The Introduction Thread

New member introductions, suggestions for the Forums, questions about posting, and important announcements.
Post Reply
treeoflife
Posts: 19
Joined: May 1st, 2010, 2:11 am
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by treeoflife » May 2nd, 2010, 1:31 am

Hi all, name is Craig. I use the name treeoflife on a few writing sites.

I wrote a tonne when I was a teenager, all of it epic fantasy. When it was time to move on to University, I was torn between majoring in business or creative writing, and business ultimately won. That was ten years ago, and I've just got back into writing in the last year.

I've written a couple more epic-fantasy novel first drafts, and am now working on a non-fiction piece. I don't think the fantasy pieces will ever make it past first draft. With the non-fiction piece, I intend to hire a good freelance editor once it's done, and see where it goes.

Been reading Nathan's blog for the last couple of months... this is definitely the best site I've found for writers.

Cheers all,

Craig

User avatar
OtherLisa
Posts: 28
Joined: December 8th, 2009, 9:19 am
Location: The Beach, So. Cal.
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by OtherLisa » May 2nd, 2010, 3:31 pm

Hahah, Irish Lady, I love the image of you sneaking off to your computer in the middle of the night and hitting the adverbs...

JohnstonMR
Posts: 10
Joined: February 16th, 2010, 11:51 am
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by JohnstonMR » May 3rd, 2010, 12:08 pm

I'm Michael; when I'm not at home I'm a high school literature teacher and part-time Grad student; at home I'm a husband and father to a toddler. I write when and if I manage to carve out some time--and it's pretty rare these days. Nevertheless I toil on in a possibly-vain hope that I'll finish this monster I'm working on.

While I teach all forms of literature, I primarily write in the science fiction and fantasy genres.

addie
Posts: 5
Joined: May 3rd, 2010, 12:56 pm
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by addie » May 3rd, 2010, 1:10 pm

Hello! I'm a total newbie to writing, and I would appreciate any help I can get.

Right now, I have an idea for a book that I could write starting this December. I'll hopefully graduate with my B.S. and turn into an archaeology technician around then. Once I've got the job, I plan on keeping a very detailed diary and turning it into a book. Lots of people are interested in archaeology, yet there are a lot of misconceptions about it, so I think the book could find readers as well as further the field. I'm practicing now by keeping an extensive diary in order to get my preferences down and develop my voice.
~an aspiring writer and archaeologist

heather_hangs_it
Posts: 43
Joined: May 4th, 2010, 10:00 am
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by heather_hangs_it » May 4th, 2010, 10:21 am

Well, second time's the charm.

Hi all! I've been following Nathan's blog for awhile now and never realized what a great resource the forums could be. Silly me.

My name is Heather and I'm a single mom of two young boys, living and working full time - and in the fall going to school full time - in Illinois. I've been a writer my whole life and have always aspired to write a book, but haven't gotten close until now. Over halfway done! Woohoo! I'd like to say it's a fantasy/paranormal - gulp - romance, but maybe it's more thriller. I know, I know, I should have my genre nailed down. I'll get there.

Anyway. I'd love to find a fellow writer or several to exchange eyes and opinions with. You know, you show me yours and I'll show you mine. Help each other down the right path and whatnot. If you're interested drop me a line! I promise I'm not a fly-by-nighter. I'll be around.

Thanks everyone! Can't wait to dig into the forums!

~heather

writermorris
Posts: 33
Joined: May 4th, 2010, 3:12 pm
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by writermorris » May 4th, 2010, 3:49 pm

Hi all.

I've been reading the blog and forum for a while now but have finally decided that if I'm trying to publish my story, being shy in a group of writers is just ridiculous.

I'm currently looking for representation for my literary novel, Flight. You can check out my very new twitter account and blog at twitter.com/writermorris and writermorris.blogspot.com respectively.

Nice to meet you.
writermorris
writermorris.blogspot.com

heather_hangs_it
Posts: 43
Joined: May 4th, 2010, 10:00 am
Contact:

Re: introduction

Post by heather_hangs_it » May 4th, 2010, 4:29 pm

irishlady wrote:I had a beginning, a middle and an end and interesting characters I loved and and interesting story that I liked. Wasn't that all I needed? Four years later,I am still trying to learn to tell the story the correct way. I still think I tell a damn good story. HA! Sometimes late at night I sneak onto my computer and write gleefully using ing and ly words with no thought to climatic ending to each scene,building suspense with each scene and plot points.
Hilarious! I'd love to swap stories with you sometime. Are you looking for someone to bounce your story off of? Good luck!

~heather

mrmerrick
Posts: 14
Joined: May 3rd, 2010, 11:53 am
Location: Alberta, Canada
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by mrmerrick » May 4th, 2010, 10:30 pm

Hey everybody,

My name is Matthew and I am - as many of us are - an aspiring writing. I've recently finished my manuscript for the billionth time (I'm always making changes) and have completed my query letter. I've posted the query on the proper thread for critique and since receiving some great feedback I have posted a revision. I hope I can get some more fantastic advice on how to tighten it up and improved it.

I live in Alberta, Canada, and although the weather has been great the last few weeks, the abrupt snow storm that hit us today is disheartening. I've only been writing for a few years and I've never tried to publish any of my work before, so this is all a first for me. Nathan's blogs and the comments to follow them have been highly educating and have lead me to some great blogs, and websites I've found to be equally rewarding.

Hopefully I'll be able to offer my two-cents (althought I'm not sure what it's worth) to your queries or questions along the way. I'm open to helping anybody and although i'm not a professional, sometimes you just need a fellow writer with a fresh pair of eyes to look at things. Send me a message if there's anything I can help with!

