Monday, December 23, 2024

Grave's Daughters - Bastien Lecouffe Deharme commission

Grave's Daughters, a commission fulfilled by Bastien Lecouffe Deharme for a cover of Dyscrasia Fiction tales due out in about a year. 





Friday, November 29, 2024

Holiday Card 2024 from the Lindbergs

Happy Holidays 2024!

This card continues a longstanding tradition of sharing homemade art. 
Wishing everyone a peaceful holiday season and a new year.  Sincerely, 
Seth, Heidi, Erin & Connor

Some family updates: Connor is in his 4th year at UC's Environmental Engineering program and remains fascinated with water quality; having done three rotations with the Army Corp of Engineers, his last two co-ps will be at Stantec). Erin is already over 2 years at P&G in Corp Digital Innovation, and Seth is well into his 27th yr. Heidi continues as a Special Education Aide at Lakota Schools.

2024 Card Notes

Heidi still is taking charge of the card marking (Seth has been funneling his creative energy into writing weird fiction instead of drawing :)).  Hope you enjoy it! It echoes elements from the 2023 card (the Cardinal) and 1998 sketch of a central tree being decorated (image of that below).

Below are 30sec and 3min movie renditions of the making of the 2024 illustration; the actual duration was 7.5hrs (spread out over a few weeks).  The final version harmonizes the color palette with the 2023 card (making that card link).

2023 and 2024 cards

30secs time sequence (click to play; click 2x for full screen)


3min sequence (click to play)


Some Previous Cards



Previous cards adorning our entryway mirror





Sunday, November 10, 2024

Besting the Beast and Other Fantasy Tales: Scott Forbes Crawford’s Weirdly Accessible Adventure

2024, Oct 27, Simulcast on Black Gate: Besting the Beast and Other Fantasy Tales: Scott Forbes Crawford’s Weirdly Accessible Adventure

Besting the Beast by Scott Forbes Crawford
(2024, Kindle); Cover art by Ben Greaves

Besting the Beast is Grimm-like tales for Grimdark readers

Fantasy readers often seek escapism and encounters with the unknown, but those adventures can become too weird to be accessible. Shorter forms help. Incorporating some grounding in history or reality helps too. One of the most accessible styles is the fairy tale, and Scott Forbes Crawford delivers five remarkable fun, and easy-to-read, adventures bridging the short story and fairy tale form in Besting the Beast (Aug 2024). All are rooted in Asian history/myth and feature relatable human protagonists to lead the way.

The cover art by Ben Greaves is appropriately derived from “Recovering the Stolen Jewel from the Palace of the Dragon King” (1853) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861). Don't let the friendly style fool you. The beasts herein are pleasantly weird and gory. Excerpts from all the stories are below so you can get a flavor of the horrific creatures and antagonists you'll experience. Sword & Sorcery and Grimdark fiction fans will enjoy these (indeed, Besting the Beast is Grimm-like fairy tales for Grimdark readers).


The contents of Besting the Beast have all been published before (in SNAFU: Holy War, Bards and Sages, Sword and Sorcery Magazine, and more). Also, expect more of these characters in future publications since Crawford has a few acceptances brewing for other Sword & Sorcery venues. My favorites are "The Carving of a Warrior" and "Half-baked Hero" since I am fascinated with weird art and human sculptures. I am thrilled that the character Janza from "Half-Baked Hero" has more stories penned in her honor.

Crawford's blending of weird adventure and global history/myths is expressed in his other books like  Silk Road Centurion (which had an excerpt inside Besting the Beast) featuring a 53 B.C. Roman soldier Manius Titinius who is held captive by a warband of nomadic Xiongnu, and The Phoenix and the Firebird that explores a realm of magic and monsters inspired by Chinese and Slavic folklore (The Han-Xiongnu War: 133 BC–89 AD). What inspires Crawford? Well, he's been traveling the world during his life, including stints in Japan and China.

Don’t let the friendly, fairy tale style fool you. Crawford's beasts are pleasantly weird and gory

Besting the Beast: Table of Contents & Excerpts

The Carving of a Warrior (first published in Bards and Sages, 2020)

A young woman named Resh desires to be an artist when she grows up but must cross a monster-infested forest to sculpt a new destiny.

