Fantasy Festival 2008

 

 

Hello,

 

I heard Beowulf give a speech on Saturday. Yes, it was loud. The sound and power of Old English is amazing. Okay, so it wasn't the real Beowulf, but was actually a Beowulf scholar named Dr. Michael Drout. He's a J.R.R. Tolkien scholar as well, one of the leading ones in the world and has written several books on various subject. I heard him give two talks about Beowulf and Tolkien. Dr. Drout began the second one by walking in and reciting the first ten lines of the epic poem. Apparently, Professor Tolkien would do the same thing, except he would recite the first fifty lines! That would scare away a bunch of the students so he wouldn't have all those papers to grade.

 

I learned of all of these fun things at the Fantasy Festival in Salt Lake City. The one day festival brought together a bunch of interesting people who all have a love for fantasy. Gloria Jensen, the main organizer of the festival did a great job putting it together. She runs a non-profit group called Into the West and all the money went to help kids.

 

Dr. Drout and Gloria Jensen  (Visit Dr. Drout's website)

 

 

Dr. Michael Drout and Author Paul Genesse

 

I was able to have dinner with Dr. Drout and it was so great to be sitting beside a Tolkien scholar. He is so smart and learned a lot about Beowulf and Tolkien by listening to him. What an interesting career he's had and I'm looking forward to reading his book and to listening to his CD where he reads the entire Beowulf poem in Old English.

 

I had a table and displayed my books. It was the first time I had copies of The Golden Cord to sell. I sold a bunch and life was good. My writing classes were fun and had such a great time. I just get so excited when I talk about writing. Also, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com sold out of books in the first three days when the book came out. Life is good and the wonderful reviews have really helped. If any of you have read the book please post a review on Amazon and Barnes and Noble's sites.

About writing, the main point I made was about creating memorable characters. Check out the Writers Symposium Ezine for some excellent tips on characterization. We went through the whole seven elements of story taught to me by Kij Johnson, taught to her by James Gunn, the famous science fiction writer and teacher.

 

You know the seven point idea:

 

A character

in a context

with a conflict

who tries

and fails

which builds to a climax

and ends with a resolution.

 

I love the try/fail cycle idea. The whole thing is a basic idea, but it helps a lot when you're putting a story together from scratch. Read Jim Gunn's numerous books, articles, and writings to learn more, or ask me sometime and I'll talk your ear off.

 

Thanks for reading! And happy writing!

 

Paul Genesse, Author and Editor  www.paulgenesse.com

 

Author of The Golden Cord

Book One of the Iron Dragon Series

Official I-Con Report

Me. New York. Loved it!

Below is my official I-Con convention report (www.iconsf.org). Some names have been changed to protect the innocent, but more likely they’re changed because I can’t quite remember them all in my sleep deprived state. Now, I didn’t meet all 8,000 attendees, but I did meet a lot of them, and what fabulous people they were.

Being a guest of I-Con was such a great highlight for me, and an auspicious start to my book tour. There were just scores of great people at the I-Con convention in New York this past weekend.

It started with a great flight from Salt Lake to JFK airport. I met Chris, a woman going to meet her husband in New York and Robert, a businessman from Ireland who was a really fun fellow. We had a fabulous chat and the three of us talked the whole flight long. It was a lot of fun and time went so fast. There three of us became fast friends.

I arrived at JKF Airport and was met by a volunteer (Scott) from the I-Con convention, of which I was an invited guest because of my writing and role-playing game experience.

I-Con took care of everything: hotel, flight, food, and transportation. A volunteer driver, (another Scott), showed up and along with the two Gaming Guests of Honor from Wizards of the Coast: Bill Slavicek (head of game design, the big guy himself!) and Mike Mearls (one of the best game designers on the planet). Both Mike and Bill are heroes of mine and I was honored to be with them. They are so nice and after talking with them I can’t wait to read more about 4^th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, I’m an uber Geek.

Scott, Bill, Mike and I took the 1.5 hour journey from JFK Airport to Stony Brook, New York, in Long Island. What a great trip. Getting to chat with Bill, Mike, and Scott was really cool.

After I dropped off my bags, Scott took me to the convention at Stony Brook University. He escorted me around and we hung out in the Green Room, the place where guests can get food and such. The VIP ribbon on my badge was my all access pass. Then I got to hang out with lots of cool gamers and fans in the Student Activity Center. The guy running it all, “Dregg,” was extremely cool, and all of the volunteers were awesome. I was quite impressed. They made me feel right at home and I’m so thankful for them. We hung out and made friends.

