I met Kelley at Clarion in 1988 (I've talked about this many, many times, such as here and here). Those six weeks changed my life. I've also taught Clarion West (as has Kelley). We're still in touch with our students from those years. We're still in touch with the teachers and fellow students of our '88 class.
If you want to be a professional SF writer, there is no better path to follow than the one that begins at Clarion West.
Clarion West '09 runs from June 21 to July 31. They are now accepting applications. If you want a career in sf, go see how to apply. Teachers this year are John Kessel, Elizabeth Bear, Karen Joy Fowler, Nalo Hopkinson, David G. Hartwell, and Rudy Rucker. That a truly interesting mix of old school and new.
This is one of those topics where I could write thousands of words and still only scratch the surface, so I'll stop now. But if anyone has any questions--anything at all about Clarion--I'd be delighted to answer them. CW is nothing but a Good Thing.
