Help Me Attend Sewanee

I first discovered the power of short stories after reading Tim O'Brien's collection, The Things They Carried. I had known I wanted to be a writer long before I read it, but this collection showed me the kind of writer I wanted to be. Along with O'Brien's other works, Chasing After Cacciato, July, July, and In the Woods of the Lake, I have learned more from him than any other author. And now I have the chance to learn writing from him in person!

Tim O'Brien will be one of the fiction faculty members at this summer's Sewanee Writer's Conference, an exclusive two-week writing residency held once every year in Tennessee. I was accepted to attend the program, but it's not free or cheap. Tuition is $1,100, room and board is $700, and then I also have travel expenses, printing costs, and several other small fees. I was hoping to get a scholarship but unfornately, they're extremely competitive and I didn't get one. That was okay because I was prepared to pay for it out of pocket - or at least that was the plan until my wife got laid off last week. Now we are struggling to pay for rent. I am working two jobs and am interviewing for a third, but it still won't be enough. Attending this conference and having the opportunity to discuss literature and my own writing with Tim O'Brien - along with several other authors I admire including Jill McCorkle and Alice McDermott - would be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. But I need your help!