NEW USERS! INTRODUCE YOURSELVES!

Welcome, Sera!

Thanks, morshana! ^^

Thanks for the welcome, guys! I appreciate it. I think I attempt to be shark-y-- circling around in the depths of knowledge-- but that does not limit my abilities in the realm of the stupid. Many the wall have I bounced off of entirely of my own volition.

You're probably one of them sharks - come in, pretend to be all new and stuff, then say something like, "let's make it interesting," and proceed to beat us all in the next quarter by scoring finalist and then first place.

Is there a preferred place for the most newbie of questions to occur? Or perhaps even some less than newbie questions, lol.

Less than newbie? See 'shark' comment above. lol.

First thing is most questions have been asked at some point over the past few years. Do a quick forum search, or scroll back over the past few pages of threads to see if anything leaps out at you. Otherwise, start a new thread and ask away.

Steve

This is an introduction from me unto you. All of you. Staring. From the other side of the screen.

I must admit to feeling sadly overwhelmed by a great deal involving this contest. Everyone seems so veteran and experienced and I'm lurking about the forums going, '... Which Quarter am I even entered in?' It highlights my many, many questions that i shall likely continue to lurk about and try to answer them through osmosis rather than emphasis my confusion. ^.~

I go by sera and will likely use that-- or some aspect of that-- as my pen name, should I ever actually succeed in getting published. Please treat me kindly!

Hmm, I thought I had said welcome already, must have been when I thought about asking if you were Siri also but decided not to go there.

So, in any case, be welcomed. This is a fine place for writers and learning the craft...sometimes an oddly fun place too as you probably know by now.

Of course it's Odd fun we're writers.

I feel like I should start singing that song, now: 'Baby shark, dodo dododo do....'

I don't expect to do well in this contest, but I must admit to hoping for an HM or something, lol. I used a world I created for NaNoWriMo last year and started work on my entry on January 1st. It went through quite a few rounds of rewrites and editing, so I feel like it's a nicely cleaned-up piece. Cruising around the forum makes me worry about its length, though; it was just over 16,000 words. Curse my innate wordiness!

[On that note, please excuse excessive rambling today; it's been a rough few days!]

Thanks for the further welcomes, Steve and LDWriter2! Trying to learn more about how ya'll usually do things, I've indeed been scanning older threads. Is there any preference about bumping older topics versus beginning new ones?

We're a laid back bunch, I think. Write or ask whatever you like, as long as you're not nasty, though nastiness can be okay as long as you add some spice or ketchup. The gator's prone to wild fancies of eating forum members. We've tried to distract her with chicken or fish. It can get a little confusing for her, though, when people panic during quarterly results and start halibut-slapping.

And whatever you do, don't feed the trolls.

Welcome, Sera! It's always nice to see new faces around the boards, and I'm sure you'll fit in in no time!

And whatever you do, don't feed the trolls.

But this is a speculative fiction forum! Trolls should be as common as dragons, zombies, aliens, and robots around here. (And at least as hungry as Gators!)

And whatever you do, don't feed the trolls.

But this is a speculative fiction forum! Trolls should be as common as dragons, zombies, aliens, and robots around here. (And at least as hungry as Gators!)

They'll eat your goats.

And whatever you do, don't feed the trolls.

But this is a speculative fiction forum! Trolls should be as common as dragons, zombies, aliens, and robots around here. (And at least as hungry as Gators!)

They'll eat your goats.

Trolls or gators?

Trolls. Apparently no one reads fairy tales and fables anymore.

Welcome, sera! I often feel the same way, I'm afraid. All I can do is keep submitting!

Trolls. Apparently no one reads fairy tales and fables anymore.

I got it.

And whatever you do, don't feed the trolls.

But this is a speculative fiction forum! Trolls should be as common as dragons, zombies, aliens, and robots around here. (And at least as hungry as Gators!)

They'll eat your goats.

Nah, just kick 'em in the river. (Sorry if the formatting's a little rough there. My style sheet is broken, and I haven't gotten it fixed yet.)

Hey all,

Looking forward to joining this community of wonderful aspiring writers! I am a technician at a local LED plant and working hard in my spare time to up my word count. Being married to an aweseome wife and having three kids while working night shift is making this a challenging endeavor but arent most successful people busy?

My main goal from now on is to submit a story every quarter until I win or pro out and follow Heinlin's modified rules for the digital age that Kristine Kathryn Rush wrote in her article in v28. Even though I have never attended one of their workshops I feel like I am inderectly a student of hers and Dean Wesley Smith's, I love their work and blog posts. I hope everyones submission and work this quarter is going well.

Welcome aboard, Jonathon! It sounds to me like you have a pretty good plan.

Indeed welcome Jonathan.

This here is a nice place to learn and practice the craft...if you have a slightly off kilter sense of humor.

But have you heard of Dean's Online workshops? http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=7474

Some have been filled already.

Oh, do be careful around here, there seems to be a Gator who gets loose at times and someone whose first name is Mad.

Hi Jonathan! Welcome aboard!

Oh, do be careful around here, there seems to be a Gator who gets loose at times and someone whose first name is Mad.

We're all mad here.

Hi Jonathan! Hi sera! Welcome, and good luck with your entries.

Thanks for the warm welcome! Nothing like a bunch of fun and mad writers to hang out with, lol. Good luck with all your entries here and other markets.

Hello All!

I've been lurking on the board for almost a year now, and decided it's time to join the land of the living;) I've been telling myself I'm going to enter the contest 'next quarter' for about four quarters now, and I've realized that this must stop. Immediately. Therefore, I am taking a break from my novel to finish a short story so that I can enter this quarter (Ouch. My novel is having separation anxiety already).

Looking forward to taking part in the discussions!

Hey Liz. I was going to say 'welcome aboard' but then I realised you've actually been a stowaway for the past year. No matter. Just watch out for Evil Martin, the Cruise director. He makes some walk the plank, where our snappy gator eaits beneath.

Oh, and watch out for icebergs.

Steve
(I have no idea where I was going with all that)

Welcome aboard, Liz! Stowaways are welcome here! We're not going to reenact "The Cold Equations", after all.

Welcome, Liz!

And I love that story, Martin!

Welcome to the light! Well, sort of light. It's more like light with dark tendencies. Kinda like Luke after he went to the dark side and came back.

Thanks everyone! It's good to know that stowaways are welcome too

Hey All,

I joined the board a couple of weeks ago, but haven't got round to introducing myself yet because... I never know what to say in intros. My name's Kylie. Australian, ESL teacher, single mum to three boys. Until a couple of weeks ago I was also a uni student (classical languages), but I had a bit of temper tantrum about never having time to write and am now on leave of absence. This will be my first entry in WoTF. I've had a look through the boards and taken due note of the need to be careful of the occasional snapp 'gator...anything else I need to watch for?

Kylie Bullivant

Welcome aboard, Kylie! Besides the occasional Gator romp, the biggest danger around here seems to be the Australians. We get an awful lot of them, and they seem to do disproportionately well in the contest, so I figure there must be some Secret Society of Science Fiction Gurus Down Under.

(Who, me? Envious? Nah, couldn't be... )