Later that night, I went with some of my new friends to watch the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica season 4. This is the final season. The first episode was so incredible. We watched it in a huge theater with several hundred fans. What an amazing experience it is to watch that kind of show with rowdy fans. We cheered, whistled, clapped, gasped! And had a wonderful time. Watching BSG on the big screen is incredible. My big screen TV at home does not do it justice. Sigh. Oh well. I got goose-bumps during the show a few times and the energy in the theater was invigorating. The whole vibe of the convention was great. People were so excited and many were in costume. I just love it when people can let out their true nature and be among friends.

There were lots more great chats on the bus ride to the hotel with some new friends who watched BSG with me. I loved it.

Finally, the first night ended after a stop in the Green Room for munchies at the hotel. They had a green room at the hotel and at the convention center. Life was good. The fluffy pillows were also good, but there was no little Tammy to share them with.

I should not have checked my email though. An agent declined to represent me with my current novel, Medusa’s Daughter. Oh well. Someone will eventually. Sleep finally happened as I tried not to think about the rejection from the cool agent.

Saturday was a blur of activity on little sleep. I had a panel up against Bill and Mike’s two hour 4^th Edition D&D seminar. Needless to say, no one came to listen to me. No one played any games at that time either. Everyone filled an auditorium to listen to Bill and Mike describe the future of our beloved game. I made it down eventually myself and learned a lot. I think 4^th Edition will be wonderful. I’m really looking forward to it.

Anyway, later that day I hung in the dealer’s room. Margaret Weiss Productions was there and they gave me a space at their table to display my stuff. I got to meet Jamie and Renae Chambers, a fantastic couple. Jamie wrote the BSG role-playing game and Renae is a great lady who I adore very much. She’s tough as nails and has my favorite kind of determination. She’s survived a lot of surgeries and her character is top notch. All of the people with them are great, especially Lindsay ______, an amazing artist, who was along with Jamie and Renae. I bought some of her art and I can’t wait to hang it on my walls.

Okay, on Saturday I ran a 3 hour Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms D&D game. It went so well and I had 10 players total. The game was really fun and they got right into the spirit of it. A few of them hadn’t played D&D before, but it didn’t matter. All of the players were fun people. The game ended in such an unexpected and cool way. It was very memorable for all of us. I’m happy to have met such nice people.

I signed some books and then went to the I-Con awards banquet with Cherise Fung, Mike Mearls and Bill Slavicek. Cherise is a very good person, and is the one responsible for inviting me to the convention. We were late, but the food was good and awards very entertaining. Harlan Ellison received the I-Conosphere Award and gave an extremely vulgar speech, that was quite entertaining. He did admit to writing an episode of the old TV show, The Flying Nun, but only because he wanted to have sex with Sally Field. Though he described it in a much more colorful way. Yes, he used the F-word a lot when describing this activity that he failed have with dear Sally Field.

I was seated with the co-recipients of the I-Con award for gaming: Wizards of the Coast (represented by Mike and Bill), and Margaret Weiss Productions (represented by Renae and Jamie Chambers). What fine people they all are and very deserving of the award. Both are leaders in the business and they bring so much fun to so many people.

After the show I went back to the con with the leader of the gaming track, a cool fellow who goes by “Dregg.” He drove me back to the con, which was a great perk. It was a highlight to meet him and we had a fun chat in the car. I just love talking with fellow lovers of fantasy and sci-fi.

So, that night I laughed my butt off watching a promo DVD for the game Demon Hunters. It was an orientation DVD for new recruits and so incredibly funny.

Then I ran another Pirates D&D game from 11 PM to 1 AM. Six of the ten players from earlier came back for more, and one new player came for the game. We ran part two of the adventure and it was so funny my stomach hurt from laughing. We all had a wonderful time. A guy named Shane hijacked the game while playing the salty Sea Dog, Codfrey Saltpans, known as “Cod.” It was just too much fun. It was just sidesplitting entertainment and we ended about 1:00 AM.

After about five hours of sleep, “Dregg” drove me, Bill and Mike to the convention and I proceeded to buy art. Yes, it’s an addiction. I just can’t help myself.

But I met some great artists: the famous Ken Kelly, Lindsay Archer, Scott Grimando, Maurine Starkey, Mike Okamoto, and I bought art from Chimera Publishing. The guy who owns Chimera is a close personal friend of Ciruelo Cabarl, my cover artist. I had a wonderful time.

