My Clarion-mate Ramsey Shehadeh maintains an amazing blog that I visit often for its interesting viewpoints and incisive writing. He's a seriously awesome writer. You can read one of his stories here, Jimmy's Roadside Cafe in Strange Horizons. It's a post-apocalyptic story I actually love (and generally I find post-apo stuff dreary).

Anyway. ( Read more... )

If you write fantasy and science fiction, if you're considering going to Clarion at San Diego in 2009 - the application period is approaching. Clarion will accept apps from Jan 2 to March 1.

You'll need to submit two short stories, so start polishing them now.... Scholarships are available. Additional information can be found at http://clarion.ucsd. ( Read more... )

It was election night, THE Election Night, the U.S. election on which billions of Americans and others hung their hopes and fears.

And in the middle of that, Jeff and Ann Vandermeer were in town, to show their new Steampunk Anthology. We met before the talk at Borderlands, the amazing bookstore on Valencia in the Mission district. My Clarionmate J ( Read more... )

One of the wonderful things about being a Clarion grad is one's fellow-authors - and their books. I got a chance to beta-read one my classmate Kater just finished writing.(http://redcrowkater.livejournal.com/26824.htmlRead more... )

Let me clarify. As a reader, I don't care for post-apocalyptic fiction. (Disclaimer: This doesn't mean I'll never write any.) I've trying to figure out why not.

Firstly, of course, it tends to be depressing. It gets old reading about the world going to hell (or gone to hell) in the latest fashionable way. It used to be nuclear warfare; then world- ( Read more... )

It's that time of the year. This time last year, we were all preparing for Clarion - rushing to finish stuff at home, preparing packing lists, looking for stories by our instructors, and beginning to make contact on the Google Group set up for us...

And now another batch of Clarionites is coming up - actually, several, considering Clarion West and ( Read more... )

Holi is a big spring festival in North India, usually celebrated by throwing colored water at friends and passers-by, and dusting people with "gulal" - colored powder - that looks prettier than it smells. You usually play it until you're tired, or noon, whichever comes first. It's loads of fun. Yesterday, when I stopped by an Indian grocery store ( Read more... )

Weeks Five and Six: Whirlwind

Ellen and Delia brought a sense of urgency to Clarion. They themselves had a number of other activities planned, but managed to make time for more activities for all of us. They also brought a good deal of amusement.  Meetings now started with a 1930s (?) holy text, “Write to Earn!”  Brother Jerome did the readings, ( Read more... )

Week 4: “It Gets Worse!”

Cory was totally plugged in. We couldn’t separate him from his iPod long enough to hold a water-war. He instituted yoga in the mornings, before class; and walks to the bluff every evening after dinner. He gave us copies in manuscript form of his subversive new YA novel, Little Brother, which he also read at a well-attended ( Read more... )

Here's another week of my Clarion-blog

Week 3: Ending on the inhale

Karen Joy Fowler, third-week instructor, was a Clarion veteran who brought a sense of history and humor to the proceedings. The ghosts of Clarion Past were unearthed and exhibited; wackiness ensued. She also had a lot of suggestions for novice writers, often couched as “Don’t….( ( Read more... )