Clarion, 1991. Looking at my story titles makes me wince. Thank god the full texts aren’t online. But I was 19 and didn’t know any better.
I always think about Clarion in summer, but I’m thinking about it more than usual just now — LJ is full of reminders. blackholly is teaching. ellen_kushner, who was our Week Two instructor, has a fabulous new book out, which caused me to lose a lot of sleep last night.
Not as much as I lost at Clarion, though. I was convinced that if I shut my eyes, I’d miss something.
I’ll post more answers soon.
imnotandrei
August 1, 2006 at 10:27 amLooking at my story titles makes me wince. Thank god the full texts aren’t online. But I was 19 and didn’t know any better.
I know the feeling — though at least they spelled your name right! ;) (Actually, it’s funny — when Leashed Steel eventually saw print, my name was misspelled on the cover there, as well — but at least that was obviously a typo)
I’ve occasionally felt like sneaking in and removing the first two pages of that story from the archive copy, so they don’t exist *anywhere*.
quirkybird
August 1, 2006 at 11:10 amThose are some titles, right there. Yessir.
I’ve had some doozies, but most of them were fanfiction written under a screenname. HURRAY
capn_jil
August 1, 2006 at 11:49 amhee hee hee hee.
anonymous
August 2, 2006 at 4:04 pmAh, youth!
vj_pdx
August 2, 2006 at 4:08 pmum, that was me. I’m a spazz. Jealous that you went to Clarion. I never even heard of it til I got to Oregon
ms_anthropy
August 11, 2006 at 9:09 pmYou mean the ones I set fire to in the ashtray?
Sorry, dude. I kept everything. It’s just how I am.
I realize what I’m about to say could get me assassinated in my prime, but somewhere in a box in the very bottom of some closet are five enormous 3-ring binders. In those binders are photocopies of every. Single. Page. Of. Every. Single. Story. From. That. Summer.
When Lorraine – remember Lorraine? – was running off the copies for the archives, I bribed her to make me a set. And I put them into binders and stuck them in a box and there they have sat for fifteen long years, hidden away from the eyes of mortal man. And one day I shall clean out the WRONG CLOSET, and those notebooks will rise from the crypt like undead…er…crypt…thingies.
And as I lift them from their cardboard prison and blow the mummy-dust off them, the last thing I see on this earth will be Victoria’s hands…and a strand of piano wire…
And I feel your pain. They misspelled my name in the Locus article and I’ve never gotten over it. Scarred, I was. Traumatized. ;P
God, I just looked. There’s one more story on my list than I remember. What the hell was the “untitled” one?
I keep hitting reminders too. It’s become standard for this time of year somehow. Hell, Duncan has discovered the old Twilight Zone shows on SciFi, and sure as hell here came “To Serve Man.” I was weeding through my clothes and found my t-shirt, and had to think hard to remember what some of it meant. There’s a certain slant to the moonlight sometimes that makes me want to go walking by the river at midnight, in the big concrete tunnel that had the great echoes. Bret and I used to sing duets down there in the wee hours, and then run away giggling when the security guards came to see who was making all the goddam noise.
And of course my instinctive reaction to stress is a momentary, fleeting desire to throw lawn furniture off a roof. ;P
ms_anthropy
August 11, 2006 at 9:16 pmI was convinced that if I shut my eyes, I’d miss something.
So we stayed awake until we hallucinated and drank like fish instead?
Hmmmm…
;P
ms_anthropy
August 11, 2006 at 9:20 pmAnd I don’t know what either of you are complaining about. Most of yours were pretty good. Mine were awful. I was into that whole “random abrupt nouns make you sound deep” thing that year.
ellen_kushner
October 5, 2006 at 9:10 pmOmigod, omigod . . . it’s YOU!!! And I didn’t even realize. You’re the young one from my Clarion class. It’s YOU. I had no idea. Congratulations.
I am gobsmacked. I’ve been a HUGE fan ever since Sharyn sent us a copy of EMPRESS. I felt so in awe of what you’d done that I felt much too shy to write and tell you how grateful I was for such a smart sensible and beautiful book – although I nearly did when I read your wonderful graphic novel at Gavin & Kelly’s (where I’d gone to housesit and work on my novel) . . . tried to order it along with a fan note, but the link wouldn’t work or something . . . .
And it was YOU all along. I had completely forgotten your name from the first time, you see.
That was a difficult week for me – I’ve forgotten most of it by now, including everyone’s name (except Braulio) – had to go look at your photo, and ever since then the memories have been checking in, one by one. I don’t remember what you wrote then, but I am so so glad that you kept at it, and are doing such wonderful work!
And thanks for responding on my LJ so that I knew you were there.
I just had dinner with Barry G. & some friends here in NY – I hope if you’re coming to town sometime that you’ll drop me a line. Meanwhile, good luck with the new book, and everything else. I eagerly await what’s next.
thisisnotanlj
October 6, 2006 at 9:44 amthe gobsmacked-ness is mutual. :)
THANK YOU. it means a tremendous amount that you’re liking what i’m doing. you were the only one of my clarion teachers whose work i’d actually read before i attended. when we had our one-on-one conference, you showed me something you were working on, and i was totally blown away that you were willing to do that.
in class, you talked about kinesthetic awareness in a way that made me get it — though that, not to mention the rest of what i learned at clarion, took about a decade to sink in.
i will definitely let you know the next time i’m going to be in NY!!
thisisnotanlj
October 6, 2006 at 9:58 ami was one of a few young ones that year, some of whom also commented on the above post. everyone is still at it —, , and are all doing amazing writing in various venues & modes.