Lately, I’ve been doing several different writing activities. I’m planning to attend the annual Pennwriter’s conference in Pittsburgh in the middle of May. There’s the logistics of travel, hotel reservations, and picking the talks. With this conference, though, opportunities abound, such as pitching a novel to agents. I’m reading (more like studying) Shifting Mars’ Sands, and preparing an elevator pitch as well as being able to discuss it in detail when I hook an agent. (Yeah, I used “when,” not “if.”)
Also, I’ve been critiquing pieces for my Saturday writers’ group. The pieces range from obvious first drafts to fairly polished drafts. I see a variety of issues. Some are overwritten, providing description of the ordinary, yet ignoring details to further understanding. Others exhibit structural issues from a vague protagonist story goal to extraneous scenes detailing secondary character background that dubiously relates to the story. Still others, plod along, seemingly not advancing the plot or advancing it at a snail’s pace.
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I’m an author living in northern Virginia with a wife and a cat. In the late ’80s, I worked on the International Space Station project. I recently retired from managing a group of software engineers to focus on writing science fiction and speculative fiction. Learn more.
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