My Recap of ConDuit 2010

(Paul Genesse and Tom Carr)

My Recap of ConDuit 2010


I had such a great time at ConDuit this past weekend. ConDuit is a science fiction and fantasy convention held here in Salt Lake City. This was its twentieth year and the convention planners and volunteers did a wonderful job. Anyway, I got to hang out with friends and fans, which was a blast. Saturday, May 29 was also my 37th birthday, so that made it even better.

Here’s a public link to a few pictures and below I’ve written a little about the major events I was a part of.

A public link to the pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=223340&id=583339135&l=01885618d1


Friday May 28

Time Travel: Playing with the concept of time seems to be a fun and mind-bending plot device. But what about those pesky logic contradictions that pop up with alarming regularity in many time travel stories? Can there be time travel that works?

Panelists: Roger White, Julie Wright, Eric Swedin, Paul Genesse, Tom Carr.

This was a fun panel and we had an excellent discussion on the topic. None of us believed it is physically possible to actually travel in time, but we all agreed that the concept is not going away any time soon. We all love reading about it and writing about it. The concept of zeitstromen, (timestream) that I use in my Iron Dragon series is a lot of fun for me.

Exploring the Classics: Stories You May Have Missed:
There are certain books, movies, novellas and short stories that should be required knowledge for a sci-fi or fantasy fan, stories that form a base for all other stories in the genre. We all know about The Lord of the Rings and Dune, but what other classics are there that are often missed?

Panelists: Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury, Eric Swedin, Dan Willis, and Paul Genesse.

I’ve posted my notes on this panel here on my blog. Check out the list of authors and novels that I think are great examples of classic sci-fi and fantasy. The discussion was lively, and it’s hard to come up with a small list of books, as there are just so many out there.

Saturday May 29

Riding the Rocket: How to Handle the Career Blast-Off:
The New York Times best-seller list. Second, third and more re-printings; book tours and book signings; lighting has struck and your career went from zero to warp speed. How do you survive the pressure, expectations and distractions with your wits, not to mention future projects, intact? What should you watch out for, and what is normal (if anything) at this stage?

Panelists: L.E. Modesitt, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, James Dashner, and Paul Genesse

This was quite an interesting panel, featuring some amazing writer friends of mine. L.E. Modesitt has been writing for decades and has had such a great career. Brandon Sanderson is the biggest fantasy writer today, and his career seriously blasted off since he was selected to finish the Wheel of Time series. Dan Wells’ book, I Am Not Serial Killer is incredibly successful and it is one of the most disturbing novels I’ve read in years. I can see why he’s so popular and think he’s going to have a long career. James Dashner’s Maze Runner and Jimmy Fincher books have been big hits and I’m so happy that a nice guy has finished first.

My own career is taking off, as my first novel, The Golden Cord is the best selling novel my publisher, Five Star Books has ever had. It’s been reprinted six times, but in many ways, all of us felt that we still have a long way to go in our careers.


The Mike! Show
Do you have a question you want to ask CONduit’s guests? Come to the Mike show, a question and answer talk show hosted by Mike Oberg and featuring Barbara Hambly, Kevin Wasden, James Dashner and Paul Genesse as guests.

Mike Oberg was the host of this interesting panel that featured Kevin Wasden—the artist guest of honor, Barbara Hamby—the autor guest of honor, James Dashner and myself. We had a great time and Mike did a wonderful job with the questions.

Book Signing, 3:00-4:00 PM—My signing went pretty well and I got to meet a bunch of nice people.

Dungeon Crawlers Radio Interview: Malak, Revan and Bilf(spelling?) interviewed me on their internet radio show. We had such a fun time and getting to know them was fantastic. We’re all just gamer geeks at heart. I’ll post a link to the interview when they post it.

Barbara Hambly’s main address on Saturday was enlightening. She spoke about many things and I learned a few tidbits that I’d like to pass along. First, she is the most tattooed history professor in her department (she has a lot of tattoos! No kidding!); she plays World of Warcraft for two hours every Thursday night; she hasn’t watched TV since 1972 or so; she’s written 50 novels; she doesn’t read much fiction; she listens to heavy metal on her iPod on her way to work; she had been a full-time author for 25 years before recently joining the faculty at a community college in California; and she has performed as a belly dancer in the not too recent past. Who knew?

