Break

Many of the 'Boxers have left already. I haven't cried yet but I can feel everything coming on so fast...

I will miss this place. Deeply.

More later when tears aren't threatening.

Simple

This is a hummingbird at Locked's feeder. There's four of them which frequently visit to snack on sugar water. This is one of the girls.

This workshop has been the most intellectually stimulating, challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. It easily rivals all of my previous academic pursuits.

Altitude

I had expected to have more time this weekend to organize my life, but that plan was pretty much shot by Saturday morning. I didn't end up going to the Pueblo (tummy issues) but many of the other 'Boxers obliged me with photos and stories.

I got some work done Saturday afternoon before the whole group met up to listen to Carrie Vaughn. She gave such a good counterpoint perspective to Nancy and Walter. She's only been in the business professionally for about 5 years, and she writes series. She had some great, motivating stuff to say about setting goals, and knowing the difference between a goal and a milestone.

Afterwards, we all trekked down the mountain to The Old Blinking Light, a New Mexican restaurant. I had a very good blue cheese salad, and all of the dishes looked tasty.

Sunday turned into something quite unexpected. I had planned to do most of my work and laze around (which I did, a little - managed to sleep til 10:30!) and spend the day in the Valley. That just wasn't to be. First I went down to Taos with Atlantean, chatted, came back up. Then I went to ice cream with Locked in the local town, came back up. Finally I went back into Taos for McD's with Buffalito, Dreamtime and Atlantean. It's a forty-five minute drive each way, and two thousand feet.

Needless to say, that really took a toll on my body. I crashed in my room for awhile, but the nausea passed. I ended up writing well into the evening, and then submitted the Prologue, as well as Chapters 1-2, of a new project (which only my family has seen previously). It's come a long way thusfar, so I'm excited for my second critique...

... which happens tomorrow. Gulp! Wish me luck!

Visual

This is an out-of-focus moth on the hand of Rocker. This might give you some idea that bugs, second only to the weather, are a force to be reckoned with here.


This is a lecture by Walter Jon Williams!

This is just before a critique. You can tell that this absolutely thrills Locked.

This is pre-critique, post-breakfast conversation. We have Hand, Shadows, Nancy Kress!, Cogitoad, Teeth and Ghost here.

New

This week has absolutely flown by. Mm cliches. My submission was critiqued on Wednesday, and it went well! I was a bit freaked about it, but I heard a lot of what I knew, and some things that I did not know. I'm looking forward to revising my thesis again once I'm back home.

Right now I'm working on a new piece (short story? novella?) of which I have 1,500 words. I need about 8,000 but hey, it's a start. I got most of the words out while hanging out with Locked, Atlantean and Hand. It's stunning to be writing, look up and ask how I should write an action scene, and get three valid, descriptive responses. The story is high fantasy, a step aside from my usual YA stuff. I love the idea. I'm not sure I'm executing on it well, but I'll know for sure next week when we critique it.

I seriously will take photos of the group this weekend. Seriously. Otherwise someone should bug me. Or comment about the lack of photos.

I've been into town every day this week except for today. I slept for two hours this afternoon, which was glorious. I have to say I think I do feel better because I've been going down 3,000 feet. Tomorrow we'll go into town for pizza, which I'm stoked for. It'll be nice to get off the mountain with everyone.

The writing of this blogpost was sidelined several times, so I'm sorry if it's disjointed. I'll plug Nancy's blog one more time because she fills in all the gaps that I'm missing here. And she's hilarious.

Hilarity

We had out first class and critique session today. Walter asked us not to divulge the critiques, since that's private. This makes total sense to me. On the other hand, so many funny things happened! You can read a fabulous synopsis written by our other host/organizer/guide Nancy Kress here. It is a sad truth, but too few SF stories have been written about toilets.

I once again ventured into the main town today with Buffalito and Anna. We had a list of things to feed at least 8 people, so we made several stops. It was good to get out, though, and see a real live city. Of course when we came back it was raining and dinner had just been served.

The better part of the evening was dedicated to critiquing work, reading over published stories, and working on the first exercise. All of these were challenging, so after I kicked back with Locked, Atlantean, Hand, Hat, Buffalito and Walter joined us at one point too. The conversation rolled brisquely from inappropriate jokes to what's working in our stories, and what isn't.

It is so profoundly inspiring to be around so many other people grappling with the same passion, the same love. I have learned so much in two days. I cannot imagine where I will be in another ten.

View

As promised, a photo of the valley. It's so beautiful, but the weather is something to be reckoned with. After this picture was taken, it started to hail.