I’ve been sitting on the following news for a while and I can finally reveal it! This year the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers takes a new step forward in the form of the Wayward Wormhole, an intensive writing workshop in a frickin’ CASTLE IN SPAIN. Excuse me while I hyperventilate, but I am that excited (and a little terrified) by all of this.
Here’s the formal announcement:
The Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers (academy.catrambo.com), fantasy and science fiction’s premiere online learning center, announces a new venture for 2023 — the Wayward Wormhole, an intensive writing workshop with some of the industry’s top teachers.
The inaugural Wayward Wormhole will run November 1 to 21, 2023 at Castle de Llaés, in the municipality of Gurb, Spain. Look northward from the castle to see the Pyrenees and southward to see the rolling hills of Catalonia. Ten students and four instructors will spend three weeks here writing and critiquing, while a virtual component allows other students to experience Wormhole-Light.
The Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers has been in existence for twelve years, serving hundreds of students who have gone on to win awards, honors, and accolades, including Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy Awards. “I attended Clarion West, and have taught at multiple workshops now,” says Academy founder Cat Rambo. “While others have delivered the gold standard, I want to stretch to the platinum level and deliver an amazing workshop in an equally amazing setting.”
The Wayward Wormhole instructors for 2023 are Tobias Buckell, Ann Leckie, Sarah Pinsker, and Cat Rambo, all seasoned instructors of the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers. Details on how to apply for the workshop, costs, and other information can be found at http://www.catrambo.com/waywardwormhole
June Classes
Here’s the new online live classes for June. You can find the full list of March-June classes here. Many of them are also available in on-demand form here.
- Writing to Prompts with Jamie Lackey, Saturday, June 3, 2023, 9:30–11:30 AM Pacific time.
- Handling Social Media for Writers with Cat Rambo, Saturday, June 3, 2023, 1–3 PM Pacific time.
- Tarot for Writers with Monica Valentinelli, Sunday, June 4, 2023, 9:30–11:30 AM Pacific time.
- Behind the Curtain: Basics of Publishing with Catherine Lundoff, Sunday, June 4, 2023, 1–3 PM Pacific time.
- Writing Experimental Fiction with Cat Rambo, Sunday, June 4, 2023, 4–6 PM Pacific time.
- Headshrinking while Character Expanding: How to Build the Most Psychologically Powerful Characters and Relationships with Minister Faust, Saturday, June 17, 2023, 9:30–11:30 AM Pacific time.
- The Algorithms of Storytelling: Design Patterns and Fiction with Cat Rambo and Wayne Rambo, Saturday, June 17, 2023, 1–3 PM Pacific time.
- Groups, Parties, and Crews: Writing Ensembles with Cat Rambo, Sunday, June 18, 2023, 1–3 PM Pacific time.
- 9-Step Outlining for Plotters and Pansters: Using Structure to Improve Your Storytelling with Sarah Buhrman, Sunday, June 18, 2023, 4–6 PM Pacific time.
Video Recordings of Past Classes
I’m trying to standardize making these videos available going forward. Cost is $40 per class if you support me on Patreon; otherwise $50. To receive the recording link(s), mail me and state whether you are a Patreon supporter and how you would prefer to pay (Venmo, Paypal, check, or some other means). Classes are available for six months after they are given.
Videos That Are Currently Available
- 50 ccs of Plot, Stat!: Making Things Happen in Your Story (Michael R. Underwood)
- Adapting Your Fiction into Games (Monica Valentinelli)
- Afritopianism: How to Write the Literature of Africanity Past, Present, and Future (Minister Faust)
- Building Series Concepts (Michael R. Underwood)
- Cross-Examining Your Character (Henry Lien)
- Determining the Axioms of Your Story (Yoon Ha Lee)
- Eating Your Words: Writing About Food (Cat Rambo)
- Emotional Self-Care for Creatives (Monica Valentinelli)
- Finding the Story in a Prompt (Sarah Pinsker)
- The First Draft Novel Blues (Cat Rambo)
- Fixing the Broken Story (Cat Rambo)
- Flash Fiction: How to Write and Sell It (Cat Rambo)
- Follow the Money: Worldbuilding with Economics (Cat Rambo)
- In Flagrante Delicto: Writing Effective Sex Scenes (Catherine Lundoff)
- How to Create Your Own Genre (Henry Lien)
- Literary Techniques for Genre Writers (Cat Rambo)
- Make Mine Moody (Cat Rambo)
- Make Your Fiction Sing: Songwriting Techniques that Carry into Prose (Sarah Pinsker)
- No More Lone Wolves: Writing Characters in Community (Catherine Lundoff)
- Rewriting and Revising: How to Edit (Cat Rambo)
- Self-Editing: From First Splat to Finish (Jennifer Brozek)
- Staying in Your Lane: Writing Marginalized Groups You are Not a Part of (Sarah Buhrman)
- Story Fundamentals (Cat Rambo)
- Tarot for Writers (Monica Valentinelli)
- Throwing Rocks: Creating Obstacles in Stories (Sarah Buhrman)
- Twenty Types of Terror: Exploring Horror Subgenres (Cat Rambo)
- Wrangling Short Stories (John Wiswell)
- Writing Distinctive Characters (Michael R. Underwood)
- Writing What You Didn’t Realize You Know (Xander Odell)
- You Need to Take This Class: Writing Second Person (Cat Rambo)
Links, Links, and More Links
Rambo-Related Links
- Guest Post: Confessions of a Reluctant Writing Gamer by Janet K. Smith
- Guest post from Juliet Kemp about Writing as Play
- The latest newsletter
- Cat talks about how to create a resource that helps when scheduling social media posts.
