Join Us at Norwescon 41 (Part 2)

We're all getting ready for Norwescon March 29 through April 1, and we hope you'll be there too!

While you're there, check out these Fairwood Writers and Fairwood alums reading our work:

Fairwood Writers:

Erin Wagner Tidwell reads "She Falls Into Darkness" (G)
Friday, 7:30 p.m., in Cascade 4

Kim Ritchie reads "Stick" (G), a post-apocalyptic tale
Saturday, 8 p.m., in Cascade 4

Renee Stern reads "Stolen (PG), a dark story of a lost soul trying to find its way home
Sunday, 10:30 a.m., in Cascade 4

Dean Wells reads "All Whirlpools Lead to Atlantis" (R): When Special Agent Romulus Caul investigates a series of unexplained deaths, he learns that the motive hits much closer to heart than he'd ever suspected. A work in progress from The Clockwork Millennials
Sunday, 11 a.m., in Cascade 4

 Fairwood alums:

Brenda Cooper reads from Wilders (G): In a future where climate change is even more real than today, Seattle has a far more dramatic seawall, and the land between Seattle and Spokane has mostly been emptied.
Friday, 3 p.m., in Cascade 4

Spencer Ellsworth reads a new work (PG)
Friday, 4 p.m., in Cascade 4

Patrick Swenson reads a new work (PG)
Saturday, 2 p.m., in Cascade 4

You can also find us signing our work:

John (J.A.) Pitts: Autograph Session 1
Saturday, 2 p.m., in Grand 2

Brenda Cooper: Autograph Session 1
Saturday, 2 p.m., in Grand 2

Spencer Ellsworth: Autograph Session 1
Saturday, 2 p.m., in Grand 2

Dean Wells: Autograph Session 2
Saturday, 3 p.m., in Grand 2

Rhiannon Held: Autograph Session 2
Saturday, 3 p.m., in Grand 2

Patrick Swenson: Autograph Session 2
Saturday, 3 p.m., in Grand 2

Join Us at Norwescon 41 (Part 1)

We're days away from Norwescon (March 29-April 1), and we hope you'll be there too!

While you're planning your convention schedule, don't forget to include our Writers' Workshop social on Saturday, March 31, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in Presidential Suite 1360.

You don't have to participate in this year's workshop to attend, so we hope you'll drop by to socialize with other writers. 

The social is the Fairwood Writers' opportunity to give back to the writing community. Whether you're participating in this year's workshop, a veteran from previous years, or simply interested in learning more about our workshops for next year, we look forward to seeing you there! 

Workshop Spotlight: Shweta Adhyam

Once again our occasional series on writers' journeys focuses on someone who's about to rack up time on both sides of our critique table. This year Shweta Adhyam--a 2017 Clarion West student whose work is starting to show up in respected genre venues--is switching roles from receiving feedback on her writing to providing it to other writers.

Shweta submitted short stories to our Norwescon workshops for five years running. "Every year, I came away with a little bit more command over the craft," she says. 

 

When the pros critiquing her stories brought up a specific technique or aspect of craft, such as foreshadowing, she'd go on to study it and practice incorporating it into story revisions and new work. Over time her writing became more sophisticated.

And sometimes the feedback had more immediate benefits on top of a long-term lesson. 

 

"Once, a critiquer pointed out how I could get a really amazing ending from what I had already planted throughout the story. It was a proverbial lightbulbs-going-off-in-head moment on so many levels," Shweta says.

Along with leading the way to a perfect story ending, it was also "an invaluable lesson to go back and mine your stories for things that might have been left on the table while you were looking elsewhere," she says.

Critique workshops are tremendous opportunities to learn and grow as a writer, she says. The pros who read your work and offer feedback are sitting at the table with you, so submit the manuscript you're struggling with, listen to the critiquers' comments and ask them questions. 

 

"The conversations (that follow) can open up possibilities not just on the piece under discussion, but also mastering the art in general," Shweta says. 

 

Shweta's most recent stories include "The Warrior and the Sage" (written as Shweta Sundararajan) at Intergalactic Medicine Show and "A Conch Shell's Notes" in an upcoming issue of Lightspeed.

Although it's too late to take part in our 2018 Norwescon workshop, please contact us at writersworkshop@norwescon.org to be added to our mailing list for information about future workshops and events. And if you're attending Norwescon, we'd love to meet you at the social we're hosting, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 31, in Presidential Suite 1360.