S.E. Lindberg's Blog

 Appreciate the local folk supporting Dyscrasia Fiction, at work, in the dojo, and in Kroger!

Saturday August 30th, my son and I passed Aikido testing (now Shodan and Nidan, respectively ... aka 1st and 2nd degree black belts). Thanks for all the support from Mushinkan Dojo (Q, Chris, Daryl Everding and Hanna Everding, and Sensei Dirk Domaschko, and many more). The journey started for us ~2011 give or take, and still continues.

Daryl sports a Dsycrasia Fiction shirt for support
 Connor is learning how to fold a hakama

 

Table of Contents:   You are hereGen Con 2025 - SELindberg Writers Symposium Panel ReviewGen Con 2025 - Writer Symposium Author Selfies & Dyscrasia Fiction Fans Gen Con 2025 Writers Symposium Behind the ScenesGen Con 2025 - Family and Friends 

Table of Contents:Gen Con 2025 - SELindberg Writers Symposium Panel Review You are hereGen Con 2025 - Writer Symposium Author Selfies & Dyscrasia Fiction Fans Gen Con 2025 Writers Symposium Behind the ScenesGen Con 2025 - Family and Friends Gen Con 2025 - SELindberg Writers Symposium Panels Review
Remembering Howard Andrew Jones Thursday, 11:00 AM EDT for 1 hr Marriott: Marriott Ballroom 4Join us as we honor and celebrate the life, work, and memory of Howard Andrew Jones, one of our own.Featuring: Bryan Young, C. S. E. Cooney, Carlos Hernandez, Chris A. Jackson, Erik Scott de Bie, Erin M. Evans, Gregory A. Wilson, Katherine Monasterio, Matt Forbeck, Sean CW Korsgaard, Seth Lindberg

- We announced the Howard Andrew Jones Memorial Travel Grants (for enabling BIPOC and first-time panelists/authors to attend); thanks to the 2025 Writer's Symposium organizing committee
- Also, some homeage pictures of the Skull's Zigguratt (Goodman Game's Vendor booth) and of the piano outside the Writer's Symposium green room (this haunts me, but I love it. Miss you Howard)
See previous Memorial Obiturarys, Memorial Panels:

Howard Andrew Jones Memorial Post -1  [piano]Howard Andrew Jones Memorial -2Two Howards Fathering Sword and Sorcery – Swords Together! [Obit]Windy City Pulp and Paper 2025 - Howard Andrew Jones panel and Connecting with the Community


From Battles to FisticuffsSaturday, 4:00 PM EDT for 1 hr Marriott: Marriott Ballroom 1Bar fights, professional fights, ambushes, duels, full-scale battles - how do we do them justice? How do we craft a physical confrontation in our scenes?Featuring: J.B. Garner, James A. Hunter, Richard Lee Byers, Seth Lindberg, Stephen Kozeniewski



Community Building

Thursday, 4:00 PM EDT for 1 hr Marriott: Boston

Writers who have a community thrive better in their creative work. Come listen to our panelists talk about the communities they participate in, best practices, and how to get started. 

Featuring: DaVaun Sanders, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Rob Cameron, Seth Lindberg

Monster as Protagonist

Friday, 4:00 PM EDT for 1 hr Marriott: Marriott Ballroom 2

Sometimes, it's the monster's turn to be the star of the show. How do you write for when your protagonist is a bloodsucking fiend, an evil genius, or a shambling corpse?

Featuring: Daniel Kraus, Erin Roberts, Khaldoun Khelil, Seth Lindberg, Shveta Thakrar

Sword & Sorcery

Friday, 10:00 AM EDT for 1 hr Marriott: Marriott Ballroom 4

From Robert E. Howard to Howard Andrew Jones, explore the highs, lows, and two-fisted pulpy action of this fantasy subgenre.

