In case you were wondering...

Ha. And you thought I’d fallen into the deep dark post-Clarion West hole, never to emerge.

Well, okay so maybe you didn’t. Michael told us to take a break – a week exactly – and go back to writing. This being a class of overachievers some of us didn’t bother to wait that long. Hehehe.

I crashed a bit after the workshop – thank goodness for the kindness of a classmate who let me loaf around her house for days on end, feeding me salmon and mojitos until I was well enough to make the long drive home.

You know who you are. Thank you. And your goddess of a housemate.

So I’m home. Almost two weeks since Clarion ended and somebody out there (if anyone’s still reading this) might be wondering what I’m up to. I heard all sorts of rumors about what happens to folks who go through Clarion: we go on to publish novels in the next six months, we drop off the face of the planet, we get writers block that last anywhere from a week to five years, we quit our jobs, dump our spouses, move to Seattle and/or quit writing altogether.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I think that lots of folks in this class have a pretty good chance of hanging in there for the long haul—and I can’t wait to see their names in print. Our names. Yours truly started the first 200 words of a short story temporarily titled “The Sturgeon Wife” may just turn out to be an exercise but I’m already learning a few things from it and having a good time. I put it away for a week to make my re-entry into the “real world,” which somehow lacks the reality it once had. If I came away from Clarion West with nothing else, I know that I am a writer. I now announce it proudly – in front of my day job title. Yipee. The biggest challenge is getting unpacked and re-sorted. I learned how little I could survive with at Clarion and am now in the process of literally “cleaning house,” making piles to take to benefit yard sales and thrift stores. I’ll have more space than ever when done – maybe I’ll even get some space to do yoga in my own house!

My housemate is a pleasantly alarmed by the amount of stuff being hurtled into boxes and bags – I always have been the more cluttered of the two of us. I think she’s wondering if I might just pack and move to Seattle next week. Hehehe. Not in the immediate future, but a few things might definitely change in terms of my priorities. And I always have friends in Seattle – and a place to crash iffinwhen I make the big transplant. Best of all, Echo didn’t forget me. He’s been a big grey shadow for the last week and I can’t get enough of his big floppy ears and soft eyes. When I got home he was at the door and wiggling shamelessly.

So as it stands, I’ve still got my job, my boyfriend and my life here in Humboldt. I’m writing, working and now I’m even sleeping a decent amount. I’m starting a writer’s group with a co-worker who went to Tinhouse at Reed this summer – it probably won’t be as intense as Clarion West, but we could both use the maintenance. I miss all my fellow Clarionites – we’ve already had a few publications in the group, and I am abundantly pleased and delighted. It feels weird not to be able to go downstairs at two in the morning and have a conversation about bug eyed aliens and punchbowl zombies. I miss midnight coffee runs, and racing down the hall in my towel from the shower –and barefoot (breakin the rules again!) I miss Joni’s cooking (though I have been doing more at home) and “research” trips to stores on the Ave.

I miss reading brilliant, funny and oddball stories every day – and thinking deeply about them all. Our listserve is still on fire, which I anticipate will drop off and people get busy again, but its nice knowing everyone is still out there paying attention to each other. Hopefully there’ll still be a story or two to critique now and again. And Yes, Clarion West is the best thing I have ever done for myself as a writer…so far.