I'm 29-years-old, married with a 2-year-old son, and our daughter will be born in mid-June. I have a B.A. and M.A. in theology from a small Catholic liberal arts university -- the University of Dallas, which is in Irving, Texas. My goal has been to earn a Ph.D. in theology and teach and do research. However, due to kids and finances, that path is no longer open for me. My wife and I have decided to reverse roles, so she works full time and I'm a stay-at-home dad.

I've been writing on and off since I was 10. Now that I'm not going after a Ph.D. -- which means that I have a lot of free time on my hands -- I have decided concentrate on being a writer. I try to write 4 pages a day, six days a week, and read a novel a week. I try to do what Stephen King recommends, namely, putting four hours a day into writing and reading (six when my mother-in-law babysits).

My reading usually oscillates between science fiction and fantasy, and literary fiction. The best book about writing I've read is John Gardner's, The Art of Fiction. My favorite SF novel is Connie Willis's Doomsday Book; my favorite fantasy novel is J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings; and my favorite literary novel is Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory.

[This message has been edited by Balthasar (edited April 24, 2003).]
 

I have a complete feeling of destiny that few people understand when I try and communicate it. No power in the universe can stop my becoming a published writer - except myself. Even then, in the end I will always triumph.

About 18 mnths ago I figured that if I could approach agents, and say that the word was out on the net for my writing, then it would be a feather in my cap. In stages, the whole marketing of a concept has become an extraordinary obsession, but I am collecting respectable statistics. The concept of my writing has been exposed widely on the internet - the banner and name has been used frequently on communities totally over 300,000 people - the link is in over 1600 usenet groups (slap wrist), 121,000+ legal downloads of the soundtrack music, over 25,000 unique visitors to the website itself, and I am now about to pass 300 members of my own forum, which opened in December. And I'm going to expand the site even more, to catch more visitors. Oh yes...

Currently immersed in the topic of search engine optimisation - specialising in key-term marketing within Google.

I don't work any other way.

[This message has been edited by Chronicles_of_Empire (edited April 23, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by Chronicles_of_Empire (edited April 24, 2003).]
 

I've been writing since I was about 16 (not nearly as young as many of you), but have not really been able to kick it into full gear yet. But I think about it every day, read articles and stories as often as I can, and when time permits (like summer breaks) I become almost obsessed.

I like to play the piano, sing, act -- and calculate the expectation values of degenerate electron energy levels!
 

I have a Bsc from the University of Alberta. Majored in microbiology and minored in chemistry.

According to my mother I was writing little illustrated stories at the age of three, so I got a real early start on the writing game. I remember as a child writing a lot of stories together with a younger brother -I am the oldest in the family and have four brothers and two sisters.

I like to read and will read anything including cereal boxes, soup cans, and the advertisements on the sides of city busses. Right now the books I'm reading include the following:

OSC's Shadow of the Hegemon, Jordan's Crown of Swords, Matthew Pearl's The Dante Club, Dante's Inferno -Musa Translation, and Jeffrey Eugenidis' Middlesex.

Besides reading I like to putter around in my flower garden.

That's a bit about me :-)

 

I'm new also, signed on today. My name is Donnie Clemons. I'm 41 years old and have been married 20 years. I'm a fulltime teacher and football coach. Yeah, I know. Most of you think football coaches can't read muchless write. I'm not a stereotypical coach at all. I teach technology and computer classes. I have several published works in fantasy and a little poetry. You can see my post under the Hatracks Published Writers thread for more info if you like. By some will of God I ended up owning the small press where I have two novels published. That wasn't what I had in mind when I signed their contract, but that's the way it goes. Both books are still inprint. I also added a line of OP, rare, and collectable books to the company site which I sell online. My current library consists of 13,000 books. I'm currently sending out 10 new short story manuscripts in hopes somebody is willing to publish my work besides me. (I have work published through other publishers by the way.) I am considering publishing a science fiction and fantasy anthology of about 10-12 writers if anyone is interested. I don't mean a subsidy deal either. I mean the kind of deal where the publisher (me) pays for the books and you get paid for the story. That's not a "done deal" but I'm close to doing it. Once the funds are in place and distribution deals are finalized I'll need writers. I grew up on a large dairy farm in Tennessee and proudly admit to being from "The South". I'm also a fairly accomplished musician. I was a voice major in college. Yes, I have sang opera. How many football coaches can say that? As to reading taste, I love Tolkien, Terry Brooks, Brian Jacques, L. Ron Hubbard, and of course Orson Scott Card. I keep signed editions of these authors' works in my private collection.

[This message has been edited by DEC (edited April 24, 2003).]
 

I would like to see my stuff in print someday, but mainly I like telling stories.
 

I write for a mixture of money desire, and love of story. I think the love of story has a higher status, at least I hope.
 

[This message has been edited by Nocturne (edited April 27, 2003).]
 

I don't get to read as much now as I would like to, but when I do, I enjoy: Stephen King, OSC, George RR Martin, Dean Koontz, Kirsten Britain, Anne Bishop, and an assortment of others. I don't usually read scifi anymore, just epic fantasies and horror. I am an AVID Harry Potter fan, and yes! I will be there at the "midnight party" release of book 5. Work be damned.

I'm polishing a short story for hopeful publication, and am in the throes of writing my first novel. I'm about 70k words into it, and there's much more left to write!
 

I'm 45,000 words into a novel-- fully plotted-- and to tell the truth, I need a little more experience before I finish it. My knowledge of a good story outstrips my ability to write one, so I need to practice for a while and then go back to rewriting the novel. Maybe I don't need more experience to finish it, but I need more experience to finish it and have it be worth reading by my standards.

[This message has been edited by Tanglier (edited May 02, 2003).]
 

I am currently posing as a 19-year-old female college student. No one seems to suspect her yet...
 

I'm sure we did this a long time ago, but I can't remember when.

