Science Fiction Writers Workshop

And Now For Something Completely Different: Brunnhilde's Delight, a very, very small squeeze within Wind Cave, South Dakota

The first picture is my friend Tom in Brunnhilde's Delight. Note the helmet (and his head) for scale... No one had returned through this passage since 1974, and for good reason; this area of the cave is for the SSS only, "The Skinny Speleological Society". One must compress your body to fit through this 6 to 7 inch passageway. Brunnhilde herself would never have fit through this nastiness.

OK, I'm nuts. I'm crazy as a loon. I'm a fool.

I signed up for NaNoWriMo again this year.

I figured that it would help spur me to finishing up some writing projects. The hand of Fate twists strangely. I was set up to finish the novel (working title: Wasted Journeys, a space opera) that I haven't been able to complete for the past two years... only 4 chapters so far, but I have lots of notes, chapter details, etc. to make the writing go fast. But that's not what I decided to do.

It's been nearly five months since I've been active around here. That's what happens when you spend too much time underground. I should add up how many hours I spent in Wind Cave this summer. I mapped around 2500 feet of new cave. Wind Cave is currently 125 miles long and the fourth longest cave in the world.

Friday, May 11th, our server went down when its disk drive failed. Our hosting company has been working since then to get everything back up and running correctly, but it's been a long and unusual process.

If you had trouble sending emails to either Elizabeth or me, I think the email has been fixed. If you notice anything strange with the site, please let me know.

-anneliese

I attended my second National Writers Workshop this past weekend. Once again, it was well worth the $105. One downside was that because it moved from East Hartford to Hartford, Connecticut, parking was not free. One upside related to the move to downtown Hartford was many more restaurants within walking distance of the hotel.

Overall, I thought the content was a bit better this year. Yes, there were a couple of presentations that I felt needing polishing/more content, but what conference has 100% uber-polished speakers? I also like the fact that while this is a conference that is advertised as being 50% journalism content and 50% writing content, this year, the balance did seem to be close to the mark. Backed by the Hartford Courant newspaper and the Poynter Instute, attended by journalists up and down the east coast, it's no wonder that the event caters heavily to what they like to call 'public journalism'.

I didn't record it here, but I did reach my March goal. A day ahead of schedule too. I finished my teen caving book. Score! Now comes the major revision. A week into April and I've done major revision on four chapters of 26. I hope to complete the first draft come April 30.

I've taken time away from my free writing to work for ssdc.com, a scifi roleplaying company. It's great fun. (comment self-editted to avoid embarassing incrimination)

By the way, TEN, count them TEN challenge submissions. Holy cow! I'm amazed. Nice to see a sudden surge in group activity, even if only temporary.

After two years away, I have taken a new Seasonal Lead Ranger position at my old stomping grounds, Wind Cave NP, SD. It's a higher government pay grade (which means they'll pay me more) and it's a "lead" position which means I'll be in charge of 20+ rangers along with 4 other leads. I'm looking forward to change of pace. I'll be starting in early April and finishing my season after labor day. Then I'll return to MI for writing and warehouse work, which isn't as bad as it sounds. Oh, and my symphony gig, which I love, and pays! Isn't that a coup if you love making music? For those that may not know. I play the violin. Have done so since the age of 3, and after a semi-three year hiatus, have returned to a symphonic setting with excessive jubilation.

This week I'm spending the weekend snoeshowing in the UP of MI. Next weekend I have a symphony gig Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The weekend after that I have a regional "Networks" Day for local Children's Book writers from across Northern Michigan. Fortunately (and unfortunately) I will finish my winter job in a week or two and that will provide more writing time at the expense of income. So be it.

I've set myself the goal of finishing my Caving novel by the end of March. Unfortunately. it has no affiliation with science fiction, fantasy, or horror (unless you consider reading about teenage boys horror). I don't know when I'll officialy hop back into the SFWW mix (though I do miss it), but it's back on my radar screen.

Hey, I think I finally figured out how to work this blog thingy! Neato!Now all I have to do is come up with things to write about. That should be easy for a writer, right?OK, I guess I'll start with a confession: I'm not really a beer drinker; I prefer wine coolers.There, I said it. Do you hate me because I'm a liar? I didn't really mean to be deceitful. It's just that I'm a lazy typer, and "beer" is easier to type than "wine cooler."So concludes this blog entry. See ya next time!

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I haven't submitted a manuscript in ages. So long, in fact, that I can't even remember when. I've been writing, but never finishing anything. So this is my year to complete work and get it on the market. My goal is 50 submissions. Do I have that many stories ready to go out? Not at all. I might have half a dozen, though, that I feel comfortable polishing for publication. Beyond that, dozens and dozens of ideas crying to be written into stories. So I'm not worried about my lack of material. I do have to get going, though. It's February and all I've done is polish up one story.