Liz Williams's Blog, page 32
November 7, 2010
Writing workshop - repost
I'm scheduling a 2 day workshop in 2011, 22-23rd January (weekend), 10 a.m to 4 p.m, in London. The cost - excluding accommodation - will be £120. This particular workshop is directed at people who are aiming at publication and covers the basics of:
- short story writing
- novel writing
- preparing work for publication
- marketing your work
- contacting agents and publishers
- genre as an industry
There are a maximum of 10 places and no entry criteria. We will not be doing a lot of writing during the workshop itself - the idea, which has proved successful in the University of Sussex workshops, is to download as much as possible of what I have learned in a decade-long pro career into your heads!
You are welcome to email me at: mevennen@hotmail.com for more information.
- short story writing
- novel writing
- preparing work for publication
- marketing your work
- contacting agents and publishers
- genre as an industry
There are a maximum of 10 places and no entry criteria. We will not be doing a lot of writing during the workshop itself - the idea, which has proved successful in the University of Sussex workshops, is to download as much as possible of what I have learned in a decade-long pro career into your heads!
You are welcome to email me at: mevennen@hotmail.com for more information.
Creative writing tutoring - new
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 McCann's first novel, As Meat Loves Salt, was published to considerable acclaim in 2001 and was an Economist Book of the Year. Described as a 'fat juicy masterpiece', it has never gone out of print. The Wilding (2010) was longlisted for the Orange Prize and was one of eight novels selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club out of a hundred and sixty titles submitted by publishers. She has also published shorter pieces in anthologies and magazines.
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.
Maria McCann's first novel, As Meat Loves Salt, was published to considerable acclaim in 2001 and was an Economist Book of the Year. Described as a 'fat juicy masterpiece', it has never gone out of print. The Wilding (2010) was longlisted for the Orange Prize and was one of eight novels selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club out of a hundred and sixty titles submitted by publishers. She has also published shorter pieces in anthologies and magazines.
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.
November 5, 2010
Apologies for radio silence
...especially for those waiting for stories. I have flu, and no connectivity in the bedroom.
Normal service will be resumed asap.
Normal service will be resumed asap.
November 2, 2010
Whitby
We have just returned from Whitby and the Goth Festival - we took a stall up at the Spa, which is perched on the very dramatic West Cliff, opposite the Abbey.
We started out at 4.30 a.m on Thursday and arrived in Yorkshire by half past 10. It was a lovely day, so we drove down to Goathland (Heartbeat was filmed here, if anyone watches that) and followed the old Roman road on foot into larch woodland for a bit before heading into Whitby itself. We visited a number of the town's pubs over the weekend - it's an old-fashioned town and the first pub had a petition on the bar asking for support for Whitby's fishing fleet. We also admired Whitby's magnificent steam-powered bus.
Trade was very slow, but we managed to get out to the various other stalls of the festival and had plenty of time to people-watch. There were some stunning costumes - a high percentage of people in their sixties and even seventies, dressed in full Victorian gear. First prize from me went to an elderly lady in full mourning rig, and a steampunk couple (he was in copper armour with a whirring top hat and his partner was a balloonist of some description). Wandering around Whitby with all this going on was a lot of fun. I had lunch in a tiny cafe called Sherlock's, which did bear a close resemblance to the Baker St rooms, with added cake, and which was full of women in hats, buttoned boots and mobile phones. Ah, modern life.
We went to the Spa on both the Friday and Saturday evening, but alas, although I have dressed like a Goth for the last 25 years, I do not care for the music (there are exceptions - our good friends in Cauda Pavonis being some of them), so we hung out in the bar above a raging sea and caught up with people instead.
We stayed with some old friends in one of the nearby villages - great to see them and all their cats, too. Also excellent to visit J and B and menage, including amazing dog, on the way back. We decided to cut out the motorway as much as possible and headed back over the Peaks, having lunch in a place called the Lamb Inn (Derbyshire), which the wide-eyed barmaid informed me was 'ever so haunted.' Got back about 6 yesterday afternoon, and now have con crud.
