Due to April's Crit Marathon, we will forego the Writing Challenge this month. But feel free to send us your ideas for Challenges any time.

Challenges can be suggested by anyone and suggestions should be sent to Maria (newsletter (at) onlinewritingworkshop.com). For more details on the challenges, check the OWW Writer Space.

Seventh Annual Crit Marathon: Our annual Crit Marathon will last for three weeks, beginning on Tuesday, April 1 and continuing through Monday, April 21. You may join at any time, but you must sign up to be counted. If you choose to participate, contact Walter Williams at wbj-williams (at) sff.net or wbjwilliams (at) gmail.com so you can be added to the list. The suggested crit-marathon goal is to write at least one substantive critique and post it to the workshop every day of the Marathon. Only critiques posted to the OWW count. E-mailing critiques offline is nice, but they don't count. Remember that all critiques must be substantive, meaning they must follow the OWW's guidelines. You can find the guidelines here: http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/howtoreview.shtml. Each substantive critique posted will earn ONE marathon point. Marathon points have no relationship to workshop review points: they will not earn you the ability to post, nor will first critiques get extra marathon points. The "official" Marathon list will be updated using Telltales from the workshop. The "official" date/time assigned to the critique will be US EDT (GMT -4). Watch the OWW message list for more details and updates. Good luck, everyone! Let the critting begin!--but sign up first.

2008 Odyssey Writing Workshop Deadline Approaching: Odyssey is a great opportunity to improve your writing and meet editors and authors. Jeanne Cavelos, Odyssey's director, founder, and primary instructor, is a best-selling author and a former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, where she won a World Fantasy Award for her work. This year's workshop runs from June 9 to July 18, 2008. Regular admission deadline is April 10. The workshop is held at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. More info: the Odyssey web site.

May Focus Group on Synopsis Writing: Wow! Due to popular -- and we mean POPULAR -- demand, the Synopsis Focus Group will be back for seconds starting May 10th and running to May 23rd. So if you didn't get a chance to join the March group or just finished a novel and find yourself needing to synopsize, join the oww-sff-focus mailing list at groups.yahoo.com/group/oww-sff-focus starting April 20th to participate. Please note that the group will be capped at 30 participants to keep it helpful and useful for everyone, so if you want to participate, get your name in early. And keep those synopsis-poking sticks sharp!

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.

This issue's reviews are written by Resident Editors Jeanne Cavelos, Susan Marie Groppi, John Klima, and Karin Lowachee. The last four months of Editors' Choices and their editorial reviews are archived on the workshop. Go to the "Read, Rate, Review" page and click on "Editors' Choices."

Congratulations to the current Editors' Choice authors!

THE HINGES OF TOMORROW - CHAPTER 2 by Derek Molata

Derek Molata says that the status of his submission is polished, an all-but final version of the manuscript. From the little bit I've seen, I'd have to agree. There are no major issues with this chapter, and only a few minor things that need to be fixed. However, there is a great deal that Molata gets right.

Time and again, Molata plants little seeds of history about the main character and the world he inhabits. You can see this in quick sentences like "the Coalition was his family now, Emperor Otsu his savior, and he would never let his family down again." From this simple sentence, Molata shows how things have changed for our protagonist, Kaii.

As the chapter continues, the reader can see how drastically things have changed. Kaii once held a position of esteem. He now has a dead wife and daughter on his conscience. Worse yet, his drug addiction is fatally dangerous. Despite all this, Kaii is shown as a dangerous man. Even on his deathbed he's able to dispatch several attackers. Even so, he is so weakened by his addiction that he agrees to a course of action his former life would never have allowed.

Molata draws the world around Kaii with simple defining strokes. He describes buildings that Kaii enters, places he intends to go to later, all very different from our own world, but there are enough similarities that the reader knows what Molata is talking about and can "see" the world Kaii lives in.