Featuring: Bryan Young, Michael A. Stackpole, Richard Lee Byers, Sean CW Korsgaard, Seth Lindberg

 

Magic Systems 101 Friday, 5:00 PM EDT for 1 hr Marriott: Marriott Ballroom 2Join us as we discuss how to develop a magic system for your game or story and how to ensure you don't break your own rules.Featuring: Aaron Rosenberg, Daniel Myers, Danni Williams, James A. Hunter, Seth Lindberg

Nilah Magruder Spotlight Saturday, 1:00 PM EDT for 1 hr Marriott: Marriott Ballroom 4Join our Writers Symposium featured guest in conversation for a special one-on-one Q&A sessionNilah Magruder and Seth Lindberg

Table of Contents: Gen Con 2025 - SELindberg Writers Symposium Panel ReviewGen Con 2025 - Writer Symposium Author Selfies & Dyscrasia Fiction Fans  Gen Con 2025 Writers Symposium Behind the ScenesGen Con 2025 Family and Friends  You are here

Harri & Izzy’s Meal (essentially St Elmo’s) - A Tradition



Free Market Kids Games



Michael Dunsmore Game Designer
Zach, Dirk, Seth - Vacationing from Work

 Table of Contents:Gen Con 2025 - SELindberg Writers Symposium Panel ReviewGen Con 2025 - Writer Symposium Author Selfies & Dyscrasia Fiction Fans Gen Con 2025 Writers Symposium Behind the Scenes You are hereGen Con 2025 Family and Friends 

The Organizing Committee

Volunteer family members [Kim, Tori, Doug's Handler] get lured into volunteering!  
Swag Collection from Jerry Gordon's Garage - Lots of Puzzles Here.  Pallettes of them!
Robin and Judith
New Vests
Luke, Doug, Allison
A Mysterious Typewriter -  Kurt Vonnegut Museum [entries by Gini Koch, Daniel Doc Myers, Seth & Erin Lindberg, Tim Wagonner, and one other]
Long-time attendee - Rebecca

Table of Contents: Gen Con 2025 - SELindberg Writers Symposium Panel ReviewGen Con 2025 - Writer Symposium Author Selfies & Dyscrasia Fiction Fans   You are hereGen Con 2025 Writers Symposium Behind the ScenesGen Con 2025 Family and Friends Writer Symposium Author Selfies

John Scalzi – Guest of Honor Writer

Maurice Broaddus – Author and Chair of WS

Olivia Sailor – Lead Organizer Writers Symposium

Byron Leavitt – Diemension Games Writer

CSE Cooney - Author

Gilles Plantin - Monolith Creative Director & Jeszika Le Vye - Artist

Tim Waggoner – Horror & Conan Writer

Chris A Jackson - Author

Aaron Rosenberg - Author

Michael Stackpole – Sci Fi & Conan Writer

Jim Zub – Conan Comics Writer

Sean CW Korsgaard - Battleborn!

Dyscrasia Fiction Fans

This Summer, Heidi and I took a Rick Steve's Tour (best 14 Days of England, highly recommended);  it started in Bath, and we arrived a day early since we had arranged for a separate private tour from Daniel to see Stonehenge (which was absent from the awesome Rick Steve's itinerary we had signed up for). Had an absolute blast. This captures highlights related to writing:

1) Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; The Modern Prometheus - 1818A plaque in Bath commemorates Mary Shelley's writing of Frankenstein (she was 18 years old!). Later, when we went through Oxford and went through the amazing Treasures of the Bodleian Library, we saw several of the hand-written scripts of Frankenstein with her edits, and a portrait painted from he deathmask (painted by Reginald Easton, watercolor on ivory, circa 1857)
2) Other Treasures of the Bodleian: Robert Hooke's 1665 Micrographia & Jane Austin, and Lewis CarrollThe Bodleian Library holds a first edition of Robert Hooke's Micrographia. Hooke is a hero amongst mechanical engineers and rheologists (all hail the Spring constant) and microscopists. His drawings showed the world stuff they had never seen before, and the image data was digestible to all who could get their hands on the printed books.  This is the second time I saw a 1665 edition - the first being in 2012 when I gave a lecture at the McCrone Research Institute in Chicago.
Also, they had some awesome scripts from Jane Austin, who had roots in Bath.




3) To write, one needed pencils!  Derwent Pencil Museum in KeswickThe science and engineering behind pencil making is kind of fun. To note one story, Charles Fraser-Smith commissioned special pencils under the Official Secrets Acts of WWII. The RAF pilots got them, and they were fitted with maps and compasses to enable escape from behind enemy lines.

