2016 - 04/2016 Meeting

Page Created:: 12/03/15. Last Updated: 06/14/16.

HENRY V O'NEIL / VINCENT H O'NEIL

Vincent Henry O'Neil writes Military Science Fiction, Horror, and Mysteries. His works have been published by traditional presses, and he has also self-published. He won the St. Martin's Press "Malice Domestic" Writing Competition in 2005.

Henry V O'Neil Titles:

Military Science Fiction from Harper Collins:

..........Dire Steps (2015)

..........Orphan Brigade (2015)

..........Glory Main (2014)

Vincent H O'Neil Titles

Lovecraftian Horror

..........Interlands (Self Published, 2013)

..........Denizens (Self Published, 2015)

Frank Cole Mysteries

..........Contest of Wills (Self Published, 2009)

..........Exile Trust (St Martin's Press, 2008)

..........Reduced Circumstances (St Martin's Press, 2007)

..........Murder in Exile (St Martin's Press, 2006 )

Death Troupe Mysteries

..........Death Troupe (Self Published, 2011)

Official Site: http://www.vincenthoneil.com/

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: April 9, 2016.

Meeting Site: Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Attendance: 24.

Meeting Program: Talk w/Q & A by Military SF / Horror / Mystery Writer.

Newsletter Account:

NOTE: This account corrects an error in the Newsletter and substitutes "Malice Domestic" for "Malice Malicious."

The April 9, 2016 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Science fiction / horror / mystery writer Henry V O'Neil, who also writes as Vincent H O'Neil, was our speaker. Some of his works have been published by major publishers. Other novels have been self-published.

The Ice Nine discussion included movies (SUPERMAN VS BATMAN; STAR TREK), television series (DAMIAN; THE WALKING DEAD), books (the controversy about K Rowling's utilization of Amerindian myth), and comic books. The Writers' Space Salon critiqued Bill Struwe's "The Last Dragon" and discussed various aspects of the craft and business of writing.

Henry O' Neil followed a most unusual path to publication. He entered and won the Malice Domestic Writing Contest sponsored by Saint Martin's Press, which published his first three novels. Saint Martin's dropped him after the sales were disappointing on his third book. The company granted our speaker's request for a return of the rights for the books. He then reprinted them himself and added two additional works in the series.

Mastering the ropes of self-publishing was made easier by selling novels which already had an established audience. Mr O'Neil continued the indie route with another murder mystery (DEATH TROUPE, which he considers his best book) and two works of Lovecraftian horror, INTERLANDS and DENIZENS.

Lovecraft has a built-in audience and the horror books sold fairly well. But our guest was not done with mainstream publishing. He sent GLORY MAIN, a military science fiction novel, to Harper Voyager when the company opened a short window for Open Submissions. It took Harper two years to catch up on the backlog, but it resulted in a five-book deal for the series.

All the author's books to this point had been written as Vincent H O'Neil. With a new series / genre / publisher, our speaker became Henry V O'Neil. He continued his unorthodox literary trek by working without an agent. Despite having had three publishers (Harlequin did a reprint of a mystery), our guest has never found an agent willing to represent him. Instead, Mr O'Neil had an attorney from the Author's Guild look over his contracts (this is a benefit for the $ 150.00 annual cost of being in the Guild).

GLORY MAIN is the first book in the Sims series. The Sims are an artificially-created (by parties unknown) race at war with humanity. They are, in most matters, very much like mankind but have no desire or ability to communicate with us and universally die shortly after capture. The book was originally conceived as a standalone, but to paraphrase Dr Peter Venkman: when a publishing god asks you if this can become a series, you say "YES!"

Henry O'Neil is a veteran who served first in the army and later in the Rangers, where he rose to the rank of Captain. Some of the most interesting parts of the evening concerned his military experiences. GLORY MAIN is about a small group of space soldiers who have crashed on an alien world. They must survive a set of hostile conditions which are remarkably similar to the training exercises which U S Army Rangers undertake. (Classic advice for writers: write what you know.)

Our speaker read lots of science fiction and fantasy growing up, but mystery writer Rex Stout was his favorite author. It was Stephen King's CARRIE which convinced our guest that he wanted to be a writer.

Stories by Henry V O'Neil begin with the sketch of an idea. He plays around with it, adding, details, scenes and characters until things reach a critical mass. He then constructs a plot outline in an Excel spreadsheet and incorporates his notes into particular cells, although at a certain point during the writing, the story will move into other directions than originally planned. (This account will be concluded on the website on the 2016 - 04/2016 Meeting Page.)