I'm a long-time SF writer in Chicago, with a master's degree in CS and a life-long habit of reading darn near anything. I'm blessed with family and "civilian" (that is, non-writer) friends here, and because this is Chicago, I'm also lucky enough to be in a writers' workshop, too. I'm in the Indie City workshop which meets in Hyde Park, and if you are also a Chicago writer (in any genre), leave a note on the Indie City Facebook page.