tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48186526886247936412024-03-05T08:20:44.804-08:00The Blog of Paul GenesseFantasy Author and EditorPaul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.comBlogger457125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-54702500017651271312019-02-21T18:43:00.001-08:002019-02-21T18:43:14.467-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: Palatino;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 31, 32); font-size: 14px;">SAKURA NOVEL PREFACE</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: Palatino;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 31, 32); font-size: 14px;">by Paul Genesse</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: Palatino; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 21px;">Zachary Hill will live forever in our hearts. He will also live on the pag</span><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: Palatino; font-size: 10.5pt; text-align: justify;">es of the many books he wrote and illustrated, and on the canvases he painted. Knowing him was an incredible blessing, and his sudden passing January 15, 2016, left his friends and family devastated and heart- broken.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: Palatino; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 21px;">Zach had so much to live for. He had finally met and married the love of his life, Mackenzie. Only a few days before their one-year wedding anniversary, he collapsed soon after arriving at work. CPR was per- formed, but he did not survive. A large blood clot had formed in his leg and traveled to his lungs. The pulmonary embolism took his life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: Palatino; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 21px;">None of us wanted his story to end. There was so much more that was supposed to happen. He was only thirty-eight years old, and the best years were ahead of him. He was called back to his celestial home far too early.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: Palatino; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 21px;">At his wake, with tears in my eyes, I stood beside his open casket and made a vow to friends and family that his last book would be published. Six days before he left us, Zach told me he had finished the first draft. I agreed to be the <span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;">editor, </span>and <span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;">together, </span>we were going to develop Sakura into the best novel he’d ever written. He was so excited about this book, and his idea was brilliant. Set in a dystopian future Japan, Sakura, a heavy metal–singing android is hacked and turned into an assassin. She fights her programming, trying to stop a secret cabal who is taking over the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"></span>world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: Palatino; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 21px;">Creating Sakura’s unique character was arguably Zach’s greatest literary accomplishment, and her story needed to be told. Eight months after Zach’s death, Joshua Hill, Zach’s twin brother, completed a light edit </span><span style="color: #231f20;">on the manuscript and sent along the file, which was 378 pages (92,000 words) and had the working title <i>Intellectual <span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"></span>Property</i>.</span><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: Palatino; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 21px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">I couldn’t muster the courage to read it for some time. The pain was too raw. Every time I opened the document, I got choked up and was only able to read a few pages, which was Josh’s experience as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">Also, I was in the middle of finishing books four and five in my <i>Iron Dragon </i>series and used that project to distract myself from the grief. Zach was a fan, and to keep myself going, I would think, “Zach would want me to finish.” I eventually completed book four and was 45,000 words into book five when I realized I needed to stop my project and work on Zach’s novel. If I didn’t, it would be more than three years before Zach’s last book came out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">I finally read the first draft and began the rewrite on March 5, 2017, finishing my first draft on December 31, 2017. I incorporated Zach’s prose and wrote a lot of my own, expanding the summary chapters he wrote into full-fledged scenes. The final novel grew from 92K to 156K. I had recruited my best friend, one of Zach’s great friends, Patrick M. Tracy to help. Pat is an expert on heavy metal, a guitar player, and an amazing writer who writes incredible emotional punches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">Pat and I were in a gaming group and writers’ group with Zach, and we bonded over many hours at Larry Correia’s house, playing samurai in our Legend of the Five Rings role-playing game campaign. Larry has written the foreword and I’m so grateful for his help getting the word out about this book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">I could not do this project alone. Patrick and I forged ahead with the full support of Josh and Zach’s extended family. We read that original draft and brainstormed about our approach to an early version of the manuscript, which explored the meaning of life, artificial intelligence, philosophy, theoretical computing, value higher than self, rebellion, and the true meaning of heavy metal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">The character and story were awesome, but it needed to be fleshed out, expanded, and structured. Zach’s process would have seen him re- write it multiple times, and we had to imagine the directions he would have taken. Over the course of twenty-one months, Pat and I spent hun- dreds of hours brainstorming and working on the novel as we sent it back and forth to each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">We’ve never worked harder or longer on a book. This was a big deal for us, and we felt our self-imposed pressure to capture Zach’s vision. Some of Zach’s original prose is still in this novel, and the overall story is his, as are the characters, but we had to re-dream the dream, figure out what Zach would have done, and stay true to his vision as we took first-draft scenes and polished them. We had moments of self-doubt, but we persevered in the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">We took on this project because we love Zach and wanted to honor him. It was also a way for us to grieve and come together and bring hope to his family and friends. We did it for them, and we did it for free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">All the profit from this project goes to Mackenzie, Zach’s widow. Zach’s father, George Hill Sr., Patrick Tracy, and I funded this. Many others donated their time and energy to help complete the book, as it takes a team. We were able to hire an amazing artist, Sarah Steigers, who did the cover and interior illustrations, and who spent so much extra time getting things just right. She made Sakura and the characters come to life, and her work is stunning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">Devon Dorrity’s cover design is also incredible, and we are so fortunate for his support, guidance, and expertise. Bradley Beaulieu’s devel- opment editing took this to the next level, and Jennie Stevens’s copyedit- ing was awesome. The layout by Caryn Larrinaga in the high-quality, limited edition, signed, and numbered hardcover will make the entire book a work of art.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">The support we’ve received has been wonderful, and this is the best and most important project of my life. We believe that Zach would love all of this, and we’ve felt him encouraging us along the way. He’s probably looking down on us, wearing his trademark “Elvis glasses,” which he wore in Iraq and for years upon returning home. He led a fascinating life, and his experiences led him to this story. His gentle soul and big heart are embodied by the title character of his novel, Sakura. As you read, you may see some similarities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;"> George Hill IV, Zach’s eldest brother wrote this passage: “He was an artist, a historian, a teacher, a two-tour combat veteran, and a prolific writer. He was a true warrior poet who always sought peace. He loved to play games and spend time with his family and friends. Zach was also a traveler. He adventured in other countries. He served his two- year mission for his church in Mexico, and he taught English in Japan and spent time in Italy. He served his country in the darkest places in Iraq and was a legitimate war hero. Now he’s gone to the Undiscovered Country. While he’s away from us for the time being, we know we will see him again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">Until then, we celebrate his life and his final creative work. <i>Sakura: Intellectual Property </i>is a project born of love. This novel brings together fiction and music in a unique way. This is a love letter to heavy metal, and Sakura is always thinking about music. The playlists at the begin- ning of each of the chapters contain songs by bands that Zach loved. We also added tracks that resonated with the story and helped us see the way forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">Fans of heavy metal who are immersed in the culture may under- stand this at a deeper level, but casual fans will also read the song titles and album names and understand the relational meaning in the text. There are so many little nuggets hidden in this book that relate to Zach’s life, including the numeric designation of the army units he served in, along with music and movies he loved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">Follow the link to the Sakura channel or playlist in the ebook, or on YouTube search for: Sakura the Android Metal Goddess and look at the playlists. As you read, you can listen to the corresponding playlist. Many of the songs are mentioned in the chapter and go along with the text in tone and meaning. For copyright reasons, we were unable to use any of the real lyrics in the book, but we wrote parody lyrics of some songs if they are mentioned at all. We also wrote songs, and Callie Stoker record- ed one of them in the studio of the legendary Craig Nybo. Please listen to it when it occurs in the book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">So many people have given their time and energy to this project, and we are determined to make it an artistic and commercial success—for Zach, for Mackenzie, and all his friends and family. We would love to sell the rights for this to be made into a manga, an anime, or a live-action movie. Any profit would go to Mackenzie. Please get in touch if you can help us or have contacts who could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">Thank you for your support and for reading this book. We need your reviews and especially need you to tell your friends about this. We want to get the word out to everyone who might be interested, anyone who wants to rock and go on a heavy metal thrill ride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">Through his writing, Zachary Hill will always be remembered. We invite you to take this journey to future Japan to find out, once and for all, if rock ’n’ roll can save the world. We believe it can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;">—Paul Genesse, December 2, 2018<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20;"><a href="https://www.paulgenesse.com/sakura-novel.html" target="_blank">View the Sakura Novel Order Page</a></span></div>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-7076654657441508272015-06-03T19:57:00.003-07:002015-06-03T20:11:42.513-07:00Short Story Writing Presenation June 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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UTAH SPECULATIVE FICTION WRITERS MEETING</div>
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I'll be presenting on writing short stories.</div>
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Meeting Date: Thursday, June 4th 6:30-9:00 pm</div>
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Meeting location: Riverton Library, 5380 W Herriman Main St, Herriman, Utah 84096</div>
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Links to blogs about previous presentations on Short Story Writing by Paul Genesse:</div>
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"The Art of the Short Story" From Jodi Milner’s Blog: <a href="https://myliteraryquest.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/the-art-of-the-short-story-with-paul-genesse/">https://myliteraryquest.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/the-art-of-the-short-story-with-paul-genesse/</a>
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"Notes on How to Write a Short Story" Friday, October 17, 2014 from Christine Walter</div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://christinewalterart.blogspot.com/2014/10/my-notes-on-how-to-write-short-story.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">http://christinewalterart.blogspot.com/2014/10/my-notes-on-how-to-write-short-story.html</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Paul's Presentation on "Creating Conflict" and other story notes on his blog.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2012/06/creating-conflict-workshop-notes.html" target="_blank">http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2012/06/creating-conflict-workshop-notes.html </a></b></span></div>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-36809474920645041822015-05-21T17:32:00.001-07:002015-05-21T17:32:36.678-07:00Salt Lake Comic Con, September 24-26, 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2THEPu72ZAj6pwFETAmlZKKOf2h-kakIVjUVDOsilU2IAAB9QFBNvrcHG4XVuhA9ACFxFDlqgofvZkOm7RpxMKQ-DiNlWy04_cX8-d99VcqW0MetlPm0VQElpeMQAsNTOdyWw5zPJyZA/s1600/SaltLakeComicCon-1030x832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2THEPu72ZAj6pwFETAmlZKKOf2h-kakIVjUVDOsilU2IAAB9QFBNvrcHG4XVuhA9ACFxFDlqgofvZkOm7RpxMKQ-DiNlWy04_cX8-d99VcqW0MetlPm0VQElpeMQAsNTOdyWw5zPJyZA/s400/SaltLakeComicCon-1030x832.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Genesse will be a guest of the con once again doing panels and interviews.</td></tr>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-23563507522405162862015-05-21T17:22:00.004-07:002015-05-27T19:01:56.034-07:00Salt Lake City Steamfest July 17-18, 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9Uoij6X5BKq5aikyd1dntqi77MOcB04-ve-UMmiQxxhE5zkz47DLl2Ug4tIxVRoOTNRcKnNI0twcXjPUH7UKWHfYvU8aiyoNS4katQ0xI9Cc4gurY5RYPeWiEltCqSfp4vU_1OB-Ow4/s1600/SaltCitySteamfest2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9Uoij6X5BKq5aikyd1dntqi77MOcB04-ve-UMmiQxxhE5zkz47DLl2Ug4tIxVRoOTNRcKnNI0twcXjPUH7UKWHfYvU8aiyoNS4katQ0xI9Cc4gurY5RYPeWiEltCqSfp4vU_1OB-Ow4/s400/SaltCitySteamfest2015.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Vladimir Chopine</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.saltcitysteamfest.com/salt-city-steamfest-2015/" target="_blank">http://www.saltcitysteamfest.com/salt-city-steamfest-2015/</a></div>
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<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".8p.$mid=11431659948001=2196e2e8eeb3cccdb24.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".8p.$mid=11431659948001=2196e2e8eeb3cccdb24.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">I'm excited to announce that I've been invited to present at Salt City Steamfest again.</span></span></div>
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<span class="_5yl5" data-reactid=".8p.$mid=11431659948001=2196e2e8eeb3cccdb24.2:0.0.0.0.0"><span data-reactid=".8p.$mid=11431659948001=2196e2e8eeb3cccdb24.2:0.0.0.0.0.0">Saturday July 18, 2015 probably at 11:00 AM. The panel I know about so far: The Steampunk Rock Opera: Cast and creators discuss the upcoming World Premiere at Salt Lake Comic Con starring Nivi-Nichole Hicks, Scott Tarbett, Eliza Crosby, and featuring music by Rustmonster, which features Craig Nybo and his crew.</span></span></div>
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I wrote most of the Steampunk Rock Opera and this is going to be a really fun presentation. Check out one of the stars, below, Nivi Pix.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFvh4gfNAJ23j0dMELfkHEhVar1u1C53t3a7p3H81gxxydmnOrKv8262hJMcpRFwUDXFi4Q8Y5NwMYfrgd5LrSGfw1GVsjTWkrKNJfSv-VOGdiAHDGES_CrkNLJYu46AtPgrS_R-QzKfI/s1600/10845821_10205080042614675_7511373121134536891_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFvh4gfNAJ23j0dMELfkHEhVar1u1C53t3a7p3H81gxxydmnOrKv8262hJMcpRFwUDXFi4Q8Y5NwMYfrgd5LrSGfw1GVsjTWkrKNJfSv-VOGdiAHDGES_CrkNLJYu46AtPgrS_R-QzKfI/s640/10845821_10205080042614675_7511373121134536891_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nivi Pix, Photo by Vladimir Chopine</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4t41qF6VFBF69OXgmDnXLtWz5vEFUIfHJsnnrDUxWgxs976rsGvRMK262OLT5w9goIyFud3OXx_UzuVpU2d2nMkJWBMHk38N5W4DdV-B_UsUStbvdmof6tRzoZQtTs9Cl-56GtJE3PA/s1600/11051755_10153147336767451_5060982697410619684_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4t41qF6VFBF69OXgmDnXLtWz5vEFUIfHJsnnrDUxWgxs976rsGvRMK262OLT5w9goIyFud3OXx_UzuVpU2d2nMkJWBMHk38N5W4DdV-B_UsUStbvdmof6tRzoZQtTs9Cl-56GtJE3PA/s640/11051755_10153147336767451_5060982697410619684_o.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Vladimir Chopine</td></tr>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-92213897531971846432015-05-21T17:02:00.001-07:002015-05-21T17:05:28.649-07:00CONduit 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b> </span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">CONduit 2015
Schedule for Author Paul Genesse</span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Full CONduit schedule for download: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/conduitsf/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/conduitsf/</a></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Friday May 22, 2015<span class="textexposedshow"></span></span></b></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3:00
PM (Zion) There and Back again – the Hobbit Trilogy with Paul Genesse (Moderator) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/blake.casselman">Blake Casselman</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/robertjdefendi">Robert J Defendi</a>, and Julie
Henderson. </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What do we
think about the Hobbit movies now that they have been completed? Our panel of
experts will discuss how the trilogy turned out.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4:00 PM (Zion)
How to create the best RPG campaign EVER! (Paul Genesse--one man show)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A one-man presentation on how to run a long
term role-playing game campaign that will be the best gaming experience the
players and game master have ever had! </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Saturday May 23, 2015</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
11:00 (Zion) “The Unpayable Debt” with Paul Genesse, Jane Lindskold, Elizabeth Waters, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Vestaka">Jessica Douglas</a>. “THE
UNPAYABLE DEBT THAT I OWE TO HIM WAS NOT ‘INFLUENCE’ AS IT IS ORDINARILY
UNDERSTOOD, BUT SHEER ENCOURAGE- MENT. HE WAS FOR LONG MY ONLY AUDI- ENCE. ONLY
FROM HIM DID I EVER GET THE IDEA THAT MY ‘STUFF’ COULD BE MORE THAN A PRIVATE
HOBBY.” - J.R.R. TOLKIEN ON HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH C.S. LEWIS<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our panelists talk about who they
owe an Unpayable Debt, and how important a person like that is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">12:00 PM (Zion)
“Frank Herbert's Dune” with Paul Genesse (Moderator) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/janelindskold">Jane
Lindskold</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/stephen.gashler">Stephen Gashler</a>,
and Aaron Lee Yeager. A discussion of the legendary science fiction book series
and movies. </span></div>
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<span class="5yl5"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
discussion of the legendary science fiction book series and movies.</span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3:00 PM (Zion)
“Choose your own apocalypse” with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jaswymore">James
Wymore</a> (Moderator), Paul Genesse and Bob Defendi.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> An audience participation game!
