Fan Expo Denver 2022!

Fan Expo Denver logo

I’m happy to announce that I’m appearing at Fan Expo Denver 2022 with friends old and new! I’ll be on five panels, two on Friday evening and three on Sunday. My schedule is below.

Show Off Your Scars (moderator)
Friday, July 1 @ 6pm, Room 710

This panel of pro authors will discuss how they transfer lived experiences to the page, from fights & trauma to the best moments of your life.

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Fandom and Format
Friday, July 1 @ 8pm, Room 710

Fans come from all Media. Discuss the intersection and Overlap of Games, Books, Films and Television and their respective fandoms. Fans can come from any Genre and be welcomed into and become a fan of the others. Also, how do fandoms change/grow across generations? Do fandoms need to adapt to new times, or can they still celebrate the original formats? Great Books become Great Films become games and comics and television. How has the explosion of one fandom helped the others grow.

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Writing a Different Gender
Sunday, July 3 @ 11am, Room 710

If you write, it’s inevitable that you will run into this situation. You identify as female, but have to write a male character. How do you deal with the differences? What sort of research do you do? What are the pitfalls? Do you use a sensitivity editor? How do you respond to criticism? What are some of your triumphs and challenges? From readers, what are some characters who you wouldn’t believe were written by who they were written by?

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Accuracy or Entertainment in Your Writing (moderator)
Sunday, July 3 @ 1pm, Room 710

Does it bother you when a movie, book, or show gets something wrong–a fact, a concept, an idea? Or do you cheer when they make some obscure reference to science or history or culture and get it right? Come join our panel of fiction authors – who also happen to be experts in various fields ranging from programming to history to teaching – as they discuss some of their pop-culture pet peeves, and what they would have done differently. (AND what they think Hollywood or the publsihing insdustry got right!). Come with your own examples, as we attempt to answer the age-old question: what’s more important, accuracy or entertainment? And are they mutually exclusive?

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Writing in a Shared Universe
Sunday, July 3 @ 4pm, Room 710

Writers involved in shared universes discuss what makes it work, avoiding pitfalls, and why shared universes are so much fun.

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I’ve also been remiss in announcing my music and writing activities lately, and will be updating those soon, but here’s a sneak peak:

  • I recently performed filk music in the Festival of the Living Rooms #14, the Festival of Faerie in Louisville, CO, and at Superstars Writing Seminar in Colorado Springs.
  • I published a drabble (100 word short story) in Drabbledark II from Shacklebound books. The story is called “By the Coin”.
  • I was invited to participate in a unique flash fiction coloring book project for Kickstarter, and that campaign kicks off in a couple of weeks. I love this project, and am honored to appear in this Mythic Mongoose Press volume alongside James A. Owen and Kevin J. Anderson. I’ll make an announcement here, on my Facebook page, and various other places when the Kickstarter goes live.
  • Finally, I sold a story to Knight Writing Press for their upcoming Modern Magic anthology. That book is due out later this year.

There has been a lot going on! More coming soon, but for now, I need to get my butt downtown for FanEx!


WhimsyCon Appearances

 

WhimsyCon, the Colorado steampunk convention created by nonprofit Shiny Garden, takes place at the Hyatt Regency DTC on March 2-4, 2018. I’ll be on several panels at this con, as well as performing music on Friday evening and early Sunday afternoon.

I’m honored to be appearing in both music and literary capacities at this convention. I will also have a few copies of Edward Bryant’s Sphere of Influence (which includes my story “Chesterfield Gray”, as well as great stories from people like Connie Willis, Steve Rasnic Tem, Kevin J. Anderson, Mario Acevedo, Lucy Taylor, Bruce Holland Rogers, and Gary Jonas) to sell, for anyone interested. My schedule is below. I hope some of you can join me there!

(Note that this is a preliminary schedule, and may change without notice. Please be sure to check the current schedule before finalizing plans.)

