Dancing with the Muse: A Writing Blog

Upcoming Conventions for May

Elissa — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:06:26 GMT

On May 22 I drive down to Tampa and hop a plane to Madison, WI. Once I get to WisCon, my schedule is: Friday, May 23, 8:45-10:00 p.m. -- Poetry reading with the Science Fiction Poetry Association: "Lilacs, Laundry Lists and Lycanthropy: The Magic of Everyday Life," spearheaded by Sandra Lindow, with Jeannie Bergmann and Alan DeNiro. Sunday, May 25, 10:00-11:15 a.m. -- Panel "Hot Flashes and Power Surges." Description: "In The New Moon's Arms, Nalo Hopkinson gave us a protagonist whose menopausal hot flashes create magic. Carol Emshwiller, Ursula Le Guin, and Terry Pratchett, among others, have also written with force, wit, and creativity about women who have moved into the third stage of their lives. In this panel, crones and those of us currently making the transition discuss the emotional and physical changes of menopause, as well as the ways those around us respond to our changing bodies. Where can we find models for the kind of women we want to be when we grow up? How do we mourn our fertility -- especially those of us who have no children? And how can we be visible, strong, and powerful in a culture where women disappear with the first chin hair?" Moderated by Janice Eisen, with Debbie Smith Daughetee, Karen Moore, and Jamie Feldman. Sunday, 1:00-2:15 p.m. -- Panel "Writing Working Class Characters." Description: "Many SF writers live in an essentially middle-class world. Perhaps as a result, SF features relatively few working-class characters, preferring stories about warriors, merchants, scientists, military officers, and mages to tales of carpenters, assembly line workers, day care providers, blacksmiths, nursing aides, service center reps, and spaceship janitors. Do we assume characters doing this work don't have interesting adventures? That they don't have interesting thoughts? And if we do write about these characters and don't have a working-class background ourselves, how do we get it right?" Moderated by Paula Fleming, with Eleanor Arnason, Joyce Frohn, and Christopher Barzak. Sunday, 2:30-3:45 p.m. -- Panel "Revealing Your World." Description: "Now that you've invented the world, you have to reveal it to your readers. Some authors create poetry or myth or maps, some describe clothes in ardent detail, or throw in an invented vocabulary. Some make sure the reader sees everything, while others make it up and then leave most of it off the page. Panelists discuss their personal style, and what they hope to accomplish." Moderated by Amy Thomson , with Betsy James , Alma Alexander, and Alex Bledsoe. Monday, May 26, 8:30-9:45 a.m. -- Panel "How Much Is Too Much?" Description: "Unless we're reading or writing about a utopia, the societies in our fantasy worlds are going to have problems. In fact, a culture without problems invariably comes off as shallow and unrealistic. Does this mean we need to include things like sexism and racism if we want to tell a believable story? And if so, are we, as authors, guilty of perpetuating whatever-ism in the real world?" Moderated by Sarah Monette, with Catherynne M. Valente (who had a great interview in the latest Locus), Gregory Rihn, and Guest of Honor L. Timmel Duchamp. Later on that day I'll be part of the Sign-Out book-signing event. I'll also put in time at the Broad Universe dealer table, probably Friday and/or Saturday. Then early Tuesday morning I zip over to the airport for my return flight. On Friday the 30th I drive up to the Florida panhandle for The Wrath of Con. During the two-and-a-fraction days that I am home, I plan to be a zombie, resting up from WisCon. During Wrath of Con I will plant myself behind the Aisling Press dealer table and do my best to look awake. I'm traveling light to WisCon -- one checked bag (half of it copies of Covenant), one carry-on, plus laptop. (Lying in bed this morning, it occurred to me that I should try to fit a few books into my carry-on, in case they lose my luggage.) Before I leave for WisCon, I plan to have my extra supplies for Wrath of Con ready to just toss in the car, namely my book poster, standing easel, travel food, TripTik, and iPod speakers for when I lose my classical music signal during the long drive. The only travel food I'm taking on the plane is Power Bars, which weigh in under the Transportation Safety Administration's 3-ounce limit. There's a grocery store four blocks from the convention. Now all I have to do is make myself travel-worthy.

Have Tome, Will Travel

Elissa — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:30:25 GMT

Photo: This is Elissa's brain on cons. (Our canteloupe negligence dates back to 2005.) I did three events in March -- a Barnes & Noble book-signing in Ocala, Mega-Con in Orlando, and a Critique Retreat at the Homosassa Public Library. Mary and I were also caretaking our cat Red, who passed on March 20 at the age of 16. That leaves his buddy Daisy, making us a one-cat household. We've all been adjusting. April has been a month of rest and planning, and even some writing in the midst of it all. Here's what's coming up: May 23-26: WisCon (Madison, WI), the world's leading feminist science fiction convention. I'll be on panels, have signed up to do a reading, and will be at the Broad Universe book table. This will be my first WisCon, and I can tell I'm going to have a lot of trouble choosing among the panel offerings to attend. They rock something fierce. Electric Velocipede #14 debuts at WisCon, containing my story "Hermit Crabs." You can see Lisa Snellings-Clark's terrific cover and pre-order the issue at http://blog.electricvelocipede.com/2008/04/sneak-preview.html Three days after I return from Wisconsin I drive to... May 30-June 1: The Wrath of Con in Panama City Beach on the Florida panhandle. This is an Aisling Press event, so I'll be hanging out with staff and fellow Aisling authors at the sales table(s). This will also be my first trip to the panhandle. I've got my AAA TripTik in hand. June 21: I pop down to Tampa for a book-signing at Barnes & Noble. July 17-20: Readercon (Burlington, MA). "A typical Readercon features well over 100 writers, editors, and critics (attracting prominent figures from Canada, the U.K., and occasionally even Australia) and more than 400 of their readers. Readercon is the only small convention regularly attended by such giants of literary sf as Samuel R. Delany, John Crowley, Barry N. Malzberg, and Jonathan Lethem." Lethem is this year's Guest of Honor (I loved his novel Motherless Brooklyn). I was a professional guest at the first Readercon in '87, then held in Boston (I think in Brookline, unless I'm confusing it with Arisia). I could take the subway to it, then (*insert wistful sigh*). August 6-10: Denvention (World Science Fiction Convention) in Denver, CO. This will be my third Worldcon -- my first was Noreascon II in Boston in 1980 (where I discovered the Science Fiction Poetry Association); my second was ConStellation in Baltimore in 1983. This is the progenitor of sf conventions, with the first held in New York in 1939. (The first Denvention dates back to 1941.) This is also where the Hugo (Science Fiction Achievement) Awards are given. It will mark my first stay in Colorado beyond an airport stopover. About 2-1/2 weeks after I get home from Denvention, I drive up to Atlanta for... August 29-Sept. 1: DragonCon, "the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US" and an Aisling Press event. This one gets around 30,000 attendees. I have yet to order my TripTik for this one, but I did get AAA's latest Georgia Tour Book. It will mark my first stay in Atlanta beyond an airport stopover. Mary and I drove through Georgia when we moved from Boston to central Florida five years ago, but I haven't seen the state beyond looking out the window at pretty landscapes. October 10-12: Necronomicon in St. Petersburg, FL (moved from Tampa). So far I'm on a dark poetry panel (as I was last year). This is also an Aisling Press event. In 2006, Necro marked my return to sf conventions after an almost 20-year absence. My 2007 attendance marked Covenant's debut. By the time of the 2008 convention I should have the sequel, Deviations: Appetite, in hand. October 17-19: Florida State Poets Association annual conference, which moves around the state and this year occurs in Ocala, about 30 miles from me. I'm giving a workshop on the 18th, topic TBD. November 14-16: Florida Writers Association conference in Lake Mary, FL (outside Orlando). I'm giving workshops in metaphor and in character and plot development, and will be available for one-on-one interviews, plus I'll have use of the convention bookstore. By that time, if all goes according to schedule, I can place three and maybe four titles -- two novels (Covenant and Appetite) plus two anthologies: Riffing on Strings (Scriblerus Press), with my story "Arachne," and (if released by then) Unspeakable Horror (Dark Scribe Press), with my story "Memento Mori." I'll see if I can increase my number of panels, readings, and whatnot as the year progresses. My "To Do" list includes putting together handouts and talking points, some of which I've already done because I'm recycling/expanding on workshops I've given in the past. I'll also be doing the work that precedes Appetite's release, along with my usual freelance assignments. The buzzword for this year is: Stamina! I've got some serious motivation to keep myself healthy. Links to the conventions can be found on my website at http://home.earthlink.net/~deviations/dev-promotions.html Click on the "archive of past events" link to access photos and blog entries of my events during and preceding March.

