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.

Winter is here!

Winter is fluctuating strangely from the snow and ice to the unseasonably warm. Here are a few early pictures from my yard. We feed the birds. Yesterday we spotted a Northern Harrier. He was sitting above a ground feeding station. Needless to say, the other birds and animals all hid from the raptor. He wouldn't pose for photos. I guess he was shy.

Falling into Winter

In my little corner of the world, I'm surrounded by inspiration all the time. Although I have come to love other parts of the world, I would miss this. I love the fiery colors against the blue of lake and sky. The deep shadows across the lawn. The Japanese Maple tree in my yard is always splendid but shows off a bit more when it's fall. This is my calm when nothing else in the world is. Here I write and dream and wake to write again.

Colors of Fall

This year the colors were late in coming to Connecticut. I took this photo at my cousin’s house.

However, I am still finding inspiration and while I write, the colors may grow brighter. It snowed here in the middle of the night but was gone without a trace by morning. But the smell of snow is still in the air.

Autumn Falls

The vibrant colors of autumn always inspire me in a huge way. The fire goes right through me down to my fingertips. Watch this site. I will be posting photos of the colors of New England.

More photos from Glasgow

This photo is of Dan, me, and Sean McMullen.

Here's Sean's website
http://www.bdsonline.net/seanmcmullen/








Here's Diane and I in downtown Glasgow. The architecture is wonderful.










Here Dan and I are standing outside the Armadillo, which is part of the convention center called the SECC. It's equally amazing inside.








The picture to my left is me on the left with James Swallow in the middle and Sally Mayer on the right for the Star Trek panel. Such a wonderful room of people--I enjoyed it immensely.









Here is a photo of an after panel chat concerning setting your fiction in Scotland.

Stopping at Iceland

The photos here are of the landscape of Iceland as you leave the airport and end up at the Blue Lagoon, which is a geothermal spa. In other words, you are swimming in a lagoon heated by a volcanic spring or geyser. Very hot!

Continuing Adventures at Worldcon in Glasgow

Susan and some new SFWA friends. The River Clyde in Glasgow

Susan on a panel on setting your fiction in Scotland with Deborah J. Miller on the right and Paul Cockburn on the left.

More on Glasgow

This is a photo of Glasgow taken from an upper street. Sections of the city are very hilly. It's a large city with amazing architecture. One photo is of science fiction writer Dan Hall and me in what I remember as the Princess Street Mall. It's an extremely lovely mall.

I'm back from Worldcon.

I'm back from Worldcon in Scotland and had a few hours to play in Iceland. I'm going to begin posting pictures here.

In the first photo, I am on the left and to the right is Diane Turnshek, science fiction author and astronomer. We are standing in front of the Argyll Hotel in Glasgow, which has a wonderful comfy atmosphere and its restaurant The Suntherlands has great food.

I'm still trying to get the hang of composing on this site. Please, bear with me. More photos will appear as the week goes on. Thanks for visiting.

I will be in Scotland soon and am looking forward to meeting the other science fiction and fantasy writers in the world. I'm also looking forward to eating Haggis.

Sometimes you take a journey for reasons you don't entirely understand. I have waited for three years to return to Scotland. I was there once before but it was a bit of a blur tour. This time will be different.

You'll know I'm back when you see the photos start showing up here. I'm off now to prepare for the adventure.

Packing for a Con--Don't forget the Umbrella

I love science fiction and fantasy cons (conventions). Once you're there, they're lovely with lots of things to do and lots of people to meet. What you do is totally up to you.

I'm preparing to go to Worldcon in Scotland and am going through the usual: I've made sure my passport is up to date and have prepacked a folder with my hotel reservation, my con membership, my airplane tickets, and such. I'm also trying to figure out clothes as right now I'm experiencing a heat wave at home. The last time I looked at the weather in Scotland it said in the 60s F. So I'll bring along some sweaters and a jacket. Oh, and an umbrella.

I was looking at the program online and trying to plan what I'd like to attend. I saw Light Saber Making, but was disappointed that I'm not young enough to be part of the youth program and make my own light saber. Actually I have one--I got it as a mother's day gift. I think everyone should have a light saber, an hour or so of light saber practice and you'll feel better about everything.

I am going to keep a Con Journal and will be posting when I can to tell you all about my adventures at Worldcon. I'm also planning to take some pictures and share them here.

Ta ta

Susan

Welcome to The Writing House!

"Writing is the breathe of my life. I write because not to write means not to live. It is the truest and bravest expression of freedom in the world. "
- Susan Hanniford Crowley

I invite you to express your truest feelings about writing. We can discuss writing for a healthier self, writing for freedom, writing to get published and the publishing world, how to cope with rejection, etc. I could go on and on. Please, don't post anything you're not willing to give away. This is a venue for discussion and not publication. And please, please, keep it clean and be thoughtful of the others that share this blog with you.

Thank you and welcome!