Liz Williams's Blog, page 6

Food. Birthday. More food.

We have been doing a LOT of cooking recently, and some eating out (for other people's birthdays). A vegetarian friend visited at the weekend, and I did a large emergency vegetable pasta (emergency because we were supposed to be going out, but the car packed up). Our friend was out on Friday, as was T, so I cooked a quick frittata for them with some guacamole, then once they were elsewhere, used up some chicken pieces as a roast with fennel seeds, garlic and lemon juice, plus vegetable rice. We did a chick pea and aubergine stew on Sunday, and as our friend had to return unexpectedly to London, cooked a squash and onion risotto, which T and I also had yesterday with the chick pea thing, which we boosted with some chorizo and harissa, and creme fraiche.

Tonight being my birthday, we did a duck in a marmalade, mustard and cider brandy glaze, which was exceptional if I say so myself, with roast potatoes, parsnip, asparagus and sprouting broccoli, which we are having with a chablis. We have cooked the remainder of last week's pheasant as a stew with puy lentils in cider, with root veg.

Eating out has been at the Who'da Thought It in Glastonbury - have tried their cheese roulade (excellent), Thai beef as a starter, scallops (also a starter - this was over the two meals) and the fish and chips, all of which have been pretty good.

Cookbooks - for my birthday, arrived Florencia Clifford's Feeding Orchids to Slugs, which is her account of cooking for a Zen retreat in Wales and also one on Dartmoor. She is an Argentinian living in York, and there are some lovely chapters reminiscing about her childhood in Argentina. Also highly recommended is Alana Chernila's excellent The Homemade Pantry, an American cookbook sent at Christmas by my dear friend R, who also cooks in Massachusetts and who knows Alana.

Short story sub - update

The third quarter's stories have just gone out to subscribers (let me know if you have not received yours), but it's not too late if you'd like some reading material:

WINTERSTRIKE: there will be four short stories set in the world of Banner of Souls and Winterstrike, so if you’re after some far future Martian tales, this is the sub for you!

WORLDSOUL: again, 4 short stories, each set in the different quarters of Worldsoul – north, south, east and west, featuring some of the characters from the new novel.

CHEN: With the series eventually coming to a conclusion, although not an end, with Morningstar, which is now due out next year, this is an opportunity for me to explore the back stories of some of the other characters in the series, although Chen and Zhu Irzh (with added badger) will be appearing in them. At the moment, this will mean: Sergeant Ma, Exorcist Lao, No Ro Shi the ultra-Communist demon hunter, and Chen’s commanding officer.

Customised stories under the Story Garden imprint are also still available.

NEW NOVEL: THE MOON IN DAYLIGHT

And I have…a new novel!

"...At this time that is not a time, in this place that is not a place, on this day that is not a day..."
He did not speak in English, but in old Welsh, the sibilance whispering through the vaults. Movement caught the corner of his eye, but he ignored it. He stared straight ahead, to the red candle. In the pool of its own light, it looked like a column of meat: the white wick a sliver of fiery bone.
Outside, London hammered on. Nothing to do with him, this modern twenty-first century world, and yet he had a place in it. Not as his own self, for most of the world had long since ceased to pay attention to his kind, long since ceased to believe. The real world, some called it. But that, he thought, was on the verge of changing.
After all, real is what you make it, if you are a god.”

The Moon in Daylight is a full-length contemporary urban fantasy novel which has never been published in either short story form or novel format – it’s a new world for me. Set in London and North Wales, this is the start of the adventures of Siriol Jones – professional herbalist, Druid and magician – and her mysterious friend the Hermit. In this novel, Siri and the Hermit go in search of Siri’s addict sister, Non, and find more than they bargained for in a trip to the Celtic otherworld. It’s got magic, some very dodgy goddesses, London folklore, the club-going lord of midsummer and ancient boar spirits, and what I hope is a reasonably accurate depiction of the actual British pagan scene.

In tone, it’s closer to the Chen novels than my SF, and it is hopefully a light read!

The Moon in Daylight is available in Word and PDF format, and I can send this to you immediately.





Short Stories
Worldsoul stories x 4 £16.00 GBP
Winterstrike stories x 4 £16.00 GBP
Chen stories x 4 £16.00 GBP
The Moon in Daylight £10.00 GBP
All of it! £50.00 GBP
All of it for regular subscribers £45.00 GBP

SFWA

It isn't really my place to comment on this at all, since I haven't been a member of SFWA for some time (I was a member for some years when I was regularly attending US conventions, but I am UK based). However, there was mention elsewhere that it would be a shame if Steven Gould's bid for the presidency was overlooked by the fact that he is, by existential definition, not his current opponent (this would, IMO, be reason enough to vote for him, but given the views of the other candidate, it would be reason enough to vote for this). However, I did take a long look at Gould's proposed platform and there seems to be some really good, reasonable approaches on it: I like his inclusive, calm attitude, it's forward-looking without jumping to any hasty conclusions about either membership or the future of publishing, and there seems to be a general consensus that he's a committed team-player and a good writer, too. Whether or not I do rejoin SFWA, I would urge fellow writers to take a look at Steven's proposals.

