Wednesday, 14 November 2001

I was searching on the web for sf and fantasy writers in Champaign-Urbana. (I figured there ought to be some, but the only ones I knew of had moved away.) And I found Kelly Searsmith, who went to Clarion in 2000. We've started exchanging email about starting a local writers group.

If you happen to know any sf or fantasy writers who live in Champaign or Urbana (or nearby), write very well, are great critiquers, and really nice people to hang around with, please put them in touch with me.

I got my first critique back on "Policy Limit." It was pretty positive, although it pointed up some points that I need to address. The main thing was, it seemed to strike a chord, which is what I was hoping for. So, it worked for at least one reader.

I slept really late this morning. Jackie woke me up at 7:20, so I'd have some hope of getting to work on time. That's the latest I've slept in some time. I've mentioned before that I tend to get slothful when the days get short, so you may appreciate that I see myself in the cartoon on this page, especially given that my degree actually is in economics.

No actual progress on my story, although it is nearly, nearly done. This evening Jackie and I watched last week's "Buffy." We get to see the Buffys (almost a week late) on the local WB station, because there is no local UPN affiliate. But the week-late Buffy we saw on Saturday was not the 8-minute-longer version that was on UPN a week ago. Fortunately, a friend had a tape to loan us.

I had ideas for two new stories and noted them down. One's a short-short. The other's more substantial. So, I have something to work on as soon as I'm done with the current story.