Milton Davis - Meeting a Role Model

 

I have a mission to meet the authors my stories share anthologies with ("selfie" tag), and for Perseid Presses' Heroika and Heroes in Hell Series, I've cornered a bunch in Chicago, Indianapolis, New Orlean, Norman OK, and now Atlanta!  Beth Patterson, Charles Gramlich, Joe Bonadonna, Jack William Finley, Tom Barzcak  ... and now Milton Davis!

Just ran into one of my inspirational role models for writing and publishing Milton Davis (in this case, I was in Atlanta for an American Chemical Society Green Chemistry convention...which is cool because Milton has been a formulation chemist for decades).

Grateful to chat about storytelling and chemistry. Grabbed an extra signature for Changa and the Heroika Dragon Eater anthology (we both have a story in that) and on Eda Blessed II, which I was honored to provide a cover blurb for. Thanks for your time, Milton!

Blurb on the back cover for Eda Blessed 2:

"Omari Ket is a rogue warrior, not a spy, but he is as suave, cunning, and as lethal as any Secret Agent Man. ‘Agency’ is a term for the capacity of a character to act independently, and Omari is an Agency onto himself: he reports to no one. Omari is a ladies’ man in a dog-eat-dog world. If you like a cut-throat, libertine, action-oriented protagonist, then you are ‘Eda Blessed.’"

Milton and I share a few table-of-contents too:

• Terra Incognita: Lost Worlds of Fantasy and Adventure  (more info on my blog )
• Heroika: Skirmishers (read more on the blog post)

Horror and Beauty in Edgar Rice Burrough's Work: An Interview with Robert Allen Lupton

Simulcast on BLACKGATE.com: HORROR AND BEAUTY IN EDGAR RICE BURROUGH’S WORK: AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT ALLEN LUPTON 

We have an ongoing series at Black Gate on the topic of “Beauty in Weird Fiction” where we corner an author and query them about their muses and methods to make ‘repulsive things' become ‘attractive to readers.’ Previous subjects have included Darrell Schweitzer, Anna Smith Spark, Carol Berg, C.S. Friedman, John R. Fultz, and John C. Hocking (whose Conan and the Living Plague novel is finally due out this June 2024, so you should read that too to get psyched).  Anyway, see the full list of interviews at the end of this post.

This interview focuses on the legendary Edgar Rice Burroughs and an aficionado of his work, Robert Allen Lupton. The latter has published an amazing 2000 articles on www.erbzine.com, the Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site. Robert Allen Lupton is also a writer of 200 short stories, four novels, and six collections of adventure fiction, so this forum serves as a great opportunity to learn about past and present storytelling with a touch of horror in it.

2024 Gen Con Writers Symposium Programming - S.E. Schedule

 

2024 Gen Con Writers Symposium (GCWS) Programming (Aug 1-4) was just unveiled, so you can add events to your wishlist for purchasing (which opens Sunday May 19th). Check out the broader details on my last post and Black Gate.com (see the end of this post for key registration links for each track). The GCWS website has even more to offer.

This post focuses on my schedule:

Genre Panels with S.E.

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 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Writers' Symposium 2024 Programming

If you have already purchased your ticket to Gen Con, you can now select which events you would like to attend. Our Gen Con Writers’ Symposium events are designed for writers, but everyone is welcome, and we hope you will consider our events. The opportunity to hear the perspective of writers of games, roleplaying, books, multimedia – we think is core fandom. We are offering over 170 events, including ~80 free panels, ~60 classes (workshops), >20 signings, and special and interactive Events (like an open mic poetry event, a D&D session and Meet & Greet with the authors).

Download the Full Program in PDF here (link).

Interested in a specific topic? Sign up for them all, as many will fill up quickly! Prefiltered GenCon-Registration Links for each track (hashtags) are below:

#gcws – All our events
#writing – Nuts and bolts of the craft
#editing – Perspectives on editing work, designed for writers
#worldbuilding – Crafting the space for your words
#writerlife – About being a writer, as a person
#genre – Discussion on specific genres
#career – Managing business elements of writing over time
#videogames – Topics related to digital games
#tabletop – Topics related to tabletop gaming
#poetry – Topics related to speculative poetry
#visual – Graphic writing
#tech – Technical tools related to writing
#publishing – Topics related to publishing
#nonfiction – Topics related to nonfiction
#marketing – Promoting your work
#classroom – Instructor-led, classroom-type events
#event – Featured GCWS events
#qna – Question & Answer (Q&A) events
#signing – Signing opportunities
#interaction – Interactive opportunities
#experience – An immersive experience with writers

Register Now!

Gen Con Writers' Symposium 2024 Special Guests and Programming

 

Gen Con Writers' Symposium

This post announces our 2024 Special Guests and the reveals the Program. May 19th is the official registration day, but attendees can wishlist their events now!

