories separated by twenty years. The viewpoints are in a way from the same point of view. The older viewpoint is from the perspective of the Justice of Toren. It is the almost three-thousand-year-old artificial intelligence of a Radch starship controlling thousands of ancillaries. The starship’s mission is to help facilitate the assimilation of the planet Shis’urna into the Imperial Radch. Her commander was Esk Decade Lieutenant Awn. What happens to Lieutenant Awn leads to the latter viewpoint.
Summary – Nilt
The latter viewpoint is from Breq, one of Justice of Toren’s ancillaries. Twenty years after the earlier viewpoint, Breq is on the remote ice planet of Nilt, putting together the final pieces for her plan of revenge. She encounters Seivarden who has descended into a drug-induced self-destructive path. Captain Sievarden lost her ship and was suspended in animation for a thousand years. She is a woman out of time and place and turns to drugs to escape. Breq knew her as one of her officers a thousand years ago and helps her at the risk of disrupting her plans for revenge. They end up needing each other to succeed in the finale of Ancillary Justice.
Review
The world building and the scope of Ancillary Justice impressed me. The two stories are expertly interwoven leading to a thrilling climax. Ancillary Justice is space opera at its best. At first, two ideas confused me. It was difficult to comprehend the multiple viewpoints of the Justice of Toren because of the unknown nature of the ancillaries. Eventually, it makes sense which is a great accomplishment by showing how a multiple viewpoint intelligence could think. The other idea that was difficult to understand was the Radch rationale for their difficulty in naming gender. The Radch are gender neutral and think of every character as female. There is a reason for the rationale and it makes sense on reflection.
Recommendation
I appreciated being challenged by the ideas in this novel and highly recommend it. Ancillary Justice won the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke, and BAFTA awards for best SF novel in 2014. It also won the Locus award for best first SF novel.
Links
This is the link to the
Goodreads page of Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
I attended the SF Conference Marcon Conference 2019 in Columbus on May 11. They held it at 6500 Doubletree Avenue Worthington, Ohio at the Crown Plaza – Columbus North. The drive was two-plus hours taken in the morning and back in the evening. I also attended Marcon in 2017 and 2018. This year I attended four panels, a performance, and an interview.
Marcon Conference 2019 Columbus Program Guide Cover
Picture of my badge from Marcon Conference 2019 Columbus
Summary
Saturday, May 11th at 10 AM
Game of Thrones:
Winter Has Finally Come, a panel with Vicki Meece, Ella Shurr, John Boone,
Leslie Mehne, and John Picacio.
The
scheduled room for the is panel was Salon B-C, but it was locked so we went
into the empty Salon E room.
One
of the panelists was the artist guest of honor John Picacio. His artwork was
used for the program cover and the Marcon badge shown in the pictures in the
introduction of this post. He was commissioned by George R. R, Martin to
produce a 2012 calendar using Game of Thrones characters. This was before the
HBO show was cast and he related that his artwork was displayed at the
auditions and inspired the casting choices.
This is a link to the twelve Games of Thrones artworks John Picacio made for the calendar in 2011.
The
panel reviewed each of the four episodes of season eight that had been aired
before the panel took place.
Season Eight, Episode One
Season
Eight, Episode One: The panel liked the many
reunions highlighted in this episode. Their favorite reunions were Jon and
Arya, Brienne and Jamie, The Hound and Arya, Gendry and Arya, Sansa and Theon.
Season Eight, Episode Two
Season
Eight, Episode Two: This episode was the
setup for the battle of Winterfell between the living and the Night King’s dead
army. One question that wasn’t clear was did Jon tell Dany that Bran and not
Sam told him that R + L = J?
Season Eight, Episode Three
Season
Eight, Episode Three: The episode was shot and
set in the dark which made it hard for the viewer to see what was going on in
the episode. “It’s a carnival ride.” A highlight of the episode was when Bran
called Theon a good man. One theory debated was if Jon was saying
“Go, go, go” to Arya as she headed to the God’s wood to face the Night King.
Season Eight, Episode Four
Season
Eight, Episode Four: The theory being debated was whether Dany was becoming the
Mad Queen.
Season
Eight, Episode Five predictions: The
fifth episode aired the day after the panel on May 12th. The panel
thought that the Hound and Varys were the most likely to die in that episode.
