This was a great one this year. After getting bounced around between BYU’s campus (until their English department got too high and mighty for low brow sci-fi/fantasy and stuff that actually, you know, gets read by actual people and not just a bunch of uptight literati snobs in their crappy literati magazines with a readership in the hundreds–literally–and that’s only if you count the editorial staff) and then UVU’s campus (which was good, but now they are remodeling their covention center) so for the first time that I’m aware of LTUE was held in a hotel/convention center like a regular con. We used the Provo Marriot.  And personally, I really liked the change.

I know some people think that since LTUE is a writing symposium, and not a regular convention (which tends to be more about fandom) then it should always be held on a university campus. To that I say, grow up. You’ve got to graduate and move on with life sometime. 🙂  Out in the professional corporate world in every other industry we manage to hold educational symposiums all the time without a professor holding our hand.

The important thing is that aspiring writers get to attend and learn to write better. And from what I could see, the attendence this year was remarkable. Pretty much every panel I attended, the room was packed. And these were big rooms, and there were lots of them. When you’ve got a Thursday 9 AM panel and you walk in and there are 200 people trying to get in, then you know that the attendence is going to be good.

The panels were great. I think I was on eight or nine of them. (5 in one day) Which sounds like a lot until I sat down next to Dave Wolverton and saw his card. I think he was on 14.  I know he’s a wealth of knowledge, but you can’t just work the poor guy to death like that. Wow.

I’ve found that at educational writing events like this, the panels can go one of two ways. Either the panel will spend their time defining the terms of the subject, and then going over rules, and trends, and all that boring checklist English class bullshit, or the panel will get down to the nuts and bolts, okay this is the topic, we figure you’re all smart enough to know what it is or you wouldn’t be here, so now lets talk about how to actually DO IT professionally so that you can sell some books and GET PAID. Personally, I’m a nuts and bolts kind of guy. Maybe it is my business background (I barely passed every English class I’ve ever been forced to take) so I want to spend that hour sharing tips and tricks and lessons I’ve learned so that you can write better books so you can GET PAID. And of course, tell jokes and screw around and be funny with the other panelists, because believe it or not, you’ll actually remember the class you laughed in.

In that respect I think LTUE is probably the best writing symposium there is. It is three days and it is cheap to attend. I would really encourage everybody who wants to improve as a writer and GET PAID with a publishing deal to try and attend. And from now on, GET PAID will always be capitalized on this blog. 🙂

I did a solo panel on Writing Action, which went over well. Then there was Gun Use in Fiction, which was pretty good, even though most of it was me putting my firearms instructor hat on telling people not to write all that stupid wrongness that drives us nuts. I was on another about World Building that was a lot of fun where the panel had to first build a fantasy town, and then a sci-fi world, on the fly, in a couple of minutes, in order to show the audience how it can be done. (James A. Owen thinks fast, I was impressed) I was on one about Contemporary Fantasy that was fun. Another about contracts where I was fairly useless (that panel had Dave, who has signed a billion contracts, and Michaelbrent Collings who was an IP lawyer in Hollywood for 10 years, so very valuable info shared).

I attended a few that I wasn’t on, and the best one was Zach “Minimum Wage Historian” Hill’s panel on using real military history to make your fantasy battles better. It was great, he was in the zone, and my one regret was that my buddy Zach didn’t tell the room full of college girls that he was single! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, MAN!?

Now, for those of us who are already professionals we attend these things for two basic reasons. First, we actually enjoy helping people try and improve. Second, we enjoy hanging out with other writers. And that second order of business means that I get to sneak out and play some Warmachine.

This is my side of the table Thursday night, with Howard Tayler’s big rock monster coming over to kick my poor conquistador’s face’s in.

But I brought my own giant steam powered robot! Much violence ensued while we ate Indian food. But in the end, the Monster Hunter Nation was triumphant and Schlock Mercenary had been defeated. (just barely, and I’m 1-3 playing against Howard, so I really can’t talk too much smack)

Speaking of food, the highlight of LTUE was this friggin’ thing.