My birthday dinner with friends at Biaggi’s was fabulous. See the pics on Facebook. I got to hang out with some of my best friends, and we celebrated many things, especially the amazing recovery of author Eric Swedin, who almost died of a ruptured brain aneurysm less than six weeks ago. He’s doing great and is smarter than ever. How that man has recovered his intellect in such a short time is quite unbelievable. I was on several panels with him and if he hadn’t told me, I would have never known about his brain aneurysm. We’re all extremely fortunate to still have him with us.

Around 9:30 PM I was interviewed live on the Sector 5 radio show. Talk-Utah (local radio station 630 AM) had me on and we discussed my work. The show should be posted online at some point in the future. I’ll post a link when it is.


Sunday May 30

My reading went extremely well. It was standing room only as many people came to hear Tom Car and I. I read the first chapter of The Secret Empire, book three of the Iron Dragon Series—which is the first time that anyone has heard anything out of book three. I did the voices of the characters and did my best to read aloud from a work that I’ve never “performed” before. My preparation helped and it went great. Then I read the first three pages of No-Tusks, my orc story coming out in the Abyss Walker anthology at some point in the future. It was awesome and I’ve now decided that I have to read No-Tusks aloud whenever I can. The crowd loved it.

Then author and paranormal investigator, Tom Carr read from his book, Talking to Myself in the Dark. He was awesome and his book is so fascinating. See my review previously on my blog or on Amazon.com.

Then I had to run off to a panel. I was sad to have missed the next reading, as Larry Correia read from Monster Hunter International, my favorite book of 2009. I heard he did a fantastic job, and he read from Grim Noir, a book he has coming out in the future.

Different Dragons, Different Visions:
Dragons are a staple of fantasy, whether small or large, friend or foe. What do dragons represent to authors, and to their readers? Why are they given certain traits and characteristics in one story but not in another? A panel of authors discusses dragons, from their own stories, and others’.

Panelists: Barbara Hambly, Jessica Day-George, and Paul Genesse

We had a fascinating discussion regarding the different approaches that authors have taken on dragons. Both Hambly and Day-George have done some amazing things in their books. One of the stand-out authors we discussed is Naomi Novik.

ConDuit was a blast and I’m looking forward to next year, as author Tamora Pierce will be the author guest of honor.

Thanks for reading,


Paul Genesse
Author of The Dragon Hunters
www.paulgenesse.com

My Notes for the ConDuit panel: Exploring the Classics of Sci-Fi/Fantasy

These are notes for a panel I’m on at ConDuit, titled Exloring the Classics: Stories You May Have Missed. I'm posting this in case the attendees or online readers are interested in the stories/writers/books I'm planning on mentioning. There are so many more authors and books, but I can't mention them all. If you have any other classics that you'd like to mention, please let me know.

Panel description:

Exploring the Classics: Stories You May Have Missed:
There are certain books, movies, novellas and short stories that should be required knowledge for a sci-fi or fantasy fan, stories that form a base for all other stories in the genre. We all know about The Lord of the Rings and Dune, but what other classics are there that are often missed?

Books and authors that are very influential in the field of sci-fi and fantasy:

H.G. Wells—The Time Machine
Jules Verne—20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Bram Stoker—Dracula
H.P. Lovecraft
Edgar Rice Burroughs--Tarzan
J.R.R. Tolkien
C.S. Lewis
Lord Dunsany—The King of Elflands Daughter
Fritz Leiber—Fafard and the Grey Mouser
Robert Howard--Conan
Robert Heinlein—Starship Troopers
David Eddings—The Belgariad Books
Arthur C. Clark
Anne McCaffery—Dragon Riders of Pern
Isaac Asimov—Foundation Lost
Frank Herbert—Dune
Roger Zelazny—The Amber books
Michael Moorcock—The Elric Saga
Ursula LeGuin—The Earthsea books
Terry Brooks—The Elfstones of Shannara
Marion Zimmer Bradley—The Mists of Avalon

