May | DreamCasters Agenda | 05/08/22

DreamForge Anvil is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: DreamCasters Monthly Meeting

Time: May 08, 2022 1:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Opening Statement

Welcome to DreamCasters, a DreamForge discussion group devoted to helping our members improve their writing and storytelling through discussion and sharing expertise.

DreamForge News –  5 min

DreamForge Kickstarter

Our schedules are really tough, but we’re going to have to get our DreamForge Kickstarter underway soon. I’m shooting for May 15^th at the moment.

Angelique Fawns

Just wanted to let you and Jane know that I made a sale to Third Flatirons “After the Gold Rush” with a story called “The Last of the Gen Xers”.

It was written following your Conflict template to the T!

The Great DreamCaster Bakeoff – 20 minutes

Let’s talk about DreamCaster’s latest submissions. We’re looking forward to seeing your Threshold Event / Inciting Incident for your writing challenge stories.

Upload them to the DreamForge portal as before as before: https://dreamforge.mywebportal.app/

All 11 entrants are still in the contest. We thought starting out that this would get overwhelming, and we’d only be able to comment on a diminishing number of stories, but so far we can do it. Let’s keep going.

I did mess up the communications last time and initially told you to move on into conflicts. So, if anyone did that, you’re fine. Submit what you’ve got. You’re just ahead of the curve.

Also, some of you could argue that you already did your Threshold Event too. If so, that’s fine – you have an opportunity to polish what you already have. Get your updated manuscripts into the Portal by May 6^th.

DreamCaster Guest Emily Mah – 30 minutes

Emily Mah will talk to us about ebooks and self-publishing, including where to start – what items to consider, how to go about doing it or hiring the right person, how to plan a covert. Emily helped us learn the ropes, and she can be an invaluable resource for you too. Emily will also let us know about her writing. She is the author of one of my favorite DreamForge stories, Wrath of a Lightweight, in Issue 2 of DreamForge Magazine – https://dreamforge.mywebportal.app/dreamforge/stories/show/wrath-of-a-lightweight-emily-mah

You can learn more about Emily’s writing at her author website: http://www.emilymah.com/

And about her Book Design services at https://emtippettsbookdesigns.com/

Give Aways! 5 minutes

By random dice roll, we will give away two prizes. First is a full year’s subscription to Discover Magazine. Second is a copy of “Hungry,” by Alethea Eason, a YA alien invasion story. (I chose “Hungry,” because it is one that our recent guest Bruce McAllister worked on with the author. So, it might make an interesting study for one of you.)

Story Prompts –  5 minutes

We’ll give out a couple story prompts that might be interesting to explore.

Meeting Ends.  Thank You All!

In June

For June, we’re working on scheduling Donald Firesmith, author of the Hell Hole series, to talk to us about scientific accuracy in science fiction. http://donaldfiresmith.com/