News

Whether based on well-established folklore, public domain works, or even the biggest mass media franchises of today, thousands of books have been created by authors set in realms that they themselves did not originally create. Shared worlds are popular, prevalent, and persistent.

But what do authors have to gain by writing in a shared universe or a borrowed landscape? What are its artistic merits? Its constraints? Commercial benefits and pitfalls? And what do you have to keep in mind to write successfully in them? Our roundtable discussion will delve into all of these questions and more—bring an example of a favorite shared universe to share and join in the discussion!

Panelists: Nick DiChario, Lynn Spitz, Eric Scoles, Hugh Sullivan, and Ted Wenskus

Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels

Location: Zoom (virtual meeting only)

Meeting Time: October 6, 2020 from 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Attendees are invited to read from their current or in-progress works or to share their writing roadblocks. (An older or sold story or poem is also welcome, especially if you'd like feedback on it.) Please bring a short piece or a portion of a longer work – fewer than 1,000 words, if you can, but no more than 2,000 words if you can't break the scene – so everyone has sufficient reading time and attendees have time to provide their feedback.

UPDATE: We're not meeting at B&N. Please join us virtually on Zoom about 10 minutes before the regular 7 p.m. start time to ensure you're connected.

After the readings conclude and time permits, we'll go around and 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: September 1, 2020 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.

In part 4 of the 2020 R-SPEC Writing Series, get set to tackle one of the foundations of speculative fiction: crafting believable worlds that create a strong sense of place for your characters and your readers.

We invite you to share your world-building ideas and join in the discussion with our panelists on topics ranging from avoiding worn-out clichés and tropes to researching aspects of our known world to shape your fictional realms.

Panelists: Lynn Spitz, Eric Scoles, Hugh Sullivan, and Ted Wenskus

Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels

Location: Zoom (virtual meeting only)

Meeting Time: August 4, 2020 from 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Attendees are invited to read from their current or in-progress works or to share their writing roadblocks. (An older or sold story or poem is also welcome, especially if you'd like feedback on it.) Please bring a short piece or a portion of a longer work – fewer than 1,000 words, if you can, but no more than 2,000 words if you can't break the scene – so everyone has sufficient reading time and attendees have time to provide their feedback.

After the readings conclude and time permits, we'll go around and 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: July 7, 2020 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.

In part 3 of the 2020 R-SPEC Writing Series, we will dive into plotting methods for your story or novel. Some elements, such as reading a lot in the genre you want to explore, are easy. While others, such as recognizing the essential narrative devices for anything you write, may take longer to embrace. Feel free to bring examples of your own writing or pieces you have read that demonstrate good story structure. Our goal is to share and discuss techniques to help you write a successful story.

• 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: June 2, 2020 from 7-9 p.m.

Myriad Worlds of Possibilities – Read Your Work

Attendees are invited to read from their current or in-progress works or to share their writing roadblocks. (An older or sold story or poem is also welcome, especially if you'd like feedback on it.) Please bring a short piece or a portion of a longer work – fewer than 1,000 words, if you can, but no more than 2,000 words if you can't break the scene – so everyone has sufficient reading time and attendees have time to provide their feedback.

UPDATE: We're not meeting at B&N. Please join us virtually on Zoom about 10 minutes before the regular 6:30PM start time to ensure you're connected. 

After the readings conclude and time permits, we'll go around and share with the group what we're currently reading.

• Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels
• Location: Zoom
• Meeting Time: May 5, 2020 from 7-9 p.m.

An alien lifeform, known to some as COVID-19, has invaded our world, forcing us to make a schedule change. Our April 7th Reading Meeting is rescheduled to May 5th. We hope this gives everyone more time to work on their stories or poems. We look forward to seeing you in May. Please stay safe and healthy during the alien invasion!

In part 2 of the 2020 R-SPEC Writing Series, we will look at bending (and breaking) the supposedly tried-and-true formulas and tropes found in speculative fiction. Just because “it’s been done before” doesn’t mean you can’t breathe new life into zombies, death rays, enchanted swords, talking dragons, ancient aliens, telepathic dolphins, waking up in a morgue, deflector shields, faeries, artificial gravity, FTL starships, and Babel fishes – just to touch on a dozen tropes at once.

We’ll discuss how to subvert these tropes (and many others) to help you create stories that will be engaging and interesting to your readers.

Writing exercises will be presented, so please bring paper and a stylus or, if you’re being tropey, bring your PADD.

Prework assignment:Bring one or more examples of a speculative fiction formula or trope that has been bent, broken, or subverted in ways that made the story, novel, TV show, movie, or game much more interesting.

Moderator: Alan Vincent Michaels

Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford

Meeting Time:March 3, 2020 from 6:45 – 8:45 p.m.

R-SPEC will be holding its Annual Board Meeting during the first half-hour of the February meeting. We'll review our accomplishments in 2019 and elect Board members for the coming year. This 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.

Then, we’ll sail headlong into the misty writing sea seeking that most elusive of creatures – the plot hook!

Yes, your story must have a plot, which includes all the events that will happen to the characters, but what captures the reader’s attention from the outset? What is the “hook” that metaphorically grabs the reader so they will keep on reading? You may think your “opening” – several paragraphs in your short story or several pages in your novel – is your hook, but it is often the first sentence you write.

We’ll discuss different ways to make that first sentence pull your story’s plot line and reel it in until the last page.

Moderators: Ted Wenskus andAlan Vincent Michaels

Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford

Meeting Time:February 4, 2020 from 6:45 – 8:45 p.m.

Myriad Worlds of Possibilities – Read Your Work

Attendees are invited to read from their current or in-progress works or to share their writing roadblocks. (An older or sold story or poem is also welcome, especially if you'd like feedback on it.) Please bring a short piece or a portion of a longer work – fewer than 1,000 words, if you can, but no more than 2,000 words if you can't break the scene – so everyone has sufficient reading time and attendees have time to provide their feedback.

Please try to arrive before 6:45 p.m. to put your name on the reading list.

After the readings conclude and time permits, we'll go around and share with the group what we're currently reading.

Moderator:  Alan Vincent Michaels

Location: Barnes & Noble, Pittsford

Meeting Time: January 7, 2020 from 6:45-8:45 p.m.