After the opening section, there are a few spots that need little touches here and there. Kaii enters a club looking to score and mentally describes the bouncers as "strong as oxen slow as snails." These are both clichés, and in a piece as strong as this, I'd avoid them entirely. It also implies that there are oxen and snails in this world, and I don't know if that's true. It can be tough describing big physical brutes since so many descriptions have already been used to death, but a little thinking about should allow for a creative solution.

Once in the club, Kaii encounters someone from his past, Sukenobu Jest. Molata provides a paragraph describing how they knew each other and then Jest's subsequent fall from grace. The paragraph ends with Kaii pushing his anger aside to talk to Jest and get his drugs. However, nothing in the paragraph, other than Jest being generally despicable, would lead the reader to assume there was hatred between the two. Molata would be better served adding in some slight that Jest did to Kaii. Jest is described as being next in line to Kaii; did Kaii train him personally and therefore potentially carry a huge chip on his shoulder over the disappointing actions of his former pupil?

Lastly, there is a fragment, or at least a poorly worded sentence, in the paragraph that starts "the wand struck a glancing slice." First, I"m not sure how a slice can glance; I think Molata was trying to avoid shallow or something along those lines. Perhaps it could be a harmless slice or a skimming slice or a sliding slice, etc. Maybe glancing is fine. Nonetheless, this opening sentence ends in a fragment. Molata's writing is so strong that it really stands out and could potentially be damaging to the story. There are several verb tenses in the sentence, which makes the end read strangely. Changing the word "humming" to "hummed" would alleviate a lot of the trouble with this sentence. You want to make sure to fix things like this, as potential agents and editors will spot them like too much salt in a dessert.

All in all, this is a very strong chapter filled with uncomfortable scenes. The world is laid out nicely for the reader, and Kaii is a believable person with former potential who has fallen on hard times. With a few small fixes, this chapter will be excellent.

John Klima, Editor, Electric Velocipede

THE SHADOW OF GOD, CHAPTER 1 by Deborah Bryant

The novel synopsis attached to this chapter shows a premise that holds a lot of intrigue and promise. It illustrates the warring forces one would expect to see in the novel and introduces some lead character names to watch for; all in all it pulled me in, which is what a synopsis should do. However, once the story actually began, the entire idea seemed to become bogged down in cluttered description, showing only glimmers of the action and tension that the synopsis described. Overall I think this chapter can be tightened up and honed. The beginning of a novel such as this (it isn't a leisurely pastoral story) should aim to grab readers and propel them at a clip through the initial chapters; the writer should seek to hook the readers from the first sentence. This is usually accomplished by tight prose, sharp characterization, and a distinct setting. A reader that is new to a world needs to be grounded in the opening action and the "task" of the character, and should have a clear visual picture of the surroundings.

The blurb at the beginning was interesting, but jarring. By using the term "Old West" it made me double-take; is this taking place on Earth? Yet the synopsis didn't seem to indicate that. Be careful of using terms that would tend to identify real world places when you want to use a fantastical/future setting instead that has no bearing in the world we live in. If this is supposed to be Earth in the far future, nothing in the synopsis seemed to indicate that.

Using Khadi as the main character in the opening scene is not a bad choice: she's a sympathetic child tasked to do something simple, and the threat comes from where she is and the fact she didn't manage to fully complete her "chore." The concept of it all is fascinating and immediately raises questions that would keep a reader turning the page: who is she working for exactly, how is her "chore" going to fit into the wider plot, who is Jusoli, who are these children? These rather straightforward and intriguing concerns, however, are watered down by the convoluted prose and actually too much attention to detail. Twelve out of the first fifteen pages are spent describing Khadi's progress to perform her task and then meeting with Jusoli, changing clothes, and climbing a small summit. For plot detail, not much has actually happened but it has taken up the bulk of the first chapter. Naturally some world-building is also going on, but it's actually a small portion compared to how much time is spent describing the exact tunnels and catwalks that Khadi traverses; the descriptions themselves are also unnecessarily run-on. For example:

She slipped from the shaft and replaced the grate and padded quickly across the room, weaving among the bundled cables that hung from open spaces in the tiled ceiling and cutting through the raised attendant station in the center of the room.