- Creative AI vs. Creative Humanity: Guest Post by Laurence Raphael Brothers
- Here’s the Hopepunk and Optimistic Futures panel I was recently on.
Community Links
- Ziv Wities is helping with Diabolical Plots annual recommendation thread.
- The Trans Rights Readathon March 20–27, created by Sim Kern, supports transgender authors and raises money for organizations that support transgender folks (via Sarah Grave)
- Priya Sridhar writes City of Day Demonstrates Human Connection Among The Dead in the Dark, Twenty Years Of How To Train Your Dragon Books, You Are A Global Citizen Resonates With Miami Readers. Also check out her new book, UNDERSTUDIES!
- Lauren Ring presents a special SFF issue with their favorites from 2022!!
- Sarah Jackson’s story appears in Electric Spec — “The Willingham Bay Witches”
- Check out Malda Marlys’ new story — A Princess With a Nose Three Ells Long — Fantasy Magazine
- Ziv Wities’ special themed issue at Diabolical Plots is up: four stories of telepathy, weird or wondrous or both together!
- K. W. Colyard produced Can You Guess The Sci-Fi Book Based On Its 1-Star Review?
- Louise Hughes has a new story out in Clarkesworld Magazine
- Ru has a story in Apex’s Strange Libations anthology.
- Kathy L. Brown writes An Author’s Journal: A Year of Joy — Kathy L. Brown Writes
- Rebecca A. Demarest has written a story for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) that is being used as a fundraiser for the organization. It’s a 30 day storytelling journey, where you receive an update about what you, a crew member on a journey to explore an exoplanet, have been up to.
- Help support a terrific story writer
- (Want your links here? Put them in the #promotethis channel of the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers Discord server.)
Market & Related Links
- At the SFWA blog “In Space There’s Actually a Lot to Hear,” Emma Johanna Puranen discusses the power of the SFF audio drama.
- I enoyed “Between the Stones and the Stars” from Alice Goldfuss in Lightspeed Magazine.
- New SFWA Market Report for March
- Great interview with Stephen Graham Jones
- Mythic Magazine is officially closed. (via Ray Daley)
- GigaNotoSaurus is looking for slush readers particularly from the trans, queer, and POC communities. If interested, please email editor@giganotosaurus.org and we’ll get a questionnaire to you. (via Edgard)
- News from Shoreline Of Infinity on their subs periods this year (via Ray Daley).
- Wilted Pages, an anthology of dark academia, is reading short stories (1–4K words) from March 8–24! Extended reading period is open March 1–31 for people of color, LGBTQ2S+ people, neurodiverse people, people with disabilities, and those of marginalized genders (via Lois Mei Kwa).
- Lightspeed has posted their submission windows for the next few months (via A.B. Crisp)
Informative Links
- Interesting piece from the Yale Review about the multiverse.
- Princeton Alumni Weekly talks about AI and education.
- Fascinating article about some of the more complicated aspect of chicken stock
- Right-wing extremists committed every ideologically driven mass killing identified in the U.S. in 2022, with an “unusually high” proportion perpetrated by white supremacists.
- For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper
- Good thread about the narrative being pushed by American media.
- So delightfully intent.
- Every american president, but they’re all cool and they all sport a mullet
Taco and Other Daily Life pictures
- Lurking
- Good hair day
- Skedaddlesaurus bag
- Sad to be heading home!
- Happy dog!
- Barcelona, Gothic Quarter
- Some favorite quotes
- Game time!
- Things are getting a little dire in the D&D game.
- Taco Cat being very patient
- Testing a new recipe, black sesame seed cookies.
- Current puzzle.
- Fossils from Lake Michigan.
- Wondering if this repair and renovation list for 2023 is overly ambitious.
- Hoping this new rug will flatten out with time.
That’s it for this newsletter! I’m looking forward to spring and hope that you are as well. This year my house turns 100 and part of the spring plans are to get the backyard in shape for entertaining. I’ll be at GenCon and DragonCon this year, but other than a couple of personal trips, I’ll be headdown and writing away on the books I have due this year. Stay well and be kind. :)
