Anyway, introduce yourself! Tell us who you are, why you write, and so on. Also, feel free to reintroduce yourself if you're an old foggie like me^^.

(Yes, I know we have old copies of this thread, but new people deserve a new thread.)

Yes...those were the cats, and those were the days...

Alzheimer's time, eh, old man? And mike's right behind him.

Howdy, y'all. They call me Dakota 'round here. Has nothing to do with the South or North states. It's just the name of my truck. OK. Actually it's hubby's truck.

I'm a career mom (meaning being a mom is my career), who hopes to retire someday and devote more time to being a writer. Until then I just pretend to be a writer (particularly since I'm yet to be published).

WARNING!! SHAMELESS PLUG AHEAD!!

I'm also the "administrator" of the monthly Rewrite Challenge around here. Y'all ought to check it out, if you haven't already, by clicking on the thread entitled "An Invitation to All" on Fragments and Feedback. You might have to scroll down a bit to find it. Or, I could just be computer literate and publish the link!

http://www.hatrack.com/forums/writers/forum/Forum11/HTML/000527.html

Wow! That was easy!
 

Ah, so ye've come to hear me tell of the young Patridge lad, have ye? I must forewarn ye, it is not much a tale to be told.

A truly young lad, he is of 19 winters, he gets much into whatsoever he gets into...

yea, a computer geek and a book worm. There is no figuring out which one exactly has the greater portion of the lads interest...

he cares not a whit for sports, or so claims, but in truth he enjoys hiking, biking, and swimming upon occasion... and to the lads thinking, dodge-ball is the best game known to man!

hmmm... think i'll skip out on the whole physical description thing, i think those are rather useless anyways

hehe, so what ya'll think of my story-teller description of myself?

EDIT: i should add that i'm not much of a critiquer, so please don't get upset with me if i seem to ask for a lot of critiques without doing any critiquing back... i try, and as i get more comfortable here i may (hopefully) start to do more

[This message has been edited by dpatridge (edited November 05, 2004).]
 

Here I stand, I can be no other.
 

I'm a lifelong reader of SF&F. I read quickly and voraciously; my den is better stocked with paperbacks than many used bookstores. My preference is for hard SF and speculative fiction with a twilight zone twist. I especially enjoy short stories and novellas.

I recently turned 40, I'm married, female, have two teen sons, and am an IT project manager. Many of my project plans qualify as science fiction. I have many years of experience in technical writing, which I do quickly and well but don't find very exciting.

My goal is to teach myself the craft of writing fiction by studying, writing, learning from others who are a little further down that path, and then writing some more. I'm focusing on short stories and novellas.

I look forward to participating in reading and critiquing, and will eventually post some of my own writing for review.

I'm nineteen, freshly graduated from high school and am reading and writing voraciously in order to feel the time between now and my LDS mission.

My tastes tend toward more of the classical contempories, Hemmingway Steinbeck, but I also enjoy SF, Historical fiction and a bit of fantasy.

I have a novel that is very near completion which a few publishing houses have expressed an interest in, but I am currently taking a break from that in order to participate in Nanowrimo, which I have found very enjoyable.
 

[This message has been edited by Michaelpfs (edited November 05, 2004).]
 

Then I come home, eat dinner with my wife, and retreat to my den to write for pleasure. But then I got this crazy idea that maybe I could maybe make money on my pleasure writing. The jury's still out on that notion, but it has helped me write more consistently and it is what compelled me to find this forum.

I should add that the two best pieces of advice about writing come from Ernest Hemingway. And like Hemingway,I only follow one of them:

1) Never talk about writing.
2) Always do what you said you'd do when you're drunk. It'll teach you to keep your mouth shut (and give you some good stories).
[This message has been edited by J (edited November 05, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by J (edited November 05, 2004).]
 

Anyway, I'm a 28 yo mom-to-be who has been a fanatical reader of fantasy since my older sister read us Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe when I was little. Didn't help that oldest brother was a serious Lord-of-the-Rings-file in the late 70s. Speculative Fiction and Fleetwood Mac run in my blood. Right now I'm incubating but I hope to be able to fit some time for my writing before baby comes (because I know I'll have no time after that) and maybe even submit my first 13 lines on the Feedback forum. I love fantasy, but also have dabbled in soft sci-fi and a little romance. I want to grow up to be published someday.