Interview Addendum

Elissa — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:31:45 GMT

Jordan and I had a great 5-minute interview, after which I had my "V-8 moment" about a question that I would answer differently if I could do it all over again. Within the context of my writing roots (New Wave SF), Jordan asked about my current SF reading that could fall into the New Wave category. I answered that most of my reading nowadays is nonfiction (which is true), and rattled off a few SF authors and books that were formative for me -- relying on my answers to print interview questions at the back of Covenant. Nothing wrong with that. But among the SF books I *have* read recently, I could have and should have mentioned Bruce Boston's The Guardener's Tale (Sam's Dot Publishing), the collection Speculative Japan (Gene Van Troyer and Grania Davis, Eds., Kurodahan Press), and Stephen Baxter's Time's Tapestry series (Orion/Ace). Excellent reads, all.

On the Air

Elissa — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:28:28 GMT

I was at the WBZ studio in Boston for my first appearance on the Jordan Rich Show in October 2002. Tonight I'll be taking a call here at my home workroom (shown above), to do a phone interview as part of the "Jordan Rich Show Book Club, Winter 2008 edition." The photo above is about five years old, but my desk still looks pretty much as it had except that I have a fair degree more material on the walls. The interview will occur at around 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, February 2 (the show runs from midnight to 5 a.m.). It can be heard on http://www.wbz.com/pages/6202.php where you can click the blue "Listen Live" button in the upper right. And many thanks to Jordan for having me on the air again!

Tally Ho!

Elissa — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:30:02 GMT

My fifth short story acceptance of the year just came through this morning. "Memento Mori" will appear in the Dark Scribe Press anthology Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet. That rounds out this tally of publications (not counting blogs and various newsletter items) and acceptances during 2007: *****Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Appetite, the second volume in the Deviations series, forthcoming from Aisling Press. "Prometheus Rebound," forthcoming in Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly. "Memento Mori," forthcoming in Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet (Dark Scribe Press, 2008). "Arachne," in Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory (Scriblerus Press, June 2008). "Hermit Crabs," forthcoming in Electric Velocipede #14. "Identity Theft," forthcoming in The Drabbler #10 (Sam's Dot Publishing, February 2008). Covenant, the first volume in the Deviations series (Aisling Press, November 2007). "January 1985: A Day in Lawrence, Massachusetts," Reed, Issue 60, 2007. *****Poetry "Derivative Work," forthcoming in Asimov's. "Forest Dragons" (honorable mention) and "Salvage" (top ten) forthcoming in anthology of best entries in the Science Fiction Poetry Association's sonnet contest, to be released by Spec House of Poetry. "Evolution," Star*Line 30(6). "After the Standoff," Poets' Forum Magazine 19(2). "Getting the Last Laugh," Poets' Forum Magazine 19(2). "First Things First," Harp-Strings Poetry Journal 18(3). "Running Moebius," Poets' Forum Magazine 18(3). "Eye of the Beholder," Star*Line 30(4). "A Multiple Personality Contemplates the Pleiades," Star*Line 30(1). *****Articles "A New Lens on Life," Wagner Magazine, Fall 2007 "The Many Shades of Dark Poetry," Poets' Forum Magazine 19(2). "Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave!" Poets' Forum Magazine 19(1). "The 'Rights' Stuff," Of Poets And Poetry 33(2). "Genre Poetry Panel at Necronomicon," Of Poets And Poetry 33(1). "Speculative Poetry: It's Not Just About Spaceships," Poets' Forum Magazine 18(3). "Using Metaphor to Terrify," Star*Line 30(1). *****Photography A photograph of statues at the Homosassa Public Library is forthcoming on the cover of Poets' Forum Magazine. "Moths and Snapdragons," cover photograph in Harp-Strings Poetry Journal 19(1) and accompanying "A New Lens on Life," above. "Beach Sunflower," in "Going Native in the Garden" on This Old House (online magazine), May 2007. Photos of McCoy circus flatcars in "Grandpa" Nelson G. Williams, "Have You Seen These Big Circus Trains?" The Layout (Train Collectors Association, Southern Division) 41(3). "Flagler College," in Schmap's Guide to Jacksonville (online), Historic Buildings page, October 2007. (Flagler College is in St. Augustine, which is close to Jacksonville on Florida's northeast coast.) Cover art (photo montage) in Star*Line issues 30(4), 30(5), and 30(6). In addition, my photograph "Swamp Lily" sold at a juried live auction that was part of "Savor the Art of Citrus County," an evening fund-raiser to benefit the Art Center of Citrus County in February 2007. I was also interviewed by speculative poet Scott A. Kelly for his article, "Meet Elissa Malcohn: Former Editor of Star*Line," in his online magazine Vacuum Genesis, originally posted in December 2006 and reposted in January 2007. This entry with links is also posted at: http://hurricanecountry.blogspot.com/2007/12/tally-ho.html Blessings to you all for 2008 and beyond. Happy New Year!

Season's Blessings

Elissa — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 22:11:51 GMT

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, safe, and blessed holiday season! This collage (done using MS Paint and MS Photo Editor) combines images from the following shots: A neighbor's statue, taken in June http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/529319270/ A sunset Moon, taken in October http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/1720696673/ The October shot shows the Moon at 93% of full. The Moon is currently 99% of full.

The Week In Publications

Elissa — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 09:53:47 GMT

Photo: A Covenant Transport truck stood across the county road from the post office where I pick up my mail. A flatbed was parked not far from the truck. Naturally, I had to cross the county road and set up this shot. That's a lot of books. :-) This past week (for the most part) has seen: One story acceptance Two contracts received Cover art published Poem published Cover photo solicited (this actually happened about two weeks ago) Radio spot arranged -----1. Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly ( http://www.helixsf.com/index.htm ) My story "Prometheus Rebound" has been accepted to Helix. I'll post the story URL when it's live. Seven stories published by Helix received honorable mentions in the 2006 Year's Best Science Fiction collection and four of its poems were nominated for the Rhysling Award (for the best speculative poetry of the year), of which one received third place. Five stories made the "Notable Short Stories of 2006" list put out by storySouth, and Helix received an honorable mention in storySouth's Million Writers Award for best new online magazine of 2006. (Among other accomplishments, storySouth is listed as a "Contributing Small Press" for the Pushcart Prize, the most honored literary project in America.) To read more about accomplishments at Helix, go to http://www.helixsf.com/news_announcements.htm . As of this date, "Prometheus Rebound" joins three other stories I have forthcoming. "Identity Theft" will appear in The Drabbler #10 (from Sam's Dot Publishing, http://samsdotpublishing.com/contents.htm ), "Hermit Crabs" will appear in Electric Velocipede #14 ( http://www.electricvelocipede.com/ ), and "Arachne" will appear in Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory (Scriblerus Press, http://www.banyancollege.org/scriblerus/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=6&Itemid=38 ). "Arachne" originally appeared in the November/December 1988 issue of Aboriginal Science Fiction. -----2. Contracts received from Helix and from Aisling Press ( http://www.aislingpress.com ) And on the same day, no less! Deviations: Appetite, the second volume in my series, is now forthcoming from Aisling. Stay tuned for updates. -----3. and 4. Star*Line ( http://www.sfpoetry.com ) Star*Line 30(6) contains my cover art and my cinquain sequence, "Evolution." -----5. Poets' Forum Magazine PFM has solicited a shot I took at the Homosassa Public Library's grand opening to appear on the cover of a future issue. You can see the photo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/2094705782/ . -----6. The Jordan Rich Show ( http://www.wbz.com/pages/6202.php ) I was a guest on Jordan's show in October 2002, and we spent a great hour talking about science fiction with each other and with listeners who called in. Afterwards, he invited me back when I had a book published. The show broadcasts nationwide out of WBZ Newsradio 1030 Boston and is also accessible on the Web. Jordan's show on Saturday, February 2, 2008, will focus on fiction authors. The show runs from midnight to 5 AM Eastern time. We plan to do an interview by phone around 12:30, and will firm up details as we get closer to the air date. May you all have a wonderful Solstice!

Book Paradise

Elissa — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 15:43:30 GMT

Shown: Entrance to the new Homosassa Public Library. The library celebrated its Grand Opening on Friday, December 7, 2007. This branch marks the latest addition to the Citrus County Library System. Loretta Rogers ( http://lorettacrogersbooks.com/ )and I were two "local authors" present at the event, which included addresses given by state and local officials and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Our keynote speaker was Florida Secretary of State Kurt S. Browning. CCLIB director Flossie Benton Rogers organized the event, which also owes much to the library staff and to Friends of the Library of Homosassa Florida, Inc. My entry at http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2007/12/book-paradise.html provides more info and a photo tour.

Coming Next Year to a Cosmos Near You

Elissa — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:59:26 GMT

I received this flyer earlier today from Sean Miller, co-editor of the upcoming Scriblerus Press anthology Riffing on Strings. I'm one of the contributors. Félix Sorondo is the artist. More information about the anthology is at http://scriblerus.net. The large view is at http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184/2050737737_347292e0eb_o.jpg Scriblerus Press has some cool promotions planned for next June and July, including a "virtual book tour." Stay tuned!

Festival and Covenant News

Elissa — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 20:09:24 GMT

The longer version of this entry, with more photos and links, is posted at: http://elissa-malcohn.livejournal.com/7700.html I've still got a long way to go, but three overflowing trash bins later the studio now has a significant chunk of visible floor and I can actually see some desk. We won't discuss the need to catch up on filing. In the meantime, I've finally finished drafting and have submitted the short story I'd begun during the summer and have also added new material to Book #6. I have never before done so much research for a piece of short fiction -- my notes top 9,000 words for a story under 6,000, and only a small percentage of those notes actually made it into the draft. But that's all worth it if it adds believability to the tale and especially if the story makes the cut for the anthology that inspired the idea in the first place. Mary's technical term for this is "armwave-armwave." The anthology deadline isn't until February, but that story's been nagging at me to get it out the door. That makes eight prose pieces off to market (four fiction, four nonfiction) and two poems, with more waiting in the wings for me to do something with them. Before my critique group meeting, I talked with Bill Bissell of Rainy Day Editions, a terrific bookstore in downtown Inverness (Citrus County, FL). He said something that at first seemed counterintuitive to me and that I'd heard nowhere else, but that made sense as I thought about it. He said, "The best thing that can happen to me is if a Waldenbooks opens up across the street." I was used to thinking of the chain stores as threats to independent booksellers and asked him to explain. "We're not competitors," he said. He added that the chain stores attract customers, who then go to the nearby independent store to see if (a) they can find the same book for less, and (b) they can find books the chain store no longer keeps on its shelves. This can prove especially profitable with expensive coffee table books that are in vogue one year and are old news the next. Coexistence! That made me grin. I compared the relationship to that of one bicyclist being able to draft off another, though that's not an exact analogy. Two days later I was volunteering at the Citrus County Festival of the Arts at the Art Center tent, and followed up some associated heavy lifting with an evening of dancing. I got a good workout that Sunday. Our booth at the festival held costumes and props from the Art Center's theater department; drawings, paintings, and photographs from various visual arts groups; and books (including mine) from writer members. We had on hand our general brochure, fall class schedule, and the theater's show season brochure. One of my favorite pieces in the display was a drawing of an occipital bone made by Stacey Griffis, our visual arts VP, who took a course in anatomical drawing while a pre-med student. Her textures and shading are exquisite. I'd seen her perform on stage (she's wonderful), but I wasn't familiar with her art until now. Our Art Center renovations are now complete. On Thursday we held our first post-renovation membership meeting and artist demo in the "new" place: Vicki Pritchard was our demonstrator in both portrait painting and copying the Old Masters. Her art has been exhibited at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, the Jacksonville Museum of Arts and Sciences, and the Ted Williams Museum in St. Petersburg, and her designs have been used by various churches for stained glass windows. At the request of her local Congressman, she displayed work on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. I had a chance to sit in on part of her fascinating talk before my free-writing meeting began. Vicki has taught Old Masters material in prisons, with detailed instructions on technique that can range over 40 pages. They're not only amazing blueprints, they're great philosophical treatises. In the meantime, Covenant is listed on the Science Fiction Poetry Association's "SFPA member books" site (generously provided by Malcolm Deeley) and its cover is up on the New Covey Awards site for November as entry #27. The New Covey Awards ( http://thenewcoveycoverawards.blogspot.com/ )are monthly awards given to both the best new book covers and the best book trailers. Anyone can visit the Covey Awards site and vote, but no matter what the outcome the site provides a month of free publicity to authors, which is the whole intent of the exercise. Covers are voted on in two categories, most eye-catching and most relevant -- which means that synopses are presented along with the artwork. The site showcases a very neat collection of different genres and artistic styles. Thanks to Bruce Boston (whose cover for his novel The Guardener's Tale is also posted for November) for informing me of this venue. October's winner for "most eye-catching" is Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc's horror sinisteria novel Left To The Night Alone. Andrea's table was next to mine at Necronomicon -- she's also an Aisling Press author -- and Mary and I enjoyed meeting and speaking with her. Thursday's mail brought two journals. My art is on the cover of the September/October 2007 Star*Line. And my article has appeared in Wagner Magazine (pictured). I learned yesterday that TriggerStreet is now accepting short stories and novels. Up until recently, TriggerStreet was accepting only short films and screenplays. Since then, they've added plays and now short stories and books to their site. From their e-mail to me: "Since its inception, TriggerStreet.com has been the place to go if you wanted to find exposure and feedback for your Screenplays and Short Films online. Now, in addition to being able to upload your Short Stories to the site, a section we launched earlier this year, you can now also upload Books that you have written." Normally a member must submit a couple of reviews of others' work before submitting their own, but there is currently a "free" period (meaning no previous review is needed) for short story and book uploads. Creative Commons has a post that pretty much encapsulates what TriggerStreet is about, at http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/4419">http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/4419 I haven't used the Trigger Street site, myself, but I became interested in it after seeing Kevin Spacey (who founded it) interviewed on the Charlie Rose PBS show a while back.

