All three of my stories being workshopped are submitted to the group. phew.
I’m a little disappointed in myself. One of the story has issues that I know about but I just fell short time-wise trying to revise it. Stomach flu saw to that. The story is flawed, but that’s ok. That’s what the workshop is for, right?
There are seven people in this years workshop, myself included. With one submission from James Gunn himself, that brings the total number of stories to read to 19.
Dena flys to Alabama in four days. Dogs go to the kennel in five. I’ll drive down to Kansas in six. As I make my list of stuff to pack I realize how unprepared I am. I remembered to pick up an alarm clock and I have all of my toiletries but I have no idea what else I might need to survive living in a dorm for two weeks. I’ll have to play it by ear.
The deadline to turn in my three stories for the workshop is looming. Preferred date is Friday (today), absolutely no later than Monday. The clock is ticking.
The first story, Recycled Dreams, is as done as I can get it. The second story, Narang, is undergoing rewrites right now. I added near a thousand words of notes and rough changes tonight. With the infodumps I need to cut I’ll probably break even when it’s all finished. The third story, We Can Do It For Wholesale, is first-draft quality and probably as good as it’ll get before I have to submit. The weakest of three, I think, but it has potential.
Most of the arrangements for the trip are made now. Checks sent to pay for tuition and housing. Hotel for the Heinlein Centennial is booked. Arrangements made to board the dogs when Dena comes down for the convention. Despite all of the frantic work, both getting stories ready and preparing work to be without me for two weeks, I still feel good. I’m excited to get it all done so I can get these three stories finished and submitted and get going on the next.
I finally got to bed around 3AM this morning. Around 5AM the cat managed to find a plastic bag. He managed to get his head stuck inside the bag and ran wildly through the bedroom, bouncing off the walls like a pinball while the dogs tried to catch him. He finally crashed into the wall next to the bed, broke free and hid under the bed.
Sadly, this wasn’t the first time he’s managed to get himself stuck in a bag.
Ham Radio
Last weekend, I finally went and took the test to upgrade my amateur radio license from Technician to General. That means I can now broadcast on a new range of frequencies that allow for longer-distance communication.
Grammar
I’ve been more aware lately that the current trend is to leave a single space after a period. This feels completely unnatural to me. I’m not that old, but I did learn to type on a typewriter where two spaces following a period was the status quo. Some even pointed out that web browsers only render a single space unless specifically told to do otherwise. It’s going to take me some getting used to this concept.
Writing
The current WIP is complete, coming in a few hundred words over where I wanted to be. Doing some chopping and revising before the workshop. I have another story in my head that I want to get started on, so the sooner I finish the current WIP the better.
CSSF SF Writers Workshop
Two weeks from today I’ll be loading the truck and driving down to Kansas for the workshop. I’m frantically finishing edits for the remaining two stories that I need to submit. Need to finish all the clerical details, plan my route, etc. I do plan on blogging regularly from the workshop. I don’t know if any of my classmates will be blogging but I will post links if I have them. So far I have only talked to one other attendee, who I will be sharing a room with.