NecronomiCON 2013 after-report

Elizabeth Bear once told me that Providence is a non-Euclidian city, that it has never been properly mapped, and that you cannot fathom it's complexity. I should listen to her more.



Aside from the 'getting there' problem (I stayed off-site , requiring me to drive in each morning. I got lost two days out of three), NecronomiCON 2013 was massively awesome. I met a lot of people who I respect (Liard Barron, Cody Goodfellow, John Langan, Joe Pulver, Scott Adam Glancy), reaffirmed friendships with people I've met in the past (Wilum Pugmire, Jack Haringa, Lois Gresh, Dr. Faye Ringel), and generally enjoyed myself having conversations with well-read Lovecraftians. The programming was pretty good, although I found the more specific panels ("Lovecraft and Sex, Gender, and Sexuality," "The Long Shadow: Lovecraft's Influence") to be more satisfying than the general ones.



I would estimate that the female-to-male ratio was probably 1:5, but that's a quantum leap over previous Lovecraftian conventions I have attended.

Either there's a curse on me, or proofreaders are in sharp decline. With the last three books I purchased at conventions, I've cracked the first page, and discovered a typo. This particularly egregious in the case of Cody Goodfellow's Deepest, Darkest Eden, because Nick Mamatas is such a stickler about typos. SLightly more annoying was picking up a copy of Undead and Unbound with a magnificent cover by Paul Mudie, which I have a story in. The table of contents lists my story as being on page 199, when it actually starts on page 197. Weird. And unique to my story. All the rest start on their listed pages.





Friday's lunch I spent with a gentleman whose name I don't remember. We chatted at the bar of Viva Mexica, an excellent and reasonably priced Mexican place close the Hotel Providence. Wonderful talk, and a cool place. But I'm wondering if anybody tell me anything about this statue? It appears to be a Mexican, or perhaps Aztec, woman with a bow. I've never read any stories about Mexican or Aztec women shooting archery, so I'm very curious.



Creativity was on diplay everywhere. Here, Larry Elig sits with his quite astonoshing hand-sculpted Cthulhu. It's beautiful.





Providence was very welcoming. Once you got in, of ocurse. The convention was split between two different buildings, meaning the con-goers got some much-needed sunshine moving from the Biltmore to the Hotel Providence. And even that wasn't bad because the troad was lovely and antiquarian. The buildings in downtown Providence are from a different era. And they're quite lovely. I didn't mind walking down this road a couple of times a day.



And so I went to the Hotel Providence for a panel, and was stunned by the clock they have in there. If anything ever should stand in for Brian Lumley's de Marigny's clock, it's this bad boy. The maitre'd was kind enough to provide me with a fact sheet, which tells me it is circa 1900 from the CDilbert Company of Winsted, Connecticut. It's in the Egyptian Revival style, and made of walnut.





Saturday was more panels, and fewer pictures. I was getting wrapped up at the con, the air of Providence, and all the wonderful Lovecraftian stuff. It was wonderful, and I had a magnificent lunch with Cody Goodfellow and Wilum Pugmire. Meals like that are like rock and roll camp. You're having a conversation with people whose opinions really matrter to you, and they're listening and conversing with you. There's nothing like a conversation about tradecraft, or the process, with a cxouple of creative people. Magnificent conversation is part of the reason I drove myself to write. I remember listening to Tim Powers talk about the conversations he has had, and I desperately wanted to be part of those. Now, I'm starting to be part of them. And it's wonderful.

Sunday was the last day, but the panels were excellent. The guests were tired, so there was a bit less filtering going on between the brain and the mouth. A lot of honest opinions from some very interesting people who love Lovecraft. Special shout-out to Lois Gresh and Caitlin Kiernan for their fascinating insights into HP Lovecraft and the sexual nature that seethed under the surface of his writing.

The last lunch was with Jack Haringa and John Langan, both excellent writers. But they can sustain a dick joke longer than my Pathfinder group. Way longer. Guys, Michael Sisco's Member is neither that long, and isn't all that hard. And that's all I'm saying.

I regretted leaving Providence, but sleep was something I needed, and it was a long way back to the haunted Green Mountains. I loved Necronomicon, and plan on getting a better package for 2015. I want to go to the prayer breakfast, I want to go too the special meet and greet for gold members. Next time, when the stars are right.

