Sunday was a mixed day at Taos. The good: All the rest of the students arrived and my altitude sickness departed. The bad: Most of my pens exploded and my computer failed.
The pens' leaking (well, they were very small explosions) was due to altitude. The computer was more difficult. Several people offered opinions in person, by phone, and by email. Several persons worked on it. Right now it is running, thanks to the expertise of the wonderful Barbara Webb. We shall see.
Today actually focused on writing SF, not on hardware. Class, which was held from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 with breaks for coffee and lunch, began with Walter warning everyone that bears are especially active this year. He told us what to do if we encounter a bear while walking in the woods. Several of us promptly decided not to walk in the woods.
Each day features two mini-lectures, one by me and one by Walter. Today I talked about world building, Walter about plot structure. We also critiqued two stories. Memorable lines from critiquers:
"More science fiction should be about plumbing and toilets."
"If he's farting oxygen, he's basically a plant."
"I would not ask this group of diplomats to negotiate a pizza purchase."
Both authors said they received useful feedback, and I was very pleased with the level of criticism offered. PLUS -- the computer is still working! So far, anyway. Of course, it does have ink on it from one exploding pen, but you can't have everything.
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