Thursday, September 23, 2010

Look Out World

Here they come.

Last night, I spent about two hours with about thirty aspiring young writers and their professors at Cochise College. This college is a traditional two year college with traditional tracks, as well as alternative tracks, such as degree tracks in Rodeo Clowning and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flight Operator. How cool is that?

Professor Leslie Clark had invited me to speak to her creative writing class. That expanded to several classes, as the Horace Steel Room at the college library was soon filled. Although they seemed a little nervous, I was able to convince them that this published author wasn't going to consume them and that I am really as loving and fluffy as I appear to be

The energy and vibe was great. Everyone wanted to learn and to experience my writer's journey. It didn't hurt in my presentation that I was able to tell them that I sat in their seats ten years ago when I attended Cochise College once upon a time. They especially liked my anecdotes about my failure to understand antecedents, my desire to kill people I don't like in my fiction, and Harlan Ellison's comparison of my name to a nursing home where people go to die.

Lots of good questions. Lots of interchange and feedback. Makes me miss teaching, let me tell you.

Hope to do this again soon, so if there are any other colleges out there who want me to relate my writer's journey and talk about the cultural implications and coolness of zombies, just let me know. I'll do it in a heartbeat.

The complete set of photos can be found here.

Weston Ochse
Desert Grotto
Mexican Border

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