Liz Williams's Blog, page 24

Octavia Butler and others

Via triciasullivan - the Angry Black Woman is posting some great photos, including Octavia Butler. This is in response to Psychology Today's piece, originally titled "Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?" This would strike me as a completely bizarre statement were it not rather too common among people and organisations who should know better, but on behalf of T's beautiful nieces, among others, I'm boosting the signal here:

http://theangryblackwoman.com/2011/05/21/octavia-butler-science-fiction-authorhad-the-pleasure-of/

Sunday - various

We appear to have remained on planet Earth. Along with, er, everyone else.

Meanwhile, Worldsoul is gathering momentum: I'm about a quarter of the way through and, as I think I mentioned in a previous post, attempting to avoid the usual trick of jettisoning 30K halfway through.

T and I took the dogs out to the bird reserve this morning - quite a few cuckoos, yellow flags in the ditches and golden kingcups. La M and I heard a bittern last week.

Fum and Gebra

I can haz owl! I can haz pussycat! Edward Lear, eat your heart out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqmba7npY8g&feature=share

Mad Writing Skillz

As well as the short story sub and a couple of other projects, I am keeping to schedule with Worldsoul, and for those of you who are interested in writing processes, I am working on a minimum of 1K words a day. This is realistic given other commitments, and means that I am usually able to write more.

For the last term, I have been teaching a creative writing course at the local college, and we have spent quite a lot of time discussing novel plans. I am a planner, mainly because if I don't, a novel will go too far astray. Some people (I believe Geoff Ryman is one of them, from conversations I've had with him) manage to just sit down and write books: my mind is clearly not sufficiently linear to be able to do this without a plan. There's a fine line between planning so much that you feel that you've already written the book, and therefore become bored, and not planning at all, so that you become hopelessly bogged down halfway through. Mileage will vary, obviously.

I also bluff. I don't make reams of notes about a particular culture before I start writing. At the moment, I'm learning about Worldsoul and what that world contains as I go along. Things keep appearing, and it feels as though it's naturally unfolding. It's obviously a world that is generous with its secrets, unlike some (the future Earth in Banner of Souls, for example, was not nearly so forthcoming).

MILFORD - FULLY BOOKED

Unprecedentedly, everyone has been so quick off the mark to sign up for Milford this year that it is now full - and it's great to see so many new people on board. I will be establishing a waiting list, in case we have anyone dropping out. If you were intending to sign up, then our apologies - this has taken us somewhat by surprise. We may well be running a mini-Milford in the next 12 months, and of course, you can still register for 2012.

Tuesday

We have been having one of those days where it is raining, we have the day off, and we have spent it putting screws and buttons and old coils into jamjars and clearing out drawers... It is dull and necessary and we are virtuous. We have eaten leftovers, and cleaned the kitchen. And because we seem to have stockpiled a weapons-level amount of Frontline, we have de-flead the dogs, as poor Lily - despite being de-flead last week - has now worn a large bald patch in her own fur.

Later we are going to the pub, as a reward for our virtue.

In between re-homing buttons, I have been writing the first book of Worldsoul. It's now up to about 15K, and going well. I am on track to complete this by about August, and I know where I'm going with it. The characters have started to solidify and develop their own voices, and it allows me free rein on the imagination: it's very different to Singapore Three but permits me a wider mythological scope.

Word meter

 11,300 / 100,000
(11.3%)

Short story subscriptions

The remaining 3 short stories will be sent out to you all by mid-May.

If anyone is still interested in signing up (in which case you will get all the stories at once), email me at: mevennen@hotmail.com.

Glastonbury Conference for the Fantastic in Literature

THE WRITE FANTASTIC PRESENTS:

THE GLASTONBURY CONFERENCE FOR THE FANTASTIC IN LITERATURE

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3RD, 2011, 10 - 6

At: The Grail Centre, 24 Chilkwell Street, Glastonbury

Guest of Honour: Freda Warrington

Speakers include Dr Liz Williams on Dion Fortune, Paul Weston on John Cowper Powys, and others.

The cost is £20 for the day and we have limited space - email me for bookings at: mevennen@hotmail.com

Outstanding

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2009/12/09/village-to-close-after-contributing-nothing-to-local-tesco-430/