S.E Lindberg debuts on the Rogues in the House Podcast, wins award from the Skull at GenCon 2022, BTS Footage
Early this year I reported on the Rogues in the House podcast for Black Gate. Check it out. As the Rogues move beyond podcasts to build the Sword & Sorcery community, they started publishing anthologies including the just released A Book of Blades which I proudly contributed a Dyscrasia Fiction story: "Embracing Ember." With my Event Coordinator role for the GenCon Writers Symposium, I did my best to gather the Rogues and other contributors to A Book of Blades on several panels. We gathered in Marriott Ballroom #4 to record this special session. I highlight two timepoints:
6:45 min:sec: The Skull crashes the party and award his only named intern an award
48 min: I namedrop two friends, fellow Aikidoka Sensei Dirk Domaschko and Master David Silver, attributing them for getting me into the GenCon culture years ago.
"Rogues, old and new, meet at the mecca called GenCon. In this very special episode, Deane and Matt are joined by Howard Andrew Jones, Seth Lindberg, Steve Diamond, Sean CW Korsgaard, Jason Ray Carney, and *shudders* The Magician's Skull himself. Topics include sword and sorcery (of course) as well as our "top picks" from GenCon."
Embedded Podcast - listen here!
Behind the Scenes Footage
Matthew John - Conan the Board Game and Rogue in the House
Steve Diamond - Horror Writer
Sean CW Korsgaard - Baen Books
Howard Andrew Jones - S&S Author and Editor of Tales from the Magician's Skull
Jason Ray Carney - Whetstone and Professor of Dark Arts
"Hatchet Mouth" host Jeremy (aka Level One Edge Lord) with some of his reading buddies corners SE for an hour. Lords of Dyscrasia is the focus, though we discuss writing and alchemy too. Jeremy squeezed in an excerpt reading. I explain why Helen's Daimones is my suggested gateway into the series.
"The exalted Skull, lord of all things sword & sorcery, has sent a selection of his minions and interns to satiate the mortal desire for sword & sorcery discussion while they breathlessly await issue #6 of his magazine of superlative greatness.
Join Chief Editorial Minion and interns #12, 34, and 657 to learn more about the ongoing open call for sword & sorcery fiction, tips and tricks for writing great fiction, and just a good discussion of what books we’ve been reading. Intern #78 will fill in if any other interns meet their demise prior to screen time."
This May, 2019 I had the pleasure of interviewing Anna Spark Smith for BlackGate.com: Disgust
and Desire: An Interview with Anna Smith Spark. Among the dark fantasy crowd, she is known as the Queen of Grimdark. The David Gemmell Awards shortlisted her The Court of Broken Knives. The sequel The Tower of Living and Dying continued the Empires of Dust trilogy (Harper Voyager US/ Orbit US/Can). The last installment called The House of Sacrifice is available Aug 13th! That's now. Fortuitously, she was invited to the GenCon Writer's Symposium; GenCon is the world's largest tabletop gaming convention, this year luring >70,000 guests to Indianapolis, IN. I volunteer for that symposium and was granted a panel slot to extend the interview live. Thanks to Melanie Meadors and Kelly Swails for working the program and running a splendid symposium. Despite well attend sessions throughout the convention, by the time 5pm rolled around Friday, our Q&A drew an intimate crowd (~10). We opened with a reading of her famous introductory chapter to The Court of Broken Knives. The notion of doing a reading was a bit impromptu, so we hadn't a tripod, a professional video recorder, or ability to tune-out the other sessions (thanks to audience member Dirk for stepping up to film). Anna Smith Spark graced us with reading the entire chapter (~10min), which left the room wanting her to just read for the full hour. See insert video. Her reading of the same chapter at a Goth City Festival 2018 is also on You Tube and is breathtaking.
Before I could even finish this post, new fan Michael Farrell found the YouTube recording and posted in the commentary: "this was the highlight of my Gen Con." Mine too. Also in the audience was John O'Neill, founder and editor of Blackgate.com (and Gotham Robot enthusiast). It was surreal to have him present along with Anna Smith Spark; we continued discussions over dinner. BTW, Anna Smith Spark is known for outrageous footwear, and she did not disappoint. Friday, she blessed us with the dragon shoes. More video snippets of the session may emerge as I decompress from an intense convention, but for now please listen in... read our interview Disgust and Desire: An Interview with Anna Smith Spark., and check out her series!
Abstract: We can think of numerous examples of fantasy writers (novelists or short story writers) who were also accomplished painters or illustrators – from Mervyn Peake to Janny Wurts. How does working in one medium affect work in the other? We hope to hear from active contemporary writer-artists on this panel, not just talk about them.
Sally Grotta moderated. She's a photographer and writer, who also has an interest in sustaining artisan skills via her American Hands project ("...an ongoing photographic study by Sally Wiener Grotta, who is creating narrative portraits of traditional artisans, such as a blacksmith, quilting bee, spinner, glass blower, weaver, tatting lacemaker, papermaker and so forth." I was captivated by her work in progress call "Dream a Little World" in which people can make the substance of their dreams tangible. Really looking forward to that being published.
Jerome Stueart hails from nearby Dayton OH. He authored and illustratedThe Angels of Our Better Beasts ( ChiZine Publications). In the dealer's room, he drew personalized beasts for any visitor (I grabbed a Polar Bear and mysterious Fox).