After twenty years, I'm going back to Portsmouth!

This weekend, I will be the guest (my first time as the guest of a convention) at Anthocon, hosted by Shroud Press, in Portsmouth, NH.

Portsmouth is a lovely town on the New Hampshire coast... I used to visit there when I was in college. Among other things, it has the USS Nautilus, the US's first nuclear submarineUSS Albacore, formerly the US Navy's fastest submarine (Thanks to Donovan Loucks and Dan Foley for correcting me on that). But it was a nice little touristy place, quite attractive, with some nice shops. And now I'm going back.

Why? Because Shroud Books is publishing Epitaphs, the first anthology of the New England Horror Writers Association. And I'm in it.

I wrote "Not an Ulcer" for the gay-themed Unspeakable Horror anthology. It was one of my bridesmaid stories, and something like the third story I’d seriously written. The anthology asked for a rewrite, which they ultimately rejected. But just being asked for a rewrite was pretty big. But Lee Thomas had a story with a similar concept called “I’m Your Violence.” Do I stack up against Lee Thomas? I think not! But hey, I got asked to do a rewrite! At that time, 2008, I was in the running for several anthologies, and although I was in the second-to-last cut for all of them, I didn’t get into any. I started calling these bridesmaid stories on this blog; always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

The story is based in some way in my job time in California, but no character is based on anyone I knew. I wanted to do a story about someone at war with himself. At first, there were several Rush Limbaugh references, but I’ve cut them out. People read stories to be entertained, not to be preached at.

The story takes a real chance with the main character–the first line makes it quite clear that he’s a bigot, very difficult to sympathize with him. But I'm good with character, and I like a challenge.

I originally send “Nicaragua 1986” for consideration, which was written with the intention of submitting it to Epitaphs. I sent “Not an Ulcer” as an off-chance, since it had been rejected by five different markets but Tracy liked it. I don’t do body horror often, and I did polish it a little after every rejection, so it’s a much stronger story now than when it was submitted to Unspeakable Horror.

Templecon 2010

I went to Templecon 2010 last weekend. This year, the convention was less exclusively about Warmachine (although there was still a lot of Warmachine). It had also moved venue to something that wasn't seven floors above ground, which made moving equipment and bulky packs stuffed with miniatures a lot easier.

The main event was Warmachine. And there was a LOT of it.


I never personally saw all the tables being played, but that is a load of tables, and that's a lot of people playing.

Other games were present in the periphery: Monsterpocalypse, Warhammer Fantasy, 40,000, Heavy Gear (I'd play if I could field all hovertanks. Yes, I'm an enormous Hammer's Slammers geek) and and Flames of War. I took this picture because it was the absolute epitome of the Flames of War game for me: A gentleman in a French cap playing a guy wearing a sweatshirt with a German Tiger Tank on it.


That is what Flames of War is all about.

I did not play. I've lost my taste for Warmachine. But I hung around the scenario table my brother set, called "Incoming!" which distributed dice, T-shirts, and artillery fire to anyone who wanted some. "Incoming!" proved popular, because it was well set up, and run, as well as providing an extra dimension to the experience it doesn't usually have: sound.



This is Tristan and George playing on the "Incoming!" table. Note the stacks of craters piled up at the base of the big, black bomb (they look like hamburger patties), just waiting to be used.

As always, many of the figures were gorgeously painted. I find that painting is an enjoyable aspect of the hobby, and it makes the force on the table look good.


Makes the table look smart and engaging.

In order to attract a more diverse crowd, Templecon's theme this year was retro-futurism. Warmachine has long had a steampunk theme, and this year there were a fair number of steampunk costumers about. I regret missing the burlesque dancers.

I also spent time with writer C. J. Henderson. CJ has appeared in every notable anthology I've appeared in, and was writer guest of honor this year. We had some good chats; like me, he's deeply into Lovecraft, and even ran a Call of Cthulhu game (My character, predictably, was eaten).

So a good time, and I drank enough water to not get dehydrated in the dry motel air.

Mission: Networking!

