Welcome to our new site!
2008 Attendees
Submitted by christopherreynaga on April 7, 2008 - 8:13pm.
To those of us who have been invited to attend Clarion West 2008,
it’s time to reach out and be welcome. This thread is for introductions,
intentions, and general wackiness.
There is a lot to look forward to this year with the incredible
likes of Paul Park, Mary Rosenblum, Corey Doctorow, Connie Willis, Sheree R.
Thomas, and Chuck Palahniuk instructing in six solid weeks of creation, chaos,
comic pranks, and too much coffee. I, for one, can’t wait.
Therefore, why wait? It’s time to be irrationally exuberant and
make connections now. If you will be attending CW2008, take out your brass
decoder rings and shout out with:
* Your name.
* A bit about you, and how you got to this strange and wonderful place.
* What you hope to get out Clarion West.
* What you never expected to get out of Clarion, which will take you by surprise.
(you may need to be psychic to complete this last section.)
To all my cohorts that make it in this year, congratulations! This is going to kick our collective asses in all the right ways. Thanks to all those who will teach, support, and endure our craziness in this Seattle summer - let us humbly take a bow.
-Christopher Reynaga
just curious
how are most of you dealing with your employer for time off for Clarion?
Let's say mine is less than enthused. They want to give me 2 weeks off--no more.
Not that I am letting this stop me--while my current job is better money than usual, I will resign if I have to. It's not a perfect fit anyway, and obviously, this is an opportunity one cannot pass up. So, I just may be unemployed. Again.
Just curious if anyone else is having this same/similar issue...
Community College Creative Writing programs.
In the last ten years, I've taken 4 community college-level creative writing classes. This is the most concrete outward step I've taken until now in pursuing this somewhat unhandy dream of mine, and I think I've done myself a lot to good in taking them. Some of the teachers, including my current one (a kind, honest and skilled teacher and talented writer in her own right,) have been great, and some not so...they run the gamut, just as at any school, in any discipline, anywhere on earth. The good ones are worth their weight in gold, and I just wish they were paid that well.
The other students, however, are--can be--a source of surprise, good and bad. In class last week, I had a surprise of the latter kind, though pretty funny in its way, too.
At the end of class the week before, I'd handed out a packet of stuff--one short story,
.
and 4 poems (intended as a series, as the poems all revolved around a
single event,) and this session was the big critiquing session of all that, suppsoed to cap the semester and allow me to to get feedback what goes into my final portfolio. In class, we read the work aloud before moving into comments and discussion. Overall, it was very handy, and I got some excellent advice and some nice ego-validation
One guy, however, after we finished the reading of the story, sat up, blinked, and asked, "What was the story about?" He revealed he'd neither read the story at home, nor paid the least attention while it was being read aloud, and instead he'd spent the time text-messaging someone. I was incredulous, and kind of pissed. He then said that he didn't think the story made sense.
I shot back, "Of course not. How could the story make sense, if you haven't read it? Nothing makes sense if you're totally ignorant of it, unless you're psychic."
Apparently, he didn't like that so much. Having failed to read the story or listen to it, he spent about five minutes at the end of the class skimming a few dozen words out of the maybe 5k in the story. His comments: "To be honest, the story failed to move me...in fact I doubt it even moves itself....Bad Show...Didnt read past the first page because I didnt need to to know...that I didnt have too. [sic]" Then he thought better of this review, apparently, because he scribbled it out and simply wrote, "it sucked."
Who says critcism is hard work?
"...footballs of entagled centuries would burn out in the sparks of bubbling light waves."
--Kazimir Malevich, 1918
Hi, and welcome, and all that.
So, hey. My name is Owen, I'm 29 and I, too, live in the Bay Area--the less than fashionable part, I'm afraid. Actually, I live in a nice house near Lake Merritt and the Parkway Theater, and my office at the nonprofit I work for has a totally kickass view of said Lake. Right now I'm watching a gang of ducks trying to rumble with some geese...
Anyway, I really didn't expect to get into Clarion. Sure, I like to write, and being an author sounds like a freakin' awesome career--not that you can acclaim yourself an author, I mean, you have to get published and make a living, right? Sort of like how you when they ask you to fill in that blank of "profession" you can't put "Superstar" or "International Playboy" or "Galaxy's Top Zombie Hunter," unless, y'know, you actually are one of those things...
So, I like to write, but I got my BA in Art Studio from UC Santa Barbara, and I work in marketing/graphic design and do photography on the side--I love art, and it loves me back--we give each other heart-shaped candies and backrubs. Honestly, tho, I have more interests than I can list, but up until recently, I thought that the arts was the direction for me. Illustration, maybe. Gallery fellow. Photographer. Something like that. Writer? Naaaaw...that was just something I did for fun, for laffs, for shits n giggles now and again.
It were me brother, Robert--older, wiser, a great brother--who told me about Clarion some years back, and who finally said in late January, dude, you should apply this year, I'll help you pay for it. What the hell, right? And so I scraped together two stories in the last two weeks of February, and applied on the last day possible, kind of a toss at the fates.
Basically, what I am trying to get across is that I applied on a whim, seeing absolutely no chance of success but feeling that an honorable failure is better than nothing, seeking something I barely admitted to myself that I wanted (and looking back, have wanted for years.)
And further, I had some bad luck (aka stupidity) along the way--I got confused with the whole 2 Clarion thing with their different guidelines, and so only one of my stories was officially read. When I heard that, and that there were "unprecedented numbers of applicants, no doubt spillover from the Neil Gaiman Effect" I said to myself, well, there it is. Be one of 18 amongst, what, 450? So you can imagine my shock when Neile called me to offer me a spot (and I am even more shocked after reading through this forum.) Hell, I almost didn't answer my phone that night...What this all boils down to is that I feel like a total novice and dilettante, especially compared to some of y'alll with yer fancy PhD's and your ooooh, Mr. Has A Publisher, Mr Pubslihed 20 Novels, or 48 Short Stories, or works for a Publisher...yeah.
I feel like I'm punching a bit over my weight, if ya know what I mean...so it will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.
I am hoping that Clarion's notorious Reality Distortion Field will renueralyze me, so I write more, write better, take chances, get published, all in preparation for a professional career writing spec fic. Though I would keep taking pictures as well (and I am planning on bringing my old Nikon d100 to Clarion, so watch out!) I don't write as much as I ought to/want to (sad to say, I've written some 6 short stories. Ever. Well, 7; I wrote one 10 years ago that my mom "accidentally" erased from our old Mac. And I haven't written any novels or anything. Though I have written a lot of essays, some op eds, some movie, music and restaurant reviews and so on.)
If I had to pick one specfic author as my favorite...gosh. I think it would be Neal Stephenson, but only just; there's so many awesome writers out there...Oh, random note: my brother is a good friend of Tad Williams. He was kind of a family friend for a while--he came over to our house for dinner a few times when I was like 9 and 10, and we'd go out to lunch after some of his Bay Area readings and so on--that was when I decided writing sounded like a pretty sweet gig; he made it sound totally fun, and his insane charisma helped bury it in my brain to explode a decade later.
Cheers, and I really look forward to meeting all of you! Sounds like we've got a great bunch of people already.
--Owen
"...footballs of entagled centuries would burn out in the sparks of bubbling light waves."
--Kazimir Malevich, 1918
Welcome Owen. =)
Welcome Owen. =) You were picked because you belong here. Just be ready to work and play hard. It will be a pretty sweet gig. ;)
-Christopher
Welcome!
I gotta agree--you must have done something right to get in ;). There were a lot of Cory Doctorow/Chuck Palahniuk/Connie Willis devotees who applied, and here you are :).
And I totally know how you feel. I've had some "Oh, crap! What am I doing here?" moments myself. BUT then I tell myself we all have something to offer, somehow, we all have something to learn, and that we'll make a great team.
I'll definitely check out your art.
Same page?
I've been blown away to hear about all the great things everyone is doing, from publishing to school to figuring out they want to write come hell or high water. I'm trying not to be too intimidated, though. I figure we all want similar things out of this experience. And, I figure we'll all be starting week one on the same page in terms of what will get written AT clarion. Of course, I've had major moments of uncertainty. Like the ones where I figured this was a mistake, and had to go back and read an email from the program over again to make sure I wasn't making this up. :)
Publishing is just a job
Trust me, it has some perks, but at the end of the day, the offices around here are just like any other office. Only fewer people wear shoes and we shut down operations whenever a new Lord of the Rings movie released.
I do have some stories to share, but those will have to wait until we're all in person! And after swearing an oath of secrecy.
You shut down for LOTR?
Now *those* are some job perks. :)
Better than that...
I was working for a software company in Eugene, Oregon at the time Return of the King came out.
Marshall, my boss and I were making plans to take the afternoon off work to go on opening day, and I joked, "We should see if Mark (the owner) wants to give the whole company the afternoon off."
We laughed... and then Marshall picked up the phone.
Mark ended up renting the theater for the morning... the whole company went. :)
- Jeremy (CW '96)
Art
Nice to meet you, Owen. I wouldn't be too worried about the lack of publishing experience. Getting published isn't that big of a deal. Writing something impressive is a big deal. If you've written only a handful of stories and one of them impressed the Clarion board enough to accept you out of the hundreds of applicants, then that is pretty amazing. You'll probably get a lot out of this workshop.
By the way, do you have any of your artwork online? I'm into art as well. I was an art major in college and do some illustration work in the small press.
And more art.
Thanks, man. The only stuff I have online is a haphazard collection of photos (some done for money, some for lurv) and a few old illustrations from my barely-remembered undergrad days. But you're free to check it out. http://www.myspace.com/Owen79S
These days, 90% of what I do is photography, but I tell myself I will get back to painting and drawing someday. Oh, and I doodle compulsively.
"...footballs of entagled centuries would burn out in the sparks of bubbling light waves."
--Kazimir Malevich, 1918
chuckles with pleasure
That's fabulous, Owen. There is an amazing amount of personality and character in your work.
doodles
I really like your artwork. I'm always impressed with somebody who can create a lot of character in a line drawing. I'm terrible with lines, but okay at shading/detail.
I'm a compulsive doodler as well. My artwork started as just doodles of patterns and swirly-things. Then I incorporated that into figures. Some of my artwork is online here: http://carltonmellick3.deviantart.com
Bizzaro Art!
H.R. Geiger meets Edward Gorey...awesome! In fact, I've always wanted to do as you've done: publish a novel and do illustrations for the cover and some of the insides (think Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and its, what, 15 or so drawings.)
"...footballs of entagled centuries would burn out in the sparks of bubbling light waves."
--Kazimir Malevich, 1918
my, my
Those are gorgeous, Carlton.
Do you ever look at Hi-Fructose?
Hi-Fructose
I had never heard of Hi-Fructose. I just googled it and am checking it out. Found some cool stuff on their website already.
So... um...
...hi. My name's Paul. *waves*
Looks like I missed out on the decoder ring action. That’s what I get for
being late to the party. Perhaps that's just as well, seeing as I don't really
have one. Yet. Workin' on it.
Anyways.
I'm from Vancouver (looks like I'm the only Canadian here thus far [eh?!?!], although I'm sure there're probably one or two more...we spread like an epidemic). Born in a small town,
raised in the city. I developed a passion for reading at age 2 (to be perfectly
honest, there isn’t really much else to do in a village with a population of
about 650) but this interest never really translated into writing until I hit
high school.
I finished my undergraduate degree in English Lit at UBC last year and am
currently working as an ESL/English tutor at a local agency whilst pondering
future options. I gotta’ be up-front about this – I’m all kinds of intimidated
after having read through all your introductory posts. One of those “Oh God,
what have I gotten myself into, I can’t keep up with these guys!” types of
phases. Hopefully that’s just the nerves talking. My own writing resume is
hardly what one would call extensive. I’ve been writing on and off since high
school, kept a few stories, discarded most, and am currently working on a
longer piece. I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing, which I
think is kinda’ detrimental to my work, but also unusual because I’m by no means a perfectionist
in most other aspects of life. I’m a huge fan of horror - both reading it and
writing it.
What do I hope to get out of CW? First of all, I hope to survive. Aside from
that, though, I’m just looking for a little hope. It’s a good thing to know
that there are people out there who care about something just as much as you
do, and it’s an even better thing to meet them. It’s altogether too easy to get
caught up in (and I use this term loosely) “reality” and abandon certain hopes
and dreams because, let’s face it, sports fans, they’re just not practical,
they’re too risky, they just can’t be done! I plan on fighting this impulse for
at least the next little while and seeing what comes out of it.
I’ll leave the last point of interest to answer at a later date. This is turning
into something the length of my background essay. Lookin’ forward to meetin’ y’all.
Paul, Welcome.
Paul, Welcome. The only urge to give into is the urge to create. You are exactly where you need to be. ;)
-Christopher
*waves back*
As I mentioned to Owen, I'm intimidated myself :). But it's cool we have all levels, all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of similarities.
And we'll totally walk away with our decoder rings.
What type of horror do you like to read and write?
The horror I like...
is almost exclusively supernatural--Peter Straub's Ghost Story is great and Shadowlands has blown my mind each of the dozen or so times I've read it (not joking) and will, I trust, continue to blow my mind as I reread it each year until I expire. Getting more specific, I most like contemporary heavily-fantasty-influenced horror dealing with ghosts and magic and gods and all that goodness--though not exclusively.
I try to write in that kind as well--one of my application stories was about a guy whose nightmares of The Tower in the tarot deck (The Tower siginifies dramatic change, destruction, the overturning of old falsehoods for new truths and so on) and his interest in ritual magic (OTO-type stuff) collide with the real world.
Clive Barker is freakin' sweet, Glen Cook's novels have enough darkness and moral confusion--and supernatural stuff--to satisfy my horror cravings, even if they're not strictly speaking in that genre (the satisfaction matters, and the labels do not.) Other horror authors I like...well, I'm kind of a magpie. I read a lot of short stories in collections and anthologies (or used to--the last five years I've been on a novel kick) and so I recall vividly the short stories that rocked my face but not necessarily their titles or authors. Also, the week was long and the brain is still tired, so the--things, with letters? You call people by them?--they're not coming.
I don't really like Stephen King, because I think he is a Master of Letdown. The man can build tension like ten thousand devils and then flubs it all with the ending. Take It, for example; the freaky clown, the murders, the helpless kids (and adults) whom nobody believes...and it ends with prepubescent origes and a giant smurderous spirit-eating hell-shapeshifting-dark-indian-god Space Spider From Beyond INFINITY! It was worse than coitus interruptus...
What about all y'all?
P.S. Sorry for the gargantuan posts. I seem unable to discipline my thoughts or my keyboard...just been a day for that.
"...footballs of entagled centuries would burn out in the sparks of bubbling light waves."
--Kazimir Malevich, 1918
Cool another horror fan
Hi Paul,I like your honesty. I'm feeling a bit nervous and intimidated by the amount of experience in this group, too. I'm not exactly prolific and have been known to agonize over a story for weeks or even months. Not a very effective use of time and something I'm trying to change. I hear you about "real life" getting in the way! Writing is only one part of my life. I can't imagine what it will be like to write a story a week. I signed up for Clarion to challenge myself and that's what I'm doing. I've also never had 6 weeks to devote just to writing. I imagine that will only help. Or make me completely stressed. In fact, I have been assured that by week six we will ALL be stressed and sleep-deprived. I’m bringing a copy of The Big Lebowski with me to CW. Silly as it may seem, that movie helps put things in perspective for me. (I also think the Coen Bros. are fantastic writers with a great ear for dialogue.) The Achiever’s stance on life is similar to the open, “no mind” mind frame Christopher posted about, but with White Russians. So…free Lebowski screenings for anyone who may be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Thank you!
I need a t-shirt that says, "The Dude abides" for Clarion ;).
How is everyone preparing?
In my own fevered frenzy of reading and writing and critting and taking care of the usual household sorts of things and trying to prepare my household for my sabbatical (heh) *deep breath* I was wondering what everyone else is doing to prepare for Clarion?
Currently I'm re-reading Connie Willis' Firewatch short story collection and working on some short writing exercises.
Also, my house smells like Mole. Not that that's directly related to Clarion prep, but just one of those feel good Monday sorts of details.
it took me 3 reads
to get which mole you meant. :)
hehe
See that? We haven't even officially met yet and *already* my writing is confusing you :D.
I'll try to be better... :o
I think it probably
says more about me than it does you.
;)
It looks like you're also
It looks like you're also preparing by sticking close to the message board, like me. I'm in the last few weeks of my first year of grad school and I'm just trying to get through all of the hoops I need to jump through before the end of the semester. However, after that I have most of May and June to do nothing but get ready for Clarion, so I know I'm incredibly lucky. I plan to read--books by the instructors mixed in with books I feel are kind of canonical that I haven't gotten to. To break it up and make myself feel less guilty about neglecting school (my job) I'll be reading my books for next semester, too. The reason I share my plans in so much detail is that I feel like the more I tell people that this is my plan, the more likely it is I will actually do it.
The only thing I'm not sure about is how much writing I'll be doing specifically for Clarion. From some of what I've read, the plan is to write all of the workshop stories in Seattle, which sounds intense, but also awesome. Instead, I'll probably be revising stories from this semester and working on bits and pieces of long term projects.
Wow, it's starting to hit me that once the school stuff dies down the wait is going to drive me crazy! :)
Random note.. Does anyone else get a little nervous about the questions they make you answer before you post your message to avoid spam? One of these days I'm going to spell something wrong and get ousted. :)
You betcha!
What else does a girl do whilst waiting for mole' to finish simmering?
;D
But the other thing is this: Diana Rowland, a Clarion West grad,
talked about how her class was one of the first, if not the first, classes to interact
before they arrived at Clarion. There was concern that this would be
problematic, detrimental even, to the nature of the classmate's
relationships--would they all be buddy buddy and not be able to critique one
another's work effectively? Well, they discovered it was actually more
beneficial, in the end. The class decided that this experience was
expensive for them in many ways and they were, by golly, going to get the most
out of it.
Also, I'm an introvert. I can occasionally fake extroversion, but it's
hard, especially if I don't have my extrovert intermediary handy. I mean,
small talk is beyond me, just for starters. (I know--how can you be an
anthropologist and be an introvert?) I am hoping that by getting to know
you all a bit before Clarion will ease my social issues
:D.
Not to scare anyone or anything, just being upfront and honest.
Anyway, this way you'll also say, "Oh, maybe she's not being
snobbish--she's just an introvert and is trying to deal with living and working
in an intense, close situation with seventeen awesome new people."
It's making me more excited,
It's making me more excited, if that could be possible, to meet and be able to talk with y'all beforehand. The diversity of this group is amazing--but the connections already being explored is even more amazing.
Jeez. That sounded dorky.
I cannot keep track of the conversation already...
I also love that everyone is getting to know one another, but I'm already losing track of everybody's messages and threads because of the way the postings work. So, really that's everyone getting to know the real me, because I tend to be the one who jumps a mile ahead and/or falls a mile behind in conversation. :) I am so excited and looking ahead to Clarion is part of what's getting me through all my classwork. As nice as it is to have this space to talk, it will be even better to meet you all in person!
Who's from where?
Just wondering if any of us are currently neighbors & could meet up prior to June 22. I live in Brooklyn, NY.
Vancouverite here
Vancouver, Canada. Been to Seattle a few times though due to the proximity.
I'm here
in Seattle. I actually live less than a 1/2 mile from where we will be all summer.
I suspect I may even be conscripted into doing some airport pickups. :)
I think...
you may be right! I'm trying to come a couple days early to acclimate myself; it'll be nice to hang out with a Seattle native!
Locus Awards
Is anyone else attending? I've got a ticket for Locus on the 20th, but am still trying to figure out tickets for the SF Hall of Fame ceremony. William Gibson's being inducted and I can't miss that. He's definitely one of my favorite writers.
oooo...
I'm coming in on the 20th and was planning on attending, but haven't gotten tickets yet. Neile said in her e-mail that there would be details to follow, so I didn't pick any up. Perhaps I should... If you hear any information on the SF Hall of Fame ceremony I'd love to hear it, too. Perhaps I should just e-mail Neile?
I'll definitely be there for
I'll definitely be there for the awards and events. =)
I'm thinking of doing the same thing
and was waiting to get more info from Neile. I figured it would come with our packets...
if you do...
make sure you have my contact info! We can set up some preClarion hijinx.
I'll be in Atlanta, GA
I'll be in Atlanta, GA through May 31st and then in the Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. area until the workshop.
And me?
I'm in Idaho Falls, which is in southeastern Idaho.
I'm in the Bay Area
I'm in the south Bay Area of California here.
-Christopher
Ahh, the South Bay...
I grew up in Sunnyvale, a great place in which to do just that, as it's safe, prosperous and clean, has great schools, kind people, responsible government and a thriving community spirit.
This would be the point in most posts where the author reveals that as teenagers they were bored out of their skulls, couldn't wait to leave, hated the phoniness, etc., but I had a great time growing up there (though in all fairness, I may not ever choose to live there again, even if I could afford it.) Even for a somewhat wild and non-conformist know-it-all brat like my own former self, it was pretty idyllic. I see some of that reflected now, as my 15-month-old nephew Karl starts to come into his own as a person. He lives with my brother and sister-in-law in San Jose, in a neighborhood pretty similar to Sunnyvale...if not quite so rich--the major tech companies prefer the Peninsula.
Minor digression: at age 15 or so, I had a realization. Almost all of my close friends had parents who were millionaires, of the quiet, next-door type. This is perhaps not so surprising when you realize the median home value was (already in 1994) rapidly closing in on the half-million mark, but it was still pretty surreal for me to think about. They seemed like Ordinary People, not a diamond tiara or chauffered limousine in sight.
Anyway. In which part of the South Bay do you live, Christopher?
"...footballs of entagled centuries would burn out in the sparks of bubbling light waves."
--Kazimir Malevich, 1918
Not Just Surviving...
I live up in the Santa Cruz mountains, in a zombie-proof apocalpyse retreat and martini lounge.
-Christopher
G'Day
Hi Eveyone,My name's Carol and I'm from Perth, Western Australia. I've been wanting to attend Clarion West for 10 years, and this is the first year I've been brave enough to apply. I've had a handful of short stories published in Aussie small press magazines and semi-prozines and have just started a PhD in Creative Writing for which I'm writing a fantasy novel and researching steampunk. What do I hope to get out of Clarion West? Hmmm. Write lots. Critique lots. Absorb wisdom from our tutors. Absorb creative energy from fellow students. Make friends. Write lots more. And enjoy Seattle. As for your final question, Christopher, I expect that every day will take me by surprise.Lastly, congrats to everyone who made it to Clarion this year. Can't wait to meet you all.Cheers, Carol.
Hello Theresa, Maggie & Christopher
I've got to do a blanket reply here as my internet connection is way too slow this morning. Theresa, there's a good list of Aussie markets here at: http://members.optusnet.com.au/tplank/inkspillers1024res/call1024res and Maggie, you can read about Aussie SF at: http://www.asif.dreamhosters.com/doku.php?id=news and Christopher, yep, I'm looking forward to seeing the sights around Seattle and swapping notes on SF and Fantasy, movies and books. See ya, Carol.
Excellent!
Thank you so much, Carol. I'll definitely check this out!
G'Day!
I'd also be interested in learning about the Australian market - lots of great writers come from there.
I'm also a total nut for Aussie movies, so it would be cool to talk to someone who might actually have seen some beyond The Road Warrior and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. (I love those movies, too, but The Boys is where it's really at.)
I'm really excited
to be at Clarion with you Carol. I understand there are some fabulous things going on in the Australian spec fic world and I'd love to hear your take on it.
G'day Carol, welcome to
G'day Carol, welcome to Clarion and the good old U.S. of A. I'm sure you will enjoy the challenges just as much as the beautiful nature. It will be great to meet you. =)
-Christopher