I attended the SF conference, Cleveland Concoction at 600 North Aurora Road, Aurora, Ohio. They held it at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 6 to 8, 2026. I also attended Cleveland Concoction in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025. (2020, 2021, and 2022 were canceled because of COVID-19).I attended the opening ceremony and three panels. This year’s theme was The Ragnarok of the Rings. Celebrating the Vikings and the 25th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie.
They held the ceremonies in the Pegasus Room with 31 attendees.
Saturday, March 7 at 4 PM
Is time spent writing short stories worthwhile? A panel with Robert Moore, E. C. Wolfe, J. D. Blackrose, and Marcus Calvert.
[Insert Summary]
They held the panel in the Hayes B Room with 8 attendees.
Saturday, March 7 at 6 PM
Reading like a writer, a panel with H. T. Brady, E. C. Wolfe, J. D. Blackrose, and Clif Flynt
[Insert Summary]
They held the panel in the Hayes B Room with 7 attendees.
Saturday, March 7 at 7 PM
How much is too much? A panel with Marie Vibbert, Barbara Doran, Addie J. King, Clif Flynt, and Weston Kincade.
[Insert Summary]
They held the panel in the Hayes B Room with 10 attendees.
Recommendation – Conclusion
Conference Recap Cleveland Concoction 2026 was wonderful. The Bertram Conference Center is nice. My star of the con was Ashley Berry. She was the Con Chair for 2026, gave an impressive performance at the opening ceremonies, and wrote an interesting word from our Con Chair in the 2026 program. It was a bummer that they changed the time for the Confused Greenies improv of What went down in goblin town, so I had to miss it. Maybe next year. The con returns in March 2027 with the theme of A Star Noir.
Links
I attended the SF conference, Cleveland Concoction at 600 North Aurora Road, Aurora, Ohio. They held it at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 7 to 9, 2025. I attended 11 activities. My star of the con was Marie Vibbert. The con returns in March 2026.
I attended the SF conference, Cleveland Concoction at 600 North Aurora Road, Aurora, Ohio. They held it at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 8 to 10, 2024. I attended the opening ceremony, eight panels, two author showcases, and the closing ceremony. This year’s theme was the Neverending dungeon. My star of the con was Becca Lynn Mathis. The con returns from March 7 to March 9, 2025.
I attended the SF conference, Cleveland Concoction 2019, at 600 North Aurora Road, Aurora, Ohio. They held it at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 1 to 3, 2019. I attended the opening ceremony, four panels, and the closing ceremony. This is a link to my conference recap.
I also volunteered in the Programming Department for four hours and in the ConSuite for four hours.
I attended the SF conference, Cleveland Concoction at 600 North Aurora Road, Aurora, Ohio. They held it at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 9, 2018, to March 11, 2018. The 2019 convention was from March 1 to 3, 2019, and I realized that as I was writing a recap for that conference, I had not posted a recap for the 2018 conference. This is a recap of last year’s conference. I 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 my recap for the SF conference, Cleveland Concoction from 2017. They held it from March 10, 2017, to March 12, 2017. I attended nine activities and volunteered in the Con Suite for twelve hours.
I attended the SF conference, Cleveland Concoction, at 600 North Aurora Road, Aurora, Ohio, at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 17 to 19, 2023. I attended Cleveland Concoction in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025. (2020, 2021, and 2022 were canceled due to COVID-19).I attended the opening ceremony, seven panels, three concerts, one performance, the state of the convention meeting, and the closing ceremonies.
Marie Vibbert read “Things from our kitchen junk drawer that could save this spaceship.” It was first published in Daily Science Fiction, but is also on her website linked below.
They held the panel in the Hayes C & D Room with 7 attendees.
Saturday, March 18 at 3:30 PM
A Concert by The Harp Twins
This was the second of three concerts they performed this weekend.
They played nine selections.
A song by the Proclaimers
The Twins and the Troll (an original Harp Twins song)
Highway to Hell by AC/DC
Death Vault (an original Harp Twins song)
Fear of the Dark by Iron Maiden
Viking Song featuring the Volk Twins (drummers)
Nordic Solstice
The Game of Thrones Theme
Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones
They held the concert in the Pegasus Room with 110 attendees. (A Full House)
Saturday, March 18 at 7 PM
Quitting Your Day Job, a panel with J. D. Blackrose, Joelle Presby, Olivia Berrier, and Linda Robertson Reinhardt.