More leaves crunched. Nearer now. Before Resh’s eyes grew a hulking, barely comprehensible form. Humanoid – vaguely – its bulbous torso was a purple shade and it lumbered nearer on limbs of black chitin. Four tentacles swelled from its chest in place of arms. Two organic tubes, the hue of intestine, stemmed from its back and bent over its shoulders, belching a stream of the lavender gas. No features contoured its face; utterly flat, the head served only to host a single mammoth eye, white but for some speckles of red, like blood-spattered milk...In a hollow of her mind, Resh sensed the Imps were nothing more than phantasms born of the gas. This demon, though, was all too real as it stood before her father and wreathed him in gas. The creature’s tentacles embraced his head and chest. He dropped the spear without a fight, his empty hands savagely clawing air until they froze and he flopped beside the useless weapon, his head pulped, a rotten melon.

Heart of a Samurai, (first published in Pulp Modern 2019)

In the tradition of Japanese ghostly tales, a proud warrior, Kokoro Kenzo, learns the limits of his purity, courtesy of the cat Scrapper

...he spied a furry lump outside the first hut – what was that? He moved closer: a large, floppy-eared dog, torn into ragged, gory thirds. There, at the next hut – three more, and there, beside the well, seven bodies of cats, sworn enemies, who had in death become brothers and sisters. Loosening his katana in its scabbard, Kokoro quickened his step – and then he froze. A stack rose ahead of him, like of firewood. A stack so tidy and geometrical and perplexing, Kokoro took a moment to recognize it was made of men. Children, grandmothers, sun-browned farmers. What had happened to their chests?

A Thief’s Work (first published in The Society of Misft Stories, 2020)

A novelette of intrigue and conspiracy in a city enslaved to the magical drug Sorcel (zombie-like drug addicts are called Droolers). Can a burglar recruited into the resistance free her people?

... a gauntlet closed around her throat and lifted her. Choking, she stared at the blank eyes of the Drooler, her mind flailing for some action to take. The edges of her vision darkened. Another moment and the dark would swallow her. But an idea sparked. The Drooler hadn’t fully locked her right arm. Slowly, she reached for his wrist and with fingers made cunning by years picking pockets, she untied the lacings which fastened the gauntlet to his forearm. Her vision clouded and she felt consciousness dwindling away, but finally she undid the last lacing. The gauntlet fell and she tumbled free, rolling as the Drooler tried sweeping her up. Shaking off a woozy head, she leaped into the mill wheel, folding herself in the cramped hollow between the wheel’s blades as it swooshed her down and away.

Besting the Beast (first published in SNAFU: Holy War, 2021)

The titular tale covers the aftermath of a demonic invasion; a bandit orphan Kai is one of the few survivors of a grand melee with winged demons. He seeks revenge for his lord and family in a confrontation with the mother of evil gods.

On an impossibly long, spindly arm, a hand shot from the water, snatched a Jomon trooper from the front rank and yanked him screaming into the pool. A red cloud mottled the surface. Another arm whizzed out. Another. Long fingers raked in Guardians. Now the water swirled and frothed. A head broke the surface and swooped up on a lengthy, sinuous neck.

The whole of the chamber released a collective, ecstatic sigh. Kai reeled at what hovered above the water – a woman’s head, in some demented fashion, with strings of blue-black hair. Eyes like moons filmed in the hue of blood, a jumble of sharp teeth set in an outsized mouth. What form of body lurked beneath the surface?

Half-baked Hero (first published in Sword and Sorcery Magazine, 2019)

When the female bodyguard Janza encounters an outlandish client, she faces a choice between her past and future, vengeance and honor.

Kong parted his robe.

Waist up was immense flab, the flesh of his belly coarse, grainy, gloppy. Incongruously, his legs rippled with muscle. Kong began massaging his stomach and chanting ancient words. Cruel, bestial words Janza had never heard, yet somehow, her blood recognized them, recognized and feared them. Janza could only lie there, frozen and terrified, until the sorcerous, blood-thieving assassin had his final say.

