Jibber Jabber - Q1 - 29

[Rebecca Birch]

Cardio is awesome. I do it almost every day. It can also be a great time to plot and think through story ideas!

[Isto]

Between the stress and junk food, I'm beginning to worry after the general fitness/heart health on this forum. Perhaps some cardio while we wait?

I have a big heart... I was really pulling for that little guy.

[francisbruno]

OK, I'm going to take one for the team.
I was waiting for the results before I applied to Viable Paradise, hoping to show two good placements in Writers of the Future, although I know it doesn't matter as much as the actual story you submit. Even though I still have about 3 weeks left to apply, I figure as soon as I submit the application, the results will come out--murphy's law.

So, I'm going to send it out this weekend which means we should hear results very shortly. You all can thank me later

[Isto]

OK, I'm going to take one for the team.
I was waiting for the results before I applied to Viable Paradise, hoping to show two good placements in Writers of the Future, although I know it doesn't matter as much as the actual story you submit. Even though I still have about 3 weeks left to apply, I figure as soon as I submit the application, the results will come out--murphy's law.

So, I'm going to send it out this weekend which means we should hear results very shortly. You all can thank me later

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

I'm at ISDC. Even more than usual, I say... WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

[francisbruno]

I'm at ISDC. Even more than usual, I say... WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

Nice. I'm sure you won't get any good ideas there ;)

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

I'm at ISDC. Even more than usual, I say... WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

Nice. I'm sure you won't get any good ideas there ;)

8 story seeds so far. One came from a guy at my table at lunch... Some guy named Aldrin!

[Rebecca Birch]

8 story seeds so far. One came from a guy at my table at lunch... Some guy named Aldrin!

O...M...G

That's all I've got. So awesome!

[francisbruno]

8 story seeds so far. One came from a guy at my table at lunch... Some guy named Aldrin!

Hopefully not Evil Aldrin. Muhaha!

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

8 story seeds so far. One came from a guy at my table at lunch... Some guy named Aldrin!

Hopefully not Evil Aldrin. Muhaha!

Not Evil, but Opinionated! Judging by the lunch discussions and also his questions during the afternoon sessions, he loves to challenge assumptions and make people defend their positions. And he relishes defending his. As Bill said, Aldrin is a force of nature. He reminded me of a real-life D.D. Harriman.

[E.CaimanSands]

I'm at ISDC. Even more than usual, I say... WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

Nice. I'm sure you won't get any good ideas there ;)

8 story seeds so far. One came from a guy at my table at lunch... Some guy named Aldrin!

You mean The Aldrin?

Isn't he a mythical being?

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

8 story seeds so far. One came from a guy at my table at lunch... Some guy named Aldrin!

You mean The Aldrin?

Isn't he a mythical being?

He is many things: opinionated, funny, cantankerous, persistent, energetic, and confident... and those are just the traits I observed in a one-hour lunch and a three-hour conference session.

But if he is mythical, then I have slipped into Never-Never Land today, a realm where I lunch with astronauts and then dine and have after-dinner drinks with Ben Bova!

[E.CaimanSands]

8 story seeds so far. One came from a guy at my table at lunch... Some guy named Aldrin!

You mean The Aldrin?

Isn't he a mythical being?

He is many things: opinionated, funny, cantankerous, persistent, energetic, and confident... and those are just the traits I observed in a one-hour lunch and a three-hour conference session.

But if he is mythical, then I have slipped into Never-Never Land today, a realm where I lunch with astronauts and then dine and have after-dinner drinks with Ben Bova!

How awesome! Your description of Mr. Buzz sounds about what I've heard. It's great that he's a lot more outgoing than Mr Neil. I've heard that Michael Collins is the writer though. Ever read his book? One of these days I really must get hold of it.

[DavidK]

8 story seeds so far. One came from a guy at my table at lunch... Some guy named Aldrin!

Wow! And then 10 or so posts on, the penny drops and I realise what and who you guys are all talking about.

Where is that 'envy' smilie?

Martin, you fell on your feet having to step in for RPLJ!

[WriteToLive]

Note to self: MUST ENTER NEXT CONTEST!

[francisbruno]

Dave Wolverton is the official coordinating judge and likely an announcement will be made on Tuesday... I wonder if there might be some more announcements on Tuesday?

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Note to self: MUST ENTER NEXT CONTEST!

According to Bill and Tony, there are two really good ways to improve your odds in this contest:

1. Write a great story.
2. Write a story that fits the guidelines.

The second one is apparently hard for people to follow; so if you can do it, your odds go up a lot.