Overall
Season Eight: The panel was
disappointed in the scant use of the Direwolves this season and in the absence
of information about the situation in Dorne.
They held the
panel in Salon E with 10 attendees.
Saturday,
May 11th at 11 AM
Science Fiction is
the Conversation That Starts Things, a panel with David Gerrold.
This panel was David
Gerrold reminiscing about his career as a TV show writer, director, and novel
writer. I’ll detail the topics he addressed as he presented them.
He recently turned
in a novel called Hela. It will be the fourth novel in the Dingilliad series
(aka Starsiders) which began with Jumping Off the Planet, linked below.
Gerrold
contributes regularly to his patreon page. The book he started the page for has
been sold but he continues to posts stories and reviews on the page although
some of the content is available only to subscribers. He has been updating The
War Against The Chtorr series on the page. The first 20 chapters were posted
for free as linked below.
Gerrold talked
about The Martian Child which was inspired by his relationship with his adopted
son. He decided to adopt late in life as a single parent. It was challenging
and rewarding for him. He published a novelette in 1994 which won the Hugo,
Nebula, and Locus Awards. Gerrold expanded the story into a novel. He wrote the
screenplay for the movie that was produced in 2007 starring John Cusack.
Gerrold wrote many
Star Trek episode from multiple series. The most famous episode was The Trouble
With Tribbles from the original series, season two, episode 15. He wrote a book
called The Trouble With Tribbles about his experiences writing for the show.
Gerrold also wrote The Cloud Minders and I, Mudd for the original series, More Tribbles, More Troubles and BEM for the animated series. He wrote the novelization of the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Encounter at Farpoint.
David Gerrold on Star Trek Blood and Fire
He had a falling out with the showrunners of The Next Generation when they did not accept his script for Blood and Fire in 1987. The script featured an allegory for AIDS and included gay characters so it was not produced then. He sold copies of the script and donated the proceeds to AIDS research L. A. Star Trek: New Voyages was a fan-created webisode series. David Gerrold wrote and directed two episodes based in his screenplay and novel for Blood and Fire in 2008 and 2009 linked below.
Gerrold’s final
thoughts were about thinking of it at the time “Who would remember these shows
in twenty years? and who’d have thought we’d be talking about them for the last
fifty years.”
They held the panel in Ballroom 1 and 2 with 16 attendees.
Saturday,
May 11th at 12 PM
A Furry Thing
Happened on the Way to Tranquility Base, a performance by the Confused
Greenies.
Note: The Confused
Greenies performed at Marcon ten years ago as well. This performance was
inspired by David Gerrold’s works and other sci-fi influences. It starts with a
holodeck recreation celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon
landing at tranquility base. The holodeck malfunctions through sabotage. The
Saturn V rocket is infested with tribbles and the Dalek saves the day.
https://www.facebook.com/TheConfusedGreenies/
They held the performance
in the Cardinal room with 7 attendees.
Saturday,
May 11th at 1 PM
Avengers Endgame:
Half the World awaits, a panel with Roy Minamide, Paul Hahn, Chris Stephenson,
Joe Beale, and Jeff Wolfe.
Avengers: Endgame
was widely released on April 26, 2019, and the panel talked about their
impressions of the movie and its place as the last of 22 movies in Phase Three
of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The panel began with the panelists and the
audience members stating their favorite moments of the movie.
null
Endgame Questions
They went on to
ask questions about the movie. How exactly did they create a GPS of the quantum
realm? Where did Captain America get more Pym particles? The heroes are too
powerful which leads to “superman syndrome” where the villains must become
overwhelmingly powerful, so how do you manage that?
Three characters
had satisfying growth arcs in the movie. They were Nebula’s redemption, Scott
Lang’s redemption through conceiving the Time Heist, and Rocket’s embracing his
new family.
The last topic was
about how the writers will address the Snap in the new movie Spiderman: Far
From Home which will be released on July 2, 2019. It may be related to Tony
Stark’s comment to the Time Heist crew about “Bring them back, but don’t change
the past.”
They held the panel
in Salon B-C with 21 attendees.
Saturday,
May 11th at 2 PM
David Gerrold
Interview conducted by Julie Washington.
Julie Washington
interviewed David Gerrold. She mostly asked him one question and he would have
an interesting anecdote to answer her. He grew up in L. A. and then moved to
the San Fernando Valley. He would go to the Van Neys public library every
Friday and get 10 books to read for the next that week. Rocket Ship Galileo by
Robert Heinlein started him reading SF. He says he became a writer because
“There were stories I wanted to read but no one was writing them so I had to
write them myself.”
