Clarion West

This forum was rockin by this time last year.  Okay, maybe not rocking, but we had a real community going.  It was nice.

Now if the silence means no one else is applying this year, well, I guess I'm in. On the down side, I won't accomplish much there all by myself.

[end desperate plea for contact]

-Oso 

(http://osomuerte.wordpress.com)

Hiya Scott/ Oso!  Glad to see you are applying again.  Enjoyed exchanging posts last year.  One of the biggest secrets to success as a writer is persistence -- you just have to keep writing, and keep submitting, and keep trying, and not let the rejections stop you, until you succeed -- so you are on the right path.  

Best of luck! 

Randy

Hi Oso,

I applied this year too, so best of luck to you!

I have to say, though, I visited the 09 gang last year and their forming of the hive mind on a regular basis frightened me. I've taken great pains to stash a copy of my 'uncorrupted' mind on my hard drive, should this great terror come to pass for me. You should do the same!

Best wishes,

Lauren

Hi Oso/everyone!  Frank here from Mobile, Alabama.  I'm new around
here, just getting my feet wet on the forums.  I'm throwing my hat into
the ring for this year's Clarion, both of them.  I've known about
Clarion for a few years, having learned about it from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Science Fiction. 

I've been reluctant to apply in previous years due to writing
immaturity and lack of funds.  This year, I hope my writing has
improved to a point that I have a shot, and my money situation is
working out such that I can pay for it if I'm lucky enough to make it. :)

I want to wish everyone all the best luck on their submissions and
on getting chosen.  If anyone needs a critical eye to look at
submission manuscripts, I'm your man.  ;)

http://frankrayard.wordpress.com

Hi!

I'm Corinne.  I'm also new, terribly nervous, and a first-time applicant.

Good to meet you all. 

All right...I'm about ready to go.  Story is ready (an unfortunate font issue had me thinking it was too long, but it's perfect at 30 pages).  Essay is ready.  Scholarship form is ready to be scanned.  At least $30 left on my credit card.  Barring some horrific computer spasm (God, no!) I should have my app sent tomorrow. 

My Clarion SD app went out a few minutes before a stomach virus laid me up for the first half of this week.  Now CW is caught up.  I'm already telling my principal that my summer is shot for inservice.  :)  High hopes can't hurt.  

Hope everyone else is getting their apps out, too.  How many of you are applying for both? Or Odyssey?  Any other workshops?  

A thread came up last year as to which Clarion people would rather be accepted to.  That I won't ask.  It would suck to get into my "second choice" and be shunned like a traitor for my uneducated pre-workshop opinion.  My preference is to go to a Clarion workshop this summer and come out a better writer than I went in.  Beyond that, I don't care.

I'm rambling now, so I'll stop.

-Oso 

(http://osomuerte.wordpress.com)

Just submitted, after an hour of fiddling with PDF files. (Oh, how I hate them.)

 *faint*

Two weeks to the deadline.  Everybody got their applications filed?  I think you get until the zero hour to file the application electronically, but that takes more than five minutes (to be safe...and double-check your formatting!) so be prepared.

Last year, a couple calls went out by March 3rd.  I don't think it took more than a couple weeks for them to nail down the class and let the participants know.  I had my wait list notification by the 19th.  I won't dare expect things to move that fast this time (Heck, I'm still waiting for a contest result from October), but it won't be long.

"Won't be long"?  Did I just say that?  No, but I just typed it.  A month is long.  If my car was in the shop for a month, I'd be furious.  If I took a month off work, I'd be unemployed (bad example for people applying to a six-week workshop).  I can't hold my breath for a month or go a month without eating.   Who am I kidding, I can hold my breath longer than I can go without eating (though eating while holding your breath can be tricky).  

App is in and there's nothing left to do but wait.  I cope by splattering text over every message board I can find.  Last year I wrote a complete story while I waited to hear, though I can't recall which story.  I've got a couple contest and anthology deadlines looming in March.  I'm going to try to finish up the stories for those and write a full new one (okay, a flash piece I outlines at Starbucks) before my phone rings from Seattle.  Or the email arrives.  Last year it was phone calls for the acceptances and emails for everyone else.  San Diego reportedly did everything by email.  

It's always tough to wait.

-Oso 

(http://osomuerte.wordpress.com)

When I was waiting in 05, I read every account of people attending the workshop that I could find. (Also, our embryonic class was very active in the forums, which helped defray some of the tension.)  I was waiting on acceptances from MFA programs at the same time so my whole future felt like it was in flux. 

The time passes. And there are lots of blogs about what the experience was like in the meantime.

(Hint: awesome) 

Sent mine off today!

For those who have applied before, when do they normally make contact? Is it near the end of March or about midway?

Oso, do you know if Jordan ever posted the vlog he talked about doing for last year's workshop?

I was the victim of a drive-by reviewing.  In her first review column for LOCUS Online Reviews, Lois Tilton offers her two cents on a number of magazines including the February 2010 issue of Jim Baen's UNIVERSE with my story.

I found out about the review by chance and can't quite decide if I should be giddy, confused, or...um...or...

Right!  Write, right!

 http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2010/02/lois-tilton-reviews-short-fiction-1.html