Hello! I am new!

thearchduke

Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2018
Messages
42
Reaction score
4
Location
A mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam
Website
againststupiditycomic.wordpress.com
Hey everybody,

I forget who recommended this site to me, but I'm here now, so hello! I'm a digital librarian/web developer, former self-help ghostwriter, and gay-married cat owner in San Francisco. I have an unusual enough meatspace name that you can just call me thearchduke, or whatever mangling of it that you'd prefer. A writing teacher once told me, "I've never seen somebody earn this many exclamation points in a story before." I believe the story was about speed-loving farmers in space.

I've been writing my entire life yadda yadda; in earnest for many of the last twelve years; and with rigor for the last three. My first novel (Ludlum-esque spy thriller) was kind of bad. My first novella (political farce/buddy travelogue in the post-apocalyptic Bay Area) came out of the Three-Day Novel Contest and was on the shortlist. My second novel, which I'm now finishing the third draft of, is going much better (see: rigor). It's about what happens after all the living fish in the world suddenly vanish. I will have it out to beta readers before April 6th.

I'm also trying to sell my first short story in years. It tells of an ex-grad-student-turned-Jewish-mystic-archivist trying to navigate life in near-future New York. It's too long, but I think it's quite good, so we'll see.

I've been reading a lot of sci-fi and urban fantasy lately/forever. I also like heists, horror, procedurals, and thrillers. The most exciting books I've read this year are Brimstone by Cherie Priest, and Empire Games by Charles Stross.

And yes, I do beta read.

So hi!
 

xkara

Registered
Joined
Mar 15, 2018
Messages
28
Reaction score
2
Hello, Arch Duke! I really want to call you Archie, if only because Arch is in your username and your avatar is a cat that looks reasonably like my cat, Archie. :p

Hello from Berkeley thereabouts! I am also an aspiring web developer as well as a writer, though I'm going to spend the next two years learning more about game development and computer science than web development itself. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with some web development in general, because I quite enjoy it!

I'm going to have to look more closely at the links in your signature, and maybe pick your brain about Pathfork sometime in the near future (if that's okay!) I'd love to make and contribute to more writing software in the future. I must constantly be combining my many loves. Writing, Programming, and Games, and so much more!
 

regdog

The Scavengers
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
58,075
Reaction score
21,013
Location
She/Her
:welcome:


Take some time and read the Newbie Guide and the Stickies found
at the top of Forum pages. They are your best guide to learning about
Absolute Write.


Stop by the Weekend Progress Report each week to brag about your weekly writing accomplishments.
Awesome smilies and awards are given each week.




Please read the FAQ about posting photos.




In fact we have lots of brilliant FAQs check them out.




Members who want to start a thread in Share Your Work to have work critiqued need
50 posts. Don’t make a mad dash to reach your 50 posts. That is frowned upon and can lead to your posts being deleted.
Take some time to greet fellow newbies, critique other members’ works, or join a discussion.




Announcements, Events and Self Promotion is for active members only. All obvious spam will be deleted on sight!
Here’s how to Promote With Aplomb.


Try stopping by Writing Exercises, Prompts & Whimsical Pursuits and give the Flash Fiction Challenge a try.
 

thearchduke

Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2018
Messages
42
Reaction score
4
Location
A mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam
Website
againststupiditycomic.wordpress.com
Hello from Berkeley thereabouts! [...] I'm going to have to look more closely at the links in your signature, and maybe pick your brain about Pathfork sometime in the near future (if that's okay!) I'd love to make and contribute to more writing software in the future. I must constantly be combining my many loves. Writing, Programming, and Games, and so much more!

Heya! I'm always down for questions/collaborators. I have many features I'd like to add but don't have the time for. I actually think writing and programming have a lot in common, at least in terms of process.
 

xkara

Registered
Joined
Mar 15, 2018
Messages
28
Reaction score
2
Heya! I'm always down for questions/collaborators. I have many features I'd like to add but don't have the time for. I actually think writing and programming have a lot in common, at least in terms of process.

You're right, they probably are pretty similar. That must be why I struggle so much with both of them! D':

Maybe I ought to send you a private message to find out more about your project and what you want to add to it! Though I saw you use Go — I know nothing about it and don't intend to learn it any time soon. xD I'm still very novice as a programmer (I'm a freshman in Computer Science).
 

Zan75

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
646
Reaction score
16
Greetings Duke, welcome to the forums. Best of luck with your projects, hope it works out for you.
 

clangan

Registered
Joined
Mar 16, 2018
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Hey there! Welcome! I just got here too. So, ALL the living fish disappear? I've got questions! Does that include the mammals? What about cephalopods and crustaceans?

(In case you couldn't tell, I'm interested and eager to hear more hahaha)
 

Denevius

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Jun 26, 2016
Messages
2,474
Reaction score
337
Location
Seoul
Hello, Duke, and good luck on the short story sell!

Welcome to AW!
 

rawan

Registered
Joined
Mar 16, 2018
Messages
17
Reaction score
0
Hi, thearchduke! Best of luck with your short story and novel. I'm also aiming to get back into submitting to magazines after a couple years of not doing so, but I still have to get a clean draft of my story!
 

CAQuinn

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
72
Reaction score
2
Location
Accra, Ghana
the DUKE of SanFran is 'A' number 1!

i sort of collect beliefs along the way in life
and i breathe mystic
id love to read about a jewish mystic
there's a mystic group here check it out and join if you want

and i too beta read.
i'm still trying to get my 50 posts at breakneck speed
to be able to post 2 to 4 books for folks to critique
i would love to swap beta reads.
so after i finish my 50 posts tonight ill fish a round the site
and figure out the process of posting books and where to give critique

and i will call you the DUKE ... not DUKE ... but
the DUKE... always in caps

I am the dreadtroll, not dreadtroll... but 'the' dreadtroll

christoph
 
Last edited:

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
9,239
Reaction score
2,316
Location
Oregon, USA
:welcome:, Archduke. Please use your high offices to welcome Richard Sherman as he transfers south from the Seahawks (my team) in the Pacific Northwest to the Forty-Niners (my brother's team) in the Bay Area. :greenie
 

Sarah697

Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2018
Messages
16
Reaction score
1
Hello, and welcome from someone else who's new to the forums! Your projects sound quite intriguing. If you're ever interested in trading pages for notes, let me know! I write fiction with a comedic bent.
 

J_Star

Registered
Joined
Mar 22, 2018
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Location
Mostly outdoors
I love how you seem to have a strong grasp on how to use your strengths to overcome your weaknesses. You're like the best kind of main character :D
 
Last edited: