Kewl! Hell, why not post it? I find it hard to believe anyone would trash it; I imagine if it wasn't someone's cuppa, they'd simply not remark at all. That's what I always assume about the bulk of response to my stuff, anyway.

Steph, for years, I was a very solitary writer. It's only recently that I've come to realise how much I like working with other writers. It isn't about the publishing, or the selling, or the whatevering; it's about the "whoa, you do it that way? Coooooool...."

I am one of the original organic writers; hell, I didn't know what Plainsong was about until I was halfway done, I just sit and write. But it's awe-making and very cool to me, to discover the myriad ways it can be done.

I'd love to read something you'd written, Deena.

Steph, for years, I was a very solitary writer. It's only recently that I've come to realise how much I like working with other writers. It isn't about the publishing, or the selling, or the whatevering; it's about the "whoa, you do it that way? Coooooool...."

Yes, this! And being with other writers who automatically understand what it's like to have words assault you such that you have to stop and drop everything to get them out of your head and onto paper. Other people who are obsessed with pens and journals. Other people who understand the relentless pursuit of that one elusive word, or phrase, or what have you.

I love you Ms. Lizard.

I'll post it after I've had time to do a couple of fixes. There are a couple of things that pinged Deb that bothered me a little when I wrote them.

Steph, those are the people I tend to interact with the most intensely, because, well, I'm not one.

My whole thing is, I'm a storyteller. It's people, in a story; anything that happens regarding wordmagic is a lucky happenstance for me.

One of those sensational little oddities that make me enjoy writergrouping.

My whole thing is, I'm a storyteller. It's people, in a story;

Ah, THIS. I try to explain to people who don't write why I watch Buffy, why I read Spider-Man comics, why Farscape is a fabulous show. It's the story. I don't care that it's a teenage girl killing vampires in between worrying about dates; or a comic-book superhero; or sci-fi with *muppets* -- it's the STORY that matters to me.

anything that happens regarding wordmagic is a lucky happenstance for me.

Well, then, I'd like to point out that you are FULL of lucky happenstance, because the wordmagic is there -- bushels and bushels of it.

(And now that I've been up for an hour, I can go take more meds and back to sleep. Bless the internet and invisible friends in different time zones!)

Bless the internet and invisible friends in different time zones!

Yes, indeedy. You go sleep now.

Good heavens, what's everybody doing awake at this hour?

Joining my online crit group has been great, now that I've gotten past my usual initial response to groups of people... there's so much that you can't get from a book, that you need to be able to ask in specific terms and get a specific answer. And it's given me a chance to see how other people write and experience writing, which is fascinating. Their stories always seem so much more interesting than mine.