4) Church of England, King James Bible champion also wrote Daemonologie bookThe trip fully illuminated the splintering of the Catholic Church (we visited many ransacked and ruined Abbeys and Minsters); soon after the formation of the Church of England, folks got their own readable Bibles (i.e., written in English, not Latin) from King James I (same as King James VI of Scotland).  Not only did he initiate/commission the project for the bible, he actually did write a book on Demonology (largely espousing the torture of witches).  A statue/relief in Oxford commorates his role in the making of 2 books.

5) Rosetta Stone - British Museum  [~200BC]Excerpt from Wikipedia: "The Rosetta Stone is a stele of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts, respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences across the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts."
This stone enabled the decipherment and translation of hieroglyphs. It is so popular now, no contemporary human canreally see the actual stone up close via the mob of tourists.

6) Legion of the Shadows - York Minster Museum under the ChurchKarl Edward Wagner used the legend of the Ninth Legion (Legio IX Hispana), the infamous legion that went abruptly missing in 108 AD. to write his Robert E Howard pastiche of Bran Mak Morn. The legion was last recorded in York, they had left their signature on bricks viewable in the Roman Fortress Museum under the York Minster Church.
7) The 'Tolkien Door' at Stow on the Wold Doors of Durin, also known as the West-gate of MoriaCotswolds - Stow on Wold - Link - excerpt:

The north porch of St. Edward's Church in Stow on the Wold, Gloucestershire, is home to a wooden door which looks like something from a fairy story. Indeed, rumour has it that the door was the inspiration behind J.R.R. Tolkien's J. R. R. Tolkien's Doors of Durin, the west gate of Moria that appears in a scene in the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
The door is made of dark wood with studded panels, and it has an old oil lamp hanging above it. The door is quite small, and it is said that only a hobbit could fit through it.
Tolkien was known to visit the area while he studied at, and later became a professor at, Oxford University (Merton College). Much as we'd love to believe that the door was instrumental in the creation of the Doors or Durin, the claims have never been authenticated.
The north porch of the church was built about 300 years ago and young yew saplings were planted to enhance its entrance. Today these trees are now part of the architraves for the door and make this one of the most photographed doors in the Cotswolds!
St Edward's Church is just a short walk from the Market Square and the magical yew tree door and stained glass windows are well worth visiting.

8) Harry PotterMy kids were into the novels more than me. Anyway, it was neat to learn how Oxford was designed (40+ independent universities forming a city, Lewis Carroll, C S Lewis, Tolkien, and more sprung from here).  The design of the houses in Harry Potter were inspired by this, and filming for the movies occurred in Oxford and York, amongst other places. Picture below captures Oxford, a train station in York, and the Shambles streets of York.
9) Stanway House
The Stanway House is rich with literary history. 
"Stanway House in the Cotswolds was a frequent summer retreat for J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. He was known to spend time there during the 1920s, and even up to 1932. While staying there, he wrote parts of Peter Pan and also formed a local cricket team called the Allahakbarries, which included other notable writers like Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, A.A. Milne, and P.G. Wodehouse", according to Country Walkers [and our tour guide].


10) Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain - Welsh MythologyLloydAlexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain was the first book series I read. Theimage of the Horned King on the cover of The Book of Three, plus theCauldron Born deathless warriors, had a huge impact on my psyche.  Lloyd Alexander did not have a specific Welsh geography that inspired him, but drew heavily on the Mabinogion. As we toured Wales, we stayed/toured in Conwy and Caernarfon, I re-read the first two in the series. 



11) Pre-historic Stones: Stonehenge [300BC],  Avebury [2800BC], Castlerigg [3200BC]At Stonehenge, thanks to the prodding of my buddy Dirk, I took a selfie video of me chanting the Charm of Making, Merlin's chants in the 1981 Excalibur movie. That video will not be shared here!  Anyway, touring the ancient stones is a wonderful experience. Stonehenge; being the most monumental in size and height; Avebury, being the largest diameter-enough so to encompass an entire town! and Castlerigg; being the most intimate (in that it is more remote, visitors can approach the stones).

 Simulcast on Black Gate today! Click here,Add comments on Black Gate! 

