Many authors struggle to write beyond what they know and write the other. While conventions are tackling this material, there is frequently not enough time to delve into this tricky and nuanced skill. The Writing the Other Workshop and Retreat is designed to have lessons and conversations at a more advanced level. By pairing it with a retreat, we give the participants an opportunity to work on projects in a nurturing environment. This weeklong event gives you one on one time with the instructors David Anthony Durham, K. Tempest Bradford, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nisi Shawl, and Cynthia Ward. 

Registration opens at noon EST on Sunday October 13, 2013. There are 24 openings available.

WHAT'S INCLUDED?

The week kicks off with three full days of classroom time, including breakout sessions, workshops, and writing exercises. All on-campus meals are included during the week.

Starting on Wednesday evening, the remainder of the week is time for you to put what you learned to good use, and write. Each day will have additional breakout groups as an opportunity for authors to ask questions specific to their projects.

LOCATION

This event is being held at Woodthrush Woods in Chattanooga, TN. Set on thirteen wooded acres, Mary Robinette Kowal's grandfather built this house on the old family farm. There are two houses on the rustic property, the main house, Woodhrush Woods itself and the log house, Robin's Roost. Walking paths allow you to explore the grounds, wade in the creek, or just sit in the rocking chairs on the front porch. Mary's grandfather was an electrician so there are outlets everywhere and wifi throughout both houses.  

That's right, you can write outside in the pergola with an outlet and wifi. 

Because Mary's grandparents built their home to entertain and hold folk dances, the spacious rooms provide plenty of places to write in a group or find a private space.

Workshops will be held in the sunroom at Robin's Roost.

Meals on-campus are part of your registration. This includes a continental breakfast served in both houses, lunches at Robin's Roost, and dinners at Woodthrush Woods.

Please note: This is a private residence built in the first half of the 1900s, and not wheelchair accessible. There are steps and raised thresholds everywhere.

(Since this is a private residence, the exact address will only be given to attendees.)

HOUSING OPTIONS

A limited number of rooms are available "on campus" for a full immersion experience. Prices for those include registration, meals, and the room. Please read the descriptions carefully as there are rooms in both Woodthrush Woods and Robin's Roost. 

We have also arranged for a block of rooms at a nearby Best Western, which is an easy quarter mile walk to Woodthrush. Total cost for a room in the Best Western block is $492.38. This is in addition to the registration fee. If this is your chosen housing option, register with basic attendance registration and further instructions will be sent to you.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS

K. Tempest Bradford is a speculative fiction writer living in New York City. Her fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines,including Interfictions, Strange Horizons, and Escape Pod. Tempest is also a media critic with a focus on the representation of marginalized people in media. Her critical work can be found on io9, The Angry Black Woman blog, Chicks Dig Time Lords, and Chicks Unravel Time. When she's not writing fiction or harshing everyone's media squee, she writes about and reviews technology.

David Anthony Durham writes historical fiction (Gabriel's Story, Walk Through Darkness, Pride of Carthage) and fantasy (the Acacia Trilogy), and he contributes to George RR Martin's Wild Cards series of collaborative novels. He won the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Fiction Award, the Legacy Award for Debut Fiction and the First Novel Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. In 2009, he won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He received an MFA from the University of Maryland. He's taught at the University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Cal State University, Fresno, Colorado College and Hampshire College. He currently teaches in the Popular Fiction concentration of the Stonecoast MFA Program.

Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass, and Without a Summer. In 2008 she received the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2011, her short story “For Want of a Nail” won the Hugo Award for Short Story. Her work has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards. Her stories appear in Asimov’s, Clarkesworld, and several Year’s Best anthologies. Mary, a professional puppeteer, also performs as a voice actor, recording fiction for authors such as Elizabeth Bear, Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi. She is a cast member of the Hugo-award winning podcast Writing Excuses.

Nisi Shawl published seven new short stories in 2011 and was WisCon 35’s Guest of Honor. Her story collection Filter House won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award. Shawl is coauthor of Writing the Other: A Practical Approach, co-editor of Strange Matings: Octavia E. Butler, Feminism, Science Fiction, and African American Voices, and she edits reviews for The Cascadia Subduction Zone, a literary quarterly from Aqueduct Press. She is a founding member of the Carl Brandon Society and serves on Clarion West’s Board of Directors. She’s fairly active on Twitter and Facebook, and she promises to update her homepage (www.nisishawl.com) soon.

Cynthia Ward has published stories in Asimov's Science Fiction  Magazine and Witches: Wicked, Wild & Wonderful (Prime Books), among other anthologies and magazines, and articles in Weird Tales Magazine and Locus Online, among other webzines and magazines. Her story 'Norms,' published in Triangulation: Last Contact, made the Tangent Online Recommended Reading List for 2011. With Nisi Shawl, she coauthored Writing the Other: A Practical Approach (Aqueduct Press), which is based on their diversity writing workshop, Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Differences for Successful Fiction. She lives in the Los Angeles area.

REFUND POLICY

We will offer a full refund if there is someone to take your slot. (You may also transfer it to someone else if you wish.)

If not then:

• Full refund until January 1st
• 75% refund until March 1st
• 50% refund until May 1st
• No refunds after May 1st