The Returning by Bryan Thomas Schmidt - front cover from WordFire Press

StoryBundle: The Returning is Starward Bound

Published on August 3, 2016March 9, 2020 by Bryan

Some of you know that WordFire Press is rereleasing new revised and expanded editions of my Saga of Davi Rhii debut novels and finishing the trilogy next year with the brand new 3rd novel, never before released. Anyway, book 2 comes out right after World Con but as with The Worker Prince, I have the privilege of The Returning appearing in a bundle and BEFORE release. Yep, you can get it early on ebook along with 9 other terrific space opera reads.

Here’s how:

THE STARWARD BOUND BUNDLE

The Starward Bound Bundle – Curated by Martin Kee

Even in the most violent and darkest of timelines, space opera remains steadfast in its insistence that we as a species will eventually find our place among the stars. It’s the promise the subgenre makes to its fans, that we will one day leave this ball of dirt and water, and move on to more interesting things.

But more importantly, space opera is just plain fun as hell.

I’m curating a bundle this year that encapsulates the genre from one end of the spectrum to the other, from the gritty to the absurd, from the dark to the whimsical. The beauty of space opera is in its diversity, in its limitless imagination, and in its consistent vision of humanity living abroad in the cosmic sense of the word. Even at its darkest, space opera spins from a core of optimism.

Much like our charity, this bundle aims to inspire, excite, and educate. We’re offering novels and anthologies from world-famous Hugo and Nebula winners, updated collections of short fiction and essays, and novellas compiled specifically with this bundle in mind.

To start, legendary author, and several-times-over Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winner, David Brin offers up his timeless anthology OTHERNESS, with stories that begin on Earth and chronicle humanity’s ascension into space. This updated book also contains newer essays and thoughts from his perspective as futurist, scholar, writer, and scientist.

Hugo and Nebula nominee and winner, Mike Resnick, provided THE OUTPOST, a fantastically imaginative novel, filled with wildly epic characters, given names as big as their personalities. Marko Kloos is presenting his immensely popular TERMS OF ENLISTMENT, a crazy-good military scifi novel, that I fell in love with at the first chapter. Bryan Thomas Schmidt gives us a thrilling continuation of his debut novel with THE RETURNING. Hugo nominee and winner, Brad Torgersen’s book RACERS OF THE NIGHT runs the gamut from lunar NASCAR to interplanetary bricklayers.

This bundle also contains the first two of my novellas from my PATCHER universe, combined into one book, which I’ve compiled specifically for this bundle. Best-seller B.V. Larson submitted his novel STARFIRE, which centers around an alien artifact and a reignited Cold War to capture it. Moira Katsen’s CRUCIBLE is a fantastic beginning to her trilogy about alien genocide at the hands of humans. Edward W. Robertson’s OUTLAW follows a space janitor who becomes a reluctant pirate. And Erik Wecks offers up his space noir adventure AETNA ADRIFT.

As always, with StoryBundle, you pay what you want for the books and a portion goes to charity. For this bundle, our charity is the Challenger Space Center, a Smithsonian organization, which exists to help excite, educate, and inspire young people with an interest in science and space exploration. The center is a museum, simulator, and school, all rolled into one, offering space camps, hands-on learning experience, and science programs for economically challenged children, helping them dream a bigger future. We are thrilled to be able to help support them in their mission.

As with every bundle, you pay what you want. $5 or more gets you the basic bundle. All books are DRM-free, in multiple eBook formats. You can download them anywhere, anytime, worldwide, and they are yours to keep. Paying $15 (or more, if you are feeling generous) gets you the bonus books, written by award-winning masters of science fiction. You can also choose what percentage of your price goes directly to the charity.

It’s our pleasure, offering this bundle to help the Challenger Space Center. Optimism for the future is rare in these pessimistic and cynical times, and these books, no matter how dark or gritty, all share a common vision: Humanity’s true destiny is yet to come. We hope that you too will find this bundle to be a hopeful promise of our place in the cosmos. – Martin Kee

The initial titles in The Starward Bound Bundle (minimum $5 to purchase) are:

Starfire by B. V. Larson
Outlaw by Edward W. Robertson
Aetna Adrift by Erik Wecks
Patcher: Books 1 & 2 by Martin Kee
The Novum Trilogy Book 1: Crucible by Moira Katson

If you pay more than the bonus price of just $15, you get all five of the regular titles, plus five more:

Otherness by David Brin
Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos
The Outpost by Mike Resnick
Racers of the Night by Brad R. Torgersen
The Returning by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

The bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) for all books!

