Category Archives: Clarion UCSD

How many Clarionites does it take to record a podcast?

Eighteen apparently. Every week at Clarion, Shaun Farrell of the podcast Adventures in Sci-fi Publishing would pop by and interview the instructors, then in the final week he interviewed us, the Clarionites. You can listen to the result here. Be aware, I have not yet listened to this myself. The thing they don’t you whenContinue reading “How many Clarionites does it take to record a podcast?”

Clarion: Graduating Class of 2008

So today I graduated Clarion. WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!! It has been a long, hard six weeks. So long. So hard. They don’t tell you how much hard work Claron is going to be when they let you in. I heard the words ‘Bootcamp for writers’ and thought..pfaff…all day every day to just read and write stories. EeezyContinue reading “Clarion: Graduating Class of 2008”

Racoon Totems

So those of you following the saga of our Clarion instructors totem animals are probably thinking, what about Geoff and Nalo? Kelly left us with Rabbits, Jim is flapping around with the Crows, Mary-Anne gave us hummingbirds and Neil arrived with a pair of hooting Owls (and a cricket match). Well tonight totem animal numberContinue reading “Racoon Totems”

Wainscot Tarot and approaching goodbyes

Amidst my hectic Clarion schedule I’ve been working on a flash fiction piece for Behind the Wainscot, who are publishing a linked series of stories inspired by tarot cards a little later this month. I was pretty excited to be invited to take part, especialy when I saw the list of other contributors which includesContinue reading “Wainscot Tarot and approaching goodbyes”

What do you want?

And who are you? Yesterday the Clarion group sat in a semi-circle around Neil Gaiman and listened to him talk about story. The light was shining so brightly everone was glowing. I have photos, I may share them. Neil talked about want, specificaly what characters want and using knowledge of that to make a storyContinue reading “What do you want?”

I am a God of Subjective Reality…

…and I like David Brin! The Clarion group just received a splendid theatrical performance from the Hugo award winning author. Two key pieces of advice: 1. Control your ego! 2. Enjoy your success. 3. Writing is magic. (Because of the subjective reality thing) Both delivered in circuitous but fascinating fashion alongside a general theme ofContinue reading “I am a God of Subjective Reality…”

Kelly’s Crows

Today I finished two weeks at Clarion. It feels like much longer. There is a consensus that one week of Clarion world time is about three weeks of real world time (or should that be the other way around?). One of my fellow clarionites has observed that we are living in strange environment. The weatherContinue reading “Kelly’s Crows”

Clarion, or a six week course in sleep deprivation.

So, I’m now settled into the routine at Clarion, which goes a little something like this – get up, eat breakfast, 3 -4 hours group critique of stories submitted the day before. Have lunch. Afternoon lecture, followed by tech session / other essential life maintenance chores, write, dinner, read stories for next morning, write critiqueContinue reading “Clarion, or a six week course in sleep deprivation.”