(By John Breneman)

This fellow, who identifies as “a writer since” birth, has penned an immense amount of material spanning two milleniums but is relatively new to fiction (since making up absurd twists on reality as a dedicated humorist/satirist does not count). A small publisher issued his rookie novel (“A Man of Remarkable Restraint”) in 2022.

Eager to sharpen his ability to tell his new SciFi story, the writer teleports himself and a like-minded friend (author Jeff Deck) from southern Maine to Boskone 61 – the annual convention hosted by the New England Science Fiction Association – for a day of inspiration and unscripted immersion in the weird, wondrous world of Science Fiction.

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OK, now switching the POV to first person … I found myself clutching a reporter’s notebook and pen at Boskone HQ (aka The Westin Boston Seaport District Hotel – coincidentally situated a mere moon rock’s throw from my former newsroom when I worked at the Boston Herald).

Jeff and I scanned the plentiful options for each time slot and logged our selections before heading off to our first session: 

(Spoiler alert: each discussion we attended yielded insights directly relevant to my SciFi storytelling project, fascinating book and short story recommendations AND full-on exhilaration caused by prolonged exposure to the illuminating atmosphere of bright people sharing bright ideas.)

10 am – A Protagonist Walks Into a Bar…

Esteemed panelists:

• Trisha J. Wooldridge (moderator)
• Anne E.G. Nydam
• LJ Cohen
• R.E. Carr

Subtitle: Two writers walk into a conference room … and are swept up in a wide-ranging forum about the awesome power of descriptive details, the beauty of offering the reader stimuli for all of their senses, and how such passages serve to develop characters, settings and advance the story (as opposed to just “panning the camera”). Bonus: new ideas for envisioning key spaces within my story (example: locating the father’s observatory in a remarkably high tower, accessed by a whooshing, beeping, tube-like elevator in which the teen protagonist likes to imagine piloting a rocket during liftoff). 

11:30 am – Pre-Pulp Short SFFH

Esteemed panelists:

• Darrell Schweitzer
• F. Brett Cox
• Gillian Daniels (moderator)
• Michael Swanwick
• Theodora Goss

Featuring a panel populated by professors and award-winning writers, this seminar delved deep into History of Science Fiction 101 and sooo much more – exploring how the early works of Mary Shelley, Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce and countless others contributed to the SFFH genre and “how they laid the background for the explosion of science fiction in the early 20th century.”

Recommended reading included: “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” (1837) by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Monikins” (1835) by James Fenimore Cooper and “The Diamond Lens” (1858) by Fitz-James O’Brien; “The Brick Moon” (1869) by Edward Everett Hale, “The Automaton Ear” (1876) by Florence McLandburgh, “The Damned Thing” (1893) by Ambrose Bierce and “The Comet” (1920) by W.E.B. Dubois. 

1 pm – Kantian Ethics vs. Consequentialism for AIs

Esteemed panelists: (moderator)

• Bradford Lyau
• Erin Underwood
• Jim Burrows (moderator)
• Shahid Mahmud
• Stephan Ward

This panel explored the profound moral implications of AI, with one contributor suggesting that we may well be straddling a fine line between artificial intelligence and “artificial stupidity.” (See headlines like: “Could Artificial Intelligence Destroy Humanity?”)

Because it does not possess the human capacity for intent, AIs technically cannot “lie.” However, they have been known to “hallucinate.” Stories of early AI efforts gone haywire were balanced against widespread acknowledgement about its potential for positive impact. 

Bottom line: We humans better be smart about this, or else we could be in for one HAL of a SciFi odyssey. On the bright side: AI offers infinite possibilities for fantastical SciFi storytelling!

2:30 pm – The Softer Side of Science Fiction

Esteemed panelists:

• Dana Cameron
• Lisa McCarty
• R.W.W. Greene
• Shahid Mahmud (moderator)
• Will McMahon

Here we explored the question: What is “social science fiction”? And, “how have authors used ideas from ‘soft’ sciences like sociology, anthropology and linguistics to craft convincing future scenarios, telling fascinating stories while shedding light on current human problems?”

Telling stories that explore challenging issues (ex. slavery, the subjugation of women, religious fanaticism, capitalism) by placing them in other times, places, cultures and “what if” scenarios can be, as panelist Shahid Mahmud observed, an enlightening (and highly entertaining) way to “hold a mirror to ourselves” … at a distance. 

Recommended reading included: “The Dispossessed” by Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Factory” by Hiroko Oyamada, “Chain-Gang All-Stars” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” (of course), “Red Oil” by Lincoln Michel and “Stranger to the Moon” by Evelio Rosaro. 

4 pm – How (And Why) To Get An Agent

Esteemed panelists:

• Allison King (moderator)
• John Berlyne
• Joshua Bilmes
• Leigh Perry / Toni LP Kelner
• Lyndsay Ely
• Mur Lafferty

How does an aspiring author connect with an agent? “First,” said literary agent John Berlyne (Zeno Agency Ltd), “write a really good book!” Thank you, Mr. Berlyne, for perhaps the best piece of advice – and motivational nugget – that I had received all day.

Because my novel is far from complete, I almost left the room to catch another seminar. But I’m glad I stayed, as the discussion between several authors and the panel’s pair of genial, approachable agents provided invaluable insight into the author-agent relationship that (hopefully) will serve me well once I finish my future best-selling futuristic blockbuster.

It was also encouraging to learn that, in addition to connecting with most of their clients through query letters (now handled via email rather than the old-fangled snail-and-SASE method) and referrals, some agents (for example, panelist Joshua Bilmes, founder of JABberwocky Literary Agency) actually enjoy meeting potential new clients at events like Boskone.