I can finally announce the news I teased last week — I’ve sold my story, “We All Look Like Harrie,” to Mark Teppo’s upcoming anthology from Resurrection House/Underland Press, XIII*.
I wrote “We All Look Like Harrie”on the first day of this year’s Rainforest Writer’s Retreat. It came together like few other stories I’ve written (there are almost always weeks and sometimes months of revisions in my usual process). Maybe it helped that “Harrie” is very short, very experimental. We had a group reading at the retreat one night, and Teppo more or less bought it on the spot. That’s the quickest a story has ever gone from being in my head to being sold, and I’m still feeling a little wide-eyed about it. Did that actually happen?
Also, this story is my twelfth fiction sale since I began the writing career in earnest. A dozen stories. That’s almost a collection right there! I’ve got a long way to go, and a lot more to do–and learn, but a dozen stories is a milestone I had to stop and celebrate just a little. Thanks to everyone who’s helped me get here!
“Harrie” very nearly became my thirteenth sale, by the way, which would have resonated nicely with Teppo’s anthology title. Oh yes, my friends, more good news to announce soon!
While the job market continues to be tough, it’s been a very productive summer for me creatively, and for that I’m grateful. Here are some of the things I’ve been up to — and my sincere gratitude to those who backed me in one endeavor or another.
Launchpad. Space Camp for writers! You can read my full write-up here. I’m still processing the experience (it was amazing), but a few new stories are definitely growing from it.
What Fates Impose. This anthology of fortune-telling tales that includes my story “Ain’t Much Different’n Rabbits” was fully funded! It’s a great TOC, and I’m proud to be a part of it. It’s not available for purchase just yet, but I’ll shout out here as soon as it is.
Broken Eye Books / By Faerie Light. Another anthology I’m part of, By Faerie Light, is one of the rewards for backers of Broken Eye Books’ 2013 Kickstarter campaign. By Faerie Light contains 18 dark tales about the fae, including my story “The Forest Also Remembers.” (Wow, another sweet TOC, too. I’m lucky!) Broken Eye Books has a lot of other great looking titles as part of their campaign, and there’s still lots of time to back them.
Clarion West Write-a-Thon / Novel Draft: Completed. It’s just one milestone in what promises to be a long project, but my initial draft of my rural fantasy novel is complete! This was my goal during the Clarion West Write-a-thon, and I finished the draft on the final weekend of this years’ workshop. Thanks to all who backed me this year! I’m giving the novel a little time to breathe before I jump back in. You can read more about that over at Inkpunks.
photo by Bryan
Everything Is Festival / “Final Cut: Ladies & Gentlemen.” On Monday night, Carol, Bryan, and I attended the opening night for the Everything Is Festival, a film festival celebrating found footage. While most of the mashups in the festival are short pieces, “Final Cut: Ladies & Gentlemen,” a film by Hungarian filmmaker György Pàlfi is a feature length film edited from something like 500 different movies! It’s a classic “Boy meets Girl” tale, and while the actors change with every cut, it’s a surprisingly robust and affecting narrative. Pàlfi never takes it too seriously, either, which is good since it embraces just about every romantic trope found in 100 years of cinema. Something to be said for universal stories, eh?
Final Cut is an homage, and none of the clips or music were cleared by the filmmaker, so the festival circuit is likely to be the only place to see it for some time. (L.A. folks, I think there’s another screening this coming Monday.)
Sekrit Projects. These are in such embryonic stages of development it doesn’t seem quite right to talk about them yet. New short stories, some projects with a visual component. Some collaborations. All irons in the fire, and who knows where they will lead — but it’s good to have some time to explore various creative paths.
I’m back from the 2013 Launch Pad Workshop, hosted by Prof. Mike Brotherton at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. It was simply an amazing experience, full of awesome SCIENCE!, fabulous people, and did I mention the SCIENCE! ?
I’d also like to express my gratitude to our sponsors, notably Uwingu, who stepped up to help fund the workshop in the wake of the loss of the NASA and NSF grants that had supported it in the past. We also had some very generous sponsors without whom the workshop could not have happened. Thanks especially to Vonda, David, Ellen, Jody, Richard, Ali, Deborah, and Lori — as well as everyone who contributed to our Rocket Hub fundraiser. These folks really understand the important, positive impact of science education, and I’m grateful to be a recipient of their generosity.
