Day 2, was really Day 1 of the actual workshop itself, and I woke up not really knowing what to expect (despite reading about a dozen of these workshop blogs by previous winners). I walked a block down Hollywood boulevard to Author Services Inc where our classes would be held, and arrived at 9am sharp.

First on the agenda was a tour of the building. We were taken up to the 4th floor into an absolutely amazing room. It was filled, wall to wall, with books by L. Ron Hubbard. They had a tower of paper nearly my height (and I’m not a small man) which was the original manuscript of Mission Earth. I had no idea the man was so prolific. Someday I want a room like this in my own house. I was in awe.

Next up, was an equally fascinating room, except this one was devoted to the contest. They had a copy of every book written by winners, and even copies of magazines where the winners have been published. Joni showed us a huge wall with pictures of seminal moments in the contest: first award ceremony, first female grand prize winner, pictures of various important events in the history of the contest. I can’t wait for some of my stuff to be in that hallowed company.

The workshop itself was absolutely amazing. Tim Powers and KD Wentworth poured forth their collected wisdom. I took eleven pages of notes, which I will post sometime after the workshop. Unfortunately for you guys, many of the stories are edited out to protect those involved, but Tim was entertaining as hell. Not many people realize that he was one of Philip K Dick’s best friends (even roommates for a while), and he’s been around the sci-fi community for a long time. The man knows everyone. He’s promise to give us a few (unprintable) Phil Dick stories today.

Both judges are incredibly friendly and outgoing with the winners, and I think that’s one of the main reasons they were picked to administer the workshop (that and their venerable publishing history). Tim has this manner of talking to you that makes you feel like you’ve been friends for 10 years, and when you say something he treats it like it’s something you’d only tell a buddy. Kathy has this unassuming manner about her, and then she pops out this quip in a deadpan that has you cracking up. I feel priviledged and honoured to be in their company.

After the workshop, we hung around in the lobby of the hotel where we met former winner Steve Saville. Steve is a young writer who left the contest running. In six years, he’s written 23 books. That’s a crazy pace. He mentioned that Kevin J Anderson once introduced himself as Hack and Steve as Hack Jr. (neither of which is accurate, but funny nonetheless). Steve has tons of wisdom and inside knowledge about how to succeed after the contest, as well as stories of previous disasters at the contest (mostly foolish writers torpedoeing their careers. And no, I can’t share them here–you’ll have to win the contest to hear them. They usually involved idiots dissing Scientology or the contest, or even other contest winners. Hint: Whatever you think about Scientology, these people are amazingly friendly and courteous, and they spend a lot of time and money getting you down here and putting this workshop on. It’s not cool to dis your hosts. And this is someone’s religion. We don’t dis people for the religion they practice in modern society. End of rant.).

You know, this might be a good place to tackle the issue of Scientology. It is my understanding that the staff at Author Services Inc are Scientologists, but they have never brought it up. Not once. I honestly wouldn’t have known that they were if it hadn’t been for the Interwebs. I’ve heard that if you >ask< them about Scientology they’ll hold forth, but it’s like there’s a wall in place between the contest and the religion. None of the judges are Scientologists that I’m aware of, and neither are any of the contest winners, past or present. I have about as the same opinon about Scientology that I have about any other religion at this point, which is respect sprinkled with a healthy does of ambilivalence.

Anyways, I headed to bed around midnight the first night feeling like a wuss, but I was exhausted. Tomorrow is the start of the 24 hour story. I can’t wait.

Tags: Workshop, Writers of the Future