The War at Troy by Quintus of Smyrna

Age of Wonder: Exploring the World of Science Fiction, edited by David Hartwell
Alternate Worlds: An Illustrated History of Science Fiction, edited by James Gunn
The Best of the Nebulas
Science Fiction Hall of Fame
Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy

ConDuit 2010

Paul Genesse’s Panels and Events at ConDuit 2010
http://conduit.sfcon.org/


Friday May 28, 2010
12:00 PM—Time Travel
2:00 PM—Exploring the Classics: Stories You May Have Missed

Saturday May 29 (my birthday, I’ll be 37)
10:00 AM—Riding the Rocket: How to Handle the Career Blast-off
1:00 PM—The Mike Show (Mike O. will be interviewing me, Barbara Hambly who is the author guest of honor, Kevin Wasden, and James Dashner).
3:00-4:00 PM—Book Signing

Sunday May 30
11:00-11:30 AM—Reading, I’ll be reading from The Secret Empire. Tom Carr will be reading at 11:30 from his book, Talking to Myself in the Dark in the Executive Board Room.
12:00 PM—Different Dragons, Different Visions


Panel Descriptions Below:

Friday May 28

Time Travel: Playing with the concept of time seems to be a fun and mind-bending plot device. But what about those pesky logic contradictions that pop up with alarming regularity in many time travel stories? Can there be time travel that works?

Exploring the Classics: Stories You May Have Missed:
There are certain books, movies, novellas and short stories that should be required knowledge for a sci-fi or fantasy fan, stories that form a base for all other stories in the genre. We all know about The Lord of the Rings and Dune, but what other classics are there that are often missed?


Saturday May 29

Riding the Rocket: How to Handle the Career Blast-Off:
The New York Times best-seller list. Second, third and more re-printings; book tours and book signings; lighting has struck and your career went from zero to warp speed. How do you survive the pressure, expectations and distractions with your wits, not to mention future projects, intact? What should you watch out for, and what is normal (if anything) at this stage?

The Mike! Show
Do you have a question you want to ask CONduit’s guests? Come to the Mike show, a question and answer talk show hosted by Mike Oberg and featuring Barbara Hambly, Kevin Wasden, James Dashner and Paul Genesse as guests.

Book Signing, 3:00-4:00 PM

Sunday May 30

Reading: I’ll be reading from The Secret Empire. Ghost Hunter, Tom Carr will be reading at 11:30 from his book, Talking to Myself in the Dark in the Executive Board Room.

Different Dragons, Different Visions:
Dragons are a staple of fantasy, whether small or large, friend or foe. What do dragons represent to authors, and to their readers? Why are they given certain traits and characteristics in one story but not in another? A panel of authors discusses dragons, from their own stories, and others’.

Mercur Cemetery

Mercur Cemetery (check out all the pics on the public link to my Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=208020&id=583339135&l=16fd084bbb


You’re walking on the unmarked graves of gold miners, prostitutes, and children when you set foot in the old Mercur Cemetery near Tooele, Utah. It’s a creepy place, with a strange amount of dark beauty. Think haunted forest with a view.

What I’m referring to is my third ghost hunt with Wasatch Paranormal Investigators on April 9, 2010. It was quite interesting, but had a different vibe than the last hunt I went on. This time I was only freaked out a couple of times, and only very briefly. The feeling at the cemetery was more peaceful, than terrifying.

We tramped around the forested cemetery on a ridge for several hours looking at the marked graves and wondering how many unmarked graves we were walking on.

We did have some strange encounters. At one point during the freezing night (32 degrees) we were standing around a small campfire, taking a break, when I was inviting any spirits present to come and join us. I was shushed by Tom Carr and Larry Correia. Very loud, heavy footsteps were right behind us on the gravel path, not more than ten feet away. We shone our lights on the path, but no one was there and our whole group was standing still around the fire.