Huge thank you to the home team, who did a sterling job of dog-minding. What the dogs have managed to do in our absence is somewhat sobering: Lily somehow got locked in the spare bedroom today, when T was in the house, and has ripped up the carpet. Our lodger managed to cordon off the stairs with clamps, but even so. Beyond the call of duty, guys, and I am somewhat mortified that our animals have caused our friends so much trouble.
If anyone is waiting for this quarter's short stories, which many of you are - they are on their way, but the dogs have eaten the router cable to the living room and I need to sort my connectivity out. Aiming at getting the stories out tomorrow.
We started out at 4.30 a.m on Thursday and arrived in Yorkshire by half past 10. It was a lovely day, so we drove down to Goathland (Heartbeat was filmed here, if anyone watches that) and followed the old Roman road on foot into larch woodland for a bit before heading into Whitby itself. We visited a number of the town's pubs over the weekend - it's an old-fashioned town and the first pub had a petition on the bar asking for support for Whitby's fishing fleet. We also admired Whitby's magnificent steam-powered bus.
Trade was very slow, but we managed to get out to the various other stalls of the festival and had plenty of time to people-watch. There were some stunning costumes - a high percentage of people in their sixties and even seventies, dressed in full Victorian gear. First prize from me went to an elderly lady in full mourning rig, and a steampunk couple (he was in copper armour with a whirring top hat and his partner was a balloonist of some description). Wandering around Whitby with all this going on was a lot of fun. I had lunch in a tiny cafe called Sherlock's, which did bear a close resemblance to the Baker St rooms, with added cake, and which was full of women in hats, buttoned boots and mobile phones. Ah, modern life.
We went to the Spa on both the Friday and Saturday evening, but alas, although I have dressed like a Goth for the last 25 years, I do not care for the music (there are exceptions - our good friends in Cauda Pavonis being some of them), so we hung out in the bar above a raging sea and caught up with people instead.
We stayed with some old friends in one of the nearby villages - great to see them and all their cats, too. Also excellent to visit J and B and menage, including amazing dog, on the way back. We decided to cut out the motorway as much as possible and headed back over the Peaks, having lunch in a place called the Lamb Inn (Derbyshire), which the wide-eyed barmaid informed me was 'ever so haunted.' Got back about 6 yesterday afternoon, and now have con crud.
Huge thank you to the home team, who did a sterling job of dog-minding. What the dogs have managed to do in our absence is somewhat sobering: Lily somehow got locked in the spare bedroom today, when T was in the house, and has ripped up the carpet. Our lodger managed to cordon off the stairs with clamps, but even so. Beyond the call of duty, guys, and I am somewhat mortified that our animals have caused our friends so much trouble.
If anyone is waiting for this quarter's short stories, which many of you are - they are on their way, but the dogs have eaten the router cable to the living room and I need to sort my connectivity out. Aiming at getting the stories out tomorrow.
October 26, 2010
Creative writing tutoring - new
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:
Maria McCann's first novel, As Meat Loves Salt, was published to considerable acclaim in 2001 and was an Economist Book of the Year. Described as a 'fat juicy masterpiece', it has never gone out of print. The Wilding (2010) was longlisted for the Orange Prize and was one of eight novels selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club out of a hundred and sixty titles submitted by publishers. Maria has also published shorter pieces in anthologies and magazines.
Along with fellow novelists Emma Darwin, Rose Melikan and R N Morris, Maria appears at literary festivals under the title 'Through a Different Lens', discussing aspects of writing and researching historical fiction.
Maria has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Glamorgan. For nearly a decade she has been running 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. Her speciality is prose fiction.
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
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.
Maria McCann's first novel, As Meat Loves Salt, was published to considerable acclaim in 2001 and was an Economist Book of the Year. Described as a 'fat juicy masterpiece', it has never gone out of print. The Wilding (2010) was longlisted for the Orange Prize and was one of eight novels selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club out of a hundred and sixty titles submitted by publishers. Maria has also published shorter pieces in anthologies and magazines.
Along with fellow novelists Emma Darwin, Rose Melikan and R N Morris, Maria appears at literary festivals under the title 'Through a Different Lens', discussing aspects of writing and researching historical fiction.