It’s also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

Get quality reads: We’ve chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.
Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth to you. If you can only spare a little, that’s fine! You’ll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.
Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there’s nothing wrong with ditching DRM.
Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Challenger Space Center
Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you’ll get the bonus books!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us at @storybundle and like us on Facebook.

Kaffeeklatsch Sign Up-MidAmeriCon II (WorldCon), Sat, Aug. 20, 2016

Published on August 2, 2016March 9, 2020 by Bryan10 Comments

So, I was not given an official kaffeeklatsch. Not many were. So I am scheduling my own.

Saturday, August 20th, at 2 p.m. in the Downtown Marriott Lobby, 2nd level where the tables are, I will do a kaffeeklatsch. I will be giving away some signed cover flats, signed books, even a couple signed story manuscripts. Sign up here in comments to attend. I will take the first 20.

Bryan

My MidAmeriCon II Schedule (WorldCon)

Published on August 2, 2016March 9, 2020 by Bryan

August 18-21, 2o16 — Kansas City Convention Center/Bartle Hall

Here’s when and where to find me officially. I will be at the WordFire table signing at other times throughout the convention, so you will also find me there in the Dealer Room–booths 4, 5, and 6.

Dealer Room Hours:

Wednesday Aug 17^th 12:00pm – 6:00pm

Thursday Aug 18^th 10:00am – 6:00pm

Friday Aug 19^th 10:00am-6:00pm

Saturday Aug 20^th 10:00am-6:00pm

Sunday Aug 21^st 10:00am-3:00pm

Thursday Aug 18, 2016

3:00PM

Panel: Kansas City SF Authors
Kansas City Convention Center – 2207

Bryan Thomas Schmidt (Moderator), Robin Wayne Bailey, Christine Taylor-Butler, Jennifer Boles

5:00PM

Autographing: Jamie Lackey, L. E. Modesitt, Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Kansas City Convention Center – Autographing Space

Friday Aug 19, 2016

1:00PM

Panel: Why “A Long Time Ago…”?
Kansas City Convention Center – 3501F

George Lucas set Star Wars in a Galaxy far, far away, but also a long time ago. What is the importance of setting his saga in the distant past? How would our perceptions of it have been different if it were set in our time in a galaxy far, far away or if it had been set in the future?

Bryan Thomas Schmidt (Moderator), Kevin J. Anderson, Matthew S. Rotundo, Anna Raftery

3:00PM

Panel: Baen Traveling Road Show
Kansas City Convention Center – 2205

Come join Baen Executive Editor Jim Minz and an assortment of Baen authors for the Baen Traveling Road Show. Learn about their new and upcoming releases. See the pretty covers. Win fabulous prizes. There will be free books for a lucky few…

Jim Minz (Moderator), Dr. Charles Gannon, Joelle Presby, others–I will be attending in case my books are discussed and to sign free copies given away

Saturday Aug 20, 2016

2:00PM

Kaffeeklatsch: Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Downtown Marriott, Lobby-2nd level

I am offering my own unofficial kaffeeklatsch and will be giving away signed books and cover flats, maybe even a couple manuscripts. Sign up here.

Sunday Aug 21, 2016

2:00PM

Panel: Editing the Anthology
Kansas City Convention Center – 2503B

Professionals talk shop about editing and publishing anthologies. What does it take to craft an anthology that people actually want to read? What are the dos and don’ts when pulling together stories into a single book? We’ll identify some examples of well-done anthologies and how the editing process differs between anthologies. Join us for an indepth discussion and find out what our panelists enjoy most when working with anthologies.

Ellen Datlow (Moderator), Erin Underwood, Jonathan Strahan, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Kathryn Cramer

Forthcoming Works & WIP Release Schedule 2016-2017

Published on July 26, 2016March 9, 2020 by Bryan

As I revise this site and get back to blogging and regular updates (soon, I hope), I thought I could start by updating you on my various forthcoming projects and works in progress and their release dates (as I know them).

So here they are. As you can see, 2017 will be my busiest year ever as not only editor but author, too.