Concentrate on sharp, single actions when characters are moving about, especially with no other interaction to offset the description. Give readers specific images to hold onto, otherwise it all mashes together in a morass of action with no real anchor or way to picture it all as the narrative progresses. In the above passage, not only are we given Khadi's movements, but in one sentence there are descriptions of cables and ceiling, then we come back again to Khadi's action, and then another description of what's in the room. Multiply that style by twelve pages and a reader won't know where to look or what to focus on, and consequently the slate remains pretty blank as to the world-building or scene-building. Read through the story again on a line-by-line basis and examine exactly how the actions and set descriptions are grouped together. It works better here:

The vastness rose story after story above her, but there was a floor at her level. No tracklighting winked up when she stepped out onto it. No hint of light shone from the windowless stone. She eased the doors closed behind her--Jusoli had told her not to worry about hearing the lock click; she would be going out a different way. With the lightstick, she found the elevator right where he'd said it would be, and it worked just as he'd said it would, and she rode it all the way down.

The characterization itself was good, but embryonic. Khadi's age is never stated, but from her reactions she reads about ten years old. Still, there is a curious distant quality to it all, where one would expect more visceral contact with a child point of view. It's repeated that she's cold and then nervous or frightened, but her actions seem more robotic than urgent, when for children the world tends to be very immediate. Unless there is a reason for her to come off distant (for example, if she's in some way traumatized), making her point of view more immediate and visceral in this world will enhance the reader's interest in following her on her "chore" and her later meeting with Jusoli.

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

Karin Lowachee
Author of BURNDIVE and CAGEBIRD

"The Devil's Gift" by Elizabeth Coleman

In "The Devil's Gift," the Devil offers Anton the juggler a deal. If Anton can find and juggle a ball, a knife, and a heart, the Devil will release him from Hell and send him back to earth. The Devil gives Anton the ball, and Anton agrees to take on the rest of the challenge. As he works to achieve it, he realizes that he is not in Hell but in Purgatory, and if he stays, he can eventually earn his way to heaven. If he goes back to earth, as the Devil has promised, he will probably damn himself to Hell. He refuses the Devil's offer.

I like many things about this story. Having a juggler juggling in the afterlife is cool and different, and Purgatory, as you have developed it, is an interesting place to visit. The story has some nice pieces of description of the Devil ("And the Devil stepped into the shadows, his golden hair fading into the piss streaks on the soot-drenched wall") and the lost souls ("Their skin puffed out and rubbed against his face, soft as a blister top"). The main weakness I see in the story is that I don't feel what Anton feels, so the climax doesn't have the emotional impact that it should and I don't really believe what happens at the climax.

Making the reader feel what the protagonist feels is a challenging but critical task. The impact of many stories depends upon a strong emotional bond forming between reader and protagonist. There can be many different reasons why this bond fails to form. One common reason is that the reader is told about the protagonist's emotions rather than being shown them. This occurs in the fifth paragraph, as you describe Anton juggling dragon teeth while the audience throws fireballs at him: "Anton leapt about, secretly proud that he could dodge and still keep all his dragon teeth in the air. But pride didn't cancel his terror. He was relieved when the crowd dispersed."

This quote tells us three different emotions that Anton is feeling: pride, fear, and relief. Labeling emotions is not usually a good way to convey them, partly because this is telling rather than showing (telling means using abstractions, like these labels; showing means using concrete sensory details), and partly because most of the time, we are feeling multiple things at once, so the emotional state is not easily labeled. Here, Anton seems to be feeling both pride and fear at the same time, but simply telling us that isn't enough to generate those emotions in the reader. I"m inclined to believe that Anton is feeling pride, because you've previously shown that he takes pride in his juggling skills, in paragraph 2. But I don't feel his fear at all. You need to find a way to show this complex emotional state.

How? Well, here's a quick stab at it: "Anton leapt about, heart pounding, fireballs scorching his bare feet, while his hands and eyes miraculously kept the dragon teeth in the air, working their magic, catch toss, catch toss. It was his best performance ever, he realized with a startled breath. The demon tossed one last fireball and turned away, and Anton stumbled into a stable stance, his juggling falling into its normal rhythm. The demon crossed the street, disappeared down a dark alley. Anton caught the dragon teeth, one, two, three, and then was still, but for the heaving of his chest."

This is nothing great, but shows how actions, sensory details, and character thoughts can help us feel what the character is feeling. The emotions here are mixed and complex; when you show something, it's seldom as clearcut as when you tell something. But that's why showing is a better way of conveying emotion.

Another example of this occurs on p. 3: "Anton longed to join the throng." The longing needs to be shown rather than told.

On p. 4, you avoid telling, but the passage doesn't strongly show Anton's emotions, so I feel alienated from him: "Some of them tugged at his coat. He clutched the precious glass globe. His protectiveness just made them bolder; now they knew its value. Nail-less hands clawed at him; rotten egg breath seared him. There were so many of them, they'd soon pull him down by his pockets, suffocate him beneath the gassy sacs of their sins. But he had the Devil's gift, not they. With his heavy dragon tooth, he bludgeoned the souls indiscriminately." The first four sentences of this passage are strong and put me right there with him. But the fifth sentence jumps ahead to what might happen, and describes it in a distant way; I get an image in my head that I'm watching from above, looking down on a group of zombies from some zombie movie I've seen as they pull a victim down. Instead, you need to keep up the intensity of sentence 4. Give more sensory details of them pressing against him, of Anton's face being pushed into a swollen abdomen, of Anton unable to breathe, stumbling, his arm trapped between two bodies, pulling it close to his body, grabbing the dragon's tooth, pulling it out of his pocket, beating it against the abdomen, against that leg, against that chest, that head, beating, beating, beating, and so on.

I think part of the reason you don't show these emotions is that they seem ultimately unimportant to the story, so you rush over them.

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

Jeanne Cavelos, editor, author, director of Odyssey

"Failing the Rorschach Test" by Amber van Dyk

In a near-future world, where genetic engineering and environmental catastrophes have brought about a collapse of the normal social order, Atom and her friends run a very particular kind of rebellion against the religious Revelationist culture that dominates their community--they steal old movies and show them to high-school kids.

The Projectionists, as they call themselves, are hoping that their movies can shake the kids out of their complacency, but they're also pretty realistic about the fact that their message may not be getting through. Either way, the Revelationists see them as a threat, and when Atom's boyfriend Rabbit goes missing, she assumes that he's been killed. When another Projectionist spots Rabbit in a Revelationist halfway house (presumably halfway through religious brainwashing), the group comes up with a plan to rescue him.

This story was a joy to read, and the summary doesn't really do it justice. In a bare-bones outline, I find some of the basic plot points and concepts on the edge of implausibility. The idea that an underground pirate-radio-style movie theater could be that much of a threat to social order, along with the idea that people are staking their lives and personal safety on the right to screen Alex Proyas films for bored teenagers, are things that I wouldn't, under normal circumstances, consider assets to a short story. These aren't normal circumstances, though--Amber van Dyk makes this concept work, and makes it work beautifully. The story succeeds largely on the strength of its gorgeous writing and consistent, confident, sharp-edged style.

Throughout the piece, van Dyk uses language in striking and beautiful ways. In some place, small phrases will evoke large meanings without ever needing to overtly explain the point, while in other places she lingers on relatively minor moments in ways that make Atom and her environment more real and believable. One of the clearest examples of this comes early in the story: "Genetics is just another science and in the end it failed us too. It never mattered to me, why after the great rains came and the clouds dried up all the scientists walked away from their laboratories and found God."

In just two sentences, van Dyk evokes an entire science-fiction future; there's a whole other narrative buried in there, but it's not one that matters in the context of this story. Atom doesn't care how the world got to the place it's in, and dwelling on it just for the reader's benefit would be distracting and unnecessary; this quick sketch is all we need to get oriented. This is just one example, but the story is full of sentences that serve a similar function, packing enormous amounts of context and meaning into just a few well-chosen words or phrases...