We also had some serious K2 sessions. A K2 meter is an electromagnetic field monitoring device that lights up when there are changes to the electromagnetic field. At Annie’s grave, the little girl’s grave is in my pictures, we had a long yes/no session with a spirit—probably hers. We would ask yes or no questions and the spirit would respond by tapping the device once or twice. Once for no, twice for yes. It was very creepy.

We had a few other K2 sessions that night, but we didn’t see any full-bodied apparitions. Tom Carr describes his first investigation at the cemetery in his book, Talking to Myself in the Dark, and sadly, we didn’t have that sort of experience. That time, Tom and his group ended up fleeing the cemetery not long after they arrived.

You just never know what sort of experience you’re going to have when you go on a paranormal investigation. Some crazy part of me wanted to be terrified out of my mind, but the more rational part was relieved we left on our own terms, instead of being chased away by angry ghosts.


Paul Genesse
Author of The Dragon Hunters
www.paulgenesse.com

The Lion King Musical/Aspiring Authors Conference

Jack Bagby, his mom Christy Bagby, with Paul & Tammy Genesse at The Lion King musical at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.


Hello,

I went to Vegas to teach at an Aspiring Young Authors Conference. Tammy went along and we met up with my friend Christy Babgy and her son, Jack. We hung out, went to The Lion King and had dinner at Tratorra Del Lupo, then went to The Excalibur to play some games at the Midway. It was lots of fun.

Here's the public link to the pics on Facebook. Sorry that some of them are blurry. A few of the "helpful" photographers had unsteady hands.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=206453&id=583339135&l=23c7814e1a


Best wishes,

Paul Genesse
Author of The Dragon Hunters
www.paulgenesse.com

The Gangsters of Little Moscow

This photo, by Clemens Kalischer, was the inspiration for a free writing project I did recently. I sat in during a writing seminar given by a fellow presenter at a Young Writers Conference in Las Vegas. Cindie Geddes of Flying Hand writing services, www.flyinghand.com, had us write for three minutes after looking at a random image. She had a pile of postcards and she gave me this one.

This is what I wrote in three minutes. No editing has been done to my story, which I guess is flash fiction. Enjoy.


The Gangsters of Little Moscow

By Paul Genesse


Grandfather was a killer. Father was a killer. I am my father's son. The family business is complicated, but our methods are simple. People pay us or we cause them pain. My father is a master of this. He learned from the best. The Russian way is not a way of niceties and kind words. It is a way of suffering and winter. We provide a service and for those who cross us we provide a different service. I will continue the family business and if I'm not gunned down like a dog, my sons will be gangsters of Little Moscow like me.

The Nubian Queen, my steampunk story

(I imagine that Sahdi, the Nubian Queen in my steampunk short story coming out from DAW Books in 2011, is as beautiful as Tyra Banks (pictured above) and as powerful of personality as Oprah Winfrey. For those of you who don't know, steampunk is a sub-genre of science-fiction and fantasy. It has Victorian sensibilities, steam power, and is often set in an alternate history Earth. I loved writing this story and can't wait for it to be published.

Here's the first scene.


The Nubian Queen
By Paul Genesse

Lower Nubia, 1854 A.D.

Queen Sahdi gave the command to destroy the tracks ahead of the armored train as it steamed through the savannah beside Lake Nubia. She stood behind the thick ramparts of Gebel Adda, an ancient fortress situated in the hills that marked the border, wondering how many of her brave soldiers, and how many of the Egyptian emperor’s, were about to die.

Through the telescopic sight on her rifle, Sahdi inspected the cannon barrels and machine gun turrets that bristled from every car on the train. The emperor’s generals would use the railcars to spearhead their attack for as long as they could. Her artillery hidden in the hills and the big guns at Gebel Adda would kill everyone who remained in the flatlands and leave the train a burning wreck.

A puff of white smoke, then a thunderous boom echoed from the bottleneck canyon that led to the train yard at the base of Nubia’s largest fortress. Boulders tumbled and covered the iron rails and the handful of unfortunate Libyan scouts inspecting the tracks for sabotage or explosives. The war train screeched to a halt a hundred yards away from the rock fall as dust filled the air.

