Cherie Priest

Students in the Clarion West writers’ workshop are not having a particularly joyful Independence Day, I fear. Someone broke into the house where they’re staying (a sorority house in the U-district, I believe) and stole four laptops, some clothes, and possibly some other items; the damage is still being tallied.

Everyone is okay and the house has been secured, but as you might imagine this is a serious blow to participants in the industry’s premiere speculative fiction writing workshop. The students who lost these laptops cannot afford to replace them immediately, but they can’t really continue their workshop experience without them; and if you’re familiar with Clarion, then you know exactly how tough it is to land a spot — and how demanding, intensive, and rewarding it can be.

Therefore, if anyone in the greater Seattle area would be willing to donate a spare laptop to the Clarion folks, then now’s the time to speak up. I believe that monetary donations are also being accepted, but I’m not sure exactly what the plan is on that front. This only happened a few hours ago, and administrators are still scrambling to sort out the details.

If there’s anything you can do to help, please contact:

Leslie or Neile, via
info @ clarionwest . org (remove spaces)

They’re very good folks; I’ve worked with them before, and I’ll personally vouch for them, in case that means anything. And by all means, feel free to link this post around.

The power began to flicker intermittently around 8:30 this morning, and finally went off on a more long-term basis around 9:00. It has only just now returned, and heaven knows how long it will stay functioning this time — so I’d best be brief.

It’s been storming since last night, which is both refreshing and startling. It rains here with great regularity, yes. But it almost never storms. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest I’ve very much missed the routine thunderstorms that scrub the southeast; and now, until last night, I could’ve counted on one hand the number of times I’d heard any thunder in the last 2-1/2 years.

It’s a different kind of thunder here. It’s closer and sharper, more like the percussion and sky-wide echo of gunfire than the protracted bowling alley rumbles to which I am accustomed. It’s louder and more startling, or maybe it only feels that way because I’m at a much higher altitude than I’ve ever lived before.

At any rate, I’m going to log off and unplug my laptop. The Breaking News Reports predict more meteorological violence, so in case of further electrical fluctuations, I’m going to find something else to do. Kindly pardon me if I’m slow with email or commentary today, please? I don’t want to push my luck.

[Edit: See my Twitter stream for updates, for a bit.]