This week on the blog, we begin with the importance of downtime — in an age that constantly pushes us to the brink of burnout — and we end with the notion of writing as a release from stress.
In between, Kristen Lamb takes us spearfishing to find that perfect catch (reader) and reminds us that drudgery builds success. Dave Chesson guides us through several Goodreads features that might prove useful in promoting your book… if you don’t mind the trolls.
Over at Writer Unboxed, Jim Dempsey offers tips to help you work through problems in your story and Rheea Mukherjee provides ideas for bringing authenticity to characters with different skills and capabilities than their creators.
In the Kill Zone, Jordan Dane teaches us to tap into our waking dreams in order to enhance creativity while James Scott Bell channels Bryan Cranston. Enjoy!
During WWII, Flying Officer Alan Bishop is reassigned from England’s Northern Coastal Defence to a new project involving the development of a new radar-based airplane guidance system called Ground-Controlled Descent (GCD). Its purpose is to guide military craft to safe landings during dense fog or inclement weather. Along with a team of soldiers and scientists, and a trio of Women’s Auxiliary Air Force operators, Bishop leads the testing of the GCD in both staged exercises and actual landings in a small airfield near Land’s End in Cornwall.
Arthur C. Clarke’s only non-SF novel, Glide Path was inspired by his participation in the development of Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) during his wartime service with the Royal Air Force.
Such a topic alone does not constitute interesting fodder for fiction, and at times, I was reminded of Clarke’s Prelude to Space, a fictional chronicling of man’s first mission to the moon in the late 1950’s with little in the way of plot or conflict.
Much of the conflict in Glide Path remains in the background and stems from Bishop’s concerns over the declining health of his father, his feelings of inferiority compared to the brilliant scientists and skilled pilots on the team, pressure from skeptical generals, and an adversarial relationship with one particular RAF pilot who becomes competition for the affections of a local harlot.
Although I woke up to a gray, soggy morning, the skies cleared an hour before I began my trek to Farpoint’s 26th annual SF convention in Hunt Valley, MD.
After collecting my registration materials and checking into my room at the Hunt Valley Marriott Delta, I opened the program book directly to my second place winning story from last year’s Farpoint Writer’s Contest! Click here to read “All That Matters is What You Believe.”
In between reuniting with several friends, I scored a set of Stranger Things trading cards from friend and artist Laura Inglis, dealer room coordinator for Farpoint, Laura also created the cover art for all three of my paranormal mystery novels.
After my wife arrived later in the evening, we enjoyed dinner at the Nally Fresh in Timonium and returned to the hotel in time for the 10PM book fair. I shared a table with fellow writer pals Steven H. Wilson and Michael Critzer. Sitting in one place for two hours allows for plenty of quality time for catching up with friends in addition to selling books and happily, I did both!
Afterward, I spent some quality time at the bar with two glasses of Pepsi and fellow writers Kelli Fitzpatrick, Erik Bakutis, Heather Hutsell, Aaron Rosenberg, Russ Colchamiro, Keith DeCandido, Derek Tyler Attico, and David Mack. It was a fun end to a long day.
Saturday began with the Firebringer Press Presents panel at 11AM in Salon C hosted by Steve Wilson, Michael Critzer, and yours truly. Although our audience was small, we chatted about our current releases and upcoming projects.
At 1PM, Steve and I hosted the second stop on our book tour for Firebringer Take Two, the double horror novel consisting of Steve’s vampire tale, Freedom’s Blood and my paranormal mystery, Like Mother, Like Daughters. The launch was held in the con suite complete with lunch and dessert. Steve and I both read excerpts from our respective stories and sold several copies of the new book as well as a few backlist titles.
June Swords and I after setting up for the Firebringer Take Two book launch. Ethan and Christian Wilson in the background.
My next panel was supposed to be Fandom in Miniature, a discussion of SF toy collecting, at 3PM with Ethan Wilson, Thomas Atkinson, and Cindy Woods. Unfortunately, I found myself stuck in the endurance test known as Wallace Shawn’s autograph line. He was friendly and loquacious, engaging everyone in conversation. It was a true pleasure to meet him.
Meeting Wallace ShawnGrand Nagus Zek – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
After sharing a wonderful dinner with Steve Wilson, June Swords, and Renfield, Evon and I decided to call it a night.
After packing up my car on Sunday morning, I dared one more pass through the Wallace Shawn autograph line. Thankfully, it was a bit shorter this time and I made it out in time to chat with writer pals Aaron Rosenberg, Russ Colchamiro, Heather Hutsell, and Michael Jan Friedman before my next event.