He wanted to write
SF where the laws of physics were followed and wrote “When Harlie Was One”
about a computer with artificial intelligence.
He found the
transition from writing screenplays to novel a tough one. In novels, the writer
must describe the setting for the reader to get a mental picture while TV sets
do that for you.
David Gerrold on Star Trek
On the Deep Space
9 episode Trials and Tribble-ations (Season 5, Episode 6) he was disappointed
that he didn’t get a writing credit but he was given acknowledgment of his work
and a cameo appearance in the episode in compensation.
Gerrold went over
his story about the Blood and Fire script written for The Next Generation
detailed in his 11 AM talk. He also wrote an episode of Babylon 5.
Gerrold talked about his cameos in the TV show Big Bang Theory especially the ones at Wil Wheaton’s party on the show and as a booth owner at the fictional Van Nyes comicon. This was poignant because the series finale of Big Bang Theory was scheduled for May 16, 2019, the next Thursday after Marcon.
Gerrold talked
about getting the rights to republish his War Against the Chtorr series. He
used a Kickstarter campaign to republish the four previously published novels.
He has completed four more novels in the series and is in the editing stage
leading to publication.
David Gerrold on Kickstarter
Checking on
kicktrac.com, Gerrold has two projects that were on Kickstarter. There was a
project in 2013 that would have adapted his first novel in the Star Wolf series
but it was not fully funded and abandoned. Another project in 2016 was a mash-up
of Star Trek and Dr. Suess named Oh, The Places You’ll Boldly Go! It was fully
funded but could not proceed because the Ted Gisell estate (Dr. Suess himself)
blocked the project. The projects are detailed at the following link.
Gerrold finished
the interview detailing a few more projects he participated in. He wrote the
screenplay for the webisode adaption of his Blood and Fire story. It was 96
pages, he was the director, and they only had ten days to shoot it. He wrote
the Land of the Lost pilot. Gerrold also wrote adaptions of TV shows and
movies. Some of his novel adaptations were for Encounter at Farpoint, Battle
for the Planet of the Apes, and Enemy Mine.
They held the
panel in Ballroom 1 and 2 with 26 attendees.
Saturday,
May 11th at 7 PM
The Expanse:
Earthers, Mickeys and Belters Beware, a panel with Ralph Winans, Ella Shurr,
Lee Shamblin, Amelia Brownstein, and Kathy Knese
The panel liked
that the show depicted a technologically believable future. They could
understand how Mars and the Belt could develop the way it was depicted in the
show but found it unlikely that the Earth could be unified under the United
Nations. The showrunners were faithful to the books but not exact.
The Expanse Season Four began shooting.
A panel attendee
described the series as “crunchy” sci-fi meaning that it was true to how things
actually work in space.
The Expanse Book to Show Changes
The panel understood that the TV show could not portray belters as tall and thin as described in the books without using extensive CGI. They wondered about the motivation of Jules-Pierre Mao. It is not clear in the series. The panel asked how far the attendees had read in the novels and the response varied. Some had not read any of the novels will others have read the most recent novel Tiamat’s Wrath (The Expanse Book #8, released 03-26-19). Season three depicts events from parts of book two and three while season four will depict part of book three and book four. The ninth and last novel is unnamed but scheduled to be released sometime in 2020.
The first three
seasons of The Expanse show was aired by SyFy network. The show was picked up
by Amazon Video and it has been reported that the fourth season has completed
shooting. At this time, the airdate has not been set except that Amazon expects
to release it sometime in 2019.
I had a great time at Marcon Conference 2019 in Columbus. The location was different from last year. It was easier for me to get to and the parking was free. My star of the con was David Gerrold. He was engaging in the panel and the interview that I attended with him. This year I plan to read his book on writing named Worlds of Wonder and am interested in his Trouble with Tribbles memoir. This year I attended four panels, a performance, and an interview. My other highlights of Marcon Conference 2019 in Columbus were the Game of Thrones panel and the performance by the Confused Greenies. I also attended Marcon in 2017 and 2018 and plan to return in 2020.
Links
Recap for SF Conference Marcon Conference 2018 in Columbus which I attended on May 12, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio. I attended four panels and two game shows.