Queen Sahdi lowered her rifle as General Kemani waited for her signal to open fire on the invading army now that the first part of their trap had been sprung. Five thousand Egyptian infantrymen in green tunics and tan trousers marching in columns behind the train formed firing lines, and some took cover beside the elevated train bed. The two dozen rhino mortar and machine gun trucks stopped rolling forward on their spiked metal wheels, smoke from their flash-boilers mixing with the dust, as they took aim at the hills on either side of the canyon.
A flag-bearer exited the train.

“A white flag?” Sahdi quickly looked through her scope as a group of men exited the second car and walked ahead of the locomotive carrying what appeared to be a folded up shade tent and poles—in addition to the unexpected truce flag.

“Your Majesty, shall I send our terms?” General Kemani asked, his weathered face bearing little emotion.

Sahdi sucked in her breath as far as the ivory corset in her dress would allow and got a mouthful of chalky dust as she beheld the face of the man standing beside the flag-bearer. It was General Nahktebbi himself. Seeing the man who had humiliated her when she was a girl stoked the kind of rage in Sahdi reserved for the cruelest criminals. The vile man had harmed her in a way no one else could. It had been so many years, but she could neither forget nor forgive. She rested the gun on her shooting tripod on the rampart wall, trying to calm herself and slow her pounding heart. She applied a subtle amount of pressure to the trigger. It was a far shot, but with the scope and her years hunting on the Nubian savannah, Nahktebbi would be a dead man shortly after she pulled the trigger.

“Your Majesty,” General Kemani said. A note of alarm had crept into his voice. “They’re under the white flag and I’ve noticed you’ve released the safety on your rifle.”

Sahdi let our her breath, taking very careful aim at the general’s broad chest and noting the slight westerly wind. “Yes, but it is Nahktebbi.” She corrected her aim. “When he falls, send the signal for the artillery to open fire. Then contact the Meroë Cavalry Division and have them cut off any escape. Our spies must cut the telegraph lines at Abu Simbel immediately. I want the first message the emperor gets in Luxor to be Nahktebbi’s head in a reed basket.”

The general cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, please ask yourself why the emperor sent General Nahktebbi to fight this battle. He knew you would be here. He knew how you would react.”

Kemani stepped closer, his boot heels scraping on the stone. “Word of this breach of protocol will reach every court in the empire. What chance will we have then against the emperor?”

Sahdi pulled away from her rifle, slowly regaining control. She was the ruler of Nubia, not some barbarian queen like Victoria from the British Isles who executed enemies with her own hands. Sahdi had studied for nine years at the Library of Alexandria with the greatest philosophers, historians, and scientists in the world, then spent a dozen years ruling her own country. The blood of Cleopatra the Great flowed through her veins. Despite all of this, Sahdi had almost taken the bait. Emperor Demetrius had known how to make her blood boil. In a fit of blind rage she had almost pulled the trigger, dishonorably killing an enemy general under a truce flag and guaranteeing a long and bloody war with her portrayed as a criminal. Her reputation would be smeared like Cleopatra’s had been by Octavian and the Roman senate.

Sahdi turned around, her long tan dress fringed with a lion’s mane swirling about her. She stood tall, a full head above most of the men behind her. Nubia’s brightest generals, ministers, soldiers, and servants would spring into action once the words of command fell from her lips. She was so proud of what they had all accomplished during her reign. These women and men had helped guide her sweeping social reforms, built up Nubia’s massive industries along the Nile, and established Meroë as the dominant center of trade in the entire Sahel. These few could accomplish anything, and Sahdi’s fierce dark eyes, full of pride, passed over all of them. Their skin was dark brown like hers, but she could see into their souls like they were wearing the sheerest linen. Not a coward or incompetent fool was among her inner circle.

How could she have allowed herself to come so close to destroying what they had accomplished together? Sahdi would speak to the leaders of the Holy Coptic Emperor’s army and give them one final chance to leave her country in peace. Words could be more powerful than bullets. Sahdi rested the butt of her rifle on the ground. She would give it up for something much more intimidating. Queen Sahdi gave her order with the confidence only someone in her esteemed bloodline could muster. “Bring me my crown.”