That is a buffalo, pastrami, fried egg burger, and it was possibly one of the tastiest burgers I’ve ever had in my entire life. And it was a hotel burger! How is this possible? I don’t know, but I had to quote How I Met Your Mother as I ate it. “This burger is God talking to man through food.” Yes. It was that good. But then the rest of the con couldn’t have any, because my table of novelists had eaten all the buffalos.

So that was it for my fifth LTUE. It was good to see many old friends and make new ones.

If you’ve not read any of these yet, you really should check this one out. Brad Torgersen is a great writer.

The Drowning Empire is a weekly serial based on the events which occured during the  Writer Nerd Game Night monthly Legend of the Five Rings game.  It is a tale of samurai adventure set in the magical world of Rokugan.

If you would like to read all of these in one place, along with additional game related information, here is the L5R forum: http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=295&t=101206

This week’s episode is a couple days late because I was at the LTUE writing symposium.

Brad Torgersen is playing Tamori Isao, a young shugenja (wizard equivelent) from the isolated Dragon mountains. This was the first thing he wrote for our campaign, and it just goes to demonstrate why Brad has been nominated to win the Campbell, the Hugo, and the Nebula. Brad is a great author, and I’ll include some links to his stuff at the bottom.

Continued from:http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/the-drowning-empire-episode-6-journals-of-akodo-toranaka/

Letters of Tamori Isao

….late in the evening, after most of the other Topaz Championship participants have retired, Tamori Isao, Shugenja of the Dragon Clan, mountain-born, sits at his room’s tiny desk and prepares to write. A single oil lamp illuminates the rice paper in front of him as he closes his eyes, brush hovering over its companion pot of ink. His lips move in silent reverence. He dips three times, carefully pads off the excess onto the lip of the pot, then applies the brush tip to the page…

Most honored Mother Natsumi, bride of my Father Kenta, you who now dwell in the eternal mountains of the dead of the Tamori line, I must tell you tonight that I have killed a man. I did not know his name. He was not a Topaz competitor. Of his lineage or his pedigree I cannot speak. He was not a bushi, but rather, a speaker to the Kami as I am, and as Father is, and as Grandfather was before him. I struck the enemy shugenja down like young bamboo before the harvester’s blade. Father was right. I am not well suited for the Topaz games designed specifically for the bushi. But I think I have at last shown these men and women that a speaker to the Kami, especially of the Dragon Clan, can be as formidable in battle as any samurai.

…Isao pauses and sighs deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose between two fingers, then continues….

Yet I cannot feel pride in this. The others in my cohort look at me differently, and I am grateful. But a man is dead by my hand. I saw his body contort in agony as I willed the Fortune of Fire to pierce the enemy’s flesh with burning power from the cloudless sky. There was little left of him when it was over, and the smell of his charred passing still haunts my nostrils. Who was he? We had no quarrel. In another time and place, we might have been companions or even friends.

Yes, I did as I have been trained to do. I acted quickly in concert with the men of my cohort. We defeated those who would ambush us dishonorably in the midst of our Topaz task, and we were acknowledged by the Shogun herself. An unexpected honor that will make Father proud when I return to our home and report on all that I have seen and done.

But the shedding of another man’s blood, unto his death, especially an unknown soul… I cannot say I like it.

Doubtless I will get used to it. Here in the heart of the Crane I have seen amazing things, as well as the terribleness that lurks in the shadows. I would say I am homesick if not for the fact that the tournament gives us little time for reflection. There is peace and beauty in our mountains that seems too far away while I am surrounded by men and women of the other Great Clans. Especially the powerful and most fearsome bushi of the Crab, the Spider, and especially the Lion.

