An Apology to the F&SF Community, and Particularly to Those who Look to Me for Leadership

A few days ago, I implemented #Critclub, tying the Chez Rambo Discord server more tightly into the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers and providing a way for F&SF to swap critiques online. People seem excited about this, and the Patreon campaign has seen an uptick. A few people have taken me up on the offer of scholarships – thank you!

A nice little bump of people have appeared on the channel as a result and we’ve been doing things like sorting out how the critiquing system will work. We have added the first custom emoji, a rainbow kittywumpus 🙂 courtesy awesome community moderator, Frances KR.

Writing sprints and discussion of process as well as substantial amounts of con discussion have all taken place, as well as some swapping of market news and much use of the rejoice and venting rooms. In short, happy small steps towards the sort of thriving writing community I’m hoping to build, happening at a manageable rate and letting people invest in it by helping shape it.

On September 19, 5 – 6 PM Pacific time, participants will be able to submit live questions for the class I’ll be doing for Gregory Wilson’s channel on Twitch, “Applying Algorithms” in which I’ll talk about how to use the rules of storytelling to make your fiction more effective. This is the fourth of these classes I’ve done, and they’re always a lot of fun, plus a chance for me to beta test classes I’m thinking about teaching.

In other news I’ve been working away on checking the edits from my editor for Tor novel, You Sexy Thing, which will come out in November of 2020, and putting together an initial list of potential blurbers to send him. At the same time, I’m getting The Five, the MG space opera I’ve written, ready to go out to beta readers, and prepping to add some scenes with writing sprints next week. After that I’ll turn back to getting Exiles of Tabat (due out May 2020 from Wordfire Press) ready for beta readers and writing the sequel to You Sexy Thing, tentatively titled Devil’s Gun.

If you’re at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association next weekend, please come to my workshops! I will have postcards with a free class on them, plus books for sale. 🙂 Similarly if you’ll be at the Surrey International Writers Conference in October, please check out my classes there! Can’t make it to either of those? I do have some live classes coming up; you’ll always find the latest news and most comprehensive list of those listed here.

My mason bees are all hatching and it’s quite entertaining to sit out on the porch and watch the tiny perfect new bees encountering the world for the first time. When they reach the sunlight they stop and preen themselves like cats. Grocery deliveries have become a source of great excitement, and I am currently on Fall of year 2 in Stardew Valley. The move to Portland is on hold for at least a couple of weeks while we figure out where the world is going.

While existence has become more circumscribed for many, my life has, weirdly enough, become a bit more social as a result of recent events. I’ve been doing daily co-working sessions, at least one, sometimes two, each day, for a group that includes a bunch of friends and family, current and former students, mentees, and Patreon supporters as well as trying out some different things like videocalls where we all log on and clean our workspaces at the same time while chatting or Netflix Party.

I wrote a piece for Medium on how to run a successful and productive co-working session, and I cannot recommend them highly enough, although I know that mileage will wildly vary, according to people’s process. If you miss coffeeshop writing or working in an office, though, this may be a reasonable substitute. Remember there are scholarships for the Discord server.

I’ve also been doing some consulting for people turning their material into online versions. If you’re undergoing this process, here’s Things to Consider When Converting Your Live Class Into an Online Version. I also turned in book three of the Tabat series, hurray hurray!

Coming up this weekend:

• Get Weird! How to Make Your Fiction Original, Compelling, and Deeply Weird with Evan J. Peterson Saturday, April 11, 2020, 9:30-11:30 am Pacific Time. Taking cues from classic stories as well as contemporary literature, film, and pop culture, workshop leader Evan J. Peterson teaches you the ways to make your writing original, compelling, and deeply Weird. From witchcraft to spirits to unnameable entities, you’ll learn what makes a story unsettle audiences and stick with them for years.
• Writing Interactive Fiction with Kate Heartfield, Saturday, April 11, 2020, 1:00-3:00 PM Pacific time. 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.



• The Writer’s Guide to Handselling Books (Social Isolation Edition) with Michael R. Underwood, Sunday, April 12, 2020, 9:30-11:30 AM Pacific time. Author and publishing professional Michael R. Underwood shares lessons from a decade of hand-selling books to readers, booksellers, and sales reps. Learn how to put your work into a market context, showcase what makes it special, and connect with readers when selling at conventions. There’s no one way to sell any book, so this class will help you learn to find several different ways to pitch each project for greater success. In this edition, we’ll talk about how to sell books while practicing social isolation via virtual events and social media.
• Fearless Writing: Learning Not to Hold Back with Evan J. Peterson, Sunday, April 12, 2020, 1:00-3:00 pm Pacific Time. What are you afraid to write about? In this class, we create the supportive space to write the things we haven’t yet. We will discover what fears hold us back from writing about the topics and experiences we want to, in the forms and styles we want to. We will move past these fears and write fresh, honest, compelling work. We will practice sharing our writing with one another to dispel the fears of judgment and replace them with encouragement and strength. This class welcomes those writing in all genres and levels of experience and confidence.

Remember that there are Plunkett scholarships for classes; even if you’re strapped for cash, these classes are available. If you’ve enjoyed Rambo Academy classes in the past, please spread word of the school!