They talked about their background leading to writing for a living.
You have some power in knowing your followers by putting out newsletters, but not on Facebook and Twitter.
Remember that anything that works today will not work in the future, it changes constantly.
Word of mouth is the best advertisement ever.
Doing conventions generates 90 % of her sales.
They held the panel in Hayes A Room with 7 attendees.
Sunday, March 19 at 11 AM
A Concert by The Harp Twins
This was the third of three concerts they performed this weekend.
The first five songs were audience choice songs. The song in brackets is the one not chosen.
They played nine selections.
1. Dr, Who Theme [Theme of Fairy Tale]
2. Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac [House of the Rising sun by The Animals]
Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics [Sweet Child of Mine by Guns ‘n Roses]
Secret of the Sirens [Wolf Lullaby]
Dream On by Aerosmith [Clocks by Coldplay]
Viking Song featuring the Volk Twins (drummers)
Legend of the Shaders (an original Harp Twins song)
The Game of Thrones Theme
Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones
They held the concert in the Pegasus Room with 65 attendees.
Sunday, March 19 at 1 PM
The State of the Convention
Almost every convention head was there for the talk.
Many open volunteer positions.
There were about 250 people who attended the con this year.
They held the discussion in the Pegasus Room with 12 attendees.
Sunday, March 19 at 2 PM
Closing Ceremonies
Eric Hogg, the con chair, Stan Paulson from Security, and the person from Ops did a post-con talk.
They said they were working on planning for next year, with dates coming soon.
The Cosplay Guests of Honor and the Harp Twins were in the first row watching the talk.
The bottom line is that Concoction has risen from the dead following three years with no con due to COVID complications.
Looking forward to next year.
They held the ceremonies in the Hayes C&D room with 37 attendees.
Recommendation – Conclusion
Conference Recap Cleveland Concoction 2023
Cleveland Concoction 2023 was wonderful. The Bertram Conference center is nice. My stars of the con were the Harp Twins. I watched each of their three concerts at the con and each performance was great. It was interesting to see that the first half of each performance was different, and the second half was the same. My other highlights were the Confused Greenies performance and State of the Con panel. I attended the con in 2024 and 2025, and I plan on attending next year.
Links
I attended the SF conference, Cleveland Concoction, at 600 North Aurora Road, Aurora, Ohio, at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 7 to 9, 2025. I attended 11 activities. My star of the con was Marie Vibbert. The con returns in March 2026.
I attended the SF conference called Cleveland Concoction at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 8 to 10, 2024. I attended the opening ceremony, eight panels, two author showcases, and the closing ceremony. This year’s theme was the Neverending dungeon. My star of the con was Becca Lynn Mathis. The con returns from March 7 to March 9, 2025.
I attended the SF conference Cleveland Concoction 2019, at 600 North Aurora Road, Aurora, Ohio, at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 1 to 3, 2019. I attended the opening ceremony, four panels, and the closing ceremony. This is a link to my conference recap. I also volunteered in the Programming Department for four hours and in the ConSuite for four hours.
I attended the SF conference Cleveland Concoction at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 9, 2018, to March 11, 2018. The 2019 convention was from March 1 to 3, 2019 and I realized as I was writing a recap for that conference, I had not posted a recap for the 2018 conference. This is a recap for the conference from last year. I 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 my recap for the SF conference Cleveland Concoction from 2017. They held it from March 10, 2017, to March 12, 2017. I attended nine activities and volunteered in the ConSuite for twelve hours.
I attended the SF conference called Cleveland ConCoction at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 7 to 9, 2025. I also attended Cleveland ConCoction in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, and 2024. (2020, 2021, and 2022 were canceled due to COVID-19).I attended the opening ceremony, seven panels, two author showcases, and the state of the convention meeting. This year’s tag line was Race Back to The Castle. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of the movie Back to the Future and the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario Brothers Nintendo platform game.
Mogchelle the emcee (she was also a cosplay guest, dressed as Beetlejuice at this ceremony) introduced the guests and staffers at the con. Marie Vibbert was the author guest of honor, Big Girl Little World was a cosplay guest (dressed as a shrunken head employee from Beetlejuice Beetlejiuce), the duo LoRTH were cosplay guests, and Eric Hogg was the Con Chair.
