Clarion Blog Preview 2011

[Audio] Happy New Year, everyone!  Now that we’re all finished banging pots and pans, it’s time to talk a bit about what you can expect from the Clarion Blog in 2011.  Though there are still some surprises in store, we hope you enjoy today’s sampling of our 2011 lineup.

Mid-Month: Market Insights

Consider the Clarion Blog your “friend in the business.”  Halfway through each month, we invite an agent, editor, or other publishing professional to address our readers.  Some of these guest bloggers may offer glimpses into the workings of a particular publication, some may give advice about selling your work, and some may provide observations on the general status of the SF&F marketplace.

A sampling of our 2011 guest bloggers from the publishing community:

• Agent Russell Galen, one of our most popular posters from 2010.
• Agent and author advocate Richard Curtis.
• Jonathan Laden, Clarion alumnus and founder of Daily Science Fiction.
• Douglas Cohen, editor of Realms of Fantasy.

Month-End: Guest Authors

On the last Monday or Tuesday of each month, a working speculative fiction author will pay a visit to the Clarion Blog to share some advice for writers who are just beginning their careers.  Kicking off 2011 is Hugo-winner Elizabeth Bear, one of our 2011 Clarion instructors.  In February and March we will hear from recent Campbell award winners David Anthony Durham and Mary Robinette Kowal, followed by Kij Johnson, winner of last year’s Nebula award for her short story “Spar.”

In addition, we’re trying something fun this year and featuring two authors whose highly-anticipated debut novels will be released in the upcoming months.  In the summer we will be featuring a piece by Mark Lawrence, a British research scientist whose fantasy novel catapulted out of the slush pile and into a bidding war in a true story almost as fantastic as his epic Prince of Thorns.  We’ll be wrapping up the year with a visit from Saladin Ahmed, an acclaimed short story author whose first novel will be released in early 2012.

Weekly Features

As in 2010, we will continue to devote Thursdays to “Spec Tech,” a weekly chat with experts in various fields such as biology, linguistics, and sociology.  Our Spec Tech “faculty” offer interesting tidbits to spark story ideas and ground your speculative work in reality.  See our “About” page for biographies of our talented staff.

We’ll spend Mondays discussing craft with Lynda Williams, and Saturdays will be devoted to writing prompts and other assignments aimed at those of you who could use a jump-start to get your creative juices flowing.  In short, the Clarion Blog will have new content at least three times a week, so it may be worth your while to bookmark the site (or better yet, click the link in the upper right hand corner to have our posts emailed to you directly).

If you’d like to be a part of the Clarion Blog by contributing writing prompts, connecting us with a great guest blogger, etc., drop us an email at blog@the[workshopname]foundation.org and let us know what you have in mind.  Here’s hoping that 2011 is a breakthrough year for all of us.