There's an active theory that says Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens lived during the same time period. Neanderthals died out, leaving Homo Sapiens as the sole heirs to Earth. But what if both species had lived? Imagine the modern world with dual species. How would they compete for resources? Would one species be dominant over another?

Remember: Challenges are supposed to be fun, but don't forget to stretch yourself. If you normally write fantasy, try SF. If you've never tried space opera, here's your chance. It doesn't have to be great. It's all about trying new things. There's no word limit, no time limit, no nothin'. Just have fun.

Challenges can be suggested by anyone and suggestions should be sent to Maria (newsletter (at) onlinewritingworkshop.com). 

Happily Ever After Looking for reprint recommendations

John Klima tells us that the Happily Ever After database is looking for your recommendations. The purpose of this project is to solicit recommendations of science fiction and fantasy versions of fairy tale stories from readers and writers, to assist him in selecting the contents of a reprint anthology he's assembling for Night Shade Books. Please see the web site for more information or e-mail John directly.

***

A Working Writer's Daily Planner 2010--Contest!

Small Beer Press has put out an awesome desktop diary for writers, A Working Writer's Daily Planner 2010: Your Year in Writing (which includes all kinds of writing-related info, including a mention of OWW).  You can see a sample of the calendar here. The calendar is $13.95 in trade paper and $4.95 in Ebook.  But if you're feeling lucky, enter our small contest.  Check out the sample pages and description of the Planner.  Then send us your idea for a resource for the 2011 edition--a deadline, writing contest, inspiring quotation, writing prompt or exercise, author's birthday, relevant conference or anniversary--and if it isn't in the 2010 edition, and our friends at Small Beer Press like it, they will send you a free copy of the 2010 Planner!  We've got two Planners to give away in return for applying your brain to the next edition.  Send your ideas to support (at) sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com.  We will pass them along to Small Beer Press by December 15 for selection by a jury of, well, of course, Gavin Grant and our own previous longtime Resident Editor, Kelly Link.

The Editors' Choices are chosen from the submissions from the previous month that show the most potential or otherwise earn the admiration of our Resident Editors. Submissions in four categories--science fiction chapters, fantasy chapters, horror, and short stories -- receive a detailed review, meant to be educational for others as well as the author. 

THE AWAKENING, Chapter 10 by J. W. Parente

Writing fantasy is, in my opinion, not the type of thing you figure out as you go. That is to say, you should know where you want your story to go before you start. If I haven't harped on this before, I'm going to do so now. It should be clear that when writing a novel you have the whole thing planned out in advance. And when you're writing anything of length, say a high fantasy novel or trilogy, this is even more true.

This is not to say that your planned-out novel should be treated like an immutable recipe, for which any substitution or change spells inedible results.  But you want this endeavor to be something about which you've thought long and hard. You can get away with sitting down and writing for only so long. At some point you'll have some pretty major story points to make decisions about and life will be easier if you know them ahead of time so that you've guided your story towards them. You only need to glance at J. W. Parente's summary of previous chapters to know that he's thought about what he's writing.

There is a lot going on in this book and I found the summary necessary to be able to follow along in the chapter. Often I don't read summaries until after I read the chapter; I like to read the chapter cold and see how it stands on its own. This time, I decided to dive into the summary and read it first. I'm glad it did. It showed me that Parente has multiple worlds, races, magical artifacts, curses, diseases, and more. I can tell, even from reading one chapter, that Parente is writing with his overall story in mind. Of course, focusing on the high-level story can sometimes cause the detail level of the story to suffer.

One of the events in this chapter is that a handmaiden dies in the room of the main character Valence. There are several places where I had trouble with this scene. First, the description of the woman entering the room and expiring is so unclear that I found it just frustrating. Also, her dialog starts out in quotes but then stops being in quotes later. Valence starts out with dialog not in quotes and then has it in quotes later. There is a transition here that is not handled well. When moving from one point of view to another, you need to have a clear transition. You might use unclear transitions if you're trying to mislead your reader, but I don't think Parente was trying to confuse me purposefully.

I could not tell if Valence was looking through slitted eyes, somehow able to see through his closed eyelids, or was watching via some sort of astral projection. Perhaps something like this happened earlier in the book with a better and more detailed description so the reader would know what was happening. If not, this needs to be cleared up. Since Valence does not seem to know what's happening, I'd guess this is the first time it's happened in the story, and some more detail is in order.

