Wayward Wormhole: The Instructors

From Janet:

The New Mexico Wormhole has snapped shut and scattered the travellers back to Australia, Italy, Canada, and multiple states around the USA. I am STUFFED full of amazing writing tips, STUNNED by the beauty and wildlife surrounding the Painted Pony Resort, and warm and fuzzy with love for all my fantastic new friends.

Arley Sorg was tough; a straight shooter who didn’t mince words in a way that gave each of us a boost. We were all better than we thought and still had a lot to learn. Plus, a horned owl joined us from a nearby tree during his classes.

Minister Faust was calm; a gentle guide through the publishing desert. His “explain it to me like I’m a four-year-old” led to clear loglines that supported our newly created emotional impact statements. Plus, the man can cook like a pro!

C.C. Finlay was wise; he took no guff and made sure we understood his points. Thoughtful, insightful, and kind, Charlie was a favorite. How he carved special talk-time for each of us during a busy, busy schedule is both a mystery and a gift we all treasured.

Don Maass was fun; he turned his six-inch binder of notes and writing tips into amusing, personal reflections. Brilliant, generous, and friendly, Don always made room for our comments during class and earned our respect as he returned our quips with rapid shots from the hip.

Cat Rambo was quiet; they were the center of our New Mexican tornado. When you were with Cat, your heart rate lowered, and you felt cared for as a colleague and a friend. Cat was our tarantula whisperer, which either repelled or attracted people almost every day. Why the spiders only appeared on the walls around their building remains a mystery.

Over ten days, we learned more about VOICE, SCENE SHAPING, EMOTIONS AND INTERIORITY, MICROTENSION, ADDING ENERGY TO THE NOVEL MIDDLE, RELEVANT ENDINGS START AT THE BEGINNING, 8 LACKS THAT TORPEDO GOOD MANUSCRIPTS, and BUILDING AND KEEPING A WRITING CAREER FRESH. From day one to day ten, we all started going to bed earlier and earlier.

We saw scorpions glowing under black-lights, bunnies, deer, horned owl, javelinas, tarantulas, coyotes, roadrunners, ravens, quail, and a spadefoot toad.

We sat around an outdoor fireplace as Cat, Don, and Charlie read their work.

We sat in the hot tub(s) and stared at the star-filled sky, waiting for an inevitable shooting star.
We stood in the courtyard and absorbed the silence.

This year brought me several family health issues and I added caregiver to my growing list of responsibilities. As a Canadian with many friends in the US, the election brought stress, fear, and disbelief. I’m still an almost-published (that’s how I frame it—I’m waiting for that one desk on that right day—it’s as inevitable as a shooting star as long as I keep going. Right?)

This year, the Wayward Wormhole at the Painted Pony Resort offered me a reset. Its quiet touched my core and smoothed out the tangled worries I’d been keeping inside. Being with my people reminded me that I’m not alone and renewed my energy. Gaining skills, literally at the speed of sound, renewed my enthusiasm for the stories I’ve written and the ones yet to come.

People ask why Cat and I why we stick with the in-person workshop format when others are going virtual. There are several reasons, all confirmed during our time in New Mexico. Writers need new experiences. They need a safe and peaceful environment to write, learn, and reflect on how people move through life. Writers need other writers. They need tools. Writers need to spend non-writing time with accomplished writers to confirm their belief in their insane choice of career; they need to know their struggles are normal, even if their personal journey isn’t.

For me? Sitting outside under the Milky Way with a dozen-plus friends as Charlie Finlay reads from his latest (and unpublished) novel in front of a wood fire is an in-person memory I’ll never forget.

PS. Plans for The Wayward Wormhole 2025 – Barbados are in the works. We’ve contacted four outstanding instructors who’ve expressed interest, and we will announce a new format and focus by the end of February. We hope you’ll join us!

The Wayward Wormhole Barbados 2026

May Blog

Why do we insist on creating “destination workshops?” We believe personal experiences add interesting elements that ring with authenticity to a writer’s worldbuilding. Here are a few things I wouldn’t have learned about Barbados by doing research online.

1. Barbados is a coral island with over eighty-five percent of the island’s surface composed of coralline limestone. How does this affect daily life? It turns out that this coral bed keeps pushing upward, making it difficult to maintain the roads. As we traveled around the island, we encountered major thoroughfares closed off because a shift in the coralline caused the road to collapse. Potholes were everywhere. The locals would swerve or suddenly dropped their speed to save wear and tear on their vehicles. Repairs were constant, yet the potholes and collapses kept happening—usually in the same spots.
2. Because of the tropical heat in Barbados, sheep do not have wool. They look like goats, but with longer tails and are raised for their meat.
3. Barbados has tiny tree frogs that emit a high-pitched whistle starting at dusk and go late into the night. I’m used to the late summer, early autumn chirping of the tree frogs in North America. It took a few nights to get used to the volume of noise those little creatures made outside our windows.
4. Barbados has few snakes—none that are native to the area, anyway. The Small Indian mongoose has made sure of that. Is a good thing? I’m familiar with snake danger—I’m not so familiar with mongoose danger.
5. Friendly acknowledgements are a custom in Barbados. Anytime Cat and I approached someone’s space, whether we wanted to talk with them, or were just passing by, Barbadians look directly at you and say hello, or good evening, or another friendly greeting. It made me feel welcome and safe. I can’t tell you how nice that was.
6. The West side of the island has powerful, crashing waves that leaves grey sand along the shoreline. The East side of the island has calm waters and powdery, white sand—great for swimming, and full of marine animals like manta rays, and both the Leatherback and Hawksbill Turtles. The Southern area in between the two, mixes the two sands together, giving it a pink hue.

I’m sure you would note different things than me, but time is short now, and noting the difference between research and experiencing a location’s reality can’t be emphasized enough.

The application window for The Wayward Wormhole Barbados – The Art of the Novella closes on May 15, 2025.