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Rainforest Revelations

Several of the Inkpunks recently returned from the amazing Rainforest Writers Village Retreat. This was my third year attending and I cannot say enough good things about it. It takes place at the The Rain Forest Resort Village, situated on Lake Quinault in the Pacific Northwest Pennisula. It’s not only a gorgeous setting which inspires [...]

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some alternatives to drinking alone in the dark

I’ve had this conversation several times lately: Friend: “Hey, what cons are you going to this year? Will you be at [ComicCon? Rainforest? IMC? Norwescon? WHC? IlluxCon? WFC?... etc]” Me: “No, i’m not going to that one either…” It usually feels a bit like this: Let’s face it. Conventions and workshops are great for networking [...]

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drInkpunks: Cheers to You All!

So for the last couple of years, I’ve been putting my amateur mixology skills to use for the good of the Inkpunks. For their birthdays, each Inkpunk got a custom-crafted cocktail from me, along with a card and a recipe. It was a way for me to practice my skills, of course, but more than [...]

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all quiet like….

Almost two years ago John Remy wrote this post about community building and twitter. It’s one of those “where it all started”  posts, nostalgic and wonderful to read. Small connections becoming powerful friendships,  twitter jokes becoming full blown book projects. Creative lives intersecting and growing. My own relationship with twitter has been a shifting, morphing [...]

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That day. (And so many others)

What I remember about September 11, 2001: It was the day I had planned to move into a new painting studio. We were newlyweds living in a cramped 1 bedroom apartment, a corner of which I was using to make all manner of messes.  I had finally made arrangements to rent a spot in a [...]

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Invincible Convictions

What are your most deeply held personal beliefs?No, you don’t have to tell me in the comments section below (unless you really want to), but take a moment to think about it. Chances are a few gut reactions will boil up to the surface of your thoughts. “I’m a liberal.” “I’m a conservative.” “I believe [...]

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Guest Post from Tracie Welser: Writing Conventions and How to Survive (an Incomplete List)

Tracie Welser is a graduate of the 2010 Clarion West Writers Workshop. Her recent publications include “A Body Without Fur” (May/June 2012 Interzone) and “Her Bones, Those of the Dead” (forthcoming in Outlaw Bodies). You can find her online at This Is Not An Owl and twitter: @traciewelser. “Writing, at its best, is a lonely [...]

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The Deep End: My Plunge Into the SFF Community

Maybe I’m feeling sentimental these days, but I’ve been thinking a lot about how freaking awesome the SFF community is, and how lucky I am to be a part of it. Okay, I know there are times when it’s not, and there’ve been lots of posts and discussion about that, but today I want to [...]

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Stay in School

It’s the time of year when everyone is getting ready to head to Clarion and Launchpad and conventions. It’s busy and social, signings will abound, and you might even meet some of the authors who have shaped your life. And that is one of the things that makes our genre so incredible. But hey, there’s [...]

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Promote Yourself, Guilt-free!

In the spirit of John Scalzi’s “pimp threads” on Whatever, I’m opening up an open self-promotion thread. Please feel free to post a comment about yourselves and your work by answering the following questions: 1) Who are you? 2) What kind of stories do you write? 3) Share a short excerpt of your writing (no [...]

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