http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ F&SF Forum: Last 35 Posts en Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:11:23 +0000 http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=79#post-800 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:09:37 +0000 Gordon Van Gelder 800@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Here's a post from one of the bloggers who received a free copy of the issue: <a href="http://treize64.livejournal.com/196699.html" rel="nofollow">http://treize64.livejournal.com/196699.html</a> </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=87#post-799 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:51:31 +0000 Angelus34 799@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>FOTSGreg is 100% correct. I love free stuff. I will take all the free stuff I can. But most of the free fiction I've read on the web is crap. Incredibly bad writing and no discernable editing. This stuff is really horrible.<br /> As a wannabe writer I used to find free web fiction encouraging. I didn't realize how bad some writing could be and tempted me to think I was really literary genius by comparison.<br /> But like an accident you can't look away from, I found I kept reading more and more of it. Then I began to fear the awfulness of it all would bleed into my own writing and knew I had to quit. You can learn from bad writing just as from good writing, but if you read so much of it how long before you pick up bad habits? How long before you writing becomes worse instead of better.<br /> Plus, I can't cozy up with my monitor. Reading a short on the computer is fine once in a great while, but it will never replace the printed page for me. Kindle be damned.<br /> A 4 dollar issue of quality fiction from F&#38;SF I can hold in my hands will always better than endless gigs of brain killing words strung together trying unsuccessfully to imitate story. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=87#post-798 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:18:42 +0000 FOTSGreg 798@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>My answers to thequestions posed in the article referenced above.</p> <p>1) No. I will, however, tend to look for more works by that particular author. The publisher of any particular work isn't all that important to me.</p> <p>2) No, but I like Analog, Asimov's, and F&#38;SF anyway and subscribe when I have the extra cash in order to support those magazines regardless.</p> <p>3) Most likely.</p> <p>4) Absolutely not. Most of the free short fiction on the web is poorly edited, poorly written, and poorly presented. The free stuff, by and large, has not benefited from the types of professional editing an author receives from such magazines as Analog, Asimov's, and F&#38;SF.</p> <p>Allow me a brief moment to qualify my statements. In the interests of full disclosure, I'm currently in the process of starting up a free online magazine that may go non-free in the future, and have my hooks into another venture which will likely be a print venue (both are very much niche markets). I don't claim to be an editor (I say so right in my guidelines), but I do claim to know what I like and have some small skill at critiquing pieces (I think so anyway) and hope that I can use my simple and small skills at helping other authors work their pieces into presentable forms.</p> <p>However, with that said, I'm not an editor of the skill or repute of those that run Analog, Asimov's, or F&#38;SF and never will be. You guys are good which is why those magazines exist and why I will continue to support them and their contributors at every opportunity. That skill deserves to be supported with my money in my opinion and your contributors should also be supported. There's too much crap on the web already. I work hard at what I do, but the editors at the Big 3 will always make me look like a poker by comparison.</p> <p>You deserve to charge money for your product because it's a good product. Most of the free stuff available out there is not. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=87#post-797 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:29:19 +0000 EThomas 797@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>For those of you, like me, who check the forum more frequently than the blog:</p> <p><a href="http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/2008/08/21/questions-about-publishing-short-fiction-online/" rel="nofollow">http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/2008/08/21/questions-about-publishing-short-fiction-online/</a> </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-796 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:32:44 +0000 EThomas 796@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Story ideas come to me all the time. I forget which author I first read who said it, but you have to train yourself to recognize and nurture ideas that come to you. Reading, living, and thinking all can inspire ideas.</p> <p>Ideas are often more interesting if you combine two or more of them. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-795 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:44:29 +0000 ccfinlay 795@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>So it sounds like a murder story to you, bt? Hmmm. </p> <p>Richard: I have the seagull problem too. I had one story bounce around my head for fifteen years before I finally gave in and put the first word on paper. Anything that persistant deserves a fighting chance. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-794 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:06:03 +0000 BlueTyson 794@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>That one sounds like a case for Thraxas, ccf. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-792 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:45:22 +0000 RichardMueller 792@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>All right, what's in that mouthwash? </p> <p>I get ideas everywhere. I never write them down. If they keep returning like sick seagulls and shitting on my mental roof, I play around to see if they might go anywhere. Some do. Some don't, but trick me into thinking they will. Some go just where you think they're going, and when they get there it's a letdown. The best ones veer off and start steering themselves. Some you run along behind like dogs. Others you hang onto like bulls. The best ones never let you lead them all the way. It's a cooperation. Better than drugs back in the sixties. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-791 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:20:45 +0000 ccfinlay 791@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>The juxtaposition of the unexpected leads you away from cliche and toward a variety of more interesting ideas.</p> <p>It can even leave a fresh, tingly feeling in your mouth.</p> <p>I went meta after making that suggestion: </p> <p>Years later, as he lay broken on the cast iron fence of Gramercy Park while the snow fell, Puck was to remember that distant summer evening when Titania had taken him to Macy's to discover mouthwash. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-790 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:10:11 +0000 MarkArmstrong 790@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>"Mouthwash"</p> <p>1. A new brand of mouthwash is recalled when it develops that a terrible transformation takes place in users who knowingly, or unknowingly, have elfin ancestry.</p> <p>2. A mouthwash is developed by elfin researchers that enable users to keep their baby teeth, thus striking a blow against their rivals--the tooth fairies. The tooth fairies retaliate.</p> <p>3. A man uses a vial of mouthwash, left next to his alarm clock by an elf at night. As he swishes, he enters the land of elves.</p> <p>4. Santa has labor problems as his elves abandon toy making to produce consumer products for a multinational corporation that has discovered an even cheaper source of labor.</p> <p>5. Corrupt elves start fixing horse races. Things come to a head in a race featuring the long-shot horse named "Mouthwash."</p> <p>6. A fire-breathing dragon is tamed with elfin mouthwash.</p> <p>7. A pharmaceutical lab starts using elves for nonhuman testing of products, including mouthwash.</p> <p>8. An elf, posing as a human, becomes a contestant on a game show, intent on using supernaturally obtained knowledge that the word "mouthwash" will solve the puzzle that will win someone a million dollars.</p> <p>9. Elves spike the mouthwash of various world leaders with a potion that forces the user to only be able to speak truthfully.</p> <p>10. Elves take a child on a trip to a wonderland on a lollypop ship on a mouthwash sea to an island populated with living animal crackers.</p> <p>11. A one-man musical act receives a precious bottle of mouthwash produced by elves. Use of the mouthwash will give him an irresistible voice for the space of one hour. He endeavors to achieve fame before the bottle gets used up.</p> <p>12. A man is shopping in a major discount retailer superstore. He reaches for a bottle of mouthwash. As his hand touches the bottle, he catches a glimpse of a girl with his peripheral vision, and falls deeply, madly in love. He does not suspect that the girl is a female elf who has used enchantment to turn him into a love slave. Nor does he suspect that after she has used him in her quest against evil forces, she will slap him with a restraining order. In a daze he buys the mouthwash, and follows her from the store. In the parking lot an ogre approaches, an ogre that has been stalking her for 200 years. Inflamed with passion when the ogre grabs the elf-lass's arm, the man lunges at the ogre, hitting it on the head with the bottle of mouthwash. Enraged, the ogre tears the right arm off of the man. However, the man is left-handed, and uses his left hand to whip out a taser that he has been carrying the past week to counter a neighbor's pit bull that has been getting loose and causing problems. He subdues the ogre with the taser, and then watches in amazement as the subdued ogre crumbles into dust. Picking up his arm, he turns to the elfin lass and asks her if he could buy her a cup of coffee. However, the lass summons a policeman who has just arrived, and demands that he arrest the one-armed man for making unwanted advances towards her. After handcuffing the loose arm to the attached arm, the policeman escorts the man to the patrol car. Turning for one last look, the man sees the elf girl pick up the bottle of mouthwash that was lying in the heap of ogre dust. And strangely, she looks at him and smiles. The end. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-789 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:28:32 +0000 ccfinlay 789@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>I want to read an elf story called "Mouthwash". </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-788 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:22:45 +0000 MarkArmstrong 788@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>By way of illustration, I'll start with the subject of "elves." I really don't intend to write any elf stories, but I'm not making any promises.