Milford SF Workshop

For all my writer friends:

We have made the decision to open for bookings very early this year, as people are already booking up! The workshop is now very popular so if you are thinking of coming this year, please do not delay in booking your place.

Bookings are now open for the next annual Milford Writers' Conference 14th - 21st September 2013 at Trigonos in beautiful Snowdonia, North Wales.

The total price for 2013 is £585 inclusive of full board for seven nights. A non returnable deposit of £115 is required to secure your booking and the balance of £470 is payable to Trigonos upon attending (by cash or cheque - no cards). Apart from a small Milford admin fee of £10, this sum represents your booking with Trigonos for accommodation.

You are cordially invited. As usual the minimum qualification is one fiction sale, any length to any recognised market. (i.e. not self-published). There's already been brisk interest, so please don't delay your application if you want to come.

Full details and application forms are here: http://www.milfordsf.co.uk/attend.htm

Writing

More as and when, but I've just sold the first short story of 2013 - very pleased about this. I must apologise to those of who are waiting for the last set of subscription stories - I'm about halfway through with these and aiming at the end of the month at the latest: which is late, I know. I'm behind due to shop closures and, in the last two weeks, having to do writing and mentoring work which has all served to put me behind. Catching up slowly, however.

Starmen

This week has been somewhat intensive on the writing front: I'm on hiatus with novels at the moment, but have been working on an edit and a mentoring appraisal, and also with a talk that I am giving at a local society tomorrow night (on faith in the age of reason, which is exercising my philosophy of science chops). And I have been writing a commissioned short story for an anthology, based on David Bowie - this has been interesting, as I've been raiding not my memories, but Trevor's. He knew the then-Davy Jones in Beckenham (south London, which is where T is from) in the late 60s and early 70s, when he was not really a pop star and not then David Bowie, but the rather weird-looking young man who ran Beckenham Arts Lab. I found an old interview with DB from that period, in which he was very earnest, said how nice everyone had been, and commented on the surprising number of sitars in Beckenham. Our friend N, who is a similar age to T and from the same area, remembers Ziggy Stardust standing in the queue in the bank, and garnering some rather old-fashioned looks from other customers.

Miss Biffin and Miss King

The Western Daily Press has some very good articles this weekend, including one on the communally run Clevedon bookshop, one on how local pubs are resurrecting themselves as non-tied, real ale houses, and a very good article by Martin Hesp on Sarah Biffin and Alice King, both of whom were from Somerset.

Biffin was from East Quantoxhead. She became a miniature painter in the 1800s and produced work for mot of the Georges and Victoria and Albert. She also took up a position as official artist at the court of the King of Holland.

Not bad for a country girl who was born with no arms. Or legs. She painted with a brush held in her teeth.

Alice King wrote a number of novels, also in the 1800s, including The Woman With a Secret and Queen of Herself. She poke seven languages and rode to hounds, none of which might be very remarkable had she not been struck blind at the age of seven. She seems to have regarded this as a minor inconvenience and said that it was compensated for by an ability to see the future.

Creative Writing Mentoring

As some of you will know, I have been offering manuscript appraisal services for some time now and am holding my prices constant for 2013.


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

I 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, I 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, I 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!).

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

The aim of this process is to prepare work for publication. Obviously, I cannot guarantee that, although I would note that one of my students has just had her first and now second novel published as part of a 3 book-deal and a number of other students have now self published. 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, please email me at mevennen@hotmail.com for further information, including a full breakdown of costs.

Short story subs and other outstanding

This is just a holding message, and an apology - if anyone is waiting for outstanding e-books from me, they will be on their way as soon as possible. This quarter's subscriptions will be a little late.

I must apologise for this - we are currently in the process of restructuring our business premises and this is taking up a great deal of time (and causing disruption). Thank you for your patience.

The Next Big Thing

So, having been tagged by Paul Cornell, I duly take up the challenge and -

What is the working title of your next book?

Diary of a Witchcraft Shop II, written by myself and Trevor Jones.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

That would be our life. We run a witchcraft supply shop in Glastonbury. The events in the book are condensed, a little, but they are all true. Unfortunately, I am tempted to add.

What genre does your book fall under?

Autobiography.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Michael Gambon might do a good job with Trevor, although he's older than T. I think I'd have to go for Tamsin Grieg, who was in Black Books, as myself.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

I think the title pretty much sums it up - it does what it says on the tin.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It will be published by the estimable Ian Whates of NewCon Press - date tba, but soon.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

About a month, as it's mainly taken from blog posts, although not all of it. I also needed Jamie Alexzander and Jack Snell, who contributed quite a few of the anecdotes and had the misfortune to live through a lot of this with us, to cast their eyes over the mss and give final approval.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Sybil Leek did a similar book about her bookshop in Hampshire.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

That would be the life thing...

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Anyone interested in neopaganism might find it helpful to get a view of what life in this community and spirituality is really like, as opposed to Charmed, say....

We're now running out of people to tag, and I'm uncomfortable with that anyway, so if anyone wants to pick up the meme, I suggest you go for it!