NEW USERS! INTRODUCE YOURSELVES!

[AbercrombieManCrush]

Morning all,

I missed this piece of the forum as I was waiting for Thursday with you all a couple of quarters ago. Having just put in my second tilt and being keen on spending more time here I thought I'd introduce myself properly.

My name is Adrian, I'm a Sydneysider at the latter end of my 20's. I self published 2 books - now known as my learning curves - before realising it wasn't satisfying enough to just get through my own judging panel.

I love the current trends of grimdark fantasy (hence the raging man-crush I have on Joe Abercrombie), sci-fi and also cli-fi. This, of course, heavily influences my writing.

At the moment I'm still working to get that first short fiction publishing credit (I'm 0-32 at the moment and earning a rather thick skin for rejection) while finishing up a novel that mixes grimdark fantasy, sci-fi, and cli-fi. When done, I'm going to try for an agent.

I really enjoyed my last bit of banter on here and am looking forward to getting to know you all a bit better.

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Welcome aboard (again), Adrian!

[storysinger]

Welcome back to the forum Adrian.

[george nik.]

Welcome, Adrian!

[fihr]

Welcome, Adrian. We bumped into each other on the board here earlier, but I just wanted to say hi again anyway. Nice to meet another Sydneysider!

Australian SF and Fantasy seems to be full of grimdark stuff at the moment, if that's along the lines of dark fantasy and SF, at times veering into horror, and the collections of "Year's Best Australian SF & Fantasy" are anything to go by. So you may be onto a popular trend. Some of those stories are superb writing, regardless of genre.

[Nick_T]

Welcome, Adrian. We bumped into each other on the board here earlier, but I just wanted to say hi again anyway. Nice to meet another Sydneysider!

Australian SF and Fantasy seems to be full of grimdark stuff at the moment, if that's along the lines of dark fantasy and SF, at times veering into horror, and the collections of "Year's Best Australian SF & Fantasy" are anything to go by. So you may be onto a popular trend. Some of those stories are superb writing, regardless of genre.

Welcome Adrian,

Australian horror generally is very strong and has been for years. I don't know whether that's Terry Dowling's influence, but given the small size of our speculative fiction community, we do astoundingly well.

Note that in relation to the contest, it has to be remembered that one of the most significant marketing segments for the anthology is American high schools. While they do edit things out like swear words if you win, there are limits to what editing can do in the case of grimdark.

[Hyperion]

Hello WOTF world.
My name is Matthew Chambers. As you can probably tell from my avatar/name, I have a soft spot for the ancient Greco-Roman world. I have a Master's degree in Ancient Roman history and I pine for the good old days of pagan temples, cohorts of legionaries, and treatises of ancient philosophy.

In real life, I'm currently living in Seoul, Korea teaching English. It's a really rewarding job and the kids are amazing. I also feel as though, by being a foreigner in a foreign land/traveling across Asia, I am growing as a writer and getting a unique perspective on the world (well hopefully, at least).The downside is that it's difficult to find people who can read and critique my work.

Despite my background in history, I usually write science fiction in the future. For some reason, all my short stories seem to have a Cosmic Horror edge to them which, I suspect, might be a bad thing for this particular contest. In any case, I've been writing off and on for about 10 years now, since high school.

This seems like a good community. I look forward to being a part of it!

[storysinger]

Welcome Hyperion. An ancient Roman Philosopher/Historian mystically transported to a future world who awakens to a life as a language arts specialist in a foreign land. Wow, can't wait to read your stuff.

[Hyperion]

Thanks Storysinger! I look forward to reading your work as well!

[george nik.]

Welcome to the forum, Matthew!

I used to be a big fan of Lucian, btw, especially when I was at middle school. It's been ages since I last read him, however. Maybe I should brush up on him sometime.

[Hyperion]

Yeah, Lucian's a lot of fun. I was first exposed to him in college when I was learning ancient Greek. He and Diogenes are probably my favorite ancient Greek thinkers. I've always thought it was awesome how Lucian satirized the subject of history by writing what amounted to science fiction. In some weird way, I think it reflects that both genres have a lot in common beneath their surface. I guess we have the ancient Greeks to thank for that.

[DLYoung]

Hi Everyone,

I'm David and I write as D.L. Young. My story is a finalist for the second quarter 2014 contest. I live in the Houston area and work in the technology industry. I'm very happy to have my story in the finals!

My website is http://www.dlyoungfiction.com

On social media you can find me at https://twitter.com/DLYoungWriterand https://www.facebook.com/DLYoungWriter

[scott.parkin]

Welcome, welcome, DL. And congratulations on the finalist. Good luck.

[george nik.]

Welcome, David. Congrats on the finalist!

[Kary English]

Hi, David, and welcome!

Big congrats on making finalist! We're a friendly bunch here, so if you find yourself getting antsy while we wait for results, there's a Q2 Jibber Jabber thread down below in the forum listings where you can blow off some steam.

I'm so glad you dropped in to say hi.

Cheers,

Kary

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Welcome aboard, David! Pay no attention to the clutter and all the alter egos. They don't bite.

Well, except for Gator...

[Dustin Adams]

Welcome!
Enjoy your wait... I mean, your stay.