Maria has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Glamorgan. For nearly a decade she has been running 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. Her speciality is prose fiction.
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
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.
Short story sale - limited edition
First of all, thank you so much for your support. If there is anyone out there who has paid for stories but not received them, do email me asap. WE ARE NEARLY AT THE LIMIT, especially for Chen - but there are a few subs still available and the next round of stories will go out early next week. If you sign up now, I'll send you the set from last quarter, and the set for this one, too.
You will find a PayPal button at the end of this post. I would like to thank those of you who have already signed up for your support - it is greatly appreciated, and it's also been great to hear from you.
I'm trying a new approach this year: directly marketing a small quantity of limited edition short fiction online. I'll be writing a series of 4 short stories (one per quarter) set in one of 3 worlds. So that's 3 new short stories per quarter:
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.
Her next move wasn't subtle at all. She stared past the Russian's epauletted shoulder, with widened eyes and parted lips, and gave a little gasp. He only turned for a second, but it was enough for Mary to decant the bulk of her drink into the nearest pot plant. When he turned back, she was unsteadily replacing the glass on the table top.
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.
I should have done this before, but one never likes to affront the locals; you never know whether they might appear at your gates one winter midnight, all pitchforks and low muttering and flaming brands.
I suppose they have to make their own fun.
Inspector Chen: Well, you are hopefully familiar with this one by now!
*
I'm doing a limited run of 100, for each story.
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.
You can do it through Paypal (NB - this is still setting up repeat payments for 2011 but as soon as I hear back from Paypal I will fix this. I obviously won't be expecting everyone to pay twice!)
Stories will be sent as a Word attachment or a PDF. Long-term customers will get something collectible in hard-copy at the end of the year: I'm working on that, but it is likely to be a copy of A Glass of Shadow, which is a new hard copy short story collection coming out with New Con Press.
Interested?: email me on: mevennen(at)hotmail.com.
Short Stories
Chen £18.00
Cygne £18.00
GP £18.00
All 3 series £50.00
You will find a PayPal button at the end of this post. I would like to thank those of you who have already signed up for your support - it is greatly appreciated, and it's also been great to hear from you.
I'm trying a new approach this year: directly marketing a small quantity of limited edition short fiction online. I'll be writing a series of 4 short stories (one per quarter) set in one of 3 worlds. So that's 3 new short stories per quarter:
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.
Her next move wasn't subtle at all. She stared past the Russian's epauletted shoulder, with widened eyes and parted lips, and gave a little gasp. He only turned for a second, but it was enough for Mary to decant the bulk of her drink into the nearest pot plant. When he turned back, she was unsteadily replacing the glass on the table top.
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.
I should have done this before, but one never likes to affront the locals; you never know whether they might appear at your gates one winter midnight, all pitchforks and low muttering and flaming brands.
I suppose they have to make their own fun.
Inspector Chen: Well, you are hopefully familiar with this one by now!
*
I'm doing a limited run of 100, for each story.
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.
You can do it through Paypal (NB - this is still setting up repeat payments for 2011 but as soon as I hear back from Paypal I will fix this. I obviously won't be expecting everyone to pay twice!)
Stories will be sent as a Word attachment or a PDF. Long-term customers will get something collectible in hard-copy at the end of the year: I'm working on that, but it is likely to be a copy of A Glass of Shadow, which is a new hard copy short story collection coming out with New Con Press.
Interested?: email me on: mevennen(at)hotmail.com.
Short Stories
Chen £18.00
Cygne £18.00
GP £18.00
All 3 series £50.00
October 19, 2010
Resolved....
...the issue with usernames does indeed seem to have been solved by a change of background theme. Thank you, folks!
A small irritation...
...is that LJ has stopped putting people's user names on their posts. Any idea how I can fix this? I am assuming it is a glitch - user names still appear on the groups, but not on LJs belonging to individuals.
October 11, 2010
Prime Books
I have signed a 3 book deal with Prime Books. It's called Worldsoul and it's about a stolen library, an unstable monorail, several renegade sphinxes and much else besides. It's more fantasy than SF. The first novel will be coming out either next year or early 2012,
Liz Williams's Blog
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