Audiovisual

Elissa — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 03:05:43 GMT

First, hearty and humble thanks to GypsyWynd for posting a glowing review of Covenant on Amazon! It made my day! http://www.amazon.com/Deviations-Covenant-Elissa-Malcohn/dp/1934677175/ref=sr_1_1/103-0848071-9924651?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193240885&sr=8-1 While at the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading on Saturday I was interviewed by Brad Stager, Program Director of the WUSF Radio Reading Service. Part of that interview is near the end of a two-minute audio slide show now up at WUSF.org. Links and a still shot are at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/1801181630/ More photos and details about the festival are up at: http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2007/10/from-panel-to-st-petersburg.html Photo: My order of Covenant copies arrived today -- to go to libraries, reviewers, and various events. Aisling Press is finalizing its reviewer list, and then we'll compare notes so as not to duplicate effort.

From Panel to St. Petersburg

Elissa — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:28:46 GMT

My blog entry at http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2007/10/from-panel-to-st-petersburg.html contains photos and details from the NaNoWriMo Kickoff on Friday, October 26, and the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading on Saturday, October 27.

Thank You, Poe House Books!

Elissa — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:34:58 GMT

The setting: A cozy house with many rooms packed floor to ceiling with books of myriad topics and vintage. Woodgrain tables. Overstuffed chairs. Wonderful hosts who made sure we were comfortable and happy and had enough coffee and baked goods. New and returning customers. Spirited conversations. Authors gathered around tables to talk about writing and publishing as we sold and autographed our works at Poe House Books's author event on October 20, 2007. I was one of four authors in our room. Among us we represented erotica, horror, mystery, poetry, romance, science fiction, suspense, western, and probably more, though that's as much as I remember right now. Our table had three titles for sale -- Tom Ault's poetry collection The Needed Ones; the anthology Florida Horror, which contains Belea Keeney's story, "The Tale of Trapper Tommy;" and my science fiction/anthropological fiction novel Covenant. We were joined by Loretta Rogers, whose historical western The Twisted Trail is forthcoming from Avalon Books in April 2008. Thanks to owner Kathleen Ballo for a terrific day! Author links and more photos are at: http://deviationstrilogy.blogspot.com/2007/10/thank-you-poe-house-books.html

Presenting...

Elissa — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:17:48 GMT

Photo: An advance copy of Deviations: Covenant sits on my laptop keyboard in the Hyatt in downtown Tampa, Florida. Mary and I got back from Necronomicon (Tampa's annual science fiction/fantasy/horror convention) on Monday afternoon. There I made five direct sales (first time I've staffed a dealer table), brought copies back with me to take to local events, and have so far sold two more just around the neighborhood. Necro moved to this past weekend after years of being held at the end of October, and word from the dealers was that this was a slow year for everyone as a result, but I'm very happy with the sales. More orders (I don't know how many more) have come through on the Aisling Press website at http://www.aislingpress.com . Official street release is scheduled for November 28, but copies can be pre-ordered at a discount through Aisling. Covenant can now also be pre-ordered at Barnes & Noble. There will be a hardcover edition, though I don't yet know when the release date for that will be. My table was one of four representing Aisling Press/Oculus Media Group, with the full cost of those tables covered by the publisher. Aisling also provided framed 20x30-inch posters for new titles, plus brochures for each title on display. I brought my own postcards, flyers, magnets, and my T-shirt imprinted with the cover image and Aisling's URL writ large. A couple people (including one who bought a copy) told me that the postcards I'd left in the registration area brought them to my table. The one who didn't buy was looking for material for young adults. Aisling has several YA titles, so I was able to refer her to other authors. I also brought a 3-ring binder (supported by Mary's hefty metal typing stand) that held copies of "Lazuli" (Asimov's, November 1984), which got me on the final ballot for the John W. Campbell Award (given at the Science Fiction Worldcon to the best new sf writer of the year); and "Moments of Clarity" (Full Spectrum, Bantam Books, 1988), which reached preliminary ballot for a Nebula Award (given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America). Eventually I removed and laid out the copies of the publication covers. Several people remembered one or both of the stories, and one immediately recognized the cover from Asimov's because she'd saved her old issues. That gave me a thrill. :) Of my published stories, those two had gotten the most attention. Bringing copies of those stories had been a last-minute brainstorm. I'm still learning this whole marketing gig as I go along and I now have a to-do list based on various discussions. I keep hearing in my head Mel Brooks's pronouncement as Yogurt in Spaceballs: "MOYchendising!" The true test will come in what readers think. I've passed along one review copy and will send out more. Before I do I'll get a list of reviewers to whom Aisling is sending copies, so that we don't duplicate efforts. A while back I'd sent a three-tiered list of my preferences. Aisling is also doing book trailers -- something I'd heard of only recently, thanks to the Poets & Writers Speakeasy forum. Except for one panel I mostly lived at the dealer table. On Saturday morning I was one of six people on the "dark poetry" panel. Following a format Bruce Boston ( http://hometown.aol.com/bruboston/ ) proposed, which worked very well at Oasis in Orlando earlier this year, we each read a poem written by one of the other panelists and then engaged the poet in discussion about the poem. Our audience was fairly sparse (it was a 10 AM panel after a night that included a 2 AM dance and all-night videos) but we had good audience participation. I chose to read Malcolm Deeley's "The Red Pyramid," which can be viewed at http://www.gromagonpress.com/librarytwelve.html . I love the world-building in this poem and the juxtaposition of mythic and everyday images -- and I thought it was a great performance piece. We got together for lunch afterwards. In a discussion sparked by Marge Simon ( http://hometown.aol.com/margsimon/ ) about how we each got into science fiction, almost all of us cited a work by Robert Heinlein. (My grade school library had a science fiction section and I remember reading my first sf book in the fourth grade. The first two -- and I forget which order they came in -- were Heinlein's Starship Troopers and Murray Leinster's Time Tunnel.) That's quite a legacy. Earlier today I picked up the Florida State Poets Assn. anthologies and have prepared to mail out those copies that need to be shipped. Others will be distributed at the FSPA conference at the end of the month. And, in a couple of weeks or so, I should be receiving the contract for Book #2, so that we can start that process rolling. :)

