Young writers are absolutely the best.

The drafts are coming in from the high-school creative-writing class I'm working with at the moment. All are interesting, some are unbelievably good. I'll be steering some of these kids toward applying for Clarion South once they turn 18. And toward sending stuff off to Writers of the Future. And attending Conflux and Worldcon. (Although, believe me, I am keenly aware that some of these things are at the more expensive end of the shopping mall.)

Are there any opportunities you would particularly recommend to a teenage writer to help them increase their writerly wisdom and hone their craft? Leave a comment here and I will pass them on to my brave young writers.

I'm a sucker for this sort of thing.

This kid is (or at least was at the time of filming) eighteen months old. Is he a fencing prodigy, a living demonstration of the human compulsion to learn by imitation, or both?

Clarion-buddy WIN (literally)

My Clarion buddy Jason, whom I mention with some frequency here, has won this quarter's Writers of the Future contest — YAY!!

I can but bask in the reflected glory.

Another Writing Dream™ come true

Today I fulfilled another Writing Dream™: I taught a speculative-fiction-writing workshop to some terrific kids (who happen to go to the best school in the whole wide world including Hogwarts). We talked about genre fiction and what distinguishes it (in broad terms) from literary fiction, the elements of what makes something a good piece of genre fiction, and how the Milford model of crit groups (à la Clarion South) works. They're off drafting their stories over the next week, and then they'll do a peer critique in modified Milford-style crit groups.

Before the third meeting, they go off and do a redraft, to be critiqued in their groups again (another divergence from strict Milford model, but it's my workshop.) The fourth meeting we'll talk about how to format and submit stories, how to find markets, how to read their stories out loud effectively, how to publicize their writing achievements and endeavors, and where to go for more information and training.

I'm having so much fun! To any of my brave young writers who may have tracked down this blog, first, thanks for making the effort, and second, I hope you're having fun, too! Now go and write. I'll do the same.

Ohhhhh....

Every once in a while, I see something that brings my always-simmering longing to be a character in an adventure novel up to a full, rolling, spitting boil. Here's today's: a fencing salle (that's French for dojo*) in the Loire valley. (It's part of a fencing museum.)

Can you not just see yourself taking one last lesson here with your scarred, demanding, yet kindly fencing master, just before you board a steamship to somewhere exotic where you will doubtless require all your hard-won sword-fighting skills in single combat against unsavory and dishonorable types**?



By the way, does it look to you like this woman is seriously about to fence wearing heels???


*Actually, it's French for "room," but in this context it's essentially equivalent to "dojo."
**"Type" (pronounced "teep") is French for "some guy." I don't know French well enough to know whether the slang is, in itself, derogatory (substitute "clown" for "type" in this case) or whether it's just casual (substitute "guy" or "bloke" for "type").

Cat Sparks did all my blogging work for me today.

Thanks, Cat!

Moving house this week.

Normal programming will resume as soon as possible. We apologize for the incovenience.

I have the coolest friends.

Here's one of the projects my friend Michael has been up to lately:





Yes. He has steampunked his Webercue. Is this not wonderful?

There are more photos on Facebook, in this photo album.

Note: this is the same Michael who is one of the masterminds behind The Veritas League, the members of which have undertaken many fine adventures (about which you can read in the comments to each photograph; start at the oldest ones and work forward).

Disconnect

Current predominant interests: fencing, writing, cooking, reading, working on podcast, going to the gym.

Current predominant activities: editing, moving house.

Does anyone else besides me see the problem here?