One Lion Clan bushi in particular has noticed me. And not in a good way. Tetsuru Akodo is the kind of merciless samurai Grandfather spoke of from his many travels in Rokugan: given over totally to hostility and combat, such that he looks upon everyone with the same contempt. Were it not for the fact that my cohort has two honorable young samurai of the Lion, who fight and speak with power and grace, I would think the Lion are no better than the Crab who revel in endless warfare against the evil of the far south.

Of my cohort I can say that each of them is particularly exceptional in his own way.

Ikoma Uso is as skilled a fighter as he is a storyteller. I hear wisdom drifting in his words. His Lion brother Akodo Toranaka wears his honor like the morning sun, unashamedly and with quiet competence. I admire it. Were it not for the wise counsel of these two Lions, I fear their cousin Testuru might have tried to punish me with fists as well as words.

Toranaka guides a Unicorn warrior who was the first to extend me the open hand of friendship. Moto Subotai is gentle and kind to his allies, and as stubbornly indestructible as a cherry stump in combat. Grandfather was right. The Unicorn are unjustly spoken of among the courts of the other Great Clans.

Likewise we have a Sparrow among us. Suzume Shintaro was absolutely superb in the wrestling arena. None but the fearsome and bloody-gazed Testuru could stand against this austere bushi who prides himself on his humble roots. And it was the humble Sparrow who finished the beast that was to be our final challenge this day.

…dipping his brush into the pot, Isao pauses again and closes his eyes, feeling the visceral memories of a few hours previous…

The final task today was a hunt. My cohort and I were lead by a Scorpion of extremely unusual temperament, and together we ventured deep into the marshlands near the tournament grounds to seek fell beasts brought north from the Ivory Kingdoms. We did not know what to expect, though Subotai seemed somewhat familiar with what we faced. I drew the whisperings of the Kami to my soul and asked for a revelation that might guide us as we tracked through the moon-lit water. I saw a creature more massive, more horrible than any of nightmare. But worse, I saw a dark wave of the sea sweeping over all of us. Like death itself.

…Isao shudders, and is forced to put down the brush. He wraps his arms around himself and repeats the slow mantra that his Grandfather taught him shortly after his mother’s death – when Isao could find no solace in sleep and cried, heartbroken, night after night, at the memory of his drowned mother Natsumi.

I believe the wave is my own fear, of what happened to you, of what may yet happen to me. It would have been easier to stay in the mountains and pursue a life in spiritual quest with the Kami. But Father is correct: for the Tamori Shugenja, life is what happens between prayers. I cannot rid myself of my dread of the water any more than I can rid myself of the memory of your passing, Mother, but I can learn to master it. And so I left our mountains. And so I found myself in the mud and fetid water of the swamp – up to my thighs! – when my cohort and I and our teammates faced the dragon.

I have no skill with blade or bow. Until that moment, I am sure I seemed a poor representative of our family in the eyes of the other Topaz competitors. Even, my cohort? There are not many instances in the tournament where a Tamori Shugenja can show his quality. But the monster was huge, and horrible, and it might have taken the lives of many if I’d not prepared as a Tamori should. Having concentrated the force and power of the Kami into my phials, I was ready. From the bowels of the marsh I brought forth rocks of the Earth large enough to crush any man. Thus wounding the monster terribly, so that my comrades – specifically Shintaro of the Sparrow – could finish the beast in true samurai fashion.

But it was a ruse. From the mud erupted a host of betrayers. A ronin who had belligerently approached my cohort on the first day of our arrival, had elected to seek his revenge on my cohort’s lone Mantis Clan member, Yoritomo Oki. The Mantis are sometimes accused of being little more than brigands. Sea-going bandits. Oki enjoys women, and he enjoys drink even more than girls. In this regard, he lives down to the Mantis reputation. But his skill with bow and arrow is masterful, as if the Kami guide every shot. Oki nearly killed the ronin with a single arrow, thus signaling to the ronin and his hirelings that while our cohort is of disparate origin, we are united in honor.