[This message has been edited by Whitney (edited November 05, 2004).]
 

Why do I write? Because if I don't, I turn into a vicious hell hound in a matter of days. So, in order to keep my family safe, I write a little every day.

At the moment, I'm working on the rough draft of a novel in addition to joining in on Dakota's Challenge and occasionally reviewing stuff in F&F. But the novel keeps sucking up more and more of my thoughts, so I probably won't be seen much for the next few months (at least).

However, I'm still here. Just thought y'all should know.
 

My user name MrClean kinds of discribes me. Most people call me big Al. (real name is Allen). I'm an old guy compared to most of the people I read on the forum but I can live with that. I'm married, have five fantastic kids, a great wife and I love SF mostly. Actually I can't remember the last time I read something else. I love to write. (not very accomplished) It's mostly for enjoyment right now since work, family and life seem to take up most of the time. I've been working on a novel. The writers group kept me from progressing on it the way I would like but I'm getting back on track.

Hope to get to know you all better.

MrClean
 

I haven't been around that long, but I'm trying to be involved. I'm 26, married, have a two-year-old daughter, and work as an Asst. Pastor in Staten Island, NY. Helping coach high school wrestling keeps me in shape and sore. I start another part time job next week (pastoring doesn't pay all that much), so I'm not sure what that will do to my time as far as this site is concerned.

I have loved to read for as long as I can remember, although I've only tried my hand at writing recently (excluding some rather scholarly but terribly boring papers in college and seminary). I cut my teeth on Heinlein's juvenile novels and a little C.S. Lewis. I've moved on to enjoy a lot of OSC's work, a fair amount of Zahn's, and of course LOTR. I do read a little in almost every genre and field (except horror and romance -- maybe it is the rampant emotionalism in those that prevents me from enjoying them at all).

It's been a pleasure meeting you, and working with those I've interacted with so far. The beauty of this site is that I get to read pretty good fiction without paying for it!
 

I'm still mainly lurking on this site, but on occasion I feel compeled to write something here, though it happens rarely.

I feel passionate about writing and I hope one day to become a proffesional writer. Hopefully that day ain´t that many years from now.

For the moment I'm participating in a distance writing course whitch has this far been a tremendous boost :-) We are going to have a meeting next weekend whitch I'm looking forward to.

Outherwise I wish the best of luck with everybodys writing and I hope that you all one day manage to get publiched.

Don´t let that keyboard rest and allways keep your pencil sharp :-)
 

Mostly I seem to be doing retellings these days, which always surprises me. This month I'm doing nanowrimo, and I'm writing the minotaur's story, from his point of view. I had another story, not a retelling, outlined in a lot of detail, but this one kept whispering to me, even though I had no idea how I was going to fill 50k words. I just really wanted to do it, so I ditched the planned one and jumped in.

I work as a software tester for a government agency. I like the work a lot.

What was I saying? Oh. I'm, Mike, Master of the... Oh.

I'm Mike.

Hi.

I'll be 50 on Tuesday. I think.

Lessee. I was born in Chile, was raised in Panama, have lived in about 5 of these United States and have a long-suffering wife and two little hellion sons I adopted from Chile. I'm an environmental scientist and consult for a living (it isn't as hard as teaching and you get paid more). I'm here to learn the craft and to assist anyone else that I can. If you need any input for your writing about jungle survival, martial arts, knife fighting, horse raising and training, oil rigs, geology, coal mines, making beer, drinking beer, staring longingly at beer labels, singing beer songs, where was I?

Oh, yeah. I'm Mike.

Hi.
 

As for me, I'm a middle aged broad fulfilling a personal fantasy of having a horse ranch. Whhhhheeeeeeeeeeee!!! Now to work on that other fantasy, about being a writer... And the one about being skinny. Or at least of a weight closer to normal.

Gosh, I just love fantasy! *irrepressible grin*

Susan

My biggest problems regarding writing are that I'm a procrastinator in the truest sense of the word, and I'm also activity impaired. (My term for lazy) Though it doesn't particularly affect my writing I'm also organizationally challenged.

Though I like a lot authors, among my favorites are Orson Scott Card and Elizabeth Moon. I've also recently become a fan of Terry Pratchett, as I've been devouring the Discworld books.

As a last word, I'm insane, but mostly harmless.
 

