PiedPiper Posted June 2, 2020 Report Share Posted June 2, 2020 (edited) My name is Piper, and I'm cat vacuuming at 1:00am. Meaning: I'm introducing myself to all of you so I can put off writing. I've always loved to read, and my dad introduced me to SF/F when I was young. Writing was a natural next step to take.The first book I wrote was a Bob Book. (For those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about: Bob Books are short picture books with extremely simple sentences, e.g. Mat sat on Pat.) I was five, and my little brother was learning to read. In case you're wondering, it was really bad. I wrote another book in third grade about Halloween; it was 12 chapters (I thought that was super long), and I made my dad illustrate it. That was also a really bad book. The next book I wrote was -- you guessed it -- very bad. I started it in fifth grade and finished it in sixth grade. It was about 50,000 words; a legitimate middle grade book. I am currently working on a book; I've written about 30,000 words out of an estimated 90-100,000, and all I can do is hope I've acquired the skills by now to write a decent piece of fiction for once. Favorite non-Sandersons: Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (he would be my favorite author, but he turned out to be a bigot); Fuzzy Nation, John Scalzi; Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman; the Watchmen comic; and Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Now that everyone who's made it to the end of this post knows of my infinite geekiness, I must kill you all. Expect assassins. Oh -- and I'm excited to be part of the community, yadda yadda yadda. (I get crabby late at night.) Edited June 2, 2020 by PiedPeterPiper 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted June 2, 2020 Report Share Posted June 2, 2020 Hi @PiedPeterPiper, Welcome to the group. Having read the sample in your message, I think you're going to fit in just fine . There are skills there. It is not bad! As for geekiness, well, you've come to the right place. Anti-geek assassins tend to turn around at the door, recognising they are hopelessly outnumbered. have you read the original Fuzzy stories, ironically by H. Beam Piper? 1 hour ago, PiedPeterPiper said: he would be my favorite author, but he turned out to be a bigot Yes, always regrettable when such good writing is not produced by a good person. I also love that story. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiedPiper Posted June 2, 2020 Report Share Posted June 2, 2020 1 hour ago, Robinski said: have you read the original Fuzzy stories, ironically by H. Beam Piper? I have not read them yet, but I will have read them in -- let's give it two weeks. 1 hour ago, Robinski said: Yes, always regrettable when such good writing is not produced by a good person. I also love that story. I'm pretty sure, at least, that he doesn't get royalties from the Ender's Game sales (although I don't know about the rest of the series), so I don't feel bad recommending it to people. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakenaps Posted June 2, 2020 Report Share Posted June 2, 2020 @PiedPeterPiper Welcome! Glad you're joining us! Ender's Game was one of the first non-Anne McCaffrey sci-fi books I read. Orson Scott Card might have many opinions I do not share, but I've learned a lot from his writings. I too am an avid cat vacuumer. I hope you haven't procrastinated to the point where you write every word on an index card and have started switching them around. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiedPiper Posted June 2, 2020 Report Share Posted June 2, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, Snakenaps said: I too am an avid cat vacuumer. I hope you haven't procrastinated to the point where you write every word on an index card and have started switching them around. Not quite so extreme, but thanks for the idea! Don't worry, I'm kidding. Right now, I'm wasting my time by annotating Oathbringer in the Alethi Women's Script. And on Orson Scott Card: Every conversation I have about him is bittersweet, because I'm like: "his character and relationship work is AMAZING!" and also "I hate his living guts!" Edited June 2, 2020 by PiedPeterPiper 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevent Posted August 19, 2020 Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 Hi, my name is Steven and I'm a writer. I'm currently creeping through the last chapters of the 1st draft of an 80-90k word fantasy novel. The 2nd draft will be so much fun [/sarcasm]. It's my first attempt at fantasy - it didn't start out as such - but I think I've got it firmly within my grasp. I think. I'm mostly an outline-writer, but I'm trying to experiment more with making things up as I go. Mainly that experimentation comes in the form a cyberpunk serial story I'm posting to my blog. Otherwise, I'm just some random dude on the internet. I read all kinds of things but generally I gravitate towards the weirder end of things. Dempow Torishima's "Sisyphus" is pretty good. Presently reading "Eye of t he World" on my wife's recommendation. Pleased to meetcha! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiedPiper Posted August 19, 2020 Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 (edited) Hi there, @Stevent. How are you liking Eye of the World? Do you think you'll read all 15 books? Also, congrats on being almost dome with your novel. I absolutely love editing. It's my personal favorite part of the writing process [sarcasm]. Welcome to Reading Excuses! Edited August 19, 2020 by PiedPeterPiper 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamon Posted August 19, 2020 Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 Welcome to Reading Excuses @Stevent! Looking forward to reading through the novel! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turin Turambar Posted August 19, 2020 Report Share Posted August 19, 2020 Welcome to the ship, @Stevent. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakenaps Posted August 20, 2020 Report Share Posted August 20, 2020 Hello @Stevent! Welcome to the group! Love the name of your blog! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevent Posted August 21, 2020 Report Share Posted August 21, 2020 On 8/19/2020 at 5:22 PM, PiedPeterPiper said: Hi there, @Stevent. How are you liking Eye of the World? Do you think you'll read all 15 books? Also, congrats on being almost dome with your novel. I absolutely love editing. It's my personal favorite part of the writing process [sarcasm]. Welcome to Reading Excuses! Thanks for the welcome! So far so good with Eye of the World. I'll at least read the next couple of books, but the entire series is a bit daunting. My to-be-read pile is pretty big, I'll probably tackle some Michael Moorcock next I think. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevent Posted August 21, 2020 Report Share Posted August 21, 2020 On 8/19/2020 at 5:48 PM, Mandamon said: Welcome to Reading Excuses @Stevent! Looking forward to reading through the novel! thanks, I'm looking forward to it being read! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted August 21, 2020 Report Share Posted August 21, 2020 13 hours ago, Stevent said: I'll probably tackle some Michael Moorcock next I think. Hi, Steven, welcome to the group. Have you read any Moorcock before? If not, you are in for a treat, IMO. What will you start with? Wheel of Time is worth the slog, I think. In my opinion, Sanderson's books are the best, possibly coloured by the fact that the saga was drawing to a climax, but I think Sanderson's style is more passionate and character-centric than Jordan's. I had a quick look at your blog. Based on that first glance, I think I'm going to like your writing. Seems to be a nice, easy-reading, uncluttered style that I enjoy. I look forward to many long and possibly frustrating discussions about comma usage 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted August 21, 2020 Report Share Posted August 21, 2020 p.s. @Stevent, Have you had your email added to the circulation list? Perhaps you have messaged @Silk already, in which case ignore this message, but if not, PM Silk and me with the email you would like to use to receive and submit, and we'll get it added to the list. Cheers, R 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevent Posted August 21, 2020 Report Share Posted August 21, 2020 5 hours ago, Robinski said: Hi, Steven, welcome to the group. Have you read any Moorcock before? If not, you are in for a treat, IMO. What will you start with? Wheel of Time is worth the slog, I think. In my opinion, Sanderson's books are the best, possibly coloured by the fact that the saga was drawing to a climax, but I think Sanderson's style is more passionate and character-centric than Jordan's. I had a quick look at your blog. Based on that first glance, I think I'm going to like your writing. Seems to be a nice, easy-reading, uncluttered style that I enjoy. I look forward to many long and possibly frustrating discussions about comma usage The only Moorcock I've read is a few issues of the Corum comic adaptation (and that was like 25 years ago) so I'm starting with Knight of the Swords. I'm enjoying Eye of the World and am interested in where it goes. I'm finding the second act to be a slight slog. Oh, what's this? Rand and Mat are in another village juggling and avoiding Darkfriends? Wonderful. And yeah, I've been accused of comma abuse a few times. Punctuation isn't my strong suit; that's why I'm here. Usually I just drop commas wherever I feel like there should be a pause. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted August 22, 2020 Report Share Posted August 22, 2020 8 hours ago, Stevent said: Knight of the Swords Cool. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeromancer Posted August 23, 2020 Report Share Posted August 23, 2020 On 8/21/2020 at 6:04 PM, Stevent said: I'm enjoying Eye of the World and am interested in where it goes. I'm finding the second act to be a slight slog. Oh, what's this? Rand and Mat are in another village juggling and avoiding Darkfriends? Wonderful. I've giving you a fair warning now - there's a lot of slog in Wheel of Time. Like, entire books of slog. It's a tough series to read and can take even dedicated readers years to finish. That being the case, I wouldn't warn you against reading it - there's still a lot of really good stuff in the series and the ending was done very well. (At least, I enjoyed the ending immensely. I understand there's some mild controversy about some minor parts.) Just wanted to give you the heads-up so you don't get overly discouraged around the mid-to-late books where the slog is the worse. Also, yes, please read Michael Moorcock. He's a criminally underrated fantasy author. I don't know why more people haven't even heard of him, much less read him. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginger_reckoning Posted October 7, 2020 Report Share Posted October 7, 2020 So I went digging through the forums and found this thread, so here is my (belated) introduction! My name is Spencer, and I am currently 20 years old and a freshman majoring in marine biology. I've written one novel and started a bunch of others (the struggle) but this is my first real attempt to write something publishable. I'm currently about 50k words into my rewrite of my novel, which is proving to be quite the journey. I am obsessed with cephalopods and I love the outdoors, playing the tuba, and drawing. Fun fact! My current WIP was actually originally going to be a graphic novel, but then I realized that those are incredibly difficult to make, and I switched to prose only. My profile pic is from my instagram comic, @slap.egg.art. Check it out if you get the chance! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima willshaper Posted October 7, 2020 Report Share Posted October 7, 2020 Hello! I just barely found this thread too! I mostly write fantasy stuff, and I've finished one novel (not that it's publishable) and have about ten other projects started but not finished. My big WIP right now is just about 10,000 words and I'm just starting to seriously worldbuild it. As a relatively new writer I'm always looking for new tips and tricks and I don't know a lot about how to write good but I'm working on it! I love writing so much as a way to be creative -- it's really the only thing I have any small amount of talent for so I'm hoping to get better every day. I'm a Ravenclaw, I love chocolate, and my favorite non-Sandersons are mostly YA authors like Cassandra Clare and Marissa Meyer. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakenaps Posted October 8, 2020 Report Share Posted October 8, 2020 Hello @ima willshaper ! Welcome to Reading Excuses! You wouldn't believe the wealth of knowledge in this group. I've been here since February and I have learned so much. Just be prepared - we take this seriously and don't hold our punches back, but remember that we're just a bunch of lovebugs. You've picked a great group. We've got newbies like me, traditionally published and self published authors, and incredible editors like @Robinski. It's a highly varied, international group, but we all share two loves: books and writing! I'm glad to have you join us. I absolutely adored Melissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles, but I haven't gotten around to any of the side novellas yet. Have you ever read The Seven Realms novels by Cinda Williams Chima? Chocolate is always good to scare off Dementors! And I'm a Hufflepuff, loud and proud. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted October 8, 2020 Report Share Posted October 8, 2020 Welcome, @ima willshaper, and also @sniperfrog (tagging you in case you don't see this thread). And formal welcome @ginger_reckoning! Well done, you've passed the initiation test, which is finding this thread <cough>. Hey, @Silk, can 'we' pin this thread? (And by 'we', I mean your good self, of course, since I don't think I have pinning privileges.) (p.s. There is a scurrilous rumour that I am a writer also, although precious little evidence in the public domain recently to support said rumour.) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakenaps Posted October 8, 2020 Report Share Posted October 8, 2020 8 hours ago, Robinski said: Welcome, @ima willshaper, and also @sniperfrog (tagging you in case you don't see this thread). And formal welcome @ginger_reckoning! Well done, you've passed the initiation test, which is finding this thread <cough>. Hey, @Silk, can 'we' pin this thread? (p.s. There is a scurrilous rumour that I am a writer also, although precious little evidence in the public domain recently to support said rumour.) Agree that pinning this thread would probably be a good idea. @Robinski Hell yeah, you are one hell of a writer. Can't wait to read your next work. "Deceased Equine" got me hooked. Even if it did involve...a deceased equine... I had as much fun figuring out how horse bones break as I did figuring out pegasi mechanics. You still haven't let me read any M works and I'm still a little bitter after reading one of the last chapters when I first joined. Come on, there were velociraptors. That stuff is rad. One day...one day I'll convince you... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ima willshaper Posted October 9, 2020 Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 22 hours ago, Snakenaps said: Hello @ima willshaper ! Welcome to Reading Excuses! You wouldn't believe the wealth of knowledge in this group. I've been here since February and I have learned so much. Just be prepared - we take this seriously and don't hold our punches back, but remember that we're just a bunch of lovebugs. You've picked a great group. We've got newbies like me, traditionally published and self published authors, and incredible editors like @Robinski. It's a highly varied, international group, but we all share two loves: books and writing! I'm glad to have you join us. I absolutely adored Melissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles, but I haven't gotten around to any of the side novellas yet. Have you ever read The Seven Realms novels by Cinda Williams Chima? Chocolate is always good to scare off Dementors! And I'm a Hufflepuff, loud and proud. @Snakenaps I can't wait to learn everything there is to know! The variety is so exciting to me! I love the Lunar Chronicles too, but I haven't read The Seven Realms -- I'll have to check it out and add it to my (long and laborious but very exciting) reading list. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakenaps Posted October 9, 2020 Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 37 minutes ago, ima willshaper said: I'll have to check it out and add it to my (long and laborious but very exciting) reading list. Ah, yes, the neverending list... Too many books, such little time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turin Turambar Posted October 9, 2020 Report Share Posted October 9, 2020 18 hours ago, Robinski said: (p.s. There is a scurrilous rumour that I am a writer also, although precious little evidence in the public domain recently to support said rumour.) Well, I suppose that we'll have to rectify that somehow... Welcome, @ginger_reckoning and @ima willshaper. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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