Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Second, someone questioned whether or not my reviewer was actually a professional. Here is what the conference's website promises: "For $50 you can get the first 30 pages of your novel critiqued by a professional editor who'll give you helpful insight and suggestions as you work toward finishi...

Thanks for that, Robin. I only watched this first one. Did you watch the rest of them? I remember you said you were struggling with a saggy middle awhile ago, and I wondered if this gave some insight? I don't really outline very much, and so he was right about pantsers having to go back in revision ...

Down the well wrote: I don't know, Margo. I'm older than you are... Are you sure? I'm pretty old. Older than cell phones. ;) Unfortunately I can remember the first push-button landline we got when I was a kid. It was almost as awesome as Pong. So her questions was; as a writer, what is your primary...

Oh thank god. I have been writing novel-length fiction since before word processing programs and personal computers. After that many years, I'm not sure I could switch to the single space between sentences even if I really wanted to. I don't know, Margo. I'm older than you are and I finally made th...

I'm wondering what experiences other people have had with professional manuscript critiques. The critique was emailed to me by one of the organizers of the conference--not the reviewer--so I have no idea who actually critiqued my work. Just thinking that for $50, I could have received some more hel...

Falen wrote:Of course, i could probably watch Sean Bean butter toast and be entertained

Heh, I'm with you on that one, so here you go. Makes me wish I still had cable.

Conferences are so far out of budget right now it's ridiculous. There are also fully paid scholarships available for people who otherwise couldn't attend because of the cost. Pikes Peak does it. I think SCBWI does too. BTW, I cut my cable bill and saved enough over the year to cover the cost of my ...

I had dinner with Betsy Mitchell last year at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference (they make the faculty sit with the attendees bwahahahah). She's a funny, funny, lady who loves science fiction and fantasy. Cool opportunity for someone. I might even give it a try. Thanks.

1. Bio information in a query letter. I understand in a query letter that the 'bio' information would be pretty slim, given the lack of history and credits. I get that you need to say 'this is my first novel' and keep it simple. And I also understand that if you have work/research/other experience ...

I'm fifth of nine - and I'm here to testify!! two older brothers and two older sisters - me - two younger brothers and two younger sisters. This reminded me of a family I knew as a kid. Their last name was Finger. They had ten kids and lived in two houses, side-by-side -- parents in one house, gran...

I don't give up. I used to work in law enforcement, and sometimes I think I should have stayed. I would have made a good detective. Really, cold cases would have kept me up at night. I'm fifth of nine - and I'm here to testify!! two older brothers and two older sisters - me - two younger brothers an...

My favs were those on swordfighting/weapons and forensics. That's slightly awesome. Very awesome!! I love the hands-on stuff. I have to admit I'm a bigger fan of workshops than conferences. Free Expressions does some very good ones with Donald Maass, James Scott Bell, and a variety of other sort of...

How'd it go in Denver at the RMFW conference? I've never been to the Pikes Peak Conference but I've heard good things. I had a great time at the RMFW conference. It's geared toward commercial fiction writers and many of the workshops are designed with that in mind. My favs were those on swordfighti...

The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven, by Sherman Alexie. (Extra credit. It was the first book I pulled off the bookshelf next to me.) "I know that most of the electrical circuitry was destroyed, all the batteries dead, all the wires shorted, all the dams burst, but I wonder if this ra...

I thought I would mention that registration is open for the Pikes Peak Writers Conference to be held in Colorado Springs, CO, April 28 - May 1. I've found this to be a well organized and really fun conference in the past. Anyway, I'll be there. Signed up for the dreaded pitch session. *shivers* Here...