My Reading Assignment

Elissa — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 18:56:29 GMT

I recently signed up to be part of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Circulating Book Plan. Under this plan, SFWA ( http://www.sfwa.org/ ) members circulate new sf/f releases amongst ourselves. Volunteer readers in each region then forward the books to repositories -- usually public and university libraries -- located throughout the U.S. In addition to familiarizing myself with scads of new books for the cost of Media Mail postage, this gives me a chance to give my own work added exposure. Once Covenant is released I'll send copies to the different regions for circulation. The boxes shown here were waiting for me at the post office this week. I won't lack for reading material for a while. Earlier in the week I crossed the 20,000-word mark on Book #6. I also spent some time in Movie Mode, finally catching up a bit on films I'd been curious about because I go to a movie theater maybe once a year. Rented three, then bought one. I generally don't buy movies for myself, so when I do it's a special occasion. My latest "must have" is Good Night, And Good Luck, not only for the movie itself but also for the Commentary by Director/Screenwriter George Clooney and Producer/Screenwriter Grant Heslov. I was grooving something fierce on the commentary's discussion (mostly by Clooney). The commentary goes blow-by-blow through the movie, addressing decision points on what kind of film to use, what lens length, what camera angle, what information to include or not. When to focus on the speaker and when to focus on the listener, because often it's the *response* to something that creates drama. Even before I saw the commentary feature I found myself watching the movie for craft. One particular scene near the end caught my eye for its sandwiching of (1) onstage discussion, (2) offstage discussion, and (3) onstage discussion recapitulating the information presented offstage. The transition between (2) and (3) is so subtle that at the last moment it almost seemed as though (2) would be onstage, but presenting the information in (3) made more dramatic sense. When I have enough clones to do everything I want to do (I'll take a six-pack of clones and an extra side of Sundays, please), I plan to make a list of the cinematic decision points and find their counterparts in literature because I see a solid correspondence between the two. Paying attention to how movies are crafted has informed me on story-crafting because I use a kind of internal cinema. Clooney made the comment that Good Night, And Good Luck is a talking head picture, with its main drama residing in the words (as opposed to, say, blowing stuff up). Using the medium of film to do justice to those words added an extra layer of challenge to the work. I think movies in general can be deconstructed and their decision points linked to those in writing (beyond screenwriting) as a way to illustrate those decision points, but the extra layer of sculpting a "word" picture into drama makes this movie a terrific bridge between the two media. I was viewing Clooney's commentary as a treatise on writing as much as it was a treatise on film. I think it's valuable as a teaching tool for both, separately and in combination. In my own course I present and deconstruct excerpts taken from written works in different genres, showing how particular words and combinations of words are used to create tone, rhythm, narrative speed, image, etc. And speaking of movies... Recently I watched an interview with Ernest Lehman (screenwriter for Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest) on TCM. I tuned into the interview as Lehman commented on the story's genesis. From the Internet Movie Database ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053125/trivia ): "Hitchcock ... had only three ideas to set Lehman on his way: mistaken identity, the United Nations building, and a chase scene across the faces of Mt. Rushmore." That's how it all started. No characters. No plot. Lehman started with those disparate ideas and then developed his characters and the story line, including figuring out how to move his characters from Madison Avenue in New York to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. I could identify with Lehman's comments because in addition to Book #6, I'm drafting a short story that came to me first as an image and a visual pun of sorts. Since an image does not a story make, I started developing the story from there. In recent discussions I've been pointing out that ideas for any kind of creative expression can come from anywhere and can come in any way, shape, or form. It doesn't have to start with plot, or with character, or at the beginning. It doesn't have to be linear. It doesn't have to remain static. One of the people in my free-writing group finds correspondences between writing-process details and her own process when she paints. I love those kinds of creative bridges. I want to play with them and put them into some kind of intelligible form in my "copious spare time" (as a former boss once put it). That activity goes on my Long-Range To Do List. On my Short-to-Middlin'-Range To Do List, I have some reading to do.

International Literacy Day

Elissa — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:44:51 GMT

Left to right: literature from the Science Fiction Poetry Association ( http://www.sfpoetry.com ), the Art Center of Citrus County ( http://www.artcenter.cc/ ), the magazines Harp-Strings Poetry Journal and Poets' Forum Magazine, and the Florida State Poets Association ( http://thewordshop.tripod.com/fspa/ ), along with flyers for Deviations: Covenant (available from Aisling Press, http://www.aislingpress.com ). My full post about the event, with more photos than I can include on this blog entry at Tribe, can be seen at http://elissa-malcohn.livejournal.com/6063.html I also want to point to Laini Taylor's blog "Not for Robots" ( http://notforrobots.blogspot.com/ ). It's a terrific treatise on the writing process. Laini's first novel, Blackbringer, was published this year by Penguin/Putnam. Her book Goblin Fruit recently sold to Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic. Laini also teams up with Meg Genge to produce Sunday Scribblings ( http://sundayscribblings.blogspot.com/ ).

Covenant/literary promotional activities as of Sept. 5, 2007

Elissa — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:14:49 GMT

Over Labor Day Weekend I finished answering interview questions from Aisling Press ( http://www.aislingpress.com ). The interview will appear on the Aisling Press website and in the back of Covenant. I'll provide a link once it's live. Out-of-the-box, "thinking" questions that delve between the lines accompany those relating directly to the story. This Saturday, September 8, I'll read at the International Literacy Day festival in Rainbow Springs State Park, Dunnellon, FL. The Florida State Parks website ( http://www.floridastateparks.org/ ) has more information about International Literacy Day events, which will occur across the parks system. On Saturday, October 6, I'll participate in the dark poetry panel at Necronomicon ( http://www.stonehill.org/necro.htm ), which occurs in Tampa, FL, October 5-7. On Saturday, October 20, I'll be part of a book event at Poe House Books in Crystal River, FL. On Friday, October 26, the day before I attend the St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading ( http://www.festivalofreading.com/ ), I and other local authors will speak on craft at the Central Ridge Library in Beverly Hills, FL, as part of the kickoff celebration for the November Novelists group. Spearheaded by the Citrus County Library System, the group formed to network and support participants in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, http://www.nanowrimo.org/ ). Upon its release, copies of Covenant will go to the following: The Eaton Collection at the University of California, Riverside ( http://eaton-collection.ucr.edu/AboutUs.htm ). From the website: "The Eaton Collection is the largest publicly-accessible collection of science fiction, fantasy, horror and utopian fiction in the world.... It is visited by scholars from around the world both for its American and international holdings." The University of South Florida Library's Special Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection ( http://www.lib.usf.edu/public/index.cfm?Pg=CollectionDetail&SpecialCollection_id=2b6a7f51-e0ef-a62f-cffa-a658abab3d8e ). Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler profiled this collection in her June 25, 2006, St. Petersburg Times article, "USF's brave new world," at http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/1066127831.html?dids=1066127831:1066127831&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+25%2C+2006&author=SHANNON+COLAVECCHIO-VAN+SICKLER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=6.P&desc=USF%27S+brave+new+world The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America ( http://www.sfwa.org/ ) Circulating Book Plan. Through the SFWA CBP, Covenant will circulate among readers in ten regions before residing in book repositories (mainly public and university libraries). I will also receive new book releases to read and pass along to other SFWA members participating in the plan. I have also sent in my registration check for next year's Worldcon, Denvention 3 in Denver, CO ( http://www.denvention3.org/ ), which will take place August 6-10, 2008. I'm awaiting answers to other inquiries and will post more updates as they develop!

