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09/24/2002: "Secrets of the writing trade, revealed"

The most asked question at a science fiction convention? (No, it's not "When is the next Robert Jordan book coming out?" but it's close.) It's "Where do you get your crazy ideas?" For years, the standard answer was a mail-order supply house somewhere in upstate New York-- Poughkepsie, Schnectady, or some other small town that makes your spell checker choke. Now, at great personal hazard to myself, I shall reveal where we really get them. The Big List of RPG Plots is one. The Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot is another. There's also The Five Act Structure and The Thirty-six Dramatic Situations and the home crowd favorite, The Evil Overlord Plot Generator (automated for the truly lazy hack here). I could be permanently blue-pencilled just for revealing this stuff. The Authors Guild is mercile-- noooo! BANG!