Forthcoming works 2016:

THE RETURNING: Author’s Definitive Edition, (Saga of Davi Rhii Book 2) (WordFire Press), August 23, 2016

“Border Time” by myself and Kate Corcino in THE X-FILES: SECRET AGENDAS, edited by Jonathan Maberry (IDW), September 27, 2016

Forthcoming in 2017:

LITTLE GREEN MEN–ATTACK!, Coedited by Robin Wayne Bailey (Baen Books), March 7, 2017 includes “The First Million Contacts” by myself and Alex Shvartsman

JOE LEDGER: UNSTOPPABLE, Coedited by Jonathan Maberry (ST. MARTINS), 2017 includes “Instince (A Ghost Story)” by myself and Claire Ashgrove

MONSTER HUNTER Anthology, Coedited by Larry Correia (Baen Books), 2017 includes “Hoffman Strikes Back” by myself and Julie C. Frost

PREDATOR: THE HUNTED (Working Title) (Titan Books), October 2017 includes a story by myself with Holly Roberds

INFINITE STARS: A Definitive Space Opera Anthology (Titan Books), November 2017

THE EXODUS (Saga of Davi Rhii Book 3) (WordFire Press), TBD

“The Greatest Guns In The Galaxy” by myself and Ken Scholes in STRAIGHT OUTTA TOMBSTONE, edited by David Boop, (Baen Books), TBD

Guest Post: Lawrence M. Schoen, author of Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, talks about writing anthropomorphic animals

Published on January 12, 2016March 9, 2020 by Bryan

My friend Lawrence Schoen’s latest novel and big publisher debut, Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, from TOR Books had sold out its first printing before it even released. It is about sentient animals who have survived the self-destruction of human beings and now rule the galaxy. I asked him to talk on the blog about how to write animals as main characters of a novel.

How do you approach writing animals as characters? Do you anthropomorphize or avoid it?

I treat animal characters much like I treat alien characters, which is to say, I write them as characters first, and then add in the other bits (animal, alien, or both).

I start by asking myself a few basic questions like, “Who is this character? How does he see the world? How does he see himself? What does he want?” and then as these basics start to sketch out, I drop the character into the setting that further shapes those answers.

With the anthropomorphic animal (or as I like to call them, “raised mammals”) characters in Barsk, there were additional factors. The easiest of these was to build on the physiological differences from the source animals, and play with how that then affects the more basic characteristics and questions. This is particularly important for the reader, because she’s looking for something familiar to glom onto, something that can be assessed at a glance, be it an elephant’s trunk or the graceful gait of a cheetah or the relative lethargy of a sloth. These are signals to a reader that say, “oh, okay, it’s like a human being, only not, because it’s also like X.”

After the broad strokes of an animal character is done, the real fun begins. The bits that act as Easter eggs for more savvy readers. Little pieces from research into what ethologists and other scientists have learned about these species which when dropped into sapient characters inform their culture and worldview. As one example, we know that among elephants, after a certain age, the males all go off on their own solitary way and only return to mate, leaving the females behind to form groups of adults and children of both sexes. Take this one datum and apply it a planet of uplifted elephants and you get a society where you have households of adult females — mothers and sisters aunts and cousins, like something out of H.M.S. Pinafore — taking responsibility for all child rearing, and males who spend their adult lives as peripatetic bachelors — never settling down for long, always moving on. And from there you get to ask how this all manifests in routine things that you probably won’t actually look at in the book, but which has to exist in the back of your mind because it all influences the way the characters walk through their own world. Questions like, “What does this do to the housing market? What’s the impact on job security? What happens to individuals who don’t fit smoothly into the society’s normative roles?”

The characters in an anthropomorphic novel need to have the same quality of breadth and depth and variety that ordinary human characters enjoy and/or endure; it’s all just filtered through the specialized animal traits that is their due as well. Because at the end of the day, you’re using them to tell human stories, and while they may be furry or horned or bat-winged or something else, they must also project a basic humanity, one to which the reader can relate. In the end, the thing we always remember about the best alien or anthropomorphic characters isn’t how much they differ from us, but how human they were.

Lawrence M. Schoen holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics. He’s also one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Klingon language, and the publisher of a speculative fiction small press, Paper Golem. He’s been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award, the Hugo Award, and the Nebula Award. Lawrence lives near Philadelphia. You can find him online at LawrenceMSchoen.com and @KlingonGuy.

