Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Norwescon 35 Writers Workshop - Update #1

As of the workshop deadline on November 30, we received a total of 47 submissions from 34 individual writers--a new record!  Submissions included:
  • 16 novel excerpts
  • 31 short stories (8 of these 2500 words or less)
  • 25 fantasy
  • 5 horror
  • 13 SF
  • 4 that are hard to classify
  • 9 YA (or "could be YA") manuscripts
  • Ages: between 17 and post-retirement
  • Skill levels: writers who have never submitted before up through writers who have sold to pro-level magazines
We're pleased to confirm that we should be able to schedule workshop sessions for all manuscripts this year.

We're also pleased that we will be scheduling a record of 5 Round Robin critique sessions this year. In Round Robin sessions, participating writers will offer to and receive critique from peers as well as receiving critique from professional volunteers. Learning to read critically and compose manuscript critiques is a useful skill that will help writers improve their own work, and are always happy to give participants the option to participate in Round Robins.

We'll  be working with the Norwescon programming department later this month to begin scheduling dates, times, and panel rooms for our workshop sessions.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Writers Workshop Guidelines Now Available!

We are pleased to announce that the guidelines for the Writers' Workshop at Norwescon 35 in April, 2012 are now available!  If you participated in the workshop in 2010 or 2011, or inquired about the workshop in 2011, you should have received a copy of the guidelines in your email.  If not, visit the Norwescon website.

Here are the basics:
  • In most circumstances we accept 2 pieces from any one person, only one of which may be a novel excerpt, and neither of which may be more than 10,000 words.
  • Submissions will be critiqued in private, live sessions at Norwescon in 2012.  Most sessions use 4 critquers who are professional guests at the convention (almost always professionally published genre writers).
  • We have certain requirements for submissions, including that you use proper manuscript format (and we WILL critique your format), send a cover letter, and that all stories be completed.
  • Our deadline is VERY EARLY this year compared to past years: November 30.  So if you'd like to submit, get hopping!  We set the deadline as late as we can each year and are not able to accept late submissions.
  • We fill all the slots we can handle every year, so if you want to participate, we encourage to you to submit as early as possible.
Don't worry if you haven't been to a critique before, or if you don't feel that your work is perfect.  Writers at all levels are welcome to submit to the workshop!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Congratulations, Corry!

Congratulations to Fairwood member Corry Lee, whose short story placed third in the Writers of the Future Quarterly Contest for the 2nd Quarter (January - March) 2011.  Corry's story will appear in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, volume 28 in Spring, 2012.

Erin A. Tidwell's short story also placed as a silver honorable mention for the same quarter.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Readings at Norwescon 34

Join current and alumni members of the Fairwood Writers at their readings at Norwescon 34. Individual readings are up to 30 minutes long.


Brenda Cooper reads Mayan December
Friday, noon in Cascade 3

Darragh Metzger reads The Strawberry Roan
Friday, 4pm in Cascade 3

J A Pitts reads Honeyed Words
Friday, 10pm in Cascade 3

Erin Tidwell, Renee Stern, and other authors published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies magazine
Saturday, 7pm in the Salon (outside Maxi's Lounge in the hotel tower)

Spencer Ellsworth reads The Ifrit's Trial
Saturday, 10pm in Cascade 3

Renee Stern reads A Mother's Choice
Sunday, 10am in Cascade 3

Kim Ritchie reads Triple Time
Sunday, 11am in Cascade 3

Rhiannon Held reads Bloodtech
Sunday, 1:30pm in Cascade 3

Friday, April 15, 2011

You're Invited! Writers' Social at Norwescon

If you're coming to Norwescon, stop by our party! The Fairwood Writers will host a social Saturday afternoon for workshop participants and anyone interesting in the workshop or who just wants to talk about writing. Join us for conversation, schmoozing, food and drinks at:

Saturday, April 23
1:30-3:30pm
Presidential Suite
(room 1360 in the hotel tower)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Best of 2010 List Includes Fairwooders

Congratulations to Renee Stern, whose story "Red Hell", which appeared in Black Gate #14 in winter 2010, was selected as a starred story for Tangent Online's Recommended Reading List for 2010.

Congratulations also to former Fairwood member Brenda Cooper, whose short story"The Hebras and the Demons and the Damned" and novella "Robot Girl", both published in Analog, also appeared on the list.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Workshop Update

Schedules and manuscripts for critique have mailed to all of this year's panelists who opted to receive manuscripts via email. Snail mail copies will be in the mail within the next couple days.  If you expected to receive manuscripts for critique, and haven't, please contact us.

Friday, February 18, 2011

SALE: Paul's "Planned Obsolescence"

Congratulations to Paul, who recently sold his science fiction short story "Planned Obsolescence" to Dagan Books' "In Situ" anthology, due to be published on April 15, 2011.

Check out the great interview with Paul at Dagan Books' blog.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Workshop Update

We have completed scheduling of all the manuscripts submitted to the Fairwood Writers Workshop for Norwescon 34.

Later this week or sometime next week, we will be sending panel schedules to our writers, schedules and manuscripts to writers in the Round Robin sessions, and schedules and manuscripts to our professional volunteers.

Along with schedules and manuscripts, each writer and volunteer will receive a copy of our workshop manual. Writers and volunteers who are new to the workshop will find information about how workshop sessions are run, what to expect from a critique, and what to bring to a session. In addition, the workshop manual includes a short bio for each writer whose work will be read in the workshop this year.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Rhiannon in Redstone

Rhiannon Held's "Bloodtech" is now available in Redstone Science Fiction issue #8. And as an extra bonus, the issue also contains an interview with Rhiannon. Check it out!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Workshop Update

The late deadline for submissions to our Writers Workshop at Norwescon passed at midnight on New Years Eve.  We did minimal advertising for the workshop this year but still have a bumper crop of submissions: 35 in total. Most actually arrived by the priority deadline on December 19.  This year, we have a record 17 novel excerpts.  Submissions are about evenly split between fantasy and SF, with a handful of horror manuscripts.

Over the next week or so, we will be assigning 1 Fairwood group member as a panel moderator and critiquer, and 3 professional volunteers as critiquers. We'll sit down with the head of programming in a few weeks to schedule each session into a room and timeslot.

If you submitted a manuscript for the first time, congratulations! It takes courage to share your work with others and ask for critique.