Battleborn is an upcoming action-packed sword and sorcery magazine curated by Sean CW Korsgaard and published by IronAge Media. Read this to learn the scope of this supercharged magazine, the crowdfunding campaign needed to make it a reality (Indiegogo Aug 1st!), and learn Black Gate Exclusive scoops!

As an editor at Baen, Sean CW Korsgaard championed the Hanuvar series, and was mentored by the author, the late Howard Andrew Jones.  Sean CW Korsgaard states that Battleborn is emulating Howard's run on Tales from the Magician's Skull, both in style and in terms of authors and artists tapped. The magazine will feature a new Hanuvar tale from the late author, and from first issue to last issue, this will be on the masthead: "Howard Andrew Jones - Editor Emeritus."

Expect:Contemporary authorsClassic reprintsAnd, perhaps adding to a Heavy Metal flair, each issue will have a short comic crafted by Schyler Hernstrom.If all stretch goals are met, they will have room for 20k words more per issue... which WILL be open to submissions.

Campaign Timing:Started Aug 1st 10:30 AM EST (synchronized with a Gen Con Writers Symposium panel on S&S)Runs through mid-SeptemberLinksto IndieGogo PageBattleborn Magazine Gears Up to Join the Frontlines of Fantasy!

We launch on Indiegogo for our first year -- and we can't wait to share what we've got planned!A few say that short fiction is dead. That the market is gone, that AI will wipe out what is left.We publish sword-and-sorcery. Our genre has survived worse, we'll be damned if we surrender now to robots and romantasy.And if this be our Ragnarök, let our death be magnificent.Rally behind us, write for us - and get ready to remember what glories heroic fantasy can achieve.Become a hero.Become a legend.Become BATTLEBORN!

Issue 1 TOC thus far (in no particular order)“A Stone’s Throw” by Howard Andrew Jones -- A Tale of Hanuvar“The Blood of Oni” by CL Werner -- A Tale of Shintaro Oba“Jaguar’s Children” by Greg Mele -- A Tale of Sarrumos“To Boast of Victory” by Erik Waag“Vengeance Vow” by TJ Marquis"The Road of Kings" by Robert E. Howard“The Fury's Blade” by Robert Rhodes -- A Tale of Gabriela de Quetar“Pearls of the Vampire Queen” by Michael Shea -- A Tale of Nifft the LeanStories ready for Issues 2 and 3 (in no particular order)"The Pilgrim Road" by Christopher Ruocchio -- A Tale of Adaman"Alyrienne" by Michael Stackpole -- A Tale of the Drowned Empire“Ten Arrows” by Alyssa Hazel“Mortu and Kyrus in the White City” by Schyler Hernstrom"The Mantichore” by David Drake -- A Tale of Vettius and Dama"The Fury's Rune" by Robert Rhodes -- A Tale of Gabriela de Quetar"Wizard’s Right Hand" by Steven L. Shrewsbury -- A Tale of Rogan"The Wizard of Remembrance" by Sarah Newton"Calicask's Body" by John C. Hocking -- A Tale of Benhus, the King’s Blade"The Blood of Wolves" by Adrian Cole"Scion Ung" by Seth Lindberg -- Dyscrasia Fiction"The Icehawk" by Mark Rigney"All in a God's Way" by  Jason M Waltz"Blood of Outremer" by Scott Oden -- A Tale of the Crow of Nás LaigheanBlack Gate Exclusive Scoop:Expect a new Morlock story from James Enge too!  That all the teasers you get for now!But you are needed on the front lines now!

Updates on the campaign will more details, but we need you to help the war!

Front #1: Ideas for a THIRD classic reprint for Issue 3:Battleborn is eyeing stories from Michael Shea and David Drake, but is considering a third.  They are leaning towards Karl Edward Wagner or Roger Zelazny, but feedback is open to the Black Gate comment section! Make your cases below.Front #2: The Indiegogo campaign features the default cover, but variants exist!Soon, or perhaps already, backers will be able to vote on their favorite.  Will it be  "A" the default, or one of the other three?Logistics have not been ironed out in full, but the cover artist has some limitations.  But Battleborn wants to know backers' preferences so they can work toward making the favorite the cover.Which cover(s) feel best?

Crowd Fund Now!

 

 Simulcast on Black Gate today! Click here,Add comments on Black Gate! 

