Let’s get this out of the way right now. I am a nerd. I was raised by a trekkie. I was a trekkie and lurker simultaneously. By fifth grade my two favorite shows were The Prisoner and Red Dwarf. I was reading Bradbury when other girls were reading Babysitters Club. I was the first kid in school to have an email address, I used to work renaissance fairs, I got my baby niece Star Trek onesies (original series, not red), and the less said about my university Dungeons and Dragons antics the better.

I have pretty solid geek credentials. Despite this I have never been able to write a science fiction story and not for lack of trying. I’ve never even managed sci fi fanfic and you better believe I have fanficed with the best of them.

This is until two days ago. I’ve given myself a writing to do list. No more ‘I’m going to work on that novel one day.’ I now have a deadline for a first draft (December 15). I also put ‘Sci Fi Sort’ on my to do list with the date October 18. A completely arbitrary date but a due date none the less. I was going to write and SF story or else.

And I did it. It’s the story of a recovering alcoholic who is planning on falling off the wagon since the human species is about to go extinct anyhow.

Is the story any good?

No clue. Needs about 50 rewrites but it is done. I had a costuming professor who always used to say ‘done is good, done is beautiful’. This was usually in reference to hemming skirts with hot glue on opening night, but for the first draft of something I have never before in my life been able to accomplish, done is very good and done is very beautiful.