The number one best thing about being a writer in Seattle, especially a speculative fiction author, is the writing community.

There’s Hugo House, which serves all writers with courses, workshops, talks, readings, and more. (Their new home is amazing, too. One of the most beautiful writing-specific places I’ve seen.) If Hugo House was the only place for writers to go in Seattle, this would be a great city for writers.

But of course there’s also Clarion West. Even if you don’t have the time to invest in the six-week workshop, or even one of the one-day workshops they run, Clarion West brings readings to Seattle, participates in Norwescon, and more. As an alum, this is without a doubt my “home base” writing community.

On top of that, however, there’s Two Hour Transport. For several years now, this combination of invited readers and speculative fiction open mic has been running monthly. I can’t always attend, but when I can’t, I inevitably feel as though I’m missing out on something great.

At long last, Two Hour Transport has put together an anthology of writing from its participants. Yes, I’m in there. (My story is “Real Selfies,” which previously appeared in Untethered: A Magic iPhone Anthology.) But so are many other wonderful writers I know and see regularly. I’d put more specifics here, but I haven’t seen the table of contents yet, though I think my friend Keyan Bowes and CW ’16 classmate Mitchell Shanklin are both included.

We’re also having a launch party for the book! It’ll be from 4 to 6 pm on June 15th at Cafe Racer. Come join us, hear some excerpts, and bring a book to get it signed! (The anthology is print-on-demand, so you should buy in advance and bring the book to the party.)