Signed Books For Christmas

Published on December 5, 2015March 9, 2020 by Bryan

Still time to order copies of my books for that special someone. I have copies of all of my titles. Tell me which one you want and if you want it personalized too or just signed.

Email me at bryan at bryanthomasschmidt.net. I will tell you how much to paypal and then priority mail the bubblewrapped, signed books wherever you want.

Typically I charge $15 per trade paperback plus $5 priority mail but international I’d have to calculate. This helps me. It helps your loved ones and friends by giving them good materials. And it helps you save time shopping. A 3-way win.

I have some great stuff as you can see from the reviews, or you can order from my Amazon page here: http://www.amazon.com/Bryan-Thomas-Schmidt/e/B004FRQ7XS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1449351366&sr=1-1.

Here are some of the books I’ve edited or written:

GUEST POST: Why Authors Love Research – Days Of The Dead Blog Tour

Published on October 28, 2015March 9, 2020 by Bryan

Today, my friend Gail Martin stops by on her Days Of The Dead blog tour for a talk about writers and research. – BTS

By Gail Z. Martin

I love research. In fact, sometimes I almost think the book is an excuse to do the research. Almost.

Okay, I was a history major, so I came into this predisposed to be nosy about other people’s business. History is the best reality show. Forget the structure artificially imposed on history by textbook authors. History—the rise and fall of kingdoms, the great explorers, the conquest and colonization—was done by people who, on closer inspection, make the Kardashians look well-adjusted and the Mafia seem morally upright.

It’s really the story of grifters, grabbers, con men, connivers, liars, manipulators, opportunists and truly dysfunctional people who clawed their way to notoriety less from noble purpose than from unresolved psychological issues. And those are often the good guys.

Seriously, when you delve into real history—the letters and diaries by historic figures and the people who knew them and the contemporary records—you get a juicy, scandal-laden, slugfest that rivals any Jerry Springer episode. We like to make our historical figures into cleanly-delineated heroes and villains, but they weren’t—they were real people, no different from us today, no more noble or evil. A few people were in pursuit of a higher cause, but don’t cha know it, that cause usually included some benefit to them and theirs. People lied, cheated, stole, played politics, rigged the game, and had hissy fits. They also loved, grieved, wanted revenge, sought forgiveness, pondered the meaning of life, wondered if it was all worth the cost, tried to do the right thing, and occasionally rose above human nature to do something really heroic and awesome.

I write epic fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk, so there’s a lot of research involved. Some of it is tactical, like double-checking just how far a trebuchet can throw something, or when an invention was patented, or when a word came into usage. But along the way, you stumble down more rabbit holes than Alice, finding unexpected and wondrous tidbits you can use in your story, historical oddities that add realism and interest, quirky or intriguing facts about people and situations that you can borrow and twist for your fictional universe. That’s when research is the coolest, most fun thing in the world.

Whenever I get stuck on what needs to happen in a story to get from where I am to where it needs to go, I research. Every time, I’ll find something either by design or serendipity that provides exactly the imagination fodder to get me around where I’m blocked. Often, this means poking around on the internet, following links from one site to another until the right bit of information appears. Sometimes, I go to my library and see what I can find in my books, where my memory can be jogged about a cool detail I’ve forgotten about that is perfect for the situation. Or I’ll go watch something on the History Channel, usually on military tactics or equipment. Maybe I’ll watch a movie with good fight scenes and pay attention to what happens for ideas. Research is better than WD-40 for getting you unstuck.

Research is also how you ground a story in its time and place. My urban fantasy series, Deadly Curiosities, is set in modern-day Charleston, SC. The steampunk series I co-author with my husband, Larry N. Martin, is set in an alternative history Pittsburgh, PA. A lot of the research we do—both online and by visiting the cities—helps to impart a sense of place and make the setting one of the characters. When you set a story in a specific place, ideally it becomes so much an outgrowth of its location that you (and readers) couldn’t imagine it being anywhere else. Even if you’ve lived in a city or region, you don’t know everything about it. In fact, sometimes we know less about places we’ve lived because we never even take a tourist’s view and do the landmarks, let alone a scholar’s view. Once you start digging, you’ll find tidbits of history, important historical figures, old controversies and buried incidents that provide great mental fodder.

