Calendar

Please note that our September meeting will be virtual only this month on Zoom.

Incorporating “alien” dialogue into your story—whether science fiction or fantasy—can add a depth of realism and credibility to your world, your characters, and their interactions. But to do so successfully, there are a few questions you should ask yourself first: What are you trying to accomplish by including this dialogue in your story? How does this alien dialogue contribute to your world-building? How did this language develop—and why? And how much is too much?

Join us as our panel of language and F&SF experts walk us through these considerations in a packed evening of mini presentations, roundtable discussion, and open conversation.

• Moderator: Eric Scoles
• Presenters/Panelists: Dr. Whitney Gegg-Harrison, Lynn Spitz, Ted Wenskus, Alan Vincent Michaels
• Location: Zoom. (Please join us before the regular 7:00 p.m. start time to ensure you’re connected.)
• Meeting Time: Tuesday, September 6, 2022 from 6:30-9:00 p.m.
  • Open chat 6:30-7:00 p.m.
  • Meeting 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Note: R-SPEC presentations on topics of interest may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website.

Every November, tens of thousands of people around the world race quixotically to write a 50,000 word novel in one month - and a lot of them succeed! We'll host a panel discussion on how to set yourself up for success, and avoid pitfalls once the journey starts. All of our panel members are old NaNoWriMo hands, and several have 'won' multiple times.

Location: Our July 2022 meeting will be both in person at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford and on Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 6:30PM start time to ensure you're connected.)

Meeting Time: Tuesday, August 2, 2022 from 6:30-8:45 p.m. ET. (Meet and socialize from 6:30-7, meeting to start promptly at 7pm. We will close the meeting 8:45 in order to break down before the Pittsford Barnes & Noble branch closes)

Note: Meetings may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website.

In our next Science Series presentation on July 5, we’re talking with Dan Mazanek,Senior Space Systems Engineer and former Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) Mission Investigator.

At NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia and other locations, he and his teams are working steadfastly on ways to save and build all our futures here on Earth.

He will recount his efforts on NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission, discuss what NASA and other countries’ space programs are doing to safeguard Earth, and share his thoughts on future applications and the value of asteroids and comets.

During our roundtable Q&A following the presentation, we will delve into how these science topics can inform and shape our speculative fiction stories.Please note: We will be meeting both in person at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford and on Zoom.

• Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
• Location: Our July 2022 meeting will be both in person at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford and on Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 6:30PM start time to ensure you're connected.)
• Meeting Time: July 5, 2022 from 6:30-8:45p.m.
  • Open chat 6:30-7:00
  • Reading 7:00-8:30-ish
  • Close meeting 8:46 (or sooner) in order to break down before the Pittsford Barnes & Noble branch closes

On June 7, you're invited to share your story, poem, or any writing roadblocks you're facing. Bring a piece with fewer than 1,000 words, if you can, but no more than 2,000 words, if you can't break the scene. This helps give everyone sufficient reading and feedback time.

Please note: We will be meeting both in person at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford and on Zoom.

If time permits after the readings, we'll share with the group what we're currently reading.

• Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
• Location: Our June 2022 meeting will be both in person at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford and on Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 6:30PM start time to ensure you're connected.)
• Meeting Time: June 7, 2022 from 6:30-8:45p.m.
  • Open chat 6:30-7:00
  • Reading 7:00-8:30-ish
  • Close meeting 8:46 (or sooner) in order to break down before the Pittsford Barnes & Noble branch closes

Note: Reading meetings are not recorded.

On May 3, we discuss what notto do with planets during our virtual monthly meeting with the R-SPEC Team.

There are certainly many things most authors would probably avoid, such as pushing a planet into a black hole or disintegrating a inhabited world à la“Star Wars” Death Star.

Yet, there are other things authors do that can be equally as horrific, such as burdening a world with a single agricultural crop or a single magical faith.

What is an author to do?

We’ll discuss some remedies and look at examples of how other authors succeeded and failed in their pursuit of world-building to support their stories, novels, and cinematic creations.

Location: Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 7 p.m. start time to ensure you're connected.)

Meeting Time: Tuesday, May 3, 2022 from 7-9 p.m. ET

Note: The presentation portion of the meeting may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website. The reading portion of the meeting will not be recorded.