Yet with every bead of sweat wetting Kong’s brow, more disgusted heat blasted through her body. Rage warmed her. By inches her limbs began melting free.

Kong rubbed his paunch furiously . . . and he dug his fingers in and tore away bloodless wads of paunch. These he piled on the floor.

Silk Road Centurion - Novel Excerpt (Published by Camphor Press., 2023)

The book chronicles a 53 B.C. Roman soldier making a life on the ancient Chinese frontier. However, Manius Titinius falls captive to a warband of Xiongnu, nomadic horsemen who rule the seas of grass between the Gobi Desert and the Mountains of Heaven.

Hooves pounded nearer. They were almost on top of Manius. He snatched the two pila javelins he kept on his horse, just as the enemy rounded the bend. The lead rider now was a squat man wrapped in furs, not that giant. Judging his speed, Manius drew back a pilum, coiling his muscles like a tensed spring before whipping forward and launching. The javelin arced true, striking the horseman to the dirt.

Manius readied his throw against the next man. No, only a beardless boy, unarmed. From his speeding horse he looked up at Manius and their eyes locked, the boy’s seeming to register in that split second his life had been spared. Around the bend came the giant. Manius sent his last javelin soaring up and as it arced, he knew it had its victim’s scent. The barbarian seemed to freeze, gazing stupidly at the onrushing projectile, at his end foretold. ... Mouthing a curse, Manius clawed out his gladius, dashed at his surprised foe and thrust for his ribs. In one fluid motion the giant drew his sword. There was a clang and a silvery flash as the barbarian’s curving steel batted away the short, straight Roman sword. Manius was open now to a follow-on strike and braced to receive the killing blow...



About the Author

Scott Forbes Crawford is the author of the historical novel Silk Road Centurion, the history book The Han-Xiongnu War 133 BC – 89 AD, and co-author, with his wife Alexis Kossiakoff, of the Middle-Grade historical fantasy novel The Phoenix and the Firebird. His short stories and articles have appeared in a range of magazines and anthologies. After spending many years in Beijing and Taipei, Crawford now lives in Japan with his wife and daughter. You can learn more about Scott Forbes Crawford at the author's website, his Facebook page, or his newsletter site.


S.E. Lindberg is a Managing Editor at Black Gate, regularly reviewing books and interviewing authors on the topic of “Beauty & Art in Weird-Fantasy Fiction.” He is also the lead moderator of the Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group and an intern for Tales from the Magician’s Skull magazine. As for crafting stories, he has contributed eight entries across Perseid Press’s Heroes in Hell and Heroika series, and has an entry in Weirdbook Annual #3: Zombies. He independently publishes novels under the banner Dyscrasia Fiction; short stories of Dyscrasia Fiction have appeared in WhetstoneSwords & Sorcery online magazine, Rogues In the House Podcast’s A Book of Blades Vol I and Vol II, DMR’s Terra Incognita, and the 9th issue of Tales From the Magician’s Skull.

 

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Mortal Dogs, Celebrate the Day of Might, this Oct 23rd

 

2021 Day of Might Video and Skull Speaks


Three years ago our Sword & Sorcery champion "the Skull" ordained Oct 23rd the Day of Might.

Trube believers and immolatible minions should go forth and drink beers of root and cheer for the ultimate adventure subgenre!

Howard Andrew Jones is more than the original Skull, he remains an outstanding role model in the fiction community. I recently captured my thoughts on this mentorship and friendship (blog) since he, sadly suffers from a real condition. Howard Andrew Jones is battling cancer in a very real way. Sorry to switch gears. If you haven't yet, please consider supporting the below Go Fund Me for him.  


Go Fund Me for Howard Andrew Jones  - Aid the Skull in his time of need (link)


Hi, friends. This is C. S. E. Cooney, John O'Neill, Sean CW Korsgaard, Greg Mele, James Enge, Mark Rigney, Scott Oden, and Seth Lindberg, representing the hordes of family, friends, fans, and followers of the marvelous writer, beautiful human, husband, father, mentor, editor, and friend Howard Andrew Jones.