Vizzini – Princess Bride
At 1PM, I joined Peter David in the ballroom to co-host the screening of Dreams with Sharp Teeth, the 90-minute documentary about legendary writer Harlan Ellison, who passed away in June 2018. It was a wonderful tribute and, judging by their reactions, the audience seemed to enjoy it.
The final event of the con was Wallace Shawn’s 3PM stage talk during which he answered questions about his career as an actor and playwright. In addition to Deep Space Nine and Princess Bride, he spoke about working with Woody Allen on Radio Days and spending a year in India as a young man. Some of his responses were intentionally cryptic. For example, when it came to playing Grand Nagus Zek on DS9, Shawn said that he had channeled someone he knew personally, but would not reveal any further details. Similarly, when asked about his favorite books, he preferred to keep that a secret.
On my way out, I finally had the chance to take a brief tour of the dealer room and found a few vintage Star Trek items at incredibly low prices from a dealer who was selling off his personal collection.
Star Trek candy boxes from 1976 and Star Trek: The Motion Picture plastic cup (1979)
Of course, no SF convention would be complete without a vast array of talented cosplayers and those pictured below are only a small sampling from the weekend.
Wonder Woman (photo credit: Blair Learn)
Xena and Gabrielle (photo credit: Shore Leave)
Romulan (photo credit: Shore Leave)
Iron Man (photo credit: Shore Leave)Catwoman (photo credit: Shore Leave)Bender from Futurama (photo credit: Frank J. Hernandez)
This week, from Writer Unboxed, Jim Dempsey defines the three major types of editing while David Corbett encourages us to improve our fiction by exploring belief systems different from our own, and Kathryn Craft urges us to dig deeper to bring out truth in our fiction.
Kristen Lamb reminds us of the difference between promotion and platform while Hank Phillippi Ryan imparts her method for crafting a story synopsis. Keep your plot moving forward with guidance from James Scott Bell and Ingram Content offers advice on book marketing in the digital age.
Possibly the most important article in this collection is Ferris Jabr’s research into the importance of mental downtime.
In the year 2023, a revolution is brewing against the alien overlords of Earth known as the Utt. Forty years prior, after their swift and peaceful subjugation of every world government, it had been the Utt’s conclusion that most of planet’s tribulations had been the fault of men. Thus, the Utt enacted laws that made women the dominant sex. All men are required to undergo a procedure that leaves them nearsighted and are forced to wear chemically treated glasses that somehow leaves them emasculated.
However, when Peter Grayson, a physicist for a chemical company, finds both lenses of his rose-tinted glasses cracked, he uses a special transparent tape to repair them—and quickly discovers that his simple repair nullifies the submissive power of the glasses and liberates him from the oppression of his domineering wife.
Shortly after, Grayson finds himself embroiled in the male revolution against the Utt, a situation which he attempts to manipulate for his own personal gain…
I found Renaissance to be the weakest of all Van Vogt books I’ve read so far. Published in 1979, the quality was nowhere near his earlier work. The concept is preposterous and served as little more than an opportunity for a plot laden with blatant and cringeworthy male wish fulfillment. Worse, the prose was clunky and riddled with awkward sentence structure, inelegant wording (ex: “From that very first moment, being scientifically trained, Grayson did his trying-to-understand-with-his-knowledge.”), and scenes that served little to no purpose. Some plot elements that held the promise of an ultimate climax never paid off in the end.
If you want to explore the best works of Van Vogt, avoid Renaissance and read his earlier work such as Slan, The World of Null-A, Voyage of the Space Beagle, The Twisted Men, The Weapon Shops of Isher, and The Weapon Makers, to name a few.
At Farpoint 26 SF Con next month, it will be my honor to co-host, with Peter David, a screening of Dreams with Sharp Teeth, the 2008 documentary about one of the most awarded writers in history, Harlan Ellison (1934-2018).
The film stars Harlan, Neil Gaiman, Robin Williams, Ron Moore, Peter David, and others. Harlan was one of my inspirations to become a writer, and he was best friends with Peter. I was grateful when producer and director, Erik Nelson, granted permission.
In the year 2023, a revolution is brewing against the alien overlords of Earth known as the Utt. Forty years prior, after their swift and peaceful subjugation of every world government, it had been the Utt’s conclusion that most of planet’s tribulations had been the fault of men. Thus, the Utt enacted laws that made women the dominant sex. All men are required to undergo a procedure that leaves them nearsighted and are forced to wear chemically treated glasses that somehow leaves them emasculated.