Early February Newsletter

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.

So let me start out by saying I screwed up, and in a way that I should have known better than to do. The problem is that the Wayward Wormhole intensive writing workshop that I’m hosting is in one way absolutely not up to standard, and that is its lack of accessibility. This is particularly unacceptable given that I have called out inaccessible venues in the past.

I’ve also called out economically inaccessible stuff, and yet this workshop, unlike the other school efforts, does not have guaranteed scholarships in place to help make the workshop cost easier on anyone, although we’ve structured fees to try to fund at least two scholarships this year.

I made this poor choice in part because ““ while this is not an excuse ““ 2022 was the year of the biggest changes of my life (the end of a 20+ year partnership and a cross-country move) and I just let the wheeeeee castle vibe carry me along past any thoughts other than how do I make spending my birthday in a Spanish castle a reality? And when the voices in my head stopped saying that and one in the back nervously raised its hand and said hey what about accessibility, I told myself we’d addressed that by making sure there was a virtual version.

Except now that I’ve thought about it, that’s not enough, because the virtual version lacks some features that the on-location includes. So I apologize to the community for setting a bad example. I apologize to my teachers for having involved them in this ethical lapse. And I apologize, abjectly, to my students for having let them down in this regard.

Given that I have already made a substantial down payment that is nonrefundable and which I can’t afford to lose, what are the material steps I can do to show I understand I fucked up and mean to make it right?

1. The first is already done. The location we have for next year is fully accessible physically, and that is a requirement for all future locations.
2. The second is that we will be providing a yearly full scholarship in memory of Vonda N. McIntyre.
3. The third is that a quarter of my profits from this year’s workshop will be donated to a charity that advances accessibility issues, like the American Association of People with Disabilities. (I want to research the best choice here.)
4. The fourth is that I have learned from it and, as the friend I was talking to about it put it, gained a point in humility, so I can do better going forward and not let whee castle override the let’s look this over before agreeing notion.

So. There you have it.

Best,
Cat