Wulf Moon's SUPER SECRETS Workshop & Challenge!

@wulfmoon I absolutely understand! I’ll follow along and I’ll still be around when the next opportunity to join arises

@empressed Thanks very much for the kind words. This group has really helped me be accountable and I appreciate everyone here. 

The Keeper of Records scoured the scrolls, searching for inspiration. He selected a scroll at random, sliding it from the center of its diamond-shaped cubby and blowing dust from the ancient velum. Spidery handwriting outlined dull procedures for creating impenetrable rules and red tape–ways to rig the system so the house always won. He almost slid it back, but then he saw four words at the bottom, the velum below it torn raggedly away. His heart raced. Someone hadn’t wanted this information preserved. Only the header remained:

Winning the Rigged Game

This was it. The Monday KYD prompt. Ideas spun in his mind as he ran to tell the others.

@lost_bard I love how much emotion you put into your job as keeper of the scrolls. Keep up the great work! 

Happy New Year to everyone!!

I've written 9,000 words+ this quarter, submitted to more than 6 I think respectable markets, got in an old story for WotF, and did 3 KYDs (2 normal ones and one rushed :)). Here's to a brilliantly creative 2022!

@wulfmoon heh, heh. So true. I definitely benefited from doing the exercises on my own. When I joined the Forum (many thanks to Martin Shoemaker for helping me do so) workshop #2 was already in session and closed to new members. So, when the Top Gun workshop opened up, I was trained and ready to participate in the advanced studies.

I made this post to Facebook today:

“I challenged my Super Secrets Workshop Wulf Pack writers to submit to the Mike Resnick Memorial New Writer Award. They took up the challenge like champs! Three of them made their first pro sales through this wonderful program. Please join me in congratulating Christopher Henckel on his sale and publication in the esteemed Galaxy’s Edge magazine! Well done, Challenge Beastie!”

http://www.galaxysedge.com/

Congratulations Christopher! I can hardly wait for my copy of this issue to arrive!

Congratulations Christopher!  
I read the teaser for your story and it sounds fascinating. I’m excited to read it.

Super Secrets Year 3 TOPGUN Workshop Graduation Ceremony

San Diego’s sun shined with power upon the patio grounds of Miramar’s pool, decked out this day to provide the stage for the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program’s graduation ceremony, popularly known as TOPGUN. The seated graduates gleamed in their dress whites as Commander “Beastmaster” Moon gave his concluding comments. Gone was the stone-faced commander with gunmetal gray eyes and a voice as cold as tombstones. On this day, their commander’s voice rose with pride and his face warmed with a smile as he spoke his final commendations.

“Instruction is important, but you sharpen iron with iron. I designed this year to gather those with top scores to team up and push one another to their limits and beyond. You had tougher challenges, greater demands than any other class placed upon you. These challenges were designed to help you achieve higher altitude in your skills, to dig down and discover potential you had never known you had. You’ve had plenty of training before this, but mastery comes through practice. This year, I had you doing maneuvers in the sky instead of studying books in the classroom. I flew training missions alongside you as your wingman, and I can honestly say you did a helluva job. There’s not a naval aviator in this group that failed to graduate without earning top honors. I had hoped this year would help you shine as bright as those gold buttons on your uniforms, and you did not disappoint.

“Eight of you completed every challenge and finished the training. Eight of you are to recieve commendations.

“Lieutenant Henckel, you achieved the rank of WotF Finalist this year, and were second runner-up in the Mike Resnick Memorial Award Contest for New Writers, resulting in your first pro sale to Galaxy’s Edge magazine. Well done, naval aviator!

“Lieutenant RSchibler, in addition to respectable sales in numerous publications, you achieved the rank of earning three WotF Finalists, one of those being chosen as Published Finalist for Volume 38. That’s as pro a sale as you can get, and a workshop and ceremony to rival all. Well done, naval aviator!

“Lieutenant CCrawford, you achieved your first respectable sale in DreamForge Anvil magazine, and received a wonderful illustration of your story. You’re a paid and published writer! Well done, naval aviator!

“Lieutenant crlisle, you achieved multiple honors. Your first pro sale to Daily Science Fiction, and then you topped the year off with a pro sale to Galaxy’s Edge magazine. Well done, naval aviator!