They held the ceremonies in the Pegasus Room with 20 attendees.
Friday, March 7 at 6 PM
Author Showcase with Barbara Doran, Becca Lynn Mathis, Megan R. Engelhardt, and Vik Walker
Each author read for 15 minutes. Vik Walker read from their paranormal romance. Barbara Doran read from her novel, The Book Hunter’s Apprentice. Becca Lynn Mathis read from her novel, Wound Shadows. Megan R. Englehardt read from her novel, The Way We Used to Walk.
They held the showcase in Hayes A Room with 7 attendees.
Friday, March 7 at 7 PM
Finish the Novel, a panel with Evan Dicken, Jahrod K. Anderson, Marie Vibbert, Charlie Oberndorf, and J. D. Blackrose.
Tips and tricks for productive, sustainable writing practices. Oberndorf said that the key to finishing a novel is to find the heart of your story to get to the ending. Blackrose said that you must find a way to write out of the issue you are stuck on. It’s important you have a writing habit. A novel is a marathon, not a sprint.
They held the panel in the Hayes A Room with 4 attendees.
Friday, March 7 at 8 PM
Paths to Publishing, a panel with Evan Dicken, Jahrod K. Anderson, Becca Lynn Mathis, David F. Balog, and J. D. Blackrose.
The modern landscape of publishing and cultivating an audience. Mathis used Wattpad to get her work out there. She also said to get on social media, Facebook and Instagram for the older crowd, and Tik Rok and Tumblr for the younger crowd. Mathis said that you need to remember that you need at least 25 Amazon reviews to get into the Amazon Algorithm.
They held the panel in the Hayes A Room with 6 attendees.
Saturday, March 8 at 10 AM
Using Flashbacks/ Flash Forwards in Writing, a panel with Weston Kincade, Barbara Doran, David F. Balog, and J. D. Blackrose.
Is it a good idea? Make sure you don’t leave your reader in the wrong century. Blackrose said that it is important to keep your flashbacks short, so you don’t lose the narrative flow of your main story. Balog and Doran both said to start in mid-action and then flash back for your backstory.
They held the panel in the Hayes A Room with 7 attendees.
Saturday, March 8 at 12 PM
Building a Writing Habit, a panel with Cindy A. Mathews, J. D. Blackrose, Charlie Oberndorf, and Megan R. Engelhardt.
Step-by-step talking about finding the barriers keeping you from writing and how to overcome them. Oberndorf suggests writing early in the morning, deadlines help you focus and create a rhythm in your writing habit. Blackrose said that it helped her to have a part-time and flexible work schedule. Oberndorf said that stories are about things going wrong, start there.
They held the panel in the Presidential Board Room with 5 attendees.
Saturday, March 8 at 2 PM
No Hero Does It Alone, a panel with A. J. Mathews, Vik Walker, Weston Kincade, Alan Bailey, Sama Cleveland, and Cindy Mathews.
Writing standout sidekicks and side characters. Question: What are the equalities of a well written sidekick? Cindy Mathews said they are less informed but have a complementary talent for the hero. Walker said they can bring humor or serve as a mentor to the hero. Question: The uses of a sidekick. Cindy Mathews said that the sidekick can propel the plot forward. Question: Who is your Favorite Sidekick? A. J. Mathews, Samwell in Lord of the Rings, Cindy Mathews, Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes series, and Kincade, Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series,
They held the panel in the Hayes A Roomwith 6 attendees.
Saturday, March 8 at 4 PM
Going From Short Story to Novel, a panel with Cindy Mathews, Marcus Cook, Marcus Calvert, and Megan R. Englehardt.
It’s not just about adding adjectives. Calvert said you can learn the craft to write-by-writing short stories. Mathews said a short story has a limited premise solving a smaller problem than a novel. The audience asked for a definition of a short story. The answer was under ten thousand words. Calvert said to aim for a three-thousand-word short story which takes about ten minutes to read.
They held the panel in the Hayes A Room with 10 attendees.
Saturday, March 8 at 5 PM
Plantsing vs Pottsing, a panel with A. J. Mathews, Evan Dicken, Jahrod K. Anderson, Tory Gates, and Clif Flynt.