[bschonberg]

Hello!
I was just introduced to this site today by a member of my writing group. I am begining work on my first submission this evening!
I teach middle school science and am a wife and mother of three (though it's more like fourteen if you count the cats, dog and hedgehogs!).
I look forward to speaking to everyone!

Brandi

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Hello!
I was just introduced to this site today by a member of my writing group. I am begining work on my first submission this evening!
I teach middle school science and am a wife and mother of three (though it's more like fourteen if you count the cats, dog and hedgehogs!).
I look forward to speaking to everyone!

Brandi

Welcome aboard, Brandi! You have found the best place for answers about this contest. Everyone here loves to share what we've learned.

[scott.parkin]

Hello and welcome, Brandi!

This is a great forum and wonderful chance to learn, share, and generally hang out with interesting people.

As a father of six (and a very wiggly, very large black Lab) I can feel some of your pain (and joy).

Good to meet you. Be well.

Scott

[george nik.]

Hello!
I was just introduced to this site today by a member of my writing group. I am begining work on my first submission this evening!
I teach middle school science and am a wife and mother of three (though it's more like fourteen if you count the cats, dog and hedgehogs!).
I look forward to speaking to everyone!

Brandi

Welcome, Brandi! I'm just a father of one, but if you count the chicken, cats, rabbit and chinchilla it's more like... well, a lot!

[Sharon]

Hello!
I was just introduced to this site today by a member of my writing group. I am begining work on my first submission this evening!
I teach middle school science and am a wife and mother of three (though it's more like fourteen if you count the cats, dog and hedgehogs!).
I look forward to speaking to everyone!

Brandi

Ooh, I love hedgehogs. Welcome, newbies, one and ALL!

[storysinger]

Welcome David and Brandi. When you need help or information this is the place to look.
Have fun.

[Casey O'Casey]

Hi. Very new to WOTF and this forum - registered a few minutes ago. I'm South African, of British descent, living very close to the southern tip of the continent. A little grizzled and creaky, I figure it's time to use my few remaining brain cells a little more productively. I'm about to submit my very first story to wotf and have a few newbie misgivings.
Thus far I've only read WOTF Vol 30 and, while I admire and enjoyed most of the stories, the overall impression I gained was that they were all squeaky clean... to the point of prissiness. My story involves alien courtship and perhaps a little foreplay but the emphasis throughout is on humor. No profanity or thweaty details but a trifle risque, perhaps.
My question is - and I'll appreciate as much input as possible before deadline... is it worth submitting it?

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Hi. Very new to WOTF and this forum - registered a few minutes ago. I'm South African, of British descent, living very close to the southern tip of the continent. A little grizzled and creaky, I figure it's time to use my few remaining brain cells a little more productively. I'm about to submit my very first story to wotf and have a few newbie misgivings.
Thus far I've only read WOTF Vol 30 and, while I admire and enjoyed most of the stories, the overall impression I gained was that they were all squeaky clean... to the point of prissiness. My story involves alien courtship and perhaps a little foreplay but the emphasis throughout is on humor. No profanity or thweaty details but a trifle risque, perhaps.
My question is - and I'll appreciate as much input as possible before deadline... is it worth submitting it?

Welcome aboard, Casey. Brad's winning story -- I think it was in V27 -- was at least that risque. As long as you imply more than describe, you should be fine.

[storysinger]

Welcome Casey. The best way to find out is to just submit and join the rest of us while we wait for results.
Good luck and enjoy the writer's life.

[Kary English]

You can get away with risque, just don't venture into explicit. :)

And welcome! C'mon down to the Jibber Jabber threads and make yourself comfortable. Most folks are preparing for the end of Q3 right now, so that's where you'll find the greatest activity. Q2 is all wrapped up and waiting for winner announcements, so things are twitchy and a little zany in that thread. Q4 is mostly over-achievers and denial for at least another week.

[scott.parkin]

My question is - and I'll appreciate as much input as possible before deadline... is it worth submitting it?

Can't speak for current judging currents, but I had one finalist that featured a lightly touched sex scene (situational, not descriptive) and another finalist set in a strip club that was very direct about issues of human sexuality. Given that those were both more than fifteen years ago, the contest has not been overly prudish in the past.

Take your shot. Sadly, unless it's an HM or semi-finalist you won't get any feedback on why if the story should be rejected. If it's not rejected, then you'll have a clear answer.

Luck!

[Ishmael]

I have been most remiss in failing to add my voice to those welcoming a whole swathe of very interesting newcomers. In particular I am delighted to note the arrival of another philosopher. I vote we all converge on George's place and drink him right out of coffee whilst practising our elenchus. Then we can go out for Galaktoboureko.

It's also good to see the odd creaky oldster beside myself. Fortunately I can still ride a horse, though since I am long past the age at which you can fall off without necessarily damaging yourself I am trying to give up that part of the sport.

[george nik.]

I have been most remiss in failing to add my voice to those welcoming a whole swathe of very interesting newcomers. In particular I am delighted to note the arrival of another philosopher. I vote we all converge on George's place and drink him right out of coffee whilst practising our elenchus. Then we can go out for Galaktoboureko.

I'm not a big fan of Socrates. Galaktoboureko is lovely, though.