Once Valence wakes, he and a second handmaiden are shocked to find a dead woman in his room. She screams and runs out of the room. She is not mentioned again in this chapter and I was not sure whether she was off spreading rumors or was being detained/contained in some fashion in order to take control of the situation. When the guards come in, they essentially break the door down, which seemed unnecessary. General Marshall also enters the room (he is working with Valence and was trying to determine why he had missed the morning meal) and orders the guards to lower their spears. The guards lower their spears and leave the room. I think I would have the General tell them to leave rather than the guards leaving of their own accord. Or better yet, instead of having the General send Valence to get the doctor--it seems odd to me that the General does not suspect Valence of killing the handmaiden, he would be my number-one suspect and most likely looks guilty to the guards--the General could send the guards to get the doctor, thereby taking control of the situation and utilizing the guards in a way that gets them out of the room, which seems to be the point. Valence and the General leave immediately after the doctor arrives.

Even given the fact that Valence and the General had a meeting with the King, it does not excuse how abruptly the pair leave the body behind without a second thought. Given that Valence is from a race, the Lunata, that is universally despised, there should be more of a reaction to this woman's death. The whole situation is treated as an inconvenience. The General clearly feels this is a small concern, and perhaps in the larger battle that is happening it is, but the reader needs to know this, too. The reader needs to know why the General trusts Valence--which is potentially already set up in previous chapters; Valence did save the life of the King--but also why this woman's death can be dismissed out of hand.

A minor style point is that when writing dialog, it is almost always best to use the word "said." It's invisible, and will not detract from your writing. However, using even innocuous-sounding words like "argued" or "continued," much less something like "badgered," disrupts the flow of your story. Yes, using "said" every time can seem boring to a writer. Get over it. No word works better. Parente only uses a too-noticeable alternative to "said" a few times, but it was often enough to catch my attention.

While Parente needs to go over his manuscript to comb out some inconsistencies in scene transitions and fleshing out character motivations a little better for his reader, the over-arcing story is strong and interesting. This is a rare case where I need more telling in the story. Normally I need less telling and more showing, but Parente could add in more detail and not hurt his story.

--John Klima, Editor, Electric Velocipede

Sons of Eden, Chapter 4 ("Customer Satisfaction") by Treize Aramistedian

It's been a while since we've seen this author on the OWW but I remember choosing a previous chapter a couple years ago and I'm glad to see the author is back again with another great chapter to what seems to be a very interesting book. While the science fiction here seems light, it still intrigues because of the wonderful cast of characters and the inherent "spy game" nature of the plot. The writing itself is suspenseful, professional, and subtle when it needs to be, with just enough details to provide atmosphere and interesting characterization. This is an example of how to do it properly, with style, without going over the top.

She half-hid herself behind the door and, for a long while, glared at the money that smelled of Turkish cigarettes.

A single detail like the scent of the money can tell a reader something as basic as general location or, even if the location's been established, provide color to the narrative and give life to the location. If the author had said the money smelled of Marlboro cigarettes, that would give a different meaning to such a simple, but telling, sentence.

Other descriptions are delivered via a deceivingly workaday method:

It was raining when Eli's mobile buzzed with Sami's caller ID. He'd been nursing a cappuccino in a nearby café while the rest of Paris scurried about, arms heavy with shopping bags, crowding two or three beneath an umbrella. Busily in love.

We don't need long and winding elaboration about what Paris looks like -- if people haven't been there they'd at least have an image of it, and this isn't a romance novel. Rather, from the point of view of Eli, a drug lieutenant, we get keen but perfunctory observation. "Busily in love" implies that this is a world Eli's definitely not a part of -- he is busy doing things much more dire than love.

Although always associating Paris with love borders on cliché, and considering what we see later (or if it's shown before, about his son) I'd almost expect a tinge more cynicism to his thoughts if he even skates them over the idea of love. But this is entirely nitpicky and certainly doesn't make a reader stop reading. Author's choice.

When the book is this light on the SF details, small insertions such as this brief part of conversation can underscore to the reader that we aren't strictly in a modern society:

"You think I should do it?" Sami piped, coming on Eli from behind.

"Do what?"

"The neural implants. We talked about this, remember?"