Covenant is now available from Aisling Press!

Elissa — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:29:01 GMT

Covenant, the first volume in my Deviations series, is available for pre-order at Aisling Press. Aisling Press general website: http://www.aislingpress.com/ Covenant page: http://www.aislingpress.com/site/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=2&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=9&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26 -----About Covenant----- TripStone hates to kill her gods but she must feed her people. An accomplished hunter in the Masari village of Crossroads, she is charged with the ritual slaying of the sacred Yata. Her comrade Ghost tries to end Masari dependence on Yata meat by performing experiments punishable by death. His jeopardy increases when he shelters a teenage runaway sickened by fasting. Their worldview shatters when they harbor a Yata woman raised to be livestock instead of a god. But Crossroads itself is imperiled. Hidden in the far woods, a secret Yata militia is preparing to alter the balance of power. -----About the Deviations series----- Long ago the Masari and the Yata hunted together in peace, until the species they drove to extinction included those possessing nutrients necessary to Masari survival. The Yata then became the only source of those nutrients. <i>Deviations</i> tells how these peoples cope with the reality of being sentient creatures forced to play the roles of predator and prey, and how several of them try to thwart long-established conventions in the hope of overcoming their biological imperative. In <i>Deviations</i> love triumphs in the midst of death. The series focuses on the social, ethical, and spiritual dilemmas surrounding both the literal cannibalism of the societies involved and the many ways in which their different communities feed off each other. ------------------------------ I have the following promotional appearances in Florida planned: Necronomicon ( http://www.stonehill.org/necro.htm ), Tampa's Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Convention, Friday, October 5 to Sunday, October 7, 2007, at the Hyatt in downtown Tampa St. Petersburg Festival of Reading ( http://www.festivalofreading.com/ ), Saturday, October. 27, 2007, at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg with more possible later in the year. Stay tuned!