One of the most valuable things research does for me is to take historic figures out of their wax-museum frozenness and the myths that have been built up around them and reveal their humanness, good and bad. (Read the bitter campaign feuding between Founding Fathers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson if you don’t believe me.) While many of these figures were well-known in their own time, they had achieved nothing near the mythic stature we’ve given them since then. Some were actually dismissed or overlooked in their own time because the ramifications and importance of what they did was not yet clear.

By returning historic figures to human scale, I gain perspective as an author on how to create fictional characters who change the world. One thing I learned is that aside from a few megalomaniacs like Napoleon, most of these larger-than-life historical figures were pursuing their own personal agendas, not obsessing over their historic legacy. They were trying to solve a problem or gain an objective, beat a rival or win a prize. That their actions would leave ripple effects throughout the rest of history wasn’t on their minds. They were—as we frequently are now—oblivious to the fallout from their actions, at least in the grand scheme of things. So a general might want to win a battle, and have no clue that by doing so, the stage is set for a disastrous insurrection fifty years later that will topple the very empire he represents. A person in a position of power won’t countenance a new idea because it threatens his ego, and the ultimate advantage goes to his rival, changing the course of history.

Research makes the writing world go ‘round. It’s not only the font of ideas, it’s also entertaining in a guilty pleasures sort of way, like reading tabloid headlines in the grocery line. Just remember to bring popcorn!

My Days of the Dead blog tour runs through October 31 with never-before-seen cover art, brand new excerpts from upcoming books and recent short stories, interviews, guest blog posts, giveaways and more! Plus, I’ll be including extra excerpt links for my stories and for books by author friends of mine. You’ve got to visit the participating sites to get the goodies, just like Trick or Treat! Details here: www.AscendantKingdoms.com

Book swag is the new Trick-or-Treat! Grab your envelope of book swag awesomeness from me & 10 authors http://on.fb.me/1h4rIIe before 11/1!

Trick or Treat! Excerpt from my new urban fantasy novel Vendetta set in my Deadly Curiosities world here http://bit.ly/1ZXCPVS Launches Dec. 29

More Treats! Enter to win a copy of Deadly Curiosities! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/160181-deadly-curiosities

Treats! Enter to win a copy of Iron & Blood! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/160182-iron-blood

Treats not Tricks! An excerpt from Girl In The Hourglass https://especbooks.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/espec-excerpts-the-girl-in-the-hourglass-by-drew-bittner/

Halloween goodies! Here’s an excerpt from What Really Happened At Little Big Horn https://especbooks.wordpress.com/2015/07/01/winner-what-really-happened-at-the-battle-of-little-big-horn/

More Halloween loot! Read an excerpt from “Coffin Box,” one of my Deadly Curiosities short stories http://bit.ly/SDCIjx

About the Author

Gail Martin, Dreamspinner Communications

Gail Z. Martin is the author of the upcoming novel Vendetta: A Deadly Curiosities Novel in her urban fantasy series set in Charleston, SC (Dec. 2015, Solaris Books) as well as the epic fantasy novel Shadow and Flame (March, 2016 Orbit Books) which is the fourth and final book in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga. Shadowed Path, an anthology of Jonmarc Vahanian short stories set in the world of The Summoner, debuts from Solaris books in June, 2016.

Other books include The Jake Desmet Adventures a new Steampunk series (Solaris Books) co-authored with Larry N. Martin as well as Ice Forged, Reign of Ash and War of Shadows in The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven, Dark Lady’s Chosen) from Solaris Books and The Fallen Kings Cycle (The Sworn, The Dread) from Orbit Books and the urban fantasy novel Deadly Curiosities from Solaris Books.

Gail writes four series of ebook short stories: The Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures, The Deadly Curiosities Adventures, The King’s Convicts series, and together with Larry N. Martin, The Storm and Fury Adventures. Her work has appeared in over 20 US/UK anthologies. Newest anthologies include: The Big Bad 2, Athena’s Daughters, Realms of Imagination, Heroes, With Great Power, and (co-authored with Larry N. Martin) Space, Contact Light, The Weird Wild West, The Side of Good/The Side of Evil, Alien Artifacts, Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens.

