(If you haven’t read day 0, day 1 and day 2, you might want to check them out first.)

Day 3 dawned bright and early. We started off the day with another round of critiques, and by the end of the session, I felt almost comfortable with the whole process. Everyone was so respectful and kind with their criticism – not holding back, but not attacking people, either.

At lunch, we got together with the critique groups we’re going to have throughout this semester. Mine has three people in it including me. We discussed formats for critiquing and exchanged addresses, etc. (Now that I’ve seen their work, I’m quite impressed.)

My afternoon module was Style and Suspense in Romance, Mystery, and SF with Dr. Karen Rose Cercone. Before the residency, I picked up one of her books. I would have read something from all my teachers beforehand, but I didn’t have time. In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed Steel Ashes and want to get my hands on the other two books in the series. Sadly, they’re all out of print, but I’m sure I can find them in a used bookstore somewhere.

Anyway, the module was very interesting and helped answer the question I’d had about why I got comments on some of my stories that went, “It doesn’t read like a…” mystery, fantasy, whatever.

After dinner, I attended one of the thesis presentations, given by Sharron Gunn. Her book was a really cool fantasy with a heroine who was a banshee. I hope she can get it published, because I want to read the rest of it.

The presentation ended at 7pm, and I was able to go back to my hotel and crash. The next day was a big one.