OSFest 2's Writer's Workshop

A guest blog by Trudy Myers.

Living in Omaha, Nebraska, involves a number of challenges to those of us who want to write. The one we'll consider today is the difficulty of finding other writers who can help improve one's writing.

I've tried finding local writer's work groups since the one I had fell apart in the 90s. Sometimes, a bookstore will host one, but those are seldom very satisfying. When you write fantasy and science fiction, it's not often that a poet or a romance writer can help you hone your skills. They don't understand the 'rules' of science fiction and fantasy. Maybe they can't get past the fact that they don't understand your science, or maybe they just don't accept the existence of magic.

Been there. Done that.

Even living in the huge Midwest, you can find workshops; either on-line, or by traveling to another city. I've done that, too. Three-hour commute, four-hour workshop, three-hour commute makes for a long day.

You could make arrangements to attend an intensive 6-week course. Okay, I've only done that one on-line.

Or you can attend critique groups and workshops at (some) science fiction conventions. That's the one I do the most of these days.

OSFest is one of those science fiction conventions, and it is held in Omaha in July. It has a writer's workshop associated with it, of the 'critiquing session' variety. It is organized and 'administered' by Matt Rotundo, a local Omaha author. In 2008, it had four participants. To be a participant requires some forethought and preparation, in addition to the desire to write, so this is not for everybody.

If you want to try this, check out the workshop guidlines at: http://www.osfes.org/2009OSFESTWritingWorkshopInformation.pdf and be sure you sign up for the workshop. You can do that by emailing Matt Rotundo at mrotundo@yahoo.com, with "OSFest Writing Workshop" in the subject line. There will be a deadline for sending in a copy of your story to be critiqued, properly formatted. Pretend you are sending this story in to an editor and format appropriately. If you aren't sure what that is, formatting guidelines can be found at http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html

Shortly after that, but before the convention, Matt will send copies of all the stories to each participant. At that point, your job is to read the stories and make notes about them. What didn't work for you, what did? Were there holes in the plot or the characterizations? Was some part unclear, or did a phrase seem particularly well turned? Bring those notes with you to the workshop at the convention.

During the workshop, you'll get a chance to make your observations about everybody else's story. They will comment on yours. Written notes will also be exchanged. Therefore, you'll get a chance to learn in two ways; by studying the work of others, and by having them critique yours.

I'll be there. Hope you will be, too.

Gaming Activities at OSFest 2

This year gaming at OSFest will be a little different. Yes, we will still have the video gaming room on the same floor as the con suite with close to the same number of systems but without the Mature section.

The main difference will be downstairs in the tabletop gaming area. Nuke-con has agreed to come in and sponsor an Aftershock game day for the three days of the convention and along with the Omaha Cavaliers (an official RPGA group) will handle a lot of the general gaming available at the convention.

But Friday night is going to be something special. Moose Mendolia, aka DarthMoose74, the man behind the joystick of R2-CM a.k.a "Patches", is setting up a HUGE Star Wars miniatures adventure for that night along with fellow minis player Jayson Towne. Yes, I understand that the words huge and mini usually don’t go together but you should see what he has planned.

As a member of the Rebel Alliance it will be your duty to defend Hoth. You will be able to build an army of up to 150 player points to help you defend against the attacking Imperial forces. Plus you will be given a unique Rebel random piece before play with special rules attached to it. Of course there are limits to the pieces you can choose from, (go to http://www.osfes.org/gaming.htm and find the link to the rules PDF).

Moose will have all the pieces available if you don’t have everything you need. If you are unfamiliar with the game but would like a free demo, Moose runs Friday night Star Wars minis gaming at Ground Zero in Bellevue from 5pm to 9pm for free – just go to; www.osfes.org/activities.htm and scroll down to the gaming section for details.

There is also a basic online demo of the game system at http://mi.wizards.com/swminis/demo/SW_MinisDemo.html

Moose really needs to know if you are going to play, so drop him an email at mailto:Darth_Moose74@yahoo.com?subject=OSFest if you would like to participate in this unique event.

The Gateway is open!

Sorry about the length of time since I last wrote but I have been busy for awhile pulling a few things together. Like:

OSFES in conjunction with Anime Hoshii is sponsoring a day long costuming workshop in the Metro this May. I will talk more about that as our plans get pulled into cohesion.

