[PSA: This is just a general, publicly accessible announcement to say that the great majority of my LJ before this post--and everything after it--is flist locked. If you know me and you'd like to read more, by all means ask. Otherwise, I'm afraid that you'll just have to be satisfied with my open Clarion posts and a few other assorted posts ( Read more... )

"List the towns or cities where you spent at least one night away from home during 2009. Mark with a star if you had multiple non-consecutive."

Columbus, OH*
Madison, Wisconsin
La Jolla, CA
San Diego, CA
Dyersburg, TN*
Lebanon, OH*
Albany, NY
San Jose, CA
Chicago, IL

I have this, let's call it a thing, about word counts. And if you're reading this, you probably do, too.

See, so many markets are a bit shy--to put it nicely--of any story over 5,000 words. So, in the back of my head, I have a fear of going over 5K. Aside from novels, I think I've written maybe two stories in my life that go over 5K. (I'm in the ( Read more... )

It's time to finish this up and move on to what's next. So here goes:

Liz Hand and Paul Park shook things up in week 5 with the "new school" way to do crits (no more "everyone gets 3 minutes" thing) and with a set of writing exercises and lectures on particular aspects of writing that we sometimes overlook, such as setting as story, etc. In week 6, ( Read more... )

I'm not going to do a big sum-up right yet. I only left campus this morning and haven't yet had a chance to process what's happened the past week--school/writing-wise as well as classmates-wise. But something odd and strange has happened. I'm sitting in a B&B in SD, on a comfortable bed for the first time in 6 weeks, with the possibility of more ( Read more... )

It's Saturday morning and Clarion (most of it anyway) is still sleeping. There's a plan to go to La Jolla to see the seals and then hit a restaurant (I'm not going as I have a lunch date with a friend who lives nearby-ish); everyone will be up and gone in an hour and a half. Someone outside is yelling--his voice is rather deep and a tiny bit scary ( Read more... )

I just finished a rather hastily written first draft of a story that, in my mind at least, is all over the place and possibly rather sentimental and over dramatic. And light on the spec-fic and 'woo-woo." But I am way too damn close to have any idea at this point. So now It's all printed up and stapled and piled in the place where we leave our ( Read more... )

And no, I'm not kidding.

Yesterday:
Missed getting into the LOST panel by about 40 or 50 people (out of, oh, 6,000 or so!).

Totally spaced on the Joe Hill w/ Chris Ryall from IDW panel. The con floor is overwhelming, and when we sat to eat we looked at our watches and saw that the panel had just started. Complete space-cadet moment.

THEN, we went to ( Read more... )

This has been a lovely week at Clarion. After hitting the wall and coming out the other end pretty much whole, I decided to just go with the flow (well, for the most part. you guys know me and know that me "going with the flow" 24/7 is total bullshit. but I tried ( Read more... )

This past weekend a lot of things came to a head. Not just for me, but, I have to think, for many of us. Long days of writing, stressing about writing (or not writing), reading, critting, and class with little sleep, so-so food, and being with each other 24/7 takes its toll ( Read more... )