Sharpening the knives

On Friday, Armadillocon starts earlier for me than normal. Instead of a lunchtime arrival, I'm supposed to be in north Austin bright and early at 8:30 a.m. for the start of the writers' workshop. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her, but Kate Saundby is my co-pro in our writing break-out group. We've got seven submitted manuscripts, and I've been doing little else these past few days beyond reading and critiquing. In addition to covering each page with red ink, I'm writing up a summary touching on the overall good and bad in each manuscript. The manuscripts themselves range in quality as one would expect. I read one last night that was engrossing and weird in an X-Files sort of way, only it was more like I Am Legend if that makes any sense. And, wouldn't you know it, the manuscript ended before the story did because of the workshop's length limitations. Grr.

But the critique sessions will be interesting to see. On my summaries, my sections on the "Good" run about half a dozen lines. My comments on the "Bad" run several pages. Writers with thin skin need not apply.

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