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Introducing…ME!

June 4, 2014

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It’s about time I introduced myself.

At Balticon last month, I was on a Social Media Promotion panel with the brilliant and talented J. R. Blackwell. Her advice was for authors to introduce themselves once in a while, and while I do have my ‘about’ page, I figured it is about time that I gave it another shot.

Hi, I’m Hugh.

I’m a writer. Mostly the things I write are fantasy or science fiction stories, but sometimes I do other things. I’ve had stories published in Over My Dead Body! The Method to the Madness Anthology, Bards and Sages Quarterly, Every Photo Tells, Air Out My Shorts, and a few other places.

I’ve also published a few short stories electronically.

I’m working on a slightly off-kilter sword and sorcery stories called “The Freelance Hunters.” I have written a handful of novels but I haven’t published any of them because I’m very bad at long form editing.

When I started writing, my goal was to become a SFWA member. I’m not sure what my writing goals are now beyond finishing the next project.

I’m a podcaster. I host and edit The Way of the Buffalo podcast. We read short fiction and interview writers, artists, and podcasters. I meant it to be a showcase for the amazing creative people working in electronic media. I hope that shines through.

I’m in the middle of producing the podcast audio book of The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer. The project is read by Veronica Giguerre. I’ve taken several hiatuses on this project to learn what the hell I’m doing. Creating an audiobook is very different than making an unrelated short fiction podcast. It’s coming back this summer, but I’m not releasing it until I’m done.

I’m gay, and two years ago I was able to legally marry my husband. Neither of us really planned for a marriage, but having that right recognized makes me feel indebted to the world. I’m trying to stand up for my community more. I’m not always sure I succeed.

I’m 32 years old. This makes me older than my parents age when I was born, and I still don’t feel like an adult yet.

But enough about me. Tell me a little about yourself!

 

Drabble: The Goodbye Party

May 31, 2014

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Here’s one of the two drabbles I wrote at this year’s Dueling Drabbles panel at Balticon.  This story’s prompts were:  Antarctica, A Colonel, and A Palm Tree.  Enjoy!

 

The Colonel stared at the banner and frowned.  ‘Bon Voyage’ was scrawled across it in cheerful rainbow letters.  He wasn’t sure, but he suspected the font was comic sans.

“You don’t like it,” his sister said.  She had promised she wasn’t throwing him a surprise party.

“it’s not that,” he said, even though it was.  “But you do remember where they are sending me, right?”

“Oh,” she said.  “I had thought you said Antigua.”  She had decided to make it a beach party.  Plastic palm trees, beach balls, the works.  He tried to relax.  Tomorrow, he was flying to Antarctica.

Balticon and the State of the Hugh-nion

May 28, 2014

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Another Balticon has come and gone, and once again, I’m left with a heady mix of thoughts and feelings. I saw caught up with old friends, some of whom I met for the first time, learned a lot, and of course ate and drank my fill. In a lot of ways Balticon feels like a ‘home’ convention, even though it’s a seven hour drive away.

I think that sense of community was especially true this year. A lot of folks who missed last year’s festivities returned this time, although there were still some absences. Felt and yarn did their best, but I missed seeing Nathan Lowell, The Clockwork Doctor, and Cynical Woman, amongst others. Having a nice, big Flash Mob presence was great, though.

This was my fourth Balticon, and I can track my growth across those years as a podcaster and as a professional writer. My first was in 2011. I came down with my friend Mackenzie Lambert. He was good company, and we did some events together, but we were often at opposite ends of the con. Him there for the indie-horror vibe as I was there to learn to be a better podcaster. I tried to network as well, but that year I was way too overwhelmed by the whole experience. Everyone I did meet was incredibly nice and welcoming, but I mostly hung around and breathed the air around the creative pioneers I saw as giants, unable to think of what to say to the faces behind the voices.

The next year, I was ready to be a bit more involved in the community. After having dipped my toe in the first year, I had become more active, and that year I stayed with two other podcasters, Tony Miller and James Keeling. By this year, my podcast game was improving. I even was able to take part in the reading of a great story for The Drabblecast B-Sides. I was coming out of my shell a bit.

Last year was another crazy Balticon. 2013 saw a lot of the old guard podcasters called away with family commitments and other professional engagements. It was also my first year as a guest. I had never been a guest at a convention before, and I probably overtaxed myself. I was running around all weekend, but I still had an excellent time. That year I celebrated my first semi-pro sales as a writer. I was going places, and Balticon was helping me get there.

