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ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
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CLASSES/RESOURCES
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SUPPORT US
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INFORMATION
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NETWORK WITH US
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FOR GRADUATES
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Back
row |
Peter Simonson, Brad
Hafford, Travis Heermann, Alex Wolfe |
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| Second
row |
Kelli Meyer, Kevin Jewell, Meg
Spooner |
| Third
row |
Arthur Dorrance, Corry Lee, Carrie
Vaughn, Jeanne Cavelos, Mary Rodgers |
| Fourth
row |
Karen McKenzie, Lisa Poh, Jason
Heller |
| Front
row |
Susan Sielinski, Sharon Sun, Jenny
Rae Rappaport, Kaalii Cargill |
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Memorable Quotes from
the Class of 2009
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"I kept thinking
of Burt Bacharach: 'Why do birds suddenly appear,
every time you are near?'"
--Kevin G. Jewell
"I hope this monkey comes down and goes nuts."
--Jason Heller
"I don't quite understand why Satan needs
a flashlight."
--Brad Hafford
"It's hard not to like a guy who really likes
a dog."
--Peter Simonson
"We're spending ten pages walking the dog."
--Brad Hafford
"She's a goddess. She should come and go like
a goddess, not go in a row boat."
--Travis Heermann
"I’m a sci-fi reader and I like things
to either blow up or not."
--Kevin G. Jewell
"Scientific plausibility schmausibility."
--Corry L. Lee
"He felt real even though he was dead."
--Travis Heermann
"It didn't quite stick the knife in enough."
--Kevin G. Jewell
"It made sense to me at three in the morning."
--Arthur Dorrance
"You lost me with the ear wax."
--Jenny Rae Rappaport
"I was expecting a palace built of spleens
and human eyeballs. Deliciously horrible."
--Meg Spooner
"I couldn't relate to the refrigerator or
his motivations."
--Alex Wolfe
"You can't go wrong with a fart to start a
story."
--Arthur Dorrance
"Time is of the essence. We must romp."
--Meg Spooner
"There's not a way she can have sex with the
refrigerator--I hope."
--Jason Heller
"I had to listen to their banter and their
sexual fantasies, and I didn't get the blood."
--Kevin G. Jewell
"There was a big matzoh ball that you left
floating out there. And I was chewing on it throughout
the story."
--Mary Rodgers
"The role of the artist is to not look away."
--Akira Kurosawa, quoted by Travis Heermann
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"I love any story
that involves miniscule dragons."
--Kelli D. Meyer
"Since it can talk, it should have explained
itself."
--Lisa Poh
"Can we ever know a zombie?"
--Peter Simonson
"If you're going through hell, keep going."
--Winston Churchill, quoted by Carrie Vaughn
"Chinese hell has eighteen levels."
--Lisa Poh
"Even these geese are depressed in the story."
--Jason Heller
"I want it to be more odd."
--Karen McKenzie
"Don't they have tails and wouldn't that be
an issue when putting on pants?"
--Kelli D. Meyer
"Don't beat me with my baby!"
--Jason Heller
"If you don't know what happens next, bring
a man through the door with a gun."
--Mickey Spillane, quoted by Carrie Vaughn
"They didn't really know what to do with a
short mad woman."
--Kaalii Cargill
"I loved the spine. I really did."
--Jenny Rae Rappaport
"She's not a character who sits around and
thinks. Maybe she sharpens knives."
--Corry L. Lee
"I feel the coyote's pain."
--Karen McKenzie
"I didn't even realize that I didn't have
to count commas until the second reading."
--Kevin G. Jewell
"Ursula Le Guin didn't write The Right
Hand of Darkness."
--Jason Heller
"I wish I knew what the refrigerator looked
like."
--Kelli D. Meyer
"Sorry, but I think we all want to see more
carnage."
--Sharon Sun
"Lush it up more."
--Lisa Poh
"Kelp Desk."
--Arthur Dorrance
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Kaalii
Cargill
Attending Odyssey has given me specific, concrete ways
to address long-standing issues in my writing.
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Arthur
Dorrance
This workshop is a contact-high for
people serious about writing genre fiction.
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Brad Hafford
Odyssey is more than a journey into
the art of storytelling; it makes a writer face cyclopean
fears, buffeted by storm-tossed critiques, finally to find
shore in a more confident structure and passionate style.
It has changed me and my writing profoundly. For the better. |
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Travis Heermann
I would recommend Odyssey to anyone
who wants to write science fiction, fantasy, or horror
professionally. Your writing will make quantum leaps in
quality during a challenging six weeks. Jeanne is a fantastic
instructor, and her experience as a writer and also as
an industry professional comes through in every class
and critique. The guest lecturers and writer-in-residence
add a fresh dimension and perspectives not only on how
to write science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but also
what it takes and what it means to be a professional writer.