</p> <p>Step #1. Story titles.<br /> (1) "Elf Island"<br /> (2) "Elf Hunt"<br /> (3) "Elf House"<br /> (4) "Elf Master"<br /> (5) "Elf Castle"<br /> (6) "On the Trail of the Elf"<br /> (7) "The Unspeakable Elf"<br /> (8) "A Society of Elves"<br /> (9) "The Last Elf"</p> <p>Step #2. Three or more ideas.<br /> Title: "The Last Elf."<br /> (1) Cryptozoologists track an elf spotted amid some ancient ruins.<br /> (2) A team of warrior elves battle a monster until one elf remains. Will the sole surviving elf prevail, or will the monster finish him off as well?<br /> (3) A madcap date in a mystic town convinces a young woman not to date any more elves.</p> <p>Exactly how usable any of the ideas are depends on one's writing skills. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=85#post-787 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:00:37 +0000 jason 787@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Their site had some trouble yesterday but appears to be working again.</p> <p>Also, my copy of Interzone arrived, and others appear to be receiving their issues too. Looks like the delivery was merely slow this go around. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=79#post-786 Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:48:06 +0000 Gordon Van Gelder 786@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>If it happens again, open up the magazine to the Contents page and show them that the magazine has an ISSN (for serials) not an ISBN (for books). </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-785 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:53:04 +0000 MarkArmstrong 785@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Dime? I just gave you my method to do it yourself for free. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-784 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:39:43 +0000 ccfinlay 784@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>I have mine shipped in bulk from a fireworks factory in China. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=83#post-783 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:38:50 +0000 ccfinlay 783@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Googling "Pug the wizard" returned a top hit of Raymond Feist's Riftwar books.</p> <p>You can give me the keys to the car. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-782 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:36:39 +0000 mthornburg 782@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Usable story ideas? Where do I send my dime?? </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-781 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:20:06 +0000 MarkArmstrong 781@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>I don't share Ellison's opinion on this. Idea creation is neither mysterious nor complex, and the question "where do you get your ideas" is certainly not unanswerable. Methods are numerous. Here's my favorite, developed on my own:</p> <p>How I Come Up With Story Ideas<br /> Copyright ©2008 by Mark Armstrong. All rights reserved. </p> <p>Step #1. Start With a Title.</p> <p>I like to start with a story title. The title is the second sales tool that the writer has to work with. The first is name recognition, but boosting name recognition is not part of the writing process. The title, after name recognition, is the first shot the writer has to get the story read by others. If the writer creates the story title after the fact, the writer's mind can't help but see the title in the context of the story. The reader though, doesn't have that context. The writer has a better chance at evaluating his title with the mindset of the reader if a story is not yet attached to it. </p> <p>And creating titles is easy. Most titles fall into the categories of (1) people, (2) places, (3) things, (4) situations, (5) events, and (6) combinations of the previous five categories. The form for a title is simply a word, modified word, phrase, or sentence. </p> <p>I generally create titles by thinking up several character-based titles, then several setting-based titles, several topic-based titles, and so on, until I have a list of prospective story titles from which I can pick and choose.</p> <p>Step #2. Three Or More Distinctly Different, Yet Viable Ideas.</p> <p>After selecting a story title that I find intriguing, a title that would be compelling even for a story written by a Joe Blow writer I never heard of before, I come up with at least three distinctly different, yet viable story ideas to go with that title.</p> <p>The reason for at least three is that the first two tend to be obvious. I usually don't start coming up with original ideas until I get to the third idea.</p> <p>Generally, I approach the idea as an explanation for the title. I try to explain the title in at least three different ways, each way being more than a minor variation or iteration of a single idea, and each way being thoughtful enough that none of the ideas are mere formalities just to get up to the required three or more.</p> <p>As to what constitutes an "idea," for me a story idea consists of a departure from a status quo (a causative event), the resulting overall story situation, or the combination of the two. Just a disruptive event or just a resulting situation is a partial idea. Event and resulting situation combined is a more fully developed idea.