Do you plot or write by the seat of your pants? Panelists discuss the pros and cons of careful plot outlines, bullet points, pitch, spreadsheets, and other ways to get from blank screen to a finished story. Flynt is a plotter and brought a ten-foot-long sheet of paper where he had written out the plotting of one of his novels. Mathews said that you need all your plot points before writing murder mysteries. Gates said he gets ideas first, then writes character sketches, then a synopsis/timeline, and only then does he write the narrative. Dicken said that he writes IP novels, so he must submit an outline before he can start writing. Anderson said he is a pantser by nature, so he feels that detailed outlining stifles his creativity.
They held the panel in the Hayes A Room with 16 attendees.
Sunday, March 9 from 10 AM
The State of the Convention
Wasn’t this a great weekend? No? Come tell us (gently) why and we’ll tell you what’s been going on with the Con. Seven members of the convention committee were present. They were former Con Chair Laura, Amy Schman from Programing, Eric Hogg the Con Chair and Hotel Liaison, Stan Paulson from Security, Sin from Operations, Ashley Berry from Publicity, and Casey Taylor from Gaming. Concoction is the second biggest event at the Bertram this year, the first is Twinsfest in Twinsburg. They plan to develop an anime track to attract younger attendees. The committee always need volunteers. They wondered if a book club would be beneficial to the Con.
They held the ceremonies in the Pegasus Room with 8 attendees
Sunday, March 9 at 11 AM
Author Showcase with Weston Kincade, David F. Balog, and Geoffry Landis.
Listen to your favorite authors read excepts from newly released and soon to be released works. Find your next great read. Ask questions and discover the world behind the books. Balog read a chapter from his novel, The Necromancer’s Sorrow. (Note: Balog has the owl Glitter featured in his books perched on his shoulder.) Kincade read the short story “Permadrunk” from his collection, Tales from the Box. Geoffrey Landis (Mary Turzillo was scheduled for the showcase but she was sick, not COVID, and he substituted for her.) read three poems. Kincade read a poem from his collection. Balog read a preface/poem from his novel.
They held the showcase in Hayes A Room with 8 attendees.
Recommendation – Conclusion
Conference Recap Cleveland ConCoction 2025
ConCoction 2025 was wonderful. The Bertram Conference center is nice. The con was held previously at the Airport Sheraton which was torn down this year. My star of the con was Marie Vibbert, the last-minute Author Guest of Honor. I saw her in one panel, attending several panels, and giving a reading in the Consuite. My other highlights were seeing Weston Kincade and David F. Balog who were both on panels and in an author showcase. I’m planning on attending next year.
Links
Conference Recap Cleveland ConCoction 2025
I attended the SF conference called Cleveland ConCoction at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 8 to 10, 2024. I attended the opening ceremony, eight panels, two author showcases, and the closing ceremony. This year’s theme was the Neverending dungeon. My star of the con was Becca Lynn Mathis. The con returns from March 7 to March 9, 2025.
I attended the SF conference Cleveland ConCoction 2019 at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 1 to 3, 2019. I attended the opening ceremony, four panels, and the closing ceremony. This is a link to my conference recap. I also volunteered in the Programming Department for four hours and in the ConSuite for four hours.
I attended the SF conference Cleveland ConCoction at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 9, 2018, to March 11, 2018. The 2019 convention was from March 1 to 3, 2019 and I realized as I was writing a recap for that conference, I had not posted a recap for the 2018 conference. This is a recap for the conference from last year. I 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 my recap for the SF conference Cleveland ConCoction from 2017. They held it from March 10, 2017, to March 12, 2017. Attended nine activities and volunteered in the ConSuite for twelve hours.
I attended the SF conference called Cleveland ConCoction at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 8 to 10, 2024. I also attended Cleveland ConCoction in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2023. (2020, 2021, and 2022 was canceled due to COVID-19).I attended the opening ceremony, eight panels, two author showcases, and the closing ceremony. This year’s theme was the Neverending dungeon celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of Dungeons and Dragons game system and the 40th anniversary of the release of the movie The Neverending Story.
History of Computing Before Computers, a panel with D. Mark Hayes.
[insert summary here]
They held the panel in the Hayes A Room with 11 attendees.
