Tag Archives: filk

My New, 2-Year-Old Fan

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A couple of weeks ago I woke up to a message that made my day, my week, and really, my month! The fellow gave me permission to share it, so here goes:

Hello Gray,

I was flipping through a Star Wars book with my 2-year-old this morning (The Illustrated Star Wars Universe, a collection of concept art for the original trilogy) and she was very interested in the tauntauns on Hoth.

In the car on the way to daycare, she started crying and saying “Want tauntaun song please … want tauntaun song … tauntaun song please!” I tried explaining to her there is no tauntaun song. Then, I tried making up my own (it was … not good) and I think she actually stopped loving me for a few minutes.

Finally, I went to Spotify (don’t worry, I was stopped in traffic) and found “Tauntauns to Glory.” We listened to it three times.

So, anyway, thanks for writing a song about tauntauns!

How about that? I thought that was marvelous.


(Image: “Luuk (sic) on Tauntaun,” by Anton Van Dort, on Deviant Art under Creative Commons.)

And if you don’t know what all that fuss was about, you can queue up “Tauntauns to Glory” on Spotify or listen free at this link!

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LibertyCon! and, DeepSouthCon!

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I’m so glad to get to go to LibertyCon again! My lady Lisa and I will be driving to Chattanooga — a shorter trip than it used to be, since the move — for the 35th iteration of the best fannish family reunion, which this year is also the host site of DeepSouthCon 61! The convention officially starts Friday, though I hope to get in a game of Terraforming Mars Thursday evening.


LibertyCon!

Here’s my official schedule:

Friday:

  • 5 p.m. — Opening Ceremonies — at which I will sing my newest LibertyCon song
  • 6 p.m. — Give Me LibertyCon! and Onward LibertyCon! Roundtable and Mass Autograph Session
  • 11 p.m. — Open Filk — come join in!

Saturday:

  • 10 a.m. — Brunch Banquet — always a fun time listening to the Guests of Honor!
  • 2 p.m. — Baen Books Traveling Road Show & Prize Patrol
  • 5 p.m. — Authors/Artists Alley — come by and chat!
  • 11 p.m. — Open Filk — more nerdy music fun!

Sunday:

  • 9 a.m. — Nondenominational Prayer Service
  • 10 a.m. — Kaffeeklatsch — which for me involves tea or the like
  • 11 a.m. — Panel, “Tales from Mission Control / Space Operations” — in which I try to remember what I used to do in the Air Force …
  • 2 p.m. — Reading — with my friend Karl Gallagher!

In between I’ll be attending other events, hanging out here or there, maybe even wandering a bit around town. I know it’ll be a grand time, though — it always is! — so let’s have some fun!

___
Related Items of Interest:
– Watch the music video of Tauntauns to Glory
– Listen to Taking You Out to See the Stars, Distorted Vision, or Truths and Lies and Make-Believe

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I’m Just a Poe Boy, Going to RavenCon

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That’s right, this weekend I’ll be at the RavenCon science fiction and fantasy convention in Richmond, Virginia, which pays homage in its name to the legacy of Edgar Allan Poe. I’ve enjoyed attending and serving as a guest at RavenCon for many years. It’s a great convention!

Once again, I’m not doing any concerts 😕, but I have a few different panels to keep me busy. Here’s my schedule, if you’re going to be around:

Friday:

  • 4 pm — Open Filking
  • 5 pm — Guests Meet and Greet
  • 7 pm — Opening Ceremony
  • Midnight — Open Filking

Saturday:

  • 10 am — Panel: “Conversation with the Editors” (Moderator)
  • 1:30 pm — Baen Books Traveling Road Show & Prize Patrol
  • 3 pm — Panel: “How to Handle Rejection”
  • 4 pm — Reading
  • Midnight — Open Filking

Sunday:

  • 9 am — Non-Denominational Worship Service
  • 10 am — Panel: “Does Science Fiction Still Affect How We Think About the Future?”
  • 11 am — Panel: “Writing Believable Aliens” (Moderator)

What should I read at my reading this year? The opening of the novel I’m struggling to write, or the opening of the story that Analog Science Fiction and Fact bought but hasn’t published yet? Maybe I’ll let the audience decide, if there is one.

Let’s have some geeky fun!

___
Related Items of Interest:
– Listen to any of my albums for free at Bandcamp — Taking You Out to See the Stars, Distorted Vision, and Truths and Lies and Make-Believe — you can also buy them there …
– Watch the music video of Tauntauns to Glory

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Album Release: Taking You Out to See the Stars

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The new album is live on Bandcamp at this link!

