Mark Mason's picture
Mark Mason from Sydney, Australia is reading Best Australian Poems 2016 January 29, 2017 - 11:32pm

Hi everyone, thought I'd give a quick shout out as I'm new here.

I'm a big Chuck fan so when I was stalking... I mean, uh, researching him, I found out about this site. It appears to be populated by similarly creative types from around the world.

A little bit about myself: I'm a middle-aged teen from Sydney, Australia. I live in a lovely beach-side suburb with my extremely talented editor-wife, who is also very tolerant of my 'hobbies'. I've previously had both poetry and short stories of mine published, but the big-time writing career I expected is still having problems getting through airport security. 

I work a full time job in a large hospital as an administrator. This often provides fuel for some twisted imaginings that sometimes become words on a screen. I also take inspiration from over-miss-heard conversations on public transport, weird musings and some full-on crazy dreams.

Apart from this, I am also a hard-working musician and composer. As much as I love and enjoy creative writing, it often takes a back seat to music. Like a lot of us here, I would love more hours in the day for my creative pursuits. 

I'm very interested in the idea of collaborative writing too. I've not really done anything like this in the past, but love working with like-minded people creating music so am sure I would enjoy this as well.

Anyone here co-authored anything before? All advice gratefully received.

Jose F. Diaz's picture
Jose F. Diaz from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel January 30, 2017 - 9:54pm

Aloha, Welcome to the pit. I'm on here and there. So, just let me know if I can help with anything. 

This site has helped me when I first started writing. I was a complete novice. Since, I have finished my degree in English and am now attending school for my MFA. And I credit this site for really keeping moving forward. 

It's a great resource. Use it as much as possible.

Mark Mason's picture
Mark Mason from Sydney, Australia is reading Best Australian Poems 2016 January 30, 2017 - 11:13pm

Thanks for the welcome, Jose - appreciate it. What sort of fiction do you write? Have you been published?

Jose F. Diaz's picture
Jose F. Diaz from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel January 31, 2017 - 9:29am

I write .... slipstream, speculative fiction, memoir fiction, war fiction. And poetry. But more exact would be that I just like writing sad shit, if that makes sense. I let the stories dictate how I proceed. I follow the characters. I usually have a plan to do some 1984/Brave New World kind of stuff, but it usually gets pulled back to something a little more current.

And I have been published, but nothing extreme. I have two poems published and a short story.

How about yourself?

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal January 31, 2017 - 10:38am

What kind of stuff do you write?

And what instrument(s) do you play?

smithreynolds's picture
smithreynolds from Spokane, WA USA is reading The writing on the wall. January 31, 2017 - 11:56pm

@Mark. Hello Gail here.  My husband is a musician and a composer/songwriter. Maybe I should just say he is a writer. I am and actor and a writer. I never made my bread and butter at either. I did mostly social work in my day job years, and now I get to write full time, finally....mostly short stories right now. I know nothing about writing collaboratively, although as an actor the concept is not totally foreign to me. Theatre is  a collaborative art, and one of the reasons it was so difficult to stay engaged, that dependence on others was a blessing and a curse.

I found my way here researching the Portland, Oregon writing scene, and I am a Chuck fan, in a rather casual way. I haven't read all his stuff yet, but I think I have read all the craft essays he has here for us to use. I love them, and consumed them like popcorn for awhile.  Highly recommend them. I have taken a couple of classes too. I would recommend those as well.

Enjoy. Let me know if I can help in any way.  Welcome aboard.