Friday, March 8 at 3 PM
Write That Novel, a panel with Becca Lynn Mathis and David Wyatt.
[insert summary here]
They held the panel in the Pegasus Room with 9 attendees.
Friday, March 8 at 5 PM
The Opening Ceremonies.
[insert summary here]
They held the ceremonies in the Pegasus Room with 27 attendees.
Friday, March 8 at 6 PM
Author Showcase with Marie Vibbert, Becca Lynn Mathis, Geoffrey Landis, Mary Turillo, and A.S. Ferguson.
[insert summary here]
They held the showcase in the Grant A Room with 4 attendees.
Saturday, March 9 at 10 AM
The Fermi Paradox – The Silurian Hypothesis, a panel with David Wyatt.
[insert summary here]
They held the panel in the Hayes C & D Room with 16 attendees.
Saturday, March 9 at 12 PM
Now What?!, a panel with Becca Lynn Mathis.
[insert summary here]
They held the panel in the Hayes A Room with 3 attendees.
Saturday, March 9 at 2 PM
Author Showcase with Addie King and Rami Ungar.
[insert summary here]
They held the showcase in the Grant A Room with 10 attendees.
Saturday, March 9 at 3 PM
Research and Authenticity in Fiction, a panel with Marcus Cook, David Balrog. A.J. Mathews, and Shannon Eichorn.
[insert summary here]
They held the panel in the Hayes A Room with 14 attendees.
Sunday, March 10 from 10 AM
Melissa Scott talks about whatever she wants, a panel with Melissa Scott.
[insert summary here]
They held the panel in the Grant A Room with 7 attendees.
Sunday, March 10 from 11:30 AM
The Power of Short Fiction, a panel with Marie Vibbert, Rami Ungar, Geoffrey Landis, Evan Graham, and Addie King.
[insert summary here]
They held the panel in the Pegasus Room with 11 attendees.
Sunday, March 10 from 1 PM
Dreamstates, a panel with the band Dreamstates.
[insert summary here]
They held the panel in the Pegasus Room.
Sunday, March 10 from 2 PM
The Closing Ceremonies
[insert summary here]
They held the ceremonies in the Pegasus Room with 35 attendees
Recommendation – Conclusion
This is my Conference Recap Cleveland ConCoction 2024. I had a great experience at Cleveland ConCoction 2024. The Bertram Conference center is nice. I’m glad to be back. My star of the con was Becca Lynn Mathis. I saw her in two panels and in an author showcase. My other highlights were seeing Marie Vibbert and Geoffrey Landis both in a panel and in an author showcase. I’m planning on attending next year.
Links
This is my recap of the SF conference Cleveland ConCoction 2019 at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 1 to 3, 2019. I 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 attended the SF conference Cleveland ConCoction at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 9, 2018, to March 11, 2018. The 2019 convention was from March 1 to 3, 2019 and I realized as I was writing a recap for that conference, I had not posted a recap for the 2018 conference. This is a recap for the conference from last year. I 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 my recap for the SF conference Cleveland ConCoction from 2017. They held it from March 10, 2017, to March 12, 2017. Attended nine activities and volunteered in the ConSuite for twelve hours.
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 SF conference Cleveland ConCoction 2018 at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 9, 2018, to March 11, 2018. 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 2018 conference. This is a recap of the 2018 conference. I attended the opening ceremony, five panels, two author showcases, a performance, and the closing ceremony. I also volunteered in the ConSuite for eight hours.
Picture of my
badge from Cleveland ConCoction 2018
Summary
Friday, March
9th at 5 PM
Opening Ceremonies
Mogchelle,
the mistress of ceremonies, started the event. She introduced the Con Co-chairs
Laura and Stan. Sean Owen Roberts was the Media Guest of Honor and Seanan
McGuire was the Author Guest of Honor. The Harp Twins were the Music Guest of
Honor. Knightmage was the Cosplay Guest
of Honor and Stitches was the Fan Cosplay Guest of Honor. The event was a
chance to meet the Guests of Honor before they took part in the weekend events.
They held the
ceremonies in the McKinley A Room.
Friday,
March 9th at 6 PM
Author Showcase
(Session 1)
Five authors read
from their works. They were all different and interesting.