And check out the cover art put together by my son, Christopher:

As of now, it’s only available on Bandcamp, but as we get the interior artwork finished we’ll produce a few physical CDs, and over the next couple of weeks we’ll submit the album for inclusion on streaming services like Spotify.

Hope you’ll give it a listen, and that something you hear will resonate with you! (And if it does, tell your friends!)

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It’s Almost Time for RavenCon!

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This weekend I’ll be at the RavenCon science fiction and fantasy convention, which is returning to Richmond, Virginia. RavenCon is a great convention, run by wonderful people, and I’ve enjoyed attending and serving as a guest at it for many years.

I wasn’t asked to play any concerts this year – 😔 – so it’s primarily panels for me. Here’s my schedule, if you’re trying to track me down:

Friday:

  • 5 pm — Guests’ Meet and Greet
  • 7 pm — Opening Ceremony
  • 11:30 pm — Open Filking

Saturday:

  • 9 am — Panel: “Influences In Our Writing”
  • 11 am — Panel, “Writing the Alien”
  • 12:25 pm — Reading
  • 4:00 pm — Baen Books Traveling Slide Show & Prize Patrol
  • 7 pm — Panel, “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble: Combat in SFF” (Moderator)
  • Midnight! 🥱 — Open Filking

Sunday:

  • 10 am — Panel: “Energy Sources in Speculative Fiction” (Moderator)

For my reading slot, I’m trying to decide whether to read from a story that’s coming out in an anthology later this year, or from a story that’s slated for an upcoming issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. I’ll probably let the audience decide (if anyone shows up!). And I guess I should give a little thought to the panels I’m moderating…. And pack — I should definitely pack.

Looking forward to it!

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This Weekend: ConGregate!

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How nice it is to be going to science fiction and fantasy conventions once again! This weekend’s gathering, ConGregate, has consistently been one of the best-run of all the conventions I attend. This year it’s moved from High Point to Winston-Salem, NC, and is playing host to the 59th DeepSouthCon — which should make it even better than usual!

And, I just might have a surprise in store for my concert!

Here’s what I have going on:

Friday:

  • 5:30 p.m. — Open Filking
  • 7:00 p.m. — Opening Ceremonies: E Como Mai
  • 9:00 p.m. — Panel, “What is Filking?”

Saturday:

  • 11:00 a.m. — Open Filking
  • 3:00 p.m. — Baen Books Traveling Slide Show & Prize Patrol
  • 5:30 p.m. — Concert — the usual mix of silly and serious songs, possibly featuring a special guest!
  • 9:00 p.m. — Panel, “Writing Outside the Lines”

Sunday:

  • 9:00 a.m. — Prayer & Praise Service
  • 1:00 p.m. — Round Robin Filking

I wouldn’t be too surprised if we found some additional time for filking, and I hope to attend some of my friends’ concerts, but as it is the schedule looks both manageable and enjoyable.

Unfortunately, I won’t make it back to the Raleigh area in time for Sunday afternoon’s Research Triangle Writers Coffeehouse, but it will go on as scheduled under the watchful eye of another local science fiction author!

Let’s have some fannish fun, friends!

___
Related Items of Interest:
– Watch the music video of Tauntauns to Glory
– Listen to Distorted Vision and Truths and Lies and Make-Believe
– Visit Gray’s Online Store

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My First Convention of 2021: the ‘All Types of Media Arts Convention’

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That’s right: AtomaCon is back!

A few brave souls who will not be cowed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus or its variants will gather this weekend in North Charleston, South Carolina, at the AtomaCon science fiction and fantasy convention. Those intrepid adventurers will, if the past is prologue, find a family-friendly atmosphere and a variety of activities and panels to please fans of all ages — as well as fans of a wide range of fandoms and genres.

I’ll don’t have any solo concerts at this convention, but I will be running the Baen Books “road show” and playing Dungeons and Dragons in front of an audience. Here’s my full schedule:

Friday:

  • 8 p.m. — Panel, “Why Do Alien Races Resemble Things We Know?”
  • 9 p.m. — Open Filk

Saturday:

  • 11:30 a.m. — Baen Books Traveling Slide Show & Prize Patrol
  • 4 p.m. — Charity Auction (I’m the auctioneer)
  • 8 p.m. — Authors Playing D&D
  • 10 p.m. — Open Filk

Sunday:

  • 1 p.m. — Filk Open Mic

It sure will be nice to see some of my fannish friends again! I can hardly wait!
___
Related Items of Interest:
– Watch the music video of Tauntauns to Glory
– Listen to Distorted Vision and Truths and Lies and Make-Believe
– Visit Gray’s Online Store

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We Will Congregate at ConGregate

