Presenting #CritClub

Making Wormhole Lite More Accessible

People told me the way we had Wormhole Lite configured didn’t work so well, because of time differences. So I’ve swapped things around and made it so you can get the recordings and not worry about time zones, but instead watch them at your leisure, because I’ve also extended the amount of time they’ll be available from 30 days to three months.

You can take them individually or as a group – and best of all, we implemented sliding scale so more people can afford it. Please check out what’s available and spread the word if you know people who might be interested.

Details. Registration Link.

Who’s teaching what?

• Sarah Pinsker – Beginnings and Endings
• Cat Rambo – Conflicts in Short Stories
• Tobias Buckell – Plot Your Way to Amazing Characters
• Ann Leckie – Setting & World Building

Results of Our First Pitch Session
Based on a suggestion, The Rambo Academy hosted a special practice pitch session. People submitted their pitches ahead of time and I read each one out loud, then we took 5 minutes or so to discuss each one after it had been read. We had an amazing time with this, and people found that having their pitch read out loud and being able to discuss it without people knowing it was there was comfortable and productive. Speaking as a teacher, it was a great session, full of good energy.

I plan to do one of these every other month going forward, so keep it in mind when you’re getting ready to develop a pitch for your novel.

If you’re a Patreon supporter, remember that this month we’re discussing Karen Joy Fowler’s “Standing Room Only.” There’s a Wednesday session and a Saturday one; both will be recorded for people that can’t make it.

Also for Patreon supporters, we have a special talk this month with Michael R. Underwood discussing American writers and unions – why we can’t unionize, and what we can do about it. The date had to get moved, and it’s now October 24th at 12 PM Eastern time.

Want to join us? Details here.

This weekend’s classes are:

1. Hitting the Road: How To Send Your Characters on a Road Trip with A.T. Greenblatt, Saturday, October 14th, 9:30-11:30 Pacific time.
2. Power and Politics in Worldbuilding: Schemes, Factions, and Culture with Michael R. Underwood, Saturday, October 14, 1-3 PM Pacific time.
3. Crimson Peaks and Menacing Mansions: Writing Gothic Horror with Catherine Lundoff, Sunday, October 15, 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific time.
4. Twenty Types of Terror: Exploring Horror Subgenres with Cat Rambo, Sunday, October 15, 1-3 PM Pacific time.

Sign up for both of Sunday’s classes for a total cost of $99! All class recordings are available to Patreon supporters for $40 or $50 for non-supporters.

Find the full list of upcoming classes here.

Find the list of available videos here.

In November, Jennifer Brozek will be leading the Wednesday Writing Games session. Come play and write for an hour in a comfortable and enjoyable session designed to kickstart your creativity! See the Patreon schedule to find out how to join.

Want to find me on your favorite social network? Here’s all the places I have a presence, along with other pertinent links.

I’m hoping eventually to have the bulk of the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers classes up as on-demand versions, but it’s slow going. I’m so delighted that Kate Heartfield has turned her awesome Writing Interactive Fiction live class into an on-demand version and she’s very generously suggested making it free this first week in order to offer another resource for folks practicing social isolation to entertain and educate themselves.

I book teachers for classes that I personally want to take, and this was definitely one of them. After the first time Kate taught this class, I felt inspired to start noodling around with an interactive novel, although I’m still very much in the planning stages.

Here’s a link for the new class.

If you’ve ever found yourself choosing between possible endings or plot twists, why not try a storytelling format that lets you explore them all? Games and interactive fiction invite the reader to join in the storytelling process, and invite the writer to consider multiple facets of agency, characterization, pacing and plot. Learn some fundamental principles and techniques for interactive formats, or just gain a new perspective on ways to develop your non-interactive prose.

Kate Heartfield is the author of two interactive novels for Choice of Games: The Road to Canterbury, which was published in 2018 and shortlisted for the first Nebula award in the game writing category; and The Magician’s Workshop, published at the end of 2019. She is also the author of the historical fantasy novel Armed in Her Fashion, which won the Aurora Award for Best Novel and was shortlisted for the Locus First Novel, Crawford and Sunburst awards. Her two Alice Payne time travel novellas were shortlisted for the Nebula and Aurora awards. A former newspaper journalist, Kate lives in Ottawa, Canada.

If you’d prefer to take a live version in which you have a chance to talk with Kate, she is teaching it on Saturday, April 11, 2020, 1:00-3:00 AM Pacific time.

Live versions of the classes are performed in realtime, are limited to 15 students, and include a chance to interact with the instructor as well as a recording of the class. You can find the current list of upcoming live classes through June here. There are free scholarship slots available in every class.