"I got a lot of love from fantasy writers and fans, and people who enjoyed the little extra Beasties that I drew for them. It really helps you connect with someone when they describe their Beast to you, and you draw their imagination to life.... you bond. I felt like I was in Family the whole time I was there. I met a lot of new people, reacquainted myself with relationships, and felt very welcomed there. I couldn't ask for a better weekend or con!" - Jerome Stueart 2016
Brenda Carr recently had her story "Gret" published in the Blackguard's Blacklist companion (I had backed the kickstart for the anthology and really enjoyed it.) Gret is wonderful story tracing the origins of a witch. The narrative voice is authentic and beautifully conveys a child's view of dark reality as she is haunted & chased by evil entities (from her sorcerer ancestors to pirates). Gret's learned from her mom that 3 L's are needed to survive: Location, Lissome tongue, and Lightning touch (thievery). Gret will be appearing in a few works in progress. Here is a snippet:
"The day Mam died, that sodding bag of dead man's piss knocked me over my tender young pate and threw me into the orlop of a pirate ship. I'd just turned thirteen.
So there I was, cotched and away out there on blue water.
Now, that was a real bad location. No silver-tongued happiness was gonna save my cherry. A little main no more, I'd begun on the road to the witch I am.
Isk, the captain was no true Corsair. Pirates ain't. Pirates'll rut with a post if there ain't no goats aboard, and the goats breathe easy if there's girls."
The Eternally Difficult (but Fascinating) Writers (that was the topic, not a characterization of the panelists :) )
: SATURDAY : 10 AM UNION AB
Seth E. Lindberg (moderator),Kathleen Ann Goonan, Gary K. Wolfe, Janeen Webb, Robert Knowlton
Abstract: The writers who will never be popular but who will never fade away. It has been suggested that at least one person a year will read David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus with great fascination from now until the end of time. But he will never be popular. Clark Ashton Smith’s prose style repels some and enchants others, but we know he will never sell millions of copies. We don’t mean just neglected writers. What about the “difficult” writers? Does James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake (a dream fantasy of sorts) fall into this category? What is the place for difficult prose styles or ideas which can only reach the few and never the many?
The panel was thoroughly well-read and well recognized. Kathleen Ann Goonan has been nominated for the Nebula Award and author of NY Times Best Seller (Queen City Jazz), and won a John Campbell Memorial Award for Science Fiction. Gary Wolfe has been reviewing speculative fiction for decades including for Locus magazine (since 1991) and even the Chicago Tribune. Janeen Webb hails from Australia known for her contribution to Dreaming Down Under (1999 WFC award winner for anthologies), and several Sinbad novels ~2000-2003 . Lastly, Robert S. Knowlton (aka Bob Hadji, Robert S. Hadji) editor of Borderlands and author and critic of various weird/horror fiction since the 1970's.
Framing the discussion was Brian McNaughton's Throne of Bones (a WFC 1998 award winner). This enabled us to discuss controlling the information flow (and distance from clarity) to a reader via (a) dense prose, (b) auxiliary material maps (or lack of them), (c) increasing accessibility via the spoken spoken word (and audio books), and a litany of authors/books identified as cryptic yet fun:
Sacred Fount - Henry James 1901
Clark Ashton Smith
Dhalgren by Samuel Delany 1975
House of Leaves, Mark Danielewski 2000
Virginia Woolf ~ 1890-1940
Red Shift, Alan Garner 2011
A Voyage to Arcturus David Lindsay 1920
Finnegans Wake, James Joyce 1939
The House on the Borderland, William Hope Hodgson 1908
A Challenge from Darrell Schweitzer, program coordinator: Have you Read James Joyce's Finnegans Wake? How can you prove that?
Favorite unscripted moment: Janeen Webb recited, from memory, the beginning to E R Eddison's Mistress of Mistresses. Her voice and tenor were beautiful and it sounded like a blend of poetry and song. Her point being that many of these works are more easily understood, and enjoyed, if read aloud.
Getting ready to head north to Columbus for the 2016 World Fantasy Convention. Looking forward to buying used books, talking to experienced authors, editors, and illustrators. Should be fun. This will be the first time I join a panel... and I have the honor of moderating one too!
The Fantasy Writer-Artist : THURSDAY 9PM DELAWARE CD
We can think of numerous examples of fantasy writers (novelists or short story writers) who were also accomplished painters or illustrators – from Mervyn Peake to Janny Wurts. How does working in one medium affect work in the other? We hope to hear from active contemporary writer-artists on this panel, not just talk about them. Brenda Carre, Sally Grotta (m), Seth Lindberg, Jerome Stueart, Charles Vess
The Eternally Difficult (but Fascinating) Writers : SATURDAY : 10 AM UNION AB
The writers who will never be popular but who will never fade away. It has been suggested that at least one person a year will read David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus with great fascination from now until the end of time. But he will never be popular. Clark Ashton Smith’s prose style repels some and enchants others, but we know he will never sell millions of copies. We don’t mean just neglected writers. What about the “difficult” writers? Does James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake (a dream fantasy of sorts) fall into this category? What is the place for difficult prose styles or ideas which can only reach the few and never the many?
Robert Knowlton, Seth E. Lindberg (m), Gary K. Wolfe, Janeen Webb, Kathleen Ann Goonan