Thursday, November 8


It's been quiet around here lately, so I better do a quick update!

Last weekend, I went to World Fantasy Con in Montreal. I flew on NorthWest Airlines and all flights were full. Portland to Detroit was overbooked. As for security, I got the wand and a frisk. Just luck of the draw, I guess. The air travel was fine. The security didn't slow us down and no craziness to report.

I loved the local of the convention this year. Montreal was a large friendly city with a foreign feel. On Saturday, I rode the metro and checked out the Biodome. Next door to it was the '76 Summer Olympic Games stadium. I saw the stadium from inside the plane upon arrival in Montreal. The thing looked odd from the sky, all lit up at night. From the sky it looked like a crane (made of concrete) yet not like a crane.

The convention was more leisure than business. If the rumor is correct, only four hundred people showed up for the con, which is small for WFC. Usually it's twice that size.

It was a suprise and a pleasure to see a Clarion classmate of mine who I haven't seen in a while. I talked to a lot of people I haven't seen since last World Fantasy. The only disappointment out of the whole weekend is that I didn't get to talk to Robert Charles Wilson. I saw him on one panel and instead of talking to him afterwards, I thought I could talk to him at the mass autograph signing. Well, I waited all night and he never showed up to sign autographs. And where did this guy hide all weekend? Alas, I can still enjoy his books. In fact, on the return trip, I read two hundred pages of his new novel The Chronoliths. It's excellent and probably one of my favorite Wilson novels.

Now coming up this weekend is OryCon up in Portland. This year I'm going to drive back forth to the Con. Well, I"m going up tomorrow anyway. I may not go up Saturday. I'm just playing it all by ear.

Oh, one more thing. Upon arriving home I found three rejections in my mailbox. From Asimov's, Analog (I really knew that story wouldn't be right for Stan), and Brutarian. I now have five stories waiting to go back out in the mail. Down to four circulating. Time to send them back out!





Monday, November 12

So I drove up to Orycon in Portland on Friday. I made a stop at Powells and then it was off to the convention. I didn't know if I'd be going back up to Portland on Saturday, so I wanted to socialize as well as go to panels. Everywhere I went, there were people I knew and wanted to talk to. Dan Duval, Clarion classmate--his job took him away from the Northwest for awhile, but now he has returned. I saw Patty Briggs, Steve and Chis York, and Eve Gordon & Harold Gross.

I went to a couple of panels. One was on pitching novel ideas and I wrote down a few notes on that one.

I didn't get to see the Swensons. I heard they were coming down for one day, but I don't think it was Friday. I also missed the midnight horror reading (I left the con at 10:30pm to drive back to Eugene) and also the morning humor reading (for Saturday).

I decided to stay home on Saturday. I worked fours in the morning after three hours of sleep. Even after a four hour nap later in the day, I still felt detached from reality.

I felt much better on Sunday. I even wrote one page of fiction, a start on a new story. A small start, but a begining nontheless.






Thursday, November 15

I may have gotten two rejections from Realms Of Fantasy lately, but I know two writers who have sold stories there.

The Wordos own Eric Witchey and the Web Rats own Hilary Moon Murphy.

Hilary is currently on journal hiatus, but I hope she'll get back to updating soon. Realms is her first short story sale. Cool!

I believe this is the first sale post Writers Of The Future for Eric. He had a story critiqued at last workshop. Below my comments on the back of the manuscript, I wrote "Welcome to the ROF club!"

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I sent a story to SciFi.com the other day. I still have five stories to get back in the mail. Must do this on Saturday.

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Sunday, November 18

Yesterday, we had a workshop at Kate and Damon's. There was a big group of us this time around--a dozen of us. Instead of going out to eat we ordered pizza from Pegasus. Since they don't deliver, I went to pick up the pies. Eric Witchey rode shotgun. We talked about writing, meditation, and self-defeating behaviors.

We also had five stories to critique after eating the pizza. One story was the collaboration between me, Leslie What, Nina Hoffman, PLUS Ray Vukcevich. Four authors! Everybody found the story to be silly with funny lines throughout. We had some good feedback. Nina is going to take the first crack at revising it. And Ray, by the way, was brought to this project because we needed someone to end the story. Nina, Leslie, and I had written nearly a thousand words a piece. Ray did a great job.

I have a lot of hope for this story.

I didn't see the meteor shower last night. I probably should have. Sounds like it was quite a show.

Oh, I sent back out three more stories. I'll send two more by Tuesday's workshop.






Sunday, November 25

It's official, I'll be one of the twelve writers at Oregon Coast Professional Writers Workshop the first two weeks in March. This is the workshop put together by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. They'll be teaching along with guest instructor, K.W. Jeter, and guest editor, Ginjer Buchanan, Executive Editor of Ace Books.

This pleases me. I am pleased very very very much. Very!

I'm not the only one from the Wordos going. Eric Witchey is also one of the twelve. I haven't heard if Jerry Wolf made it in, but I'm thinking he did since he mailed in his application earlier than me. Timing seemed very important in applying for this workshop. I guess Dean and Kris already have a lengthy waiting list.

This is reminiscent of going to Clarion back in '93. Anticipation is the same. These two weeks in March will have the same pressure-cooker effect.
Personally, I think this will be tougher than Clarion. I know what to expect from Dean and Kris. I also know how it was for the six writers that did the first two week workshop almost three years ago. Dean and Kris worked those writers hard. They know how to push. They're the kind of teachers that are tough, yet encouraging and energizing. They are honest and put things bluntly. Their knowledge of how the publishing industry works is just incredible. This will be tougher than Clarion because I know myself better as a writer than I did when I went to Clarion. Today I have a clearer vision of where I want to go with my writing. Today I have the tools to push myself with my writing.

I have a lot of work to do to get me prepared for this workshop. You've heard it before--I do better if I beat back the inertia and keep writing every day. I may want to push myself and try to write a short story in a day or in a weekend between now and March, just to be in good writerly shape. I'd also like to write one novel proposal and three chapters. Of course, I want to keep sending out new stories so my submission numbers keep rising. That's always nice to see.

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I'm going to be on seasonal layoff from the golf course from January through mid-March. This is fine. I can mange two and a half months unemployed, but if it was any longer it would be a problem.

I could use the break from the day job. It's just a job and it hardly gives me any fulfillment. Working outside is great, but it's a little less pleasant in the winter months.

And if I may refer to Career Day my workshop had about month ago, Ray Vukcevich said writing is not a career, but a way of life. He has surrounded himself with other people who write, just like I have with my move to the Pacific Northwest. Ray went on to say (I'm paraphrasing here) even if you're not published, you can live that life. Never take your eye off of the work because being published is the other half of this life. A writer needs a reader.

Working on the golf course is a good companion job for the writing life and the only reason I kept it for so long is because of the hope of going seasonal and writing more in the winter months. But alas, I need to be making good money to make it during a five month layoff. Sometimes I wish I did finish college, then maybe I could have gotten a better paying job or career to go with writing. I could go back to college, but working towards a career in writing is like going to college. It takes patience. And I have surrounded myself with writers to learn from.

So this winter I'll be unemployed for two and a half months. Two of those months, I'll be making the most of my time in my apartment writing and reading. I won't be able to afford much else. I may make the decision to go on seasonal status after this winter. Maybe I just need to push myself to get closer to my vision of a writing life. Even without being published, if I can survive a couple years of writing full-time in the winters, part-time the rest of those years, I will have already achieved half of my dream. If I'm published during those couple of years, that might help me keep away from the day job during the winter months for another year or two.

I have a lot to think about here and this is just some mad rambling outloud thinking.

The biggest obstacle standing in the way of my goals has always been me. I like to think I've made some gains in getting past that obstacle the last few years. I have found tricks, tools, and ways of thinking to get out of my own way.

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In closing with this LONG journal entry, I'd like to send out a hello to Dayle in the UK. Hello! She applied for Kris and Dean's workshop after reading about it in my journal. I assume you'll be hearing a response about your application soon, Dayle, and I hope you'll be joining us in March!





Monday, November 26

I'm back up to nine short stories in the mail. Finally! Still working on breaking the #10 barrier.

In other news, it turns out Dayle in the UK will also be going to Kris and Dean's coast workshop. Woo-hoo! It will be great to see you there, Dayle!

And in the "Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?" department: Robert Charles Wilson stumbled upon my website and dropped me a line. Always nice to get an e-mail out of the blue from one of my favorite writers. Wow!