Gen Con is the largest tabletop gaming convention in North America. In 2023, they welcomed over 70,000 unique visitors and offered over 19,000 events. By its nature, Gen Con attracts a large number of attendees who enjoy speculative fiction across formats. Gen Con 2024 will be held August 1-4 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Gen Con Writers’ Symposium is a semi-independent event hosted by Gen Con. It’s focused on writers of games and speculative fiction of all experience levels, but with as much fun and interest for gamers, readers, and fans. All registration is handled through the Gen Con website.  In the past 28 years, the Writers’ Symposium has grown from a small set of panels over a day or two of the convention to one of the largest convention-hosted writing tracks in North America, offering hundreds of hours of programming from 70+ authors, editors, agents, and publishers to nearly 3000 unique visitors per year on average.  We’ll be on the second floor of the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott (i.e., not the adjacent JW Marriott ). Head to our event at 350 W Maryland St, Indianapolis, IN 46225. The Black Gate Convention report for last year's symposium gives a good flavor of what to expect, and the planning committee's website at genconwriters.org has all the details.

Lovers in Hell - Book Tour and Giveaway

Lovers in Hell - Book Tour and Giveaway (link) An excerpt of my story "Lovers Sans Phalli" is showcased on this Blog Tour and Book Giveaway for Lovers in Hell! Check it out! **On Sale for Only $2.99 until the end of the month!**  Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads Lovers in Hell A Heroes in Hell Anthology by Janet Morris Genre: Dark Fantasy Anthology    Only fools fall in love, and hell is filled with fools. Our damned lovers include: Christopher Marlowe and Will Shakespeare, Napoleon and Wellington, Orpheus and Eurydice, Hatshepsut and Senenmut, Abelard and Heloise, Helen and Penelope, Saint Teresa and Satan's Reaper, Madge Kendall and the Elephant Man, and more . . . -- all of whom pay a hellish price for indulging their affections. Shakespeare said "To be wise and love exceeds man's might," and in Lovers in Hell, the damned in hell exceed all bounds as they search for their true loves, punish the perfidious, and avoid getting caught up in Satan's snares. In ten stories of misery and madness, hell's most loveless seek to slake the thirst that can never be quenched, and find true love amid the lies of ages. Includes: Never Doubt I Love – Janet Morris and Chris Morris Love Interrupted –  Nancy Asire Lovers Sans Phalli – S. E. Lindberg Fume of Sighs – Janet Morris and Chris Morris Calamity – Michael E. Dellert Love Triangle – Michael H. Hanson A Hand of Four Queens – A. L. Butcher Devil’s Trull – Andrew P. Weston Withering Blights – Joe Bonadonna Wrath of Love – Janet Morris and Chris Morris Excerpt from Hell Gate – Andrew P. Weston **On Sale for Only $2.99 until the end of the month!** Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads

Charles Gramlich of The Swords and Planet League highlights Dyscrasia Fiction

Author Charles Gramlich just posted a Dyscrasia Fiction highlight in the Facebook Group: The Swords & Planet League on Feb 17, 2024

Link to post (click here)

One of the most unique voices working in Sword & Sorcery today is S. E. Lindberg. I met Seth a few years back and we’ve corresponded frequently as well as running into each other at such sites as Black Gate and Goodreads. Lindberg has put together a unique setting for what he calls “Dyscrasia Fiction.” Dyscrasia means “a bad mixture of liquids,” which is related to the Greek concept of the four “humors” of Blood, Phlegm, Black Bile, and Yellow Bile. In Dyscrasia fiction, these humors are sources of magical power and often soul and body corrupting influences.

The three novels available now are Lords of Dyscrasia (2011), Spawn of Dyscrasia (2014), and Helen’s Daimones (2017). Although Helen’s Daimones was the most recently published, Lindberg suggests new readers start with it since it sets the tone for the other books. Wherever you start, though, you’ll find a combination of beautiful language and powerful imagination. These works are hallucinogenic, dream-like, full of wraiths and apparitions—and sometimes horrors. Ideas and images pile one on top of another with an intensity that is far from common in fantasy literature. I admire the author’s ability to maintain that intensity throughout his works; his world-building never stumbles, and the result is a unique fantasy vision that rises to the level of art.

A word about the covers for these books. The first was created by Lindberg himself, who also has other artistic skills in addition to writing. Spawn of Dyscrasia has an amazing cover by Ken Kelly, and Helen’s Daimones has a great cover by Daniel Landerman.

There are also a number of short stories tied to the Dyscrasia setting. For more information, check out Seth’s webpage at: https://www.selindberg.com/p/about-s-e-lindberg.html or his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DyscrasiaFiction

Gen Con 2024

The GenCon Writers' Symposium is getting ready for 2024 (click to go to the main website)

I'm on the committee, but not chairing as I did in 2023.  The team just announced the guest list and special guests Linda D Addison and Mikki Kendall

Gen Con 2024 will be held August 1-4 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

We’ll be on the second floor of the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott (i.e., not the adjacent JW Marriott ). Head to our event at the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott @ 350 W Maryland St, Indianapolis, IN 46225.

The Gen Con Writers’ Symposium is a semi-independent event hosted by Gen Con and intended for both new and experienced writers of speculative fiction. All registration is handled through the Gen Con website.