I'm a 39ish Engineering instructor in Cleveland. I'm married, with two sports cars and two cats but no kids.

I don't get to read or write enough, but I do try to make them high priorities in my life. I like technology, and so I enjoy hard sci-fi and techno-thrillers like Tom Clancy's stuff. I wish to be a productive writer, and refuse to waste my time with bad writing. Thus I read whatever I can on the subject, and I participate in things like my writers group and this forum.

I really appreciate all of you being here. I especially appreciate Kathleen and all the work she does for us.
 

I write in what free time I have (which is usually rare), and I am currently working on a f/sf book... I read usually just f/sf, like L.E. Modesitt, Jr. or Isaac Asimov, etc. I don't remember when I joined...
 

Ah well---let's see, I'm a 40ish married female. 4 kids, five cats, and a rabbit.

I have worked as an acquisitions editor in Germany. I have done freelance editing for the same company in Germany. I've been published in non-fiction --many years ago--early 80's. I have done and still do the written side of public relations. I also do newsletters or anything else dealing with the written word that pays for the cat food.

Currently I work for Wild Child Publishing and an assistant editor.

I have completed almost 6 novels now. And have agent representation by The Zack Company, Inc.

I read almost anything—even a cereal box if nothing else is available. My favorites are Anne Perry, Sue Grafton, Tony Hillerman—yes mystery writers. My favorite fantasy writers, Pierce Anthony, Ann McCaffery, Marion Zimmeron Bradley. My favorite historical fiction writer, Don Coldsmith. SciFi, anything and everything. No real favorites there.

Shawn

 

I'm 36, married, one daughter and one geriatric schnauzer. I work as a freelance marcom and training content writer, primarily for telecom and other high-tech firms. I have had one non-fiction article published (not counting ad copy and other business pieces) and am currently working on getting a full length novel and several pieces of short fiction published. Favorite authors include Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, and...well, just way too many to type out here. I like fantasy, science fiction, and horror.
 

I read all sorts of SF/F leaning more towards SF. I have finished the first draft of a fantasy novel and am discovering that just putting in edits on 116K words takes a lot of time.

My favorite authors are Brin, Zelazny, Bear, Card, Zahn, Bujold, Feist, and more. I have a collection of Analog magazine that goes back to 1965. I gave up on being an engineer in college because I couldn't stand doing the math.

I am the keeper of strange hobbies ( I occasionally go camping in an 18' tipi) that I have less time for now with my four boys keeping me busy. I still find time to teach martial arts out of my basement.

Dave
 

About two years ago I decided all my dreaming about writing a book ought to be put to the test. After some hideous false starts, multiple versions, and some rejections for some short stories along the way, I’m probably over halfway done with my novel from a completed standpoint. Even though I get frustrated at my writing pace, all the versions have been a great learning process and I really enjoy the time I can put in writing. This is often less that I would like since my job tends to leave me a bit braindead for other mental activities come evening. Thank goodness for the weekend!

Even if I’m still rather new to writing, I’ve had an ongoing love affair with reading all my life. I read a bit of everything (including ketchup bottles), but it’s fantasy and historical settings that usually capture my imagination the most. Robin McKinley, Connie Willis, Anne McCafferty, OSC, and Anne Rice are a few favorites.

 

Meanwhile, back at the batcave, I'm approaching my low (opposite of high) fantasy novel from about the tenth perspective. I've changed the plotline and characters so many times that I barely recognize the first few tries.

My name is Jon and I don't do much else besides go to school, read, write, and hang out with my girlfriend. However, lately I've been building a large and sophisticated treehouse (about 100+ sq ft) behind my friends house. I plan on living in it for several weeks during the summer so I can have some sort of mystical life changing experience (and because it'll be interesting). that's enough of me, I'm done rambling.

uberslacker
 

The author who has taught me the most about writing is OSC, and I've never read any of his fiction. Nothing. Not even a short story.

RLR
"People care more about the one they love than they do about themselves."

 

I’m a professional housewife who’s been known to take career detours at the front desk of major hotels. Two years of Hospitality Management in college and no desire to boss people around probably explains that. Married 35 years, two kids, two old cats, two young grandchildren. Writing since sixth grade, with an original excerpt in Reader’s Digest and an article in ComputorEdge magazine, and a slew of unpaid op-eds. (The computer article is misleading. It was a humorous account of my introduction to computers.) I have two finished novels, the second SF and which I am presently polishing and wringing my hands over. Childbirth was easier.

I’m a nitpicker, but not sure if that’s my age or my love for the written word. I would’ve been a formidable English teacher. Not to say I have it all down pat. Reference books are a godsend. As are all of you.

Trying, Ergoface?

[This message has been edited by Kolona (edited April 30, 2003).]
 

i have always read adamently, so one day i decided that i could write as well as the authors i was reading. well its a lot harder than it looks. i'm getting there and am now the proud recipient of several rejection notices. but that's not going to stop me.i've only been a member for a few weeks but i like what i have seen so far.
 

I don't hang out here much, mostly because I spend way too much time over in the Hatrack River Forum. However, I can't resist threads concerning grammar, usage, or punctuation. Whenever there's one of those, you can expect me to stick my nose in.

Oh, and Brinestone—I was so already on to you.