Raw Data

Elissa — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 15:22:29 GMT

The photo shows my latest completed journal notebook. The digitally-blurred interior shot is of the last entry page (held open by a large binder clip). I've written people's contact information down on the very last page (one more flip). I've written about journaling at http://hurricanecountry.blogspot.com/2005/07/documentation.html but seeing the "Dear Diary" prompt on Sunday Scribblings ( http://sundayscribblings.blogspot.com/ ) inspired this installment. Thanks to the discussion boards at the Moleskinerie pool ( http://www.flickr.com/groups/moleskinerie/ ), I learned that a silver metallic Sharpie is great for writing on the covers (and spines) of these notebooks (I use the large sketchbook, 5.25 x 8.25 inches). That makes my job much easier when I'm trying to find things. My August 13, 2007, entry continued in the notebook I'm filling now. These journals are where I amass what I call my "raw data." Back in April I posted the following on Flickr: ------------------------------------------------- I've been keeping a journal for decades. These photos (at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/467278569/ ) show most but not all of my collection of filled notebooks. Upper left: I've recently started using Moleskine sketchbooks. My in-process journal lives in my fanny pack and goes everywhere with me. Upper right: Before I switched to Moleskines (far right) I was using Canson Classic sketchbooks (center). I use the wire-bound Cachet sketchbooks on the left in my free-writing group. At first I kept index cards of journal topics, but now I go through widely-spaced but fairly intense periods where I type my entries on computer and use the Search function when I want to find information. I have yet to input the writings in the notebooks shown in this shot. [Edit: I've since done the inputting.] Lower Left: This steamer trunk was in the garage of my parents' house, where Mary and I now live. I don't know how old it is, but I thought it was the perfect place to store old journal notebooks. Lower Right: My notebooks range from three-ring binders to inexpensive blank books to the Moleskines I use now. A folding stool at right holds the trunk open. The trunk now resides in my studio, next to my desk. Thanks to Armand Frasco for soliciting this entry for posting here ( http://www.notebookism.com/2007/04/journal_series.html ) on Notebookism.com. ( http://www.notebookism.com/2006/07/this_is_noteboo.html ) ------------------------------------------------- That prompted someone to ask me how long it took me to fill a notebook. I answered: It varies, due to different notebook sizes and what's happening in my life at the time. I wrote much more prolifically in the first years I was living on my own, which started in March of 1983. Cool question, though (and thanks!) -- made me curious, myself, so I did some number crunching, pulling out a couple notebooks at random among the ones I'd typed up. The notebook that holds entries spanning October 7, 1985 through January 3, 1986 yielded 211-1/2 pages of single-spaced typed text. That was during my Scripsit days (8-inch floppy discs), so those pages have been scanned in and turned into .jpg files. Word-count estimates place that notebook at 105,730 words, or an average of about 1,188 words/day. In contrast, my notebook that spans March 24 through October 2, 2003 contains 46,206 words, or an average of 239.4 words/day. On the other hand, I started my first blog in 1999, and while I keep computer files of those entries they're not in my notebooks. Pre-blog, much of that material probably would have made it into the handwritten journal. On the third hand, my blog writing is geared toward an audience, so it's different in some ways from my notebook writing. On the fourth hand, I occasionally include excerpts from my handwritten journal in the blog entries. But of course I had to do a word-count there... :) The blog entries for the same period of that second notebook come to 66,272 words. If one were to combine the two, the word count would become 112,478 words, or an average of almost 583 words/day. ------------------------------------------------- I advise all my students to keep a hardcopy journal that they can take anywhere with them. From my class handout: A journal is, quite simply, a place to write with no holds barred. It will serve you well in a variety of uses: 1. PRACTICE. No matter what you write, you are *writing*. 2. RAW DATA. All the details, insights, minutiae, rants, and anything else you write down is potential material for more crafted writing, be it in stories, poems, articles, or other forms of expression, like art or music. 3. SELF-HELP. Talking to yourself on paper or using your journal as a confidante can help you solve problems and make burdens easier to bear. I have found sometimes that what I’ve written can serve as valuable advice to myself years later. 4. LEGACY. As journals across the eons have shown, even minutiae have value for future generations. (See, for example, Lillian Schlissel’s collection Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey, New York: Schocken Books, 1982.) -----What to write in:----- Above all, choose what you are comfortable with. When I was a teenager I used a small 3-ring binder that I filled with lined paper. (The “diaries” sold in stationery stores never had enough room for me.) The first diary I kept, at age 6, was in an old New York City Board of Education booklet that my mother brought home from her teaching job and my father covered with gold and white striped wallpaper, artfully printing my name on the cover. It had wide-ruled paper on which I printed my entries in pencil. <-----added notes-----> Photo of the 3-ring binder: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/292704784/ Photo of my first diary: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/292704786/ <-----end added notes-----> Today my journal is in an artist’s sketch book with unlined, acid-free paper. Sometimes I will sketch in addition to writing: my cats, a coffee cup, a crude outline of objects from a dream. Some people are more comfortable with spiral-bound notebooks, or with loose sheets of paper. Some may use a leather-bound blank book, others large index cards or napkins. Some use pencil or black pen; others use colorful gel pens in every shade, fountain pens, magic markers. Some tape or paste pictures onto the page, or newspaper articles that catch their eye. Use what is comfortable for you. Experiment. Make sure your journal is transportable so that you can carry it with you. I have written journal entries on planes, trains, automobiles, boats. I have written them on hiking trails, in doctor’s offices, in restaurants, by candlelight during power outages, in hotel lobbies, in hospital waiting rooms. -----What to write:----- Anything goes. The only rule in keeping a journal is to write, period. My journal includes, but is not limited to: •assumptions •brainstorms •complaints •conversations •descriptions of nature •descriptions of people •divination (e.g., I-Ching, Tarot, Runes) •dreams (including REM-sleep dreams, wishes, fantasies) •events •insecurities •letters sent and unsent •lists of things done •memories •observations •medical details •poetry •puns •prayers •quotations from books, songs, etc. •rants •reactions to news stories •story and other ideas •to-do lists •whining •worries •writing exercises -----Keeping track of it all:----- After writing, if you want to organize your journal (this is entirely optional), consider how you want to use it. Do you want to concentrate on events? On emotional states? On particular people? When I was a teenager my journal followed my own invented calendar. Fortunately there were a few specific events (such as New Year’s Eve) that allowed me to create a Rosetta Stone for dating purposes decades later. Every so often I type up my entries and use my word processor’s search function to find specific journal details. Years ago I kept a subject index on index cards. You may or may not want to be that detailed. Sometimes, filling a journal notebook and putting it in a safe place to read again years later can yield tremendous insights. This can also be useful if you’re not sure how you may want to use your journal material in the future, particularly if your priorities change over the years. ------------------------------------------------- Earlier this year, creative nonfiction of mine taken from a journal entry was published in Reed ( http://www.sjsu.edu/reed/ ). My contributor's copy is at center right in the storage box shown at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/1078309508/ keeping company with other contributor's copies. ------------------------------------------------- One of the discussion topics on Moleskinerie was, "What was your first entry?" I wrote: After using other types of journal notebooks for decades, I made my first Moleskine entry on April 7, 2006. Excerpts follow: 12:41 a.m. Will be going to bed soon -- am headphoned into Ned Rorem's symphonies. Not looking to stay up too late, since I will have only about 5 hrs of sleep anyway, before I drive Mary to her stress test. Meanwhile I sit and admire this book, this piece of history. Reading the quotes on the stamp card reminds me of why I'm here. I need to remember that, keep doing my Real Job. 7:30 a.m. Waiting for Mary to be called for her stress test. I did have 2 short sleep periods -- dreamt I heard people talking outside -- a man was saying, "That's because he's an entomologist," or something similar. I heard their footfalls. The sound clarity was what convinced me it was a dream. I awoke around 3:30 a.m., based on Mary (also awake) telling me the time. Fortunately I fell back asleep and dreamt something about cars being towed on a barge across the water, to a kind of island. It had something to do with the Mob. My 6 a.m. alarm blasted me out of that one. Fog driving in this morning, in patchy islands gathered mostly inside stands of trees and other areas of vegetation. Very little on the roads. Looked quite enchanting. Dawn-pink sky as I drove east, the sun just beginning to show as a fuzzy orange ball as I turned toward the hospital. 11:30 a.m. Mary went in at 8 for a predicted 90-min. test. I left to get her antigen, arrived at [her doctor] at 8:15. They ramped up the dosage so I'll start her on .1 cc tomorrow -- Monday, rather. Drove home, put the antigen in the fridge, petted [our cat] Daisy (couldn't see [our other cat] Red; I imagine he was in the bedroom), took a bathroom break, drove back here. Three slowdowns for school crossings in both directions. Got here at 9:50, asked if Mary was still taking the test. Yes, and she'll be another half hour. I checked again at 11:28. She is still back there, and it will still be "another half hour." No explanation as to why things are taking so long. I've had a power bar and tea (before we initially left home); Mary hasn't had anything since midnight, the cut-off time for the test. I've had maybe 2 hrs of sleep. Sat here with my eyes closed to try to get in a quasi-nap, when I wasn't looking at the omnipresent TV (CNN Headline News) or looking through the paper. I've got the Corbett with me [Jim Corbett's book The Man-Eaters of Kumaon] and may try to read it if I have any earplugs in the fanny pack -- otherwise I won't be able to. No earplugs seem to be had. I'll have to put in a pair. -------------------------------------------------- Fortunately, Mary passed her stress test with flying colors. From the Cool Coincidence department: I discovered Moleskine notebooks through Flickr because many artists draw terrific things in them and then post the photos. Among artists, Moleskines were used by Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso. Among writers, Moleskines were used by Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin. (The notebooks these people used are not exactly like the current Moleskines, but the current version is based on those journals.) Chatwin's name is what drew me to splurge and try one. (From my journal entry of March 25, 2006: "Utrecht is having a spring sale, and this time their catalogue includes the Moleskines I've heard so much about...") I had read Chatwin's book The Songlines, which details his travels through Australia, as part of preparing for my own trip there in August 1991. But Chatwin's details are interwoven with many extraordinary threads. I wrote in my journal on August 4, 1991, "Chatwin writes the way I want to: his piecing together of fragments: slice of life, philosophy, references -- woven into a pattern, his own Songline. The book speaks to my heart in many ways -- makes me want to buy several copies to give away." Which I did. Fifteen years after reading The Songlines I'd forgotten that Chatwin had written about Moleskines in that work ("...and is responsible for naming them 'les carnets moleskines'" -- BBC, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A1113346 ). Other details had riveted me. Back on August 4, 1991, I was still brainstorming on ways to expand my 1985 short story that finally became Covenant and the rest of the Deviations series. On that day I found and copied into my journal entry a quote from The Songlines that became the epigraph for Covenant more than a decade later. A bit over six months after I bought my first Moleskine I had a contract for Covenant. For some number crunching on the Moleskine's aesthetic qualities and why they can be so mesmerizing, check out the discussion thread at http://www.flickr.com/groups/moleskinerie/discuss/72157600104380515/ -------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, I've sent in my galley corrections and a list of potential reviewers. So far I have three people willing to read advance review copies (ARCs) who might provide a blurb (nothing definite until they read the book, of course). On tap for this weekend: Complete final production of the art center newsletter I edit, and enter final production stage of the anthology I edit.