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

Susan Marie Groppi
Fiction Editor/Editor-in-Chief, Strange Horizons

Jim Butcher, for those of you who haven't been in a Barnes & Noble in the past few years, is the author of the highly successful series The Dresden Files. His latest release is SMALL FAVOR, published by Roc. He also has a fantasy series, Codex Alera, published by Ace. You can visit Jim Butcher at his web site, which is jam-packed with all his latest news, books, forums and events.

I first saw Jim Butcher in 2005 at FenCon in Dallas. He was a hit on every panel, and kept the audience laughing--and learning. I think what impressed me most from the stories that Jim told during the conference was that he was just like the rest of us, with the same aspirations and fears we all feel. I walked away inspired and more determined than before.

What was your first big writing break and how did it come about?

I suppose that depends on what you think of as a "break." I mean, if you mean measurable success, then you're talking about my first sale. If you mean first professional contact, then it was probably successfully securing an agent--but when I think of my first real "break" as a writer, I tend to think of stumbling onto the Professional Writing program at the University of Oklahoma--specifically, Deborah Chester, who was teaching there.

I was at OU for other reasons entirely. I had no idea that such a program even existed. I was, in fact, pursuing an English degree with an emphasis on creative writing, but no one in English had ever told me about the writing program over in Journalism for some reason. I literally found a flyer for a PW weekend workshop lying on the sidewalk in the rain when I was rushing between classes one day, and decided to check it out.

Debbie's approach to teaching writing craft was what really clicked for me. I'd written three novels already, but after I started learning about how the elements of writing craft and storytelling craft functioned, I think I really started to grow. Without that, I think I could have flailed around for another decade or two without ever developing my ability into something of professional quality--and without being able to understand why it wasn't happening, either. Sure, I had a couple of pieces of good fortune fall into place for the actual sale of the first Dresden books later on, but those things would never have been able to happen without years of work--which wouldn't have happened without learning really cool and important stuff from Debbie.

Did you have any clue that the first Dresden book was going to be such a hit or did you just have faith that it would succeed?

If I'd have had any kind of clue, I doubt I'd have set out to become a writer in the first place. "Clueless" is a fairly accurate description of almost any young man in general, and of me in particular. I wrote STORM FRONT when I was 25, and I wrote it because it interested me and because I thought it would be fun and because I wanted to show Debbie how wrong she was about what kind of novel I needed to be writing if I wanted to break into the genre fiction market.

So, yeah. Guess I showed her.

It wasn't so much an issue of "sure it would be a hit" or "had faith that it would succeed" as it was of "good Lord, they didn't reject it?" I'd stacked up a lot of rejection letters by then.

I was at FenCon where you mentioned in one of your talks that you were striking out on the agent front until you discovered that Laurell Hamilton wrote books similar to yours and you decided to query (and then meet) her agent. You said you had better luck meeting agents at cons than going the query route. Can you tell us the story of how you got your first agent?

I was a member of a fan list of Laurell's at the time, a regular participant in various discussions, and since I was going to be at a writing convention with her and her agent, I gathered up a bunch of questions from fans and asked Laurell if I could have a few minutes of her time to ask them and get back to the fans with them. Laurell's a sweetheart and said "sure."

We hung out and chatted and whatnot, found out we both liked Buffy and Babylon 5. I wound up going to lunch with Laurell and several other writers and an editor or two and several agents to boot. And they liked Buffy and Babylon 5, too! By the end of the weekend, two agents had offered to represent me--including Jennifer Jackson, the agent I'm with now.

"But, but, but," I told Jennifer, when she spoke to me, "you sent me a rejection letter not two weeks ago!"

"Well sure," Jennifer said. "But now I've met you. It makes a difference."

What advice can you give writers on pitching to an agent?

Be succinct.

(See, I could end the answer right there, and it would be a demonstration, even.)

Agents generally don't need hyperbole. They don't want you to tell them why you are the number one next hot new author of all time. They want to hear what you're writing about. If you can't present it to them in neat, cogent, concise terms, you're going to give them the impression that you probably aren't professional enough to write a quality manuscript. Tell them what you've got, be confident, be pleasant, and don't drag things out.