Each of three titanic forces have risen to destroy the world. We’re all doomed,
but you can at least help decide the fate of humanity. Come prepared to laugh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5:00 PM (Zion)
GOH Presentation (Jane Lindskold interviewed by Paul Genesse)</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sunday May 23, 2015</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
12:00 PM (Snow) Monster in an Hour (and and half) with Paul Genesse, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cliff.green.58">Cliff Green</a>, Jessica
Douglas, Kaitlund Gonzales, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/johnny.worthen.75">Johnny
Worthen</a>, Keliana Tayler, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/holli.l.anderson">Holli
Lloyd Anderson</a>.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Audience favorite “Monster in an
Hour” meets audience participation game show for an hour and a half of drawing
and game show fun.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2:00 PM
(Zion) The Golden Cord book trailer--(Paul Genesse)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s been a lot of time and hard work, but
Paul and company have created an awesome live-action trailer for his fantasy
series, let him show you.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-82420881775435655382015-02-08T11:06:00.001-08:002015-02-08T11:06:59.164-08:00DISABILITIES IN GENRE FICTION<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">LTUE
2015</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">These are my notes from the "Disabilities in Genre Fiction" panel I'm moderating at LTUE 2015. </span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Saturday February 14, 2015 at 10:00 AM </span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Disabilities in
Genre Fiction</span></b><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> Panelists: Mercedes Murdock Yardly, Fiona Wilhelm Ostler, J.
Scott Savage, Sarah Chorn, and Paul Genesse (moderator). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Over 50 millions Americans live with a physical or
psychological disability, about 1 in 10 being severe.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Panel
description: People with disabilities are a vastly underrepresented portion of
the speculative fiction readers, writers, and industry workers. Disabilities
are prevalent in society and belong in the books we read and write. This panel
will focus on talking about disabilities in the books we read and write. How do
you write them well? What are some mistakes people make with writing
disabilities? How can we talk about this sensitive topic in a way that does
justice to everyone involved? Is it important to talk about disabilities when
we talk about diversity? Publishing is changing, how are those changes
impacting the disabled both in the books we write, in the discussions we have,
and in the way books are received by fans?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Sarah Chorn
suggested this panel to me and wrote the above text. Here's her bio, and her
essays on this topic are extremely popular on SFF Signal and you’ll find some
links below.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Sarah is a prolific
reader and avid reviewer. She’s been working as a reviewer in the genre for
four years, running reviews out of the website <a href="http://www.bookwormblues.net/">Bookworm Blues</a>. She also runs the
popular column called <a href="http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/category/columns/special-needs-in-strange-worlds/">Special
Needs in Strange Worlds</a> on two time Hugo winning SF Signal. The purpose of
her column is to start a discussion and shine a light on the importance of
disabilities in the genre. Sarah also worked as a publicity assistant with
Ragnarok Publications and can often be found all over the internet writing
guest columns, or yammering on about books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">***One of our
panelists was qualifying to be an Olympic swimmer and was a shoulder injury
away from making the Olympic team. (Who? Sarah Chorn!)</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">The Special Needs in Strange Worlds column was inspired by a book: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">The Wild Hunt by Elsbeth Cooper. (<a href="http://www.bookwormblues.net/2012/04/16/guest-post-elspeth-cooper-on-disability-in-fantasy/">Go
read the original post</a>). All her characters are broken somehow. It’s a
short post, but this was the genesis of Sarah’s column.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Sarah’s goal is to
make people read, write, talk about disabilities. How are people going to fit
into the community if we don’t talk about it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seth-Carters-Alien-Adoption-Carter/dp/0989931102/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423419747&sr=1-1&keywords=Fiona+Ostler">Fiona
Ostler</a> suggested these questions, which we will I’m sure address as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">1) Why do you write or want to write about people with
disabilities? 2) What are some things that we need to be careful with,
and what are some stereotypes to avoid? 3) Where do you go for help or
research to be authentic? 4) Why do people shy away from writing about
people with disabilities and what do you think would help them be more
confident?</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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<span class="5yl5"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">From
J Scott Savage: One of the things that I've heard from lots of kids with
disabilities who have read my books is that they appreciate the fact that
Marcus has disabilities but they did not define him. It isn't a story about a
boy in a wheelchair. It's a story about a boy. That boy happens to be in a
wheelchair. It's a key part of the story but it doesn't define the story or the
character. (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Farworld-Book-1-Water-Keep/dp/1609073304">Read
Farworld, Book 1, Waterkeep</a>)</span></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Below are some links
to a few of Sarah’s posts that she emailed to me. I pulled several quotes from them and put them in the notes
below the links.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">I
Am Not Broken: The Language of Disability - the most popular thing I’ve ever
written in the history of ever writing things.</span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.bookwormblues\.net\/2014\/09\/10\/i-am-not-broken-the-language-of-disability\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><u><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.bookwormblues.net/2014/09/10/i-am-not-broken-the-language-of-disability/</span></u></span></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">A
Discussion of Disability in Lock In - second place to the one above </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.bookwormblues\.net\/2014\/10\/30\/a-discussion-of-disability-in-lock-in\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><u><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.bookwormblues.net/2014/10/30/a-discussion-of-disability-in-lock-in/</span></u></span></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">And
I just posted the top 10 posts of 2014 for my Special Needs in Strange Worlds
column. You can check ‘em out here: </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.sfsignal\.com\/archives\/2014\/12\/special-needs-in-strange-worlds-a-look-back-at-2014\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><u><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2014/12/special-needs-in-strange-worlds-a-look-back-at-2014/</span></u></span></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">I
also did an interview with my disabled brother last year, which kind of really
kicked this whole thing off. </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.sfsignal\.com\/archives\/2013\/11\/special-needs-in-strange-worlds-a-conversation-with-my-brother\/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed\:+Sfsignal+%28SFSignal%29&utm_content=FaceBook\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><u><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/11/special-needs-in-strange-worlds-a-conversation-with-my-brother/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Sfsignal+%28SFSignal%29&utm_content=FaceBook</span></u></span></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Okay, I pulled the text from Sarah’s blog posts, as I
thought they capture what I think we should be talking about on the panel.
Sarah confirmed this covers the core of our upcoming discussion.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Special Needs in Strange Worlds: A Conversation With
My Brother</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/11/special-needs-in-strange-worlds-a-conversation-with-my-brother/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">November 26, 2013</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/author/sarahchorn/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Sarah Chorn</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">SARAH: For
you (her brother Rob), it seems like being isolated is part of your disability.
Seeing isolated characters in novels is important to you because you relate to
them.</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">ROB:</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"> Asperger’s is an entirely social issue.
It’s how I deal with the outside world. Most of us with Asperger’s are home a
lot because the outside world is a problem. We’re self-isolated, but it is the
only way. Those isolated characters in books, like Fitz from <strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Assassin’s Apprentice</span></strong> [by
Robin Hobb], whose family doesn’t want anything to do with him, suffer because
the whole world turns their back on them. It is important to see characters
that are like that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">This is an
important subject to talk about because you can’t live my life or understand
how I see the world. You read about these problems and these characters, and
learn more tolerance, understanding, and sympathy through reading. We need more
of that.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">SARAH:
Do you think people in the genre talk about disabilities enough? Do you think
discussion about disabilities is important?</span></strong><strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">ROB:</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">
I don’t think they talk about disabilities enough, and it is a very important
thing to talk about. It is an important because it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real</i>. You can witness the life of a person with that problem. If
the character is well written and the disability is an in-depth part of that
world, it is very good for people to witness, and for people like me to read.
It needs to be there more. There aren’t a whole lot of people writing these
characters. They are hard to write.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">SARAH:
Do you think authors are intimidated to write disabilities?</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">ROB:</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">
Yeah, they are. Not everything is easy. If you don’t have any problems, it is
hard to put yourself in that place. You have to put yourself in an
uncomfortable place to make the disabilities real in your book. Like <strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant</span></strong>,
how do you write about leprosy if you don’t have leprosy? How do make it real?
It’s hard to write those characters well, if you don’t have that problem, so
people avoid doing it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">SARAH:
What do you think that discussions about disability in the genre could
accomplish?</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">ROB:</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">
I hope these discussions shows authors that it is important to include disabilities
in their worlds. I hope that this interview, and your articles, show others
that there are people like me that they can build on, or use as an influence
from character building. That’s important. It’s not just for me to read about,
though that’s important. Reading and talking openly about disabilities helps
people understand what it is like to have a disability, which helps them
understand and respect people like me</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h1 style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">A
Discussion of Disability in Lock In by John Scalzi</span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">October 30, 2014</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Language is powerful,
and<a href="http://www.bookwormblues.net/2014/09/10/i-am-not-broken-the-language-of-disability/">
I’ve addressed that topic before</a> so I feel no need to tread on that ground
again. The point is, language can supercharge situations and bring out strong
and justified feelings on both sides of whatever line. The word “cure” in the
disabled community and the many reactions to it is just one example of the
power of language and its potential to divide and upset/please and bring
together. And Scalzi addresses that in various forms throughout the novel.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">“Making people
change because you can’t deal with who they are isn’t how it’s supposed to be
done. What needs to be done is for people to pull their heads out of their
asses. You say ‘cure.’ I hear ‘you’re not human enough.’”<br />
– Lock In, John Scalzi</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Scalzi addresses
the fact that just about every walk of life has suffered from the disease, and
everyone will be impacted in one way or another. Much like cancer, this is one
of those diseases that the whole family seems deal with. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Special Needs in Strange Worlds: An
Interview with Mercedes M. Yardley</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2014/12/special-needs-in-strange-worlds-an-interview-with-mercedes-m-yardley/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2014/12/special-needs-in-strange-worlds-an-interview-with-mercedes-m-yardley/</b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">MMY</span></b><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">:
I love how you brought up how people with special needs can completely alter
lives. It’s true. This isn’t how I imagined my life would be, really. I don’t
think any child studies the clouds and plans to have a child with special
needs. But I do think my life is much richer and fuller because of Niko. He
does force me to take stock of what is important, and not too many people
really get that privilege.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">(The above link is a great interview with so
much truth. Read it.)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Corinne Duyvis on Minding your Metaphors</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">As
for the importance to keep things like this in the genre, I think Corinne
Duyvis says it best in this week’s </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2014/10/corinne-duyvis-on-minding-your-metaphors/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Special needs in Strange
Worlds</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">SFF
features countless heart-wrenching scenes featuring protagonists who decide to
“mercy kill” a loved one who underwent a terrible ordeal. It’s meant as a
poignant, tragic show of compassion and mercy. The characters will give reasons
like: “They can’t even talk.” “They’re drooling.” “They’re not the same person
they used to be.” “They wouldn’t have wanted this.” “They can’t even look after
themselves.” “It’s unnatural keeping them alive like this.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">What
does that imply about the millions of disabled people who fit those
descriptions?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Similar
problems arise with other parallels. Characters may be disrespected, treated as
burdens, or wallow in their own misery in ways that echo problematic portrayals
of disabled people. For all the interesting questions tackled in SFF, I wish I
saw more questions of informed consent. Or questions of treatment, of assistive
tools, of accommodations, of community. Characters rarely adapt to their situation
and move on with their life to the best of their ability.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">While
I don’t think disability metaphors are sufficient disability representation, I
do think that they’ll come up naturally in many texts, and that they’re
relevant to the discussion of disability in SFF. For authors, it’s important to
be true to their plot, their world, and their characters … but it’s also
important to consider how their narrative may resonate with and impact disabled
readers.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h1 style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I
Am Not Broken: The Language of Disability (Sept 10, 2014)</span></h1>
<div class="metacategories" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.bookwormblues.net/category/uncategorized/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Uncategorized</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="post-authorauthorvcard" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">by </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.bookwormblues.net/author/bookwormblues/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">BookwormBlues</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> (Sarah Chorn)</span></div>
<div class="post-authorauthorvcard" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I
was at work yesterday talking to a coworker about my upcoming surgery when I
mentioned, laughing, “I’m broken,” with a shrug. My coworker laughed, and I
laughed and she moved on and I stayed right there, rooted to the floor,
thinking about the words that had just slipped into my dialogue. I meant them
as a joke, and that’s how they were received, but in that moment while I was
watching her walk away, I realized just how profoundly I had degraded my own
situation.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Perhaps
I am feeling particularly touchy about this topic because earlier this week I
had the absolutely horrible experience of watching an elderly woman reduce a
teenager with Down syndrome to tears by calling him a “retard” in a public,
crowded store (don’t worry, I yelled at her). Days later, I’m still moved to
tears thinking about that teenager, who was telling jokes and laughing,
absolutely shattered by one woman’s thoughtless remarks.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">These
words, these horrible, degrading words, slip into our dialogues at the worst
possible times, and often we don’t even notice them. I’m not broken. I’m not
bent. I’m not incapable. I might not work the same way everyone else does, but
that doesn’t mean I’m unable to accomplish those things others can accomplish.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">We are not
broken; we’re just a different kind of normal. We are not incapable or unable;
we just get things done a little differently.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The
world we live in isn’t defined by two versions of reality. There isn’t the
“normal” reality for all the normal people, and the slightly skewed reality for
all of the rest of us who yearn for normalcy. Our fiction should reflect that.
