Checking In

I've been away from the blog for a while so I figured it would be good to stop by and put up an update.

There's not a whole lot particularly new to report. The biggest thing, by far, would be the release of Kwik Krimes last week. I'm still thrilled to have a story of mine in an anthology edited by Otto Penzler and on top of that, the book itself is in stock at our local Barnes & Noble. I haven't stopped by yet to visit "my" book in person, but I plan to do so and I might even have the opportunity to do an author event next month. If anything develops on that front, I'll be sure to let everyone know here.

I've been continuing to work on writing and submitting though the writing part of it dropped off pretty dramatically in July and August. So much that I've decided to reinstate my daily 500 word (or 45 minutes of revisions) goal for the month of September. I got off to a good start last night, writing a story for the weekly Liberty Hall flash contest. It's rough, but I think it's got potential once I put some more work into it.

In convention news, I'll be attending Context 26 later this month and will be doing a reading and a couple of panels. If you're going to be at the convention and want to meet up, let me know. Also, I was very excited by the news that Detroit's bid won for the 2014 NASFiC (North American Science Fiction Convention, held when Worldcon is outside North America). That's going to be a must-attend for me next year. And there's an odd touch of synchronicity for me, personally here. I've actually been to one NASFiC before, when I was but a wee lad and my parents went to the 1979 one in Louisville. I even have a program book from it somewhere. The Guest of Honor at that convention was Frederik Pohl who, word came out today, died over the weekend. I'd just recently picked up a collection of his and C. M. Kornbluth's short fiction and I plan to read a couple of stories from it tonight.

I haven't been good about setting (or keeping) monthly goals the past two months. My single goal for September will be to stick to the daily writing routine as described above. My intention is to get back to more detailed goal-setting come October.

Finally, a bit of Kazka Press news. Our new issue will be coming out any day now with three stories and we're open for submissions on the theme of "Outsiders." We recently tweaked our word limits, so the acceptable range is now 500-1000 words. Also, we have a new submissions email address. We'll still be checking the old address for submissions for the time being, but it would be best to send them to the new address. All the guidelines, including that new submissions email address, are here.

My 2013 Convention Schedule

Note: I almost got this convention schedule put together in February like I had planned. All I had to do was finalize one bit of information, but I got sidetracked while I was in the middle of this and never really got back to it. But I'm keeping the stuff about having gotten this done in February just because...

One of my goals for February was to create a 2013 Convention Schedule for myself. Since I'm in the middle of a hyper-productive Tuesday morning (Yes, that's actually a serious statement, no sarcasm at all!) I figured that I should check off another thing from my list and publish said schedule.

So... Here's where I plan to be in 2013. Note that with multiple kids, potential for weekend work hours, etc. any of this could change unless I've noted that I'm committed to be a panelist in which case I'll be there at least for my panels barring a major life issue.

• Millennicon 27 (March 15-17, Cincinnati): Very tentative. If I go, it will most likely only be for one day and to participate in a release event related to the Sidekicks! anthology in which my story "Learning the Game" appears.
• Marcon 48 (March 29-31, Columbus): Definite. I am going to be a panelist at Marcon; currently I am signed up for two Saturday afternoon panels. If you're in the area, I hope you'll come by!
• Confluence (July 19-21, Pittsburgh). Fairly likely. This is a weekend where my current work schedule looks like it wouldn't cause a conflict and it's a fairly short drive. If I can't make this one, I might try to get to something like DucKon or Libertycon.
• Pulpfest (July 25-28, Columbus): Very likely. This is one I'll be attending more likely than not, though as an attendee, not as a panelist/presenter.
• Context 26 (September 27-29, Columbus): Very likely. It's here in my hometown, it's a great convention, and a ton of people I know will be there. If I miss this convention, I'll be very disappointed. I intend to sign up to be a panelist here.
• Philcon 2013 (November 8-10, Philadelphia): Fairly likely. I went to Philcon in 2012 and had a very good time. I'd like to have a chance to catch up with folks like Alex Shvartsman, Anatoly Belilovsky, and Fran Wilde in person. If I can manage the cost and time of a trip that far, I will want to go.

Philcon Trip Report

Early, early, early last Thursday I left home on the start of five VERY full days of travel and socializing. I drove to Pittsburgh and then took Amtrak to New York City where I met up with Alex Shvartsman. Alex was a great host and guide to restaurants in South Brooklyn where we ate twice with fellow writer Anatoly Belilovsky.

Friday we headed off to Philadelphia for Philcon and we were there through Sunday. Then it was back to Brooklyn for the evening and a reverse trip via Subway, Amtrak, and car to Columbus on Monday. As I write this, it's very early on Thursday and I still feel like I'm recovering a bit from the trip.

Brief Context Convention Report

One of the science fiction conventions here in Central Ohio is Context, now in its 25th year. I'd been to the convention once or twice in its early years and then once as a bookseller about five to seven years ago. But I hadn't gone as a non-dealer attendee to this (or any science fiction convention) in about 20 years. The only cons I'd been to in that time were a few Pulpfests and many Cinevents. And while those are fun, they're both very different from SF cons.

Being that the convention is local, it was very easy for me to get there (with, of course, the assistance of my wife in terms of kid-wrangling for the day). Being that it's local, it was also "easy" for me to decide that going for a single day, today, made more sense than signing up for the whole weekend.

So how was it? In brief, I had a great time. I got to meet people I'd only conversed with online and also got to meet some people I didn't know at all before today. There were also several local writers (mostly from the Writeshop Writing Workshop) who I'd already met so there were some familiar faces, too.

I attended quite a few panels, had lunch with Nicole Cushing and Brady Allen, saw the interview with Fantasy Guest of Honor Alex Bledsoe and listened to multiple readings. I came home with only one new physical book but with lots of new reading recommendations.

I would write more about the convention but I'm completely beat at this point and my brain is only capable of vague, mushy thoughts right now. But I will say that I'm very much looking forward to the next convention I attend. (Barring anything unforseen, that will be Philcon in November.)

Pulpfest 2012 Day Three

My third and final daily report on Pulpfest. If you haven't seen the first two entries, they are: Day One and Day Two.

The bug that's been floating around my house this past week finally caught up to me, so I decided not to go back downtown for the evening panels. Part of what I missed was the presentation of the Munsey Award ("presented annually to a deserving person who has given of himself or herself for the betterment of the pulp community") and the Rusty Hevelin Service Award ("designed to recognize those individuals within the pulp community who have worked long and hard for the pulp community with little thought for individual recognition"). The winners of those awards were:

• Munsey Award - Matt Moring
• Rusty Hevelin Service Award - Jack & Sally Cullers

The Pulpfest committee's writeup of the award presentations provides more details both about the awards themselves and those who won them this year.

I did make it to the convention earlier in the day to take another look at the dealer's room, this time bringing my father (who introduced me to Pulpfest in specific and conventions in general) along. I picked up a few more items for my collection and did a lot of window-shopping. One of the things that I got to look at wistfully from afar was the three volume set of Seabury Quinn's Jules de Grandin stories.

More within my price range was Jim Beard's intriguing collection of stories about the adventures of Sgt. Janus, Spirit-Breaker.

"Part detective, part occultist, Janus is himself a man of mystery whose own past is shrouded and the motivations behind his calling kept hidden. Within this volume you will find eight tales as narrated by his clients, each with his or her own perspective on this uncanny hero and his amazing career."

A glance through this book intrigued me and I'm looking forward to starting to read it very soon.

Jim Beard displays two of his books.

One very nice display in the dealer's room showed various awards and mementos from Rusty Hevelin. Rusty passed away late in 2011. I never knew him to any significant extent, but he was a familiar face when I went to conventions in my younger days and he was in attendance at last year's Pulpfest. The three photos below are from that table.

Display of Rusty Hevelin awards and mementos.

Painting of Rusty Hevelin

A poll (with Phil Foglio illustrations) asking whether Rusty
should grow his beard back out or not. (Date unknown)

The convention's dealer's room will be open tomorrow morning, but I've spent what I planned to spend (and, well, a tiny bit more) so it will be 2013 before I have more of a Pulpfest experience. It was, as always, a good experience this year and I look forward to next year's convention.

Pulpfest 2012 Day Two

Pulpfest continued today with the dealer's room officially opening at 9 AM. I wasn't able to be there right at the open but I did have a chance to stop by on my lunch break since the convention is being held a five-minute walk from where I work this year. There was a lot of activity (as you can see in the picture below) but the room was spacious enough that nothing felt crowded or cramped. I picked up a couple dozen (mostly science fiction) digest magazines for my collection.