Which brings me to this year. After four years, I think I’m starting to get a feel for the rhythm of the convention. I scrambled to get ready for this one, but the social and professional anxiety that had shadowed me in the past was gone. Maybe part of it was having attended the Smoky Writers retreat in Tennessee earlier this year. Working alongside a selection of my favorite writers, and sharing our work at the draft stage helped to dispel a lot of my doubts. I felt ready this year.

If my schedule wasn’t quite as full as it was last year, I still had a lot on my plate this year. I moderated some panels on Podcasting Basics and Drabble-Writing, once again hosted the infamous Podcasters Against Humanity, and I even launched the Freelance Hunters series alongside Paul E. Cooley‘s twisted muppet noir, The Street.

If I listed every memory from this year’s Con, or paused to thank every friend I saw there, this post would be a novel. There will be more content from Balticon coming, both here and in the feed for The Way of the Buffalo. But I’d like to say two things now. My thanks to Patrick Scaffido, and everyone else who keeps the Rube Goldberg device of Balticon running. You oil the gears and feed the boilers. I just show up and party. We all wouldn’t have this without you, so thank you for everything.

And to the readers, and listeners: 2014 is just getting started. And I am, to steal a phrase from Stephen Granade, the most excited I have ever been. Stay tuned, because things are going to get awesome around here.

 

The Freelance Hunters Launch Party!

May 19, 2014

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Are you going to Balticon next weekend?

On Sunday Night, I’ll be teaming up with the Fiendmaster himself, Paul E. Cooley, for a Freelance Hunters/The Street launch party!

I’m not exactly sure what Paul’s got up his sleeve, but it’s going to be epic!  I’ll be announcing some Freelance Hunters news, previewing an upcoming story with the vocal talents of the one and only Lauren ‘Scribe’ Harris, and giving away fabulous prizes:  A one-of-a-kind bookmark and pendant from Black Unicorn Wood, and a hand-crafted medieval board game from The Goblin Parlor!  There might even be snacks!  So come celebrate the release of “Glory’s Gauntlet” with me, and find out where the series is headed!

Hugh Likes Comics: Batman The Long Halloween

May 17, 2014

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Image

 

Written by Jeph Loeb

Drawn by Tim Sale

Published by DC Comics

 

With summer movie season already begun and a host of superhero comic book adaptations leading the pack, it is time for Hugh Likes Comics to embrace the trend and give you some hop on points for Big-2 Superheroes. These characters have long, tangled pasts, and their stories are far too often are an impenetrable soup of references, call backs, and retcons. So for the summer, I’ll be discussing some of my favorite, and most accessible stories from Marvel and DC Comics. Since we just got a lovely image of Ben Afleck moping next to his rocket car for “Batman vs. Superman,” let’s start with the Dark Knight.

In a Gotham City ruled by Organized Crime, a young Batman teams up with Commissioner Gordon and D. A. Harvey Dent. But they aren’t the only trying to bring down the mafia. Criminally insane Freaks like the Joker and Poison Ivy are muscling in, and a serial killer dubbed “Holiday” has begun killing gangsters, each on a major holiday. Can Batman truly complete the task he’s given himself, or is Gotham city doomed to be cut in half by Organized Crime and random violence?

First of all, let me start this review with a confession: I like this graphic novel better than it’s predecessor, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s groundbreaking “Batman: Year One.” “Year One” is a GREAT story, and a wonderfully gritty depiction of the kind of city that made Batman not only possible, but necessary. But “The Long Halloween” is a noir mystery filled references to “The Godfather” that ends with Batman fighting his entire rogues gallery at once, so it wins out.

Year One is an engaging look at how Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne came to be who they are. The Long Halloween boils that origin down to a single sentence: “I made a promise to my parents that I would rid the city of the evil that took their lives.” It doesn’t get simpler than that. And as reductive as the set-up is, the book is actually a nice character driven piece about the human cost of working towards goals. Relationships get shredded by the weight of these personal quests. Jim Gordon’s relationship with his family. Harvey Dent and his wife Gilda. Even The Roman’s relationship with his children is deeply affected by his work. And then there’s Batman and Catwoman. Their relationship is extremely complicated, both in costume, and out of costume. It lends the noir elements significant weight.

But one thing that this comic does, and does really well, is temper that weight with super-heroic sections. The focus of the book is the Holiday mystery, but Batman still has to contend with The Joker, Poison Ivy, Solomon Grundy, and the rest of his villains. In a lesser run of comics, the change would be abrupt, and flow breaking. “I can’t look for clues today, The Joker is robbing that bank!” But here, everything flows naturally. The colorful characters are all weaved like brocade into the black fabric of the noir mystery. For example, at one point, Batman chases a fleeing buttonman into the sewers, where he accidental fumbles into the lair of Solomon Grundy. Later, the Falcone family brings in the riddler as a consultant, green suit and all, to help solve the murders. Instead of being asides, these sections lend a depth to Gotham City, and raising the stakes. It evokes the best parts of my introduction to the characters, Batman: The Animated Series.