My Schedule for Stan Lee’s Comikaze

Published on October 27, 2015March 9, 2020 by Bryan

Okay, I am going to Los Angeles for Stan Lee’s Comikaze Comic Con, a place I lived for 7 years and have not visited in 19. Excited to see old friends and see how the city has changed. I will also be hanging out with some very cool people, both at the WordFire Booth #1342, on panels and at the Con generally, including stars from Star Wars, The Flash, Star Trek TOS, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and more. Come join us. I will have early release copies of both my novel, The Worker Prince and my Baen hard SF anthology, Mission: Tomorrow. Here’s where to find me Friday through Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center:

Friday Panels 10/30/15:

4:00 – 4:50 pm Writing Existing Worlds

A panel of authors and editors discuss writing media tie-ins, comics and more in popular franchise from Star Wars to X-Files and more

Genre: Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Panelists: Kevin J. Anderson, David Farland, Jody Lynn Nye, Peter J. Wacks, Neo Edmund

Panel Moderator: Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Room: 505

Saturday Panels 10/31/15:

11:00am-11:50pm Worlds of WordFire

Publisher Kevin J. Anderson and several authors discuss existing and forthcoming titles from WordFire Press, a small up and coming small press publisher whose authors include New York Times Bestsellers like Frank Herbert, David Farland, Jody Lynn Nye, Todd McCaffrey, Alan Dean Foster, and More

Genre: Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Panelists: Kevin J. Anderson, Peter J. Wacks, David Farland, Jody

Lynn Nye, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Neo Edmund, Rebecca Moesta,

Quincy Allen

Panel Moderator: Kevin J. Anderson

Room: 502A

4:00pm-4:50pm Publishing Unlimited: The Many Paths to Worldwide

Publication for Writers

E-Books. Digital Comics. Newsletters. Blogs. Print on demand. For those of us

with a passion for telling stories through the written word, there are now

limitless opportunities to publish, produce, and distribute our work. Of

course, with so many options, it can be a brain scrambler to know which path

is best suited for a particular project. Write it as a book? A Screenplay? A

comic? Is it better to go indie or seek out a traditional publisher? Join this

awesome panel of professional writers and story editors, and story editors as

they discuss the many paths they’ve taken to get their work published and

produced.

Genre: New Media

Panelists: Kevin J. Anderson, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Peter J. Wacks, Rebecca Moesta

Moderator: Neo Edmund

Room: 502A

Sunday Panels 11/01/15:

12:00pm-12:50pm Iron Author:

Like Iron Chef except with writers. Each person Includes subject and a

“secret ingredient”. The audience judges the winner

Genre: Literature

Panelists: Jody Lynn Nye, Rebecca Moesta, Qunicy Allen, Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Moderator: Alexi Vandenberg

Room: 502A

1:00pm-1:50pm How to become an Author:

An award winning panel of bestselling authors discuss how to be an author

and more.

Genre: Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Panelists: Kevin J. Anderson, David Farland, Jody Lynn Nye, Peter J. Wacks,

Rebecca Moesta

Moderator: Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Room: 502A

2:00pm-2:50pm How Not to get published:

What is the surefire way not to get published? Managing editor and

bestselling author Peter J. Wacks and his panel discuss the pitfalls of new

authors trying to break into the field.

Genre: Literature

Panelists: Peter J. Wacks, Quincy Allen, Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Moderator: Alexi Vandenberg

Room: 502A

Venue Details:

Los Angeles Convention Center

1201 South Figueroa Street

Los Angeles, CA 90015

Exhibit Floor

Booth # 1342

Friday October 30^th – 1PM to 7PM

Saturday October 31^st – 9AM to 6PM

Sunday November 1^st – 10AM to 4PM

On The Web: http://comikazeexpo.com/

Friendly reminder to adjust your clocks, Daylight Savings Time ends at 2AM Sunday November 1st

Schedule: 2015 Longview Literary Festival, Metropolitan Community College

Published on October 22, 2015March 9, 2020 by Bryan

This year, Claire Ashgrove, my Finish The Story editing partner and I are guest speakers at the Longview Literary Festival in Lee’s Summit. Here’s our schedule for the day, which is Friday, October 23, 2015.