Thus the melee that saw much blood spilled into the waters of the Crane marsh, to mix with that of the beast whom Shintaro had slain. It fell to Toranaka the honorable to take the ronin’s life, shortly after which I extinguished my shugenja opponent. When the fighting was done we were relieved by the host of the Shogun – whom we’d earlier learned had been sent to keep watch on us during the hunt. We returned victorious, and our honor before the Shogun was so great that I believe even Tetsuru the Terrible was forced to acknowledge it.

…Isao yawns. It is far past the time when he too should have retired. He dips his brush, and finishes his work…

We will soon complete the Topaz tournament. I am far from the best contestant here, but I am also not the worst. Father’s words to me upon my leaving the mountains were, “Look not to the tournament for richness and glory, look to the hearts and honor of the few bushi, shugenja, and other men and women you will meet. For they are the true koku of Rokugan, and it is in them you will find value when all else fails.” I believe he is right. And I wonder about the old man my cohort and I stumbled across when we first approached the tournament grounds. Was he flesh? Was he spirit? What was the meaning of his pronouncements on all of us who first fell in as travelers, and are now bound by battle and blood?

We shall see, blessed Mother. We shall see.

As always, you are missed. My heart is still broken.

Your loving and dedicated son,

Isao.

…Tamori Isao quietly picks up the pieces of rice paper and puts away his writing implements. Though his calligraphy is skilled and displays the careful attention of a scholar, no living eyes will read what he has written. He quietly steps through the boarding house until he finds the kitchen. Coals still glow in the hearth, though the serving men and women have all gone to bed for the night. Approaching the hearth, Isao kneels reverently and places the pages onto the coals. He bows low with palms steepled, eyes not seeing the pages as they smolder, catch fire, and burn quickly to ash. Isao implores the Kami to transport his message to the dwelling place of his mother’s spirit. Where she might read Isao’s words, and understand them, and know that her son loves and misses her very much.

#

To be continued next week: http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/the-drowning-empire-episode-8-shintaro-in-the-swamp/

You can check out some of Hugo/Campbell/Nebula nominated Brad Torgersen’s stuff here:  http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=monshuntnati-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B004XR4NMW

or here: http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=monshuntnati-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B007E5ZTKA

I’ve not put my ballot together for the Hugo yet. I know many of you guys jumped in during the Sad Puppy Think of the Children campaign in order to nominate Monster Hunter Legion for best novel, but you weren’t sure about some of the other categories. I’ll have another post when I put together my actual ballot later, but that’s just the stuff I like. Please, everybody, vote for whatever you think is the most awesome thing.

The stuff that I am voting for that I think deserve the recognition include Elitist Book Reviews, because it is the best review place around and Locus (who won’t touch a Baen book with a 10 foot pole) has won like 27 times, and Schlock Mercenary for graphic work, because Howard keeps getting nominated for his awesomeness, but hasn’t brought home the bacon yet because he’s up against some hard competition.

I’ve got to think hard on the short stories/novelletes/novellas category, because there are some really really awesome ones that I’ve read.

This was just released by my publisher with all of Baen’s eligible works:

Hugo award nominations now open:

http://www.lonestarcon3.org/hugo-awards/index.shtml

 

In order to nominate, you must have a Supporting or Attending membership in the previous, current, or following year’s Worldcon as of January 31.

 

For LoneStarCon 3, this means members of Chicon 7 (the 2012 Worldcon), LoneStarCon 3 itself, and Loncon 3 (the 2014 Worldcon). During this stage, members can nominate any eligible work or person. The nominating period for 2013 is now under way and will close on March 10, 2013.