It doesn't take a lot to bring the reader back into the differences that the author is setting up in this society. Just like it doesn't take a lot of words to give a great impression about the landscape:

By the time the moon came out from behind the gray clouds, it had stopped raining. Eli pulled up the collar of his coat to shield his weather-beaten face from the cold, but it chilled his fingers as he waited along with Sami, Yves and three other enforcers outside the warehouse on the outskirts of Paris. The abandoned factories, silhouettes in the nighttime, crouched like giants over the industrial wasteland.

While some authors might opt to be thicker in their prose when it comes to describing landscape, look to the style of your book. Fast-paced, spy-game type novels don't need heavy meanderings, though it's not like it couldn't work in a novel like this -- but be conscious, at least in a second draft, of the rhythm and style of your writing and the kind of tone you're going for in order to tell your story. As long as you use precise words to say what you want to say in the most accurate way, an entire landscape and impending action can be conveyed with surprising brevity.

Other details, like the poverty that might drive farmers to deal with drug lords, ringstrue. Things like this add authenticity to the narrative, which is of utmost importance or the writer runs the risk of breaking that suspension of disbelief that is so essential, especially for writers of science fiction or fantasy.

There are a couple misplaced commas in this chapter (inserted where they shouldn't be) that should be caught for a final draft and a question of whether Eli has had a bout of that health attack before? If not, then it might need to be more explicit what is happening to him and that it's either habitual or this was the first time.

Lastly, be careful of "magic actions," i.e., things that appear suddenly on the scene. In the last scene the woman "produces condoms" but it's after she's stripped naked -- one wonders where she was keeping them! It's a simple problem and a simple fix, but attention to detail matters even in the most seemingly innocuous things.

Keep going with this novel; it's a great world and how all of the offered scenarios tie together is sure to make readers keep turning the page.

--Karin Lowachee
Author of THE GASLIGHT DOGS, BURNDIVE and CAGEBIRD

"Thaumaturgy" by Cathy Freeze

"Thaumaturgy" is narrated by Lurlene, a small-town woman with the power to start fires. She uses this power to kill people that the townsfolk have deemed "Plain Bad." Although her power is not directly acknowledged in public, it is an open secret, and the town seems willing to allow her killings as long as they are in line with public opinion.

The story begins wonderfully:

Mama says to be nonjudgmental. So when Cora Nell saunters out of the snow and into the shop, her hips swaying, her fingers sliding along the counter, wrist curved like the small of a woman's back, I don't think slut.

Right off the bat, we are presented with a conflict between a publicly decent attitude, and a harsher undercurrent seething just below the surface. This suppression of socially unacceptable thoughts plays out in several ways: the efforts of the townsfolk to ignore Lurlene's magical murdering of Butler, a man nobody liked; the tension between their awareness of what Lurlene does and their desire not to acknowledge it openly; Lurlene's unexpressed love for Matthew, a married man. Matthew himself is suppressing violent urges toward the wife who's cheating on him, and Lurlene attempts to damp down her own jealousy and anger, which manifest without her conscious decision, in murder. Ultimately, the good church-going townsfolk take justice most bloodily into their own hands, as they prepare to stone Lurlene to death.

The story is a real pleasure to read, with lively rhythms in the narrator's voice, a deft touch to the dialogue, and a plot that moves us swiftly from one dynamic situation to the next, while themes of guilt and judgment create a subtly ominous atmosphere throughout. It's skillfully written, and I'm not going to dwell on sentence-level critique (other than to suggest that the word "nonjudgmental" may be anachronistic, if this story is set during the Great Depression; my dictionary says it came into use in the 1960s). What's missing here is more backdrop that would fill out a clearer picture of the tensions and connections at work between Lurlene and her town.

For starters, it's difficult to know how to understand Lurlene, because what we see of her inner life is patchy: we witness her secret longing for Matthew and anger at Cora Bell, but in the wake of the most intense actions of the entire story -- her murdering of three people -- there appears to be no emotional fallout. Does Lurlene really kill this easily? She seems to believe that popular condemnation of a man is ample justification for her to dispose of him without guilt:

"You know what I do," I says. "Do you want him gone that bad?" I have no qualms, if she don't; Butler is Plain Bad, and that's consensus, not personal judgment.

She never expresses any feelings of guilt until Matthew makes her confront it, and even then she only briefly states that she knows it was wrong. Her morality seems dependent upon external judgment -- that of her mother, of God, of the town -- rather than any internal conscience. She shows no signs of emotion about killing one way or another, which suggests that she really is a monster. If so, I think the story needs to develop this aspect of her character, and bring out more of that alarming undertone to let the reader see that something is askew, even if Lurlene herself does not. Instead, she comes across as a bit bland: basically well-intentioned and pleasant enough. I'd like to see more of her internal turmoil -- or scary blankness -- whatever is roiling around inside of her that expresses itself in fiery destruction. (Or if she isn't meant to be monstrous, then something definitely needs to be done about her absence of emotion!)

We could also do with a clearer picture of the town's relationship to her. She exists in a state of some disgrace -- people avoid her store every time she's used thaumaturgy, and she can't take Communion at church -- and there's a suggestion that this isn't only because of the magic. When she was a child, teachers pretended not to notice that she was getting badly beaten up by other kids in the school yard. Do others sense something wrong or different about Lurlene that's made her an outcast? This is all such potentially fascinating stuff, and little hints of it can be gleaned from the text, but we need more detail and atmospheric touches to fill in the picture.

For the rest of this review, visit the Editor's Choice area of the OWW site!

--Karen Meisner, Editor, Strange Horizons

No Horror EC this month--sorry!

Since it's the end of the year, we thought you might like to see a roundup of agent and editor blogs.

Agent and editor blogs are an especially good source of information and it pays to monitor them on a regular basis.

This list is by no means comprehensive, but it will give you a pretty fair spread of who's out there. Also, bear in mind that although a particular agent or editor doesn't read your genre, they can still offer good advice.

Agents

Ashley Grayson

Caren Johnson Literary Agency

Chip MacGregor

Colleen Lindsay 

DHS Literary

Diana Fox

Elaine English

Dystel & Goderich Literary Management

FinePrint Literary Management

Full Circle Lit

Greenhouse Literary Agency

Janet Reid

Jennifer Jackson

Jenny Bent

Jenny Rappaport

Jessica Faust

Jonathon Lyons

Joshua Blimes

Knight Agency 

Kristin Nelson

KT Literary

Laurie McLean

Lucienne Diver

Michael Kabongo

Nathan Bransford

Nephele Tempest

Rachel Gardner

Sara Crowe

Scott Eagan

Waxman Literary Agency

Wylie-Merrick Literary Agency

Miss Snark  (no longer active, but still has plenty of good information)

Editing and other good reference blogs

Editorial Anonymous

Editorial Ass

edittorrent

Sterling Editing

Writer's Digest

Writing on the Wall

Writer Beware

Tom Crosshill reports: "I'm happy to say I've sold my piece 'Waiting for Number Five' to Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Very excited about this one, as I really love the magazine. The story went through a lot of drafts, and the many fine reviews I received at OWW were instrumental in the process. Thanks to members Joshua Palmatier, Adrian Firth, Corie Conwell, Chris Montgomery, Kim Zimring, Michael McClung, Jonathan Vintr and Barry Traill!"

Anna Kashina tells us: "I just signed up with Drollerie Press to publish my previously workshopped novel IVAN-AND-MARYA. It is an e-book contract, with an option of a print edition to be added if the initial e-book sales are good. It took me a while to embrace the idea of e-book publishing (some of you may still remember me nagging about it on this list), but now that I saw the light, I am excited! Thanks so much to the OWW members who helped me with this novel a few years ago!"

John Klima reports: "I sold a sf/f fairy-tale reprint anthology to Night Shade Books. The work is an anthology of reprint science fiction and fantasy fairy-tale stories I'm editing called HAPPILY EVER AFTER, set to be published in 2011 by Night Shade Books. There is more information at http://happilyeverafter.electricvelocipede.com."

Karen L. Kobylarz wrote us: "I am writing to let you know my short story 'Breath of Amun' has been published by Lacuna. It is currently available at http://lacunajournal.blogspot.com. I posted this story on OWW several times. Thanks to all workshop members who reviewed it."

Ilan Lerman told us, "My short story 'Whisper' has been accepted for publication in The Absent Willow Review - February 16th issue. I had this up on the workshop a couple of times this year, and have a lot of people to thank for making it publishable, not all of whom I have kept a record of, but I can say thanks to Boz Flamagin, Bo Balder, Lisa Phoenix, Erin Stocks, J.R.Hoch and anyone else I haven't mentioned..."