[This message has been edited by Jon Boy (edited May 08, 2003).]
 

i'm another one of those paranoid types who likes to stay anonymous online, so let's just stick with Cosmi. i'm a seventeen-year-old student finishing out high school in a program at a university across my good ol' home state of Misery...uh...Missouri. i plan on being a physics major, but in this program i'm working towards an Associate of Science degree. (Associate today, PhD tomorrow, and then, the universe! muahahaha...) i enjoy reading and writing, of course. (and, like everyone else, i'll resort to product labels if need be.) i also play clarinet, am president over my program's astronomy club, and am secretary of the university's math club. i don't have alot of freetime lately, but i write when i can.

i mostly write scifi and fantasy short fiction and novel length work, and poems on...well, whatever comes to mind. i've noticed my poetry muse mostly visits during my math courses, so all my classwork is sporatically littered with poems. ironically enough, the idea that got me out of a serious slump (not so much a block, but a lack of inspiration) concerns a WWII vet visited by the archangel Michael--not remotely my genre, plus i'm athiest. well, when the muse hits, what can you do?

as for my favorite writers, i can't really say. i've never encountered one i invariably like. and it's hard to remember all the books i've enjoyed. my favorite OSC book is definitely _Speaker for the Dead_ because it was like nothing i'd read previously. i remember thinking when i put it down, "this is what i want people to feel like when they're done reading my work. wow."

i guess that's it, so:

TTFN & lol

Cosmi
 

[This message has been edited by Sharp (edited May 10, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by Sharp (edited May 10, 2003).]
 

At any rate, welcome. Sorry for being such a poor host.

PS -- Watch out for a dude named Survivor. He's a shadowy figure that lurks on this board, and he has thus far refused to introduce himself to you new guys and gals.

[This message has been edited by Balthasar (edited May 10, 2003).]
 

Thanks.
 

I am a nearly 26-year-old female. I am engaged and plan to get married in October...no kids yet. I have 2 B.S. degrees, one in Computer Science the other in Psychology. After struggling to find work in a bad economy for nearly a year I decided to give it up and concentrate on my writing. (The timely engagement helped a lot.)

I've been writing since I was maybe 10, always science fiction and fantsay. (Oh, I read other things, but I've never really written anytthing else.) I guess my head has always been in the clouds.

Ever since the beginning of April I've been working part time on contract work (programming and web pages) and have been able to devote about 20 hours a week to writing. It's been great, if a little frustrating sometimes. That's about when I started snooping in on this site too, although I only posted recently.

I also joined a critique group for the first time a couple months ago. It's been interesting to actually ahve real feedback on my work. One day soon I'll have to start a discussion about how to interpret that feedback.

Nice to meet everyone!

Christine
 

My name is Danielle I'm 30 years old a mother of one (named Raven who is turning one.) I have been married two years (this time around.)

I don't remember when I started writing or making up stories. I'd have to say as early as five. I wanted to be a veterinarian though.

I was certified as a laboratory assistant at 16, took second in a national team competition on health knowledge and planned to be pre-med in college.

I was poetry editor in high school for our literary magazine and also took second honorable mention in a state poetry contest that year. Funny part about that is it was a poem just newly reworked and I had forgotten to bring any other ones. It was just something to turn in.

But wait.. there's more!

I have always been fascinated in languages and have taken German (high school), Russian and Spanish (college). Sadly I am not fluent in any of them. And then.. I decided I was burnt out on pre-med so switched up.

Got married, started tech school for multi-media and VR. Left school and started a web design company.

Got divorced moved to California and met my current husband.

I then started writing for a fan site for fun. After that it snowballed into writing for a network (IGN), working as a herald (online reporter for Shadowbane) and working for a multi-game website. I was recommended by Ubi Soft to Brady Games to co-write the strategy guide for the game. It's done very well in sales. I work part time as well.

After all these years of writing (for non liveable pay) for all these other things, I decided I was burning myself out for too little and needed to get back to writing for enjoyment and creativity.

Thus, here I am ready to get back laying down the text for the dreams that are always stuck in my head.

So there you are. I am one of the true 'jack of all trades master of none.' I bounce from thing to thing but the one thing I've always loved is writing. I have plenty of college credits, but have yet to finish since I have been the breadwinner in the family for years. Someday I'll get to finish.

[This message has been edited by Sachant (edited May 30, 2003).]
 

And yes, you must watch out for Survivor. His nickname is "The Point-of-View Nazi." Scared yet?

I am also a graduate of the 1998 Odyssey Fantasy Writer's Workshop, a six week class taught by former editor Jeanne Cavelos. The writer in residence was Harlan Ellison, who came in for a week and ground our egos down to nubs. I still flinch when I think about him. The best thing about the Odyssey workshop was getting to meet a wide variety of professionals, from other writers to book and magazine editors who could give us insights into all aspects of publishing. Still, even this was discouraging in a way, since almost every single editor had the same market report: There are too many writers and too few readers. Still, I have struggled on, despite this knowledge that the odds of making a living writing fiction are longer now than they once were.

During Boot Camp, OSC talked about a new SF publisher called Phobos, and let us know they were running a contest to look for new talent. OSC felt this was a good opportunity for new writers, and he was certainly right in my case. I submitted three stories to the contest and one of them later went on to become the title story of the first Phobos anthology, "Empire of Dreams and Miracles," edited by OSC. This was followed by Phobos deciding to make my novel submission "Nobody Gets the Girl" the first novel they will publish. It comes out this October and I won't have any fingernails growing between now and then.

Phobos is also holding onto another short story of mine, "Absolutely Brilliant in Chrome," with plans to make it the title story of a non-contest anthology, although I've gotten no money for it and have no clue what time scale they are working on for this project.

I'm presently working on a novel set in the early days of the futuristic Atlantis that is the setting for "Empire of Dreams and Miracles." I'm having a real struggle in completing it, though, due to the triple-threat of woes coming at me from all sides as my employer downsizes, my house sits on the market unsold with I pay both rent and a mortgage, and my girlfriend battles with cancer. Not that I'm whining or anything. Every adversity in my life has later found some outlet in fiction. In a wierd, twisted way, writing is like morphine. It feels good to write about painful stuff, to sit back and realize that you've just put something honest on the page. Eventually, when tradgedy strikes, you sit back and grin and think, "As soon as I get out of this full body cast, this is going into my next book!"

So, anyhoo, that's who I am and what I'm doing lurking around on these boards.

Thanks,
James Maxey
www.nobodygetsthegirl.com

PS: For information about the annual Phobos contest go to www.phobosweb.com.
 

My contact info is
AIM masterful12
MSN krosch@hotmail.com
ICQ 15138144
e-mail kros0034@d.umn.edu

[This message has been edited by Bone (edited June 10, 2003).]
 

Now lets see, Just who the hell AM I. Well, I suppose I am 25, though at times I feel signifigantly older and/or younger. I AM married, with my first child on the way. I love to write. Though I took to actually putting my stories to paper rather late in life. In my younger days, much to my mother's dismay, I used to stay up all hours of the night making up stories with my brother.

I am currently nearing completion of the first draft of my first novel. Which is actually my first fiction at all. I find the idea of a short story surprisingly difficult to tackle and do not see many of them in my future. I have been looking for a place to share my prose for a while now. I may have found it here. Though it is still a too rough to be shared, the prospect of sharing my brainchild with anyone, still scares me down to my very bones.
 

quote:

---

I find the idea of a short story surprisingly difficult to tackle and do not see many of them in my future.

---

William Faulkner once said that the novelist is the failed short-story writer. That's how difficult they are.
 

I suppose it is too late to edit that one . I meant to say that I started writing relatively late compared to many of the writers here, or even more to the point, relatively later than when I started creating stories to begin with. I did not mean to say that 25 is late in life.

As for the topic of short-fiction. I think part of my difficulty arises from the fact, that I simply dont enjoy short-fiction in general. I have liked very few of the shorts I have read. I prefer the more long-winded format the novel provides, both as a writer and a reader. So I would not exactly characterize myself as a "failed short-story writer," atleast not till I attempt doing so. Which after my next projects is top on my list.

[This message has been edited by PE_Sharp (edited June 12, 2003).]
 

Slade Villena, age 23,
been writing since age 11, poetry to scifi short stories, although I've never taken it seriously 'til I hit college. currently working on a novel, military/mercenary scifi.

I've been in a constant state of obsession with cypherpunk culture, rifle marksmanship, science fiction, computer programming and japanese anime movies. It's a safe state of obsessiveness since it's on the introvertive level. Obsessed, 'cuz I think it,and live it.

attended a myriad of community colleges since I can't afford the university,
attended UnivofCal, Santa Cruz with the help of loan and some money that I begged from my parents, extended family, etc.,
quit after a quarter,
Sep11 happened.

enlisted in the Marine Corps, December2001,
just flowed with the political inertia of this time, lotta kids I know did the same thing. The world grew more dangerous, so I had to grow more dangerous....

currently in a combat arms unit,
artillery.
pull-string-cannon-go-boom.
easy job. pays good.

upset about not getting deployed to iraq, scared that I might get deployed
into a nuke war with N.Korea.

can't wait to get out,
with a GI Bill, and tons of money
that I can use for studying.

Someday, when I get back to the academe,
I'll have this encounter :

"Watcha do for your college money?"
"I got mine from my parents...."
slade : "Me? I pulled-trigger, jumped outta 7ton trucks, shot over 10000 rounds of artillery in four years and camped out in the nastiest, most brutal places on earth."
 

I came to Germany for a semester abroad, and that was seventeen years ago. In the meantime, it's become home. My German is good, but I prefer to read books in original English. Most of everything I own is either science fiction or mystery. I like Anne Perry, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Lois McMaster Bujold, Amy Tan, and many others.

I've been active in the world of fan fiction for a few years now, and working my way out of it. I'm at the point now where I'm making up original characters and putting them into the Star Wars universe. I hope to be able to invent my own universe one day, and move from fan fiction to completely original stuff soon.
 

I'm nineteen now and working at a summer job. I work four days a weeks(12 hours each time) dumping ingredients for ice cream into bins. Ice cream is so over rated...

I love reading -- I'm sure everyone here does as well. My favorite genre is science fiction, though. I'm currently, besides working at the ice cream factory, reading OSC's Ender series. I'm reading Shadow Puppets right now and will probably finish it within the next few days.

I won't be with this forum long. I'm leaving on July 23rd to serve a mission in the Latter Day Saint Church. I'll hopefully learn a lot about writing within the next few weeks before I leave.

I suppose something about hobbies would be good to list here . I love writing and reading, of course. But I also love weight training. It makes me feel like I'm not wasting my body away. I'm a health nut in some respects but I try not to be too fanatical about it. I love to laugh and miss it very much. The only amusement I get nowadays is from books and when something terribly wrong happens at the ice cream plant.

I come from a family of ten kids. I just completed a year at Brigham Young University where I was seriously thinking about getting a BA in English and then a Ph.D. so that I could teach it at a university. I'm questioning that right now, but I'm not worried too much about it, though. I have a little bit of time to iron things out and set up plans.

I'm an introvert in person but I'm pretty sociable on the net. My social life is... is... unheard of . It's especially so now that my ice cream job is taking up most of my time.
I hope to meet at least one of you . E-mail me at will!
 

I'm Jules, and I'm from Coventry, UK. I was born on June 22 1976, right at the start of one of the hottest spells the UK has had in living memory. My mother blames me for having been stuck in an air conditioned hospital throughout it.

I read and write primarily science fiction, but do work in fantasy as well, although not as much: I like to keep my work as closely grounded to the possible as I can.

I read a lot of SF, mainly older works at the moment, although I have recently finished reading (most of) the Honor Harrington series by David Weber.

I found this site a few weeks ago because at the time I had just finished reading Speaker for the Dead, and my copy has an introduction in it in which OSC talks about how he developed the character of Ender between the original story and the novel - I was intrigued to find out what he meant by some of the things he said, so I sought out a copy of the story, which I did, of course, find on hatrack.com. And while I was there, I also found here.

Other than writing, I am an IT consultant by day and spend a lot of time performing various tasks from managing web sites to writing Windows software. I'm single, have no kids, don't smoke, but drink more than I ought to. I'm agnostic, but accept the possibility of a superior being, although I don't believe it is likely to be any of those described by religions I have heard about. I do consider religion important though, and find it a powerful theme for my stories.