King George VI wasn’t any less of a </span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.speechbuddy.com/blog/speech-disorders/the-kings-speech-how-george-vi-overcame-his-stutter/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">powerful speaker or ruler
for all of his stuttering</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">. Odetta Holmes wasn’t
slowed down by her wheelchair.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I’m
not broken and neither are you.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">There
is real power in the words we use, and the way we convey ideas. Speculative
fiction is a genre of the imagination. It’s progressive and plays with ideas
and themes that aren’t always commonplace in our world yet. We like to think of
ourselves as cutting edge, ahead of the times. We are unafraid to ask “What
if?” and then find out just what would be if that “what if” was a reality. We
take incredible ideas and make them bite size. We get thoughts brewing,
and progress rolling. We dare to look at the world we live in differently.
Isn’t it wonderful? There is so much to love about this genre. So very much.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">We need to talk
about how ableist thinking doesn’t reflect the world we live in. We need less
of it in the books we read and the media we are tuned to. We need to look at
our history, at the popular mindset, and dare it to change. Isn’t that what
speculative fiction is all about?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">This is a link to
an article about “Ableism”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-cohenrottenberg/doing-social-justice-thou_b_5476271.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-cohenrottenberg/doing-social-justice-thou_b_5476271.html</a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Ableism is so
pervasive in the language we don’t know it’s there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">(Stop ableism 2015 is
a thing on Twitter)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">Random note: SARAH’S
story about her brother being in the WC. He’s as whole as he’s ever been in the
WC. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">I Am Not Broken: The Language of Disability </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">By Sarah Chorn</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.bookwormblues.net/2014/09/10/i-am-not-broken-the-language-of-disability/">http://www.bookwormblues.net/2014/09/10/i-am-not-broken-the-language-of-disability/</a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";">(I’m planning on
having Sarah read this next passage as the finale of our discussion on the
panel. I think it’s truly powerful stuff).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT";"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/oct/08/literary-fiction-improves-empathy-study"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Reading helps us become more
empathic,</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> more tuned in to those around us. I want my
daughter to love literature, regardless of what genre(s) she ends up enjoying,
but I want her to learn from it. Ableism is history. We deserve the books we
read to reflect this. We owe it to ourselves, to our society, and to our
progeny. We owe it to this progressive, fantastic genre. The way we think and
talk about disabilities needs to change. Period.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">We
are not broken. We are not bent. We are powerful, capable, beautiful people. We
are important. We are normal. Our normal might be a little different than
yours, but it is still normal. We’re no better or worse, more capable or
incapable than anyone else. Just different, and shouldn’t we celebrate that?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">We
belong in your books, and in your discussions about diversity. We deserve
language that uplifts and equals rather than divides and demeans.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Words
are such small things that are so incredibly powerful.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Gill Sans MT"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-33847909418216240732015-01-29T17:22:00.001-08:002015-01-29T18:53:33.176-08:00Q&A with Author Lawrence C. Connolly about his Veins Cycle Novels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Gentleman,
musician, husband, father, and friend to many, Bram Stoker Award nominated, Lawrence C. Connolly is the
acclaimed author of the <i>Veins Cycle</i>. I’ve loved his incredible short fiction
for years and recently binge read all three of his novels, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Veins-Lawrence-C-Connolly/dp/1934571008/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=179BXFYJ57WH8RXN1HNZ" target="_blank">Veins</a></i> (2008), <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vipers-Veins-Cycle-Lawrence-Connolly/dp/1934571032/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y" target="_blank">Vipers</a></i>
(2010), and <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vortex-The-Veins-Cycle-Vol/dp/1934571059/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1459486DBYK7BN1BMZ51" target="_blank">Vortex</a></i> (2014), in one awesome weekend.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0K1FQo2ZyjXRrhkR2ZxHGneUojyNORBLC0IF19LaX8_fxxkkdQC5IJ49kl53j4YdgR_P_ha4q2khS5VhAoFY7xbiWsRisG5A1KBBk93FDKo8DdUCuZ7Ku7nsxOhpaywtIEqSwvvxXfQ/s1600/Lawrence+C+Connolly+Author+Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0K1FQo2ZyjXRrhkR2ZxHGneUojyNORBLC0IF19LaX8_fxxkkdQC5IJ49kl53j4YdgR_P_ha4q2khS5VhAoFY7xbiWsRisG5A1KBBk93FDKo8DdUCuZ7Ku7nsxOhpaywtIEqSwvvxXfQ/s1600/Lawrence+C+Connolly+Author+Photo.jpg" height="320" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Lawrence C. Connolly</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;">The books are hard
to classify, but I’ll call them modern fantasy set in the environs of a rural
Pennsylvania coal mining town. Imagine the graphic novel/movie/TV Show,
Constantine, crossed with the movie/novel, No Country For Old Men.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Yes,
there are gangsters, angels, petty criminals, an Indian wise woman, a young man
searching for path in life, and hit men—but most importantly in this case, a
hit woman. There is a heist gone wrong, and supernatural factions that have
been manipulating people for years as they advance their separate agendas to
destroy the world. Are evil angels causing all this? Or are they not angels at
all, but rather Native American spirits of the Okwe tribal mythology trying to
protect the land? It all depends on which character’s point of view you’re in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2015/01/no-country-for-old-men-crossed-with.html">Read
my full review of the books, “NO COUNTRY FOR OLD ME CROSSED WITH CONSTANTINE”
by clicking this link.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr6Q2QKePMWDANj_yHafMpRAwmQNEFLqRBOqmblbmqRlodyHtDRr35mfxuz9gIXQyYeQj4cncrPkLlzEFmx-NPF7miVkfC5KWjKQbIy4jK9BXrQcKz5nfMNz0X08PKrAvLvOKcubDiFFc/s1600/Veins_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr6Q2QKePMWDANj_yHafMpRAwmQNEFLqRBOqmblbmqRlodyHtDRr35mfxuz9gIXQyYeQj4cncrPkLlzEFmx-NPF7miVkfC5KWjKQbIy4jK9BXrQcKz5nfMNz0X08PKrAvLvOKcubDiFFc/s1600/Veins_.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">When
I finished reading the books, I wanted to know more about this unique body of
work. Mr. Connolly graciously accepted my request to ask him a few questions.
There are some minor spoilers below, but you know you want to keep reading.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Question:</b>
How do you describe the way your three novels, <i>Veins, Vipers, </i>and<i> Vortex</i> fit
together?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Lawrence
C. Connolly:</b> The <i>Veins Cycle</i> is not a trilogy, nor is it a series in the
traditional sense. As the title states, it is a cycle, and as such the books
can be read in any order.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">True,
the overarching chronology of the 24-hour period that frames the story begins
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Veins</i>, continues in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vipers-Book-Two-Veins-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00MFTNGWS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0KPAVHFT3J9DGMPG2SVG" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vipers</i></a>, and concludes in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Book-Three-Veins-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00P8ACQY0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1SA0VMQW6BWN13DQS9T8" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vortex</i></a>. But the events are not always
sequential. No character lives exclusively in the moment. Like us, they
experience the world through a prism of memory, experience, and anticipation--a
coexistence of past, present, and future.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">A
reader beginning the series with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vortex </i>will
encounter a different set of mysteries than the one who begins with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Veins </i>or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vipers</i>. Nevertheless, in the end, the adventure will be the same.
Different on ramps, same path.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;"><b>Question:</b> The
Veins Cycle is filled with Native American myths, and Biblical references,
including demons and angels. Will you please explain some of your sources and
inspirations for the novels. Revelations welcome, good sir.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Lawrence
C. Connolly:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> The Veins Cycle
is about perceptions and the ways people view phenomena through filters of
personal experience. One of the questions running through the story is: How
much of what we see is a projection of each character’s psychological baggage?
The character Axle, for example, attempts to understand his encounters through
a prism of the Okwe stories passed down to him from his great-grandmother.
Likewise, Sam views the mysteries through the veil of her mother’s religious
fanaticism and her own sexual repression. These were things I was keen in
exploring in the three books.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;"><b>Question:</b> I
still haven’t quite figured out the true nature of the two opposing “angel”
sides in the <i>Veins Cycle</i>, especially in book three, <i>Vortex</i>. Axle’s side tended
toward being more “good”, but they were still quite gray. Both sides appear not
to care much for the humans. Will you please elaborate, spoilers very welcome,
on the two sides and explain their motivations?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDio7IU5FYA2I2pXQGj48gakKAcISwVbM_cCzWgcr0HNwRc9eejbHK_9X4LivIksKRaQOYs8TejlQIdP78mEadGLmAKgdIto7LNM41KuFbmHO_Q6YxL5FN7UQoplbYh9ngV7-37jVpCs/s1600/VIPERS_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUDio7IU5FYA2I2pXQGj48gakKAcISwVbM_cCzWgcr0HNwRc9eejbHK_9X4LivIksKRaQOYs8TejlQIdP78mEadGLmAKgdIto7LNM41KuFbmHO_Q6YxL5FN7UQoplbYh9ngV7-37jVpCs/s1600/VIPERS_cover.jpg" height="320" width="224" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Lawrence
C. Connolly</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>:</b> The notions of
“good” and “evil” are perceptions that the humans bring to the conflict, with
each character convinced that he or she is working for the good of mankind and
the world. Fittingly, the Cycle’s spiritual entities play on these notions as
each side strives to achieve dominance. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;">You’re correct
that the creatures do not seem to care much for the humans. To them, the humans
are pawns, and we get the sense as the story moves along that the creatures are
enjoying the game, finding clever ways of manipulating the humans to achieve
some mysterious, cosmic end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;">But to return to
your question about which side has the moral high ground. I think we have to
acknowledge that Axle, though flawed, is the nobler character. Although he
starts the cycle by taking part in a heist, he does not like hurting people.
Sam is quite the opposite. She causes harm, inflects pain, brings death. Nevertheless,
her motivations often seem justified, an impression that is enhanced when one
of the entities appears to her as a radiant angel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;">Do you sense
what I was going for here? Playing on expectations and preconceptions? I was
trying to keep the reader grounded at the character level. There is no
omniscient narrator in the Veins Cycle, no all-knowing voice to say, “This is
how it is” or “I want to let you in on this.” The books are about the limits of
human perceptions and the things we see when confronted with unknowable forces.
That’s what fascinated me at the outset, and it’s was I endeavored to explore
over the course of the three-book cycle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;"><b>Question:</b> There
are so many great characters in the <i>Veins Cycle</i>, but Sam, the female sniper,
truly an Angel of Death, had to be my favorite. Will you tell us about how you
crafted her, and was she your favorite as well?</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2U64fzciqHgD8QDVU8UzmvyLREehhCLQZgLLFbnpkgWRHBf948LNsw3c0C42emMmh7TcYZjLVHiWO0KR6AukotL7smOFl8mXbX5lryOn6QdTnOHNsi0lZyhJ6NU8rh96vSnsYz_cnqI/s1600/SamAngelofDeath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2U64fzciqHgD8QDVU8UzmvyLREehhCLQZgLLFbnpkgWRHBf948LNsw3c0C42emMmh7TcYZjLVHiWO0KR6AukotL7smOFl8mXbX5lryOn6QdTnOHNsi0lZyhJ6NU8rh96vSnsYz_cnqI/s1600/SamAngelofDeath.jpg" height="320" width="232" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sam Calder in <i>Veins</i> by Star E. Olson</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Lawrence
C. Connolly: </b>My goal with Sam was to create a character who is at once likeable
and reprehensible. We should not care for her. She’s flawed in terrible ways,
does terrible things, works consciously at putting walls between herself and
other people. And yet we feel drawn to her. It’s a dynamic that I think echoes
the duality at play in the book’s spiritual forces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;">She’s
fascinating, but she isn’t my favorite character. I suppose I could repeat that
oft heard comment that my character are my children, and like any good parent I
have no favorites. I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">could</i> say that,
but it wouldn’t be true. Some parents, in spite of themselves, have favorites. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;">My favorite <i>Veins
Cycle </i>character is probably Maynard Frieburg, a.k.a. Bird – the rich kid on the
hill who toys with the idea of leaving his mansion and finding enlightenment in
the wilderness<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>. He’s smart, funny, self-serving, and
probably the most affable character in the book. If you met him on the street,
he’d wave and invite you to have a drink (as opposed to Sam, who would probably
turn and go the other way).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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</span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpiGpCB0L8jJkgtUDS9vsPuLxDWR1HTmvX7AQaoFH-qLL1JvDsC0-6iEvNvgKSTNsOrefVQJsPKlZmCKeM_u7mSy3m9W5InEwHDrC_f-Jr4CuuW10dWgJ0LK-T75NrNmVVjjrmklW0T8/s1600/Rhonda+Libbey+-+Vortex.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpiGpCB0L8jJkgtUDS9vsPuLxDWR1HTmvX7AQaoFH-qLL1JvDsC0-6iEvNvgKSTNsOrefVQJsPKlZmCKeM_u7mSy3m9W5InEwHDrC_f-Jr4CuuW10dWgJ0LK-T75NrNmVVjjrmklW0T8/s1600/Rhonda+Libbey+-+Vortex.JPG" height="400" width="271" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Maynard "Bird" Frieburg in <i>Vortex</i> by Rhonda Libbey</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;"><b>Question:</b> When
you started writing the Veins Cycle, did you know from the beginning how it was
going to end?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Lawrence
C. Connolly:</b> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;">Yes. I knew the
story needed to begin and end on the misty asphalt of Windslow Road, with the conclusion
cycling back on the beginning like Ouroboros swallowing its own tail. The trick
of course was dramatizing all the things that needed to happen in between. It
took six years, and now it’s finished. Time to turn the page . . . and begin
again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;"><b>Conclusion:
</b>Thank, Mr. Connolly, for your time and words. It’s been an honor and your last
answer gave me chills. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;">Thank you all for reading this post and if you haven’t
already, please put the <i>Veins Cycle</i> on your reading list.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Veins-Cycle-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00KCNZRCQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422580183&sr=1-1&keywords=veins+by+lawrence+c+connolly" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Open the <i>Veins Cycle</i> on Amazon.com</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;">Lawrence C.