J. Thorn read a
scene from his novel Barren. It was about the protagonist on a sailboat near
Kelly’s Island in a post-apocalyptic
world.
Vik Walker read
from the novel The Crystal Dragon of Nital. It’s a humorous middle-grade book about the adventures of Nathan and Zozz,
his cat-like being friend.
They held the
panel in the Presidential Boardroom with 6 attendees.
Friday,
March 9th at 7 PM
Villains, More
Than Just Black Hats, a panel with Addie King, Barbara Doran, Brent Seth, J. D.
Blackrose, and Cindy Matthews.
The panel sat at
the end of the table farthest from the
window and the attendees sat at the other end of the table. Examples of good villains
are Darth Vader (not in the prequel
movies), Voldemort (from Harry Potter), and Cersai (from Game of Thrones).
They held the
panel in the Presidential Boardroom with 14 attendees.
Saturday,
March 10th from 9 AM to 5 PM
I volunteered in the
ConSuite Department for eight hours on Saturday. The ConSuite in 2018 at The
Bertram differed from 2017 when the con was at the Sheraton at the Airport. The
ConSuite was in a back bar at the
Sheraton. The new area, the Garfield ballroom, is a nicer and light-filled windowed open space.
Saturday,
March 10th at 7 PM
Elevator Pitch and
Publishing Expectations Tutorial, a panel with Adrian Matthews, Addie King,
Weston Kincade, Mary Turzillo, and Geoffrey Landis.
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. Suggestions were to not use character names in a pitch and to get the
pitch down to one sentence. I presented my pitch for my novel in process,
Assassin in New Marl City. The panel understood my pitch, but Geoffrey Landis suggested
that I not use the phrase telepathic detective, since deception would not fool
a telepath. It was a good suggestion. I revised it to a mind-reading detective since
a mind reader is more constricted than a
telepath.
They held the
panel in the McKinley B Room with 9 attendees.
Saturday,
March 10th at 8 PM
The Performance of
the Letter of the Travails of Victor Frankenstein (While at University)
This was a
performance staged by the Confused Greenies from the Player’s Patchwork Theater
Company. The story was a humorous tale of a young Victor Frankenstein working on a special extra credit project at
University (the monster).
They held the
performance in the McKinley A Room with 20 attendees.
Saturday,
March 10th at 9 PM
Flash Fiction, a
panel with Addie King, Marie Vibbert, Megan Engelhardt, Olivia Berrier, Weston Kincade, and Josef Matulich
The best way to
find a potential market for flash fiction
is the submission grinder. Some markets
are Apex, Daily Science Fiction, Everyday
Fiction, and 101 Fiction. Flash fiction is short, has a high concept, and has
an implied ending. They suggested reading the story aloud to see if it worked.
Examples of one
line flash fiction follow. “Baby shoes
for sale, never worn.” “I put a ring on her finger and pulled the pin.” “The
last man on earth sits in a room and hears a knock.”
They held the
panel in the McKinley B Room with 11 attendees.
Sunday,
March 11th at 10 AM
Publishing in the
21st Century, a panel with Addie King, Linda Robertson, Daniel
Willis, and Weston Kincade.
Addie King was the
moderator of the panel and handed out a printed power point presentation on the
topic. The two paths to publishing are novels and short stories. Traditional,
small press, vanity, or self-publishing can publish novels. For novel
publication, get an agent to represent you by following submission guidelines
and submitting a query letter with a synopsis. She handed out examples of her
query letter and synopsis. For short stories, find markets and submit stories
with a cover letter. Resources for finding markets are Ralan.com, Duotrope.com,
and Locus magazine at locusmag.com. Understand what rights you are giving in
any contract you sign. Don’t quit your day job. Write to have a career, not a
one hit wonder.
They held the
panel in the McKinley B Room with 6 attendees.
Sunday,
March 11th at 12 PM
Author Showcase
(Session 6)
Four authors read
from their works.
Mackenzie Flohr
read from her novel Rite of Abnegation, the soon
to be published book #2 in the Rite of Wands series.
They held the
panel in the Presidential Boardroom with
8 attendees.
Sunday,
March 11th at 1 PM
Marketing, an
Author’s Best Friend, a panel with Weston Kincade, Marcus Calvert, Olivia
Berrier, Sara Dobie Bauer, and Troy Maynard.
