If The Internet Shut Down...

What would you DO? How would you communicate? What would life be like?

No email, no IM, no MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, eHarmony or anything else. Would life end?


David Martin knows. Written in the form of a news story, this essay is his idea of what happened:

"The day the Internet shut down"

Audrey

International Slushpile Bonfire Day

From 101 Reasons to Stop Writing:

"One of the most onerous tasks in the magazine and book trade is the sifting of the slush pile. Slush piles, the collection of unsolicited and unagented manuscripts sent to publishers by beginning or would-be authors, are sometimes the source of future literary successes, but more often than not are the source of headaches and indigestion. Many editors privately complain and scream about the uselessness of slush piles, but fearing a backlash from beginning writers who already assume conspiracies keep their work from being printed, very few speak out about the quality and quantity of the material received.

"With this in mind, the international literary community announced a special amnesty day for those long-suffering editors forced to sift through manuscripts where everything but the name of the author was misspelled on the title page. April 31, 2002 marks International Slushpile Bonfire Day, where editors and publishers are encouraged to collect all of the unreadable or unusable manuscripts that have built up in their offices, in some cases since 1968, and burn them while drinking wine and singing songs. Since one of the worst offenders is the science fiction / fantasy / horror triumvirate, SF, fantasy, and horror editors are allowed to place the first documents and light the pile when complete."

Go here to read the rest of this hilarious article.

For the loudest laughs, be sure to read the comments at the bottom of the page. There are some REALLY stupid people on the internet. Or at least people with no sense of humor.


Audrey

Ed Easley

Our regular chatters all know Ed Easley. Ed has rubbed us all the wrong way from time to time, but he's still got "something" that makes us give him another chance. Even when we want to slap him up alongside the head.

Ed has been MIA from the chatroom for a few weeks now, and Becca went on a recon mission to find out why. It seems our Ed is having a rough time.

He had brain surgery last month. The report says he was healing nicely until he got a staph infection in the surgery site. In cleaning out the infection, Ed suffered a small stroke.

He's currently in ICU, but healing. His wife, the long-suffering Patty, says they are hopeful for a full recovery.

For those who haven't had the "pleasure" of chatting with Ed, you can get to know him a bit from his blog, http://edeasley.blogspot.com/ .


Audrey

Busy October

Wow, October is here already! Not only is it football season and the scary month of Halloween, All Saint's Day, but it's a really busy time of year for many writers. The Muse Online Writing Conference runs from the 13th through the 19th. It's great place to learn a bit, hang around with other writers and all from your own desk.

Many more are gearing up for the NANOWRIMO writing challenge which starts November 1st. If you've never taken this up, I recommend you try it. You'll learn from it and gain whether or not you finish your 50,000 words by the end of the month or not. October is when we brainstorm the new story, create the characters, worldbuild and plot (if we're one of those who isn't a pantser). Yep. It's a lot of work but oh, so worth it.

An online friend posted this quote today: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."--Thomas Alva Edison. All this preparation falls under what this quote means. The Muse and NANOWRIMO are work but both are incredible opportunities...to grow; to create; to be the writers we are with no excuses and no inhibitions.

I can't speak for anyone else but I enjoy being this busy. I know I couldn't go full steam every day of the year, but it feels good to let loose and fly down the writing rails. Just getting to the holidays feeling accomplished helps me relax and enjoy the down time from Thanksgiving through New Years. Less guilt I suppose. All of us could use less of that!