Rochita Loenen-Ruiz says: "Apex Magazine has accepted my short story '59 Beads' for publication. Thanks to everyone who read this story and believed in it. This will be my third pro-publication and I'm really looking forward to seeing it in Apex."

Marshall Payne reported that "'I must be the king of Feast or Famine' with his sale to M-Brane SF to end his six-month dry streak. 74 rejections between sales on that one. This month, after only four rejections he's happy to report that he sold his story "Pandering Dwarves" to The Hub Magazine. After weathering a rather dry 2009, he's ready for it to pour again.

Joshua Palmatier wrote us to say: "I'm happy to announce that DAW Books had bought three more fantasy novels from me, two part of an ongoing series, titled LEAVES OF FLAME and BREATH OF HEAVEN, and the third the start of a new series, called Shattering the Ley. In addition, they bought an anthology idea to be edited by me and Patricia Bray called AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE UR-BAR. I'm going to be busy for the next few years."

Stelios Touchtidis was happy to report: "My short story 'A Silky Taste of Gunmetal,' workshopped on OWW a few times, has been accepted for publication by Short-Story.Me! Thanks so much to all who reviewed it in its 2009 incarnation: Dean Rodina, Renee Miller-Johnston, Marc Sellers, Kevin Miller, Gio Clairval (who gets special thanks as she ground my defenses to changing a key part of the story), Bobbie Goettler, Jonathan Laden and Larry Pinaire. Your comments were invaluable. This is my first sale, and needless to say I'm very excited! Never thought it'd happen!"

Josh Vogt told us: "I recently heard from the editors over at Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. They've picked up my short story 'Odd Jobs' which I've been shopping around for a bit over a year. Really glad this one found a home and can't wait to see it come out. It should be added to one of the issues within the next six months."

Zoe Zygmunt says "I am excited to announce my short story 'Shake, Rattle and Troll' (workshopped here) was accepted by Short-Story.Me. This will be my first published work."

The Reviewer Honor Roll is a great way to pay back a reviewer for a really useful review.  When you nominate a reviewer, we list the reviewer's name, the submission/author reviewed, and your explanation of what made the review so useful.  The nomination appears in the Honor Roll area of OWW the month after you submit it, and is listed  for a month. You can nominate reviewers of your own submissions or reviewers of other submissions, if you have learned from reading the review.  Think of it as a structured, public "thank you" that gives credit where credit is due and helps direct other OWWers to useful reviewers and useful review skills.

Visit the Reviewer Honor Roll page for a complete list of nominees and explanatory nominations.

November 2009 Nominees

Reviewer: Elizabeth Shack
Submission: Priest of Goddess Staritti Chapter 12 part 2
Submitted by: Jeanne Marcella-Ayer

Reviewer: Dev Agarwal
Submission: Sushi for Demons - Chapter 1 (final run)
Submitted by: Gio Clairval

Reviewer: Jeanne Marcella-Ayer
Submission: The Emperor's Edge -- Chapter 16 (synopsis included)
Submitted by: Lindsay B

Reviewer: Elizabeth Schechter
Submission: "Sins of the Mother"
Submitted by: Jennifer Dawson

Reviewer: Jay Null
Submission: Touched by the Light: Chapter 1
Submitted by: Jennifer Dawson

Reviewer: Erik Alexander Hill
Submission: Water and Fire, Alternate Chapters 1 & 2,
Submitted by: Lindy Kilby

Reviewer: Lindsay B
Submission: Winterturn, Chapters 1-3
Submitted by: Terri Trimble

Reviewer: Teresa Frohock
Submission: Winterturn, Chapters 1-3
Submitted by: Terri Trimble

Reviewer: Lindy Kilby
Submission: Winterturn, Chapters 1-3
Submitted by: Terri Trimble

Reviewer: Necia Phoenix
Submission: Touched by the Light: Chapter 1
Submitted by: Jennifer Dawson

Reviewer: Gregory Clifford
Submission: Touched by the Light: Chapter 1
Submitted by: Jennifer Dawson

Reviewer: Michelle Berry
Submission: Blood and Snow - part 2
Submitted by: Lindsay Kitson