 

Hugo-eligible titles from Baen Books:

 

Novels

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, by Lois McMaster Bujold

 

Rising Sun, Robert Conroy

 

Monster Hunter Legion, by Larry Correia

 

Guardian of Night, by Tony Daniel

 

The Road of Danger, by David Drake

 

1636: The Kremlin Games, by Eric Flint, Gorg Huff, and Paula Goodlett

 

1635: The Papal Stakes, by Eric Flint & Charles E. Gannon

 

Dog and Dragon, by Dave Freer

 

Darkship Renegades, by Sarah A. Hoyt

 

World Divided: Book 2 of Secret World Chronicle by Mercedes Lackey, with Cody Martin, Dennis Lee and Veronica Giguere

 

Dragon Ship, by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

 

Queen of Wands, by John Ringo

 

Elfhome, by Wen Spencer

 

Phoenix Rising, by Ryk Spoor

 

No Going Back, by Mark L. Van Name

 

A Rising Thunder, by David Weber

 

War Maid’s Choice, by David Weber

 

Fire Season, by David Weber & Jane Lindskold

 

When Diplomacy Fails… , by Michael Z. Williamson

 

Cobra War, Book 3: Cobra Gamble by Timothy Zahn

 

 

 

 

Anthologies (have to nominate individual stories as either short stories, novellas or novelettes, based on length – Short Story  is up to 7,500 words; Novelette  is 7,500 to 17,500 words; Novella is 17,500 to 40,000 words; Novel is 40,000 words and up)

 

Grantville Gazette VI, edited by Eric Flint

SHORT STORIES

“Cinco de Mayo,” Edith Wild

“A Matter of Unehlichkeit,” Kim Mackey

“A Tinker’s Progress,”  Terry Howard

“Breakthroughs,” Jack Carroll

“Duty Calls,” Karen Bergstralh

“Lost in Translation,”  Iver P. Cooper

“Feng Shui for the Soul,” Kerryn Offord

“Ghosts on the Glass,” Tim Roesch

“Nothing’s Ever Simple,” Virginia DeMarce

“The Masque,” Eric Flint

 

NOVELETTES

“The Monster,” Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett

“Birdwatching,” Garrett W. Vance

“Sailing Upwind,” Kevin and Karen Evans

“Jenny and the King’s Men,” Mark Huston

“Mrs. December,” Chet Gottfreid

“Letters of Trade,” David Dingwall

“Galloping Goose,” Herbert and William Sakalaucks

“Bunny B. Goode,” Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett

“Suite for Four Hands,” David Carrico

 

 

Armored, edited by John Joseph Adams

SHORT STORIES

“The Johnson Maneuver,” by Ian Douglas

“Hel’s Half-Acre,” by Jack Campbell

“Death Reported of Last Surviving Veteran of Great War,” by Dan Abnett

“Power Armor: A Love Story,” by David Barr Kirtley

“The Last Days of the Kelly Gang,” by David D. Levine

“Field Test,” by Michael A. Stackpole

“Trauma Pod,” by Alastair Reynolds

“Contained Vacuum,” by David Sherman

“You Do What You Do,” by Tanya Huff

“Human Error,” by John Jackson Miller

“Transfer of Ownership,” by Christie Yant

“Don Quixote,” by Carrie Vaughn

“The Poacher,” by Wendy N. Wagner & Jak Wagner

“The Green,” by Lauren Beukes

“Sticks and Stones,” by Robert Buettner

“Helmet,” by Daniel H. Wilson

“The N-Body Solution,” by Sean Williams

 

NOVELETTES

“Nomad,” by Karin Lowachee

“Jungle Walkers,” by David Klecha & Tobias S. Buckell

“The Last Run of the Coppelia,” by Genevieve Valentine

“The Cat’s Pajamas,” by Jack McDevitt

“Find Heaven and Hell in the Smallest Things,” by Simon R. Green

“Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine,” by Ethan Skarstedt & Brandon Sanderson

 

 

Man-Kzin Wars XIII, edited by Larry Niven

SHORT STORIES

“Bound for the Promised Land,” by Alex Hernandez

 

