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About the AuthorsThe Round Robin StorybookJust who are these people who like to spend their precious spare time writing fractured bits of fiction? This page contains biographical informaton for all those who have added one or more contributions to one or more of the storylines of the The Round Robin Storybook. Author List
[Last Updated: Jun. 1998] Al is a Software Engineer for a company in Massachusetts that generates Print Servers. He has his Bachelors degree in Computer Science with a minor in mathematics and have been out of college now for only a few years, and been working at his present company since graduation. Al has been reading Fiction since he was very young and his tastes have trended from Frank Herbert or Piers Anthony to Orson Scott Card. He tends to fluctuate between Sci-Fi and Fantasy, and is sometimes lucky enough to find a good story that mixes both well. He also speaks some Klingon, and, yes, he is a minor trekkie. He learned the language not because of the show, but because of the people that were created around the language. He has been a member of the KLI, and has recently been asked to "culturally translate" some of their HTTP pages to Klingon (or at least the English-based Klingon language). Al has written a few short stories that have come out all right, even though he was under the pressure of the grading curve at the time. He doesn't consider himself to be a very good writer but he keeps trying to learn how to better himself. At one time a few years ago he had installed software on a private BBS that accomplished what The Round Robin Storybook does here on the Internet. It allowed the users to start up a story and then have other users elaborate and sometimes bash apart the stories. It was a lot of fun, the only problem was that the program did not have support and turned out to be very unstable so he was forced to get rid of it. As a result, he was very pleased to discover the The Round Robin Storybook on the WWW and was quick to jump right in.
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[Last Updated: Jun. 1998] My name is Alana Laugier and I live in a busy little town called Cranbourne near Melbourne, Australia. I was born in 1970, which makes me 27 this year. My partner and I met in high school and we now have two children (a 10 month old and a two year old). We also have a feral cat, a mortgage, a pile of dirty dishes in the sink, and no money... In High School I studied art, photography and media studies, and when I finished in 1988 I went on to become a qualified screen printer. I held a position of graphic artist and camera operator at a small advertising firm until my first child 'happened'. So for now, at least, I'm a stay-at-home mum and am not planning on going back to work for a couple of years (or until I go crazy - which ever comes first). Hobbies include hiking, bushwalking, camping and eating in Italian restaurants (which explains the sad state of our bank account). I have a great interest in our local history and am also doing the family tree. But in quieter moments you'll always find me with a book in my hand. I particularly enjoy reading fantasy, and have a soft spot for Raymond E. Feist, Janny Wurts and Katharine Kerr. And I have always loved to write. I am currently struggling with a fantasy novel of my own and I've begun research into the history of the Mullungdung State Forest - which is close by and my favorite place on Earth - in the hope of throwing together a short book about it. Every Sunday night I have a date with a correspondence course in creative writing. I enjoy writting short stories and, when the mood takes me, the odd poem or two. So, there you have it - my life in a nutshell.
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[Last Updated: Sep. 1998] Alex refuses to suffer for his art, so has to fit it in around work and social life. He amazes himself at how much he actually manages to get done. He feels he would do even better if he could write full time. Perhaps he'll try to find himself a patron-- applications welcome!!! His current writing projects include several stories on the Round Robin, several short stories attempting to emulate his favourite authors (kind of like artists copying works of the Masters), and a local writing group that meets twice a month to offer suggestions for each others' short stories. (Toronto area writers can try to contact him if they are looking for a writing group--new members are always welcome!) Alex lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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[Last Updated: Jun. 1998] Warning: I am irreverent, slightly... no, definitely weird, and my writing style is somewhere in between Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, with a but of Piers Anthony thrown in. My name is Amy Sasaki. I am a second year Arts student at the University of British Columbia; I plan to get a bachelor's of Arts in English, and then enter the Faculty of Education to become an English teacher. My true dream is, of course, to become an author, but this has been severely hampered by my outright cowardice. I once won first place in my local library's Young Adult Writing contest (I can send the url if you are interested in seeing an example of some of my darker works). I have also posted up some of my lighter work at http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/8605 I have written, on and off, since grade three or so, and most people tell me that I have a "witty" and "concise" style. Recently, this witty and concise style has been peppered with a liking for bizarre, surreal (if not outright ridiculous) twists in plotline, and also a liking for cats and large flightless birds. I can't really explain it myself, but there it is.
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[Last Updated: Jun. 1998] Bill who? Bill Livingston. There will now be a pause so you can get the "Wild Bill's" & "Mr. Bill's" & "Dr. Livingston, I Presume's" out of your system. ...... [pause] ...... There, all done now? I was born in and still live in Decatur, Alabama, some 30-odd years ago
(and some of those years were very odd, indeed). In 1987, I acquired a
bachelor's degree in MIS (Management Information Systems) from the
University of Alabama in Huntsville (School Motto: You don't graduate, you
have to escape). Beginning in 1990, I have worked at NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Centre (some 30 miles from Decatur), first for Boeing, then for
Computer Sciences Corporation, a major communications and computational
contractor. As a Member of Technical Staff "A", I basically do, well,
whatever needs doing that doesn't quite fit any other category. I design
reports, write help files, document application features, and just to top
it all off, I'm the building fire marshal (yeah, I'm Fire Marshall Bill
I've always enjoyed both reading and writing, and have started several
stories and novels in an attempt to be really and truly creative (and if
they become best-sellers and make me piles of cash, I won't object).
Unfortunately, entropy sets in, and they've all slowly ground to a halt,
although I try to resurrect them from time to time. Actually, most of my
creative efforts have been directed to either round-robin stories, or
MiSTings. For those not in the know, a MiSTing involves taking a written
work and subjecting it to the "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" treatment (if
you have to ask what that is, you may as well skip to the next
paragraph I discovered the Round Robin Storybook through YAHOO, where at one point it was mislabelled "humour". At first, I thought, "This isn't really very funny", but that was quickly replaced by a sense that this was a truly fun and unique activity. After reading through the available stories, I contacted Jenni and asked to join "What Comes Around, Goes Around". What else? Well, I'm a deacon in the church I've gone to all my life, I don't exercise nearly enough, and when I'm not working or writing, I like to read. I read a lot, and my reading list encompasses a wide variety of books, from Arthur C. Clarke to Lewis Grizzard to Clive Cussler to the occasional good biographical tome. Some of my all time favourites include "The Probability Broach" by L. Neil Smith; "Advise & Consent" by Allen Drury; "Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need"; and Cussler's "Raise the Titanic". I also watch a little TV (though not as much as I used to). I particularly like all forms of "Star Trek" (even Voyager), "Mystery Science Theatre 3000 ("Push the Button, Frank!"), "X-Files", and many so-called "kid's shows", including "The Tick" ("SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!"), "Freakazoid", and "Beakman's World". If anyone would start making new episodes of "Twin Peaks", I'd watch it, too.
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[Last Updated: Jul 1997] Brandy is a freshman/aspiring writer at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. Last year instead of completing here Senior Year in high school she attended the University of St. Thomas. As part of her studies she participated in a program offered by her high school called Mentor Connection. Brandy chose to study sci-fi/adventure writing and worked with the author Patricia Wrede. She helped Brandy to learn more about exactly what writing entails. Of the experience, Brandy says: "When I started I thought that I was the world's greatest writer, until she sent back my first critique which was dripping with purple ink. I don't think there was any more room for purple on the page." Brandy joined the Round Robin Storybook because she found the idea of writing pieces of a story absolutely intriguing. She also thought it would be a fun way to keep up with my free writing exercises. Some additional things Brandy says about herself: "I love to climb, I sell life and health insurance, I work at the computer help desk as a user assistant, I'm thinking of majoring in journalism/computers, I read every second I get, I love any outdoor adventure sport (i.e. white-water rafting, winter camping, skiing, etc.), and my local paper published a few of my essays. I could go on but I better head back to my homework."
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[Last Updated: Jul. 1997] I grew up in California, from Riverside as a child to Oxnard, finishing High School. At age 17, I began my life of work as a Stockman, moving from one job to another every 3 years. I have done many things in that time till now, with almost every job having something to do with Warehousing. But in that time I found my imagination was leaving me. I only found out when a friend, told me I should read some Science-fiction and or fantasy books. Once started, I could not stop. Here was a world of pure inventiveness, anything and everything could happen, and I eat it up. At age 22, I began thinking, maybe I could write as well. So just for fun I picked a subject and began. I am age 37 now [1997] and have put thousands of words to paper for just that fun. I also just lately, {since 96} have been trying my hand in poetry. But with these I have been sending them out to Contest, and seeing what happens. Thus far many of them have been put in to Anthologies, thou I know I need to work with them still. With practice, one day, they might help me with writting a full book from cover to cover.
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[Last Updated: Jul. 1997] David was born on January 20, 1954, a day that stood in the record books for years as the coldest day in the contiguous 48 states. He grew up in Minnesota, and was reading science fiction before he was out of elementary school. He studied mathematics in college, and then moved on to computers, about which he says "I've never regretted". He has done a lot of graduate work in computer science, although he is currently doubtful about continuing on for the PhD David married Dorene in 1981, which he says "is one of my smarter moves". And in 1994 they had a son named Raymond. David and Dorene live in an overly old house in Minneapolis with two cats, and hope eventually to move to a house with fewer problems (if any such exist). Ray's projected careers include physicist, punk rock musician, and middle infielder. The cats have already made their career choices, and David says that he does have some ideas as to what he wants to do when he grows up too.
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[Last Updated: Jul. 1997] Donna Maria Waltz, PhD (commonly known as "Daio") is a dairy specialist who works for a major US feed company. Before moving to the wilds of Wisconsin, she worked for the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine in Rockville, MD. Fascinated by both animals (she has four cats, two snakes, a hedgehog, a horse, and a lot of mice) and reading at an early age she has been an avid reader of SF and Fantasy since age 10. But it wasn't until age 27 that she started writing it. As part of an Amateur Publishing Alliance (APA) she has written more than 100 stories - some alone and others with fellow members of the APA. Although sheer cowardliness means that it is unlikely she will ever submit a work of fiction for professional publication (she has had several scientific papers published though), she is committed to producing enjoyable, well-written stories for her own and others enjoyment.
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[Last Updated: Jul. 1997] Dorene Anne-Smith Thornley is one of the original Round Robineer's, and is the biggest punishment glutton there is being active in most of the currently active storylines in The Round Robin Storybook. Dorene is 37 years old, 5'8", 180 lbs, has brown shoulder-length hair, and near-sighted blue eyes. She says, "My hobbies (besides writing in these stories) are participating in an Amateur Publishing Alliance (APA), reading & writing (sci-fi, fantasy & mystery), attending minor league baseball games, picnics, hiking, fishing, amusement parks (especially roller coasters), Nautilus and water aerobics, gardening, cooking, and wasting way too much time playing mindless computer games." Well, at least those *were* her hobbies -- she doesn't do them much any more. Instead, she spends her time taking care of her baby boy, Raymond, born August 8, 1994. Dorene supports all this by working for Ramsey County Data Processing as a systems analyst and programmer. Currently, she is switching to a new language called Magic, using an Oracle database on a DEC computer. For the past seven years, she's worked on a Prime computer using Info/basic and Information -- she adds, "don't worry, nobody else has heard of them either". Dorene claims that it is very strange to go from being an expert in the Prime shop to working on something totally new in the Magic shop! However, now, when people ask her what she does for a living, she says "Magic!"
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[Last Updated: Jul. 1997] Elizabeth is 33 years old [1996], a mother of 3, and full-time student at Loyalist College in the Information Systems course. She's hoping to become a well paid tech-head when she is done. She has been writing steadily since December 1995 when introduced to timed writings by her brother, Alex. She has exchanged weekly writings with him based on topics chosen from our childhood. We have never missed a week in the 11 months we have been doing this. Joining The Reality Market Round Robin will be her first foray into writing fiction and fantasy. In other areas, she currently enjoys writings by New Age spiritualists. And though, to date, she has read mainly men, she have finally found some wonderful writings by women focusing specifically on the spirituality unique to women.
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[Last Updated: Jun. 2004] A quality assurance engineer always trying to figure out exactly what
he does for a living (so don't ask him), Erik lives with his family in
Port Coquitlam, a very small city of fifty thousand near the much larger
city of Vancouver, Canada. Among other things, he thoroughly enjoys living
close enough to his job to regularly cycle to work.
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[Last Updated: Jun. 1997] Hi! They wanted an auto-biography for all the Round Robin writers and apparently I was anonymous for a while... So, I'm Grace Spengler. I got recruited for this RR thing through the same Amateur Press Association as a lot of the other folks like David, Donna, Dorene, and Jenni. I volunteered to join a "classic Trek" round-robin thinking I could contribute a few Klingons... So far no Klingons have been inserted, however, I'm enjoying writing a Federation Lt. instead . I'm old enough to know better but young enough to still try it anyway. My interests are art, reading, writing, and collecting "stuff." I own cats -- which should be considered an admission of guilt for imposing chaos on order -- right now there are three cats supervising my life. Like many other folks here on the RR network I enjoy writing but am too chicken to submit my work to a gasp editor. Enjoy what we write, and come join us!
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[Last Updated: Jun. 2000] My name is Jenni A. M. Merrifield, and I am also known in cyber-space as "strawberryJAMM". I am one of the "founding" Round Robineer's, and am also the "Initiator" for the veryfirst Round Robin What Goes Around Comes Around. I am also the creator and maintainer of this web site. In March of 1997 I turned 29, and in May of 1997 I finished my final semseter as a student at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC, Canada where I obtained a second undergraduate degree. My first degree was a BA in "Classical Studies" (General studies about all aspects of Ancient Rome and Greece), this second degree is a BASc, in "Computer Engineering". Since finishing school, I have worked for a company called NCompass Labs, a privately owned Internet Content Managment software development company, as a User Interaction Designer. Since my Undergraduate Thesis for my BASc was on Erganomics and UI Design and Evaluation, doing real UI design is dead on my inteneded career track. In addition to this "day job", I have been doing Web Site Design Consulting in my off hours since January of 1996 as a way of using one of my favourite hobbies to bring some extra cash into the house. I have many hobbies and interests, including (obviously) creative writing. As well as these Round Robin "for fun" projects, I am currently writing a Fantasy Novel with a good friend and will hopefully get it published some day, after it is written. Other hobbies include: web site design, Role Playing Games (esp. D&D), Reading tarot cards, painting, drawing, computer artwork, involvement with an Amateur Publishing Alliance (APA) and cuddling with my husband, Ron and my son, Nathan (born Sep. 1998). I am 5'3" tall, have strawberry blonde hair and hope to end up with a family of 2 to 4 kids and a multitude of cats -- once Ron and I can afford the house with a yard for them all to play in. (However, Ron wants a multitude of dogs, so we will have to wait and see what comes of some of these plans)
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[Last Updated: Mar. 1999] Joseph Daniel Brown, aka Joe, aka Joe D. Brown has Brown hair and Brown eyes. (Do you think there's a Brown factor involved?) However, his favourite colour is Green (not brown). Joe was born September 14, 1974 in Teaneck, New Jersey. He moved to Israel and 1983 and resides in Bnei Brak, with his wife, Janet. He is currently a Student of English Literature and Philosophy in Hebrew U., Jerusalem. His hobbies include: "Piano, bass guitar, singing, philosophizing, creative writing, reading (especially short stories and fantasy, or a mix of both), MUPPETS (big time), RPGs, certain comic strips (Marvel's Slapstick), music, chess, cats (and dogs, too), and another few useless things in life." Joe was recruited to the Round Robin Storybook from the World Wide Web and is the "Originating Author" of the story Genre, Webs Of Wonder, and its first Storyline, How Much Does It Cost To Be A Wizard?. Joe is also the brother of Josh Brown.
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[Last Updated: Jun. 2000] John Braue was born in 1955 in Glen Ridge, N.J. He rapidly made the mistake of surviving his childhood diseases, a pattern of error that he has assidulously striven to maintain to this day. In 1966, his family moved to Glastonbury, CT, and he, perforce, moved along with them. He attended the University of Connecticut, but, discovering that drinking and gambling were not degree programs, eventually had to find something else to do. Having an aversion to performing actual work, he instead became an IT consultant, and spent the ensuing two decades travelling about the northeastern U.S., wishing fervently that he had listened to his parents and become a lawyer. Since 1995, he has been ensconced at a client, helping to install ledger systems for their Canadian and U.S. operations, and now merging the two and preparing to help take over their Latin American financial systems. At the present rate of consolidation, Mars ought to be added early in the 21st century; he is uncertain whether this spells the end of his contract, or if he has tapped into the company's expansion plans. Formerly the devotee of such unusual hobbies as paintball and brewing, declining health in recent years has required him to take up more sedate activities, such as web surfing, financial analysis, and learning to type one-handed. Whilst his literary efforts have hitherto been limited to instructions on how to restart the currency conversion application when it fails at 0-dark-thirty, a combination of arrogance and ignorance making him willing to expand his activities in this area.