In August, many of us received this update from Howard and his family:

"Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I have been diagnosed with brain cancer––multifocal glioblastoma. People I trust––my doctors and my family––inform me it will be fatal, and we are deciding now on a course of action to make the most of the time I have left.

Many of you have been reaching out with well wishes, and I am greatly appreciative. It’s heartening to know that so many people are cheering me on. I am surrounded by family and friends, and they’re taking good care of me.

For now, if you are looking for updates and details about my condition, you should contact John O’Neill, whom most of you know, or Mark Rigney, whose contact information is below. Between them, they will serve as a conduit to me and my wife, Shannon.

Thank you all for your support, not just now, but down the years, and I hope this message finds you well.

Howard"

Since this message, our community is gathering its loving might to help Howard and Shannon and the Jones family in this time of great stress and financial burden. This GoFundMe shall go to forthcoming medical bills in the months to come and any other funding the family might need.

Please, help if you can. Please spread the word, share this link, or buy Howard's wonderful books. We thank you: for Howard is a true wizard among dragons, and we love him very, very much.

Yours truly, C. S. E. Cooney (Claire)


Monday, October 21, 2024

Teaser Reveal - Interior art for a Collection of Tales in the Works: Grave's Daughters

Teaser Reveal

Samuel Dillon crafted this beauty, the most revealing portrait of Dr. Grave and his three daughters ever made.  It will be part of a collection called "Grave's Daughters" due out sometime in 2025.



In 2022, I was thrilled to have my short story "Orphan Maker" appear in Tales from the Magician's Skull #9.  It was granted two illustrations, one by Samuel Dillon depicting the skeletal Lord Lysis battle with his ax-wielding brother Brood. I purchased the original of that.




Monday, September 30, 2024

Book Blurb for B J Swann - Good vibes from reviews



I am currently reading Scott Crawford's Besting the Beast and Other Fantasy Tales which is a collection of grim fairy tales. 

Enjoying that, I recalled the uber-grim Crimson Crown tale by B J Swann [reviewed on Black Gate Fringe Grimdark: Crimson Crown by BJ Swann [2021], so I went to check out his collection [Aeon of Chaos which contains Crimson Crown] and was honored to see my review incorporated into the description.


Praise for B.J. Swann's The Crimson Crown

"The Crimson Crown is Intense, Emotive, Dark Fantasy; Equally Enjoyable and Discomforting." - S.E. Lindberg, author of Lords of Dyscrasia and Helen's Daimones





Saturday, September 28, 2024

Grimnir personally insults S.E. Lindberg! Or perhaps just the Fat One is slandered


Cheers to Scott Oden (and his live-in companion, Grimnir)! I've reviewed his books over the years (see below) but those were all electronic versions. Having the chance to get signed copies from him (apparently known as the "fat one" by Griminir), I pleaded for Grimnir to contribute.... and the orcish bastard delivered.  I am proud to have been personally trolled by the brute. 


Scott Oden wished me "All the best!" but Grimnir expounded on that:

- "Nar! All the Best What? Wine? Women? The fat one [Oden]  makes no sense!"
- "Bah, You Wretched Kneeler! This is the good one! This will put hairs on your arse!"
- "Faugh! The fat one [Oden] said you wanted an insult!? Ha! Only an idiot would give good coin for this tripe!"




    My reviews of Scott Oden's Grimnir Series:





    Sunday, September 22, 2024

    Gen Con 2024 Table of Contents

    Here's a list of my Gen Con 2024 post-coverage (all are links):


    Chilling with brother Scott (who champions Free Market Kids board games and more) at St. Elmo's Steakhouse.


    Swords Together - Gen Con 2024 - Reflections of Sword & Sorcery with a focus on Howard Andrew Jones

    Click here for my Gen Con 2024 coverage table of contents.  


    This post collects a bunch of Sword & Sorcery bonding at Gen Con 2024. The event was legendary and haunting, and this post collects some of my thoughts & experiences so I do not forget them.  