Sale’s art, and Gregory Wright’s colors, bring the story to life. There’s a rich, velvety darkness to Sale’s Gotham City. The page layouts are also really well done. The book is filled with gorgeous splash pages, and Sale really knows how to guide the eye and build tension. A great deal of imagery from this book was included in Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” film.

“Batman: The Long Halloween” is the perfect graphic novel for readers who want to see the World’s Greatest Detective tackle an engaging mystery and fight crazy villains without wading through 75 years of canon.  It can be found at your Local Comics Shop, or purchased digitally through Comixolgy!

Next week: The Astonishing X-Men!

 

Donations For Life

May 13, 2014

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He found a likely corner and put on the little red hat. It was kind of a cliche, but people expected it. He set up the bucket and rang the bell. Somewhere time ticked by. One more coin, he promised himself. Then, he could get out of the cold. Someone tried to dip their hand in the bucket. He couldn’t have that, So he ran out and jumped on the thief’s head. There was a satisfying bop. Somewhere, a chime rang. That made a hundred coins. Which meant an extra life. The Save a Princess Foundation was finally getting somewhere.

Hugh Is Comics

May 12, 2014

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Recently on my Tumblr page, I participated in the We Are Comics project.  This project is to highlight and promote diversity amongst comics fans, creators, and professionals.  As a married gay white middle-class American man, I personally struggle with being a minority. especially since I can ‘pass’ as straight if I wanted to.  Often, that temptation is very great, but I want to show my commitment to diversity in nerd communities.  But tumblr can be an echo chamber for these kinds of campaigns, so I’m reposting my entry here.  Go visit the page and read the stories that others have sent in.  And send in your own.  A chorus of voices can change the status quo, even in the comics industry.  Thanks for supporting this, and thanks to the We Are Comics team for their amazing project.

IMG_0536

I’m Hugh and I Am Comics.

Growing up gay, I was terrified as a teenager.  Terrified that I’d be dragged out of the closet, terrified that I would be disowned, terrified that I’d be the victim of a hate crime, terrified that I would become a statistic.  In hindsight, a lot of these fears were silly, and I have been blessed with a loving family and an ever-growing support network, but as a scared kid, I had superheroes.

The X-Men taught me that I could survive in a world where I was different, even if I wasn’t ready to.  Heroes like Spider-Man and Batman showed me that someone could put ON a mask and become who they really were.  They showed me that a person might be more than who they were during the day.  As a kid living with a secret that frightened him to the core, that was a powerful thing.

As I grew older, and my tastes became more diverse, comics showed me worlds of possibility beyond super-heroics.  Those experiences helped inspire me to become a writer myself.  Comics were a life preserver for me during the most difficult parts of my life, and that’s why I’m Comics.

Balticon Schedule 2014

May 9, 2014

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I’ll be returning as a guest to Balticon 48!  Here’s where you can find me:

  • Podcasting 101 (Panel) (Participant), Fri 19:00 – 19:50, Derby (Hunt Valley Inn)
  • Conducting Podcast Interviews (Panel) (Participant), Sat 11:00 – 11:50, Chesapeake (Hunt Valley Inn)
  • GLBT Issues in YA Fantasy and SF (Panel) (Participant), Sat 18:00 – 18:50, Parlor 1026 (Hunt Valley Inn)
  • Podcasters Against Humanity (Panel) (Moderator), Sat 23:00 – 23:50, Chesapeake (Hunt Valley Inn)
  • Dueling Drabbles (Panel) (Moderator), Sun 14:00 – 14:50, Parlor 1041 (Hunt Valley Inn)
  • Storytelling in Video Games (Panel) (Participant), Sun 17:00 – 17:50, Derby (Hunt Valley Inn)
  • Social Media Promotion (Panel) (Participant), Sun 20:00 – 20:50, Chesapeake (Hunt Valley Inn)
  • The Street/Freelance Hunters Launch (Panel) (Moderator), Sun 22:00 – 23:50, Parlor 1041 (Hunt Valley Inn)

I’ll be blogging about Balticon in more depth as the Con gets closer.  I hope to see you there!