Is there anything you would have done differently in order to get published earlier or more easily?

Not a thing. My head is thick, and I needed that time to learn the craft.

Although at times I wish I'd done things differently in order to get published later. I'm distressed that everyone starts reading me with the book I wrote when I was the clueless 25-year-old version of me, instead of the mostly-clueless 36-year-old current model.

You've developed some unforgettable characters in the Dresden Files. Harry is endearing as the average-guy wizard trying to do the right thing while avoiding continual attempts on his life. Murphy, a gutsy woman cop, brings out an interesting juxtaposition of sexuality and the role of traditional justice. And Bob, the skull--priceless! What intrigued me as a reader is the relationship each character has with Harry and how they evolved through the books. Like your world-building, bits of information are littered like breadcrumbs, weaving the reader's interest through Harry's world. I get the feeling that you're an excellent observer of the human condition. Are you a good people watcher? Did you model Harry's relationships with a set goal in mind or did they develop organically as each story unfolded?

Heh, a good people watcher. I can't let my wife see that question, she'll burst out laughing and scare the dog.

I'm a good people watcher in that 20-20 hindsight kind of way, I suppose. I can look back at a situation when I'm putting the ice pack on my face and go, "Oh, yeah, wow. That guy was putting off warning signals that he was getting really offended by that joke." Which works really well for writing, because I can go back a month later and change things around in a manuscript. In real life, it isn't nearly as useful.

But I don't think I've got any particular insight into the human condition. Other than being one, I mean.

Within the story, though, almost all the interpersonal stuff happens very naturally. I have a very general idea of where things are going on a personal level, but a lot of times I'm surprised by the particulars of when, why, or how something happens between characters. I've tried not to script it too heavily, especially when it comes to romantic relationships. There's a reason they don't use marching music in the background of many love scenes.

Am I imagining things or is there a lot of you in Harry? I couldn't help but notice that you carried some of his physical attributes and mannerisms.

Hair and eye color are close, but that's about it. Harry is the kind of person I would like to think I would be, in his situation. But, knowing me, I'd probably wind up more like one of the villains. I mean, hey, hand me phenomenal cosmic power, and I guarantee you that those clowns who cut me off in traffic today? BAM. Four tire blowout, right then and there. Them and their Beamer. Take that.

How far can you take the Dresden Files series? Where do you foresee stopping this series and do you already have ideas for its finale?

Around 20 "case" books like we've had so far, and then a big ole apocalyptic trilogy to cap things off.

You have many other books under your belt. Is there a personal favorite?

Whichever one is most recently finished. I loathe them more as they get older, since I've had increasing amounts of time to consider how much better they could have been if I'd done this or that differently.

Your wife, Shannon Butcher, writes Romantic Suspense. How well do two writers working under the same roof manage? Do you bounce ideas off each other? Do you inspire each other?

We stay out of each other's way a lot, mostly, at least when we're working. If one of us gets stuck on something, we'll go to the other one and start explaining the problem, and then the other one will open his or her mouth and begin to suggest a solution, but before her or she can, the first one goes "oh, wait, I know how to fix it, thank you!" and goes back to work again. So far, it's working out. We haven't collaborated on anything yet. We want to stay married.

What's an average writing day like for you?

Everyone goes to sleep, and then me and the dog settle down on the couch around 10 pm or so and start typing. I'll knock off for a short meal at some point, and wrap up somewhere between 2 am and 7 am, depending on how inspired I'm feeling (i.e., how close my deadline is). I'll get up in time to return phone calls, answer e-mails, go to the post office, etc, the next day. Rinse and repeat.

What haven't you told us that we might like to use against you later? --no pressure.

Oh, mark my words. Five, six years from now? I'm just gonna be "Shannon Butcher's husband, that guy, you know, he writes some kind of fantasy novels or something." My girl's smart, and her books are really taking off. She's gonna be one of those glamorous big-time romance authors with lots of movies made of her books and stuff, mark my words. I'll be the nerdy husband. But that's cool. I like my section of the bookstore. The cool people hang out there.