    TOP: Howard Andrew Jones, Matt John, Jason Ray Carney, Gilles Plantin, Sean CW Korrsgaard, SE Lindberg BOTTOM: Seeking peace away from the chaos, we found a Mexican bar and was assaulted by a mariachi band!

    Archiving the King’s Blade Champion: An Interview with John C. Hocking

     Archiving the King’s Blade Champion: An Interview with John C. Hocking

    Originally posted Feb 4, 2022 on Goodman-Games website

    Written by S.E. Lindberg


    Archiving the King’s Blade Champion: An Interview with John C. Hocking  by Seth Lindberg

    John C. Hocking is a nigh-obsessed reader and writer of lurid pulp fiction, the author of Conan and the Emerald Lotus, “Black Starlight” serial, and their time-lost companion, Conan and the Living Plague, as well as an obedient thrall of Tales From the Magician’s Skull. Recently Black Gate reviewed John C. Hocking’s Conan Pastiche; then they cornered him to learn more about his pastiche and weird fiction muses in an interview. That post is a companion with this interview and we hope you’ll brave the Black Gate and check it out.

    Here we focus on Hocking’s original Archivist and King’s Blade series — now to the interview!


    You’ve had six [now seven! — ed.] Benhus tales (The King’s Blade series) that appeared in each of the Tales From the Magician Skull magazines. The first one appeared in 2019, and is called “The Crystal Sickle’s Harvest: From the World of the Archivist.”. Tell us more about the Archivist series and how it informs the King’s Blade.

    John C. Hocking: The Archivist stories take place in the same world, the same city, as those about Benhus. They just occur 12 or 15 years later. The Archivist sprang from my desire to keep writing sword and sorcery but step away from using a mythic warrior character like Conan.

    Hocking’s King’s Blade Series in Tales From the Magician’s Skull by issue number:

    • I. “The Crystal Sickle’s Harvest”
    • II. “Trial by Scarab”
    • III. Tyrant’s Bane”
    • IV. “Guardian of the Broken Gem”
    • V. “In the Corridors of the Crow” *read the preview*
    • VI. “Calicask’s Woman”
    • VII. “The Gift of a Poison Necklace” *read the preview*

    The Archivist series these seem difficult to track down. Any comment about readers with OCD/completionism that desire to read these?

    JCH: Right now, there are 8 stories about the Archivist and his friend Lucella:

    1. ‘A Night in the Archives’ appeared in the Flashing Swords ezine Vol1-#2. available online
    2. ‘Web of Pale Venom’ appeared in Flashing Swords #3 and was recently reprinted in Goodman Games ‘Cubicles of the Skull’. available online
    3. ‘The Lost Path Between the Worlds’ appeared in the Flashing Swords ezine #4 . available online
    4. ‘A River Through Darkness & Light’ appeared in Black Gate #15 (last print issue of BG).
    5. ‘Vestments of Pestilence’ was featured, and available for reading on Black Gate.
    6. ‘Pawns in a House of Ghosts’ appeared in Skelos #3.
    7. ‘With a Poet’s Eyes’ appeared in Weirdbook #38.
    8. “From a Prison of Blackened Bone’ is awaiting publication by Weirdbook.

    I imagine I’ll eventually try to assemble a collection of all the Archivist yarns. I’d like to add a few more entries before then, though. I outlined a novel about the character but can’t say if I’ll ever write it.

    Can you compare/contrast the Archivist with Lucella & Benhus?

    JCH: The Archivist is an unlikely hero, a more cerebral and self-absorbed character than most you’d see in Sword & Sorcery. His ability to fill a heroic role in the dangerous environment of a S&S tale is boosted by his connection to the lady soldier, Lucella. Although the Archivist is unselfconsciously brave when the occasion calls for it and can throw a mean dagger, Lucella is the real fighter of the two. Odd as it may sound, Lucella’s attitude toward violence, and how fighting affects her, are as realistic as anything in my work, as I patterned it after the only people I’ve known who really, truly loved a serious fight. The Archivist is wry and often pre-occupied, but a thoroughly decent fellow with a strong sense of justice. Lucella is more pragmatic but tends to follow his lead. I find the relationship between the Archivist and Lucella more satisfying than much of my work. The two basically combine to form one functional hero.