“Lieutenant AjZach, you achieved your first pro-rate sale to Third Flatiron’s THINGS WITH FEATHERS: STORIES OF HOPE anthology. Your first sale published in a book you can hold and sign to fans. Well done, naval aviator!

“Lieutenant ZeeTeeBeeZ, I’ll get to you in a moment, pilot.

“Lieutenant rjklee, who knew when I first assigned you to research respectable markets with Lieutenant SwiftPotato that you’d turn it into your specialty. Your goal of obtaining 100 rejections in a year yielded a respectable sale, just as you hoped! And your example has been contagious, spurring on other pilots to take to the skies to reach your record. For making your first respectable sale to the Cryptids anthology, you are to be commended. Well done, naval aviator!

“Lieutenant empressed, you achieved the rank of Finalist in the Writers of the Future Contest. This Contest is the largest talent search for speculative fiction writers in the world, and ranking as Finalist is one of the hardest things in the world to achieve. That’s a great credit to put in your cover letters, and as you can see by our graduates, once you’ve done that, you can do it again and go on to your win. Well done, naval aviator!

“There is one that wasn’t able to finish out the year that I would also like to commend--she did give birth to a baby, after all. Lieutenant CABarrett, you were invited to this TOPGUN year because you stated the Super Secrets had helped you earn your first WotF Finalist. You ranked this year with a second WotF Finalist. Well done, naval aviator!

“Each of you in the workshop this year achieved top honors, were respectably published, or won the Writers of the Future Contest, and almost all of you were unpublished when you started this TOPGUN year. That is an incredible accomplishment for any workshop, and it’s what I hoped to accomplish this year. What is more, I hoped you would take your honed skills to help other newer pilots learning the ropes, and I see mentoring going on with the next generation, which was my goal here. Helping others behind you to achieve new heights is the spirit behind the WotF Contest, and it’s the spirit I’ve woven through this Super Secrets annual workshop. It’s what makes each of you winners in my book. That you’ve earned highest certificates and won awards and gotten published is the icing on the cake.

“Of course, this is TOPGUN year, and that means that just like the Golden Pen award in WotF, only one can win the TOPGUN trophy. After careful consideration, Lieutenant ZeeTeeBeeZ (Zac Bright), please stand. You know, pilot, when I admitted you in this year, you didn’t have the certificates to meet the qualifications I set. Didn’t matter, I’d seen your writing and knew it was just a matter of time. One of the privileges of being the flight school instructor is knowing a good pilot when I see one. You quickly made good on my gamble. You earned your stripes with your first Silver HM, but it didn’t stop there. I challenged all of you that qualified to enter the Mike Resnick Memorial Award Contest for New Writers, and you used a story from a KYD exercise to win the Grand Prize, and your first sale was to Galaxy’s Edge! That story went on to earn a star in Tangent Online’s Recommended Reading List. And in WotF Vol. 38 Q4, you not only earned Finalist, you won Second Place! Well done, naval aviator! Your prize is a copy of WRITING TO THE POINT by Algis Budrys, the first Contest coordinator of WotF. It’s out of print and is valuable (I’ve often seen them being sold for $200 or more), but if you already have it, you may choose instead a copy of HEINLEIN’S RULES: FIVE SIMPLE BUSINESS RULES FOR WRITING by my mentor and Contest judge, Dean Wesley Smith. I’m also including some WotF memorabilia, like a signed copy of WotF Vol. 35 with my “Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler” story. Well done, Challenge Beastie!

“Before you all toss your caps into the air and break out the champagne, let me conclude by saying it was an honor to serve, and to watch your exponential growth this year. I am proud of each one of you--you have done remarkable things. As you return to your individual carriers, I have one last thing to say: ‘YOU ARE TOPGUN. LIGHT UP THE SKIES.’

“Hooyah!”

Commander Beastmaster Moon

Thanks @wulfmoon !!! And thank you for your steadfast mentorship.

Congratulations all! That’s a lot of accomplishments in one year. I haven’t had a chance to read all of those published stories yet, but the ones I’ve read are fantastic. I’m excited to see what y’all do next!