Yep, that's me.

 

I've written a few things, both of philosophy and fiction, and some have even been published, but never in anything prestigious.

As far as fiction goes, I only have one story that I care about, and I've been writing it for ten years. Or is it twenty years? Regardless, the work is in its third major version now, and this looks to be the final one. The characters have carried me 34k words into it, and the plot for it and the four novels that succeed it have finally settled down and ceased squirming beneath my implements.

My favorite authors are OSC, C.S. Lewis, George R.R. Martin, Fyodor Dostoevsky, G.W.F. Hegel (I'll aufgehoben you, buddy), St. John, Plato, G.K. Chesterton, St. Augustine, Homer, Connie Wills, Alvin Plantinga, and my uber-nemesis, Nietzsche, who writes like a dream but reads like a nightmare. And one more - I enjoy reading John Calvin. TULIP forever, you Arminian heratics (and assorted others possessing dubious doctrines)!

Oh, don't panic. I bear heratics no ill-will - I just throw them into Lake Michigan.

[Oh don't let me hear about all the evils, moral or intellectual, of Calvinism, whatever you imagine them to be. Maybe study it first, you know-]

[Yes, yes, some people dislike Calvinism even though they have studied it. But at least we can discuss the issue in that case.]

Now, did I mention Dostoevsky? I need to mention him at least twice. My heart trembles and my knees buckle at the thought of reading The Brothers Karamazov or Crime and Punishment again, although not in love - rather in sheer terror of the works! But yet, I'm so powerfully drawn - irresistably, as it were -

I enjoy writing about evil and selfish characters who stumble and struggle and eventually gain redemption, and some who don't but instead murder the ones that do.

[This message has been edited by Alexander (edited July 01, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by Alexander (edited July 01, 2003).]
 

Working with a group from the World's End (neilgaimanboard.com) to self-publish an anthology, which has had me back here lurking for a couple months (really got the juices flowing again). I recognize a few of you from my earlier days here, but don't know many. Nice to see you all.

I'll be around intermittently.

JP
 

I am 32 years old, married for 12 years with 3 kids. My family often sees me laying on the couch, one arm flung over my head. They know I'm not sleeping, I'm writing. The blank page does little for me but demand words, and words can't come before the story.

I hope I never meet Harlan Ellison in a teaching capacity.
 

I'm Tim Hayes, 33 married and spend my days developing software for people who don't appreciate it, and no matter how simple you make it they fail to understand. So I've decided that after about 15 years of reading books I was ready to start writing my own.

I have almost the whole collection of the "Elements of Fiction Writing" which so far has been very helpfull in understanding what I somewhat already knew.

I just recently started writing seriously a few weeks ago. So far, its going ok.

One day I would like to see it printed and on a shelf, but with no deadlines and steady paycheck I am not in a hurry. I have discovered I enjoy writing, and want to improve my abilities to write stories also.

I enjoy all kinds of scifi and fantasy, and even delve into other areas from time to time.

I'm George, 30 years old, single. My favorite writers are Robert Heinlein, Clifford Simak, Alfred Bester, H. Beam Piper, Alastair Reynolds, Nancy Kress, Mr. Card, and too many others to name.

I've been writing my entire life but only recently got to the point of finishing stuff. Hehe. As a lifelong lover of science fiction it amuses me no end that the first successful pieces I completed weren't science fiction or even fiction - they were essays that took personal events and drew political and economic observations from them.

It took me many years to discover the true secret of writing - discipline. I have set a goal of 1000 words a day, rain or shine, busy or slow. I've managed to keep it up pretty good - though sometimes it's 1000 words of pure dreck!

I write a lot of poetry. I find it therapeutic and fun.

Currently working on three short stories and doodling notes for a possible novel. Mainly, I'm having fun.

It's nice to meet you all and I look forward to many productive conversations!

 

I have been coming to this site since I was a Junior in High School. Hence the 2000 registration date. I dont write nearly as much as I wish I did, and I don't frequent this site nearly as often as I wish I did. I don't do anything enough for myself, I suppose.

While not an active "writer", I try and create something everyday in my head, at the very least. Stories or characters, as long as I am coming up with something at all times, I am happy. I am also an art student and thus spend most of my creative time putting energy into more physical works. I dont practice anything enough, but I try to learn as much as I can about everything.

So thats me. Once again I must say I hope I come by here more often.
 

I have recently managed to put the failure behind me and have at last begun writing a different novel without the historical problems that plagued the first one. Whether it will get anywhere is uncertain, but my writer's block at least seems to have ended.

[This message has been edited by Maccabeus (edited July 29, 2003).]
 

I will be a freshman this year at MIT. I've been reading all my life (okay, not ALL my life), and done some writing too, but I would sure like to get a lot more serious about it.

Favorite authors include: Heinlein, Norton, Asimov, Larry Niven, John Steakley and Clifford Simak.

I don't only read science fiction and I love classics, though I haven't read many (you want a really great book with science fiction, fantasy and horror mixed all into one?--read Dracula. The original one, by Bram Stoker).

I would like to get published so that I don't have to starve in college...
 

So far this has sort of worked for me, as I have found a job that I enjoy (currently not there, more of a contractor basis) and I have gotten through half of college, into a different school, and into that schools art program. I hope to keep this trend going and eventually land my dream job (game designer), and I dont plan on stopping until I am there.

So yeah, umm...that really lost the topic. I guess it shows you who I am though.

And other members, if you love writing, or whatever, just do it. Dont let anyone tell you that you cannot. Advice? Maybe. Its not wrong to try and live a dream, I think.
 

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if you want something (in this case, to be a respected author) then just go get it, and dont stop till you have it. Keep a day job to stay alive

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That was my point. You have to keep your day job until…. There are many authors who are successful, insofar as they’ve published and are making some money, but not enough to live on, at least not yet. But -- there are those shooting stars who hit the fast track with their first submission.

