An honest introduction thread

Whew, boy, did I give myself a tall order with that title or what? I suppose it's time to tell things straight for my introduction. I came around to Absolute Write looking for successful query letters. I'm sitting on a fantasy novel manuscript that I'm trying to get in front of some hungry agent's eyes, you see. In the search of successful query letters and how to emulate them, someone linked to this forum, and I spent far longer than I'd like to admit trying to find a quick and easy way to read the success. As a side effect, I was exposed to the idea of maybe joining this community where I could share my work, critique others, and ask advice. Well, now I take the plunge here to read and be read. I have no doubt you all are a welcoming community.

Now for a few quick answers to the get-to-know-you questions

• What genres do you write?
Fantasy is my current draw, with Sci Fi close behind. That said, I'd hate to ever pigeonhole myself entirely, since I tend to come at the characters first and setting second. Fantasy is just nice as I get to write my own rules of the world instead of worrying about if I'm writing a police procedural with accurate procedure.

• What do you like to read?
I do have a favorite book list in my signature and you'll see a lot of fantasy and sci fi there. But hand me anything with a compelling take on a setting, and characters with rich psychological motivations.

• How long have you been writing?
That's a heck of a question to answer. I've told myself stories as long as I can remember, aspired to be a professional novelist since I was 14, worked on a group project and got an anthology published at 16, earned a BA with a creative writing emphasis, and now trying to get this book here published. So, where do I draw the line for "how long have I been writing?" When I put pen to paper? When my aspirations became serious? Do I ignore my stint as a teacher in a foreign country?

Uhh ... to answer, awhile, I suppose.

• Do you beta read?
Beta reading can be a bit exhausting to me, as I did so much of it for my degree. Currently, I'm on a bit of a "You show me yours, I'll show you mine" mindset, which I suspect is more or less the status quo for everyone but the very dedicated.

• Do you have any particular hobbies? Are you expert in any particular field or craft?
I'll rattle off a few hobbies I suppose. Martial arts, psychology, history, historical sword fighting, modern board gaming, science. You can probably tell I'm a bit of a nerd, but I like to be a well rounded person nerd. Besides, all knowledge ends up going back into writing a books, doesn't it? Cast a net deep and wide.

Now, on to browsing more topics. I'll see you around the forums.

Enlightened said:

Welcome. I am curious, can you give some examples of modern board gaming? Not all knowledge can go back to writing. How to walk and chew gum is kind of a personal thing.

Click to expand...

I grew up hating board games. Monopoly, Sorry, all those roll-and-more-your-guy-around-the-board-until-someone-wins quickly wore thin. Exception of Mouse Trap, because who doesn't love a Rube Goldberg machine? About five years ago, I discovered a review show called Shut Up and Sit Down and their review of Escape: Curse of the Temple. As soon as I finished, I knew two things. 1) I had to play this, and 2) I had to see what else was out there.

Long story short, what I'm referring to with modern board games are like, Cosmic Encounter, Galaxy Trucker, Mysterium, Catacombs, Dead of Winter, and many more in my collection. Cosmic Encounter isn't exactly new, the first edition being from the 80s, but at least I can claim it's newer than Monopoly!



Part of me wants to see if I can argue about how the knowledge of chewing gum and walking can also come back to helping write books, but that's just me being contrarian I suppose!

JackieZee said:

Well hello there AW-twin. I also came here almost the exact same way you did, I also write fantasy, and Cosmic Encounter and Galaxy Trucker are two of my very favorite games in my collection. Shut up & Sit Down is amazing, and Name of the Wind is possibly my favorite book.

PM me if you want to swap query letters for feedback!

Click to expand...

Galaxy Trucker! That's another good one. I love throwing just a little chaos into games that brings out the humor. I don't get to play that nearly enough because one of the people at our game nights hates seeing his creation destroyed. He was always last to finish his "truck" as he just took his time to make it perfect. Only to immediately watch it get torn apart. Me, however, I loved it.

Name of the Wind is easily way up there for me. My overall favorite tends to rest on Kushiel's Dart as it was the first book of it's kind that I read. The two books have a whole lot of similarities, though KD actually manages to wrap up a tail by the end of the first in it's trilogy, and really that was the best in the whole series. Still, eagerly awaiting The Doors of Stone. Who knows? Maybe that will dislodge my top pick.

Oh, silly me, I nearly forgot to reply to the most important part. I'd be happy to swap query letters, but I don't believe at all in my own personal expertise yet with it. So any advice I give would be from the point of view of a learning newbie.

smorrigan said:

Ace introduction, wonderful book choices and i'm super jealous you have people to play board games with. I can't even get my humans to sit through a game of munchkin!

Click to expand...

Try a few different styles of games! I'm pretty sure there is one out there to hook them. Admittedly, Munchkin isn't my favorite game either, and it's hard to get me to sit and play that too. You could try to hook them on something easy to explain, light, and fast, like Escape: Curse of the Temple. Once you have him trained to sit, start trying a few more complicated games. Cosmic Encounter shares some design features with Munchkin, but tends to be far, far more repayable and drags on less.