After the goodbyes, Scott drove Bill, Mike and myself to the airport. It was too quick of a trip, but it was a great one. I look forward to next year and hope they’ll invite me out again.

Thanks for reading and have a great day.

Paul Genesse

Author of The Golden Cord

Book One of the Iron Dragon Series

Five Star Books, April 2008

THERE WILL BE DRAGONS!

THERE WILL BE DRAGONS!

. . . at Paul's book release party, Saturday, May 10 from 3-9 PM, the day before I leave for my book tour.

This party is a thank you for all of the wonderful support that I have received over the years, and to celebrate the release of THE GOLDEN CORD, BOOK ONE OF THE IRON DRAGON SERIES, releasing April 16 from Five Star Books.

 

Please bring your friends and family, kids welcome. Check out the art gallery featuring over 70 fantasy art prints, have some food, and be one of the first people to get the book: $20 for one beautiful hardcover and only $15 for each additional. Free posters and bookmarks for everyone!

If you can't attend please send me your mailing address and I'll send you a free 11x17 inch poster and a few bookmarks.

RSVP via email: pgenesse(AT)msn.com by April 27 and let me know how many are coming and how many books you want.

WHERE WILL THE DRAGONS BE?

The House of Genesse (Paul and Tam's house, grin)

9543 South 4240 West

South Jordan, UT 84095 (a suburb of Salt Lake City)

801-282-5393

Visit www.paulgenesse.com to read chapter one.

The book has gotten some really good reviews and thank you all for helping me along the way. The book is available for pre-order online at all the major booksellers. Check it out on Amazon.com or get an autographed copy on my website.

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Cord-Book-Iron-Dragon/dp/1594146594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207243229&sr=8-1

The release of my first novel is such a huge moment for me. Thank you for your support. I truly appreciate it and hope to see you all soon. If you can't make the party, please come to the signing at the Sugarhouse Barnes and Noble on June 6, or visit me during my book tour.

Please forward this to your friends, post on your blogs and call your local libraries and ask them to order a copy. If you call your library in the next week I will be forever grateful. (big smile)

I hope to see you all soon.

 

Paul Genesse, Author and Editor

Editor of the Writer's Symposium Ezine
www.paulgenesse.com/writerssymposiumezine

World Building in Tropical Forests

Hello,

Below is a great essay by Writers' Symposium Member Sabrina Klein.

Paul Genesse, Editor
Writers' Symposium Ezine


World Building in Tropical Forests: by Sabrina Klein ( elvenfire(at)att.net )

Social Structure: Usually groups are no bigger than a large clan or tribe. This gives way to government from within. This is important in reference to whom governs the group. The only reason for migration is to find sustenance, territorial dispute, and /or seasonal migration due to weather. Neither matriarchies nor patriarchies have a history of dominance on Earth in these environments. Matriarchy/patriarchy has a large role to play here. Division of labor is usually based on sex in small groups like this. This type of ecosystem usually spawns a hunter gatherer society. Hunting may most likely be accomplished by males and gathering and child rearing done by females.



Kinship and Descent: The group is most likely to have a very strong emphasis on family. Marriage is usually from within the group, unless a bride is negotiated for from outside, via bride price, raiding party, war, or trade. Children usually stay with the mother until a certain age, and then they can go elsewhere; such as if the child is male and learning to hunt with the father. However, do not discount the power of woman in a culture such as this. If the father has little to do with the early child rearing then most of the early values are impressed by the mother.



Religion & magic: Tropical forests generally create an individualistic or shamanistic religion. Shamans are highly respected as they are the only connection to the supernatural from the profane (mundane), and they can often bring or keep health from failing, or bring doom or save the group. The religion itself defines whether the religious specialist is exclusively male or female. It doesn't have to be influenced by the gender dominance within the social structure but it often is.

Usually if the society is matriarchal the main deity of power is female and vice versa. Hunter-gatherers tend to be nature oriented, and use the personification of animals, and/or celestial bodies. Ancestor worship can occur, but sometimes it's found within a more stable environment where the group isn't constantly moving; such as the ancient Chinese.



Economics: Economics of the Jungle could be interesting. Hunter-gatherers are most often traders. They lack the stability to have a hard currency because crea tion of money requires a stable site of residence. Unless each tribe used something that it manufactured from nature, but then counterfeiting could be an issue. Tribes could be raiders, and pillage until they have enough goods. They would then move past the raided tribes range to trade the goods acquired in another area as though it were their own.