Friday, March 2, 2018
Musical performance by Stace Johnson
Grand Mesa Ballroom A & B
5:30:pm – 6:20:pm
An hour (roughly) of music performed by Yours Truly

So Charming, Not Creepy
Mesa Verde C
8:00:pm – 8:50:pm
Make your convention experience better by learning how to approach people without being a creep. A discussion on etiquette, consent, common sense and enjoying fandom with respect. Audience is encouraged to share examples of good and bad interactions.
Sandra Wheeler, Stace Johnson

Steampunk Poetry Slam
Mesa Verde A
10:00:pm – 10:50:pm
Create poetry on demand to prompts given by the moderators and audience.
Stace Johnson, Voniè Stillson aka Lady Vo

Saturday, March 3, 2018
Learn to Love Your Writing
Wind Star A
5:00:pm – 5:50:pm
Everyone is their own worst critic. Stop worrying and love your writing: a motivational panel. How to stop hesitating because you feel your work isn’t “good enough” and put words on the paper.
J.D. Harrison, James A. Hunter, Melissa Koons, Stace Johnson, Veronica R. Calisto

Polyamory and Non-monogamy in Fiction
Wind Star A
10:00:pm – 10:50:pm
Panelists will review fiction throughout the decades with non-monogamous and polyamorous themes and how they have influenced current trends.
Catherine Winters, Eneasz Brodski, Shullamuth Ballinger, Stace Johnson

Sunday, March 4, 2018
New Authors Anonymous
Mesa Verde A
9:00:am – 9:50:am
Talk about what it’s like as a newbie in this crazy publishing world.
J.D. Harrison, Jessica Lauren Gabarron, Stace Johnson

Musical performance by Stace Johnson
Highlands Amphitheater
1:00:pm – 1:50:pm
Second musical performance by Yours Truly

February Word Challenge, Day 22

(If you’re wondering what this is about, read this.)

My five random words for today’s exercise are olympics, laser, coin, doughnut, friar.

Chosen word for free association: friar
monk, fish friar, chip monk, deep friar, band name

Exercise:

“Ladies and Gentlemen … from Schenectady, NY … put your hands together for … DEEP FRIAR!”

On cue, Francis walked through the stage fog and took up his position behind mic #3. The cheers grew louder as he and his band members emerged from the shadows onto the stage. His Les Paul hung heavy from his shoulder, the headstock angled toward the floor, stage lights reflecting from the chrome hardware.

It didn’t used to be like this. At one time, the words were the message, and Deep Friar, despite the punny name, wrote music that made people think. But these days, the message was lost. The music was still technical and challenging, at least, but after their fourth album (Friary Crash) debuted to lackluster sales, the record company had told them to lighten up on the lyrics. It had worked; every album since then had gone gold, and controversy over lyrical meaning disappeared.

And for Francis, so did the point.

Making Musical Connections

Attended Keith’s state solo competition, went to watch Dot Com play in Colorado Springs. Enjoyed talking with Mick (guitarist) and Brad the Drummer about music and set up a jam session with Mick and Flat Rabbit for Friday, May 10.

Zen Guitar

Zen Guitar

By:  Philip Toshio Sudo

Type:  Extended inspirational metaphor

Setting:  The Zen Guitar Dojo

Description:

Using Zen teachings interspersed with quotes and examples from famous musicians, Phil Sudo guides us on a tour through the Zen Guitar Dojo.  The dojo is a virtual practice studio; one can enter the studio anywhere, at any time, because it is more a state of mind than a physical reality.  Focus and dedication are the keys to this dojo; a beginner’s mind and openness to the teaching allow growth to occur.

Sudo divides the book into five main parts, each indicating different levels of progression in Zen Guitar.  When a new student enters the dojo, no matter his level of playing ability, he must embrace the beginner’s mind and put on the white belt, and these basics are covered in the first section of the book.