Elanterra Journal 006: The Half Elves

May 8, 2014

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Although they aren’t officially one of the Five Peoples, Half Elves represent a sizable population in Elanterra, and their numbers seem to be growing rapidly. Legends indicate that the earliest Half-Elves were scions of romantic pairings between Elves and Humans, often chivalrous Human knights and fair Elven maidens, whom they rescue from some danger or other. In these tales, the pairing is always stressed as taboo, and the couple brings disaster upon themselves by eloping. The child is left an orphan, and either becomes a great hero or, more often, a terrible villain. What historical records survive are sketchy at best, but paint a similar picture. Elves, for all their self-proclaimed Immortality, fare poorly outside of their forests. They sicken, rot, or kill themselves, usually within a few decades of leaving the Ironwood. Sometimes they simply disappear, abandoning their human spouse and children. These trysts are becoming more and more rare as the years pass, but it is not uncommon for an Elven ‘Ambassador’ to leave a clutch of bastards in his wake after his assignment is completed. These unfortunate mothers and their children are often exiled when their crime comes to light. In some Human kingdoms the children are even drowned, a practice which draws no comment at all from the Elves.

Half-Elves are tall, thin beings whose appearance draws about equally from their heritage. Half Elves are especially long lived, aging at about a third the rate of a normal human once they reach puberty. Half-Elves can usually be found in the great cities, where they band together for mutual protection. They are considered monstrosities by their Elven kin, and far less than Human as well. Half Elves are effectively a slave caste in many Human kingdoms, ranking even lower than serfs. Since they are stronger than they appear and live long lives, they are often used in the most dangerous jobs, such as mining and sailing.

Even with their high mortality rates, Half Elves reproduce at a similar rate to humans, but remain fertile for most of their long lives. It is not uncommon for a Half Elf matron to be caring for five or even six generations of grandchildren. Humans try and tightly control Half Elf families, for fear that they will be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

“Free” Half Elves in the great cities still find themselves to be the victims of prejudice, since they are the product of a taboo pairing. Higher education and skilled labor are usually denied them, and many turn to underground or criminal organizations for support. It is said that a Half Elf, given enough time, can get you anything, if you pay their price.

Compiler’s Note: The Half-Elves have suffered greatly over the centuries, bing the arrow fodder of every army, working the most uncomfortable and dangerous jobs, and suffering innumerable degradations. It is distasteful to say, but a Human who disdains a Half Elf for the ‘unnatural acts’ of her parents will often not think twice of taking one against her will as ‘spoils of war.’ The Half Elves wait, and maintain their population. And those outside the Human kingdoms wonder when the Half Elves’ anger will turn to violence.–G. B.

 

Fiction: The Space War

May 4, 2014

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The Space War began twenty-five light years from Earth. Mankind had never actually managed to figure out a way past the speed of light, so our exploration of the stars progressed slowly, with whole generations losing contact with home just to set foot on the soil of distant worlds. The first dozen or so missions visited dead, Mars-like worlds, and the general public lost interest in deep space exploration. Then, the Hawking IV craft was lost.

The initial reaction was one of puzzlement and sadness at the tragedy, though no one could confirm what, exactly, the tragedy was from sifting through the quarter-century old data. The Hawking V was sent to continue the mission, with special cameras designed to record everything the crew saw. Before it too was destroyed, it sent back murky, unfocused footage of an attacking space craft.

There was a tightly controlled panic in Mission Command. The enemy craft had been too quick to film, and overwhelmingly powerful. The Hawking wasn’t able to gather much data before it was destroyed, but two things were clear: We weren’t alone in the universe, and the company wasn’t friendly. The distance between stars made communication with our own ships nearly impossible. Finding a way to speak with the aliens was out of the question. Eventually, they decided that war was the only option.

The carefully released information caused a predictable wave of chaos and fear, but in the wake of the riots, mankind showed a resolve it never had before. All of humanity banded together, buried their differences, and worked together to protect themselves. The next few decades saw huge advances in scientific achievement. Humanity built a great fleet of warships that would travel far out into space, and face our unknown enemy. Outposts were built, and we made ourselves ready for the coming conflict. More ships were mysteriously lost.

Finally, there was the ultimate breakthrough. A team of scientists developed a method of time-travel that would allow troops and armaments to seem to go faster than the speed of light. The next fleet could arrive as soon as it left, or even before it was built! The war could be over in months instead of years. The generals in command agreed to the plan. Earth and its neighbors were nearly stripped bare to provide resources for it. If mankind was safe at last, the cost would be worth the price.

After ten years of work, the scientists unveiled their finished time machine. The ship was sleek and fast. It was outfitted with bleeding edge weapons technology. Due to the stresses of time travel, the ship was unmanned. It launched to its destination, and transmitted instantaneous data back to Command. There was a ship at the coordinates. The generals and scientists were ecstatic. When they saw the vessel clearly, however, their joy turned to shock. The vessel had Hawking IV, IDSA stenciled in bright white letters on the side. For they had met the enemy…

 

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