Hailing from the other side of the world compared to most of you, but hopefully I'm still coherent.

Anyway, I'm 21, sort-of-kind-of still in university, and for the last year, have been an unemployed bum. Moving back home sucks, but consquently I've started writing for the first time since leaving highschool. 70,000 words of crap later, I like to think I've improved some.

Aside from that, I visit hatrack quite often, mainly to enjoy Mr OSC's articles, which I might add are quite fantastic. I haven't actually read any of his books (a point of shame), although that's something I hope to rectify sooner rather than later.

I've joined some online workshops here and there, but found them overly impersonal (though a FANTASTIC way to improve).
Signed up hatrack perhaps a month or so back, and hoping to bust my way into a group whenever I get that email! (hint hint)

I write SF, fantasy and cross-genre stuff. Heck, if the story interests me, I'll write it. I'll read anything as long as the writing is good, and the story is compelling. That's not too much to ask, is it?

I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this month and am trying to keep my head down to avoid distractions. Thank you all for your help in this moment of procrastination.
 

I have been writing on and off for some time, and I have only really got going in the last few years. I find I am learning a great deal, sometimes things I did not even know I had learned. You can't beat the cut and thrust of lively debate.

Time is not always easy to find, so don;t worry if occasionally I don't get back to you with a critique straight away. The internet here is also somewhat unreliable.

I guess I'm the forum's newest lurker. It's going to take me a while to figure out how to participate.

I'm a 42 year old mother of three teens (actually the youngest is twelve), and I've only been able to collect enough sanity to begin writing with any serious effort in the last few years. I've been working at this somewhat consistently for a full year now.

I'm fumbling through my first novel and learning in the process, but I'm making progress. I’ve also worked on short stories, submitted a few for publication, and entered a couple of contests. I’ve had lots of rejections, but my first publication is due to appear in a small circulation literary magazine in the summer. I'll eventually receive $5 for it, proof that this is a labor of love and not a financial venture, but I’m ecstatic none the less. A little bit of validation can go a long way at my stage of the game.

I'm looking forward to participating in this workshop.

 

Read lots.

haha, bet you aren't madly obsessed with japan though!

uhm, am i getting off on a tangent here?

[This message has been edited by dpatridge (edited November 08, 2004).]
 

Have 3 amazing step-children and one amazing step-grandchild. My wife is an excellent writer in her own right, my best reader and critic.
 

I've got you beat by...

...well, a couple of years, anyway.

I'm from Alberta and currently live in Calgary. Go Flames...uhhhh, well, not right now I guess. I'm pretty bummed about the lack of NHL hockey this fall, especially after we did so well back in the spring. Oh well, we have plenty of junior and minor league teams.

I just got hired on permanently with the company I've been temping for over the last six or seven months. This is really great because I now have a solid day job that allows me to pursue my love of writing (I'm a switchboard operator and basically sit in front of a computer screen all day and answer the phone when it rings. Lately it's been ringing a lot, but I still have time to check in at Hatrack on a regular basis and pound out a few stories from time to time).

I younger than most but older than some - read as 25 going on 26 - and enjoy trying new things.

Obsessions include: Shakespeare, The Three Musketeers, a variety of other 19th century lit, Shakespeare, spec-fic, and did I mention, Shakespeare.

[This message has been edited by Robyn_Hood (edited November 09, 2004).]
 

I live in Pennsylvania going to university and I write a lot in my freetime since I avoid most everything except pickup gambling games which I lose at. This whole introduction has been a lie.

Thanks for reading.
 

I'm 22, a philosophy major aiming at medical school. You can go to the last introduction thread to find out more about me (I want to spend this time doing a critique and writing a lesson plan for my inner-city fifth graders), but right now I'm flying high because I just got accepted into a reasonably exclusive creative writing class at my school! I just found out!

:: Does a little dance ::

Have a great day, everyone!

[This message has been edited by Jeraliey (edited November 09, 2004).]
 

I understand I passed the half-century mark, but I stopped counting way back at 23. I do have all my own teeth, though. I'm the frustrated parent of two unpublished novels, the SF space opera one of which I'm counting on to support me in my old age. (My hobby of finding money in the streets might be more profitable, though. ) I sold an article to a computer magazine long before I had a computer, had an original excerpt in Reader's Digest, and have done a slew of unpaid op-eds for the local paper.