Reviewer: Jennifer Dawson
Submission: Guardians
Submitted by: Janine Islam

Reviewer: Jeanne Marcella-Ayer
Submission: Environ Me With Darkness - Chapter 11
Submitted by: Kimberly Colley

Reviewer: Erik Alexander Hill
Submission: Water and Fire, Chapter 3 REVISED
Submitted by: Lindy Kilby

Reviewer: Terri Trimble
Submission: Water and Fire, Chapter 4, REVISED
Submitted by: Lindy Kilby

Reviewer: Leigh Anna Harken
Submission: Shake, Rattle & Troll - Final Revision
Submitted by: Zoe Zygmunt

Reviewer: Erin Stocks
Submission: May You Stay, chapters 28-29
Submitted by: Bobbie Goettler

Reviewer: Erin Stocks
Submission: The High Priest's Cat by Christine Lucas
Submitted by: Christine Lucas

Reviewer: Kendra Highley
Submission: The Emperor's Edge -- Chapter 20 (synopsis included) by Lindsay B
Submitted by: Lindsay B

Reviewer: Jeanne Haskin
Submission: Matt Archer ch 21 and 22 (final) -- C4C by Kendra Highley
Submitted by: Kendra Highley

Reviewer: >Lorraine McKay
Submission: Matt Archer -- Ch 19 and 20 (final) -- C4C by Kendra Highley
Submitted by: Kendra Highley

Reviewer: J.R. Hoch
Submission: Matt Archer ch 21 and 22 (final) -- C4C by Kendra Highley
Submitted by: Kendra Highley

Reviewer: Jeanne Haskin
Submission: Matt Archer ch 21 and 22 (final) -- C4C by Kendra Highley
Submitted by: Kendra Highley

Reviewer: Lindsay B
Submission: Priest of Goddes Staritti   Chapter 17 by Jeanne Marcella-Ayer
Submitted by: Jeanne Marcella-Ayer

Reviewer: Tim W. Burke
Submission: Numerous Uses of Werewolf Blood by clinton ellingsworth
Submitted by: clinton ellingsworth

Reviewer: Swapna Kishore
Submission: Sins of the Mother by Jennifer Dawson
Submitted by: Jennifer Dawson

Reviewer: Swapna Kishore
Submission: Ravi's Funeral by Hilary Goldstein
Submitted by: Hilary Goldstein

Reviewer: Lindy Kilby
Submission: Skeletons in the Closet Ch. 1 by jared L.
Submitted by: jared L.

Reviewer: Boz Flamagin
Submission: A Date with the Perceptors by Frances Snowder
Submitted by: Frances Snowder

Reviewer: Stelios Touchtidis
Submission: Blood Magic by Christine Lucas
Submitted by: Christine Lucas

Reviewer: Erin Stocks
Submission: Blood Magic by Christine Lucas
Submitted by: Christine Lucas

Reviewer: Hilary Goldstein
Submission: Blood Magic by Christine Lucas
Submitted by: Christine Lucas

Reviewer: Lindsay B
Submission: Priest of Goddess Staritti   Chapter 19  *adult only* by Jeanne Marcella-Ayer
Submitted by: Jeanne Marcella-Ayer

THE PRISONER by Carlos Cortes (Random House, October 2009)

2049. Earth's prisons are shut down and all inmates placed in massive hibernation tanks. In the ten years since then, no one has broken out...until now.

When prisoners check into Washington D.C.'s maximum security "sugar cube," they don't check out. Here lie suspended not just the planet's most dangerous criminals, but also half a million so-called "center inmates"-troublesome activists whose only offense is to challenge those in power.

Laurel Cole was one of those inmates--and now she's on the run. After pulling off a meticulously executed escape plan, she and her team must elude the police by descending into the tunnels that run like poisoned veins beneath the city. Pursued by a ruthless mercenary who knows these sewers better than anyone, Laurel seeks help from a group of renegades who live huddled in the fetid darkness. But if she ever hopes to see daylight again-and expose the government's lies--she'll have to go even deeper. . . and the clock is ticking.

Fees: $49/year, $30/6 months, or $6/month. First trial month free. (more)

Got a helpful tip for your fellow members? A trick or hint for submitting or reviewing, for what to put in your author's comments, for getting good reviews, or for formatting or titling your submission? Share it with us and we'll publish it in the next newsletter. Just send it to support (at) sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com and we'll do the rest.