A visit by Derek Powazek:
Derek Powazek came by the Grotto, as per my invitation, to meet with everyone and talk about his projects like the Fray and SF Stories. Derek had expressed to me some weeks earlier that he was looking to segue into non-web writing. That’s when I made the offer. Several Grottites had excellent ideas about how he could turn Fray stories into a printed anthology. Everyone left super energized.
I didn’t realize it until afterward but Derek’s visit was kind of a summit meeting of my two worlds, those web friends I’ve made through South by Southwest and those writing colleagues with whom I share my workspace. Writers online and offline see intuitively like kindred spirits and yet they’re only dimly aware of each other from opposite sides of the word chasm. Maybe it’s because we’re talking about english majors and nerds.
I’d love to have them cross that divide and spend some time together. I think they have more in common than we think.