Watching the economy, we at OSFES have developed our version of an Economic Assistance Plan. We are lowering the prices for OSFest 2. Check out the new rates at www.osfes.org/registration.htm. Oh, and more on that later. But what I want to talk about today is:

An earlier blog written by a friend of mine discussed the need for a Gateway to fannish activities for the area. Nebraska science fiction, fantasy, and anime fans now have that Gateway; listings happenings and groups locally. Go to www.osfes.org/activities.htm and find something interesting going on. If you don’t find your group’s activities it means that we don’t know about it. So tell us. There is an email link at the bottom of the page to quickly communicate the chances you would like us to make. Remember this is your Gateway. The more activities we can have on it, the more cross-fertilization we can do and find more friends we didn’t know we had.

Why cross-fertilize? Nebraska is a region of America where fans hold strong opinions of their favorite activities, whether that is football, SF/F, or gaming. Such loyalty tends to insulate the fan base from other activities happening that could offer richness and diversity to their lives. Meeting fans with different interests allows ideas and activities to spread from one community to another. So enter the Gateway, try something new and adapt it into your life. Share it with others. Remember OSFest (The Omaha Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival) is a science fiction convention with something for everyone.

Share and Enjoy.

Hugo nominations coming to a close

Read any good books lately? Was the story first published in 2008? Are you a member of Anticipation (the 2009 World Science Fiction Convention) or were you a member of Denvention 3 (the 2008 Worldcon ™)? Have you sent in your Hugo nominations ballot yet? The nominating period for the 2008 Hugos ends this Saturday, February 28, 2009, at 2359 hrs PST. The online ballot is available here.

If you aren’t a member of either of those conventions then you are probably wondering what a Hugo is? Named for Hugo Gernsback the founding editor of Amazing Stories, the Hugo award has been given out at the annual World Science Fiction Convention since 1955 for the fan selected best works in various categories of science fiction and fantasy related work. The categories have changed over the years but currently include best novel, graphic novel, short story, long and longer short story (novelette and novella), dramatic presentation, editor (pro and fan), artist (pro and fan), and fanzine, along with the John W. Campbell for Best New Writer.

So if you attended or are attending either of these Worldcons ™, get your nominations in. If you didn’t or aren’t, look into the upcoming sites for the Worldcon ™, as it does rotate every year. You can find links to the current committees that are bidding to hold it here. It is really a great experience. You can meet a lot of the heavy weights in the industry in a mere weekend. Along with learning about the history that supports our favorite genre.

Gateway

The following is a guest blog. It does not represent the views or opinions of OSFES or other writers for this blog but is the sole opinion of the guest writer. Please express your concerns about this issue in the comments section. But if there is another topic you would like to write an opinion about contact me at jshoberg@cox.net with your ideas.

GATEWAY
By R.L Callaway: NE
edited Jean Sexton: NC
Proofed Howard Bampton: PA

Omaha lacks a gateway informational site. This is a site that consolidates information on the activities and meetings of the various Omaha groups. In the past our centers of information were located in the game shops, comic book shops, and specialty bookstores, such as Merchant of Venus and Star Realm. These are stores that many of today's fans have never heard of.

There are reportedly seven different anime clubs, between four and seven gaming groups, at least three conventions, two to three video media groups and God alone knows if the DR WHO folks are still around in the greater Omaha metro area. Does anyone know when and where they all meet? What their current interests are? When their meetings are held? Who is in charge? And the last of the five Ws of journalism: Why?

The Greater Omaha Metro Area Science Fiction and Fantasy community is in need of a central site to post information about the area's activities and clubs, including information such as contact points, meeting dates, events, and news. Such a gatekeeper site is not political. It does not care about feuds between groups; it is not a blog; it has no opinions about the events. It will not allow a petty-minded flame war to exist on its discussion site. If someone needs to talk trash, then they can text it to whomever they want, but not via this site. In short, it is purely an informational area (OK, it might have one section for banter but you have to keep it clean).

The major rule of the site would be the five Ws of the journalist: Who, What, When, Where, Why.

Thus announcements such as:

203rd Lyran Sq will be holding a Christmas party @ 6pm-9pm 12-21-09 @ charlies 7301 Giles RD No alcohol or Rec Drugs permitted; all welcome.
The FMP anime club will be showing season 1 disk 3 of Black Lagoon starting at 2pm 12-22-09 in room C Downtown library. Contact Jim Thorpe for additional information (see club contact section for details).

We can use a neutral site to bring together the facts about fandom in the Omaha area. It must be about facts, not feuds, not hurt feelings; it should not be about ego, nor should it feature any one group's agenda. But the facts about who we are, where we can be found, when we are meeting, what are we doing, and why we are doing it.

It can only be done if you see a need and a desire to fill it.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Yes, it’s cold outside! That means we need to find things to do in places that are kept warm. Very warm, I just looked up the 10-day forecast from the National Weather Service.