    The Benhus character is an attempt to create a Sword & Sorcery character in the mold of hardboiled crime fiction. He lacks the experience, knowledge, skill set and sense of justice that the Archivist and Lucella bring to the table. Benhus is very young, but tough, determined and possessed of few scruples, especially when it comes to self-preservation. His occasionally callous behavior can be alienating to readers not expecting it. The fact that the guy is in so far over his head, is so isolated from any substantial assistance or understanding, that he is surrounded by people vastly more powerful and better informed than he is, that he must watch his every step to avoid losing his position or his life—I hope all this leads readers to identify with the guy, even if they might find him a less than delightful dinner companion.

    Juxtaposing the Archivist and Lucella with Benhus was great fun. For anyone who might care to know, the Archivist encounters an older and more seasoned Benhus in ‘Pawns in a House of Ghosts’.

    Let’s focus on Benhus now. In the TFTMS 2021 Kickstarter updates & interviews, you revealed that his name was a tribute to Ben Haas. He was a writer who wrote westerns under several pseudonyms [(1926 – 1977) aka John Benteen, Thorne Douglas, Richard Meade)]. Please expand on Ben Haas, and how Benhus may embody some aspect of his writing/characters?

    JCH: I admire the work of Benjamin Leopold Haas as one of the most polished and seemingly effortless pulp writers of the 1970’s. He spun formula men’s adventure fiction into gold over and over and over again. If I’ve tried to adopt anything from his writing style it would be a ceaseless forward movement and a steady, zero-padding approach to storytelling. But one of the things I admire most about his work is the one I will never even be able to approach—his remarkable coupling of prolificity and solid, satisfying storytelling.



    Each of the TFTMS issues come with illustrations. Can you comment on these depictions?

    • I. Jennel Jaquays: I wrote a whole essay for the first Tales from the Magician’s Skull Kickstarter about how happy I was to have Jaquays illustrate one of my stories. That is one elegant image.
    • II. Russ Nicholson: This one explodes off the page. One of the most spectacular single page monster images I’ve seen, and I was delighted to have it attached to my story.
    • III. Matthew Ray: I loved the tight depiction of the three main characters (four if you include their undead foe). That’s a particularly good King Numar Flavius right there.
    • IV. Samuel Dillon: Lushly detailed, almost pointillist, illustration captures a good likeness of Benhus.
    • V. Doug Kovacs: This one startled me because it’s such a serious attempt to illustrate a specific scene from the story and do so with as much accurate detail as possible. The artist even gets Zehra’s tattered hand restraints.
    • VI. Jennel Jaquays: Lucky me—a second Jaquays illustration. I worked hard to make the creatures in the Wall of Demons as nasty as I could. The artist made them nastier than I imagined. That white eel/serpent horror is ingeniously disgusting.

    And each story, true to TFTMS form, comes with DCC stats (thanks to Terry Olson). What are your thoughts on gamifying your world? Have you had the pleasure of reenacting a story?

    • I. Crystal Sickle Wraith (creature) & Nobleman’s Comfort (wand)
    • II. Great mud scarab…knockout powder, message vial= (magic item)
    • III. Blind sight (spell), nobleman’s comfort (more wand abilities), Silver risen (a spell?), Tyrantsbane dagger (weapon)
    • IV. Nobleman’s Comfort (wand, even more abilities) and Scimitar Nemesis (creature weapon)
    • V. Carapaced Mauler (creature)
    • VI. Gray Umbra Guardian (creature)

    JCH: I haven’t been in a real RPG in 20 years, so I’m not really qualified to comment intelligently on the stats. But I’m delighted with the idea that fragments of the stories appearing in The Skull might find their way into gamers’ adventures. I wish the Skull had a space where anyone who saw any of our statted creations showing up in a game could tell us how it went.

    Generally, S&S spawned in the short story form, and characters did not necessarily develop (i.e., as much as they may in a novel). The Benhus short stories are stand-alone episodes, but there is definite progression of character (especially with the titular “king” of the King’s Blade branding, issues #3 and #5 ramped up the relationship). Do you have a long-term vision for a collection/novel?