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[Last Updated: Jun. 1997] John joined the Round Robin Storybook in early 1997 at the young age of 14 years. He currently holds the record as the youngest person to become a member of the Round Robin Storybook. John lives in Anacortes, Washington and likes to write because "it gives me a sense that I spice up the lives of a few people for a few minutes." John has written a few short stories and is currently working on his own novel although he says "it is slow going." John also says, "I don't get to write as much as I like to because of school but I really enjoy it. I really enjoy science fiction as well as fantasy mainly because you can let your imagination run wild."
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Last Updated: Jul. 1998 I, John M. Tipton have been writing since my stay in West Australia, in the mid 1970's, when I was about 13 years old. My first short story was titled "S.O.S. Shipwreck" and now resides in the School and Town Library of Exmouth District, West Australia. After returning to the States in 1978, I began writing in earnest, and now has a list of Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Comedy, and Romance stories amounting to more than 30 of the long and short variety. I have also made up original Role Playing Game Scenarios (RPGs) in the amount of 180 or more, which span various Fantasy, Sci-fi, and those in between. To quote; "I have written a lot, finished some, and never been given any credit for contests except the one I won in High School where I got to visit USCB and write a stage play story and a script for a movie / television show." This changed in 1997, however, with the help of the Round Robineers, when I wrote and won 2nd place in the Ventura County Fair Short Story Contest. "Thanks to all those who helped!" I currently reside in Camarillo, 60 miles north of Los Angeles, City of Smog, and have been married since 11/96. The Honeymoon trip to England and it's many castles and cathedrals inspired new ideas for RPG's, and gave me a better sense of building structure. I is a graduate in Computer Science and is working towards his Novell and Microsoft Certifications after a bout with carpal tunnel syndrome, which altered my lifestyle dramatically, namely, not being able to work or write effectively; ("You can't imagine the horror of it!"). I now wish to again pursue writing part time again, and get back to it on a regular basis. The Round Robin Storybook is a good place to continue and has proven useful in this, getting the juices flowing for my old stories to where I've begun writing in them again. My wife, Tina, also writes, but is currently working on the biography of a famous, but not well known man who 'made' California what it is today in the early Gold Rush times. It's slow going.
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Last Updated: Jun. 2004 Joshua Michael Brown was the first recruit off the World Wide Web to join The Round Robin Storybook and has managed to tempt his brother, Joe Brown , into playing along too. Josh was born and bred in the heart of the American Wilderness (born in New Haven, moved to Teaneck, NJ at the age of 2) but has lived in Israel for the last 21 years. Currently, he is employed by a phone company, where he does customer support. This isn't exactly his dream job, but after two years of unemployment, you take what you can get, y'know? He has been interested in writing for as long as he can remember, and is always involved in some kind of writing, whether it be something scribbled in the back of a notebook and forgotten about, or within one of the role-playing games he is involved in. His interests include RPGs (as mentioned above), writing (ditto), reading whatever book his hands on (he will literally read anything), the SCA, collecting music, causing general havoc (as opposed to colonel havoc) and having fun at what ever he is involved with.
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[Last Updated: Jun. 1997] Who is Katherine Doversberger and Why These are very good questions you put. On the most mundane level: I was born during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, and have, in the course of my musical studies and career, moved ever eastward from there until finally ending up in Vienna, Austria. In fact I have moved to Austria four times, which indicates a certain ambivalence toward living here, and since my first arrival in 1977 have been here for a total of about 14 years. Aside from my musical activities I am a voracious reader and like most people who read a lot I occaisionally take a stab a creating something of my own. So far I haven't written anything I would want to submit for publication, though I like to think that someday I may yet do so. The Round-Robin stories seem like a good way to exercise and improve my writing skills, in company of other people with similar interests. Most of the purely recreational novels I read are either science-fiction or fantasy, so your choice of subject matter suits me down to the ground as well. My current household consists of myself and two cats. Quixote is a pure-bred Somali and Alexandra is a black-and-silver tabby of blended ancestry. Both are long-haired, so I am one of those people whose wardrobe is perpetually enhanced by a generous layer of cat hair. And that's the thumbnail version of my life.
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Sorry, at author's request there is no autobiography available.
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Sorry, at author's request there is no autobiography available.
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Last Updated: Jun. 1997 Lisa J. Plante is currently employed by the Ramsey County Department of Information Services as a Clerk-Typist III doing secretary/receptionist type work. Previously, she worked in LOTS of hospitality industry jobs. Lisa's ownership is currently claimed jointly by a grey & peach calico monster and a 5 year old (going on 18) precocious, demanding, beautiful daughter named Emma. The crazy cat, as she is occasionally known, although not necessarily fondly, has as her official name: Filipendula Hexapetala; Hexie, for short. Her full name comes from a fern that has a tall thin stalk with a cloud of white flowers on top. (And it's really fun to say!) It should be noted for the record that Hexie comes from a grand line of in-bred barn cats. She is definitely NOT a lap-cat, even though she has lived indoors for all but the first 6 weeks of her life. When her aforementioned masters allow it, Lisa likes to quilt, garden, ski, play piano, ride horses, listen to music, and read anything that passes within two feet of her fingers. She has always got a kick out of writing, but on a (very) casual basis only. However, she has recently taken a more serious interest in it. She says, "Your stories caught my eye, quite by accident. What a coincidence that Dorene works in the same department! Otherwise, I would have thought it was a neat idea and that they were great stories, but not taken any action to get involved. But now that I've taken the plunge, so to speak, I'm sure it will be an interesting & fun endeavor!"
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Last Updated: Jun. 1997 I've been a writer ever since I was three, even though they were mini-comic books that I was writing. I've been a writer on the internet for a little over two years, and have made myself a reputation(hopefully a good one) in writing fan-fiction. I am currently writing two novels that I hope to publish (both science-fiction). The reason I want to help write these Star Trek stories is because I am interested in all things Trek, especially this crew.
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Last Updated: Jan. 2000 I seem to find all my ideas in unexpected places, and usually when I'm looking for something else: My first published short story came from an idea that I had while working one summer in a furniture factory; the main character for a science fiction novel I'm working on was originally a minor character in a fantasy story I wrote in a high school English class. Another short story (which I haven't finsihed yet) began with a telephone conversation. When people ask me where I get my ideas, I tell them, "I read, and I pay attention." And when they ask me how I learned to write, I tell them the same thing. I've loved fantasy ever since I saw the movie version of The Hobbit at the age of 5; I was introduced to science fiction through the works of Madeleine L'Engel and Andre Norton. My favorite writers are (in no particular order) Emma Bull, Roger Zelazny, Barbara Hambly, Tom Deitz, and Charles de Lint. (Notice a trend toward urban fantasy and 'poetic' science fiction?) By professsion, I am a costume designer and dollmaker, specializing in fantasy-medieval or sci-fi style clothing and assorted stuffed dragons and gargoyles and such. I do much of my "writing" (at least the initial stages) while I'm sewing, when my brain can do one thing and my hands do another. And my stories give me new ideas for my "critters." I also have some examples of my writing on a webpage: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Matrix/3095/ice.html
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(Inactive Member)
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Last Updated: Jul 1999 Name: Patrick Michael O'Shea There's not a lot of personal history to speak of; I've lived all my life in the Lower Fraser Valley, only just graduated from SFU with an arts(History) degree, and now I'm in the Public History program (re: Museum and archival studies.). I'm also involved (well, I'm a member, at least) in the university gaming club (Altered Reality, successor to the late, great Gamesters of Triskelion), and the Vancouver Japanese Animation Society. Current obsessions? Well, there's Kaitou Saint Tail, computing, Tri-Stat games (Big Eyes, Small Mouth, the Sailor Moon RPG&Resource Book, Hot Rods and Gun Bunnies, etc), science fiction books by authors like Spider Robinson, Robert A. Heinlein, I'm just starting to wonder how to track down some of the Lensmen novels by E. E. 'Doc' Smith, GURPS, The Lone Wolf series by Joe Dever, all this and much more. I was initially drawn into the Round Robin group at the invitation of Joshua Brown, who is planning on starting a superhero based story. I enjoy writing, especially fantasy based (though it doesn't lend itself that well to 20 page History 4xx papers) though this would be the first time that I have ever tried to write as part of a fanfic series. I tend to haunt a few Usenet groups (actually, that's how I got into this thing, come to think of it) under the pseudonym 'Aldus Ellison' or a_ellison, depending. Email and we can chat sometime! I should point out that, usenet wise, I'll be much larger and considerably more in charge when I get my SFU account back (Ahh, text based browsing. Lynx, I have missed ye).
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Last Updated: Jun. 1997 Richard [Rick] Blackburn, is 47 and is a disabled Vietnam veteran, as well as a dyed in the wool SF/F fan. He tends to lean more toward hard SF, but he claims that "a really good mysterious fantasy will also attract my attention." His is also, of course, a STOS, STTMP, ST:TNG, DS9 and so on fan and is currently a member of Starfleet Marines International and also the head of his own "special-interest" ST:TNG club called the Star Nomad Alliance. He likes to write hard SF and is currently involved in writing up several field manuals and the like for use with the Starfleet Marines. Rick was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1947. He joined the US Army in 1965 and spent a year [6 Feb. 67 to 5 Feb. 68] in Vietnam. His MOS was 05B, radio-telephone operator. He got out of the Army in 1969 and moved to California and attended school on the GI Bill at LA City College and DeVry Institute in Phoenix. In 1972 he went to work for City Bank's subsidiary that was playing around with the ancestors of the Versiteller cards, trouble shooting the part of the machine that read the magnetic strip with the account number. In 1978 Rick went to work for Pathcom Telecommunications as an RF technician. It was here that he was injured and disabled in a fall from an 80 foot transmitter tower in 1986. (He likes to point out that saying he is a "disabled Vietnam vet" is technically true, even if its not exactly what most people expect!) Since then he's been heavily involved with writing and is just getting involved with computers, having got his my first one in 1992!
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Sorry, at author's request there is no autobiography available.
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Last Updated: Jun. 1997 Steve was born in Ames, Iowa on July 7th, 1964 but his parents moved to Minnesota when he was real small, so all he remembers is life in the land of 10,000 lakes. Currently, he lives in Roseville, Minnesota with his cat Max. Steve's home computer is a Power Macintosh 7500, which he says he spends far too much time fiddling with. Steve attended the University of Minnesota, and while there, got a job with MECC as a part-time programmer (Programming the BBC Acorn microcomputer). He then moved on to the Apple ][, and then got hired full-time and moved on to the Apple IIGS, and then (finally!) the Macintosh. Steve is now also doing Windows programming. (but he doesn't much like it...)
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Last Updated: Jun. 1998 My name is Steven Darcy. I have a bachelors degree in Physics from Rutgers University and I am employed as a computer scientist. When I happened across strawberryJAMM I was immediately taken back (I wont tell you how far) to college. I used to write round robin stories with friends during the less challenging (and consequently most boring) required classes like Introduction to Economics. We used to pass a notebook. I take my writing seriously. I believe the difference between mediocre writing and great writing lies in character development. Everything we will write about has already been done by somebody. When we develop the plot and setting, we strive for total creativity; but, we are really just putting a new spin on an old ball. The key to a story's uniqueness is woven in its characters. The plot and the setting set the stage, but they exist only to support the characters and their interactions. I find round robin story telling enjoyable. It combines the imaginations, styles and experiences of several different authors into a single story. The fun is in the challenge of integrating your writing into the pieces conglomerate style.
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Last Updated: Jun. 2004 I am a private educator/tutor by trade, a writer and teacher by
calling. When I joined the Round Robin Storybook back in 1997 it was an
attempt to study an online culture for an anthropology class I was taking.
I stumbled into a remarkable society that I would end up leading. I
suppose I violated some sort of anthropological edict, forever changing
the culture I came to study. Oh well - an observor is never merely
neutral. Wyatt is currently the official leader of the Round Robin Storybook Writer's Group and "Moderator" of the private eGroups email list and file storage area that the RRS maintains in addition to this public web site, having taken this role over from Jenni Merrifield early in 2000.
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