Website
| Blog
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Jason Heller
If you think you know what you're
doing as a writer, Odyssey will cure you of that particular
misgiving. But it will replace your crutches and bad habits
with real tools and techniques for obliterating ruts,
breaking glass ceilings, and digging deep into yourself
for motivation and inspiration.
Quite simply, Odyssey changed my life. I'll never look
at words the same way again. |
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Kevin Jewell
Ray Bradbury says, 'throw yourself off
the cliff and build your wings on the way down.' Odyssey
gives you tools and plans to build them.
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Corry Lee
Odyssey taught me more than I ever knew was possible.
I had to work harder than I've ever worked (even in grad
school) but the rewards were even greater. I learned about
weaknesses I never knew existed in my writing and gained
practical techniques to attack those weaknesses. I made
friends I will cherish for a lifetime.
Website |
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Karen
McKenzie
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Kelli D. Meyer
Both the time and money invested in
Odyssey were well worth it. I can't imagine any experience
paying bigger dividends in terms of improving my writing
and my chances of publication..
Website |
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Lisa Poh
Jeanne is far and away the best part
of Odyssey. One element that distinguishes Odyssey is
that Jeanne is our primary instructor throughout the six
weeks, although we benefit from guest lecturers and a
week taught by a writer-in-residence. The benefit of this
is that Jeanne is like a lighthouse for us through our
sometimes rocky and daunting voyage. She's always there
to guide us, give us words of wisdom or advice, or fix
the broken plots that we bring to her in a panic. She
brings coherence and practicality to understanding writing
and publishing. She has so much compassion for struggling
writers--something I've not experienced in the creative
writing classes I've previously taken--and through these
six weeks, makes the effort to individually meet with
us to talk to us about what makes each of us unique in
our voice, to affirm that we do have something special
we bring to the table as writers, and to work with us
using specific tools to fix the problems we didn't know
how to fix. I can't thank her enough for her dedication
and passion.
LiveJournal |
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Jenny Rae Rappaport
Jeanne taught me that a plot toolbox does exist, and how
to use it. She has helped me learn to describe concepts
that I knew internally, but couldn't verbalize well. It
has made me a better writer and a better literary agent.
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Mary Rodgers
Attending Odyssey was both a privilege and a pleasure. I
am so grateful for this experience. Everything from the
rigor of the coursework to the joy of bonding with my amazing
classmates has been invaluable. I suppose that I could have
done without my newly minted caffeine addiction, but that
is at best a minor quibble. I can't wait to go home and
put all that I've learned into practice . . .
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Peter Simonson
I've never worked with an instructor
who was so dedicated to my personal learning. Odyssey
is an extraordinary experience because Jeanne puts so
much of her love of writers, the craft, and the genres
into it.
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Meg Spooner
Make no mistake, Odyssey will tear
away all your comforting delusions about yourself as a
writer. But something happens along the way, a painful--but
ultimately hugely rewarding--process of discovering true
worth, ability, and uniqueness that replaces those false
delusions with the truth: you have a story to tell, and
only you can tell it.
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Sharon Sun
Odyssey
really showed me who I was, both as a writer and as a
person, and Jeanne did an amazing job at teaching me all
I never knew about myself, and then guiding me to where
I should go next.
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Alex
Wolfe
If a fellow writer asked if I would
recommend Odyssey to him, I would do so without hesitation
and as emphatically as possible. The experience was, from
a craft, social, and overall developmental standpoint,
a catalyst beyond anything I could have hoped for in terms
of growing as a writer and as a person. I cannot recommend
it enough.
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Odyssey Class of 2009 Photo Album
Click images10 to enlarge
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Alex: Man of the Sombrero |
"Oh, my gosh, is that really Darth
Vader's head?" |
"This is my pet sea turtle. He flies."
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We hunted and caught these marshmallows ourselves. |
Shh! Don't tell Karen what it is... |
"I'm going to do something very, very
bad..." |
"I've had enough, Susan! Enough,
do you hear?" |
"This
scene needs an escalation!" |

Mmm, s'mores.... |
We look like such a nice bunch... |
A captive audience at the Science Fiction
Slam |
This is what Odyssey is all about. |
"And I swear the selkie was this big!" |
Lunch at Ye Olde St. Anselm Coffee Shop
or "Hey look! It's not raining!" |
And thus, Pasha the Purring Prognosticator
was conceived... |
"I just can't take it anymore!" |
Writer-in-residence Carrie Vaughn and another
hapless marshmallow |
On the last day, we're getting a bit punchy... |
I can't believe we made it this far. Anybody
need a nap? |
Fly! You are free! |
Last night at Odyssey and the bar with
the coolest name ever! |
Top of Page 2009
Memorable Quotes 2009
Graduates 2009
Photo Album for 2009
Thanks for dropping by!...
Except where noted, Content © 1996 - 2013
Odyssey Writing Workshops Charitable Trust
< jcavelos@sff.net >
Updated Nov 8, 2009
send site feedback to jdonigan@charter.net
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