Mood:






Mission Accomplished

I took Saturday and went to Boskone 45, Boston's largest and primarolty literary SF convention. There I met several Neconites and using information gleaned from them, crashed the New England Horror Writers' dinner. And I met (OK, met and remembered, because I've apparently met Jack before) Jack Haringa, who is cool, classy, a great conversationalist, and a also an appreciator of Muppets, Nick "I don't have to write, I'm a Stoker-Nominated author!" Kaufmann, Paul G. Tremblay, F. Brett Cox, who , it turns out, works at the same university my father used to, Lon Prater, and of course Nick Mamatas. I did a lot of networking, at least as far as I could shout down the table.


I'm interested in following the development of the latest horror award, the Shirley Jackson Awards, and not just because I've been to her house. Jackson is, however, the origin of the myth that we stone people to death in Bennington. This is a dirty lie—Jackson lived in North Bennington.


The collaboration between David Conyers and I has been sent off to the editor. I think it came out rather well, and am hoping that it gets into the anthology.

Templecon was Fun!

Mood:

Havin' fun playin wiv mah bruvva

I had a good time playing with my brother at Templecon, a large east coast Warmachine convention. I didn't win any prizes, because my style of play, which is to not commit fully until the enemy makes a mistake then pounce on him, really isn't as consistently effective as having an well thought-out plan.

And I still have that competitive edge that makes losing a too-personal experience for me. I get that uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, and the face-too-tight sensation when I watch my opponent really gain the upper hand in a match. Although after six months of play, this has eased off a bit. I doubt it will ever actually stop bothering me, but I think repeated defeat in public will continue to erode that humiliating feeling of utter failure when I am beaten.

The games had many interesting moments, the most visual of which is below. My Iron Lich Asphyxious (in black) fighting a Seraph (in blue and orange) on a tall rocky pinnacle. Asphyxious did not actually kill the Seraph; he severely hurt it and threw it off the tower. It was the Slayer jack (at bottom right) that struck the killing blow.



Outside of the game itself, I'm enjoying painting Warmachine models (you can see some on my website). It takes a bit less talent than I had originally feared. And it's a good rest when I'm brain-tired from writing.

Not Dead, Incapacitated, or Bored

January is usually that time of year when I attempt to withdraw from all human contact. After the relentless need to get stuff done before Christmas (several people didn't get presents who really deserved them, and for that my deepest apologies, and I'm running late on Ray Solberg's birthday), January is generally a time of staying in and feebly trying to catch up on correspondence. This year, I'm really sucking with the contacting people, so this post to reassure people that I am not dead, incapacitated, or bored.

I have so much stuff on my mental to-do list that I had to write it down in order to keep it straight. And nothing says "This will make a great blog post" like a list. The sad thing is that I'm probably reference this post as a to-do list for a couple of months. Here's what I have to do, as of 1/22/2008:

•  "Raw, New Things." This is my newsletter to the Esoteric Order of Dagon in which I review recent anthologies of Mythos short stories or novels. ~4,000 words. Done 1/24.

•  Tart up the Necromancer for Hire query letter. Which also includes a day trip to the library to find more literary agents who are amenable to fantasy submissions, as well as fantasy publishers who take unsolicited manuscripts.

•  Think up a better title (Are you there, Shakespeare? It's me, John) for the revision of "Sire" that I sweated over during most of January. Revise one more time and then send.

•  Complete and then revise collaborative story with David Conyers.

•  Revise "Death of the American Family Farm" and submit it to Space and Time magazine.

•  Write two stories for anthologies I've been invited into: A CSI Arkham story (and necessary research into police procedure and crime scene investigation), and one concerning anthropologists, and Greenland's Dorset culture.

•  Write story and submit it to Mythos Books' Cthulhu 2012 anthology.

•  Write questions to ask authors who were influenced by Robert Bloch, then write article on Robert Bloch's influence as a literary mentor.

•  I have not updated the Ultimate Hellblazer Index in six months.

•  Other stories that need to be written: "God of Chickens", "Almost Human", "Rather Short for an Angel", "A Certain Society of Concerned Citizens", "Captain Scar", "Beanie Babies", "Darwin's Cosh", "The Secret History of Earth", and "The Whiskey Tango File".

•  And at some point, I want to take six months and write a horror novel, Hag.

•  I owe a lot of people email.

My non-work, non-writing schedule for February looks like this:

Feb 1-3: Templecon. I spent the 26^th painting up my bane knights so my Warmachine forces will look good on the table. I will not have time to paint and assemble my harrower.

