Commander Rick gets some very helpful advice on how to become a better writer from six instructors and four graduates of Clarion, the premiere writers' workshops for science fiction and fantasy writers. The instructors include Clarion co-founders, science fiction authors Damon Knight (Creating Short Fiction) and Kate Wilhelm (Death Qualified), Harlan Ellison (The Essential Ellison), Kristine Kathryn Rusch (editor, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction), Geoff Ryman (Was) and Connie Willis (Doomsday Book). The former students include writers Kim Antieau ("The Mark Of The Beast"), James Alan Gardner ("The Reckoning Of Gifts"), Nina Kiriki Hoffman ("Savage Breasts") and William F. Wu ("Hong's Lost and Found Emporium").