Leslie's News and Reviews

location: Seattle, Wa

mood: excited

 Hi All;

 There has been so much going on this year that there’s been no time to report on it all, but Fall is here and we want to make sure that everyone knows about the great line-up of authors heading to Seattle beginning this month to teach and read at the NW Media Arts Fantastic Fiction Workshops and Readings/Salons held at Richard Hugo House in Seattle.

The Connie Willis November workshop is full and the Charles deLint October workshop is nearly full, though a few of you can still get in if you move quickly.  We still have some spots open for September’s workshop with Mary Rosenblum, and you can register for her September 21st workshop up until Friday, September 19^th.

NW MediaArts is a non-profit that runs on a shoestring budget.  That shoestring gets frayed to nothing by the fall of each year as the small amount of grant money we have for airfares is used up in transportation costs for our first five authors winter and spring quarters.  The tuition income goes mostly to the authors and to Hugo House to cover their space use and administrative costs.  The $4 admission donations we receive at the readings/salons go directly to airfare, but don’t even begin make a dent in the actual costs we incur with providing transportation for each author.

One of our authors suggested that I post and offer to trade someone a spot in one of the workshops (we could even add you as one extra to that full Connie Willis workshop!) for their frequent flyer air miles.  If you are interested and have any frequent flyer air miles that will work to bring an author to Seattle and back from Ottawa or Denver, we’d be happy to trade your miles for a spot in the workshop.  If anyone who can't attend a workshop in Seattle simply wants to make a donation towards the cost of air fares for Fantastic Fiction instructors in order to support these workshops, they could simply write check to NW MediaArts earmarked for instructor transportation. We would be very appreciative in either case, whether you contribute frequent flyer miles or donations!  In any case, we hope to see some of you who live in the Seattle area at the Monday night readings/salons with our authors.

 We’re cooking up some great plans for 2009 at NW MediaArts and appreciate the input and ideas some of you have emailed as well. Here are the details on this fall’s workshops!  Thanks, Leslie
events@nwmediaarts.com

Invite the Reader to the Party: What Show, Don’t Tell really means

Instructor: Mary Rosenblum

Everybody has heard “show, don’t tell” from sixth grade English class on. What does it really mean? No matter how well structured your story, no matter how vividly you describe your characters, if the readers are standing back, observing the action, they might as well be watching TV. Prose fiction allows us to magically invite the readers to step into that scene, so that they live the adventure with your characters. We’ll discuss techniques for how to reduce narrative distance to zero and do writing exercises that will help you bring your stories to life for your readers.

Mary Rosenblum has published 8 novels and more than 60 short stories with major magazines since graduating from the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 1988. Her work has been short-listed for a number of awards and won her the Compton Crook Award. Mary has taught fiction writing for over fifteen years. She lives and writes on country acreage where she also teaches workshops on sustainable living. Her novel Horizons from Tor Books is available at bookstores, and the “Drylands” collection, Water Rites, is available from Fairwood Press. You can find out more about Mary at her website.

Mary will also read at the Fantastic Fiction Salon reading on Monday, September 22, 2008.

Sunday, September 21, 2008
10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Please bring lunch.
Registration information

Heroes and Villains: Write Them so Real They Step Off the Page

Instructor: Charles de Lint

We will explore and define the line between well-drawn, fully realized sympathetic heroes and the many shades that make up a similarly well-drawn villain. Conflict between these two archetypes is what drives the plot, and the success of your story depends on your reader believing in both the characters and their conflict. Most villains don’t think they’re villains, and many heroes only see their short-comings. We’ll look at examples of Heroes and Villains in myth and literature, and through a combination of exercises and discussion, each student will develop a Hero, a Villain, and a conflict that can improve a current work or serve as the core of a new one.

Charles de Lint is a Canadian fantasy author and Americana/folk musician. He established the genre of “mythic fiction,” which falls somewhere between fantasy and mainstream fiction with a magical realist bent. It is sometimes also considered “urban myth” and is known for being “fantasy for people who normally don’t read fantasy.” He is a winner of the multiple awards, including the World Fantasy Award, and the author of over 40 books, including both novels and short story collections.

Charles will also read and play music at the Fantastic Fiction Salon reading on Monday, October 27, 2008.

Sunday, October 26, 2008
10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Please bring lunch.
Registration information

The Plot Thickens: The Art and Science of Plotting

Instructor: Connie Willis

Award-winning author Connie Willis will lay bare the structure underlying works of literature from pulp stories to Shakespeare and everything in between. She’ll teach students how to structure their plots using writing exercises and multiple examples from literature, speculative fiction, and movies.

Connie Willis has won more awards (20) than any other SF author for her insightful, witty novels and numerous works of short fiction. Celebrated as a humorist with spot-on comic timing, she also uses her fiction to examine larger questions: the nature of God, the persistence of suffering and loss, and the role of love and redemption. Her much-anticipated new novel, All Clear, will be released in 2009.

Connie will also read at the Fantastic Fiction Salon reading on Monday, November 17th, 2008.

Sunday, November 16th, 2008
10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Please bring lunch.
Registration information

HOW TO REGISTER

 To sign up for classes, call Hugo House at (206) 322-7030 with your credit card information from 10 a.m.–9 p.m. weekdays, and 12–5 p.m. Saturdays (except holidays). If you already are or become a Hugo House member at the time of registration, take the member tuition rate. Clarion West Alumni get the member rate for these classes.  nwmediaarts.com