The contest has one basic goal: to inspire future astronautical engineers, astronauts, and others who will make the future happen, Thus the guidelines are fairly explicit: they want stories that show the near future of space exploration in a believable and inspiring light. Perfectly good stories, even GREAT stories, might fail simply because they're not near future, they're not believable, or -- the worst -- they're cautionary tales that might make the reader doubt the future in space.

This contest isn't just about great writing; it's about great writing with a specific theme. If you want to sit where I sat, you just have to hit that theme with a great story. I tried to do that. Rich did it even better.

[francisbruno]

I would add that Fantasy is as likely to win as Sci-Fi if done well & to the specs of the contest. The reason that fantasy doesn't do as well is simply people write up what happened in a D&D campaign, rather than tell a true story. This is from Superstars where Dave Wolverton taught.

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

I would add that Fantasy is as likely to win as Sci-Fi if done well & to the specs of the contest. The reason that fantasy doesn't do as well is simply people write up what happened in a D&D campaign, rather than tell a true story. This is from Superstars where Dave Wolverton taught.

Ah, but I was speaking specifically to the Jim Baen contest, since that's what I thought Mike was speaking of. For that one, fantasy is a sure-fire loser. WotF is a whole different animal.

[francisbruno]

My mistake
Carry on.

[WriteToLive]

It'd be a challenge, but one of my best stories came out of challening myself to write something to spec.

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

OK, I've left ISDC. I've left DC. Everything awesome is now behind me for this week. I have nothing to look forward to.

I'm ready for Q1 announcements now. Please, Joni... Please, please, pleeeeeeeease...

[francisbruno]

With a post like that you just added another week!

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

wotf006
With a post like that you just added another week!

It's all about Evil Martin, the Ego that Walks Like a Man.

[WBLedbetter]

Note to self: MUST ENTER NEXT CONTEST!

According to Bill and Tony, there are two really good ways to improve your odds in this contest:

1. Write a great story.
2. Write a story that fits the guidelines.

The second one is apparently hard for people to follow; so if you can do it, your odds go up a lot.

The contest has one basic goal: to inspire future astronautical engineers, astronauts, and others who will make the future happen, Thus the guidelines are fairly explicit: they want stories that show the near future of space exploration in a believable and inspiring light. Perfectly good stories, even GREAT stories, might fail simply because they're not near future, they're not believable, or -- the worst -- they're cautionary tales that might make the reader doubt the future in space.

This contest isn't just about great writing; it's about great writing with a specific theme. If you want to sit where I sat, you just have to hit that theme with a great story. I tried to do that. Rich did it even better.

Yeah, I would encourage any of you who love science fiction to enter. Unlike WotF, you will have to compete against the pros, but since the contest has such a narrow focus the number of submissions is much lower than WotF, so if you write a good story that fits the criteria, you have a good chance of making it to that final ten that I send to the judges. An there is no reason why you can't write a story that you can send to BOTH contests! (not at the same time of course) Work that story!

[WBLedbetter]

OK, I've left ISDC. I've left DC. Everything awesome is now behind me for this week.

It was great meeting and hanging out with you this weekend, Martin! Thanks for coming!

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

OK, I've left ISDC. I've left DC. Everything awesome is now behind me for this week.

It was great meeting and hanging out with you this weekend, Martin! Thanks for coming!

Thank you, Bill! You were a great host and guide, and fun to talk to and share writing notes with.

[E.CaimanSands]

I'm ready for Q1 announcements now. Please, Joni... Please, please, pleeeeeeeease...

The Gator is ready too, she's waiting with her mouth wide open...

[morshana]

I'm at ISDC. Even more than usual, I say... WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

Nice. I'm sure you won't get any good ideas there ;)

8 story seeds so far. One came from a guy at my table at lunch... Some guy named Aldrin!

Awesome, Martin! Glad you had a great time!

[gower21]

No, no, no. No. No. Results can't come today! Today is May 29th and this is historically a bad day for me. I've had family members get into horrible crashes, best friend diagnosed with cancer, important things breaking, toe stubbing, friend fights, weather changes when they weren't scheduled to happen, and favorite restaurants closing (to name a few). If results come today it would be doom for me. The best I could hope for is that results do come today and my entire submission got lost in the New Years Eve mail.

I'd love to have it all turn around and this be my year for luck, but so far today I've not seen any gumdrops falling from the sky...so I hope results do not come today.