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but I say, and get it {your day job} in something as close to what you love as possible.

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Actually, that might not be wise. Working in a writing-related job, especially at a computer, can be a death knell for your own writing. After spending eight hours or more at a computer at work, many people don’t want to sit back down afterward. You might be better off in something wholly unrelated, even physical, so you can approach your own writing ready to go.

Here’s some hard advice from Frederick Levy in Hollywood 101: “Make writing your full-time job….When you’re starting out, get a second job to pay your bills…..It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it’s second to writing. It has to be secondary because writing is your full-time job.

Still, I submit there are those who write for fun, for stress release, for creative outlet, or whatever else besides making a living at it. They are those “other members” you mentioned who, I dare say, make up the great majority of writers. They just love to write. No, it’s not wrong to try and live a dream, but some dreams don’t entail a financially supportive writing career.

I say, don’t let anyone else define success for you.

[This message has been edited by Kolona (edited July 31, 2003).]
 

Favorite authors: Card, Asimov, Diane Duane, recently J.K. Rowling.

I write science fiction, believe it or not. Well, I'm starting to. I've always had a talent for stringing phrases together and for getting the ideas in my head into someone else's (which is why I want a PhD: to teach), so I thought I'd try my hand at writing fiction.

Wow, it's hard. I never would have suspected that writing good fiction is as complex as designing a good software system. Reading those "How to write" books (finished three so far) is like pouring gallons of knowledge directly into my skull. I'll be able to retain it all eventually. But in the meantime, I have a question: how could I have managed to miss out on all this cool stuff?
 

But I also said yeah, if you want to know me (As this thread asks), thats me. Just running my mouth of about something that I feel strongly about, even if you already know.
 

My name is Bob . . . how 'bout that? I'm a 17 year old male Senior in High School. My sixth grade teacher helped me realize that I had a talent for writing, and that's when it all started. I'm almost constantly having new ideas for plotlines, and especially characters (I love to develop characters to the point where I can carry out conversations with them in my head). My dream career in life is to be a graphic artist for a game company, eventually branching out and starting my own division.
I'm currently working on a fantasy/sci-fi series called the 5th Dream Saga (the prequel is coming along quite nicely in the foundation) that I hope to someday translate to a kick-butt game. (Speaking of which, I would like to start a group story with the 5th Dream idea, but I'm not sure where to post it? Can anyone tell me?)
My hobbies include writing (obviously), drawing/painting/visual art in general, mountain biking, playing guitar and piano, writing songs, gaming (RPGs mostly), trying to sway the hearts of women with my oh-so beguiling charm, and fencing.
My alias, +Garou+ (they wouldn't let me insert the plusses) is actually a Japanese word, meaning "hungry wolf". I am a wolf in spirit, and I feel this name fits me to a 't'. (I don't know how it's pronounced, but I like to say Guh-roo.)
I suppose that's enough to give a little bit of intro. I hope to interact more with you peoples here, as you seem to be a good group of human beings.

 

Looks like indentation doesn't read . . . I'll remember to skip lines in the future.
 

I own my own business, I work a personal assistant for published writers (in the romance genre) handling their websites, PR, extra research, etc - which has given me the opportunity to learn so much about the writing industry (although a lot is romance specific). This is what pays to keep me home during the day so I have time to do everything I want.

I also write book reviews for five different publications - this is what pays for my book addiction. I run through four or five books a week, unless I have a paper due.

I write romances straight romance, not even paranormal or futuristic/time travel romance. Preferably historical romance (anglophile).

Nice "meeting" all of you.
Best,
Nadia
www.finerdetailsva.com
 

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My alias, +Garou+ (they wouldn't let me insert the plusses) is actually a Japanese word, meaning "hungry wolf". I am a wolf in spirit, and I feel this name fits me to a 't'. (I don't know how it's pronounced, but I like to say Guh-roo.)

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I understand that "loup garou" is French for werewolf (with "loup" being the word for wolf).
 

Garou: that meaning "wolf" has actually cleared up some questions I had about some things relating to Japanese. Crazy.
 

I've been writing since I was a wee lass, but put it down for several years because, well, who knows why. I started writing again after my brother's family moved to China. I decided to send my niece and nephew an episode from a serial every two weeks. As an extra challenge, I sent the chapters to my dad on a weekly schedule. Much to my surprise, I have a novel. I'm enjoying critiques from one of the writer's groups and am getting close to sending query letters out.
 

(I am obsessive about my planner, though - it's like backlash.) :> But, I've noticed that EVERY parent I've ever met is just like me.... trying to do that balance between family, significant other, work, play & personal dreams.

Anyway, I have recently picked up that old manuscript and revived it. I have an outline, charcter profiles, and I am now starting on Chapter 5. I joined a local writers group, and I'm having a lot of fun.

If I can juggle the book with my families activities, I think I can actually get this thing done!

My favorite authors are Card, Chalker, Asimov, and Rowling(can't wait for book 6!)

Thanks for having me.

I'm a 30 year old aspiring writer/artist living in Tokyo, Japan. I have a husband and a terrier mix. I don't read or write as much as I should, but I am trying. I recently left my corporate job to pursue writing and art on a full-time basis.

I am hoping to have something published within the next two or two and a half years. I figure that should be enough time to produce something that someone might want to pay a penny a word to publish.
 

I credit my huge love of and interest in reading and hopefully writing sf/f to: being read to from Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, etc., reading "You Will Go to the Moon" and deciding to become an astronaut (ah, the dreams of youth), my father teasing me into watching Japanese live action superheros (Kikaida, Kamen Rider V-3, Rainbow Man) which I then couldn't stop watching, "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" comics, "The Littlest Dragonboy", discovering Tolkien, Norton's juvenile "Magic" series, Le Guin's "The Wizard of Earthsea", and Anne McCaffrey's Pern books when I was young, and an ability to sink into a story such that my family would have to yell "Earth to Lee, come in Lee!" to get my attention.