I attended SF Conference Marcon Columbus on May 13, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio. I attended
four panels. I did not post a recap of this conference. If I post a recap in
the future I will link it here.
Great Hunt by Robert Jordan, Book two of the Wheel of Time series.
Introduction
Great Hunt by Robert
Jordan is the second book of The Wheel of Time series. It follows Eye of the
World, the first book in the series. Someone stole the Horn of Valere. The
prophecy says they need the horn to summon the great heroes of the ages at the
last battle. Can Rand and his group retrieve it before the great enemy, Ba’alzamon,
disposes of it and their chance to defeat him in the last battle?
Summary
The Great Hunt begins with the
characters reflecting on the events of Eye of the World at the city of Fal
Dara. Rand trains with the sword with Lan. The Amyrlin Seat, the leader of the
Aes Sedai arrives in Fal Dara to access the situation. After someone steals the
horn, Agelmar, the Lord of Fal Dara, forms a group to retrieve it. The group is
lead by Ingtar and includes Rand, Mat, Perrin, Loial, and Ingtar’s soldiers.
Padan Fain, the thief and the leader of the Trollocs the group chases, is not
who he seems. They split the group up during their journey. Rand, Loial, and
one of Ingtar’s soldiers named Hurin overcome challenges. Rand must face his
destiny and Ba’alzamon’s lies.
Meanwhile, Moiraine, the Aes
Sedai the characters followed in Eye of the World, takes Egwene and Nynaeve to
the Aes Sedai city of Tar Volan to start their training to become Aes Sedai. Egwene
and Nynaeve learn at the White Tower in Tar Volan and become friends with Elayne
and Min.
The horn arrives in Falme, a
city on the western coast. The characters meet in Falme for the confrontation which
includes the Seanchan, a strange and violent people from across the sea, The
Children of the Light, a military order attempting to exterminate Darkfriends, and
Ba’alzamon. Rand proves his worth.
Recommendation
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan is a great second novel to the Wheel of Time series. Jordan delivers the promise of the first book in the second. The novel could have suffered from becoming an episodic placeholder setting up the series conclusion but it does not. The two main storylines are strong. Their search for the horn and Rand’s journey of acceptance of his destiny flows well together. Egwene and Nynaeve’s training showcase the wider world and the use of the One Power. The two most important scenes in this novel are when Rand becomes the Dragon Reborn and the Seanchan capture Egwene. The Great Hunt sets up The Dragon Reborn, book 3 of the Wheel of Time. I am looking forward to watching the first season of the Amazon Prime Video adaption of the first two novels of the series in 2020.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan.
This is a link to the post from March 7, 2019, on an update on the current situation with the Wheel of Time Amazon Prime Video adaption from the Wertzone website.
I bought and used the editing program Pro Writing Aid
to edit the novel, Assassin in New Marl City. I edited and typed Assassin Chapters
30, 32, and 33 in August 2018, reviewed Chapters 34, 35, and 36 in September 2018,
and I completed the review in February 2019. So far, reviewed Chapters 1 to 15 using
Pro Writing Aid and submitted to my novel writing class.
The first draft of Assassin in New Marl City was
complete at 99,981 words in July 2018. Completed pre-draft two in December 2018
at 89,072 words. I completed Draft Two edits for Chapters 15 and 16 in April,
but I have not started the third draft edits.
I submitted a story called Chemithurgy; First and Last
Scene to the Introductory Writing
Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.
I submitted the second draft edit of Chapter 15 of
Assassin to the Advanced Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio library.
The stories 4 Humors,
Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, LARP Film noir, and Sleeping
Sickness submitted to magazines.
Statistics of magazine submissions for 2019 are; 1
different story submitted 1 time with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 1
rejection.
Events
from April 2019
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.
This is my Recap for the Western Reserve Writers Conference on April 27, 2019, where I attended the introduction, a keynote speaker, and two breakout sessions. The Cuyahoga County Public Library sponsored the event.
I plan to write four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com
including my Writing Progress Report for May 2019.
I plan to work
on second draft edits for Chapters 17 to 30 of Assassin in New Marl City using
Pro Writing Aid.
I plan to work
on third draft edits for Chapters 1 to 15 of Assassin in New Marl City using
comments from the Advanced Writing Workshop at Parma, Ohio.
Polish and submit the stories Caliburnus, Space-Dog
Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short
fiction magazines.
