https://www.clairepenna.com/blog daily 0.75 2026-03-11 https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/writers-exile monthly 0.5 2026-03-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/cddabcc4-d130-4c29-902b-db49c82a7f4c/PXL_20260228_044107718.jpg Blog - Writer’s Exile - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/d8d9cc30-6521-485c-a3b8-4c7a3de216bc/PXL_20250910_144004891.jpg Blog - Writer’s Exile - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/cc3cab3b-af0a-4e2e-9157-e1affa5d9127/PXL_20260131_140700127.jpg Blog - Writer’s Exile - Make it stand out Still, despite the success of these Writer’s Exiles, I continue to dream of a different life. One that I don’t have to run away from in order to find the right headspace to do the things I want to do. One that’s perfect right where I am. I’ve had it before, so I know it exists. But there’s a few things this life requires that I don’t have now. Money. Not a huge amount, but enough to not feel stressed on the daily. Novelty. New experiences, new places to explore, new friends, new goals. Beauty. This is a broad category. For me, it’s sunlight. Golden afternoons and orange-pink sunsets. A certain quality to the air that I remember from Salt Lake City, my first home. I’ve found this beauty in cities and in the mountains. I’d like to one day live somewhere that has both. So I suppose that’s what I really need to look for, instead of cheap hostels on the other side of the planet from Boston. I need a challenging, fulfilling job (money) in a place that can provide these things (novelty and beauty) for me. Ha. Isn’t that what everyone is looking for in the end? God willing one of these hundreds of job applications pans out and I finally transition into the corporate world and escape debt and start growing wealth. Perhaps I’ll finish this book before that happens. Perhaps not. But I will finish, even if I have to take a dozen more Writer’s Exiles to do it. Thanks for reading, everybody! Best of luck on your WIPs, your residency apps, and your day jobs. xx Claire https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/the-2025-tin-house-spring-ya-workshop monthly 0.5 2026-03-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/a4c2b496-a4c6-4c21-9ccd-1aae200c48e9/PXL_20250528_032846262.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/19c8dabf-287a-4af6-862f-6e2e43644f74/PXL_20250525_164003534.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/39b774a6-2fa9-439f-a705-d5206ec853b9/PXL_20250527_044049051.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/3d85b713-cce5-400f-afef-d349e035891c/PXL_20250530_034128949.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/0cbe6f2a-79ac-459e-99d4-d568ae78a4bd/PXL_20250531_235040927.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/6d3e15b8-2ab4-4209-b1c8-50302c261ea5/PXL_20250528_040936076.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/a2423df1-aa36-44d1-b1e7-dc33741947c5/PXL_20250530_013906002.MP.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out The Tin House gang at a nearby pizza place after Thursday’s opener. I should mention, Aiden Thomas’ contribution to our book swap was Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao. I rented the book from the Boston Public Library after I got home and will highly recommend it. Reading Water Moon was like watching a Spirited Away-esque Studio Ghibli movie, complete with dimension hopping, Japanese mask-wearing monsters, and ramen shops serving as gateways to the spirit world. On Friday and Saturday, we met in our workshop groups to workshop pieces of writing from each group member. This was my first traditional workshopping experience, the kind where everyone sits at a table together and gives the writer their critiques. Ugh, it was so good. I’d love the chance to do more of it someday. Not to mention the sheer talent of my fellow group members. My God, I felt truly honored to have been selected to be in a group with them. We also did readings for the entire Tin House YA cohort of around twenty-five people. I read part of my first chapter of Hand Magic, meaning I got to do my Irish accent for everyone. People stopped laughing after the first time I spoke in the accent, so I like to think I did a good job once the surprise wore off. I really enjoyed reading out loud to the group. Not only this, but the pro-author workshop leaders read aloud as well. It’s great hearing the professionals at work and knowing how you can improve. Confidence really is key. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/fcefafde-dfee-4f3c-806f-bce002ef3446/PXL_20250602_024516370.PORTRAIT.