I did not grow up enjoying writing - it was for school. I remember trying to write journals and never keeping them up. I wrote a song about Mr. Letterman (from The Electric Company!) which I can still sing. I actually have a better record of helping others with their writing than doing my own. However, I decided to try writing for fun, hoping it would be a different experience. I like the exercises from my writing magazines, and started journaling story ideas, researching, and even writing. I have borrowed and purchased books on writing, and surprised myself by how much I am enjoying them.

My favorites authors would have to include Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, Heinlein (even when he is being too "Heinlein" to the point of AUGH!), Lackey, Anthony, OSC (my husband intro'd me to the Alvin Maker and Ender books - wow!), um, ok, hard to list them all. I certainly joined the Rowling fans. I am currently reading Gibson's "Neuromancer", and the newest Wheel of Time by Jordan, bought a while back and autographed, is by my bed, along with OSC's "First Meetings." There is so much still to read! Oh yes, I also read Octavia Butler's short stories, from an OSC recommendation - they were thought-provoking.

My worst problem, besides procrastination (and, thusly, time!), is self-confidence. McCaffrey's "Restoree" was her first novel - I can't imagine ever writing that well. At least she was 41 - I have some time to improve(time to read about how to write fiction). Additionally, the idea of writing a BOOK - something longer than my average college paper - stuns me. So I am trying to write short stories, but the current one keeps getting longer...!
 

I can see though how one would long for something a bit more exotic. Having been in Maryland all my life though, I am pretty used to it.
 

It is not what is exotic about Hawaii that I miss - it is the everyday. I never realized what I was giving up when I moved... and I cry when I return and leave. Ever heard the song "Honolulu City Lights? I love flying there or back at night - the lights in the valleys look like lava flowing from the Koolaus (mountains) to the ocean. The Koolaus are almost always topped with clouds floating in from the windward side of the island, which is much wetter. In the early morning there is always a light shower from those clouds which wakes you gently as it hits the leaves of the trees, along with singing birds - we always had our windows open, unless it stormed. No AC, or heat vents (my husband noticed that his first trip out). The tradewinds keep the potential humidity away - cool breezes help maintain moderate temperatures.

I miss the scent of plumerias, the fragrance of pikake. I miss the ease of buying leis for any occasion, a palette of blooms so rich you cry for the colors. I believe the truest blues can be found in the Pacific - the clearest aquas to turquoise to royal to navy. The air is so clear everything you look at is in crisp definition - leaves, buildings, people. You have a "view" almost anywhere you go. While Waikiki is built up, it takes little effort to see beyond it, especially from up on Tantalus.

The food is incredible - a diversity of delights from steamed pork manapua buns, sweet malasadas heavily dredged in sugar(portugese donuts) - especially the ones you get for a quarter at the Punahou Carnival, salty kalua pig fresh from an imu, ahi sashimi just off the boat, plate lunches that will feed you and your sweetheart for $5.00 (always with two scoops of rice and mac salad), apple bananas that will ruin you for any other banana, mangos that hang heavy on their trees, deep red and orange and sweet, so numerous you can't give them away. You spend the season picking, peeling, jarring, baking, freezing, using every mango recipe your mother has created over the years.

The culture is rich and varied from years of immigration. Visit Shirokiya's, the japanese department store, for lunch bentos, the latest electronics, or Hello Kitty toys (we had them first!). Close your ears quickly against the thousands and thousands of firecrackers your chinese neighbors set off for New Years (theirs and ours). The air becomes so dense you can't see. The smell is exciting. The streets and lawns are buried in a avalanche of red paper. Study Hawaiian hula, learning the seductive swaying of hips, the story-telling movements of hands and body to beautiful chants that were once forbidden by missionaries and had to be practiced in secret. I remember the brush of my muumuu against the top of my bare feet as I danced to Liliu E', a song about Queen Liliokalani, Hawaii's last queen before her overthrow and the subsequent annexation by the U.S.

I'll stop, and apologize for the length of this, which is obviously a bit off topic. But Goober asked (sort of!). There is so much more to it...
 

I already gave a bio before... here is a copy.

My Bio: I am 32 and graduated with a Politics degree. Now I work for a German bank in Tokyo. I used to write a lot of poetry but dropped the habit in my late teens. I still write but; while my output is boring, the actual topics could be great story material. My last effort was a 60 page disaster response manual for my firm covering natural and man-made disasters like volcanoes or chemical contamination.
I want to try creative writing and get away from the manual-speak of duck, cover and kiss your backside goodbye. Anybody have some good sources for short story idea and character development? Guidelines for story structure would also probably be useful as I know nothing about how to start a story.

I am looking to write an eccentric story. I am an eccentric girl........

I know I am not supposed to care, but I actually have 150 words down in one's and zero's on my harddrive. I even have ideas for other stuff to say in my story.

This is my first story so I am a bit pumped up.
 

Sorry, but to me "I believe the truest blues can be found in the Pacific - the clearest aquas to turquoise to royal to navy. The air is so clear everything you look at is in crisp definition - leaves, buildings, people. You have a "view" almost anywhere you go."...well...that all sounds VERY exotic. We dont get much of that out here. I dont mind the beaches in Maryland and Delaware, but "clear blue" it is NOT.
 

I wonder how many people would move if they could make a living from their writing.
 

I have discovered over the years that the best developers are creative people. Writing, music, art, and many other forms of creative output just enhances the abilities to design good software. Also never forget simple is always better.
 

*Previous presence on the boards, ensuing disappearance, magical new reappearance.
*Love of writing, disenchantment with my physical locale, many unfinished works.
*Three adopted children (all boys). I recognize this only appears to work for one other person, but it makes ME feel good to know there are two of us.