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Here we go, NC folks! The ConGregate science fiction and fantasy convention runs Friday through Sunday in High Point, with all the usual festivities! It’s a small but extremely well-run convention, full of fun and friendly people — plus me! 😂

Here’s what I have going on:

Friday:

  • 1:00 p.m. — “Science Fiction Writer’s Showcase”
  • 3:00 p.m. — Open Filk
  • 4:00 p.m. — Solo Concert!
  • 8:00 p.m. — Reading

Saturday:

  • 11:00 a.m. — Open Filk
  • 1:30 p.m. — Baen Books Traveling Slide Show & Prize Patrol
  • 4:00 p.m. — More Music (in the “Cantina”)
  • 6:00 p.m. — Open Filk
  • 9:00 p.m. — Panel, “How Much Science Should a Science Fiction Writer Know?”

Sunday:

  • 9:00 a.m. — Prayer & Praise Service
  • Noon — Open Filk
  • 1:00 p.m. — Round Robin Music Fest

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it to the Research Triangle Writers Coffeehouse on Sunday, but a friend volunteered to moderate that session so it will go on as scheduled!

Here’s looking forward to a lot of fun with my fannish friends!

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Ground Control to LibertyCon …

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Ground Control to LibertyCon …
Take your bourbon shots
And put your Jayne hats on …

It’s that time of year again! The fannish family reunion known as LibertyCon starts today!

LibertyCon Illustration by Todd Lockwood
(Illustration by Todd Lockwood, from the year I was the LibertyCon MC.)

I’ll be busy right out of the gate, and tonight is packed:

Friday:

  • 1 p.m. — Author’s & Artist’s Alley — come by and chat!
  • 4 p.m. — Autograph Session — again, come by and chat!
  • 5 p.m. — Opening Ceremonies — at which I will sing, so beware
  • 6 p.m. — CONCERT (or, “LibertyConcert”) — at which I will sing more, almost certainly including “LibertyCon Oddity” (quoted above)
  • 8 p.m. (until 10:30) — Terraforming Mars — playing the game in front of an audience
  • 11 p.m. — Open Filk — at which I will sing even more, and hopefully other folks will, too!

Saturday:

  • Noon — Banquet — always a fun time!
  • 2 p.m. — Baen Books Traveling Road Show
  • 4 p.m. — Panel, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Writing Advice” — and remember what free advice is worth …
  • 11 p.m. — Nerd Music Free-for-all — like Open Filking, but nerdier? (is that even possible?)

Sunday:

  • 10 a.m. — Kaffeeklatsch — which for me involves something other than coffee
  • 1 p.m. — Reading — with my friend David B. Coe!

I played my first game of Terraforming Mars last night, and had a lot of fun, so the convention’s already started well for me! If the rest of the weekend goes as well, it’ll be a fine time. Let’s make it so!

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A Hazard of Haphazard Songwriting

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I debuted a song last night in the first RavenCon “open filking” session that illustrates that my slapdash approach to songwriting is often more slap than dash. (I don’t know if that makes sense, but I didn’t get much sleep so it’s all I’ve got.)

Anyway, with this particular song I’ve been having trouble with the transition from the chorus back to the verse — thinking it was a key issue, because keys are a thing that songs have but I don’t know much about (being pretty much theory-less when it comes to music). But then I played through it a couple of times by myself — here’s the chorus, if you’re interested —

Tommy’s up for fighting, Tommy’s up for risks
Never shies away from danger, or putting up his fists
So pick up your shillelaghs, boys, and bring ’em to the fight
‘Cause Tommy’s going to make a lot of noise in the spaceport pub tonight

— and I finally tried to count out the beat … and discovered that while the chorus is in 4/4 time the verses are actually in 6/8.

Did I do that? Apparently I did, and now I have to finagle my way out of (or around) it.


(Photo by Christopher Rinehart.)

I imagine other songwriters — those who have some amount of musical knowledge — think rather deliberately about things like keys and time signatures when they begin writing a song. Or, if not, then I imagine they figure that sort of thing out fairly early in the process. But not me! Me? I just do this for fun!

And it usually is fun. That chorus is fun (do you like it?). And the process itself can be fun, until I write myself into a proverbial corner and have to figure out how to cut my way through the wall. Not that demolition isn’t fun, because it can be … it’s just usually pretty messy.

Anyway, that’s one of the hazards of haphazard songwriting: having to figure out weird transitions and things. But, at least it’s fun!

___

Reminder for anyone who missed the announcement, but I’m still running a series of giveaways for Audible downloads of the Walking on the Sea of Clouds audiobook. The next drawing is Monday, so sign up at this link!

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