I didn’t have time for much writing/blogging while at the workshop — burning the candle at both ends plus days full of space learnin’ left me little time for extra creative output. Some of my classmates live-blogged the event, and you can find the ever-updating link round-up over on Christian Ready’s site.
Launch Pad was one of the most intense weeks of learning I’ve ever experienced. It’s essentially a semester of Astronomy 101 crammed into about 6 days of lecture and lab. Mike, Andria, and Christian guided us through all the basics: the seasons of Earth, phases of the moon, formation of the solar system, the electromagnetic spectrum, binary stars and exoplanets, the life and death of stars, the life and death of galaxies (and our universe!), intriguing discussions of ethics in science, and applied science to writing fiction. Knowing how the phases of the moon work is vital to authenticity of a story whether you’re writing science fiction or fantasy, for example. FTL and time dilation was another classic topic for discussion, though I may have enjoyed our talk on what happens to the human body when exposed to the vacuum of space. (No, it does not freeze and it does not explode!)
Our days were bookended by group breakfasts (full of space & writing talk, geeky discussions of movies and games), and a group activity at night. We saw Pacific Rim (my verdict: visually awesome, mediocre story), went stargazing on the roof of the Science Building at UWyo (the Moon! Saturn! Andromeda Galaxy with Mike’s night vision goggles!), WIRO (Wyoming Infrared Observatory, precarious mountain drive to gigantic telescope! What’s your favorite Enterprise*?Satellite spotting! Control Room Spectral Analyses of stars!), O’Dwyer’s (Beer! Beer! Cheese Curds!), and a trip into town for dinner (Sweet Melissa’s awesome veggie food!) We also had a stunning 3-mile hike through the Vedauwoo forest one morning. It was great to get out and stretch the legs!
Turtle Rock at Vedauwoo Forest (Liz A in FG)
Being in the dorms and eating in the student commissary was a bit of an adjustment at first, but I slept well and the food fit my budget. I was lucky and escaped any issues with altitude sickness (except for the WIRO night, where I got some alti-somnia) The weather was fairly mild, and the skies were mostly clear on our observing nights. The first quarter/gibbous moon interfered with some of our observing more than the clouds did, though of course, it’s a lot of fun to look at through a telescope, or even a pair of binoculars.
Due to inventory running low in the supply room, it took me a day or two to get my own full-sized towel. When I finally scored one, I carried it around with me all day. That resulted in this picture:
Mike hosted a great party at his house on Saturday night, where we got to mingle one last time and meet several of the grad students in the astronomy and physics department. Saying good bye Sunday morning was hard, but there was VanCon on the way to the airport, and then FoodCourtCon while we all waited for our flights home so I didn’t have to say good bye all at once.
My flight was delayed two and half hours due to storms in the east, so I didn’t get home until well after 1am. I’m a bit crispy today, I have to admit.
I highly recommend attending Launch Pad, especially if you’re writing science-fiction, but I think any writer or creative person can gain a lot from the workshop. Apply next year!
A little end of the week update on the writing. (!!!)
About 10k this week. So far, so good! If I can only keep up the pace of the last couple of weeks, I should be done with the book in a month or so. 100,000 words is approximate, by the way. I have a feeling I’ll go over by at least 10-20k.
I’m feeling really great about the book’s momentum. It took me a long time to find the groove on this project. Not all of the words this week have been awesome ones, but I found my happy place where story and character are really happening now.
As I type this, a group of very talented up-and-coming writers has embarked on their first week of the 30th (!) Clarion West Writers Workshop. Most of you who follow me and read my blog will know what the workshop means to the people that apply, to the people who attend, and to the alumni (like me!). It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to totally devote yourself to the writing life, and one of the most intense six weeks a writer can experience. It’s amazing.
Clarion West is fortunate to have some grants from corporate donors like Amazon, but it’s really the writing community and the grass-roots backers that keep it strong year after year. During the six weeks of the actual workshop, the annual Clarion West Write-a-Thon is an opportunity for participants and sponsors to raise some money and awareness for this fantastic program. I’m participating again this year, planning to finish my novel by the end of the workshop (I’m in the home stretch!)
Many other fantastic writers (some much better known than I!) are also participating. If you don’t want to back me, consider supporting Clarion West in the name of your favorite author. This workshop makes a lot of dreams come true. Mine included.
