Anne Marie
Matriarch

Hi Anne Marie, hope you are keeping well. Not sure if you're still in Korea - I'd guess not, otherwise you'd have shut that fat dictator up by now.

My 20K series is gathering steam. Would you be able to write a brief introductory poem for my first Fearless story, "On Eagles' Wings"? Something about dragons and daemons would be cool. 20K follows the optimistic and naive Terran Empire as its first deep-space ships set out to unite human worlds after millennia-long warp storms abate. It's about mystery, humour, adventure and fear. Hopefully that will set a decent mood :D

It was for your birhday (I thought that was a well known saying). Welcome back all the same

Thanks Anne Marie. I think it's a difficult trick to get the balance right between a story that is both original enough to make us want more, to draw us in, and at the same time have enough of the familiar about it to allow us to connect with the characters. Of course you never know whether you have got it right until others read it, by which time it's too late!

I am good. Had some big family things come up. Haven't been on the Astro in a bit.

How are you.

Many Happy Returns!

Ah, ok - that's certainly fair do's.

I hope all is going well back in Canada.

Have you ever pondered a return for the Astrobius cartoon?

I have a hard time on the subject of editing. On the one hand...it's my work, I like it, and I have proof read and edited multiple times before I post it. On the other hand, I wouldn't post on a sight like this if I wasn't open to criticism and willing to change where change is needed. But how do you decide which changes to make. While all criticisms have their value, not all can be made otherwise we would never finish a story. How do you personally choose? I'm not really worried about offending anyone by being selective about whose opinions I value most, but I certainly want my work to be as good, accurate, entertaining, and (above all) relatable as possible.

I guess I'm just venting off my confusion. I'm not loosing any sleep over the topic, but never the less I am curious what you think.

Say, when does the Black Library usually have submission periods? Does it usually fall in early summer?
Furthermore, have you ever submitted any writing? If so, how did it go?

Hi! You may not be paid for writing, but you command total respect from me (my dear Poopiehead ;P). You wrote me an intro to 20K once and I bloody lost it. I simply cannot find it, and from Google searches using both our user names, it appears you and I have shared the stage only rarely. Could you write a short intro, perhaps a poem or verse (rhyming not necessary) mentioning dragons, daemons and gods, or some such? Creative freedom is yours. Of course you will be credited. It won't "air" for a few months but it will kick my "proper" 20K series off.

If you need an idea of the feel of 20K, which is greatly different from 40K, check this piece of music out. Don't know if that helps.

As for the stories, I'm gonna read them tonight. I discovered your blog but haven't registered yet.

Imp Lit is gonna change soon so the member login issue can be bypassed altogether.