Liz Williams's Blog, page 13

End of week...

...start of new week. We'll be in Gloucestershire next week, going to the races and seeing family and friends. So most of the day now is spent trying to nail down everything that needs to be nailed down before we go. I'm doing two workshops and a lot of teaching this week, plus the writing, but we're gradually getting there. I'm working on a new long short story (anthology commission) plus another couple of commissioned stories. The Chen prequel is still underway, as are the quarterly short stories, and once Eastercon is out of the way, I will be working in earnest on the second novel of Worldsoul. One of the characters in the first book is demanding more airtime, which is not surprising: she's a demon, but of a very different sort to Zhu Irzh.

And this is where going outside gets you....

Henry has not appeared all day: did not come in for breakfast etc. Looked on the roadsides etc, went down the field. Eventually went out the back, where I have been in and out all day, calling, and heard sad howls coming from the middle of the bramble thicket. By now it was 6 pm and the light was going fast. Could not find secaturs. Beat back brambles with hands and crawled, on my stomach, into the thicket, which is about 6-10 feet across. Afraid that he was injured, I managed to locate H, who got up and walked off. Cursing mightily, went back in house to fetch cat food tin, came back outside, Sid materialised out of dusk and went to fetch H, who trotted out of the thicket and demanded his tea. Now look as though I have been dragged through a hedge backwards, which is not surprising as this is exactly what has just happened. I have found brambles in my underwear. Was not going to pour a glass of wine this evening. Change of plan.

HUNDRED STORIES PROJECT

Just an update - a huge thank you to everyone who is continuing to support this project. We're now at Week 8, and I have just finished the stories relating to the English Civil War, so the last 2 weeks have been Cavalier and Roundhead-tastic. I've learned a great deal about my own county, and it's been a fascinating experience researching this project - especially driving around the other day and recognising the places where castles rose and fell, sieges took place, churches which tidal waves nearly swallowed and villages which undertook little revolutions.

You can still contribute if you wish - email me at: mevennen(a)hotmail.com for details.

SHORT STORY SUBSCRIPTIONS - UPDATE

Several people have asked me recently if the short story subs are still available - they are, so I am listing everything below.

S
GARNET PARK: Set in an alternative mid 20th century in which World War Two has been mainly fought in Asia and featuring Lieutenant Mary Greaves. I've always wanted to write a Sayers-esque aristocratic female sleuth, and Mary is it.

What will I be getting?: Country houses, airships, opium and a dodgy Imperial Russian love interest.

CYGNE: another alt universe, this time Elizabethan. Except that the power on the British throne is a faery queen and the ruling classes, including Lord Cygne, are magicians.

What will I be getting?: demons, shape-shifting governesses, the more unusual elements of the ancient bestiaries, and a singularly vain protagonist.

CHEN: Well, you are hopefully familiar with this one by now!

*

Cost: £5/$8 per story. If you sign up for 4 (one series) over the course of a year, I'll call it £18/$30.

3 stories (one of each) per quarter: £15/$24.

The whole deal (12 short stories): £50/ - depending on the USD rate, this is from $78 to $90.

Interested?: email me on: mevennen(at)hotmail.com.





Short Stories
Chen £18.00
Cygne £18.00
GP £18.00
All 3 series £50.00







SECOND SHORT STORY SUB & CHEN NOVEL

The novel - a prequel to the Chen series - will be available on subscription only and it will be in instalments over 12 months. We're up to Month 8. I have always wanted to do an instalment novel, rather in the manner of the Strand Magazine - it's a Victorian model which rather appeals to me!

There are 2 more short story sets:

MONDHILE: I will be writing 4 short stories (every 3 months) set in the world of GHOST SISTER, DARKLAND and BLOODMIND.

What will I be getting?: feral people, dangerous landscapes, romance, a far-future post-tech society and possibly a couple of battles at sea.

ISIS DANE: (Also 4 stories, every quarter) I've done a couple of short stories in this series already - it's the same magical Albion as the Cygne novels, and set around the same time, so Cygne may well show up. Isis is a water magician, dealing with rivers and river spirits.

What will I be getting?: water magic, underground rivers, demented magicians, sinister faeries, dangerous royalty and a determined heroine.

Worldsoul: 3 short stories set in the Liminality - this is the world in which Worldsoul, my new trilogy with Prime takes place

It's exactly the same deal as the first sub, with no rise in price.

I also promised you a Garnet Park special story - I haven't done this yet, but will announce it as soon as I have written it!

Cost: £5/$8 per story. If you sign up for 4 (one series) over the course of a year, I'll call it £18/$30.

The whole deal (12 short stories): £50/ - depending on the USD rate, this is from $78 to $90.


Short StoriesA Thousand Li £18.00Mondhile £18.00Isis Dane £18.00All 3 series £50.00Worldsoul pack of 3 £12.00

Damn

The dog whom we looked after some years ago, and who features in Diary of a W/craft Shop, has died; she was shot before Christmas for sheep killing. I found out tonight when her person rang me - she has been trying to get hold of us. Mojo was one of the most trouble-prone dogs I've ever had anything to do with, but she was lovely. She was an escapologist, and she got away from her human onto farmland. The farmer apparently feels pretty awful about the whole thing, as well, as he knows M's person. It is just very sad all round and we are feeling rather flat, to put it mildly.

