When You Are Golden!

Some creatures are made for inspiration. This is my cat Isis. She is golden-orange with gold eyes.

Hail, Arisia! A hugely great time. Also seeking photos of Arisia.

Arisia as always lives up to its rep as being large yet still warm and fuzzy. It's a fun con in frozen January, and yes, it always snows. But there is masquerade and panels on everything including blogging. The party floor really parties. The dealers are many and amazing in their wares. I especially enjoyed the artists this year.

Seeking photos of Arisia. If anyone has photos of events at Arisia that they don't mind sharing. I'd love to post them here. Thanks.

Writing Workshop at Confluence in July

From July 28th to the 30th, I am going to Pittsburgh to Confluence 2006 http://www.parsec-sff.org/confluence to give a special writing workshop: Writing Characters that Drive Plots Wild. In it, I teach a practical approach to developing a hero or heroine, a villain, and a teacher or sidekick. This is a hands-on writing workshop focused on making your characters so riveting, endearing, frightening, or intriguing that readers will love them and need to read what will happen next. Pre-Con assignment: Watch Episode IV of Star Wars. (You know the one with Luke, Leia, and Han Solo.) You are welcome to bring characters you are working on.

I am a SFWA member and have been a writing teacher and workshop facilitator for over 20 years. This workshop is open to Confluence members only. You need to register for the convention before you sign-up for the workshop. Be sure to being paper and a pen; laptops are okay but we may not have enough power for everyone.

This workshop is limited to the first 12 Confluence members who email me at onlyladyknight@yahoo.com Confluence 2006 will be at the Four Points by Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport. See you there.

Serious about Writing

I'm very serious about my writing life. Part of that life entails teaching other writers, being a mentor to a young writer, and publishing writing tips and exercises on my website www.susanhannifordcrowley.com . My focus is primarily science fiction and fantasy, but the exercises on my site can apply to any writer. On the bottom of my philosophy page, I have other websites listed which I believe are important to a writer's life: organizations, e-magazines as I discover the ones I love, and fun sites to explore.

A note about organizations: A writer's life is often solitary. We spend a huge amount of time thinking and writing and thinking again. Most of it is not aloud. Writers' groups and organizations can be a wonderful outlet: a way of finding out about new markets, listening and learning about the pitfalls of selling your work, and just mingling with others who are just like you in many ways. Whenever I have left my sanctuary to venture out to a writers' gathering, I have never regretted it. It has always been an adventure.

My next adventure is Arisia 2006 in Boston coming up in two weeks. There I will mingle with other writers and meet the all the amazing people who truly love science fiction and fantasy. There is nothing like the warmth of Arisia in the midst of a cold January.