Hi, everyone! This week, we'll be meeting on Zoom this Tuesday, May 6, at 7:30pm ET. Come one, come all. We need your input. If you have the time, make the time. That way, our submitters get the greatest possible variety of input. I hope to see as many of you on Tuesday as possible. Just go to the website and click the Zoom Meeting Links button, then the Join Zoom Meeting link. The Zoom Meeting page is protected. The password is CRITicalWork. If you're new, try to click in a few minutes early, as Zoom may want you to install a small program to facilitate your participation. It's nearly instantaneous and no work on your part. Also, showing up a few minutes early will give you a chance to fiddle with your controls.
Some of us show up early, like starting around 7pm, just to say howdy outside of official critique business. You're invited to join us.
Mid-World Arts
And here’s the link to the website!
Artificial Intelligence in the Critique Group
Take a close look at the How Mid-World Arts Works document on the Resources page. It’s been updated with our spanking new, dictatorial Artificial Intelligence policy. We probably should have had one before now, but times being as they are... For you busy types, it says no AI, not no way, not no how. Just don't submit anything that has had AI touch it in any way. And don't use AI to critique people's work. We basically want to help writers be better writers, not machines be better writing machines. And none of us want a machine telling us how to improve our work. Check out the new edict. It should be fun!
Submissions
The submission pieces are posted to the Submissions page on the website. And remember, newer folks, there's a document on the Resources page (How Mid-World Arts Works) that you should definitely read beforehand. It should answer all your questions about how to participate, including how to critique, how to submit, and how to join a meeting. By the way, if there are any questions you have that the document doesn't address, please let me know.
And, for those who really are too busy to go to the website, the submissions this week are:
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WIP Wrangle
is happening this Monday. This is our take on the "Shut Up and Write" concept. Click the WIP Wrangle link on the lead page of the website (the link is password protected. It's the same password as for the critique session, above), join the Zoom meeting, say howdy, then we mute our mics and blank our screens for an hour and a half of enforced writing. It can be writing a new piece, working on a WIP, editing, or researching for a story. Writing related, that's all. You can even use the time to do your week's critiques. Entirely voluntary, sometimes there are four or five of us, sometimes just two. But there's nothing better than showing up to be accountable for getting work done. WIP Wrangle is at 7:00 PM Eastern and goes to 8:30. You can join late, if you need to, or leave early. There will be a writing prompt for those who are interested. Come and join us; the more the merrier.
The Short Story Collection
As we did this past year with the Halloween collection (if you've no idea what I'm talking about, there's a link here), we're putting together a short story collection to come out in ebook and print at the end of the year or in early 2026. All in our group may participate; no one is required to participate. If you want to get in on the fun, just write a short story that adheres to the theme. What is that theme? Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. We'll have to massage that a little for public consumption, yes. For details, there's a page on the website. Just go to the front page and click the button The Maslow Project at the bottom.
Support Your Fellow Writers!
Jane and Steve have put more books out there into the world. You can find them listed in the Mid-World Books! page of the website. Please spread the word to all your friends, neighbors, enemies, and perfect strangers. Also to all your socials on the Internet. Let's give these stories the initial and continuing boosts they need to survive in the cruel, cruel, publishing world. It would also be amazing, should you purchase the books yourself, and please do, if you could leave reviews at the sites you buy them from. Nothing raises a book more than reviews. Here's a couple of links:
Jeff also has a thing out there! He has a short story published in the Black Petals zine. You’ve seen a version of it, now you can read the published final, and you can do it right here:
The Lizard in a Woman’s Skin
Evil gets its comeuppance from an even more sinister monster.
Okay, that's it for this week. See you Tuesday. Or Monday if you join in on WIP Wrangle. Now I'm off to make sure my wonderful wife Amy has the best of all possible birthdays.
Yay!