Be In My Book!

The online auction to benefit the Clarion Foundation begins today.

Clarion is, of course, the premiere workshop in fantasy and science fiction. The proceeds from the auction will benefit the workshop. Please drop by, spend money, and come home with nifty items.

I know I want Howard Waldrop, in his Peter Lorre voice, answering my phone while I’m away! Just as I know I want Karen Joy Fowler’s Jane Austen Emergency Kit! And these are only two of the deeply cool items available.

I’m donating two items my ownself. One is an original manuscript of my last novel, Conventions of War. This is not the final version of the published novel, but an earlier version, somewhat longer, and with some sections of the novel in a different order. This is the only copy of this version of the novel— there isn’t even an electronic backup copy.

The ms. features light editing in pencil by Harper editor Diana Gill. The manuscript is also somewhat battered, having fallen from a shelf in my office. While I do not believe there are actual footprints on the pages, I would be willing to step on the manuscript if the purchaser wanted me to.

My second auction item is the exciting opportunity to have a character with your name appear in my next book, Implied Spaces. Purchasers should be aware that the character bearing your name may not have the best moral character, and may die horribly.

If you don’t want to be in my book, you can be in Kate Wilhelm’s, or in stories by Jim Kelly or Kelly Link. (And who, I ask you, wouldn’t want to be in all four?)

Check out the Clarion Auction Page, and give the gift that keeps on making new SF writers!