Connolly’s books include the novels <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Veins-Cycle-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00KCNZRCQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422580183&sr=1-1&keywords=veins+by+lawrence+c+connolly" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Veins</i></a>
(2008) and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vipers-Book-Two-Veins-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00MFTNGWS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0KPAVHFT3J9DGMPG2SVG" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vipers</i></a> (2010), which
together form the first two books of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Veins
Cycle</i>. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Book-Three-Veins-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00P8ACQY0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1SA0VMQW6BWN13DQS9T8" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vortex</i></a>, the third book in
the series, was released in November 2014. His collections, which include <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Visions-Fantasy-Lawrence-C-Connolly/dp/1934571016/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Visions</i></a> (2009), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Way to Egress</i> (2010), and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Voices-Horror-Lawrence-C-Connolly/dp/1934571040/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0BYNQFDCYB0Y07PH3PYF" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Voices</i></a>
(2011), collect all of his stories from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Amazing
Stories</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cemetery Dance</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Magazine of Fantasy & Science
Fiction</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twilight Zone</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Year’s Best Horror</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Voices</i> was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award, Superior
Achievement in a Fiction Collection. He serves twice a year as one of the
residency writers at Seton Hill University’s graduate program in Writing
Popular Fiction. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small;"><a href="http://lawrencecconnolly.com/" target="_blank">Visit Lawrence C. Connolly's website</a></span></div>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-18820017633713898432015-01-28T19:48:00.000-08:002015-01-29T17:25:50.987-08:00NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN CROSSED WITH CONSTANTINE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Veins-The-Cycle-Book-ebook/dp/B00KCNZRCQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1MTEWMV5HKRRVEXNKF1G" target="_blank"><b>Review of Veins and the Vein Cycle by Lawrence C. Connolly</b></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpnumzQCVIo_0pzgYF1B41AwqnvLqerdpIowfujvHp4OW331_iklL-izz8yZl6WAVTMwEf5Jw3zdrXkXZu0GsawYaLE9F-49zp-zGwriELtzNt0W2yGfoUU_LuTypQnBso_xKBbBdeIE4/s1600/Veins_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpnumzQCVIo_0pzgYF1B41AwqnvLqerdpIowfujvHp4OW331_iklL-izz8yZl6WAVTMwEf5Jw3zdrXkXZu0GsawYaLE9F-49zp-zGwriELtzNt0W2yGfoUU_LuTypQnBso_xKBbBdeIE4/s320/Veins_.jpg" /></a> I read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Veins-Cycle-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00KCNZRCQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422502990&sr=8-1&keywords=veins+by+lawrence+connolly" target="_blank">Veins</a> by Lawrence C. Connolly and loved it. I read the whole novel on my Kindle in one sitting starting on a Saturday morning, then immediately read the second book, Vipers, finishing it late that night. I read the third book, Vortex all day Sunday and finished reading it in the late afternoon. I’m fairly addicted to Facebook and I barely even checked it all weekend.<br />
<br />
Veins, and the subsequent books pulled me in hard.
Binge reading the entire Veins Cycle from beginning to end is highly recommended. Since the books are short novels, you actually feel like you have time to read them, and can make significant progress in one evening.<br />
<br />
I’ve wanted to read these books for a long time, as I’m a big fan of the author’s short fiction, but the third and final novel, Vortex released in November 2014. Now I’m glad I waited. I was able to consume them all at once, with no break—except for a few hours of sleep when I dreamed about avenging angels, and a burning coal mine pit that if left unchecked could ignite the world in a Biblical apocalypse.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Veins-The-Cycle-Book-ebook/dp/B00KCNZRCQ/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1MTEWMV5HKRRVEXNKF1G" target="_blank">Veins</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vipers-Book-Two-Veins-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00MFTNGWS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1422503162&sr=8-3&keywords=veins+by+lawrence+connolly" target="_blank">Vipers </a>and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Book-Three-Veins-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00P8ACQY0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422503111&sr=8-2&keywords=veins+by+lawrence+connolly" target="_blank">Vortex</a> are great books, and though hard to classify, I’ll call them modern fantasy set in the environs of a rural Pennsylvania coal mining town. Imagine the movie/graphic novel, Constantine, crossed with the movie/novel No Country For Old Men.<br />
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Yes, there are gangsters, angels, petty criminals, an Indian wise woman, a young man searching for path in life, and hit men—but most importantly in this case, a hit woman. There is a heist gone wrong, and supernatural factions that have been manipulating people for years as they advance their separate agendas to destroy the world. Are evil angels causing all this? Or are they not angels at all, but rather Native American spirits of the Okwe tribal mythology trying to protect the land? It all depends on which character’s point of view you’re in.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmGWeTpB2mlqavVsyOVHJlpsnhogOCepcE1jSeKVmkBAttIYz86S__Q7pmlIDL4cQn1RULhnmmqEMGK44kyQCU6Dt7y85mD5snq8XDhtuhTtX9O95wG7j38MLn73dUrEeZNLr1M_U3oo/s1600/Axle-from-VEINS-by-Lawrence-C-Connolly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5315tkxHHdNWCFQM1O8o_CROjTTYTK70k6bW_uTH3EHKKSTxOgVhGGMR2ArTibtSXK5refcoN0V3adEfSPZMmwmbqZZM9GNyhVn4srbkjYmamlXHz9x2ieMtci8C17YMxdFMe3LFGe0/s1600/VIPERS_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5315tkxHHdNWCFQM1O8o_CROjTTYTK70k6bW_uTH3EHKKSTxOgVhGGMR2ArTibtSXK5refcoN0V3adEfSPZMmwmbqZZM9GNyhVn4srbkjYmamlXHz9x2ieMtci8C17YMxdFMe3LFGe0/s320/VIPERS_cover.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1o3-05RdO6Bmnti1R9O39gwh1edHC8_FvpCzcozGN4zOSDAk7nk7uXM4NicmymglONs7OR2FM2bnmFUCaIiwgtuIlIHmTzi4jlPpSictmoGCBvsbhGuVfox5IP1w5xHk_REtjZPqYCk/s1600/Vortex-Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1o3-05RdO6Bmnti1R9O39gwh1edHC8_FvpCzcozGN4zOSDAk7nk7uXM4NicmymglONs7OR2FM2bnmFUCaIiwgtuIlIHmTzi4jlPpSictmoGCBvsbhGuVfox5IP1w5xHk_REtjZPqYCk/s320/Vortex-Cover.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>Who are the good guys? I don’t truly know. Who are the bad guys? Not sure. I certainly hated some of the characters, and enjoyed reading of their deaths, but nothing was black and white. The author wrote this next statement about the Veins Cycle and I love it: “The books are about the limits of human perceptions and the things we see when confronted with unknowable forces. That’s what fascinated me at the outset, and it’s was I endeavored to explore over the course of the three-book cycle.”<br />
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The books are deep, but are also so filled with awesome action and compelling characters. I think I read them so fast I didn’t ponder the big questions enough. That might be a reason to read these slowly, so you can savor the expert prose and the concepts. I still keep thinking about the whole Veins cycle in this order: end, middle, beginning.
Veins kicks off the cycle, and Vipers takes it to new heights, then <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Book-Three-Veins-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00P8ACQY0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422503111&sr=8-2&keywords=veins+by+lawrence+connolly" target="_blank">Vortex</a> explodes onto the page and proves the journey was utterly worth it.<br />
<br />
The books just get better and better.
In the end, it was the writing—the brilliant characterization and original plot—that made Veins, and the subsequent novels work so well for me.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKz8yJykMOIS3UQ1z-FbMgRIWSv_wJwKZ90InWiDQEt8vEgN4x4IULYOTkWzYstHwHIxHR7HOTUFFRsBp0Plwg1MTVGKl4zJZi-Fl13AV2Hx4vrKOt7qzXi72yfNMJTFlOWjxZ2zDg5II/s1600/Axle-from-VEINS-by-Lawrence-C-Connolly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKz8yJykMOIS3UQ1z-FbMgRIWSv_wJwKZ90InWiDQEt8vEgN4x4IULYOTkWzYstHwHIxHR7HOTUFFRsBp0Plwg1MTVGKl4zJZi-Fl13AV2Hx4vrKOt7qzXi72yfNMJTFlOWjxZ2zDg5II/s1600/Axle-from-VEINS-by-Lawrence-C-Connolly.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Axle, from The Veins Cycle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I wanted to see what happened to Axle, Sam, and Bird. I have images of them burned into my imagination, and the original illustrations of the characters in Veins added to the “wow” factor for sure, making Veins even more cinematic in my mind’s eye.<br />
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Days later, I keep thinking about the story and the characters, where they began, and how their storylines came to an end. After writing this post, I want to read the books again. --Paul Genesse<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Veins-Cycle-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00KCNZRCQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422502990&sr=8-1&keywords=veins+by+lawrence+connolly" target="_blank">Open The Veins Cycle on Amazon.com </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2015/01/q-with-author-lawrence-c-connolly-about.html" target="_blank">READ AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR HERE </a></div>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-51627962683289378112015-01-22T08:24:00.001-08:002015-01-22T08:24:40.011-08:00CONTEST TO WIN THE IRON DRAGON SERIESTo celebrate the release of The Golden Cord cinematic book trailer there is a contest to win the Iron Dragon Series. Follow the rafflecopter.com link below to enter!
<a href=" http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/847059c247/"> http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/847059c247/</a>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pn8cFAAJ_yQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-22193535395844202742015-01-11T21:19:00.002-08:002015-01-11T21:20:40.220-08:00Golden Cord Book Trailer World Premiere Party<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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You
are all invited to the world premiere of The Golden Cord cinematic book trailer
party, which will be on Monday, January 19 from 7-8 PM Mountain Standard Time, on Facebook. The final cut is ready!</div>
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I’d
love for all of you to be virtually at the event. The plan is to: interact with
the cast and crew, watch the live-action book trailer, learn behind the scenes
details, and comment on posts for chances to win prizes. </div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/311754675681132/?context=create&previousaction=create&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming&source=49&sid_create=1886528372" target="_blank">Click here to go to the Facebook event.</a></div>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-13175879942753836802014-11-28T00:00:00.000-08:002014-11-30T15:34:26.382-08:00Interview of Paladin's Pawn author Michael D. Young<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZyxMXw4l36aaEj1GiSZMHOpBJ5PbDFDaibxmxeNxRKn2z9Po4ajJAiMTZN_gKUvCllysWoeFaeERko7utMtjxgpQHAeYUqlXSr06U41mMlQCQqzIBIdJu26YUIvJyBe24gVCWYA380Y/s1600/Michael+Young+COVER1a.jpg" height="640" width="459" /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Michael, thanks for doing this intervie<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>w.
First question: Your new book, Paladin Pawn has a lot of chess references,
which I love. Were you a good chess player in middle school or did you get
crushed most of the time?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Haha, I was all right. Not
exactly grand-master material, but I did play often with my brothers and
friends. I often won or at least got my opponent to a stalemate. We even had
this intense version called “Nightmare Chess” where you each had a hand of
cards that gave your pieces special powers. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">What gave you the idea for Paladin's Pawn? How long has this
book been playing out on the board in your mind?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Some of the ideas from the
book have been playing around in my head since about Junior High, but I didn’t
actually try to put any of them down until I was in college. It’s a good thing
too, because I’m a much better writer now than I was then. It comes from
growing up loving stories about knights and acting them out with my siblings. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">How much does the main character in Paladin's Pawn resemble
yourself? What is the most similar thing to you in the character, and what is
the least similar thing?</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGTLMcRNdKPPusM-Y7MIL9TjhJ7NmLxxmbrhdr9x82CYJjYqnlSoxqPkXt98SLSr_ea3Lmf8KXFERFXIPE6RtgDWEvd2lqGJdRUGf4fTOGsrJUbArCo2Rp0ggTBQe5LtLyiZpBnBZYZPk/s1600/Michael+Young+Author+headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGTLMcRNdKPPusM-Y7MIL9TjhJ7NmLxxmbrhdr9x82CYJjYqnlSoxqPkXt98SLSr_ea3Lmf8KXFERFXIPE6RtgDWEvd2lqGJdRUGf4fTOGsrJUbArCo2Rp0ggTBQe5LtLyiZpBnBZYZPk/s1600/Michael+Young+Author+headshot.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paladin's Pawn Author Michael D. Young</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Very much like the main
character, Rich, I got picked on a lot when I was in Junior High. I was
studious, had thick glasses and liked thick fantasy novels. Unlike Rich, I’m
not good with putting together with my hands, especially the little models he
works on. I’d probably have wasted a bunch of money on those things, because
I’d have been breaking them all the time. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">If you were a chess piece, which one would you be, and which
chess piece do you most like to kill whenever you're playing?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">I’ve always liked the
straight-forwardness of the Rook, and its ability to “castle”. I think though
I’m more like a “bishop”, kind of the spiritual/intellectual kind of guy. And I
just played a bishop last summer in Les Miserables, so I’m definitely going to
have to go with bishop. I like to take out knights when I’m playing, because
they can be difficult to watch for at times, because of their erratic movements
and ability to jump over other pieces. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">When you were writing this book was there a moment when you
finished some part and yelled "Checkmate!" If not, how did you feel
when you finished the first draft?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Oh, I should have done
that! Maybe when I’m done with the next book in the series. In many ways, I
felt like finally finishing something I’d been mulling over in my mind since I
was the age of my protagonist, so, yes, it felt pretty great. To quote a famous
fictional knight, I had “reached the unreachable stars”. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">Optional question: No big spoilers, but what was your
favorite scene to write in Paladin's Pawn?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">There’s a scene where Rich
is introducing his guide from the Middle Ages to the wonders of chocolate milk.