The panelists gave
advice about marketing yourself and your work. Create an author platform for an
online presence, make yourself an LLC, use Amazon Marketing, Facebook snippets,
Instagram, and Bookbub. Consider using a professional web design for your
website and use a professional
photographer for your author picture. Buy bookmarks, business cards, and items
to give away free at conventions related to yourself and your works.
They held the
panel in the Presidential Boardroom with
5 attendees.
Sunday,
March 11th at 2 PM
Closing Ceremonies
The Guests of
Honor were presented and thanked.
They held the
panel in the McKinley A Room with 25 attendees.
Recommendation –
Conclusion
I had a great time
at Cleveland ConCoction 2018. The location was different. It was better for me
and the parking was free. I worked eight
hours straight in the ConSuite and I don’t plan on doing that again because I
missed events I wanted to see and it was too exhausting to work in one block of
time. My star of the con was Addie King. I attended four panels where she was a
panelist and I liked her handouts for publishing. My other highlights were the
performance by the Confused Greenies and Geoffrey Landis’s comments on my
elevator pitch. I attended Cleveland
ConCoction in 2019 and I bought my pass for 2020.
Links
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. I 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 attended the SF
conference called Cleveland ConCoction at 600 North Aurora Road Aurora, Ohio at
the Bertram Inn and Conference Center from March 1 to 3, 2019. I 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.
Writing a Story in
Three Parts, a panel with Addie J. King:
She handed out a
copy of a PowerPoint presentation with 27 slides titled Telling a Story in
Three Parts. The three parts of a story are the beginning, the middle, and the end. She plans the first third of her novel and
has a roadmap for the rest of the novel so she can improvise the ending since the story could end up at a different spot than the original idea. First, she
suggests creating a concept which is the coolest thing about the story written
in one sentence. Then figure out the conflict and develop three-part story
arcs. There should be multiple story arcs in a novel. Write one sentence for the
start, middle, and resolution for each arc. She went over examples from her fiction
and in other fiction. She suggested resources for writing.
They held the panel
in the Pegasus Room with 12 attendees.
Friday,
March 1 at 4 PM
Outlining Your
Novel, a panel with Malcolm Wood.
The panelist found
out he was throwing way too much of his work because he had too many false
starts, so he tried something different. Outlining your novel gives the author
a roadmap to keep you going where you want to go. He took a 3-ring binder for
each of his novels and put his research and notes into it. A novel starts with
an idea and he made a sheet for the idea. Main character sheets come next. The
idea and the characters lead to a situation. You build scenes on index cards
and you refine the plot. In the beginning,
you state the problem, in the middle are the plot complications, and at the end, you fulfill the promises created at the
beginning. You can create a plot outline. He handed out an example for his novel
named Trash. Each scene has a POV character,
an event or action description, a location or a setting, a date for when the
events occurred, and the chapter where the scene occurs. Now you can write the novel
from the beginning to the end without false starts and dead ends. He also showed
us one of his completed notebooks. His method gives a more structured way of
creating a novel than the method described by Addie J. King in the earlier panel.
They held the panel
in the McKinley B Room with 6 attendees.
Friday,
March 1 at 5 PM
The Opening Ceremonies
The
Con Co-chair, Laura, opened the ceremonies. She introduced the media guest of
honor Jim O’Rear, next was the EmCee from asklovecraft.com, Leeman Kessler, and
then the artist guest of honor, Stephen Hickman. The cosplay guests of honor were
Knightmage and Nerd Girl. The gaming guests of honor from Rogue Cthulhu were
last introduced. Con co-chair Stan finished the program by turning his smiley
face tee-shirt to a frown with a permanent marker to fit the theme of the con ‘It
came from the dark side of the…’ more closely. It was nice to see the guests up
close and personal to start off the Con.
They held the
ceremonies in the McKinley B Room with 40 attendees.
Saturday,
March 2 at 4 PM
Mars Needs Love, a
panel with substitute panelist Geoffrey Landis.