They like Buffy and Babylon 5.

See Jim Butcher in person between April 1 and 16th on the West Coast or in AZ, TX, IL or MO: Jim Butcher's April Appearances

We can't announce them if you don't let us know! So send your information to Maria at newsletter (at) onlinewritingworkshop.com whenever you have good news to share.

Chris Clarke has sold short story "The Future Hunters," which was an EC winner here late last year, to Strange Horizons. "The story was written for Interzone's Mundane SF issue bur after making the first cut, the editor Geoff Ryman, in probably the nicest rejection letter I've ever received, said it ultimately lost out to another sailing story by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. I'm very pleased it found a home at Strange Horizons. Many thanks to the late Gary Peterson, Monica Byrne, David Emanuel, Annette Lee, and Stephen Gaskell for their valuable input."

Cathy Freeze sold her 4500-word short fantasy "Practicing Perfection" to Cat Rambo at Fantasy Magazine. "...haven't sold a short story since before the flood. It was posted on the workshop around July of last year, and I wanted to say thanks to my OWW critters--give 'em their due: Sylvia Volk, F.R.R. Mallory, Holly McDowell, Ray Capps, Zvi Zaks, Camille Picott, Kyri Freeman, Sam Butler. People should do those challenges--so many of those have been saleable."

Our crack OWW research team has discovered that Anna Owomoyela's "Small Monuments" will be published in the upcoming issue (#36) of ChiZine . Says Anna: "...I'm in some excellent company. To say I'm excited is an understatement, at best."

Sharon Ramirez writes: "Just wanted to let y'all know my short story "Hotter than Hell" has been purchased by The Edge of Propinquity webzine. Yes, my first commercial sale! This was the first story I brought to my first Context, and Charlie encouraged me to stick with it. Well, I did, and it finally paid off. I want to thank all of you for reading, reviewing and telling me to keep submitting, and for supporting me through the rough first drafts. You guys are the best!"

MAGIC BURNS by Ilona Andrews (aka Ilona Gordon) (Ace, April 2008)

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels knows how waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta's paramilitary clan of shape shifters, she quickly realizes much more is at stake. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug of war between two gods hoping for rebirth, and if Kate can't stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive.

DIE SONNWENDHERRIN (Mistress of the Solstice), by Anna Kashina (Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, March 2008)

Marija, daughter of the greatly feared Czar Kaschtschej, is the Mistress of the Summer Solstice. According to an age-old prophecy, if the Mistress were ever to fall in love, the world would be plunged into chaos. There seems to be no danger of that as far as Marija is concerned--until Iwan appears on the scene. His eyes are the most beautiful cornflower blue and she finds she simply cannot forget them...

THE STARS DOWN UNDER by Sandra McDonald (Tor, March 2008)

Chief Terry Myell and Lieutenant Commander Jodenny Scott are in that most precarious of military situations, a mixed marriage. Enlisted and officer. It’s unnatural. Terry and Jodenny have been assigned to duty on the planet Fortune, away from the huge ships that carry colonists from the wreckage of polluted Earth to clean new worlds across the galaxy. But there’s another way besides spaceships to travel from world to world. A group within Team Space is exploring the Wondjina Spheres, a set of ancient alien artifacts that link places and times. Now those spheres have shut down and Team Space thinks that Terry and Jodenny are part of the key to make them work again —no matter how the two of them feel about it. They can volunteer, or be "volunteered"..."

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Scholarship fund: We accept scholarship fund donations and award full or partial scholarships to active members in need. (more)

Gift memberships: You can give a gift membership for another member; just send us a payment by whatever method you like, noting who the membership is for and specifying whether the gift is anonymous or not. We will acknowledge receipt to you and the member.

Bonus payments: The workshop costs only 94 cents per week, but we know that many members feel that it's worth much more to them. 25% of any bonus payments we receive will go to our support staff; the rest will be tucked away to lengthen the shoestring that is our budget and keep us running! (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.