Medieval mind blown. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Pawn-Chess-Quest-Book-ebook/dp/B00Q7XXNR6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417064247&sr=8-1&keywords=Paladin+Pawn" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">View the book on Amazon.com</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Synopsis of the Middle Grade Fantasy (Trifecta Books), Paladin's Pawn by Michael D. Young</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When nerdy Rich Witz
unwittingly becomes a Paladin, a white knight, in training, he is thrust into a
world where flunking a test can change the course of history and a mysterious
bully is playing for keeps with his life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rich’s grandmother leaves him with one
thing before disappearing for good: a white chess pawn with his initials
engraved on it. The pawn marks him as the next in an ancient line of white
knights. He must prove himself in a life or death contest against his Nemesis,
a dark knight in training, all while dealing with math homework and English
projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the ghost of an
ancestor for his guide, he has seven days to complete four tasks of valor
before his Nemesis does, or join his guide in the realm of the dead. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Rich rushes to complete the tasks, he
realizes the chilling truth: his Nemesis is masquerading as someone at school
and will stop at nothing to make him fail. As the tasks grow ever harder, the
other knights reveal to him that his failure will break a centuries-old chain
and bring the Paladin order to ruin. If he fails, the dark knights win the
right to control the fate of the world, a world without hope or the possibility
of a new dawn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So this is one exam
Rich has to ace, with no curve and no extra credit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Author Bio: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Michael is a graduate
of Brigham Young University and Western Governor’s University with degrees in
German Teaching, Music, and Instructional Design. He puts his German to good
use teaching online German courses for High School students. Though he grew up
traveling the world with his military father, he now lives in Utah with his
wife, Jen, and his two sons. Michael enjoys acting in community theater,
playing and writing music and spending time with his family. He played for
several years with the handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and is now a
member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is the author of the novels The
Canticle Kingdom Series, The Last Archangel Series, and the Chess Quest
Series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His also authors several
web serials through BigWorldNetwork.com. He publishes anthologies for charity
in his Advent Anthologies series. He has also had work featured in various
online and print magazines such as Bards and Sages Quarterly, Mindflights,
Meridian, The New Era, Allegory, and Ensign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Follow Michael . . . </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Facebook:
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/authormichaelyoung">http://www.facebook.com/authormichaelyoung</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Twitter:
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/mdybyu">http://www.twitter.com/mdybyu</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blog:
<a href="http://www.writermike.com/">http://www.writermike.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pinterest:
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/mdybyu">http://www.pinterest.com/mdybyu</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Pawn-Chess-Quest-Book-ebook/dp/B00Q7XXNR6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417064247&sr=8-1&keywords=Paladin+Pawn" target="_blank">Check out Paladin's Pawn </a></span></div>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-79911211534015572602014-11-08T17:20:00.004-08:002014-11-08T21:41:41.352-08:00Review of Giselle by Ballet West<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Opening night, November
7, 2014</div>
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Evil ghost ballerinas surround Giselle’s two suitors and
force the men to dance until they die. The scenes with the ghosts in Act II is
a big reason this ballet is still being performed 173 years after its premier.
The ghosts of the young maidens who were betrayed in love and died before their
wedding day take the stage wearing bridal veils. The ghosts, called Wilis in
the German folklore, haunted the Capitol Theater with eerie beauty that took my
breath away.</div>
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<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">Photo by Kelli Bramble</span></span></div>
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</style><b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Did you know that the phrase “it gives
me the willies” was made popular because of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Giselle</i>?
The “Willies” (Wilis) are the spirits of young women who have died from love
gone wrong, haunting forests for all eternity.</span></b></div>
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The queen of the Wilis, played by the prima ballerina, Christiana
Bennett on opening night, was fierce and evil as she exacted revenge. She
perfectly portrayed her character, the first woman ever who was jilted and
betrayed, and has spent thousands of years taking revenge. Christiana Bennett danced
masterfully and brought serious gravitas to the stage.</div>
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All the ground fog, the ominous set dressing, and the
sinister music worked so perfectly with the exceptional dancing and
choreography. The dancers floated across the stage with the mist swirling
around them and I loved it.</div>
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Act II, The Forest, begins when Giselle’s suitor from her
village, Hilarion played by Rex Tilton, arrives at her grave. Hilarion is
quickly surrounded by the Wilis and they make him dance until he dies. Rex Tilton
had what I believe is his best performance ever. I wished the choreography
would have showed his actual death, but this ballet dates from 1841 when it debuted in Paris to rave reviews. Giselle is still incredibly relevant and has been adapted for a modern
audience, though it feels like a classic from another age.</div>
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Act I, Harvest Time (in a village in the German Rhineland)
starts out a bit slow, with Giselle’s suitor in her village, Hilarion vying for
her heart. Giselle, played beautifully by Arolyn Williams, has fallen in love
with a handsome stranger, Prince Albrecht played by principal artist
Christopher Ruud, who has been visiting Giselle for the past two weeks in
disguise as a commoner.</div>
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She has fallen deeply in love with him all the while not
knowing he is a Prince. Arolyn Williams did such an amazing job portraying the
character. Her dancing, especially her solo work blew me away. In one sequence
in Act I she stands on her toes—on one foot!—and crosses the entire stage. I’ve
never seen anything like it. </div>
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You’ll have to watch the ballet to learn how Giselle dies at
the end of Act I, but it’s shocking and dramatic. The build-up to the climactic
end of Act I is quite long, and I did find the waltz sections when the villagers
were celebrating the harvest somewhat tedious, but the dancing during those
scenes was excellent. Over fifty dancers were part of this production, and
Ballet West has to give everyone in the company some time on stage to showcase
their skills, which they did wonderfully. All of the scenes with the villagers
in Act I were beautiful, but my favorite parts involved Beckanne Sisk and
Sayaka Ohtaki, who danced solos and showed their brilliance.</div>
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The love triangle aspect with spurned and angry Hilarion
fighting with Prince Albrecht in Act I over Giselle was extremely interesting,
but it was all about the second act for me. Seeing the Wilis, especially their
queen and her two hench-women (Emily Adams and Alison DeBona on opening night)
was the highlight.</div>
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The final scenes with the ghost of Giselle and Prince
Albrecht were awesome. I used my opera glasses to see Arolyn’s expression at
the very end when she disappeared inside her grave. She perfectly captured the
tragedy and redemption of Giselle, a classic ballet, now made into a modern
masterpiece by Ballet West.</div>
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My wife and I are strongly considering going again to see
rising star, Beckanne Sisk take on the lead role of Giselle with Chirstopher
Ruud again playing Albrecht. We both love Christopher’s dancing, and he’s a
master of his craft. We want to see him and Beckanne dance together. </div>
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Giselle runs from November 7-16, 2014 at Capitol Theater. To read a summary of the entire ballet or learn more, please <a href="https://www.balletwest.org/events/giselle/" target="_blank">visit Ballet West’s website</a>. </div>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-69395204917363006572014-09-20T20:54:00.004-07:002014-09-30T19:18:35.583-07:00MAZERUNNER MOVIE REVIEW<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I watched the Maze Runner movie and loved it. What a great
adaptation of the exciting book by James Dashner. It totally captured the
feeling of the novel and follows the main events of the plot. The director and
screenwriters streamlined the complicated events in the book that would not
translate to the screen, and the plot was so exciting to watch unfold onscreen,
even more than in the book.</div>
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The movie was a thrill ride from beginning to end, and I’m
super impressed, though some of the shaky cam during the actions scenes bugged
my eyes. Regardless, the talented young actors nailed their performances and
were just incredible to watch. They are the real deal and I’m so happy they
found such perfect actors for the roles. The maze was stunning and the visual
effects were top notch, which is hard to fathom considering the total budget
was only $34 million.</div>
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I watched the movie with three friends (Stephenie McKinnon,
Patrick Tracy, and Jake Balamis), none of whom had read the book. They all
enjoyed the film. Jake was thoroughly entertained, and he loved that he didn’t
know how it was going to end. The ending was almost exactly the same as the
book, (except the movie seemed a little stronger to me—the way it all played
out in a blow by blow sense--a gun instead of a knife worked well for me). I
think enough information was given out to provide the viewer with closure, but
we were shown that there is a lot more to come. This is far from over.</div>
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As we were leaving the IMAX theater at Jordan Commons we ran
into James Dashner and his family. He was at another showing that just got out,
(his seventh viewing of the film!). I’d spoken with James about the film in the
past a couple of times, once when we watched a different movie together, and
I’m so happy for him. He’s a big movie lover and goes to the cinema a lot. He
loves The Maze Runner movie and said he “agreed 100% with all the changes made”
when comparing the book to the movie. I do as well. </div>
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The director and writers did a wonderful job. The pacing of
books is different than movies, and the book had to be changed to make it work.
Overall, the Maze Runner movie was excellent and I was thoroughly entertained.</div>
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Go and check this movie out in the theater, as the big
screen adds a lot to the experience, especially IMAX, which also provided a
BOOMING score. I will soon own the soundtrack.</div>
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I’m excited to see Maze Runner again.</div>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-75422417086627200212014-09-18T16:23:00.000-07:002014-09-21T16:23:23.477-07:00HAUNTED HOSPITAL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here's a link to the guest blog post I wrote for the Fictorians blog.<br />
<br />
THE HAUNTED HOSPITAL <br />
<a href="http://www.fictorians.com/2014/09/18/haunted-hospital/">http://www.fictorians.com/2014/09/18/haunted-hospital/</a><br />
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-67926570770355966102014-09-15T16:13:00.000-07:002014-09-21T16:20:05.092-07:00MY NEW ADVENTURE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After 17 years of working the night shift as a cardiac nurse
in the Advanced Cardiac Care Unit, I am officially changing jobs to a new
position in my company. My last shift on ACVU will be Tuesday night, September
16. I’m going to miss my co-workers a lot and want to thank them all for being
my friends. I would have never lasted this long without you, and it’s been a
tremendous honor to work with you all.</div>
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The details: On Friday afternoon, September 5 (while at Salt
Lake Comic Con), I officially accepted the job as an analyst for the iCentra
(Cerner) team. I had gone through two rounds of interviews and on August 25, I
was told I unofficially had the job. Administrative delays—which left me very
unsettled—prevented the official offer from coming until almost two weeks
later.</div>
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My new manager will be Diane Rindlisbacher and I’m starting
my new job on September 29. I will be helping to configure the new computer charting
system (Cerner) that Intermountain Healthcare is going to start using in the
future. I will also be a liaison between the clinical users and the programmers.
It’s a day shift, and for the most part, a 9-5 kind of job.</div>
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I’ve been working in patient care on the front lines for 18
years, more like 21 counting nursing school, and I’m ready for a change. My
health is suffering from working the night shift. I don’t bounce back as well
as I used to. Also, I need more structure in my life, as changing from a night
to a day schedule on a weekly basis is messing up my personal and writing life.
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My lovely wife, Tammy, will also benefit from a more normal schedule.
