THE WULF BLOG

Have I got a story to tell! But for now, let me just say that I won Second Place in the international speculative fiction talent search, Writers of the Future! My story, “Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler” will be published in their Volume 35 anthology, release date of April 9, 2019. In addition to the prize money and professional publication money, I’ll be sent on an all expense paid trip to Hollywood! I’ll partake in a week long workshop taught by David Farland, Orson Scott Card, and Tim Powers! These are giants in the field of science fiction and fantasy, and I’m so pleased I’m going to learn from the masters. And then there’s the banquet and awards gala which has been described as the equivalent of the Academy Awards ceremony in the field of science fiction and fantasy! This year the event will be livestreamed from Hollywood’s opulent Taglyan Complex on Friday, April 5th! Go to writersofthefuture.com on the day of the event and connect up to the program! More to come!

This was sad for me last night–I saw a post from Kevin J. Anderson on a group I’m in, and realized I had missed the news that David Bischoff died March of this year. David was a member of the Wordos writers group in Eugene, Oregon, and so was I. Mild mannered, quiet and kind, you would never have known how much he had accomplished in the industry unless you really pressed him–he was just another writer showing up to help critique for the weekly sessions. Dave and I became friends, and he really liked my writing, especially my Borg love story published in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds II. You see, among his many accomplishments, Dave had worked the Hollywood scene, had written the Star Trek Next Generation episode “Tin Man” and coauthored “First Contact,” and also wrote the bestselling Trek novel Grounded. Imagine my surprise when one day he asked me to work up a list of pitches that we’d take to Paramount to pitch to the execs at Voyager. He liked my ideas, prepped me on how fast you had to change them as the producers added their twists, and we planned our dates to go. Alas, just as we were about to buy tickets, Dave got nervous, apologized, but said he had reconsidered–having done the Hollywood scene (you make a lot of compromises in your work to exist there), he had changed his mind about going back into it. He had decided he was happy where he was at in his career, and I respected that.

It would have been cool to have shared in that world with him, however, and I can’t help my selfish wish that we would have gone. For me, it has always been a great dream of what might have been, and it’s my fondest memory of Dave, because he had made a choice, and he knew where he wanted his writing and life to be. I’ll miss you, Dave. You were always kind and insightful, and you believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. You had a profound impact on my writing, even though my move created distance that caused us to drift apart. You will be missed by all that were graced with your kind presence.