Reading is one of those activities that do either outdoors or in, and right now I do my reading indoors. What goes great with reading a good book is the ability to talk about it with someone else. OSFES has arranged a time and place every month, where it is warm, to get together for such a discussion. The third Tuesday of every month at the Abrahams branch of the Omaha Public Library (90th & Fort streets) at 6 PM, we have a meeting room set aside so fans of science fiction and fantasy literature can get together and talk about what they have been reading. The next meeting will be February 17th and we will be talking about whatever book(s) you have been reading lately. There is no English Professor present, so it really boils down to what you think about the book. Come and express your opinion, you might even hear about a new book you would like to pick up and read. You will get an email reminder of this meeting if you join our Yahoo group: Omaha_Sci-Fi_Fantasy_Discussions at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Omaha_Sci-Fi_Fantasy_Discussions/

Modeling is another activity that can be done in the safety of a warm building. There is a new model building group meeting at Krypton Comics starting on February 14th. The Gundam Modelers’ Workshop will meet second Saturday of each month thereafter from 2PM until 8PM. While the focus of this group is the building and detailing a specific type of anime models, whatever you are interested in building these guys can teach you techniques to improve your work. Check out: www.osfes.org/activities.htm for more details.

Is there an artist in you? Then check out Fredd Gorham’s Artist Jam at Krypton Comics the third Saturday of each month. For more details, go to: http://kryptoncomicsomaha.com/aboutartistjam


Interested in cosplay? Go to Delice Bakery, 1206 Howard St Omaha, NE in the Old Market the first Sunday of each month from Noon to 3PM for the Otaku Get Together: http://www.otakugettogether.com/. Of course they won’t be doing much outside until the weather warms up some.

Do you have some group plans you would like to include in the Omaha Sci Fi Scene? Drop me a line at jshoberg@cox.net or post a comment where I can get back to you. It’s cold outside and we need activities to keep us warm.

Some New Year Plans!

Once more traveling on our remarkable little planet we are about to complete another circuit around our G-class, life-giving helium factory, the Sun. As we do every year at this time, our thoughts in OSFES turn to activities we can or should pursue in its coming circuit. Let me throw out some ideas and see if there’s any interest in these group events:

If you are part of a group involved in creating or re-creating fannish costumes and would like to dust them off for some community goodwill, why not tour Omaha’s bookstores and libraries in character doing readings from genre literature? I know members of the Omaha Public Library are interested in scheduling such events. If we can find enough interesting characters, we should also be able to work our way into some of the major bookstores in the area.

What you would read would be determined by the costume you were wearing. If you were portraying a Star Wars character, you’d read from a Star Wars novel. If you were dressed as a character from Star Trek, you’d read a passage from a Star Trek novel, and maybe read the first few passages in Klingon if you were dressed as a Klingon. If you were dressed in a medieval costume for a Renaissance fair, you’d read something by Tolkien or from one of the Dragonlance books. If you were doing anime cosplay, you’d read from a particularly interesting manga. If you were dressed for a live-action version of Vampire: The Masquerade, you’d read something by Anne Rice or Laurell K. Hamilton. What you read should reflect both who you’re portraying and what’s on the shelves of the establishment where you’re doing it.

Yes, there’s a promotional motive to this: First, we’re promoting literacy. Second, we’re promoting books in the establishment we’re in. And third, we’re promoting ourselves. Members of the various groups doing the readings should be recruiting for new members for their groups while helping OSFES get the word out about its activities. If we do this right, we all win.

But this promotional cosplay doesn’t have to be limited to reading and books. Another possibility would be to have some of the anime fan groups show up in costume to attend the February 5th showing of the movie “The Sword of the Stranger.” This one-night event, happening at 7:30 PM and would be a great opportunity for those of us who love anime to let the theaters know we exists as a community and want to see more such films.

In this same vein, Starfleet marines and legions of Klingon warriors could turn out in force and in costume for the May 8th premiere of the new Star Trek movie. If we coordinated these events properly, the press coverage could go a long way to identifying our fannish presence in the community and presenting us in a positive light.

Okay, you’d like to take part in these activities, but you don’t have a costume. Would you be interested in taking part in a one-day costuming workshop that would help you and your fellow attendees create your own costume to dress up in, whether at a convention, a Renaissance fair, or just for the fun of it? I know there are cosplay groups and master-level costumers in the greater metro area who have the know-how to teach neo-costumers the basics and then direct their efforts into actual accomplishments. We in OSFES would be willing to find a location for such an event if we can find instructors willing to give of their time and talent.

So what do you think? I want your comments. Do you want to get together with other fans and make our next trip around the sun a more entertaining one? What would you like to do during our next roundabout of the Sun?