Battleborn is an upcoming action-packed sword and sorcery magazine curated by Sean CW Korsgaard and published by IronAge Media. Read this to learn the scope of this supercharged magazine, the crowdfunding campaign needed to make it a reality (Indiegogo Aug 1st!), and learn Black Gate Exclusive scoops!

As an editor at Baen, Sean CW Korsgaard championed the Hanuvar series, and was mentored by the author, the late Howard Andrew Jones.  Sean CW Korsgaard states that Battleborn is emulating Howard's run on Tales from the Magician's Skull, both in style and in terms of authors and artists tapped. The magazine will feature a new Hanuvar tale from the late author, and from first issue to last issue, this will be on the masthead: "Howard Andrew Jones - Editor Emeritus."

Expect:Contemporary authorsClassic reprintsAnd, perhaps adding to a Heavy Metal flair, each issue will have a short comic crafted by Schyler Hernstrom.If all stretch goals are met, they will have room for 20k words more per issue... which WILL be open to submissions.

Campaign Timing:Started Aug 1st 10:30 AM EST (synchronized with a Gen Con Writers Symposium panel on S&S)Runs through mid-SeptemberLinksto IndieGogo PageBattleborn Magazine Gears Up to Join the Frontlines of Fantasy!

We launch on Indiegogo for our first year -- and we can't wait to share what we've got planned!A few say that short fiction is dead. That the market is gone, that AI will wipe out what is left.We publish sword-and-sorcery. Our genre has survived worse, we'll be damned if we surrender now to robots and romantasy.And if this be our Ragnarök, let our death be magnificent.Rally behind us, write for us - and get ready to remember what glories heroic fantasy can achieve.Become a hero.Become a legend.Become BATTLEBORN!

Issue 1 TOC thus far (in no particular order)“A Stone’s Throw” by Howard Andrew Jones -- A Tale of Hanuvar“The Blood of Oni” by CL Werner -- A Tale of Shintaro Oba“Jaguar’s Children” by Greg Mele -- A Tale of Sarrumos“To Boast of Victory” by Erik Waag“Vengeance Vow” by TJ Marquis"The Road of Kings" by Robert E. Howard“The Fury's Blade” by Robert Rhodes -- A Tale of Gabriela de Quetar“Pearls of the Vampire Queen” by Michael Shea -- A Tale of Nifft the LeanStories ready for Issues 2 and 3 (in no particular order)"The Pilgrim Road" by Christopher Ruocchio -- A Tale of Adaman"Alyrienne" by Michael Stackpole -- A Tale of the Drowned Empire“Ten Arrows” by Alyssa Hazel“Mortu and Kyrus in the White City” by Schyler Hernstrom"The Mantichore” by David Drake -- A Tale of Vettius and Dama"The Fury's Rune" by Robert Rhodes -- A Tale of Gabriela de Quetar"Wizard’s Right Hand" by Steven L. Shrewsbury -- A Tale of Rogan"The Wizard of Remembrance" by Sarah Newton"Calicask's Body" by John C. Hocking -- A Tale of Benhus, the King’s Blade"The Blood of Wolves" by Adrian Cole"Scion Ung" by Seth Lindberg -- Dyscrasia Fiction"The Icehawk" by Mark Rigney"All in a God's Way" by  Jason M Waltz"Blood of Outremer" by Scott Oden -- A Tale of the Crow of Nás LaigheanBlack Gate Exclusive Scoop:Expect a new Morlock story from James Enge too!  That all the teasers you get for now!But you are needed on the front lines now!

Updates on the campaign will more details, but we need you to help the war!

Front #1: Ideas for a THIRD classic reprint for Issue 3:Battleborn is eyeing stories from Michael Shea and David Drake, but is considering a third.  They are leaning towards Karl Edward Wagner or Roger Zelazny, but feedback is open to the Black Gate comment section! Make your cases below.Front #2: The Indiegogo campaign features the default cover, but variants exist!Soon, or perhaps already, backers will be able to vote on their favorite.  Will it be  "A" the default, or one of the other three?Logistics have not been ironed out in full, but the cover artist has some limitations.  But Battleborn wants to know backers' preferences so they can work toward making the favorite the cover.Which cover(s) feel best?

Crowd Fund Now!