Other bits:

*I love the English language even more than I love story creation. I'm not sure what that means.
*I have OCD, managed mostly, and message boards are dangerous to the orderly progression of my family life.
*I have a driving agenda and am in the market for allies. I will someday become a major force for change in the publishing world. Those authors with the desire and ability to direct the fate of their works should have the market in which to do so with some expectation of compensation and without the unmerited "second-rate" stigma (unless of course, it's merited.)
*Mr. Card jumped to the top of my favorite writers list just today when I read his review on "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Incidentally, I am 25 years old, female, married to a software/web programmer who endearingly supports my inability to do anything for any length of time, and my mother says I am too smart for my own good which I doubt has anything to do with my intelligence quotient and is really code for "let it go and get on with it." Right now most of my time is spent in homeschooling my children.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has experience in writing hyperfiction, even if it was just for fun.

Proof of my obsessions: it took me an hour and fifteen to write this post. It is my third, and by the graceofGod, last. Today.

J.D.
 

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Ever heard the song "Honolulu City Lights? I love flying there or back at night

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[This message has been edited by punahougirl84 (edited September 08, 2003).]
 

You may assume I'm a Hawaiiphile. Visited twice and fell in love with monkeypod trees and stark lava fields. Particularly love Waikiki, tourists and all. The Maui Writer's Conference is on my list of things to do.

See, first I was avoiding reading because I didn't want to copy others. Then, I realized I had read so little I was unqualified to have an opinion to write about. But since reading Dune and seeing how much in common Card's Homecoming serries had with it, I've decided to loosen up about the whole influence/originality issue.

I think Narnia was also my first big SF/F turn on, but I've mostly avoided SF until Survivor got me into Card.
 

I'm 28, father of one. I'm an advertising copywriter in Montgomery, Alabama (I know, I know. Bring on the Roy Moore jokes).

Truth be told, I'm more a poet than a prose writer...but I'm not going to let that stop me. I'm a voracious and omnivorous reader. Even on days when I forget my wallet, I always have a book and my journal on hand.

However, I derive too much pleasure from the process of writing. It's hard to get motivated to revise and I procratinate when it comes to polishing my work to submit.

That's the biggest obstacle I hope to overcome here.

That's about it. Catch you all later!
 

I engage in drawing, inking, coloring, painting, computer imaging, computer design, website design, HTML, clay sculpture, woodwork, leatherwork, beadwork, knitting, houseplant-tending, bonsai, roleplaying, kid's crafting, poetry, and other, even more bizarre forms of creative pursuits; but I only feel like I'm accomplishing something truly worthwhile when I'm working on a novel.

I have to do something creative every day, preferably for several hours, or I begin to experience symptoms of creative withdrawal-- others might characterize this as "depression".

Beyond creativity, my passions are my husband and three sons (ages 5, 3 1/2, and almost 2), philosophy, languages, reading, nature, and animals of all kinds. My latest obsession in the animal world has been carpet sharks (that's ferrets, to the unenlightened); I've been devouring information about them and hope to scrape together enough money to adopt one soon.

I grew up with a variety of dogs, cats, birds, rabbits (curse them!), chickens, guinea pigs, rats, mice, fish, lizards, snakes, salamanders, frogs and toads. One of my favorite pets growing up was an Axolotl, which is a neotenic salamander native to Mexico that grows to around a foot long. I fed him goldfish by hand. I currently have no animals at all, and am suffering withdrawals from that, too.

The other major addiction I suffer from is the forest. I grew up in Northern California, within a 40 minute drive of a variety of forests. Four years ago, I found myself living smack in the middle of dry, dusty Texas. Then two months ago, I moved to Northern Arkansas, and am now living in a small town carved into a forested hillside; the withdrawal symptoms from lack of forest are finally beginning to fade.

I always hated English classes in school. Hated them with a passion. Aside from a bit of vocabulary, I was never taught anything I hadn't already learned from reading. By the time I was in Junior High, I'd learned the rules well enough to break them artistically, and either my English teachers hated me for doing it and getting away with it (this usually involved proving I knew the rules and showing them an example of how a published author had broken the same rule successfully), or I hated them for being blind to my artistry and telling me I did it wrong. Of course, there were a few exceptional teachers who seemed to see eye-to-eye with me. That generally lasted until they photocopied something I wrote and made the whole class read it. One, in high school, made /all/ her classes read it. Augh! I would have been extatic if all the other kids hadn't hated me because of it.

The results of this, of course, are that I've learned everything (I think) I need to know about writing from other writers, either through their fiction or through books on writing. And I don't see anything wrong with that.

I dictated my first truly good story in first grade, to my mother, and she typed it out for me. It dealt with a guy shrinking into nonexistence because he lied too much.

The closest I've come to being published by far was completely by accident, and happened on this forum some months ago. There was a thread going on how to do rewrites, and I, fresh from a war with an overgrown rose bush that I had managed to win, decided that the pruning of said rose bush made a good analogy for rewrites. So, I submitted my thoughts on it. A month or two later (of course she asked first), it appeared in the writers' periodical Kathleen edits. ...that was fun. Unexpected, but fun.

Shortly after that, I took a long break from this forum and from trying to write in general. Had a big bout with burnout. Now I'm back, and raring to go, so I hope y'all don't mind me talking your ears off, as I'm rather opinionated. I'm working on a novel; I can't really say it's a different one than the one I was working on before, as it grew out of the same idea-- however, it's now gone through two more drastic evolutions and doesn't resemble the previous version at all. I'm hoping to stick around and maybe bolster my self-confidence enough to finish this one...

Shasta

P.S. Oh, and I'm 24.

[This message has been edited by DragynGide (edited September 23, 2003).]
 

Hmmm... guess I should go write.
 

*gasp* No! Get out! Get out while you still can!

I too once had one of those "other jobs." Mine happened to be Hotel Management-- a vile, soul-sucking cesspool of a career as deeply intenched in the evils of corporate America as anything out there.

I urge you whole-heartedly to join the ranks of us who found a way to write for a living. If you know where to look, you can find one that offers Salary AND Benefits.

Best of luck!
danny