    JCH: Yes and no. I want to keep telling an unspooling, chronological series of stories about Benhus. I have plenty of ideas for what happens to the character and how it affects him and those around him. In his near future I’ve plotted a story that could probably be presented as a novel but will more likely be broken into shorter narratives that I’ll submit piecemeal to Tales From the Magician’s Skull. Writing a novel is such a difficult, sustained and uncertain effort that I’m more comfortable wrestling with short fiction these days.


    Be sure to check out the companion interview on Black Gate to learn more about Hocking’s Conan pastiche and weird fiction influences. And for the the latest story in the King’s Blade series, be sure to pre-order a copy of (the soon to be released) Tales From the Magician’s Skull Issue 7!

    Saturday, September 21, 2024

    Monday, September 16, 2024

    Gen Con 2024 Moderating 10 Panels



     Moderated 7 Panels on "new books and new releases":


    New Book! New Games! New Release Panels with S.E.

    Join our panel of authors as writer and host S.E. Lindberg asks each about the inspirations and challenges behind their new books, games, and works. This fun experience back from last year by request! 

    (Session E)   Friday12:00 PM EDT E.D.E. Bell, Gregory A. Wilson, Jesse J. Holland

    (Session C)   Thursday2:00 PM EDT   Howard Andrew Jones, J. B. Garner, Matt Forbeck

    (Session F)  Friday1:00 PM EDT Anthony W. Eichenlaub, Bryan Young, Jennifer Brozek 

    (Session A) Thurs 12:00 PM EDT Annye Driscoll (Maker Fishmeal), Briana Lawrence, Gini Koch 

    (Session D)  Thursday3:00 PM EDT  Karen Menzel, Dedren Snead, Sarah Hans

    (Session G)  Friday2:00 PM EDT Cat Rambo, Erin M. Evans, Kwame Mbalia

    (Session B)  Thursday 1:00 PM EDT   J.D. Blackrose, Lyndsie Manusos, Chris A. Jackson





    3x Panels on Genre Fiction

    The three below were focused on Sword & Sorcery, Pulp Fiction, and Horror
    Those have videos and audio shared on another post.

    Writing the Beautiful Nasty     Saturday 3:00 PM EDT

    [this feeds into my BlackGate/com interview series on "Beauty in Weird/Horror Fiction"]. Join our panel of experts as they explore writing scary or repulsive matters in attractive and beautiful ways within the complex realms of horror. Featuring: S.E. Lindberg, Akis Linardos, C. S. E. Cooney, Jason Ray Carney, Jeri "Red" Shepherd 

    Sword & Sorcery for Contemporary Audiences   Friday10:00 AM EDT

    Join our panel of writers as they discuss Sword & Sorcery for a modern world: what does it look like, what could it look like, and what's out there to devour.  Featuring: S.E. Lindberg, Dedren Snead, Howard Andrew Jones, Jason Ray Carney, Sarah Sharp

    Pulp Fiction for Contemporary Audiences   Friday 11:00 AM EDT

    Join our panel of writers as they discuss pulp fiction for a modern world: what does it look like, what could it look like, and what's out there to devour. Featuring: S.E. Lindberg, Gini Koch, Howard Andrew Jones, Jason Ray Carney, Richard Lee Byers 






    Friday, September 13, 2024

    Gen Con 2024 - Writers Symposium Behind the Scenes Photos

    Click here for my Gen Con 2024 coverage table of contents.  

    Opening Ceremony

    Chris Bell had very kind words regarding my previous Chair roles and passing the torch to him.  He rocks as a leader.

    Tuesday, September 10, 2024

    Gen Con 2024 - Deep Madness

    Being a huge Deep Madness fan and reviewer of Diemension Games' writer Byron Leavitt's work (link to many previous posts)... and having interviewed him and had him on panels at Gen Con and contributed to the Madness Reborn expansion (thanks to Phil Blake and Oscar Bok and others), I had to catch up with Byron and Sarah at their booth.


