i just met [is it a kind of dream?]

adrian_middle, and he's a really great bloke and a terrific fountain of knowledge re Who stuff and Craig himself.

Better still, he's a fantastic editor with a very nice manner about him, so it was much easier to take "your first draft of TF sucks ass and isnt worth the paper its printed on" from him than it would've been from anyone else!

He chopped me up and spat me out, but so gently and inoffensively that i was able to take on board his very helpful suggestions without letting my ego get in the way, which is a talent many many many people lack. He was able to show me my own strengths and weaknesses without making me feel like the total n00b amateur that I am, and it was a really pleasant meeting.

There IS a story in there, and I have to draw it out. My first draft was more suited as the beginning of an 80k novel, not a 10k anthology piece, so lots of verbal diarrhoea and pain-fetish wanking got in the way of a potentially good story and interesting original characters. *puts on thinking cap*

I have a large scale rewrite to do, with 19 days to do it in. *hits the panic button*

If i'm absent from LJ, its because i'm busy working on the most important piece i've ever written, and certainly the one that means the most to me emotionally.

S&S fic is on hold i'm afraid. Assuming i can stop me old tinker from thinking about it!

You go, girl!! Now, get to work. :)

♥ ♥ ♥

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Hi-yah! *cracks whip overtop own head*

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Ah, told you so :)

You know, one Wednesday lunchtime you should consider Birmingham University's Scifi Society. They meet in one of the committee rooms in the Guild of Students and I had five great years in their company.

Yeah but am i not waaay too old to be mistaken for a student? :) Do they let anyone in? Weds 1-4 i'm busy taking pumpkin to school but otherwise i'm free...

Yeah, so Adrian doesnt bite :) I'm glad, too, hehe.

The meetings always used to be between 1 and 2, but then the evening events are probably better for breaking the ice anyway.

The Guild is open - technically you should have a university ID card, but there's never really anyone checking unless there's an event on. And with both lecturers AND mature students using the facilities, you've nothing to worry about there.

Ooh. I might look into it. Sadly pumpkin has to be at school at 1.15 so its a bit awkward, but maybe one day when my better half has a holiday booked or something...

Re-write like the wind, quick while you're still in a panic-induced, well-motivated state! ;)

Good luck and just remember how much you managed to write last November - 10k of plotting, editing, re-writing and polishing in 19 days is nothing! :)

Exactly, and exactly.

I'm weeding out the chaff right now and trying to form the backbone of what i can keep, and working in other plot elements right now in [ ]s, while my arse still hurts from the bollocking I got today ;)

Ha ha, i'm kidding of course :D

Adrians sounds like a one-in-a-million type of guy. Wipes the floor with you, but you end up thanking him for it. Those types are rare in my experience. I liked the pain fetish bits, but I can understand the need to sacrifice for the sake of plot. It'll be better for it. Good luck!

I always intended to write two versions, one for ME and one for the book. Seems I am doing just that.

Thanks Happy :) I might archive the pain-fetishist version up at Teaspoon - I love it just the way it is, myself, as the introduction to a much bigger story.

Unfortunately, that's not what the anthology needs/wants!

Yeah. He is. I like him! And he's a damn fine editor.

I think I might be flattered. Except perhaps for

He chopped me up and spat me out

Did I do that?

As for BUSF, they're a decent bunch. I've been a member on and off over the years, and they have plenty of lifers who look older than you do. Failing that there's the Birmingham Science Fiction Group (BSFG), to which several retained graduates migrate.

Another option is to join the BSFA, who have a goodly number of orbiter groups (both online and in the flesh) you could hook up with.

Are the Wolves of Fenric still going? I always meant to wander down to the Tap and Spile. I still get all the BUSF emails for some reason, it seems to have remained fun in the five years or so since I was last there.

The Wolves? AIUI they're a dead parrot, although there might still be a few irregular faces at the Tap and Spile. They were never really too focused on writing though. Myself and Roger Clark (the founder of the Wolves) regularly meet up and talk of a proper resurrection, but we're just too busy these days.

Possibly i should have written 'chopped up and spat out TF' instead of me, but in a sense, my writing is a part of me, even if i didnt take it personally.

*cracks whip over her own head and gets back to work before church*

If you fancy returning the compliment, give me some feedback on my own piece "The Darkest Corner", its still up in the yahoo files.

If i get TF done in time, I'd be honoured.

*is balls to the wall on TF, and just about to pull it together.*

Many more paragraphs to write, and then editing, natch, but its coming together according to plan!

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