As the student moves through the dojo, his white belt becomes soiled from practice and begins to turn black; practice is the focus of the second section of the book.  When a player has practiced enough to become proficient, his belt may be completely black, and with that comes the responsibility of using what he has learned wisely.  That responsibility is the subject of the third section of the book.  Of course, just because a student has attained the black belt level, that doesn’t mean he is finished.  As in any dojo, a black belt only indicates that the student’s true learning has begun.

As he studies, his belt may begin to fray, and strands of the original white belt will begin to show through.  He will have learned much, and now is confronted with the question of where the music comes from.  Is he playing it, or is it playing him?  The correct answer is mu, the classic transcendent point of Zen philosophy.  The music is neither playing nor being played by the student, and the student will only understand his relationship to it when he drops the need for duality.  This is the subject of the fourth section.

Finally, when the student has played and practiced enough that his belt is once again white, he realizes that it was white all along, and that the way he got to the level he is now is by keeping the beginner’s mind forefront, and by wearing the same white belt.  The final section is a recap of all that the student has learned, and it is all white belt material.

Comments:

I purchased this book in May of 2001.  I had seen it on the rack at my local magazine store and thought it looked fascinating, and finally I bought it, knowing nothing about the author or, really, what the book was about.  It sat inside my nightstand for a year before I took it out again and started reading.  I read it in small chunks, wanting to chew on each piece slowly, rather than blazing through the book and missing the points.  It was a very easy read; Sudo’s style is crisp, simple, and clean, and he makes even the difficult Zen concepts come across clearly.  I learned valuable information from many sections of the book that deal directly with stumbling points in my playing:  “Mistakes,” “Stages and Plateaus,” “Self-Doubt,” and “Overthinking” are all sections with which I connected directly.  They are all in the “white belt to black belt” section, so I guess I know where I am on the path of Zen Guitar.  I look forward to the day when I find I am connecting better with the sections in the later part of the book.

Some interesting things have happened to my playing since I started reading this book.  I’ve taken more risks, for one thing.  I have also worked on learning a lot of new songs, most of them heavier than I am used to playing.  I tried out for a band that is ready to start gigging, and I played and sang onstage at a local jam without feeling overly self-conscious.  I’m not sure how much of that can be attributed to the book, but I am sure that the book helped me develop the mindset that I needed to be open to these opportunities.

There is another coincidence: a very said one.  When I finished the book, I went to the Zen Guitar website listed in the back of the book.  I wanted to see if there was anything new that Sudo had added to the dojo that would complement this review, and I wanted to let him know that I had enjoyed the book and was going to write the review.  When I arrived at the website, the first thing I noticed was a date range:  Philip Toshio Sudo, October 20th, 1959 – June 9th, 2002.

Evidently Phil had been battling cancer since about the time that I bought the book.  He kept a journal online, and as I read through it, I thought of the same steps that my brother took as he fought cancer.  Phil lived a couple of years longer than my brother did, and from all accounts on the website, he lived live with a joy and presence that comes from viewing the world from within Zen.

I checked my Creativity Journal for June 9th, and I’m happy to say that I was in a Zen Guitar frame of mind that day, working out a song list for my basement band and studying the fret board.  The next day, I noted that I had “read some more Zen Guitar.”  I’m sure Phil would be happy to know that.

Recommendations:

Though Zen Guitar is primarily aimed at guitarists, the ideas are universal.  Anyone, whether s/he plays an instrument or not, should be able to find something of worth in these pages if s/he is open enough to look.  At one point in the book, when Sudo is talking about recovering from mistakes, he says, “When things falls apart, make art.  Carry this spirit though to every area of your life.”  I think most of the principles in this book can be extended to all areas of life.  Basically, it’s all about maintaining a beginner’s mind: being open to learning new things, appreciating what we have yet to learn, and using the time we have left wisely, as Phil did.

Thank you, Phil Sudo, for allowing me into your dojo.