On April 5, we have a treat for all who attend.

First, Jonathan Sherwood, a Rochester-area science fiction author, will demo his Submission Tracker– a visual method of what stories you have submitted and where, and what other publications you should target.

Then, you're invited to share your story, poem, or any writing roadblocks you're facing and receive feedback from the group.

Bring a piece with fewer than 1,000 words, if you can, but no more than 2,000 words, if you can't break the scene. This helps give everyone sufficient reading and feedback time.

Location: Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 7 p.m. start time to ensure you're connected.)

Meeting Time: Tuesday, April 5, 2022 from 7-9 p.m. ET

Note: The presentation portion of the meeting may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website. The reading portion of the meeting will not be recorded.

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN DATE TO THURSDAY MARCH 3, 2022.

On Thursday, March 3, we’re talking with Edward Ashton, the Rochester, New York author of the novels Mickey7 (releasing on February 15 and soon to be adapted into a major motion picture from Oscar-winning Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) starring Robert Pattinson), Three Days in April, and The End of Ordinary. His short fiction has appeared in venues ranging from an Italian sausage company newsletter to Escape Pod, Analog, and Fireside Fiction.

He lives in a cabin in the woods (not that cabin in the woods) with his wife, a variable number of daughters, and an adorably mopey dog named Max, where he writes—mostly fiction, occasionally fact—under the watchful eyes of a giant woodpecker and a rotating cast of barred owls. In his free time, he enjoys cancer research, teaching quantum physics to sullen graduate students, and whittling.

Join our Author Roundtable to learn more about how Edward’s scientific and personal lives support the creative passion and human insight he displays in his writing. Mickey7 begins with “THIS IS GONNA be my stupidest death ever.” and away the reader goes.

You can find Edward on Twitter @edashtonwriting and at his website.

Location: Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 7 p.m. start time to ensure you're connected.)

Meeting Time: THURSDAY, March 3, 2022 from 7-9 p.m. ET

Note: R-SPEC presentations on topics of interest meetings may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website.

R-SPEC holds its Annual Business Meeting during the first half-hour of the February meeting. We look back upon our accomplishments in 2021, and elect Board members for the coming year. The meeting is open to the public, but only paid R-SPEC members are eligible to be on the Board and to vote in the elections.

It is understandable if you fear using speculative fiction tropes and clichés will make your writing feel derivative, unoriginal, or stilted. In our Necessary Evils: Using Tropes and Clichés to Your Benefit discussion, we examine how using speculative fiction plot and story ideas that have been around since the beginning of time can actually benefit your writing. Especially, if you morph them into something new and interesting.

Annual Business Meeting

• Moderator: Ted Wenskus

Necessary Evils: Using Tropes and Clichés to Your Benefit

• Panelists: Lynn Spitz, Eric Scoles, Hugh Sullivan, Ted Wenskus
• Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
• Location: Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 7:00PM start time to ensure you're connected.)
• Meeting Time: February 1, 2022 from 7-9 p.m.

Note: R-SPEC presentations on topics of interest meetings may be recorded, and a link to the recording posted on our website.

Image credits: iStock and Pixabay

On January 4, you're invited to share your story, poem, or any writing roadblocks you're facing.

Bring a piece with fewer than 1,000 words, if you can, but no more than 2,000 words, if you can't break the scene. This helps give everyone sufficient reading and feedback time.

If time permits after the readings, we'll share with the group what we're currently reading.

• Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
• Location: Zoom (Please join us about 10 minutes before the regular 7:00PM start time to ensure you're connected.)
• Meeting Time: January 4, 2022 from 7-9 p.m.

Note: Reading meetings are not recorded.

Come as you are on December 7, and share what you’ve been reading, watching, and listening to recently. For many, the last 18 months of the pandemic have provided us with opportunities to enjoy fantastic speculative fiction.

Join your fellow R-SPECers, as we toast each other with “2020 hindsight,” and we then turn our thoughts to the future. Who knows who – or what – we might encounter or what may inspire us!

Moderator: No one

Location: Zoom (Please join about 10 minutes before the start time to ensure you're connected.)

Meeting Time: December 7, 2021 from 7-9 p.m. ET

Note: The R-SPEC Social will NOT be recorded!