StoryMash Creative Storytelling Forum

Silver is not my legal name. It is my nickname, my penname, my stage name and my true identity. Prose fiction is my bag. I love writing to the point of needing to do it. But I have a very capricious muse who sometimes leaves me stranded and unable to write. One thing that has really helped me write much more in the last few years than I did before that is National Novel Writing Month. Okay, NaNo has so far provided me with four incomplete novels, but I believe I will finish them all in time, and it sure beats lots of unfinished stories. StoryMash has brought out my short story finishing ability. As I love reading many different kinds of fiction, I also seem to be developing a penchant for writing in different genres. My novels are a sci-fi story (space opera with a little hard science thrown in) called ‘The Socratic Dilemma’, a pulp-style mystery with some fantasy elements – ‘Murder Limited’, a thriller – ‘Binders Art’ and an outright fantasy novel – ‘Quest for the Silver Smelt’. Along with my serious fiction writing, I also enjoy writing fan fiction, mostly for my own enjoyment, but some published online with fanfiction groups. I have written mostly for SciFi Channel (a.k.a. ‘Skiffy’) The Invisible Man and for the 60’s tv show the Wild Wild West. My personal preferences include I love to read, write (no surprise, eh?), watch my own idea of classic television, act, walk, swim, ride bike or horses; I enjoy classical music, jazz, 60’s and 70’s rock, 80’s pop, heavy metal and Stevie Ray Vaughan; I like to get my favorite old tv shows on dvd and watch them all the time; my heroes are Mae West and Don Quixote; and I am owned by a wonderful 14-year-old semi-long haired tortishell cat named Mungogerri (Gerri for short) who was born on my bed in my lap, and the two of us are raising a cool 5-month-old grey tabby stub-tailed kitten named Artemus (Artie for short) who I found tossed out by the side of the road when he was five weeks old. I’d say that sums me up pretty well.

Forgot to say I'll read almost anything but romances and westerns, and I'll even make the odd exception there. Yes, I will and have read cereal boxes when nothing else was available.

Did you know that "Craves Deli" is an anagram of your true identity? I think that's pretty cool since you could be the the world's next "Cos I Am A Visa"

NaNoWriMo..? Seriously? Me, too. Only once tho. (I want to try again) And I didn't finish well, but that's not the damn point. The point is, I thought (and think) it's such a good and theraputic idea for writers. I, too, finish nothing. One tiny reason why I love SM so much---I don't have to. lol I have that book, "No Plot, No Problem." I thought it would cure me of my writer's block. Then I ran around telling everyone I know that "I am going to write a novel in two months" blah blah blah. I was serious. I then became prego and spent the remaining month of my mission cramming cookies and marshmellow fluff into my mouth. Hey, don't judge--I had priorities. lol ;) Foo

I hope I'm not missing something, since I don't know what "Cos I Am A Visa" is, unless it is also an anagram, perhaps of your 'real' name? You don't mention it in your intro. A friend once anagramed our full names, and that of a third friend. She came out Pamela Lynn OGrady, the other friend got Nora St. Royal, and I got Leslie Tawny Talent! Sounds like a stripper, don't you think? Craves Deli is pretty appropriate, considering my fondness for Black Forest ham.

Not _my_ real name - "Cos I Am A Visa" is an anagram of Issac Asimov - re: a comment I left long ago on one of your SM offerings... ;o)

D'oh! I knew something about that sounded vaguely almost familiarish. Cool. I still get a thrill when I think about you saying 'Storm Cat' was "shades of Asimov".

crystalfoo - for me the best thing about NaNo is the social aspect we have here in Austin. We've had the same Municipal Liaison for the last 4 years, and the same Assistant ML for the last couple, and they are both fabulouso! This past November I don't think there were more than two or three days when there wasn't an official write-in going on somewhere. Lots of challenges, coffee, traditions, chocolate, camaraderie, coffee, idea-bouncing off, chocolate, consultations, and sometimes booze.

ahhh, I knew I had a reason to like NaNo. ;) Sounds like a lot of fun-makes me wish I had kept at it.

November is not far away. I can guarantee you'll be welcome back. They reset the forums at the beginning of October. Let me know your screen name there and I'll introduce you to my buds, since I don't think there's that much local activity down in your region. You'll love flickguy.

I just googled Earth and Sky~ found the Corpus link! Girl, you have talent and credit behind you in your little resume. I am not familiar with JDJ, however, as much as I love theatre and after what I've just read, I think maybe I should know about him. ;) And Magenta? In RHPS? Love it. "Dinnah is pre-paared!' ;)

Let's do the time warp. Again.

Hi Silver,
Wow you have such an extensive resume! I remember watching those TV shows- wild wild west was so ahead of its time! Have you posted any of sneak previews of your novels here? Also what's Nano? Chocolate and idea-bouncing sounds wonderful!
Chloe

Wow. I'm interesting to you guys? Oh well, let's see... Foo, my c.v. on the E&S site hasn't been updated for some time, so there are a few more shows that ought to be on there. jdj is worth knowing if you love theatre, especially if you love for it to be a living, breathing experience. He's teaching here in Austin, now, and writing and producing shows in Bastrop and Austin. Actually, if you want to get to know john kind of in a nutshell, I published a collection of emails from him on Lulu.com, which is available at cost. Even just the excerpt you can read for free is telling. It's called 'Off the Tracks and On the Road: Journal of a Family Vacation August 1998'.

Chloe - You haven't heard of National Novel Writing Month? NaNoWriMo for short, NaNo for shorter. It's an annual challenge to write a 50,000-word novel in one month that takes place every November. Utter insanity, but of the best, most organized kind. Go to nanowrimo.org to check it out, and don't let the massive forums overwhelm you; after a while you figure out which ones you want to monitor. I'm on there with the same screen name as here, and you can read an excerpt from my 2007 novel. The regional forums are great, and the genre forums can be a lot of fun, and some of the miscellaneous forums are pure killer fun. I'm affiliated with the Texas::Austin region, which is one of the more active ones.

I hadn't thought about it, but I guess I could post my WWW novella here. I think I've seen some fanfic on here. And 'Monterey Jake of All Trades' is a chapter from one of my novels, 'Binders Art'.

Okay, all that is waaaaaaaaay too long-winded.

Thanks Silver! Wow a novel in a month- I'm struggling writing a chapter these days...are amateurs welcome?...I'm definatley not in your league(lol) I will check out the site ASAP, Many Thanks! I'm in Pa. so i'll see what we East coasters have. Can't wait to read more of your work on SM!
Chloe

As you will have by now discovered, amateurs are what NaNo is really about. Amateurs, non-writers, anybody that thinks they would like to try to write a novel, but needs something to kick them into gear to actually do it. This is speed writing for quantity, not quality (that generally sneaks in by chance).