Submit 4 Humors,
Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, LARP Film noir, Sleeping Sickness to other
short fiction magazines.
Edit Searcher of Riven.
Hire an editor for Searcher of Riven from Fiveer.
Edit Ruins of Yarnud.
Hire an editor for Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer.
Put the novel, Assassin in New Marl City, into the
writing program, Scrivener.
Buy e-book covers for Searcher of Riven and Ruins of
Yarnud from Fiveer.
Buy an e-book cover for Assassin in New Marl City from
Fiveer.
Planned
Events for May 2019
I plan to attend the
Marcon Conference on May 11, 2018, at the
Crown Plaza – Columbus North in Worthington, Ohio.
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.
Deanna
R. Adams is the conference coordinator and Laurie Kincer is the librarian in
charge of the writer’s center.
Laurie
explained how the library was set up, where the three meeting rooms were
located, and about the door prizes available at 4 PM. Deanna gave an inspiring
quote to the attendees. “This is the first day in the rest of your writing
lives.” Deanna introduced the keynote speaker, David Giffels.
They held the
welcome and conference overview in the meeting room A/B/C with about 150
attendees.
Saturday, April
27th at 9:40 AM
Keynote Speaker:
On writing when you think you have no ideas.
The keynote
speaker was David Giffels. He is the writer in residence at the writing center.
David is the
author of five books, a magazine author, and a professor of English at Akron
University. He began his writing career as a columnist for the Akron Beacon
Journal where he wrote three columns a week, every week.
He related three
anecdotes about times he thought he had no ideas. On clean out your
refrigerator day one time, he went to an Akron University fraternity and came
up with a humorous story involving the student he encountered there. One December
he walked in downtown Akron. The only place open had an appropriate Christmas
display in the windows. It was an Adult store. He asked the clerk if the
display was ironic and David wrote a column about his experience. The day of
the big East Coast Blackout of 2003, he knew he couldn’t do a big perspective
story, so he went out in the street. He found that people chose to make order
out of the chaos and wrote a column on that.
The bottom line is
to go out into the world to find ideas. Ideas don’t come to us, we get to them.
He talked about the
writing prompts he gives to his students at Akron University.
Writing is a
transaction from the writer to the reader. The writer gets ideas from the
world, mixes the ideas in the writer’s mind, and returns the written word to
the world.
They held the talk
in the meeting room A/B/C with about 150 attendees.
Saturday, April
27th at 10:30 AM
Breakout Session
Kiss, Marry, Kill:
How to create compelling characters, a presentation by Bree Barton
First drafts are character
drafts. The writer must figure out who they are, what they want, and what
they’ll do to get it. She divided her presentation into six sections with
writing exercises attached to help writers understand their characters.
Put
some flesh on their bones–Give your characters a job interview. Exercise:
Haters gonna hate. What does your character hate?
Give
them secrets–Exercise: What secret is your character keeping?
Free
their natural voice–Each character needs a unique voice. Exercise: Finish this
statement. I wish you would give me…
Shut
them up–Exercise: cut dialog so the reader can fill in the gaps.
Describe–Exercise:
Describe your characters.
Hats
off to you–Exercise: write a scene between two characters who do not meet in
the story. It will help to understand the characters.
We did the first
three exercises but did not do the other three because of limited time. The
techniques were useful for learning about characters.
They held the talk
in the Writer’s Center Meeting Room with 54 attendees. Every seat was full.
Saturday, April
27th at 3:00 PM
Breakout Session
The Art of the
Short Story, a presentation by Scott Lax
Scott started with
a Q and A session first so he could cover questions attendees had as he
progressed through the presentation. Then he explained his path to writing. He
stressed that every writer has to find their own journey. Take your route to
become a writer by your way, however it works for you. He was a salesman who at
39 decided to do what he had always wanted to do, be a writer. He wrote a
novel, wrote a memoir, wrote a screenplay, and many short stories. Then he
became a professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art by teaching writing. A
short story has story truth, and a memoir has happening truth, that is the difference.
There are three
structural elements of a short story.
Unity
of action. Place the story in a single space.
Unity
of time. The story should take place over a short period of time.