Pyre Dynasty, you might consider being a contestant on Survivor. Fire-starting is a highly prized skill there.

RunningBish, you're nineteen and a few publishing houses are interested in you? You go, guy!

Shadowynd, glad your hubby is better.

Yanos, a math teacher in Thailand doesn't seem so strange. Now, a Thailand Fingernail dancer in Ohio -- that's strange. Especially in your living room. But it was fun.

I'm new here, and finally worked out my technical problems with the help of KDW. Thank you, Kathleen. The introduction above from TASF62 is also me (long story). I'll be using this user name and email address. Hope to join a group at some point. In the meantime I'm looking forward to poking around on this forum.
 

Game?
 

Kolona: That would be fun except for the fact that I belive 'Reality' TV to be the dragon that will devour the world if it's not slain soon.
 

The only one I really enjoy watching is The Amazing Race. Even then, it has its moments of stupidity.

O.K., enough ranting.

As for Survivor, I would say he is a man who needs no introduction, so why waste time. A tidbit though, for those unfamilliar with the adventures of MaryRobinette, Survivor is the captain of the Hatrack sloop, The Penmanship. Ready to come to the rescue with a solution for Everything!

However the robot theory would explain how he knows so much more than any mere mortal...

[This message has been edited by Robyn_Hood (edited November 10, 2004).]
 

Phanto will reveal that Phanto is probably the youngest member here ^^.
 

quote:

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Phanto will reveal that Phanto is probably the youngest member here

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In dog years?

quote:

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Well Survivor is a Million year old robot from the future.

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Ohhhh. So THAT's why the reality shows. He's doing research.

[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited November 10, 2004).]
 

I've been here a while now. That came as a bit of a surprise when I started writing this. My attendence is a bit sporadic these days and I have always tended to lurk.

I'm 33, live in Dublin and I'm currently on maternity leave. My daughter arrived a little earlier than expected but is doing really well now. Maternity leave on a second child does not give you as much writing time as you would think!

Mind you, typing lulls my babies to sleep. (Familiar sounds?)

I've several WIPs at the moment (mainly because I can't concentrate on any one thing for too long) and I'm also going through some older work.

I've "completed" two novels (one I'm starting to tinker with again; the other is currently sitting in slush pile hell) and a couple of short stories. Most of my writing is in a constant state of flux unless I have sent it out anywhere.

I should point out that much of this may not make sense as it's now 6am (tailend of the 5am feed) and I'm about to go back to bed. Must not get sucked into Ray Bradbury Theatre on Sci-Fi Channel.

Any other Irish out there?

Ruth
 

Well that's more than enough for me, time to return to lurkdom.
 

Welcome, newbies!
 

So anyways, I'm a 31 yr old gnome, I'm a computer programer by choice/trade/luck for my day job, as well as a night job & write in my spare time for fun. I have no delusions of being the next OSC or Tolkien, I simply have this story that keeps growing in my and I simply must get it out or I fear I shoudl go mad.

I'm currently living in the "Heartland," also known as Nebraska - and no, I am *not* a Cornhusker fan.

TG

 

I've been a member for a few months. I mostly live in the Open Discussions, with an occasional dip into Fragments and Feedback. I promise I do critique several pieces for every one that I submit, but I've been working on my novel for a while and haven't had any time for either submitting lines or doing critiques. I am doing NaNoWriMo, which is both easier and harder than I thought it would be.

I've been a fan of OSC for many many years. Some of my favorites (I like them all though) of his are Wyrms and the Worthing Saga, in addition to the immortal Ender's Game.

I love sci-fi and speculative fiction, well-written horror and rewritten fairy tales. I hope to write in all those genres over time, but my main love is probably sci-fi. When I finish my novel I will send it off to join the others of you whose novels are in limbo in the slushpile, then write the next one.
 

I am younger than eighteen, but found the young writers forum to be less than helpful and many of the people who hung out there more than just annoyingly immature.
 

I'm 51 (as of last Sunday), and go in spurts where I participate a lot on this forum, and then almost disappear for a few months. Right now I'm mostly invisible, but hopefully that will end in a month or so.

I've written off and on since I was 14 years old; but as it's mostly been "off" I don't have all that much to show: one novel (which I'm almost ready to start pedaling, and several short stories. I recently started a tutoring agency for any of you who need help in any subject and live in or near Greensboro, NC (or if you even know anyone there, let them know: www.a-plustutoring.com).