Feb 10: A "Write Your Own Valentine" get-together with the SouthShire Roundtable.

Feb 15-17: Boskone. To add insult to injury, I am not the Guest of Honor, although the mass slaying of peeps could possibly make up for this.

Feb 19-21 I am having my niece and nephew over during Winter break. This begs the question of how the hell am I going to keep them from being bored? I think I could park Redhead Reader in front of the bookshelf and she'd be happy, but doing that for three entire days would be irresponsible. Her brother, Redhead Runner, I have even less clue about.

So hello to all of you out there! I am not dead, incapacitated, or bored! I love you all and can I start referring to you as my fandom?

Top 10 Great Things About World Fantasy Con 2007

World Fantasy Con was head-spinningly awesome. More writers and topics and editors and all-around delightful people than you could shake a wizard's wand at. I could go on to a hundred or more by being specific, but I'll just tease you with the top 10 great things about World Fantasy Con 2007:

10. Picking up a copy of Nick Mamatas’s Move Under Ground and then starting to set it back on the shelf, only to discover the author was standing behind me. I bought it, and he signed it. Nick remembered that I submitted “God of Chickens” to him without me having to prompt him, which I thought was pretty cool of him. Nick’s a neat guy to talk to.

9. The constant “Holy shit, Walter Jon Williams/ Charles Vess/ Kim Newman/ Lynn Abbey/ Tim Powers” moments as Walter Jon Williams/ Charles Vess/ Kim Newman/ Lynn Abbey/ Tim Powers and literally dozens of other familiar names walked by. It was extraordinarily difficult not to geek out at the parade of fantastic authors who have influenced, entertained and exhilarated me of the years, and I did not succeed every time. They were without exception polite, which cannot have been easy. I will try very hard to restrain my enthusiasm at the next convention, but at the same time, I want these people to know that their work is absolutely marvelous. I must find some balance.

8. William Jones. The man himself–he who bought my first story. We had a long conversation (long enough that the bookseller we were standing in front of shooed us away) about the publication process, what’s going on with Chaosium and Elder Signs Press, why short stories are a good thing, and what’s up next for us both. Awesome guy, and a very important conversation for me.

7. ST Joshi is a stunningly personable man. Those who have only read his commentaries simply cannot understand what an warm and delightful conversationalist he is.

6. The stories. When authors get together, they trade stories about writing and publishing. Like the one about the guy who got a rejection letter and posted a huge rant about it on his blog. A publisher who wanted to give him a three-book deal, looked him up, saw the rant, and decided he might be too difficult to work with. Note to self, be more polite when posting to blog.

5. F. Paul Wilson and Tom Monteleone’s stories. These guys are the veterans of the book trade, and they have a million and one stories, all of the fascinating. Any ending you can imagine to something that starts off with “So Peter Straub, Stephen King and I went out to find the sleeziest strip club in Ottowa” falls short of the actual story. I’m sorry, but it’s simply the truth.

4. Learning that Elizabeth Bear used to play in my CoC campaign! Yes, that Elizabeth Bear.

3. Gary Frank. The thing to do at a convention is to follow Gary around, because he goes some extremely interesting places. And while he does so, he talks a lot of sense about marketing yourself, convention etiquette, and generally how to work conventions to your advantage. Gary’s an old hand at cons, so his advice is useful and practical.

2. Wilum Pugmire. Wilum is so supportive and kind to this fledgling writer. He gave me at least two significant opportunities I would not have thought to take advantage of myself, and we indulged in some highly entertaining conversation. There's no one like Wilum. We've been corresponding for a year, and it was simply a joy to finally meet him.

1. Reading this from “Summation 2006: Horror Anthologies” by Ellen Datlow (p. lii-liii), in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, 2007: "Arkham Tales, edited by William Jones (Chaosium), is, according to the editor’s introduction, the first anthology in which '. . . each story . . . is realized in Chaosium’s adaptation of the cosmic horror sub-genre.' In other words, if I understand correctly, each story is inspired directly by an actual aspect of the ‘Call of Cthulhu’ role-playing game published by Chaosium Press. Despite this, the stories do stand alone, and some do some nice riffs on the mythos, including those of C. J. Henderson, Brian M. Sammons, and John Goodrich.”