NOVELETTES

“Misunderstanding,” by Hal Colebatch and Jessica Q. Fox

“At the Gates,” by Alex Hernandez

“Zeno’s Roulette,” by David Bartell

 

NOVELLAS

“Two Types of Teeth,” by Jane Lindskold

“Tomcat Tactics,” by Charles E. Gannon

 

NOVEL

“Pick of the Litter,” by Charles E. Gannon

 

Going Interstellar, edited by Les Johnson & Jack McDevitt

SHORT STORIES

“Choices,” by Les Johnson

“Siren Song,” by Mike Resnick

 

NOVELETTES

“A Country for Old Men,” by Ben Bova

“Lucy,” by Jack McDevitt

“Lesser Beings,” by Charles E. Gannon

“Design Flaw,” by Louise Marley

“The Big Ship and the Wise Old Owl,” by Sarah A. Hoyt

 

NOVELLA

“Twenty Lights to ‘The Land  of Snow’,” by Michael Bishop

 

Baen website original short stories

SHORT STORIES

“Grayson Navy Letters Home,” by Joelle Presby

“Like Ghost Cat and a Dragon’s Dog,”by Dave Freer

“A Murder of Crows,” by Alex Hernandez

“The Age of the Warrior,” by Hank Reinhardt

“Taking the High Road,” by R.P.L. Johnson

“Conella and the Cyclops  Sea Serpent of Doom,” by John Ringo

“Away in a Manger,” by Wen Spencer

 

NOVELETTES

“Checksum Checkmate,” by Tony Daniel

“Landed Alien,” by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

“Peace Offering,” by Wen Spencer

“Angel in Flight,” by Sarah A. Hoyt

 

NOVELLA

“Kinderspiel,” by Charles E. Gannon

 

Nonfiction related work

Hank Reinhardt’s Book of Knives: A Practical and Illustrated Guide to Knife Fighting, by Hank Reinhardt

 

A New American Space Plan, by Travis S. Taylor, with Stephanie Osborn

 

Fiction by Baen editor Tony Daniel:

SHORT STORY

“Learning to Paint Snow,” Pinball, Nov./Dec. 2012

 

Short fiction by Baen slushmaster Gray Rinehart:

SHORT STORIES

“Sensitive, Compartmented,” Asimov’s, April/May 2012

“The Song of Uullioll,” Analog, July/August 2012

 

NOVELETTES

“The Second Engineer,” Asimov’s, October/November 2012

“Seagulls, Jack-o-Lanterns, and Interstitial Spaces,” Analog, November 2012

Another beautiful piece by Vincent Chong.

Crow vs. Bolander. Very very cool. Yes, I know that skyline isn’t Ada, but just like the mini gun on the last cover, it is all about telling the potential buyer about the story and getting them interested. These covers absolutely excel at that.

The word Spellbound doesn’t really translate well, and there were a couple of options, but this title conveys well. The other potential words all sounded a little too “Disney”. 🙂

And I was just informed by the French publisher that this is a major webpage. On their list of the top 10 works of fantasy works for the year, Hard Magic is #4 overall, and the 2nd book. #1 and #2 were Game of Thrones season 2 and the Hobbit!

http://www.elbakin.net/fantasy/news/Le-top-10-2012-de-la-redaction-d-Elbakin-net

Life, The Universe, & Everything is Utah’s annual Sci-Fi/Fantasy writing symposium. I’ve attended for five or six years in a row now. I’m one of the special guests, and will be on a ton of panels. If you are an aspiring writer, this is probably the best nuts and bolts writing conference I know of. It isn’t a fan con, so there isn’t going to be a bunch  of folks in costumes and that sort of thing. This is pretty much writers and publishing business/craft in a three day firehouse of information. So I really do recommend it.

Now for me, it is an excuse to hang out with friends and I get to sneak in a Warmachine game against Howard Tayler.

http://ltue.net/Schedule.html

I am on the following panels:

Thursday:

Tricks to Writing First Person PoV Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 9am