The sixth annual Superstars Writing Seminar is coming up, only a month away. We've already got more signups than ever before, more speakers, more panel opportunities. Here are some of the new additions to make this even more awesome than previous years: •    We will have two tracks of programming in the afternoon. There were so many topics to cover, this allows us to add nine extra hours of talks, workshops, and panels. •   Individual one-on-one clinics: editors from two major publishing houses will meet directly with students to critique cover letters and pitches; art directors and publishers...
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Every year at Christmas, numerous (actually, that deserves to be capitalized—NUMEROUS) family members descend on Colorado, and my normal "introverted writer" self is required to be sociable. In order to charge up my sociable batteries, I try to get away for some solitude ahead of time. My Go-To Place is often the gorgeous, silent, and spectacular canyonlands country of southern Utah. I carved out five days to drive across the Colorado mountains, to Moab Utah, then south to the small town of Monticello--nearly empty this time of year, with few services, but a very inexpensive motel room, and right at...
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At the last Superstars Writing Seminar in Feb 2014 we had a crackpot idea—we put together an anthology of Purple Unicorn stories, ONE HORN TO RULE THEM ALL, with original cover art by James Artimus Owen, edited by Lisa Mangum, with stories by Todd J. McCaffrey, Jody Lynn Nye, Peter S. Beagle, and the very best entries by alumni from previous Superstars. WordFire Press published the book—and all profits went to fund a scholarship for one student to attend the next Superstars, February 5-7 2015 in Colorado Springs. We posted entry details and opened the scholarship to submissions in November,...
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Because of an avalanche of deadlines and obligations (so, what else is new?) I never managed to go out snowshoeing a single time last winter. I love to get out in the mountains in the pristine white silence and trudge along the snowshoe or cross-country ski trails and dictate new chapters. It's hiking in the snow!  I was determined not to let this winter go by without a snowshoe trip, so I cleared my schedule last Saturday, got my notes ready for three more chapters in CLOCKWORK LIVES, winter gear...now, all I needed to do was find some SNOW. We've...
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