Odyssey Class of 1998

Top Row: Sean “Thinker” Finn, Sharon “Barmaid” Keir, Matt “Nebraska” Rotundo, Rob “Middle America” Jones, James “Boots” Maxey, Erica “Mom” Tolley, Steven “Still Waters” Prete, Walt “QVC” Cuirle

Middle Row: Marty “Doctor” Hiller, Julia “Harley” Duncan, Jeanne “Prof” Cavelos, Carrie “Queen” Vaughn, Morgan “Netscape” Hua, Stephen “Believer” Chambers

Bottom Row: Stacy “Big Blue Boyscout” Dooks, Richard “Cookie” Bradford, Bryan “Carnival” King, Lea “Twister” Braff, Samantha “Goth” Payeff, Rita “Scones” Oakes

Nicknames courtesy of Julia Duncan

COMMENTS FROM THE ODYSSEY CLASS OF 1998

Stacy Dooks

Odyssey is more than a six-week writing course. It’s an adventure. You’ll learn more than you’d ever expect. If can’t be beat. Come, experience the wonder for yourself.

Rob Jones

Odyssey was well worth the time, cost, and effort.

Lea Braff (Rosemary Sullivan)

Are you ready for the Odyssey Experience? It might be painful, but it will change you and it will improve your writing.

Sharon Keir

The best educational bargain around for anyone striving to write well.

Julia Duncan

Odyssey deepened my connection to my work and sharpened the tools necessary for shaping passion into story.

Carrie Vaughn

I feel more confident about my writing now. I was somewhat confident before, but now I know my weaknesses and exactly what I need to work on to fix them—this is very empowering!

I had solid skills before, but the workshop gave me tools for analyzing my work, identifying specific problems, and fixing them.

Morgan Hua

If you have specific writing goals, Odyssey is for you. Jeanne does a great job. For overall coverage of writing topics, Odyssey is more organized and structured than Clarion West. The combination of the two has completed my formal writing education. If I had to choose which one to attend, I would go to Odyssey first,; it provides a greater foundation to build on.

Erica Tolley

If you are unsure of yourself as a writer—of what your strengths and weaknesses are—come to Odyssey. In six weeks you will learn more about writing and your own talent than you would in a year writing alone.

Matthew Rotundo

Writers cannot help but gain from Odyssey. Haven’t you ever wanted to sit down with an editor and get some personalized feedback on your work? Aren’t you sick of form rejections? Odyssey is a chance to work one-on-one with a real, live editor for six weeks! You also get tons of feedback from other students, meet and work with professionals in the field, and learn how to identify weaknesses in your own writing that you may not have been aware of. Go for it!

Stephen Chambers

Anyone who is serious about writing needs Odyssey. There’s no way around it. Odyssey is a lot like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get, but you can rest assured it will be filled with tasty goodness.

A new feature for the 1998 workshop:

During the ’98 workshop, certain statements of the students and guests resonated with exceptional truth and insight. These statements have been preserved so that their wisdom can be shared with other writers, and so visitors to this website can get an idea of the consistently high level of rhetoric and insightful critiques that ring through the lofty halls of Odyssey.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING QUOTES HAVE NOT BEEN EDITED FOR LANGUAGE!

Memorable Quotes from the Class of 1998

“James snuck into my brain last night and stole my critique.”
—Julia Duncan

“If you did a futuristic version of that, then I think it could really, really pay off. . . probably.”
—Stephen Chambers

“It looks like I liked this story.”
—Stephen Chambers

“I think I enjoyed this story.”
—Stephen Chambers

“Killing people isn’t all that interesting. But how people move is more interesting.”
—Morgan Hua

“Severing a kid’s head from his body and putting it in the engine compartment is fairly memorable.”
—Harlan Ellison

“Clearly I am not the intended audience—which is a good thing.”
—Lea Braff

“Your readership will be strange but loyal.”
—Harlan Ellison

“You put the fucks in the wrong place.”
—Marty Hiller

“The idea of Nazis using crosses to keep this vampire at bay just drove me bugfuck.”
—Stacy Dooks

“You have his head ripped off. That’s not enough.”
—Stacy Dooks

“These Nazis have no character.”
—Brian King

“Those short stories you get online are about as good as the paper they’re printed on.”
—Warren Lapine

“Somebody has to die.”
—Carrie Vaughn

“I felt like an idiot after I read this.”
—Steven Prete

“The rape was nicely rendered.”
—Julia Duncan

“I assumed it was part of a larger work—or you were totally clueless.”
—Sharon Keir

“You should never let a fact stand in the way of drama.”
—James Morrow

“I thought this story should be dragged behind the shed and an axe taken to it.”
—James Maxey

“I really liked the pornography.”
—James Morrow

“I had to wake myself up about three times in the first thirteen pages.”
—Richard Bradford

“Obviously his neck is broken and that’s one thing. He’ll have to deal with it. Maybe he’ll go to the chiropractor.”
—Rita Oakes

“After a day, maybe two, I’d just pull my sword out and start hacking this guy up.”
—Brian King

“All I can say is the crow really pissed me off.”
—Steven Prete

“I felt like somebody just dragged me out of bed right after I had sex.”
—Sharon Keir

“Fairy tales can come true—and your little dog too!”
—Walt Cuirle

“There’s these words in here that I don’t even know, and I can’t even look it up.”
—Brian King

“Come on, folks. This is not rocket science. If she wants to have immortal werewolves, let her have immortal werewolves.”
—Walt Cuirle

“In my personal experience, vampires smell very well.”
—Julia Duncan

“I hate plot. I like stories in which nothing happens.”
—Julia Duncan

“I don’t want to see this woman decorate again.”
—Brian King

“I sort of feel like the guy who’s going to piss in your beer.”
—Morgan Hua

“The Disneyland of Death”
—Rita Oakes

“Sometimes I like being hit over the head.”
—Steven Prete

“All I can say is the crow really pissed me off.”
—Steven Prete

“I felt like I had been somehow punished for reading this story.”
—James Maxey

“Feed a baby Maypo and Pixy Stix, and it’s gonna get gray.”
—Julia Duncan

And from The Never-Ending Odyssey:

“The words on the page are not as scary as what’s going on in my head.”
—JoAnn Forgit