Ten Years of Word Wars

Ten years ago today, I started a “word wars” chat room because I had a book on short deadline and needed people to prod me to get it done. I invited a bunch of my writer friends and hoped it would last six months.

Today is its tenth anniversary. At least half a dozen of the people who started in the war room with me ten years ago are still there, and there are many, many others who joined a little later, or even quite recently, who are in there working daily, encouraging each other, ranting, occasionally–because a fair number of us are professionals–giving master class discussions, and just getting our butts in the chairs and the words on the page. It’s not a critique room, or a workshop space, or any of that. It’s just a work space, and it’s worked really well for us.

We figure at least fifty books have been written in the war room over the past decade. I’ve written twenty-two in there myself. Michelle Sagara’s written at least a dozen. Laura Anne Gilman’s written at least five by her count, and I don’t know how many novellas. Ellen Million, writing as a Zoe Chant, has written a dozen. Robin D. Owens has written I don’t even know how many–six, eight, twelve, somewhere in there. Chrysoula Tzavelas has written, I don’t know, six? Mikaela Lind has written, I don’t know, several, maybe five? Catherine Sharpe’s written at least a couple. Kari Sperring’s written two or three, although maybe only one of them *in* the war room. Hell, that’s over 70 right there, and there are warriors whose book counts I have no clue about at all. It’s very possible there’s been a hundred books written in there over the last ten years.

I honestly never dreamed it would last this long. I’m really proud of our little community of writers. We’re going to have our first real-world meet-up at Dublin 2019, which at least eight of us will be attending, and I cannot WAIT to get a picture of us all together!