Django Wexler

Okay, so let me tell you a funny story.

Cat Rambo set up a table for us at the NW Bookfest, a local event for authors, presses, etc. It’s not very high-traffic, so about five of us shared a table, and in the spot on the registration form where you put the organization name, Cat put “Seattle Speculative Fiction Writers”, as a broad description of what we were. (Other than “friends of Cat Rambo”.)

It turned out this meant we had a banner with that name on it, and all day people kept coming up to us and asking whether they could join the Seattle Speculative Fiction Writers, and what the organization did. I kept explaining that it wasn’t a real organization, but by the end of the day I thought it ought to be, since there clearly seemed to be a demand. The next day, I put out a sign-up sheet and collected e-mail addresses, and then we talked about what such an organization would do.

So! Here is my plan. Cat and I had previously talked about organizing a Seattle meetup for SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association) but didn’t get a lot of response. My feeling is that there are plenty of writing events but not enough social gatherings, so my proposal is to generate a once-per-month invitation to a chat at the house of a volunteer. (Me, if nobody else offers.) Guests are encouraged to brings snacks or beverages, adult or otherwise. There will be no agenda, and no business will be permitted. (i.e. don’t bring copies of your book to sell!)

If this is something you might be interested in, let me know and I will add you to the mailing list! (It’s not a public list, just for the invitations. Total traffic should be about 2-3 mails / month.) You can send me your name and e-mail via my contact page (make sure to tell my what it is for though), via my Twitter (@DjangoWexler), etc. Schedule is not solid yet but the first meeting will be sometime in early December, assuming I get enough interest. My guess is it will be on a Saturday afternoon.

Anyone who considers her/himself involved with (or aspires to be involved with) SFF books, publishing, etc is welcome, at least unless the number of people get seriously out of hand. So come! Join us! Eat snacks!

tl;dr starting 1/month parties w/awesome SFF people, contact me for invite.