Language: This would be more affected by the type of life that the ecology forces upon the inhabitants. The nomadic lifestyle would create a high exposure or a low exposure to other dialects or languages, and influence the originator's vernacular accordingly.



World building Tropical Forest:

Creating a culture here from nothing must take into account the effect of the ecology on the creature living in it. Carrying capacity dictates that a certain area of land can only support a certain amount of life. Therefore as groups grow larger they need more land to sustain them; (IE: hypothetically 50 people for food and water per 5 acres). The nomadic tribe may use women as a commodity in trade, creating a patriarchal system where daughters are highly valued because of the wealth obtainable through trade. If this is the case what does the religion say... most likely a male deity is at the top of the pantheon... or is there a pantheon?? Monotheism could create a way for control via the male patriarchs.

This eliminates a higher power for appeal within the supernatural. Then what is the "evil" supernatural like. Is it dominated by the feminine? What traits does this evil portray? It would concur that the evil deity would personify female disobedience, and is there a reviled cult of rebellious women that run the cult in secrecy..., logic would stand that it may be made of mostly mothers and grandmothers, very few maidens. Mothers would be the most likely to rebel against this part of the economy and religion being reluctant to part with their flesh and blood.

This cult would create political strife within the caste of women in reference both to each other, the loyal obedient women of the culture, and the independent thinking females that realize that the religion is being used as a source of power for the men. Are there separate eating, sleeping, and dressing areas for woman and men. Division of labor becomes a must, and thereby affects the economy of material wealth other than the w omen that the tribe gives birth to. The language may use all references to things in a general form as a male point of view. It may also have given way to a separate language of prestige used among the males for political and social ties.

Dead To Me

 

 

I just started reading a cool book by Anton Strout, a member of the Writer's Symposium. Dead To Me is a novel about a paranormal investigator with the power of psychometry: being able to touch an object and divine information about its history. Sounds great, but  for the main character, Simon Canderous, it's not that cool. Touching your girlfriend's belongings by accident can show you things you really didn't want to see.

 

Check out Dead To Me on Amazon.com where it's on sale for only $7.99. 

 

Happy reading!

 

Paul Genesse, Editor of the Writer's Symposium Ezine

Gen Con Writer's Symposium

 

Hello,

Here's the promo flyer for the 2008 Gen Con Writer's Symposium. It's going to be so much fun.

Please visit http://www.jeanrabe.com/page3.html for a description of the many panels.

Paul Genesse, Editor of the Writer's Symposium Ezine

World Building, Geography and Maps

World Building: Geography & Maps
By Paul Genesse
www.paulgenesse.com


The world you create is an important character in your fiction.
Develop the personality of the place where your story is set.

●Write a biography on your setting from the land’s point of view. Here’s a sample from a bio I wrote for my fantasy novel, Medusa’s Daughter.

“I am Kastaros, the island of the cursed. Once I was the home of a great people, but they have gone now, killed or scared away when the fire and vapors within me boiled forth. Only those cursed by the gods live upon me now.
The sea tries to cool my shoulders, but it will never tame me. Storms and rain may come and slowly erode my slopes, but I will rise again if need be. Perhaps someday I will tire of this existence in the windswept sea and explode until there is nothing left of me. I will spread out across the world, hide the sun and choke the world with my ash.”

● Keep in mind the most important geographic and other features that influence the people who live where you story is set. Please read Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond to learn more. Decide if the land has:

Stable agriculture?
Navigable rivers?
Mountains, deserts, or bodies of water that close it off from other areas?
Plants that are easily domesticated?
Animals that are easily domesticated?
A mild or harsh climate?
Deadly diseases that are endemic to the area?
A population that has been there a long or short period of time?
Natural resources that benefit the local population?

●Resources to help you draw maps of your world.
Fractal Mapper www.nbos.com
Campaign Cartographer by ProFantasy Software Ltd. www.Profantasy.com
Autorealm www.autorealm.sourceforge.net/index.php (free)
Or hand draw it, scan it, put it in Power Point and type on it, or use a drawing program.

Great places to study maps:
National Geographic Atlas of the World and www.nationalgeographic.com
Google Earth at earth.google.com or Google Mars at google.com/mars/
Study maps in novels and games at the bookstore or library