What I'll be doing this weekend

Elissa — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 03:53:22 GMT

Reading this. (The galleys arrived around 6 PM. This is a printout of the .pdf file.) And doing a transcription job. PS: The draft of Book #6 in the series has crossed the 10,000-word mark (10,384 words, to be exact), after I cut out a character's original, 955-word opening narrative and put in a 1,478-word replacement, based on yesterday's note-scribbling.

Cornstarch

Elissa — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:35:35 GMT

(Otherwise known as "plot thickener.") It will be a while before I continue drafting Book #6 -- I have a newsletter and an anthology to get out, and soon I'll have galleys to review. And that's not counting my "regular" work. But I've been scribbling notes in the meantime. And, since the house has been without A/C for three weeks now (we're hoping to remedy that soon), I scout out havens of coolth along the way. Last Saturday I took my laptop to the local library and got in a solid day's work, plus had a lovely vista of field, trees, and swooping ibis viewed through curved floor-to-ceiling picture windows. I can get used to this. My note-taking headquarters today was the local Hungry Howie's, where I ruminated in my journal while downing a spicy chicken salad and soda. I consider diners, cafes, and fast food joints my "writing table rentals." Book #6 is the only volume in the series that I'm writing in first-person. The first four books used a limited third-person narrative from multiple POVs. Book #5 used a limited third-person narrative from just two POVs, except for its final scene. That scene is a brief first-person narrative expressed by the title character, setting the stage for #6. I'll be using four POVs to tell #6's story. I'm fairly clear on three of them, but the fourth has been problematic. She is as crucial as the others, but I had to find where the drama lay in her part of the tale. So I sat down with my soda and my chicken salad and asked, "What is she risking? What has she got to lose?" From Naomi Epel's _The Observation Deck_ in her chapter, "Raise the Stakes": "Ken Follett says that you need the stakes to be high for every one of your fictional characters. If you are writing about a bank robbery, make sure that your robber has a compelling need to steal the money. It's not enough that he wants to be rich. He needs to have an ambitious plan that requires a million dollars. He has to have someone or something that will die without the money. The bank should also be at serious risk if a million dollars is lost. Maybe the bank's insurance has been canceled or the banker is in serious debt, having 'borrowed' funds to cover a secret gambling loss." I thought of Epel's chapter as I scribbled in my journal. My notes are my version of an outline, except they're much sloppier. They're full of trial balloons that never see draft. I talk to myself on paper, in a combination of half-formed thoughts, incomplete sentences, point-counterpoint type arguments, rambling monologues, to-do lists, flowcharts, and other graphic representations with what for me passes for "drawing." By the time I finished today's installment I had a good idea of some conflicts, some scene details, and the inner workings of this person and how she puts herself in jeopardy. I'm seeing how and where to position her allies and antagonists. And I'm planning to replace her opening narrative with one that's much more dynamic. At this rate I might even do some drafting in the heat. I can honestly say I have a sizeable fan club, given that the fans plug into the wall or are battery-powered. In the meantime I've drafted another article solicited by Poets' Forum Magazine, and I've entered three sonnets (the maximum number) in the Science Fiction Poetry Association's sonnet contest. More info on that is at http://www.sfpoetry.com/2007poetrycontest.html Photo note: An altered photo of journal notes and manuscript. I took this shot about a year ago while writing Book #4.

Signed, Sealed and In The Mail

Elissa — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:14:09 GMT

It's now official. The new publisher (same people) for Covenant is Aisling Press. As of this writing the web site is still under development. I'll provide the URL when it's ready for prime time. Galleys are in the works. In other summer publication news: -- My photo of model circus train cars is in The Layout, Summer 2007, accompanying "Grandpa" Nelson G. Williams's article, "Have You Seen These Big Circus Trains?" The original posted shot is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/504956112/ -- My article on copyright, "Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave!" is in Poets' Forum Magazine, Summer 2007. -- My collage of moths and snapdragons is on the cover of Harp-Strings Poetry Journal, Summer 2007. (See above.) You can see the original collage at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30268343@N00/422140063/ Forthcoming: -- Fiction in Electric Velocipede http://www.electricvelocipede.com/ -- Poetry, review, and art in Star*Line http://www.sfpoetry.com/ -- Poetry in Asimov's Science Fiction http://www.asimovs.com/ -- Article on bug photography in The Link http://www.wagner.edu/alumni/link

Completion

Elissa — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 01:53:18 GMT

Book #5 (shown in the photo) tops out at 85,792 words of draft: initial completion on Wednesday, July 18, with some tweaking on Friday, July 20. About the same length as Covenant. Added Monday, July 16: 3,021 words Added Tuesday, July 17: 2,281 words Added Wednesday, July 18: 3,253 words (That's 8,555 words after my estimate of "fewer than 10,000 words left to go." Not bad. *Pats self on the back*) Sound track for various scenes: Wayne Shorter's "Flagships" from his 1987 album Phantom Navigator; Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Largo," movement 2 from his Piano Concerto #4; various piano works of Claude Debussy but especially his "Hommage a Rameau" from Images, Series I; and "The Funeral of Karissima" from Arnold Bax's The Truth About Russian Dancers. And another hanky goes into the wash, though on balance this volume ends on more of an "up" note than Book #4 had. But a major series character had to die, heralding the ascendancy of the new generation. Several days ago I sent the "final draft" of Covenant off and running. I e-mailed that file with a prayer and an internal scream and am keeping my fingers crossed that I've caught everything that needs to be caught.

The Home Stretch (entry catch-up)

Elissa — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 01:44:59 GMT

I estimate I have fewer than 10,000 more words to go for Book #5. That would make it about the same length as Covenant and Book #2, whose lengths are within about 1,000 words (roughly 4 manuscript pages) of each other. (Book #3 is longer, #4 considerably so.) I might even finish the draft before Mary's birthday on Friday [July 20], which would be way cool. Then I'll focus my energies on the Florida State Poets Assn. anthology I'm editing. Then, once all that other dust settles, it's on to Book #6, with a couple of side excursions. There's an 800-word short story starter kit waiting for me to add to (geared toward another anthology), and I want to put a submission together for the Science Fiction Poetry Association's second annual poetry contest, open through August 24 and focusing on the sonnet. No fee required, with cash and publication prizes. More info is at http://www.sfpoetry.com/2007poetrycontest.html . Added Saturday, July 14: 523 wds. Added Sunday, July 15: 1,900 wds.

Heading Home (entry catch-up)

Elissa — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 01:42:12 GMT

I am up to The Long Denouement. Which is now Part 5, since Part 3 was long enough for me to break it up into two sections. In the meantime I've started setting the stage for the drama that will unfold in Book #6. What remains is for me to get my POV characters home, where my title character will begin his new life (now that he knows what he's meant to do) and the other will take leave of hers. But not before some reintegration, resolution, and redemption occur. Added Thursday, July 12: 1,583 wds. Added Friday, July 13: 2,599 wds. Today [July 13] marks a full month (30 days) since I made my "210" commitment (see my entry "Commitment/Bit Parts" for more info). In that time I have pounded out 46,136 words of draft, an average of just under 1,538 words a day. Yeah, I'd say I've kept to schedule. ;D