News and More Stuff from Chez Rambo
Hello folks!
Well, by now you know my big news, which is that my novelette Carpe Glitter is a Nebula Award nominee. I’m deeply honored to find myself in such fine company and absolutely twitter-pated to find out how many people have enjoyed it. The Nebulas are chosen by other writers who are SFWA members, and that makes this very meaningful to me. I will be at the conference that weekend.
If you’re not a SFWA member, but want some say in whether or not it appears on other ballots, it’s eligible for the Hugo Award and Locus Award in the novelette category and the World Fantasy Award in the novella category. You can see the cool banner that Meerkat Press did for me at the top of this newsletter.
If you’ve read the book and found it fun, please think about giving it a review or posting about it on social media!
Want to hear the first bit of it? Here’s a YouTube video.
 |
In recent class news, I’m in the process of lining up classes for the April-June time frame, but will be taking most of April off due to travel and moving.
One new class I’d like to point you at is How Not to Feel Like a Failure in Your Writing Career with Jennifer Brozek, which talks about dealing with imposter syndrome, guilt, and other writerly frailties.
I’m excited to say Judith Tarr will be giving a workshop on how to write about horses on May 2, 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific time. I’ll post more details as soon as I have the full description but you can go ahead and reserve a slot if you know you’re going to want to attend.
Look for news of more upcoming classes soon – I’m hoping the list will include at least one with Seanan McGuire, plus I’ve got some other rad stuff in the works.
Here’s the complete list of live classes in March at the moment. Classes appearing for the first time are bolded.
- Writing and Gender with Cheryl Morgan, Sunday, March 1, 2020, 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific time
- Dunking the Reader in the Details: Toolsets for Creating Immersive Worlds with Cat Rambo, Sunday, March 1, 2020, 1-3 PM Pacific time
- Writing Your Way Into Your Novel with Cat Rambo, Saturday, March 7, 2020, 1-3 PM Pacific time
- Head Hopping and Head Hunting: Deep Point of View Writing with Tracy Townsend, Sunday, March 8, 2020, 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific time
- How Not to Feel Like a Failure in Your Writing Career with Jennifer Brozek, Saturday, March 14, 2020 9:30 am ““ 11:30 am Pacific time.
- Intro to Game Writing with Monica Valentinelli, Saturday, March 28, 2020 9:30 am ““ 11:30 am Pacific time
Remember that if you can’t make the live classes, there’s plenty of on-demand ones!
 |
Along with chat server access and class discounts, Patreon supporters this month got:
◦   2 installments of serial novella BABY DRIVER, the pulp-y adventures of Patricia Savage and her five associates in 1930s America.
◦   Weekly online co-writing sessions on Wednesday mornings. If you’d like to join the next one, the link will be posted on Patreon and Discord. I will schedule at least one weekend one in March.
◦   A chance to participate in weekly goal-setting and check-in.
◦   Snippets included bits from Flowergod (SF story), The Butterfly Court’s Bathroom (fantasy story), (2) Because It is Bitter (SF near future novella), writing exercises from Fran Wilde’s Fantastic Worldbuilding class.
Want to join us in the Chez Rambo community? Here’s how.
 |
 |
Get Fiction in Your Mailbox Each MonthWant access to a lively community of writers and readers, free writing classes, co-working sessions, special speakers, weekly writing games, random pictures and MORE for as little as $2? Check out Cat’s Patreon campaign.
"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
~K. Richardson
You may also like...Planning My Writing (and Overall) Year for 2025
For me, that worked very well, and it’s helped even more to add “Motivation Monday” sessions to my school, a weekly online session where we talk about what’s coming up that week and what problems we’re facing as well as share coping strategies and productivity hints. This year I’m doing it again, with quarterly check-ins, because it worked. I realized I got a LOT done last year once I sat down and listed it all. Looking back at the list of what I accomplished, I feel a lot less guilty about the times I just goofed off and played Stardew Valley or Baldur’s Gate 3. Want to try this for yourself? Here’s the questions I’m asking people to think about this year, along with my answers to each one. (If you are interested in joining us for the planning or motivation sessions, here’s details about the Patreon campaign.) 2024 Review (Don’t worry if a question isn’t applicable! I’ve been thorough and used the list I use) What did you get accomplished in 2024 and how do you track these things? I had a new book, RUMOR HAS IT published in hardback (recommended by Bookish, Gizmodo, Publisher’s Weekly, Reactor) and my book DEVIL’S GUN appear in trade paperback, finished two books (SAHALAH and WINGS OF TABAT), taught a bunch of classes, traveled to Orlando, Savannah, Atlanta, New York City, Bellingham, Indianapolis, Surrey, B.C.and Chicago. Wrote three stories and published four. I track stuff mainly through my big schedule spreadsheet and Scrivener, but I did also track my reading and movies I watched in a blog post. It’s not the end of the year yet, but I have read close to 200 books this year, and in looking at it, I’m pleased to see I read fairly diversely as well. What did you write in fiction? What did you write in nonfiction? What other art did you make? What did you edit? What appearances did you make, virtual and live?
What publications appeared?/What sales did you make?
What are 1-3 of the worst writing-related disappointments? What did you do in 2024 that had the most positive impact on your life? 2025 Planning: What are 3-5 things you want to accomplish overall in 2025?
How do you want to refine or improve your tracking system? What’s one pleasure that you don’t have enough time for? Can you use it to reward yourself for hitting goals? What three things are likely to derail you in 2025? How can you plan to diminish their impact? What’s going to bring you hope in 2025? What are you looking forward to in 2025? What’s going to be your theme song/ slogan /image to keep you going in 2025? ... Goodbye, Jitters
They’re celebrating their last day in style: balloons, a big card for everyone to sign, and free coffee all day long, but there is a sad undertone to the merriment. We’d gone through the drivethrough, then came in to sign the card and say goodbye. Last week, I’d made sure to sign up for the mailing list, to be notified if they find a new location, but so far the manager hasn’t seemed very hopeful about that. As we were coming towards the door, a gentleman was coming out. We nodded at each other and he paused. Both of us felt, I think, a need to mark the occasion, to acknowledge the Jitters bond. “Sad day,” he said. “Very sad,” I replied. Inside all the baristas were glammed out and a little shell-shocked, I think, that this day had come.
Still, I will sorely miss Wendy and Megan and Amanda and all the rest of the cheerful Jitters crew. ... |
One thing I did last year with my writing community was implement a planning session at the beginning of the year, with a six-month check-in midway through the year. We talked about what was coming up during the year, what we wanted to achieve, what might derail us, and strategies for making the most of the year.