</p> <p>Although what I consider to be an idea is very plot-oriented, an event and resulting situation can be the starting point for creating a character or for creating a story world, if you prefer to go that route.</p> <p>Also, event and situation can be the starting point for stories written in some form of outline method, or stories made up as you go along.</p> <p>With this approach, I am able to crank out numerous usable story ideas in minutes, whether I'm feeling inspired or not. Ideas are a dime a dozen. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-780 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:00:30 +0000 FOTSGreg 780@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Read, read, read, and then read some more. Ideas come to me when I'm not really looking for them, but they come from everywhere - watching the news, reading a good book (or even a bad one), what if situations, putting myself in a situation where my mind can just relax and let the subconscious take over. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=83#post-779 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:50:00 +0000 Angelus34 779@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>The year is right. The cover does not look like I remember it, but it does seem oddly familiar. This might be a case of memory fade. It's close enough that I'll pursue getting my hands on a copy. Thanks for the clue. </p> <p>Anyone one have any ideas as to the other?<br /> A humble character possibly named Pug that rises to the level wizard or warrior and meets the devil or a demon at the end. Whatever the creature was claims to the former Pug that he's not so bad. Also out in 1986. Maybe 1987. Anyone? Ferris? </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=79#post-778 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:09:02 +0000 BrianCrowley 778@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Gordon,</p> <p>Thanks for the info about D.F. </p> <p>The woman at the Post Office seemed to think that, due to the size, it was a book that someone had taped an address label to. </p> <p>I showed that it was a magazine and that this was the same way it was delivered every month. The first woman refused to listen and the second person still seemed skeptical. Hopefully, it won't happen again. If it does, I will address with someone else at the PO. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-777 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:08:03 +0000 Gordon Van Gelder 777@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>For a facetious answer, take a look at #3 here: <a href="http://www.doorly.com/writing/HarlanEllison.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.doorly.com/writing/HarlanEllison.htm</a></p> <p>For a more serious answer, read Dan Keyes's "Algernon, Charlie, and I" in our May 2000 (http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/toc0005.htm) issue. Or read it in the book from which we excerpted it: <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Algernon-Charlie-I-Writers-Journey/dp/1929519001" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.ca/Algernon-Charlie-I-Writers-Journey/dp/1929519001</a> </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=86#post-776 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:32:26 +0000 MarkArmstrong 776@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Would anyone here like to describe how he or she goes about coming up with story ideas? </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=51&page=2#post-775 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:25:01 +0000 MarkArmstrong 775@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>If posts to this forum have to be grammatically correct, I'll have to be paid for posting, or else I'll go on strike. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=79#post-774 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:01:56 +0000 Gordon Van Gelder 774@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>By the way, my old college roommate is from your town of D.F., NY. Her school headmaster was Donald Barr, an occasional F&#38;SF contributor. I think she went to a private school.</p> <p>Also, I'm pretty sure some of Jonathan Carroll's most recent novels are set in and around that part of the world (fictionalized, of course). </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=79#post-773 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:55:38 +0000 Gordon Van Gelder 773@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Brian---</p> <p>I've never heard of anything of this sort happening before. Why were they arguing that you should pay for it? What was the size confusion? And why was it an issue that the label was taped on? </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=79#post-772 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:24:34 +0000 BrianCrowley 772@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>I just received the issue (I'm in New York State fyi), but only after a much too long discussion with my post office over whether I should pay an extra $2+ for postage. Apparently, there was some confusion over the size &#38; that, at some point, the shipping label was taped to prevent it from falling off. They wanted me to refuse the magazine or pay the postage. </p> <p>I wouldn't do either, which lead to me speaking to another person who finally agreed I could take it without paying. He still seemed skeptical, but didn't want to argue.</p> <p>I assume this was a unique problem with my post office, but thought I would check in &#38; also ask if you had any suggestions if this happens again. I'm still kind of annoyed (with my PO) that magazine now has "return for postage" stamped twice on it. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=51&page=2#post-771 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:07:15 +0000 ccfinlay 771@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Dear PiscesMuse,</p> <p>You should be ashamed. Published authors never make a mistaek. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=51&page=2#post-770 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:56:09 +0000 PiscesMuse 770@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>I must apologize. It irked me as I re-read my own post, professing to be an aspiring author, that I would post it with so many mistakes. It really reflects badly on my own editing skills, or lack there of. I have always fallen short in that department and have relied heavily upon others (like my mom) to make sense of it for me. We laugh about it, but truly it is pathetic. Something as simple as typos and my other errors really reflect badly and don’t say much for my hope in the future as a writer. I really need to commit myself to re-reading intently what I have written, rather than what I thought I wrote, before I post. </p> <p>Once again, I am really very sorry about all the typos and spelling mistakes and grammatical errors and anything else that went horribly wrong with that post. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=85#post-769 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:47:34 +0000 galaxie500 769@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>People from Interzone, I tried to register on your Forum almost two weeks ago, but I still had not received activation notice.<br /> I just wanted to say that I've received my copy in Croatia later than usual, on August the 1st.Lots of good and excellent stories, after the so-so ˝mundane˝issue. And, by the way, Interzone site is almost always down lately. What's going on? </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=51&page=2#post-768 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:06:24 +0000 MarkArmstrong 768@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>I've always enjoyed the R.E. Howard Conan stories (and absolutely love his humor stories--Dennis Dorgan and Brekinridge Elkins). I enjoyed historical fiction when I was younger, such as Southworth's The Pirate from Rome. Tolkien's okay, I enjoyed reading The Hobbit. But, I didn't find the first LOTR movie engaging enough to watch the rest of the series.</p> <p>I think it may be invented supernatural elements that leave me cold. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=73#post-767 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:08:15 +0000 PiscesMuse 767@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>yes great cover art and good stories. Getting mine in the mail always makes me smile. </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=51&page=2#post-766 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:51:34 +0000 PiscesMuse 766@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>When I was 16 I first adventured into the adult fiction section and one of the first books I took out was Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time series (I started on book 2 because my library didn't have book 1, wich I later aquired). Ever since then I have been a huge fan of what I beleive to be described as high fantasy. or maybe epic fantasy. But to me that was the only type of fantasy. </p> <p>When I was younger and first fell in love with reading, I had decided when I grew up that I wanted to become an author. Wich got put on hold for more practical and mundace pursuits temporarily (turns out that practical and mundane is boring). Recently I have decided to revisit that dream. The goal was high fantasy as that was the only type I knew.</p> <p>To gettter a better feal for the market, I decided to subscribe to this magazine seing as how it was in the fantasy field, but much to my suprise when I received it, what they deamed as fantasy didn't come close to what I expected fantasy to be. I am not complaining; I was just given a whole new world to explore. A new concept and idea to flirt with. I love that fantasy has so many faces and that it doesn't have to be traditional Tolkien. I still love a good high fantasy. Robin Hobb, Robert Jordan, George RR Martin. All keystons in my library. Terry Pratchett is wicked awsome too. </p> <p>Anyways what I am trying to say is that I am really glad I have broadened my horizons and stepped out of my comfortable nieche. I will always have a soft spot for epic/high fantasy, but I thoroughly enjoy all fantasy (well most of it anyways). And I feel it all deserves it's own respect. I can only hope that A) I fullfill my dreams of becoming an author and B) that I am able to explore all different genres of writting not just fantasy, but science fiction, and gasp a wee bit of romance C) that I have a lot of hopes for writing and goals and trying to list them here won't even begin to cover it. </p> <p>Yah so ummmm... love my subscription guys... keep the ideas broad... </p> http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=51&page=2#post-765 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:38:48 +0000 FOTSGreg 765@http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/ <p>Hmmm... castle attacks dragon...</p> <p>That's certainly got some possibilities (maybe I can come up with something short to stuff in that envelope with SASE tucked inside that's already addressed and stamped to go to F&#38;SF, but is currently sitting on my desk). </p>