The Clarion Blog-A-Thon New Prize: Ellen Kushner!

Ellen Kushner is one of those women who, quite frankly, astounds.  If it was just her vibrant personality, running amuck at cons, that would be enough – as she moderated one of the finest panels I’ve ever been on, and is no slouch at contributing herself.  If it was just her radio work for NPR, which has been called the best program on public radio, well, you’d be impressed.
But no.  The woman’s also a helluva writer.  Her books Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword have been some of my friends’ dearest books, to the point where I had a buddy who, when moving, placed Ellen’s books in a special box so she would be sure not to lose them.  They’re so beloved that no less a light than Neil Gaiman wanted to, you know, read them out loud.
And she’s also taught the Clarion Writers’ Workshop with her lovely wife Delia Sherman.  And as such, when I asked her for a prize to help my Clarion Write-A-Thon (which, due to personal circumstances, I’m still boldly forging ahead two weeks after its official end), she said this:

“My contribution?  A unique handwritten postcard from me to your raffle winner.”

That’s right – if you’re an Ellen Kushner fan (and you should be), then donating $5 to my Blog-A-Thon will get you a chance at something far, far better than an autograph: a personal note. And she’s not the sort to scribble something generic, no; I’m sure it’ll be as interesting as she is.
That $5 donation will not just help you with a shot at the prize – it’ll be helping a writers’ workshop that’s jump-started the careers of many talented writers, not the least of which is Yours Truly.  (Seriously.  I wrote for twenty years and had three sales, all to small markets.  Post-Clarion, in three years I had twenty sales, many to the toughest markets in the biz.)  What you learn there is amazing, and you can help train the next generation of great science fiction and fantasy writers.
That $5 donation will also get you a shot at all the other prizes in the blog-a-thon, which thus far are:

• An autographed copy of “The Chaos,” from Nalo Hopkinson.
• A handwritten letter from the lead character of Mary Robinette Kowal’s “Glamour and Glass” series.
• A signed copy of the script for “What Every Girl Must Know” from my Clarion classmate and upcoming playwright Monica Byrne.
• The challenge coin from Myke Cole’s Shadow Point series (plus a copy of the book, if you haven’t read it!)
• An ARC of Catherynne Valente’s “The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led The Revels There.”
• The book detailing the making of my Clarion classmates’ fencing-and-dance fusion “A Thousand Natural Shocks.”