Monthly Archives: August 2015

John Scalzi, Alexandra Erin and That Guy Who Hates John Scalzi

That Guy Who Hates John Scalzi had a diabolically clever plan to use the Great Hugo Kerfluffle of 2015 as a launching pad for a book he wrote about how Social Justice Warriors Always Lie. His book is about 200 … Continue reading

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The Conference, Day Three; But So…

Corbett is clear that a work of fiction needs tension to rise until the climax, and that “tension” is not necessarily action. Again, it’s not the dump truck. Stories and novels that have characters reacting to one random event after … Continue reading

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The Hugos, Chapter 8: Well, Someone Learned a Lesson, and I Hope It’s Us

The Hugo awards were presented Saturday, August 22, in Spokane, Washington. After four months of hyperbole and uproar the splinter groups achieved very little. They did not take a single award for original work. One thing they nominated, the film … Continue reading

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The Conference, Day Two; Open Mike

This will be a strange post in many ways, because I didn’t ask people about using their photos or their names. This means that most photos won’t be identified and several of my friends are not included here because I … Continue reading

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The Conference, Day Two: The Art of Making it Worse

The photos I’ve used have nothing to do with the text. I just like them. One of our workshop members had a point in her story where the main character sees a person on a bridge, getting ready to jump. … Continue reading

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The Conference, Day One; Mapping the Interior

I attended  Lisa Locascio’s afternoon presentation, “Mapping the Interior; Portraying the Internal Landscape in Prose,” on Thursday. First, a confession: while I often stay for the faculty readings, I rarely attend the afternoon sessions. I always have good intentions about … Continue reading

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The Conference, Day One: What Does the Character Want?

The best writing workshops give me a model against which I can compare my work. David Corbett’s master class, Character is the Engine of Story, gave me that model and took me back to those basics I tend to forget. … Continue reading

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Strange Beds

I spend Tuesday night at the Sea Cliff Motel in Gualala. From the balcony of our second-story room, Spouse and I watch a river otter swim the brackish water of the Gualala River, up close to its closed, sand-barred mouth. … Continue reading

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The Conference, Day Zero

Wednesday, August 5: I’m on my way the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. For me, it’s part conference, part retreat and part vacation, located on a beautiful stretch of Northern California’s glorious coast. I’m looking forward to another class with David … Continue reading

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The Hugos, Chapter Seven: Let’s Put on a Show!

In the old days there used to be this convention for movie musicals. A group of plucky, talented kids would be down in the dumps after they were rejected or something. They would discover that among their group they had … Continue reading

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