TIME	CAC 114 – READINGS	CAC 116	CAC 118	BLACK BOX THEATER
10:00 a.m.		Editing 101: A Workshop by Claire Ashgrove and Bryan Thomas Schmidt

11:00 a.m.				Panel Discussion: Working with Small Press: D.L. Rogers, Sean Demory, Marshall Edwards, Bryan Thomas Schmidt
12:00 p.m.	Closed for Keynote Speaker	Closed for Keynote Speaker	Closed for Keynote Speaker	Keynote Speaker – Claire Ashgrove –Writing Contest Winners Announced
1:00 p.m.		Closed for Featured Speaker	Closed for Featured Speaker	Featured Speaker – Bryan Thomas Schmidt

2:00 – 4:00 p.m.	Bryan and Claire at Vendor Table
4:00 p.m.				Panel Discussion: Editors are NOT the Enemy: Claire Ashgrove, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Sara Lundberg
5:00 p.m.	Bryan and Claire at Vendor Table
6:00 p.m.	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closing Remarks – Announcement of Winners of Contests Occurring at The Festival

GUEST POST: Howard Andrew Jones on How I Write

Published on October 14, 2015March 9, 2020 by Bryan1 Comment

Today, my friend, Howard Andrew Jones, one of my favorite writers, shares with us about his writing process. His latest Pathfinder Tales novel, Beyong The Pool of Stars, is out now from TOR and Paizo. But I’ve enjoyed his previous Pathfinder and original novels very much as well. Check them out and enjoy his wise words.

A writing career is a work in progress. I’m always striving to better my writing process.

I suppose I still live in hope that I’ll produce 5k or more of workable prose every day like some of my friends do. And it happens for me, sometimes. More often, though, I’m a 2k to 3k guy. And I’ve decided that might just be the way it works for me, so more and more I’m trying to make sure that the 2 or 3 thousand words I produce are useful ones.

Bit by bit, tweak by tweak, I’ve come to my current method, and it’s served me well for Beyond the Pool of Stars as well as for the book that immediately preceded it and the two books currently on my hard drive. I’ll detail it for you in the hopes you’ll find it useful.

First, three steps I have to take once I have the germ of the novel’s idea:

It probably goes without saying that you have to know your characters. Develop principal characters – and keep that number small – that fascinate you. If you don’t find them interesting no one else will.
Find out what their goals are, then find a way to keep them away in an entertaining way.
Know your villain and what she wants. And make her interesting as well, or you’ll be just as bored as your readers whenever your characters interact with her.

Once I have those pieces I set to work on the outline. I block it out loosely, imagining important scenes. I try to take my characters to fascinating places. Why not create backdrops of wonder with a few lines of description it would take a film company millions to create?

Once I have a basic feel for beginning, middle, and end, I get to plotting chapter by chapter and scene by scene, and my current favorite trick is to block it out like a play.

I write entire scenes with just dialogue and occasional stage direction. It might be that I can perfectly picture the tone of voice or even a moment of description, and if I do, I go ahead and drop it in even during this rough “stage draft.” There aren’t any hard and fast rules for what I can or can’t do at any stage, after all, and if I picture something I really like I try to get it down, even if it’s just a few quick notes.

Once I get the scene working I can either move on to the next section, or punch away at it, getting the dialogue just right. If the scene’s working properly then the more I work on dialogue, the better I can picture it… and the more solid the scene or chapter becomes as I polish. I add detail as I work until that dialogue is surrounded by useful prose and the stage descriptions of what characters are doing transforms into fluid actions.

A stage draft enables me to experiment with the dialogue and flow without investing a whole lot of energy into finessing metaphor and getting into a character’s internal thoughts. If something doesn’t work and the scene goes off the rails, I haven’t wasted hours polishing fool’s gold. And believe me, I’ve done that before.

Neither this method nor any other can work for every writer. If a method worked perfectly for everyone, there wouldn’t be so many writer self-help books out there.

I think it’s been successful for me because I’ve always found that dialogue comes easily. You should always be aware of your weaknesses and work to overcome them. But during the initial composition stages, whatever methods you, try to play to your strengths.

Howard Andrew Jones is the critically acclaimed author of The Desert of Souls, The Bones of the Old Ones, and Pathfinder novels Plague of Shadows, Stalking the Beast and the hot off the presses Beyond the Pool of Stars. A former Black Gate Editor, he also assembled and edited 8 collections of historical fiction writer Harold Lamb’s work for the University of Nebraska Press. He can be found lurking at www.howardandrewjones.com. Follow him on Twitter @howardandrewjon