The last of my panels in NerdCon: Stories was “But It’s Just a Story: The Moral Responsibility of the Storyteller”. As aforementioned, I didn’t intend to attend, but I’m glad I did. It brought up a lot of issues that I hadn’t considered. Patrick Rothfuss started the panel with an anecdote about reading The Hobbit to his son. It starts quite dully with Gandalf and Bilbo having a conversation. Then the dwarves arrive, one by one, and more discussions and negotiations ensue. Nothing magical happens — except for one thing, Bilbo and Gandalf sit outside blowing smoke rings, competing with each other. And so, as impressionable young ones are want…
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NerdCon: Stories (Minneapolis Oct 9-10 2015)
So here’s my write-up on attending NerdCon: Stories. To summarize, I’m not sure how much I learned, but I was definitely entertained. There wasn’t anything about the publishing industry or how to get an agent, but that was all right. That wasn’t what I was expecting. This con was focused on the fundamentals behind the story: why they matter, what effect they can have. The medium didn’t matter. Novel, movie, or song. Horror, erotica, or adventure. Stories are what makes us human. Let’s go to the rundown. Unlike Convergence, there was a lot more “everybody goes to this” events scheduled. The only thing scheduled in the morning was mainstage entertainment.…
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The Last of my Query Letters
I sent the last of my query letters for Defender today. A little less than a year after I first finished the thing. Total queries sent: 89. Total bites: 1 Man, I don’t know how you don’t curl up into a ball weeping in this business. Between Black Hole Son, Merm-8, and this, I’ve sent hundreds of query letters and had very minimal response. Not even people who were intrigued with the idea and wanted to see the writing style. Just whoop, reject, not even the 250 words were enough to put the foot in the door. I guess it’s not my third novel. My third novel, I get permission…
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I’m Going to NerdCon: Stories
This Friday, Hank Green announced NerdCon: Stories, a convention for storytellers of many mediums, would be coming to Minneapolis in October. This Saturday, I registered for it. I’ve been feeling that now is the time to go to a new convention. We all know Convergence didn’t work out, but I think that’s because it was an all-encompassing sci-fi crowd. Diverse interests with subject matter plus an established history means its something that needs to be enjoyed with friends. And young people have friends — friends who aren’t married or have kids, friends who can drop life for a weekend, friends with plenty of disposable income (and time). I’d been thinking…
