Clarion West Write-a-thon wrap-up

This year's Clarion West workshop will come to its triumphal end this week: another workshop survived, another set of students pushed, pulled, and self-propelled through exercises and first drafts toward whatever it is that makes writers. The Write-a-thon will come to its triumphal end along with the workshop.

If you've participated in the Write-a-thon, I'd like to congratulate you on your accomplishments during these six weeks. Whether you've met every goal or not, you've publicly declared your dedication to writing, and that's no small thing.

If you signed up sponsors, please collect the pledges from your sponsors and send them in to Clarion West, 340 Fifteenth Avenue East, Seattle, WA 98112. Please include your pledge form or contact info for your sponsors so that we can thank them and send them a tax receipt. Sponsors can also pay their pledges via PayPal at Clarion West Write-a-thon.

If you've raised at least $100 for Clarion West, please let me know what size and color T-shirt you'd like. Available colors here. The printing will be white.

If you aren't participating in the Write-a-thon, it's still not too late to support others who are, either by PayPal on the web page or by sending a check to Clarion West, 340 Fifteenth Avenue East, Suite 350, Seattle, Washington 98112. Please let us know who you're supporting by using the PayPal comment field.

If you're a participant, sponsor, or Clarion West well-wisher, thanks so much for your support of Clarion West. Clarion West is a qualified 501(c)3 organization, and all donations to it are tax-deductible; its federal tax I.D. number is 91-1352168.

Vernor Vinge Reads for Clarion West

It's the very last Clarion West reading for this year's workshop, and the first time Vernor Vinge reads for Clarion West. This may be the first time he's read in Seattle; I'm sure that if it isn't, someone will correct me right quick.

Vernor Vinge will read at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25, in the JBL Theater of the Experience Music Project, at 325 Fifth Avenue, next to Seattle Center. A mathematician and computer scientist, Vinge contended in his 1993 essay "The Technological Singularity" that technological complexity could change human life beyond our comprehension. His new novel Rainbows End shares the world of his Hugo Award-winning "Fast Times at Fairmont High." He is the 2006 Susan C. Petrey Fellow. Copies of Vinge's books will be on sale at the reading; a signing session follows.

Admission is $4, $3 for members, seniors, and students. Tickets are available at the University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE. Free parking is usually pretty easy to find on Taylor Avenue or 6th Avenue.

This event is sponsored by Clarion West, and co-sponsored by the University Bookstore and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.

Yes, I do sometimes post about things other than Clarion West. Sometimes.