47 is the new 46

....at least, if you're me. I had an excellent birthday: we took the dogs out to Butleigh woods and discovered hazel catkins and primroses. The crocuses are out along the verges and spring is definitely here. After this, we had lunch at the Natterjack pub in Evercreech, came home, read books and cooked a roast duck for dinner. Very low key, really, but this is the first Sunday that T and I have had off for some months, and we enjoyed it.

BSFA tomorrow

On Wednesday 22nd February 2012 from around 7pm:

Liz Williams will be interviewed by Ian Whates (BSFA Chair)

Location:
Cellar Bar, The Melton Mowbray Public House
18 Holborn, London EC1N 2LE

Hope to see some of you in the big city!

Creative Writing Mentoring - repost

As some of you will know, I have been offering manuscript appraisal services for some time now, but I have recently been joined by historical novelist Maria McCann. I am updating this as Maria has now come on board with the Arvon team, and I'm including details of that below.


Maria has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Glamorgan. For nearly a decade (until December 2010) she ran the Creative Writing courses at Strode College in Somerset, helping writers of all levels of ability to nurture their creative processes and to craft their work. Alongside historical novelists Emma Darwin, Rose Melikan and R N Morris, Maria appears at literary festivals as part of a panel discussing aspects of writing and researching historical fiction; from January 2011 she will be one of three writers (along with poet Daljit Nagra and playwright Nell Leyshon) selected to mentor upcoming talent as part of the Jerwood/Arvon Mentoring Scheme.

I will be dealing with SF, Fantasy and Horror, or any related sub-genres. Maria will be dealing with literary fiction and historical fiction. We will be offering:

- manuscript proposal appraisal (first three chapters and synopsis)
- full manuscript appraisal (novels and short fiction)
- submission package assessment

We can also offer tailor-made packages, depending on your needs and requirements. If you want an assessment of your initial three chapters, to see whether a manuscript is worth continuing, we can look at this. If you have a whole novel, and would like it taken up to the point where you are ready to submit to an agent, we can structure a timetable for you and take you through a chapter-by-chapter assessment. This process is likely to take about a year (unless you're a very quick writer!) and we will suggest that you rewrite if we think it's necessary.

You can start at any point. We are both very thorough – this is aimed at the serious writer who is aiming at a professional career. We start with an appraisal, and if we think your expectations are unrealistic and that you would not benefit at this point from a full appraisal program, we will tell you. However, we are solution-oriented and our criticism will always be constructive!

The aim of this process is to prepare work for publication. Obviously, we cannot guarantee that, although I would note that my last student has just had her first novel published as part of a 3 book-deal. I can put you in touch with former students if you wish. For other genres, including detective fiction, post-colonial fiction or other, let me know if you would like details and I will pass you on to a wider mentoring agency.

If you would like to discuss this with either Maria or myself, please email me at mevennen(at)hotmail(dot)com for further information, including a full breakdown of costs.

Henry update

Much as before. He is mad and full of the Evil. He is slightly more circumspect about stealing from plates, but only slightly.

Dogs are there to entertain him.

Sid is there to sniff noses with and sometimes to bounce at.

Outside is still a bit scary.

London

I went up on the dawn bus to London on Thursday, to deliver a talk at Treadwell's bookshop in Bloomsbury on Thursday night. A good day in town, mainly spent in the British Museum, and then I met fjm and chilperic who very kindly took me to dinner at an excellent Vietnamese place off Goodge Street. The talk went well and seems to have been well received - this was on Glastonbury and the Avalonians of the early 20th C.

On Friday I met up with my friend T for lunch in Borough Market - I don't know why I haven't discovered this outstanding market before, but since she suggested meeting at London Bridge, and since I was early, I went into Southwark Cathedral, which is rather lovely, and then into the market - magnificent displays of cheese, artisinal bread, fish and meat from around the country. I bought some lamb chops from the Rhyg estate, which we know from its in situ farm shop in Snowdonia. T and I were also given what was described as 'the best chocolate brownie in the known universe': apparently William Shatner had told the bakers that this was the case, so it must be true. Who could argue with Capt Kirk? But they were excellent. We had a pleasant lunch in the Southwark Tavern - I gather that the Globe, which was not serving food, will allow you to bring in snacks from the market, which is pretty civilised.

In addition to this primarily gastronomic experience, I also fitted in a visit to the Wellcome Collection: a very interesting display of charms collected by folklorist Edward Lovett, and with accompanying artworks by (IIRC) Felicity Powell, made of wax carved onto the backs of mirrors. Lots of acorn charms, to ward of lightning: obviously a besetting Victorian fear. Some of the collection is in the Cuming Museum and the Pitt Rivers. And the Wellcome also had a display of Mexican exvoto paintings on tin roofing tiles, thanking the saints for rescue and aid. Some gruesome pictures of people being mown down by electric trams, setting themselves on fire, and falling off telegraph poles. The saints must be busy.