I've got one wife, one daughter (who's planning to conceptually revamp quantum mechanics) and one son (who loves stories, but isn't planning anything yet). And one cat, who doesn't like fish or chicken but laps up papier mache paste.

Before I had children, I was the smartest person I'd ever met. Now I'm the dumbest.
 

It's always fun to see who is still around and who the new folks are. Greetings all!

Oh yeah I live in the Utah, not necessarily a part of the real world.
 

What a rush! I've never been so scared in my life.

I am Chris Owens and I'm a chicken stromolli-aholic.

You say this is not a chicken stromolli-aholic newsgroup? Is it? Or maybe you just can't admit you have a problem.

I'm 32. Married now for 3.5+ years. 0 children, and I hope it stays that way. Temporally employed as a contractor doing mainly SAS, JCL, sometimes a little COBOL.

Born and lived in Richmond, Virginia all my life except for two years when my job sent us to Baltimore. Now I'm back.

I read mainly SF&F. What really got me started was the Amber series by Roger Zelany. I remember the summer when I was 15 and journeyed with Corwin from Amber to Chaos. After that I discovered Tolkien, Orson Scott Card, ect...

I'm currently devouring the Runelord series. But usually I prefer the fuzzy middleground between fantasy and science fiction. I love stuff that involves alternate realities.

When I was a teen I devoured any layman text I could find on Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. I've forgotten most of it and I really never pursued it any more than that. I learned Basic 2.0, Pascal, 6510 Assembly langauge, C. And that led to a career in computer programming, a line of work that lately keeps me up at night in worry.

When I was a teen I would not be caught dead with a comic book. That was my 'do-not-call-me-a-child' phase. But after seeing the first Spider-man movie, I have no qualms about reading them. I know this may sound sad, but I only wish I did read them as a teen, I could of really have idenitified with Peter Parker. A 'Your-not-the-only-one' thing. Yes it may sound corny, you either understand what I'm saying or you don't...

With music, I love prog-rock (as in Yes, ELP, early Genesis, Gentle Giant, Gilgamesh, Univers Zero, Magma, PFM, Banco, Thinking Plague). I like jazz, mainly fusion and be-hop. I like classical, no opera. I like some good "new age", Jean Michael Jarre, ect. For a few years I could not get enough of the West Side Story soundtrack, the first LOTR soundtrack, Jarre's album Oxygene and a CD of Japanese traditional pieces (such as 'Along the Grand Tone River'). Anything colorful, interesting, complex, emotionally sweeping.

I love food. Mainly Italian, though I do like my share of Chinese, American, Mexican food as well. When my wife's not looking I'll sneak a chicken stromolli.

This year due to the Food network I've tried my hand at cooking to mixed sucesss. I've been able to make my own pizza crust and pasta from stratch.

So far I've only three short stories in first or second draft, and one main WIP, "The Man Without Dreams" in first draft, about 100000 words in 24 chapters. Now I am severely revamping it.

Writing is not as easy as I thought. I believe I may some of the creativity needed, just not the discipline to bridle it...
 

Where abouts?
 

Very interested.
 

I'm 30, married, no kids.
Live in Richmond, VA.
I worked in the advertising and marketing field for 5 years, but decided to switch to education. During those five years, I worked as an editorial assistant and managing editor for a medical journal. That experience really heated up my interest in writing.
Now I'm a student teacher, working on getting licensed to teach 3rd graders.
I'm a certified black belt instructor and teach martial arts and self defense to children, teens and adults.
I love to read, thanks to my dear ol' Dad who decided to get rid of the TV from the time I was 8 to 12.
Surprisingly, I never really missed it. He made sure we had plenty of books and took us to the drive-in movies each weekend.
Thus, I love to read, love to write and prefer to be outdoors.
I really miss the drive-in. Wish we still had one in town. Sometimes I move the TV out on the deck in the summer to watch movies, but it's not quite the same.

 

quote:

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Sometimes I move the TV out on the deck in the summer to watch movies, but it's not quite the same.

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Yeah, me too. Now when we're watching a movie and I make a move on the wife all I get is a glare, not even a slap. Oh well. Of course, the kids get a chuckle out of it.