RinthCon 2024 is this weekend (or is it in 300 years and we get to learn about it this weekend?), and to follow up from the video chat I had with John Simons about it, I got the chance to chat with a few of the authors involved, Armanis Ar-feinial, Marilyn Peake, and T. Olsen. I admit that I got distracted by life, the universe, and everything, and dropped the ball. I’d planned on a few more questions, but that just never happened. I really appreciate Olsen, Peake, and Ar-feinial showing up to play as much as they did.

Would you all start off by introducing yourselves in 1-2 sentences to my readers? Be sure to mention a book title you’d like to feature, and a link to a website/social media, so we can follow up.
Armanis Ar-feinial (AA): You know, when I picked my penname, I never thought I would have to clarify that my initials do not stand for Alcoholics Anonymous, but my name is Armanis Ar-feinial. If you’d like you can call me Armin, or by my moniker, The Sarcastic Elf, all of which works. I write mostly fantasy, and for this year’s SPFBOX competition I submitted my short Novel The Plagued Elf, which basically infuses a pandemic in a Middlea-Earth-like setting.

Sarstic elf’s epic website
Twitter

Marilyn Peake (MP): I’ve been writing for a long time and published my first novel twenty years ago. I write in a variety of Science Fiction and Fantasy sub-genres. My latest novel is a combination of both. It’s my Science Fantasy novel, They Left Magic in Their Wake, which I entered in this year’s SPFBOX.

Marilyn Peake’s website: http://www.marilynpeake.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MarilynPeakeAuthor
Newsletter Sign-Up: https://www.marilynpeake.com/newsletter
Purchase They Left Magic in Their Wake: https://books2read.com/u/mdYoY5

T. Olsen (TO): I’m an author in the Midwestern US, where I work in the engineering industry. My current passions are TTRPGs (two sessions a week if they happen on schedule), turning our house into a cottagecore/witchy/medieval oasis, and wrangling our 5 dogs and 2 cats. My published book is Shadows of Old Town, which is an adult fantasy, and I have an urban fantasy and a sci-fi book going through final edits. My characters tend to be morally gray or antiheroes.

T. Olsen’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tamiolsen

In your words, what exactly is RinthCon?
AA: Okay, Carmielle willing there is no other authors here with AA as an initial or I have some serious explaining to do with my therapist. I mean characters. Now this is my first entry into Rinthcon, so I’ll do my darndest hardest to explain how this works. It doesn’t. Without a “Dripping Bucket” which I’m proud to say my book has one of those. To really simplify it, it’s a portal fantasy that brings characters from different worlds into Rinthcon, which takes place in a fictional world, or so John says: we all know it’s his backyard. And every year, he holds this convention in space with multiple things to do, places to go, and seems subterranean. Seriously, for a self pub guy like John, I have no idea how he funds this convention every year! He must be richer than Bezos.

MP: That’s funny, Armanis, about RinthCon actually being held in John’s backyard! What a backyard that would be!

I’ll try explaining RinthCon the way I understand it. Rinth is from John Simons’ novel, Explorers of Rinth. Rinth is a fictional asteroid near Saturn. A corporation once dug tunnels through it, setting up secret labs to conduct research that wouldn’t be allowed on Earth. One of their projects involved trying to build bridges to the multiverse. When it seemed like this hadn’t worked, they left the asteroid. However, the experiment just needed time. It worked after they left! Now, a wild and crazy Sci-Fi convention, RinthCon, is held on Rinth every year with attendees arriving from all over the multiverse. I hope I explained this accurately.

TO: I think that about sums it up. In general, it’s a sci-fi version of a sci-fi convention that ends up becoming a huge crossover story. I feel like the best part is that some of the OG characters are desperately trying to keep the chaos from happening, and some of them are totally on board with it, and even facilitating it!

Who participated in last year’s Con? How did it differ from other virtual cons you’ve done?
AA: So I don’t actually know who participated in last years con, so I can’t really answer that. I plead the fifth your honor.

MP: I didn’t know about RinthCon last year. I wish I had. Writing stories for this year’s con has been a lot of fun! Hmm…On the other hand, perhaps I did attend last year, but in another timeline in the multiverse. [if you happen to find a way into that timeline, I have some questions…]

TO: I also didn’t catch last year’s con. My book wasn’t out of the editing closet yet, so there was nobody to be sucked into an alternate reality. I did read the anthology though! I think the cool thing about Rinthcon is that the reader gets to experience the convention from the perspectives of so many different lenses. It’s chaotic, just like a real convention, and the reader gets plopped into little situations that allow them to see the event from the inside.

Okay, so we have no vets here. How did you all get involved this year? What in particular (assuming you remember) about the idea drew you in?
TO: I heard about it through the discord group for SPFBO. John talked about it and asked for volunteers to participate, and I’ve always loved making up little stories, so I figured why not? Besides, this way I’m the first person to write fanfiction for my own novel!

AA: Basically, I expressed some marginal interest when I found out about it in discord. Apparently all the juice secrets are there.

Without ruining anything (obviously), can any of you supply a sneak preview or two of what readers/attendees could expect to see?
AA: let me guess, someone stole your sweetroll?

TO: Well, on my end, Gray will be doing what Gray does best… lying, cheating, stealing, and running from responsibility! Only with even more tentacles.

That’s RinthCon, RinthCon, RinthCon this weekend! (if you can read that in the voice of a radio announcer talking about a Monster Truck Jam or something, that’d help) Be sure to check it out!!

A Few Quick Questions