Back from Maine

had the great pleasure of workshopping with David Anthony Durham and Elizabeth Hand this time, at the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast program.

One thing I've noticed about this particular program - compared to others I've had passing familiarity with - is that my co-students are often very accomplished authors or creators in their own right. My fellow students have - like me - a pretty long list of credits.

This got me thinking about the low residency model of the MFA, and how it would be more appealing to us who are a little busy writing stuff to want to go to class every week. We want the kind of degree that lets us stay in our cave, madly typing.

I'm well over halfway through my degree, at this point, and I can honestly say the experience has been good. Anyone looking for a degree in writing - MFA - I think it is best to consider the low-residency model. And, for all you speculative types, check out the Pop Fiction Department at the University of Southern Maine, which includes James Patrick Kelly, David Anthony Durham, Nancy Holder, and Elizabeth Hand.

It's been good. Learned a lot of different ways of thinking about the stuff that I was already doing.