Pomp and Circumstance Graduation Walking March (Song Extended) - YouTube

Thank you, Commander Moon! 

I'm so proud to be a part of this Top Gun group!  Thank you, Commander Beastmaster Moon, for your mentorship. I've seen results with my writing this year that were only goals and dreams last year, and I could NOT have done this without you. You're the Best. Commander. Evah.  Thank you for everything you've done for us.

Congrats to all! That is an amazing list of accomplishments!

Moon,

It’s been an honor. I knew when I read your winner, and saw your year one workshop that I had to be a part of year two. I’m beyond grateful for your help and encouragement. I can truly say I wouldn’t be where I am (at least as quickly) without you and the secrets.

And as a bonus, I’ve made many writer friends that I did not have before all of this. The Wulf Pack has raised me from a wee pup, and I’m just glad to be running with friends.

(And thank you for the bonus prizes! I do not have AJ’s book, and I’d be honored to accept it!)

-Zeet

Congrats Top Gunners! It has been a treat watching your on-going successes and I've enjoyed quietly working alongside when the time permits. It's certainly inspiring to see such accolades listed here. Thanks for providing motivation and inspiration to your fellow forumites. And of course, thanks to Moon and his wonderful lessons and workshops that help us all up our game. Very grateful to have checked out these forums!

What an awesome tribute to the topgunners! Great work Commander @wulfmoon! You've turned out a superior flight class who have all earned their wings and top honors...  

Thank you Moon, for all your guidance these past years!

Thank you to the wonderful group of people that I have met through this challenge!

Congratulations all! Those are some stellar achievements born of dedication and sustained effort! 

Thanks for letting me in, Moon and for teaching me how to find the door! ?

Congratulations to all Top Gunners! 
That is such an impressive list of achievements- including the fact that you all fulfilled Moon's requirements for that year. Sales, Finalists, wins, submission numbers ... crazy good.

Well done, all!!

And thanks for the continued support that many of you give!!

Congrats to top gunners

Now for the Year 4 SUPER SECRETS Workshop members (and all onlurkers!), I present to you your MONDAY KYD PROMPT!

War Pig!

Oh, you think this prompt is a BOAR? You think this is a fantasy prompt? Doesn't have to be. War Pig would be a great name for a military attack cruiser. Or you could get some deeper ideas from dwelling on the lyrics from Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." Just don't use the song lyrics in your story! Have at it and have fun! I look forward to hearing what you did with this one!

Beastmaster Moon

@wulfmoon 

Oh, there are so many wonderful things we can do with this prompt. Charge!

I'm going to write this prompt down to play with later, it seems like a fun one. I've never actually done a KYD exercise, but it always seemed like something I'd like to play with--I think I'll throw down a handful after my Q2 is dusted off.

Also, to echo everyone else, massive congratulations to last year's Top Gun crew! That was an incredible showing from everyone.

@wulfmoon I need it to be known that I just stopped in to see the prompt but I had already listened to War Pigs several times today(It was that kind of day) We were the war pigs in my company in basic training and they liked to wake us up with War Pigs blaring while tossing our lockers and furniture. So…wow… it made me crack up to see this prompt ?

Posted by: @clfors

@wulfmoon I need it to be known that I just stopped in to see the prompt but I had already listened to War Pigs several times today(It was that kind of day) We were the war pigs in my company in basic training and they liked to wake us up with War Pigs blaring while tossing our lockers and furniture. So…wow… it made me crack up to see this prompt ?

Sounds like the perfect prompt for you, Cherrie! Quite the coincidence. This one must be your destiny! Have at it!

@wulfmoon 

My husband was sick this past week so I'm just now getting to reply to this. I'm super proud to be part of such an illustrious group of hard-working and dedicated writers. You guys have all accomplished so many amazing things this past year! I can't wait to see what you all achieve next!

The members have reported, and their accomplishments are many. They have written their stories, submitted to Writers of the Future and other respectable markets, and have honed their skills with KYDs. Below is the roster of the Year 4 Super Secret Independent Challenge, written in blood upon the Keeper’s scroll:

empressed

scott_m_sands

linardos

jarrodkwilliams

physa

scribblesatdusk

lost_bard

jennypennycarr

anial