User avatar
Quinnykins
Posts: 7
Joined: May 5th, 2010, 8:01 am
Location: Courtmacsherry, Co. Cork, IRE
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by Quinnykins » May 5th, 2010, 8:58 am

Well, I'm here! The first port of call. The Introduction Thread.

My name is Quinn (or any variant thereof. See: Quinnykins). It's what people have called me since my school years, and you can blame that on the 10 other girls in my school that shared my given name. That and as is the will of English school teachers to call pupils by their surnames exclusively. It's a name that fits me though, and I've grown attached to it. When I introduce myself to people it's generally with that name.

I live in Ireland now, in south west Cork. I've lived in England and Wales too for various lengths of time. Ireland won't be the last place I live as I am desperate to have some time living in America and Canada, and hopefully New Zealand. I travel a lot and live one pay check to the next. My current job is in data communications so I'm sat behind a computer for most of the day.

I'm completely and unashamedly technically minded, I love UNIX and my Mac's, I love driving fast (and I love my car, Napoleon). I love spending money on me and other people and don't expect anything in return. I love the feeling of taking off in the small planes from Cork Airport and I love landing. Jeremy Clarkson is my hero and one day I will own an Aston Martin.

I don't like broccoli, sausages or raisins. I have a profound dislike for people who insist on driving 20mph under the speed limit and people who talk slower... than... I... think...

So as not to end on a downer... I write everything, I've also been known to read anything but I'm very quick to stop if I don't like it (I have a pile of books with bookmarks at various intervals in them!). I have a few projects on the go. My main one, and the one I would love to see published (even if I do print and bind it myself) is set in the far future of this current world. It's a mixture of future tech and steam punk and is action adventure. The other is a trashy romance I'm writing as an exercise to prove that (despite 90% of the genre) trashy romances can be written well. The last is a YA novel based in one of my home towns that I'm co-authoring with a good friend of mine stateside (who herself is a fantastic writer).

I can't wait to get stuck in with the community here, get to meet fellow authors-in-the-making and to share ideas and inspirations. I also love the blog having only just discovered it today (thanks Google Reader Recommendations!).
Si post fata venit gloria non propero.
~*~
Revenge is a dish best served in slices.

heather_hangs_it
Posts: 43
Joined: May 4th, 2010, 10:00 am
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by heather_hangs_it » May 6th, 2010, 1:41 pm

Nice to meet you, Quinn, and welcome!

~heather

izanobu
Posts: 25
Joined: May 8th, 2010, 4:11 am
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by izanobu » May 8th, 2010, 4:25 am

Hi, I've lurked for a while, but decided to dip my toe in and stir :)

I love to write sci/fi and fantasy, but am currently teaching myself to write thrillers and romances. My goal as a writer is to make a living telling the stories I want to tell. I've sold one short story so far (been submitting and I guess "serious" for a year now) and collected a bucket of rejections. Right now I have 25 short stories and one novel out on submission (got my first full request the other day, w00t).

That's me. Hi!

Izanobu

User avatar
Mark
Posts: 53
Joined: May 7th, 2010, 6:30 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by Mark » May 8th, 2010, 7:33 pm

I've mentioned this in two other posts, but I just found the intro thread now... I quit my job at the end of 2009 to travel for a couple of years, but some circumstances changed, and after living and surfing in Costa Rica for three months, I'm now using a portion of my savings to write full time for the next few months.

I like coffee, soft cheeses, and writing make believe. Currently living in Vancouver, Canada, and 20,000 words into a novel about a teenaged vigilante.

xouba
Posts: 49
Joined: May 11th, 2010, 3:27 am
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by xouba » May 13th, 2010, 1:06 am

Hi there!

I'm a spanish guy that likes to believe he'll write something one day. By now I've only written a couple of short stories; anything more than that takes me a lot, mostly because of lack of time and an excess of procrastination. I like realistic looking fantasy, which means "American Gods" and "Song of Fire and Ice", to name two, and not LotR. That doesn't mean I don't like Tolkien, of course: "The Silmarillion" is one of the books that has most influenced me, and I've read LotR N times, where N tends to infinity. It's just that I like grittier things.

When I'm not daydreaming about becoming a writer, I work at a small consulting firm as a Linux sysadmin. In my spare time I also write Linux articles for a magazine. I'm not proud of them (they're poorly written and rarely well researched), but they pay the bills. In the little time that I've got left, I play the guitar, read, listen to music and browse Wikipedia compulsively.

I come here to see if reading other writers' posts helps me to focus. I'd like to FINISH something, even if only to watch it and think: "I've done it". But I give up too easily, and I can't resist the lure of a new idea, so I hop from project to project constantly.

Anyway, hi! Hope to read and write a lot here, and have a good time.

jvc
Posts: 7
Joined: May 13th, 2010, 11:47 am
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by jvc » May 13th, 2010, 11:55 am

Hi Guys.

I've been following Nathan's blog for a while and even taken part in a few contests. I thought I should probably join his forum, too. So, well, yer knows, here I am. I have written a lot of articles and short stories, but I'm currently working on an MG fantasty. I'm not new to forums as a rule, and in fact some of you may recognise me from the watercooler, which is where I first found out about Nathan :D

Jed.

Maggie Lawson
Posts: 1
Joined: May 18th, 2010, 5:35 pm
Contact:

Re: The Introduction Thread

Post by Maggie Lawson » May 18th, 2010, 5:45 pm

Hi there, my name is Maggie and I'm from New Zealand. I've only been writing for just over a year and have had half a dozen short stories published. I have a couple of novels on the go but short stories tend to be where I'm at at the moment. I don't know if I can really define what genre I write. I just write about people and how they evolve when faced with different stimuli. I have written for all ages and enjoy the flexibility and variety of doing so.

I look forward to exchanging ideas and learning more about writing.

Maggie

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests