In response to Charlotte Morganti’s topic:

I received an MFA in fiction through http://www.nila.edu/mfa/ the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts on Whidbey Island.  I am grateful to have gone through this process of honing one’s writing skills through fire.  This is one tough program run by writers for writers and it is the only one of its kind in the USA and fully accredited.  It wasn’t until about half way through the program (of two years) that I felt as if “I got it.”  The short story finally made sense.  The MFA offers credibility and depth of writing skill. Read the NILA MFA site to understand the writing community and the amazing faculty and talented students. Take a look at Charlotte Morganti, Kobbie Alamo, Joe Ponepinto, Claire Gebben, Grier Jewell and the other fabulous writers on the student site.  They are graduates of NILA and a talented bunch who honed their skills with the MFA. Check it out. http://whidbeystudents.com/