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out And of course, the craft intensives! Each workshop leader gave a short seminar on an aspect of the craft of writing, e.g. Pacing, Writing the Specific to Achieve the Universal, etc. That part was really great too, and I felt like I came away with a lot of good tips. The workshop wasn’t just writing and reading, of course. No Tin House Workshop could ever be complete without karaoke and tequila shots, so of course, there was plenty of that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/7e7e31eb-81c5-4d04-add1-53559773ce00/PXL_20250602_044245964.NIGHT.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/605a214f-8a6c-47a1-9cc2-70ec9110f310/PXL_20250602_035311134.MP.jpg Blog - The 2025 Tin House Spring YA Workshop - Make it stand out There were also day-hikes around the nearby forests, a romp through several craft markets, and many lunches and dinners out on the town. Tin House Workshop made sure we not only got to focus on writing, but also on the beautiful city of Portland and how lucky we were to be there, for which I’ll always be grateful. Leaving at the end of the weekend was hard. Sure, much of it was technically a vacation, but I’m certain that living in Portland would feel much the same. Like my life in Salt Lake City in my early twenties, when I worked almost every day, but never forgot how lucky and happy I was to live in the most beautiful place on Earth. I left Portland on Monday with a canvas Tin House Books bag full of craft handouts, a beautiful overstock copy of Tin House magazine, and a week’s worth of gorgeous memories of Portland in May. So if you need to find me at any point in the next few years, you can reasonably assume I’m in Portland, Oregon, making my life, writing my books, and riding my bike whenever there’s enough sunlight to see the roads. Best of luck with your writing projects. Don’t worry, I’ll post again soon! xx Claire https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/tin-house-for-real-this-time monthly 0.5 2025-08-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/cfa3eeb4-9f89-45eb-9fa6-60dd76d72830/tinhouse.png Blog - Tin House??? For Real This Time - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/85c2c1c4-715b-447d-aced-c9c6f465fe13/PXL_20250317_051305273.jpg Blog - Tin House??? For Real This Time - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/bb649788-e985-474e-ad3a-257092ff7219/PXL_20250319_224046514.jpg Blog - Tin House??? For Real This Time - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/the-importance-of-rest monthly 0.5 2025-04-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/d4927f37-1e1d-4db6-809e-96c304086dda/IMG_2833.jpg Blog - The Importance of Rest - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/writers-block-treatments-and-interventions monthly 0.5 2024-07-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/43d5fd58-cdb8-4885-a7e8-6c2534c390bd/PXL_20240711_175853787.jpg Blog - Writer’s Block: Treatments and Interventions - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/lessons-from-late-may monthly 0.5 2024-06-09 https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/books-from-the-muse monthly 0.5 2024-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/3df2fc31-b771-4415-af86-3334455e4b15/PXL_20240517_164654496.MP.jpg Blog - Books from the Muse - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/26e9029e-5fc0-4d39-a044-f99701797318/PXL_20240517_164719004.MP.jpg Blog - Books from the Muse - Make it stand out The Shadow War - Lindsay Smith Literary agent Eric Smith recced me this book as a comp after I clumsily pitched Hand Magic to him at the all-Muse party at O’Connells on Saturday night. A World War II fantasy in which a group of teens from every walk of life must learn to control a shadow realm portal before the Nazis do. Um….that’s amazing? Hello? How have I never heard of this book before?? I can’t wait to read it. Not sure how well it’s going to work as a comp, given the setting, themes, and plot are completely different. The connection is that they’re both first world fantasies about supernatural powers being studied and transformed into weapons of war. Hm. That’s actually not bad. I’ll report back with more detailed thoughts once I read the book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/829ce6e6-7e0c-431d-8ee5-204102972ef1/PXL_20240517_164737471.jpg Blog - Books from the Muse - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/ca37de23-556e-4ec2-a4d1-27629986c92b/PXL_20240517_164726731.MP.jpg Blog - Books from the Muse - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/9021b4af-d602-4271-bbfa-fb36ac332e7d/PXL_20240517_164746596.MP.jpg Blog - Books from the Muse - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/0d6a527c-d159-4a8f-8b03-ed7f6436cc2c/PXL_20240517_164703317.jpg Blog - Books from the Muse - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/muse-amp-the-marketplace-day-3-sunday monthly 0.5 2024-05-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/3ae39c4f-c873-4b06-8c57-9ee24f36ea38/PXL_20240511_164706994.MP.jpg Blog - Muse & the Marketplace Day 3: Sunday - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/b6a67c14-4412-46d2-9d1d-e508c797855a/PXL_20240512_173550748%281%29.jpg Blog - Muse & the Marketplace Day 3: Sunday - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/838db936-3324-4c8f-9381-05fa8085ef57/PXL_20240511_234124389.jpg Blog - Muse & the Marketplace Day 3: Sunday - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/muse-amp-the-marketplace-day-2-saturday monthly 0.5 2024-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/a3bcb6ef-9fdf-4e48-8d02-ae3b908db6cd/PXL_20240511_170011780.jpg Blog - Muse & the Marketplace Day 2: Saturday - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/7d316406-591b-4e26-920d-0b35cce3b4cc/PXL_20240511_232942492.jpg Blog - Muse & the Marketplace Day 2: Saturday - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/muse-amp-marketplace-day-1-friday monthly 0.5 2024-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/9bcdc983-3ecc-49e5-9562-19fd3a096f63/PXL_20240510_133711788.MP.jpg Blog - Muse & Marketplace Day 1: Friday - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/776d153f-053f-4857-83ae-a47cabbbcad8/PXL_20240510_162412221.MP.jpg Blog - Muse & Marketplace Day 1: Friday - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/8fa681da-7b5e-45f6-92b0-b130ef7035f8/Screenshot+2024-05-10+205148.png Blog - Muse & Marketplace Day 1: Friday - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/hot-revision-summer monthly 0.5 2024-05-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/532718b4-c69c-479b-9e79-e589607236d5/GMIZPInWUAAKjKm.png Blog - Hot Revision Summer 2024 - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/leigh-bardugo-in-manhattan monthly 0.5 2024-05-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/f064bdd3-e633-4bfa-8cb1-3a9ce7d6c80e/PXL_20240409_211635023.jpg Blog - Leigh Bardugo in Manhattan - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/e62d244b-bc49-4d1d-aa65-6dac7d12b0f9/PXL_20240409_232710443.jpg Blog - Leigh Bardugo in Manhattan - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/tin-house monthly 0.5 2024-04-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/9f399dc1-d1ec-46b5-9e5c-88e90ebc2d12/Tin+House.png Blog - Tin House???? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/thoughts-on-completing-my-second-novel monthly 0.5 2024-05-07 https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/muse-and-the-marketplace-at-grubstreet monthly 0.5 2024-04-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/bb035eb6-5ff9-41cf-8ed9-5a564bcad6a2/Screenshot_20240301-194535.jpg Blog - Muse & the Marketplace at GrubStreet - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/thoughts-at-30000-words monthly 0.5 2024-04-10 https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/thoughts-from-iberia monthly 0.5 2024-05-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/579f3d95-615f-4a5f-9f9f-c832b5ea1894/PXL_20240110_092036499.MP%281%29.jpg Blog - Thoughts from Iberia - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/f032ce2a-f2fb-4e1f-8dc4-4d1f3cb0504c/PXL_20240110_105951208.MP%281%29.jpg Blog - Thoughts from Iberia - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/4b286129-5ceb-46f7-9310-5a7a7fce5031/PXL_20240111_165245454.jpg Blog - Thoughts from Iberia - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/40f7cd9c-1b7d-49c0-8ef7-df28de3d4ad0/PXL_20240114_163917975%281%29.jpg Blog - Thoughts from Iberia - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/blog/thoughts-from-bohemia monthly 0.5 2024-04-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/5b363575-6239-4c8c-8ce7-3becb9097439/PXL_20240104_121822652.jpg Blog - Thoughts from Bohemia - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/b7a27ed6-ae31-408f-8375-e620d0eba69b/PXL_20240107_103825537%281%29.jpg Blog - Thoughts from Bohemia - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/0b8e8658-d08e-4d3b-aa2a-f728a96514d8/PXL_20240107_120851373.MP%281%29.jpg Blog - Thoughts from Bohemia - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.clairepenna.com/home daily 1.0 2025-08-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/6b135b75-0d67-4125-8730-876a3ef9836f/claire%281%29.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/fb1d5c35-e646-4378-9792-f9ca38bfe230/PXL_20230825_211246239.MP%283%29.jpg https://www.clairepenna.com/faqs daily 0.75 2025-02-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/da363beb-8bf6-4cb1-815f-49bb8b91bfb0/claire%281%29.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65ff88d1cad9d63c29dd7e7f/8258266a-710e-4c33-aa40-68d31a996677/Hand+Magic+Moodboard.png