Geoffrey
Landis is a scientist who works for NASA Glenn on projects such as scientific probes
going to Mars including the photovoltaic cells used by the probes. He is also an
award-winning hard science fiction writer. He started the panel talking about the
current situation in Mars probes. The Opportunity rover’s last contact was on
June 10, 2018, before a dust storm and NASA declared the mission complete on
February 13, 2019. The Curiosity rover and the Insight lander are still
operational. The European-Russian rover named Rosalind Franklin is scheduled to
launch in 2020 and the American rover named Mars 2020 is also scheduled to
launch in 2020. NASA’s plan is to send a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s,
but no money is associated with that directive. A Dutch commercial venture named
Mars One formed in 2011 planned to send a one-way manned mission to Mars and set
up a colony but went bankrupt on January 10, 2019. The mission was flawed. The talk
went on to other space-related topics. In the long term, it’s critical to
develop a practical economic model for space. One route is to mine platinum
from asteroids. He talked about examples of Mars in books and movies. This was a great impromptu
talk that covered a lot of interesting topics.
They held the
panel in the Pegasus Room with 10 attendees.
Saturday,
March 2 from 5 PM to 9 PM
I volunteered in
the Programming Department for four hours on Saturday.
When there were
ten minutes remaining in the program, I went to each of the programs. I held up
a sign to show to the panelists there were
ten minutes left to go in the program. I also counted the number of panelists and
attendees at each panel. They stationed me in the green room, a room where the
panelists could go to relax, to help them as needed. I worked with Lisa and her
two kids. It was fun, and I learned something new.
Saturday,
March 2 at 9 PM
Time Travel in your
Writing: It’s About Time, a panel with Cindy Matthews, J.L. Gribble, Geoffrey
Landis, and Carma Haley Shoemaker.
The
panelists started the panel by naming their favorite examples of time travel in
books, TV, or movies. They were Legends of Tomorrow airing on the CW network,
Supernatural also airing on the CW network, The novel The Time Machine by H. G.
Wells, The novel Time after Time by Karl Alexander (and the show airing on ABC),
and the short story All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein. Things to think
about when designing a time travel story are the opportunity to change time and
the Butterfly effect where a small change in initial conditions leads to a
significant result.
Geoffrey
Landis stated four reasons that time travel stories are intriguing.
The setting because the
past is exotic.
Adventure
The nature of paradox
Playing the what if game.
Time
travel stories work well for sending a contemporary person to the past or
future to compare it to today. The best and most used time travel mechanism today
is the wormhole because it can act as a portal to anywhere.
The
articles on the site cover time travel found in TV, books, film, audio, and
comics. It is a great website that covers this topic well.
They held the
panel in the McKinley B Room with 10 attendees.
Sunday,
March 3 from 10 AM to 2 PM
I volunteered in the
ConSuite Department for four hours on Sunday.
My
responsibilities were to set out food and clean up the ConSuite. They put a deli
tray out before I arrived and we put the trays away throughout the day. We put out chips and pop as needed, but our
main function seemed to keep making coffee. There was always a new pot brewing.
The ConSuite closed down at 2 PM, so I helped break down the shelves and put items
out for the hotel to store away. I worked with Badger and Chris. This was the
third year I volunteered in the ConSuite and I have enjoyed helping every year.
I plan to help again next year.
Sunday,
March 3 from 2 PM
The Closing Ceremonies
The
co-chair Laura and Stann announced the theme and date for next year’s con. Next
year’s theme is MeeplePunk, all things to do with cyberpunk (SF subgenre
focused on a mix of lowlife and high tech) and meeples (gaming pieces shaped like
people and animals used in Euro-style board games). They will hold ConCoction 2019
at the Bertram Inn from March 6 to 8, 2020. The audience applauded the guests
of honor Jim O’Rear, Knightmage, and Nerd Girl. They made a volunteer shoutout.
The Con was closed until next year.
They held the
ceremonies in the McKinley B Room with 38 attendees
Recommendation
– Conclusion
I had a great experience
at ConCoction 2019. The Bertram Conference center is nice. The only problem I
encountered was that half of the activities are in another building. It was cold
this time of the year traveling between the buildings. The Bertram is much
better than the Conference’s earlier location
at the Sheraton Hotel at the Airport. My star of the con was Geoffrey Landis.
He substituted at the last minute to give
a solo panel on Mars and was engaging in the Time Travel panel I attended. My
other highlights were the writing talks that Addie J. King and Malcolm Wood gave. I’m planning on attending next
year.
Links
A recent SF
conference I attended was 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 struck. 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.