    Tuesday, September 3, 2024

    Gen Con Panels 2024 - Sword and Sorcery, Pulp, & Horror (aka Beautiful Nasty stuff)

    Click here for my Gen Con 2024 coverage table of contents.  

    Thanks to Sean CW Korsgaard, (editor/author/S&S-aficionado) who filmed a bunch of Gen Con 2024 panels, you can listen in on two of the panels I moderated.

    Monday, September 2, 2024

    Janet E. Morris - Memorial Tribute

     

    Perseid Press recently announced the passing of author, editor, and publisher Janet E. Morris (JEM) in August 2024. A group of us who have known and written for her and published by her, decided to honor her memory and her legacy with this group memorial. 

    Janet E Morris Memorial Tribute - Black Gate Article (link)

    This ad-hoc remembrance has organically turned into a virtual shrine. This post initially has ~17 contributions, but collecting testimonials can be chaotic and more comments may be added. Janet and Chris Morris made a remarkable creative couple, and our deepest condolences extend to Chris.

    S.E. Lindberg's Reflections

    I will miss JEM’s love for elevating other storytellers’ craft and her uncanny ability to seamlessly blend myth,  fantasy, & history in her writing.

    • REVIEWS: We first met ~2013 as I moderated the Goodread’s Sword & Sorcery Group and she challenged a statement I made that Lovecraftian-Cosmic-Horror differed from elements of classical myths. She schooled me, her insights of ancient myths proved more expansive than my views. I was early into reviewing, so I read/reviewed (link) her Beyond Sanctuary book (Sacred Band series) and, beyond enjoying the story and feeling like I was living within the Baroque style cover, I was struck by not being able to discern between history, myth, and fantasy.

    • INTERVIEWS: This prompted me to go beyond reviewing books and start an interview series on “Art & Beauty in Fantasy Fiction” with Janet being the first up to bat (link) (I plan to repost that on Black Gate soon). She pushed people’s expectations of sexuality and the role of women in fantasy fiction since 1976, and having her perspective was eye-opening. That interview was Jan 2014, and the decade since I’ve interviewed 27 others (including Carol Berg, C.S. Friedman, Darrell Schweitzer, Anna Smith Spark, C. Dean Andersson…). Black Gate started broadcasting this series ~2018.

    • WRITING: As I was beginning to independently publish, she invited me to contribute to Perseid Press, and I’ve been honored to have over seven stories published across the Heroes in Hell and Heroika series (listing on Perseid Press site).

    • ROLE MODEL: as much as I am honored to have known JEM, learned from her and developed by role in the writing community, my experience is not unique. Testimonials from dozens of aspiring and veteran authors are being posted. Her legacy is admirable, and she serves as a beautiful role model.

    • A TOAST: Cheers, dear JEM. Thank you for sharing your passion and igniting mine. “Life to you and everlasting glory!”

    Sunday, August 25, 2024

    Writers Symposium Image Prompt Contest Winners

    Click here for my Gen Con 2024 coverage table of contents.  

    Just posted the winners for the Gen Con Writers' Symposium Image Prompt Contest
    https://genconwriters.org/prompt-contest/


    Last year we tried out an image prompt contest, and it was a blast. The addition of art in our hallway plus the engagement of authors was overwhelming–in the best way! Check out the 2023 contest in the Archive.

    For 2024 we lured in two more artists with ties to the Writers Symposium, Ava Kelly (author) and Alex Steffen, the artist who created the cover for the 2024 Anthology.

    Like last year, each piece of art was put on a poster with a QR code to enable submission of (a) micro fiction (300 words or less) inspired by the art or (b) a “caption” to explain it. Winners of the contest were promised to have their entries posted on this website and a copy of the artist-signed poster (winners elected via a selection process that involved the artists’ input and feedback from some of the organizational committee.)

    Everyone who submitted is a winner, since the goal was merely to promote a creative atmosphere. We highlight the poster-award winners and runners-up in separate announcement posts (below links). Yet everyone who submitted can claim bragging rights since the PDF below has the list of all the submissions–i.e., you all have your caption posted on this website!

    Thank you to the artists and the creatives who replied!