Pulpfest 2012 Dealer's Room

After work and a quick run for dinner, I went back to the convention. As luck would have it, Guest of Honor Mike Resnick and I struck up a conversation in the hall and while most of the rest of the convention attendees were off at dinner, he and I had a conversation for 20 or 30 minutes. It was a lot of fun talking with him about various conventions he'd been at, authors we both liked, etc.

Before long, though, it was time to head to the room where the panels are being held. The first panel was part of FarmerCon VII (the Philip Jose Farmer-themed convention running concurrently with Pulpfest). Paul Spiteri moderated a discussion with Christopher Paul Carey and Win Scott Eckert about the Wold Newton universe, their own experiences collaborating with Philip Jose Farmer, and more.

From left to right: Paul Spiteri, Christopher Paul Carey & Win Scott Eckert

After that, Mike Resnick gave his Guest of Honor presentation to the audience. It was very entertaining with lots of fun anecdotes and reminiscences.

Pulpfest 2012 Guest of Honor Mike Resnick

The next session was a panel discussion about Mars in the pulps. Ed Hulse moderated and four others discussed the subject, with each of them focusing on one particular author. Henry G. Franke on Burroughs, Garyn G. Roberts on Bradbury, Will Murray on Otis Adelbert Kline, and Stephen Haffner on Leigh Brackett. With five people up there, this was a fast-paced discussion with lots of opinions around the room about both the individual writers and their works as well as just why Mars was such an object of attention to pulp writers.

Left to Right: Franke, Roberts, Hulse, Murray and Haffner

The final speaker of the night was David Saunders who presented information about artist James Allen St. John. St. John was the illustrator for many Edgar Rice Burroughs works. Some gorgeous color reproductions displayed as part of the presentation were a highlight.

David Saunders

The final event of the evening was a film program. The first item shown was some test footage from a proposed animated version of the John Carter stories dating back to 1936 with Bob Clampett and John Coleman Burroughs (ERB's son) involved. The project did not get funding, though, so these brief snippets are all which was made. After that, a short movie titled Last Flight, shot in New Zealand and set on Mars was shown. The documentary I, Tarzan was the final screening for the evening, but with midnight fast approaching, I decided not to stay to watch this one.

Another exciting day of Pulpfest 2012 is over but there's more fun yet to come!

Sunday Links & The Week in #storyeachnight: April 15, 2012 Edition

The first link I want to draw everyone's attention to is Ken Liu's short story "Memories of My Mother." This will be the subject of April's Dissecting the Short Story post, which will appear on 4/26 or 4/30. So, if you want to be able to join in the discussion around this story, you could go ahead and read it now to be ready for that.

I've finally gotten back into the groove of regularly doing #storyeachnight. Here are this week's entries:

4/8 - "Amor Vincit Omnia" by K. J. Parker from THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY, 2011 EDITION. Some rather fascinating worldbuilding in Parker's story, though not sure how I feel about the overall story arc.
4/9 -  "Older, Wiser, Time Traveler" by M. Bennardo from DAILY SCIENCE FICTION. I liked this story. Good voice and sense of where the story was going which, in a time travel story, can always be a bit tricky.
4/10 - "Final Exam" by Megan Arkenberg from the 6/12 ASIMOV'S. An interesting, very non-linear structure though I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been a good bit shorter.
4/11 - "Waiting at the Altar" by Jack McDevitt from the 6/12 ASIMOV'S. Decent space exploration story though I enjoyed his recent "Maiden Voyage" (which featured the same characters) more. ("Maiden Voyage" was the subject of my January 6th "Dissecting the Short Story" entry.)
4/12 -  "Lethal Injection" by Kevin Levites from NOIR NATION #1. Seems like a lot of snake research went into this one. It had a very authentic feel.
4/13 - "The Green Book" by Amal El-Mohtar from THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY 2011. A great, rather short, story about an enchanted book and people who have interacted with it.

4/14 - "A Brief Respite From Eternity" by Alex Shvartsman from STUPEFYING STORIES 1.5. A nice flash fiction which worked for me even though it deals with a particular subject area I'm getting a bit weary of.

Now, here are this week's writing-related links: