If you don’t know, Clarion West is a science fiction writing workshop. Eighteen students attend for six weeks. Each week, a new teacher comes in–often rock stars like Connie Willis and Chuck Palahniuk– and each student writes a new story which is critiqued by the teachers and their fellow students. At the end of this intense experience, the students are ready to embark on careers as professional writers. Alumni include many of the luminaries in speculative fiction.
Clarion West is holding its annual write-a-thon this summer, and as I have for the past 5 years, I am participating. If you like earrings, sponsor me for $10 or more, and I will make and send you a pair according to a color set of your choice. Keep them, give them away, hang them in the window to catch the light–whatever you like. The point is: beads are pretty.
The further point is: Clarion West wants you to join their write-a-thon! If you’re looking to get some writing done this summer, this is a good way to commit to some goals and have some external accountability for putting your fingers to your keyboard! You don’t need to be a Clarion West alumnus–you just have to want to get some writing done this summer, and want to support a good cause (scholarships for future Clarion West students) while you do it.
If my entry persuades you to sign up, let me know, and I will sponsor you for at least $5! Here is the Clarion West website for the 2010 write-a-thon.
And if you want to sponsor me, many many thanks! If there’s something of mine you want, like the file of a story that’s in an out-of-print magazine or anthology, then I will be happy to send you that. And if you sponsor me for $10 or more, then I will make and send you some pretty earrings.
