Viable Paradise = A fantastic experience. Really I could stop there, but I’m assuming you’re here for the details. So quickly, because I still have a hard time describing it in words, here’s what VP was like.
Imagine yourself sitting in a room with 40 some people. 23 are new and nervous like you, the others are old hands who are thrilled to have the opportunity to teach you. And they will. They’ll fill your head with so much information, you’ll walk away wondering how you ever could have been so ignorant. You’ll exchange recommendations for books, movies, podcasts, and booze and you’re “MUST TRY” list will grow to legendary lengths.
At VP, I was a Thing, I saw a sunset and a sunrise, drank my share of scurvy cure, survived the horror that was Thursday and I got some of the best advice about writing and life.
I highly recommend VP to anyone interested in speculative fiction. You’ll not only learn more than you think you can in one week, but you’ll make dozens of new friends that you know will be there as for you as you continue to write and grow.
Too vague? Yes, I know. The most incoherent post I’ve ever written? Probably. But I’ll make it up to you with a present. Jim MacDonald and Debra Doyle generously gave me the promo code for a free copy of their story Philologos; or, A Murder in Bistrita on Smashwords. And now I’m sharing it with you (with their blessing, of course).
The link can be found here
The code is: QF86G
The code is good until November 9th, 2012.
And now I must get some writing done and deal with the plot tomatoes in my story. Want to know what plot tomatoes are? You’re just going to have to ask the instructors yourself at the next Viable Paradise.
Curiosity Sometimes Pays Off 
Thank you for the present 😉 Hard to sum up the experience right? The best thing I can say to people who ask is “You should go if you can!”
I’d have to agree with the sheer amount of information that we received in that one week, whether in class or out of it. I’m having a hard time pinpointing all of the major points we learned, even though I know the knowledge is lurking there.
In other news. I say one of us should write a book about plot tomatoes, and use fire wombats as illustrative examples. 🙂
I love how everyone’s post on VP has been so different, except that we all agree on how amazing it is. It already feels like a dream, which I think makes it hard to talk about.
In the spirit of book recommendations, here are the deets on the books I enthused about:
The Poisoner’s Handbook, Deborah Blum (the best non-fiction I read this year, and recommended by Bear for how to write non-fiction in your fiction)
Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, Kathryn Schultz
Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage, Stephanie Coontz
There was one more but I can’t remember. You also recommended something to me, but I can’t remember what. The bright stars, hypnotic lighthouse and the cold wind swept the memory away from me.
Was it Then They Came for Me by Mazair Bahari? Or perhaps it was the article about lead poisoning in ancient Rome from io9. (Read the first comments at the end, I was cracking up.) Thanks for the recommendations!
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