We’re both looking forward to a new life together where we both sleep at the
same time and are on the same schedule. I think we’re both going to be happier.</div>
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I’m in desperate need of a change. The stress of being a
charge nurse was really wearing me down. Taking care of extremely ill and
difficult patients, and coping with all the sick calls from staff who are truly
sick, or just mentally exhausted, has taken its toll on me over the past two
years especially. Working short staffed, or even when we were fully staffed, in
patient care is getting harder and harder.</div>
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I’ve sacrificed a lot over the years in both my personal and
professional life, while working as a nurse. I feel like I’ve given enough and I’ve
finally reached the point where I need to try something new.</div>
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My coworkers are amazing people and in my new job I’ll be
helping to set up the new computer charting system that will hopefully make
their lives easier. The transition for them and all of us will be a challenge,
but I will fight for them and do all I can to make it serve their needs.</div>
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Thank you all for your support, and though I’m changing
jobs, I’m going to keep fighting the good fight for the staff and the patients.</div>
</div>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-86067938064435322002014-09-07T16:47:00.000-07:002014-09-21T16:48:08.137-07:00SALT LAKE COMIC CON 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My coolest moment was interviewing Simon Helberg, one of the stars of The Big Bang Theory on the main stage in front of 3,000 fans. It was awesome.</div>
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Here's a link to all my pics from Salt Lake Comic Con on Facebook:</div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152747123004136.1073741897.583339135&type=1&l=bd4d7645da">https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152747123004136.1073741897.583339135&type=1&l=bd4d7645da </a></div>
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A pic taken after the Zombie Rock Opera, where I was the MC. It was so hilarious.</div>
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Pictured are the stars: Jack Bauer, Bub the Zombie, and Jack's girlfriend, Miley Cyrus. </div>
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Gollum stole a fish from the Weta Booth, and I caught him. Don't worry, he gave it back.</div>
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This is the panel on adapting books to movie. The cinematic book trailer for The Golden Cord premiered here. It looked awesome, though it's not the exact final version. It'll come out around the beginning of October 2014.<br />
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-7775280045263453292014-07-06T17:03:00.000-07:002014-09-21T17:03:43.681-07:00Sean Astin Interview at Fantasy Con<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Links to the pics from my Sean Astin Interview at Fantasy Con 2014:<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152601985704136.1073741890.583339135&type=1&l=0eed5857d2">https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152601985704136.1073741890.583339135&type=1&l=0eed5857d2</a><br />
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-42225108741763074862014-07-01T08:25:00.002-07:002014-07-01T08:33:12.391-07:00Paul's Fantasy Con / WesterCon 2014 Schedule<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fantasy-Con &
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thursday July 3</b>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Fantasy-Con Hall
opens at 9:00 AM for those with VIP badges, at 10:00 AM for everyone else. I’ll
be at Booth #640 from 9:00AM-11:20AM.</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 3, Thursday
11:00-11:50</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span>Room 250</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">(Attending—as a fan) AN UNOFFICIAL PREVIEW OF
THE HOBBIT: The Battle of Five Armies - A look at the rumors, clues, facts, and
speculation about the capstone of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies from the
website that has followed the production from Day 1.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lunch 12-1—Meet with
Jason King, Julie Henderson, and Dennis Lundstrom about our Dwarves Rule! Panel
and the Tolkien’s World Panel.</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">"Melian and Thingol" by Kip Rasmussen </b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 3, Thursday 1:00-1:50
</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Room 150 DEF</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tolkien’s World: The
Lifeblood of Modernity. </b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">A discussion led by author, Silmarillion
illustrator, and psychologist Dr. Kip Rasmussen about aspects of the fantasy
genre and why they are not just “fun”, but of vital importance in a
technologically saturated modern world.</span> </b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Jason King—Moderator, Paul
Genesse, and Kip Rasmussen.</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 3, Thursday
2:00– 2:50 Room 150 DEF</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dwarves Rule! A look
at Dwarves and what we love about them the ever-popular fantasy race. Join the
discussion about Tolkien’s Dwarves, the origin of their names, Scandinavian
Dwarf myths, and other modern representations. Enjoy a fun slide show featuring
all the Dwarf actors present at FantasyCon. Moderated by author Paul Genesse, with
Dennis Lundstrom of UGeek Media and Tolkien enthusiast Jason King and Tolkien
expert Julie Henderson.</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Spend time at Booth
#640 in the hall from 3-4?</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thursday July 3,
5:00-5:50 Main Ballroom</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Middle-earth Kick-off
Party! (I’ll be a guest on stage!)</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The largest
collection of middle-earth actors, artists, writers, and talent at any
convention ever! Artists, musicians, writers, internet reporters and a Tolkien
all take the stage. Don't miss it!</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dinner with new
friends.</b></div>
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WesterCon Schedule of Paul Genesse</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Friday July 4</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 4 Friday at
10:00-10:50 (I’m leaving the panel early) WesterCon Panel at the Marriott Hotel.
Wasatch (Alta) Room. </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Putting a New Spin on an Old Story: A discussion of The
Hobbit and Battlestar Galactica. (Putting a new spin on an old story: A
discussion on the 'reboots', 'reimaginings' or 'refilming' of the same story). David
West, Paul Genesse , Dave Farland (m), Mark Ryan.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 4, Friday 2014
11:00am-11:50am Main Ballroom (Attending as a fan) </b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">John Rhys-Davies</span></b>
Spotlight on his amazing career in "Lord Of The Rings" Trilogy,
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) and "Indiana Jones and the
Last Crusade" (1989) </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lunch 11:30-12:30</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 4 Friday
1:00-1:50 Room 151 (attending as a fan) The One Ring.net The Legacy of Tolkien</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">With an all-volunteer
staff, TORn has watched Jackson adapt Middle-earth from the front row and has
talked Tolkien with people all over the globe. Join the discussion</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 4 Friday 2:00pm
- 2:50pm (attending as a fan) (Main Ballroom)</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hobbit Fans: Extended
Edition Live</b></div>
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Actors reenact some of the scenes from the Hobbit with much
needed audience participation! </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 4, Friday
3:00-3:50 (attending as a fan) (Main Ballroom)</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Fellowship
Revisited with Sean Astin and Billy Boyd. Sean Astin and Billy Boyd revisit
cinematic history to discuss those unprecedented years working on Peter
Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy with these two featured as part of the
Fellowship of actors. </b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 4, Friday 4:00-4:50
PM Ballroom 2, Brandon Sanderson Spotlight.</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(I will be
introducing Brandon and serving as the moderator)</b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Brandon Sanderson </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is an American writer. He is best known for
his "<i><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mistborn"</span></i> series and
finishing Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series "<i><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Wheel of Time"</span></i>. Sanderson published "<i><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Way of Kings"</span></i>, the first book in a ten book
series called "<i><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Stormlight Archive"</span></i>.</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(Snack break 5-6 PM)
(Meet with Daniel Swenson and Bob Defendi)</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 4, Friday 6:00-6:50
PM Room 150 DEF</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Dragons in myth,
Film, Literature and Legend” Dragons are the most iconic monsters of all time
and have fascinated us for millennia. Explore the origin of dragons with our
expert panel as they discuss ancient and modern representations of the world’s
most famous beast with author Paul Genesse--Moderator, Bob Defendi, and Daniel
Swenson of Dungeon Crawlers radio, and possibly the artist, Brom.</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dinner</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 5, Saturday</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 5, Saturday,
Spend time at Booth #640 from 9:00-9:50 AM.</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 5, Saturday
10:00-10:50 AM (I’m leaving the panel early), WesterCon Panel at the Marriott Hotel.
Wasatch (Alta) room. Translating Fantasy Literature to Film. </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Mark
Ryan, David West (m), Paul Genesse, Steven L. Sears Translating Fantasy
Literature to Film: A discussion of screen-adaptations of books.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 5, 12:00-12:50
Main Ballroom Sean Astin Spotlight Interview.</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(I’ll be introducing
Sean and interviewing him)</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">With unforgettable roles in Goonies and Rudy
and credit list in television (24), video games and movies of every kind, we
have a sit down with our Sam to discuss his career. Audience questions welcomed
too. </span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">July 5, Saturday 1:00-1:50 Room 150 ABC. TheOneRing.net,
Adapting Tolkien Peter Jackson wasn’t the first to adapt Tolkien and surely
will not be the last. A look at the many ways and forms Tolkien has invaded
popular culture in film, radio, television and music. </span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Larry
Curtis—Moderator, Paul Genesse, and ?</b>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 5, Saturday
4:00-4:50 Main Ballroom. Gimli and Gloin</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Actors <b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)</span></b>
and <b><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Peter Hambleton (Gloin)</span></b> come
together to talk about their characters.</b></div>
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dinner or possibly spend a few minutes at Booth #640.</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 5, Saturday
6:00-9:00 PM--WesterCon Book Signing and Tag Team Jeopardy & The Avenue of Awesomeness. Marriott
Hotel. 6:00-9:00. Salon B&C&D&E. </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Author
book signing and rotating jeopardy panels for your enjoyment--see how the
authors let their fun out.</span></div>
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-68981888535485915602013-09-20T01:46:00.001-07:002013-09-20T02:07:11.552-07:00Review of Warbound by Larry Correia (no spoilers)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img alt="warboundcover-2.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54B2VG_JdRmkF3goBsYCRPOHdrX0BXDFpZ2t7wpxEySWJB6UBcYnlClBXoeiDo4VSjxD2gmhr8QQo2cI9A800p3z7jZMdrWxhBKBPQI49f1JfNgOXiYG3Oy1vXvaXEWEWEVhbL5e0TQo/?imgmax=800" width="420" /><br />
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The Grimnoir Chronicles by New York Times’ bestselling author Larry Correia is a fantastic series. I just read book three, Warbound, which concludes the story arc started with <a href="http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2011/08/hard-magic-review.html">Hard Magic (Book I)</a>, and Spellbound (Book II). The world is an alternate history Earth set mostly in the 1930’s, and is a cross between X-Men and Boardwalk Empire. That’s right, superheroes and gangsters in the 1930’s fighting for the fate of the planet. It’s epic and awesome. I must mention there are airships, pirates, and ninjas—as well as a hick girl from Oklahoma who is possibly the most powerful magic-wielding person of all time. You find out why in book three.<br />
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Warbound mostly features a trio of main characters—pictured on the cover: Faye Vierra—the hick girl with the power of teleportation (she’s called a Traveler) who is likely the best assassin ever; Jake Sullivan—a World War I veteran who can manipulate gravity (he’s called a Heavy); and Tokugawa Toru, a samurai (he’s a Brute) who can change the density of matter). Toru is such a great character and he just might be the equal of Sullivan. Toru wields a nasty war club (a tetsubo) and just might end up wearing a suit of really amazing armor. (Hint: the cover artist did a wonderful job). Toru can cause things to weigh almost nothing, which is good for him, and really bad for his enemies as he can swing his tetsubo really fast.<br />
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There is so much action in this series and Warbound was off the charts with magic and mayhem. The story arc concludes in Warbound, but I’ve heard rumors there will be at least one prequel, perhaps two, set several years before Hard Magic, likely set during World War I. There will also be at least one short story set in the Grimnoir world featured in one of the many anthologies Larry Correia has on his impressive release schedule.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spellbound: Book II</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard Magic: Book I</td></tr>
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Warbound delivered on the promises of the first two exceptional novels and tied up all the loose threads, while delivering a bullet-riddled and exciting ending filled with all sorts of wizardry. The characters are a lot of fun and the plot was fast-paced as it barreled toward the final confrontation. The only thing I didn’t like was that President Franklin Roosevelt was cast as a villain along with much of the U.S. government. Correia does have some justification, as it is true that Roosevelt committed a terrible crime and interned thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II—but I found some early parts of the book a little too heavy handed.<br />
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Regardless of my own bias, I found myself engaged and inside this book on many levels. The characters and the story pulled me in. I was so intrigued with how the magic unfolded as well, and all the questions brought up in books one and two were answered. The connections made by the characters and the sheer magnitude of the Enemy coming to destroy the world amped up the tension throughout.<br />
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I’m a big fan of Correia’s writing and his Grimnoir books are amazing. <a href="http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Warbound-Audiobook/B00E3WV9DI/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1379665320&sr=1-1">The audio versions</a> of all three are also quite exceptional. Spellbound won a prestigious Audie Award in 2013 and all three books feature the same narrator, the brilliant voice actor, Bronson Pinchot. Paperbacks of the first two books are out now—as of Sept. 2013, and if you’re an audio book fan, download them now. All of Grimnoir books are available as Kindle eBooks, though you might want to collect a hard cover while they’re still available.<br />
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Check out <a href="http://paulgenesse.blogspot.com/2011/08/hard-magic-review.html">my review of book one, Hard Magic</a>, for more details about this series.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYXC3W8/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img">Warbound Book III of the Grimnoir Chronicles</a><br />
5/5 Stars, Highly Recommended<br />
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Paul Genesse<br />
Author of The<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Cord-Dragon-Series-ebook/dp/B006PU7PIE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379667376&sr=1-1&keywords=the+golden+cord"> Iron Dragon Series</a><br />
Editor of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-ebook/dp/B004SY6A76/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379667425&sr=1-1&keywords=the+crimson+pact">The Crimson Pact Series</a> </div>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-33061114619777877672013-08-20T13:52:00.001-07:002013-08-20T18:24:47.778-07:00Gen Con 2013 Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I attended Gen Con in Indianapolis again this year. It's mostly a gaming convention, but there is a huge writing track designed to help people improve their own writing. It's where I learned practically everything I know. Now, I'm a member of the Writers' Symposium, and we give over 70 hours of instructional panels to the attendees over 4 days. This year was particularly awesome for many reasons.<br />
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The coolest event for me was on Friday August 16, 2013. There was a reading attended by about 26 people, and we witnessed a master of his craft, Lawrence C. Connolly, perform his story, "The Fourth Sign," which is featured in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Pact-5-ebook/dp/B00E83GGOO/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1377045325">The Crimson Pact Volume 5.</a> I wish I would have made a video.<br />
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<img alt="IMG_7636.JPG" border="0" height="336" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-bvdGi_iyMxQ/UhPVnhr2tjI/AAAAAAAABg8/HBYEKktfVSA/IMG_7636.JPG?imgmax=800" width="400" /> <br />
Author Lawrence C. Connolly and Paul Genesse<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b> The Reading Begins</b></span></div>
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Author Monica Valentinelli got the crowd warmed up with selections from a couple of different stories. It's fun listening to strong readers like Monica. She
read from "Fangs and Formaldehyde" a smart vampire story featured in The New Heroes edited by
Robin D. Laws. I had already picked up a copy and it's awesome. She also
read from a Lovecraftian story she wrote that was patently evil.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null"></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Hero-Volume-ebook/dp/B00CW076X0/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1377046631&sr=1-2&keywords=The+New+Heroes+by+Robin+Laws">The cover for this book rules. Find it on Amazon.</a></td></tr>
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Author Wesley Chu went on next and rocked it by reading a scene from his debut novel, The Lives of Tao. He was funny, dramatic, and proved why his book has gotten so many five star reviews.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Reviews of The Lives of Tao</b></span><br />
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"Few books begin more engagingly than <i>The Lives of Tao</i>, a science fiction romp which wears its principal strength -- the wit and humor of the narrative voice -- on its sleeve." - <b>The Huffington Post</b><br />
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"If
you want something to read on a plane or settle into over the weekend,
this is the book you want to pick up. But like most great stories,
there's a little more going on under the surface." - <b>SF Signal</b><br />
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"Note to James Patterson fans: this is how to write a sci-fi page turner." - <b>Sci Fi Bulletin</b><br />
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"Chu's
good-natured adroitness with character development is matched by his
thriller-style plotting, a fine blend of gentle humor and sharp
suspense." - <b>Barnes & Noble Review</b><br />
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"a science
fiction story that is one part spy novel, one part buddy flick, one part
comic book, one part eye-opener history lesson...among many other
elements. Yes, it's a lot of parts, but they blend together quite well." - <b>Examiner </b><br />
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“Just
your usual “I’ve got an immensely wise alien in my head who wants me to
become an international man of mystery” story. Which is to say,
Page-turning homage to other classic SF like Hal Clement’s <i>Needle</i>. Recommended.” -<b>Steven Gould</b>, author of the Jumper series<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Lives-of-Tao-ebook/dp/B00A1M5EG2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1377046682&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Lives+of+Tao">Find The Lives of Tao on Amazon.com </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>George Strayton</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Up next was author George
Strayton. He's an accomplished screen writer who worked on some big movies (Star Trek, Transformers, Xena) and a </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">game designer (the award winning <a href="http://www.secretfiregames.com/the-secret-fire-rpg-now-a-bestseller/">Secret Fire role-playing game</a>)</span>. I'm so pleased George
was able to make time in his busy schedule to write a story for my anthology. He read the first scene (pasted in full below), a flash
forward from "Eyes Only" featured in The Crimson Pact
Volume 5. <span style="color: #1a1a1a;">"Eyes Only" tells the story of
a pair of super-spies and ex-lovers from opposing agencies on an “eyes only”
mission. Will these demon-agents get together for another tryst or send each
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George wrote a fabulous and exciting story. Check it out.</div>
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Eyes Only
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by
George Strayton</div>
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New York City. 22 May 2018. 23:38.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">One hand held Finn on the
steel railing of the Freedom Tower’s rooftop, which was lit up with spring
colors. The rest of him dangled thousands of feet above the ground. He saw his
Sig 226 flipping as it fell at terminal velocity. Gusts of wind threatened to
rip him off the Tower and send him flailing after it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">He looked up to see her
standing over him just as her boot came down on his fingers and ground them
against the edged steel of the railing’s lowest crossbeam. Her extra-human
strength would’ve instantly crushed a normal human’s fingers into a messy pulp.
But not Finn’s. Though he felt the agony just as intensely, he did his best to
retain his grip. His other hand was bleeding a river through the hole she had
blasted in it, the same shot that had blown the pistol out of his grasp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">He locked eyes with her. Even
her look of anger was somehow alluring. And he hated her for it. He hated
everything about her. He wanted her dead.</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">But at the moment, she had
the upper hand—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">his</i> upper hand, to be
precise. And clearly, she wanted him dead, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">And yet he knew her twisted
mind better than that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Let me up! You’ve had your
fun!” he shouted up to her over the wind.</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Give it to me!” she
responded. Then louder, more intense. “Now!” She was emotional, chaotic. Too
much had happened in the past twenty-four hours for her to maintain any
semblance of composure. She had lost all control. Which wasn’t surprising. She
lived her entire life halfway to irrationality to begin with.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">With his free arm, he pressed
the object inside his jacket closer to his chest. “Fuck you!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In a blur, she brought her
custom silver Varjag 9mm to bear, aimed at his forehead, and pulled the
trigger—</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The sanctified bullet struck
home. He released the railing and dropped toward the earth far below, his body
passing in and out of the light spilling out of the windows of the Freedom
Tower as he fell, black suit rippling in the increasingly strong air currents .
. .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
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* * *</div>
(This story is so much fun, with twists, turns, and an incredible ending. I loved it.)<br />
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* * * * *</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lawrence C. Connolly</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WTxvslnMpl4ImKjPwDo-oRn9Ug7HTJLMO_wf_xJpfeffQXs89VKZe2emKxWABSgPtt9aOptdzPt9GkktLEcfje57FsN8NMam5JMFCbuA7wmscGCxDqndAnyPBvCGBuECxUe5gsh7rtU/s1600/LawrenceCConnolly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WTxvslnMpl4ImKjPwDo-oRn9Ug7HTJLMO_wf_xJpfeffQXs89VKZe2emKxWABSgPtt9aOptdzPt9GkktLEcfje57FsN8NMam5JMFCbuA7wmscGCxDqndAnyPBvCGBuECxUe5gsh7rtU/s1600/LawrenceCConnolly.jpg" /></a></div>
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The main event of the evening was the performance by a legendary writer who has been published by pretty much every top tier sci-fi, fantasy, and horror magazine in existence. His novels are highly acclaimed and he earned his Stoker Award nomination for his collection, Voices: Tales of Horror. Author Lawrence "Larry" C. Connolly is a great writer and he couldn't be a nicer fellow. Getting to know him over the past few years has been awesome. I've had the good fortune to hear him perform a few times and he always brings down the house. You see, Larry does not 'read' at his readings like the rest of us. He memorizes the story beforehand and performs, like an actor doing a monologue. It's fantastic. For his 12 minute 'reading" I learned that he spent 20 hours memorizing and practicing.<br />
<br />
Listening to him live was awesome. Larry performed a variation of his story, "The Fourth Sign" in The Crimson Pact Volume 5. It actually takes place at Gen Con in Indianapolis. A writer is offered a large sum of money and is asked to write a story on a very tight deadline by a mysterious woman. She has certain stipulations about the content of the story and requires that certain images be placed within the body of the text. Three images to be exact. The fourth image will be displayed at a later time and will cause something that defies explanation. Oh yes, bad things could happen.<br />
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The performance was awesome. Larry had all of us on the edge our seats as the story unfolded. My only regret is that I didn't make a video. If you ever get a chance to hear Larry perform, at a writing convention or at a club (he's a musician as well), seize the moment. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-C.-Connolly/e/B0043MJL5Q/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1377042630&sr=1-2-ent">Check out his author page on Amazon</a> and purchase something. You will love his work, or go ahead and check out <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Pact-5-ebook/dp/B00E83GGOO/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1377045325">The Crimson Pact Volume 5</a>, and read "The Fourth Sign."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The_Crimson_Pact__Vo_Cover_for_Kindle.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZNOyquehczA/UhPWobca18I/AAAAAAAABhQ/oLUB9TdUew4/The_Crimson_Pact__Vo_Cover_for_Kindle.jpg?imgmax=800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="424" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-ebook/dp/B00E83GGOO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1377048190&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Crimson+Pact+Volume+5">View The Crimson Pact Volume 5 on Amazon</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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* * * * *</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGLDR7lRAgbMEc1BNRPwUbPMtHXsiJQZfFfwWZgxUOj7fqCXJgu5i8Z2uCQexpcJ0A8Vid5NL3A7kyna9sEmdrpDqeXwyBhdUdKmrNaqrxMQdf5MCKw7-5lDqngdokxBtvfU-UW_1HvA/s1600/PaulReading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGLDR7lRAgbMEc1BNRPwUbPMtHXsiJQZfFfwWZgxUOj7fqCXJgu5i8Z2uCQexpcJ0A8Vid5NL3A7kyna9sEmdrpDqeXwyBhdUdKmrNaqrxMQdf5MCKw7-5lDqngdokxBtvfU-UW_1HvA/s400/PaulReading.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
After Larry's performance, I was hesitant to go on, as one does not simply follow Lawrence C. Connolly. I asked him to speak for a few minutes and we asked him some questions. I considered cutting myself from my own reading. This was my 30 minute block and I had asked George and Larry to read with me. Monica asked Wesley Chu to read with her. I wish I could have also let Karen Bovenmyer read. Next time, Karen. Anyway, I let the crowd think about the coolness of what they had just witnessed, and I hoped they would forget a little bit, and welcome me to the stage.<br />
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They did, and I read from "Sealed with Fire" the finale story by Patrick M. Tracy featured in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Pact-5-ebook/dp/B00E83GGOO/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1377045325">The Crimson Pact Volume 5</a>. This story wraps up five books, 106 stories, (674,000 words total) published over 2.5 years. I came up with the outline for this story, but Patrick created the opening scene all himself--which is what I read. I think it went really well, and afterward I gave away five copies to the crowd, then the five Crimson Pact authors posed for a picture.<br />
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<img alt="DSCF0198.JPG" border="0" height="297" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-HcKMCSn_YGw/UhPUmqpkb6I/AAAAAAAABgo/ZrAWpiAvkqU/DSCF0198.JPG?imgmax=800" width="400" /><br />
From left to right:<br />
Lawrence C. Connolly, Karen Bovenmyer, Paul Genesse, Patrick M. Tracy, Stephanie Lorée, George Strayton.<br />
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This reading was a big highlight for me and I am so grateful for all the support from the authors and fans.<br />
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* * * * *</div>
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<br />
Gen Con was a lot of fun and many things happened. I posted a few pics below, but you can view the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151880033614136.1073741829.583339135&type=1&l=e0985f423e">rest of the pics on Facebook</a>.<br />
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<img alt="IMG_7637.JPG" border="0" height="337" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-e11aNpXaUtA/UhPU216-E_I/AAAAAAAABgw/6CSTxVOtf1s/IMG_7637.JPG?imgmax=800" width="400" /> <br />
Author Saladin Ahmed and I to held a meeting of the Society of Short Mediterranean Fantasy Novelists!<br />
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* * * * *</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Medusa tried her magic on me! Don't worry, I got better.</b></span><br />
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<img alt="IMG_7624.JPG" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoS3xj3JIQPlB1BG6rZLAF3nb260iC8TbB3k92sMrDOmeSuIGPLELWn0p2tK9C93Q84X3-qg9Mr85OqrfnBYzUnmZ2op_v2xS5TcMAKnR2CSRxX2laWRpSxNC9bgqp9wceEsKUBjiaSMo/?imgmax=800" width="400" /><br />
This is Cheryl, a great friend and one of my biggest fans. She dressed up as Medusa for me, in honor of the novel I wrote, Medusa's Daughter.<br />
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Thanks to everyone who made Gen Con awesome!</div>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-68651810370286815512013-07-31T02:05:00.001-07:002013-07-31T02:14:35.380-07:00The Crimson Pact Volume 5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img alt="The_Crimson_Pact__Vo_Cover_for_Kindle.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-JvKugQGymJ4/UfjMDO_b7pI/AAAAAAAABgQ/UEyv6Hclfxs/The_Crimson_Pact__Vo_Cover_for_Kindle.jpg?imgmax=800" width="426" /><br />
<br />
<br />
In this book you will find the highly-acclaimed origin story of the Crimson Pact mythology, “The Failed Crusade,” and the epic finale to the entire series, “Sealed with Fire,” two powerful novellas by Patrick M. Tracy. <br />
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Read a story from New York Times’ bestselling author Larry Correia and Hugo Award-nominated Steven Diamond, "A Choice of Fate," which is the finale of their story cycle about Diego Santos and Jarvis "Lazarus" Tombs.<br />
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Enjoy short fiction from: Bram Stoker Award-nominated Lawrence C. Connolly; Writers of the Future Award Winners Bradley P. Beaulieu and Brad R. Torgersen; I-CON Innovative Game Design Award Winner George Strayton; and fiction from the Hugo and Campbell Award-nominated Dan Wells, author of the highly regarded I Am Not A Serial Killer and co-host of the Writing Excuses Podcast.<br />
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Original stories also by fan favorites Donald J. Bingle, Kelly Swails, Usman T. Malik, Craig Nybo, Justin Swapp, Danielle DeLisle, Michaele Jordan, Zachary Hill, Chanté McCoy, Stephanie Lorée, Donald Darling, Brett Peterson, and Karen Bovenmyer.<br />
<br />
If you enjoy Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files; Terry Brooks’ Running with Demons (Word and the Void) and Armageddon’s Children (Genesis of Shannara Trilogy); Demon Moon in The Guardian Series by Meljean Brook, Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter International, or Patricia Briggs When Demons Walk you will love the Crimson Pact series.<br />
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View the book on Amazon.com in either <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-ebook/dp/B00E83GGOO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375261046&sr=8-1&keywords=The+crimson+pact+volume+5+kindle">eBook</a> format or as a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-5/dp/0985003847/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375261721&sr=8-1&keywords=the+crimson+pact+volume+5">trade paperback</a>.<br />
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What the Critics are saying:<br />
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“Almost 30 years later The Crimson Pact supplants Clive Barker’s Books of Blood series as the modern compendium of fantasy horror short stories. Though The Crimson Pact lacks the consistent voice the Books of Blobod offer, there is something to be said for the variety of styles. Like the viewers of the classic Twilight Zone and Outer Limits television series, each reader is bound to have their own favorites. Whether you buy these for yourself or someone else, any horror, suspense, or dark fiction fan should enjoy the collection.” Lance Roth at Blog Critics.org about Volumes 1-4<br />
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“The demons are not your typical straight-from-Hell, pitchfork-tailed monstrosities, or (perhaps) even in any realistic sense of the term ‘native’ to Earth. No, the demons you will encounter in The Crimson Pact are rather more like H. P. Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones—unknowable creatures from beyond the Void, waiting only their opportunity to invade helpless earths and rule them with devastation and despair.” <br />
Author Michael Collings on Hell Notes.com about Volumes 1-4, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED<br />
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“I applaud those who brainstormed this, and I can hardly wait to read the Crimson Pact, Volume 2. If you haven’t partaken of this little jewel, I encourage you to do so, but beware, what lies beneath a mortal’s skin could be something marvelously demonic.” MK Horror.com<br />
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“If you like demons and dark fantasy, if you love the constant struggle of good against evil (or at least human vs. something clawed and taloned), an endless eternal war between humanity and hellborn, then this is definitely the anthology for you.” Pippa Jay of Fantasy Book Review.co.uk<br />
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“If you like Dark Fantasy, you’ll love this book.” Author Daniel Coleman, about The Crimson Pact Volume 1<br />
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“This is a volume for all those fans of demonology, but the mixture of genres, styles and authors means something should appeal to everyone. If you like some dystopian sci-fi with your demons, check out Fight. If you prefer some sweet yet gritty romance–with vampires too, no less– check out Stumble and Fall (one of my favourites, and with a favourite character from 1 and 2). Singe, Smolder, Torch, Whither left me squirming and looking for blue glowing eyes. For the conspiracy theorists, there’s the voice inside the computer with Whispers in the Code. The Recruit is a modern play on the old contract with the devil. There’s even a tale told from the enemy’s perspective in The Ronin’s Mark, an intriguing insight into the mind of one of the demon horde. There’s a lot of swearing, guts and gore, but also triumph, tragedy and heart-warming moments. These stories can scare, disgust, or horrify you. They can also make you laugh and cry.” Pippa Jay of Fantasy Book Review.co.uk<br />
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The Crimson Pact Volume 5 is on Amazon.com in either <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-ebook/dp/B00E83GGOO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375261046&sr=8-1&keywords=The+crimson+pact+volume+5+kindle">eBook</a> format or as a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Crimson-Pact-Volume-5/dp/0985003847/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375261721&sr=8-1&keywords=the+crimson+pact+volume+5">trade paperback</a>.</div>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-89734335484594740042013-07-26T07:06:00.000-07:002013-07-26T07:06:41.200-07:00CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK VS. ALIENS ANTHOLOGY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaxDjaVp7Z2e8sgt1OXrWYPyGtx4Ip0Hr1JrIbd9P3VFESqJnJQjy7SVR1MZh4SIsk7OIKtnzkfp96rZHtBrbNk8jBlXQnf8Cm9rDLkq3kOEAjcPvmoaECcWJo0Y8dOXkhdem_-cln-k/s1600/STEAMPUNKOCTOPUS.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaxDjaVp7Z2e8sgt1OXrWYPyGtx4Ip0Hr1JrIbd9P3VFESqJnJQjy7SVR1MZh4SIsk7OIKtnzkfp96rZHtBrbNk8jBlXQnf8Cm9rDLkq3kOEAjcPvmoaECcWJo0Y8dOXkhdem_-cln-k/s640/STEAMPUNKOCTOPUS.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is the awesome steampunk anthology I was asked to submit a story to by editor Joshua Palmatier--who is a great writer. His Cracked Throne novel blew my mind. Anyway, I hope this gets funded because I really want to write my story, which will be set in 1800's Australia. There's no guarantee my story will be accepted, but I have high hopes.<br />
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If you are able, please consider contributing to the Kickstarter. There are tons of great offerings at many price levels, and you can get the antho as an eBook, print book, and also get various other books as rewards. <br />
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Here's the Kickstarter video below or watch it on <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/543968884/clockwork-universe-steampunk-vs-aliens-anthology">the official site here</a>. <br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/543968884/clockwork-universe-steampunk-vs-aliens-anthology/widget/video.html" width="480"> </iframe><br /></div>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-21256100831148168232013-07-26T06:48:00.001-07:002013-07-26T06:51:40.592-07:00Review of Fearless: Powerful Women of History<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img alt="fearless_1600x2400.jpg" border="0" height="640" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0KUEWgesekI/UfJ-HhW124I/AAAAAAAABfw/dfNEUVQnjWw/fearless_1600x2400.jpg?imgmax=800" width="425" /><br />
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<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Powerful-History-Historian-ebook/dp/B00DTAGTLM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374846558&sr=8-1&keywords=fearless+powerful+women+of+history">Fearless: Powerful Women of History by Zachary Hill</a><br />
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This is a really fun and fascinating book that uses satire and humor to describe more than sixteen amazing women that we should all know about. Young women and girls need to understand that women shaped the course of human history, just like the men who usually get most of the attention.<br />
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Fearless: Powerful Women of History is a little like the movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, as many of the historical figures actually make appearances in the book, and are interviewed by the author, and his panel of hilarious historical figures. This is history made fun, and reading it is a joy. I think reading this aloud would be hilarious and fun for a family, especially if Mom, Dad, and the kids (aged 11+) took on the roles of the panelists. Some essays are a little gruesome, so read them in advance, but overall it’s fine for most people. The only distraction I had while reading were the frequent typos, but I did read an advanced reader copy, and learned that the next version will be cleaned up.<br />
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The author, Zachary Hill, a man with a history degree who is obsessed with researching history, describes in an unscholarly way a few of the famous people we probably already know something about: Joan of Arc, and Jane Austen, but the rest are more marginal figures that have not gotten the attention they deserve. Hua Mulan (Disney made a movie about her) is described in as much detail as we know, and the truth of her life is incredible.<br />
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There are also essays about: Empress Theodora of Constantinople; the Byzantine Princess and historian Anna Komnene; Queen Tamar of Georgia the Conqueror; the warrior woman Rani Lakshmibai of India; Queen Matilda of England; Roman Empress Galla Placidia; the female “samurai” Tomoe Gozen of Japan (and there’s a separate essay about other Japanese female warriors); St. Olga of Kiev (a brutal woman and her essay is probably PG-13); Caterina Sforza (who kicked butts so far they woke up in the next time zone); St. Teresa of Avila, and more.<br />
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Author Zachary Hill’s history blog, <a href="http://minimumwagehistorian.com/">MinimumWageHistorian.com </a>has a ton of great information as well. Go there to browse the many topics he’s covered over the years.<br />
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Making history fun and engaging can be hard to do, but Fearless: Powerful Women of History succeeds in bringing to light some amazing women who must not be forgotten.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Powerful-History-Historian-ebook/dp/B00DTAGTLM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374846558&sr=8-1&keywords=fearless+powerful+women+of+history">Fearless: Powerful Women of History </a>(110 pages, $4.99 eBook, $5.99 print book)<br />
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED<br />
<br />
Paul Genesse</div>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-4924045256616036682013-07-16T02:06:00.001-07:002013-07-16T03:25:47.265-07:00BRILLIANT NOVEL: THE DESERT OF SOULS BY HOWARD ANDREW JONES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-S8gDiOPTXXiW47EJDuxx59qAYDygcHTDorfCNZ8MJj-WzC1Ft200fsUfzElTEIWAPsGqGbMLLxnNxKGiUFfiKlwodeUV9ZaFvoL-sxcfhm7Az8yLHzCb7eVC9zxG7goEZh_FD8Epwbk/s1600/DesertofSoulsBest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-S8gDiOPTXXiW47EJDuxx59qAYDygcHTDorfCNZ8MJj-WzC1Ft200fsUfzElTEIWAPsGqGbMLLxnNxKGiUFfiKlwodeUV9ZaFvoL-sxcfhm7Az8yLHzCb7eVC9zxG7goEZh_FD8Epwbk/s640/DesertofSoulsBest.jpg" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(No spoilers in this review)</td></tr>
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I love this book. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Souls-Howard-Andrew-Jones/dp/B00A17O3CS/ref=pd_sim_b_3">The Desert of Souls</a> is exactly what adventure fantasy is all about and author Howard Andrew Jones has written a brilliant novel set in 8th century Baghdad. The novel has been widely acclaimed and now I know why.<br />
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Check out the blurbs on Amazon.com from many notable authors. I have to admit I was surprised at all the gushing praise, but this book truly lives up to the hype. I had so much fun reading and loved the esteemed and humble narrator, Captain Asim. He tells us a wonderful and heartfelt tale filled with surprises, magic, sword fights, forbidden love, and describes a fully realized world. The writing is top notch and this is how the very tricky first person point of view should be done.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL12idonK06PNdOmNBpMcQoP-TeX8HpuWp8cIOJqBFreI7iDU82bwTagR5R6iSlUg5Slkt6dBmazsw8E4CCa-a65_Ax3DtfwDrDi-XcpUJ20Fk63HbmqDf_4e45gdr16ky4uqkV46n74k/s1600/The+Desert+of+Souls+other+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL12idonK06PNdOmNBpMcQoP-TeX8HpuWp8cIOJqBFreI7iDU82bwTagR5R6iSlUg5Slkt6dBmazsw8E4CCa-a65_Ax3DtfwDrDi-XcpUJ20Fk63HbmqDf_4e45gdr16ky4uqkV46n74k/s1600/The+Desert+of+Souls+other+cover.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original Cover</td></tr>
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Captain Asim’s sword arm and the razor sharp whit of his friend, the scholar Dabir, are all they have to survive and stop a cruel man and his allies from bringing great destruction to the world.<br />
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The intricate plot kept me guessing until the very end of the book. The finale was awesome, and wrapped everything up nicely. This is technically a stand alone novel. Fortunately, there is another book, The Bones of the Old Ones. Let’s call it a sequel, but I think it's a stand alone as well and it's all about these characters I've come to love.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="BOnes-of-the-Old-ones.jpeg" border="0" height="640" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-aryWrkgzM78/UeUMiQVQ5kI/AAAAAAAABeo/eXFBwCnx4kI/BOnes-of-the-Old-ones.jpeg?imgmax=800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="420" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bones-Ones-Howard-Andrew-Jones/dp/0312646755/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y">VIEW BONES OF THE OLD ONES ON AMAZON</a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMJFto4zXp_Bw9vk5tmTN38JObKA2pNJr9h9PLL7rbPxmrbOX-bP5J2F-oNUO99gPmYe2bnvSkinGD92rJjTTgC1OAqTHHIBSsA2vudzVsoPuVbJu4MroUiUvePgxCML02kWV2SgfXiI/s1600/slider-water4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMJFto4zXp_Bw9vk5tmTN38JObKA2pNJr9h9PLL7rbPxmrbOX-bP5J2F-oNUO99gPmYe2bnvSkinGD92rJjTTgC1OAqTHHIBSsA2vudzVsoPuVbJu4MroUiUvePgxCML02kWV2SgfXiI/s1600/slider-water4.jpg" /></a><br />
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There is also a great collection of short stories which started it all, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Waters-Eternity-Desert-Souls-ebook/dp/B00603QRE4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373967358&sr=8-1&keywords=WATERS+OF+ETERNITY">The Waters of Eternity,</a> which I just got for my Kindle. One of the stories is mentioned in Desert of Souls, and I’m really looking forward to reading it.<br />
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If you like fast-paced adventure fantasy with great characters and a fun plot, Desert of Souls is a book for you.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Souls-Howard-Andrew-Jones/dp/B00A17O3CS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373964809&sr=8-1&keywords=Desert+of+Souls">View on Amazon.com</a><br />
THE DESERT OF SOULS BY HOWARD ANDREW JONES<br />
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 5/5 STARS<br />
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Paul Genesse<br />
Author of the Iron Dragon Series<br />
Editor of The Crimson Pact Series<br />
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P.S. I decided not to give away a lot of details or any spoilers, but if you’d like to read more specifics, check out this great <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R2ABPGL8LMV5Q3?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00A17O3CS&cdMSG=addedToThread&cdPage=&newContentID=Mx1VG8LG48H9MJS&newContentNum=1&nodeID=283155&ref_=cm_cr_dp_title&store=books#CustomerDiscussionsNRPB">review by Beth on Amazon</a>.<br />
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Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4818652688624793641.post-15337109811731588482013-07-02T07:59:00.001-07:002013-07-02T08:12:27.701-07:00Review of Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Review of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Throne-Crescent-Moon-Kingdoms/dp/B00B9ZEMN6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372777801&sr=8-1&keywords=throne+of+the+crescent+moon">Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed</a><br />
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Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed is a classic and delightful adventure novel set in The Crescent Moon Kingdoms—a fantastical version of the Middle-east with an Arabian Nights, or for you gamers, an Al-Qadim feel. I very much enjoyed this fun book and the well-drawn characters. You may have heard of this novel already, as it has received high acclaim and won the 2012 Locus Award for Best Debut Novel. It has also been nominated for a Hugo (award pending at the time of this review) and the author has won awards his short fiction. Not surprisingly, Throne of the Crescent Moon is smooth, the prose easy and natural, not purple or baroque in any way. In my opinion, it’s suitable for ages 11 or 12 and up, but teens and adults will get the most out of it.<br />
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The plot is very traditional, no big surprises or twists as a ghul hunt begins and the mystery evolves into something much more dire. There’s a lot to be interested in, despite the small size of the book (only 274 pages) as the setting is so different from the traditional European fantasy world we’ve all seen. These characters are great, and I’ve never read a book with a protagonist like the aging ghul hunter, Doctor Adoulla Makhslood. He’s sixty-something years old, fat, and admittedly way past his prime. None of that matters as he’s got powerful magical skills (he’s a man of God) with a lifetime of experience fighting the dark things in this rich and layered world. Despite all the evil he’s seen and battled, Adoulla has never lost his sense of humor. He is crass, bombastic, and the holy bane of his enemies’ existence. He will punch the charlatan ghul hunters in the face for their impudence, and Adoulla Makhslood is not a man to be trifled with.<br />
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The little relationships between the main characters are more than half the fun in this book, and their exchanges are priceless. Adoulla’s young assistant, Raseed bas Raseed, a brilliant swordsman of an honorable dervish order, puts up with the Doctor’s constant haranguing and teasing while fighting his inner battles over his strict moral code and the rigid system of honor.<br />
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Zamia Banu Laith Badawi, Protector of her nomadic band, is Angel Touched and can shapeshift into a lion woman (really a girl as she is only about fifteen). Zamia can wreak holy damage upon the enemies of the light, and is sworn to avenge her tribe. She is young, fierce, barbaric and is quite interested in the little paladin, Raseed bas Raseed, who knows he should not have certain base feelings for a nomad girl, for he is a man of God, and must not succumb to the urges of the flesh. Or maybe he should?<br />
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Those are the three main characters, but Doctor Adoulla’s other friends, Dawoud and his wife, Litaz also have point of view chapters. They’re experienced and have been part of the fight for decades, and are quite a good team. Litaz and Dawoud are resourceful and brave supports of the Doctor, and are not easily dissuaded by opposition or obstacles. God has given them each a specific calling in life and they must accept their fate and do their duty.<br />
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Doctor Adoulla and his friends all walk through the convoluted and crowded city of Dhamsawaat, ruled by the Khalif who sits on the Crescent Throne. In Dhamsawaat you never know what enemy or friend you might meet, or if the delicious cardamom tea you’re enjoying will be your last. The Khalif’s soldiers might arrest you at any moment, or the Falcon Prince (a lot like Robin Hood) might stage one of his spectacles to show how morally corrupt the Khalif has become. Accomplishing anything takes time and coin, and you have to know the right people, and those people have to know the right magic.<br />
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This book is a stand alone novel, a very complete story, but it is apparent that there will be much more in the years ahead from a most humble and blessed writer, Saladin Ahmed. We should all hope for more adventures in the Crescent Kingdoms and beyond, for there are many other roads to walk in this fascinating world.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Throne-Crescent-Moon-Kingdoms/dp/B00B9ZEMN6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372777801&sr=8-1&keywords=throne+of+the+crescent+moon">View Throne of the Crescent Moon on Amazon.com </a><br />
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Paul Genesse </div>
Paul Genessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17014985880127523334noreply@blogger.com0