Unity
of plot. The story has an organization of events
The story’s
conflict comes from something; characters, internal struggle, society, or
nature. Start the conflict at once. Set your characters into motion. Create
conflict through dialog. Give each of your characters different scripts and
motivations. You make short stories with scenes. State the conflict. No time
for exposition, get to the point. The climax is when the tension is highest. Objects
have emotions, be sure to add them into your stories. Don’t give too much
explanation to the reader, be sure to write for smart people.
They held the talk
in the Writer’s Center Meeting Room with 45 attendees.
Recommendation –
Conclusion
The Western Reserve Writers
Conference was well run, diverse in the presentations offered, and informative.
At 4 PM they gave out door prizes. They drew ticket 159 which I had, and I took
my choice of prizes. I chose a signed
copy of Dawn by J. Thorn and Zak Bohannon. I missed J. Thorn’s presentation,
but I have seen him talk before at science fiction conventions, so I wanted to
check out his book. My Star of the Con was Bree Barton. Her
presentation was fun, the exercises were useful, and I liked her personality. I
plan to attend this event next year.
This is a link for
the Goodreads page for Dawn, the door prize I won at the conference.
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.
The most recent SF conference I attended was Cleveland ConCoction 2019 at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 1 to 3, 2019. This is a link to my conference recap.
One Word Kill by Mark
Lawrence is the first book in the Impossible Times Trilogy. Nick Hayes enjoys
playing Dungeons and Dragons (D & D) with his friends. The novel takes
place in January 1986 in London, England. Nick has problems. They diagnosed him
with leukemia and he likes the new girl in his D & D group, Mia, but a
mysterious stranger arrives and turns his life upside down. Can Nick figure out
his next move? His life and future depend on him making the right choice.
Summary
Nick friends are in his D &
D group. They are Elton (the dungeon master), John (the warrior), Simon (the
thief), Nick is the mage, and Mia is a priest in the group. Nick starts his
chemotherapy for leukemia and thinks about his mortality. Demus is the
mysterious stranger that wants Nick and Mia to do a dangerous task for him.
Nick and Mia need the special talents of the kids in their group. John is
wealthy, Simon is a skilled computer hacker, and Elton has a way to break into
a computer facility The story is complicated by what the drug dealer Sacks
wants and what the psychopath Rust wants from them.
Recommendation
I wasn’t sure where this novel was going because the cliched use of amnesia seemed unlikely. The thrilling ending saves the novel by connecting it all together. With the nostalgia angle, I thought this short novel would be more like Ready Player One, but it was not. One Word Kill is a time travel novel. It explores time travel, destiny, and paradox. I thought it interesting that the Goodreads readers shelved it as 144 Fantasy and 103 Science Fiction. In my experience, time travel was known as Science Fiction. Is this a changing of genres? What changed to make this story fantasy? Maybe readers shelved this novel as fantasy because they know Mark Lawrence as a fantasy author.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence.
Redshirts
by John Scalzi starts with Ensign Andrew Dahl assigned to the Universal Union’s
flagship, the starship Intrepid. He works in the Xenobiology department and his
coworkers advise him not to go on away missions with the officers of the
starship. Crewmembers on away missions who are not officers are dying at an
alarming rate. Dahl must discover the unbelievable truth, or he will die like
the other Redshirts.
Summary
Andrew Dahl connects with a group of new crewmen on the
Intrepid. His group includes Maia Duvall who transferred from her last post,
his rich friend Jimmy Hanson, a suspected ‘fungus’ dealer Finn, and the mysterious
Hester. They learn not to go on away missions with the ship’s officers or risk
death. The officers to watch are the Intrepid’s Captain Abernathy, chief
science officer Q’eeng, astrogator Kerensky, medical chief Hartnell, and chief
engineer West. The key to the mystery is finding the missing crewman Jenkins. The
story is connected to the original Star Trek TV show. They must discover the
nature of what Dahl’s coworkers call the sacrificial effect and another effect
called the Narrative. Shenanigans ensue and the conclusion arrives to complete
Dahl’s story. There are three codas that are from different viewpoint
characters that finish the theme of the story.
Recommendation
Redshirts by John Scalzi is a great novel. It’s funny, has an unusual premise, and moves quickly to the conclusion. The novel is sneaky because the humor overshadows a great theme. The three codas bring home the theme of making your own reality. There is a first-person coda and a second person coda. The third person coda ties up the themes explored in the novel and the final image ends the novel perfectly. I like that there is no sequel because the end says it all.
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page for Redshirts by
John Scalzi
