Tim Weed's Blog, page 20
August 2, 2014
Will Poole’s Island book trailer is live!
Watch the trailer!
Immense gratitude to Ben Shumlin, the talented young (16!) filmmaker who produced this impressive short video, and his crew. We had a great time batting ideas around and shooting the footage in various wilderness settings, and it was fun to see how a video like this goes from a concept to a reality.
Some of the filming was done using a quadcopter drone; if you’re curious about that, or about the filming in general, there are photos and videos on my Facebook page. Please “like” the page while you’re there to see occasional posts on the book, some of the historical research that went in to it, and various other projects.
Will Poole’s Island Book Trailer is Live!
Watch the trailer!
Immense gratitude to Ben Shumlin, the talented young (16!) filmmaker who produced this impressive short video, and his crew. We had a great time batting ideas around and shooting the footage in various wilderness settings, and it was fun to see how a video like this goes from a concept to a reality.
Some of the filming was done using a quadcopter drone; if you’re curious about that, or about the filming in general, there are photos and videos on my Facebook page. Please “like” the page while you’re there to see occasional posts on the book, some of the historical research that went in to it, and various other projects.
July 28, 2014
Will Poole’s Island is Nantucket Bookworks’ Pick of the Month
Great news this morning from one of the world’s greatest independent bookstores: Will Poole’s Island has been selected as Nantucket Bookworks‘ Teen Pick of the Month!
If you’ve been lucky enough to visit the mysterious and evocative isle of Nantucket then you know that this bookstore and its partner store, Mitchell’s Books, are essential landmarks for readers and must-do stops in historic downtown. It’s a great honor to receive this nod from what has long been a rainy day refuge for me and countless others — all the sweeter because the historical and physical landscapes of the island were so important to the writing of the novel.
Order the book directly from the bookstore here.
Will Poole’s Island is Nantucket Bookworks’ Teen Pick of the Month
Great news this morning from one of the world’s greatest independent bookstores: Will Poole’s Island has been selected as Nantucket Bookworks‘ Teen Pick of the Month!
If you’ve been lucky enough to visit the mysterious and evocative isle of Nantucket then you know that this bookstore and its partner store, Mitchell’s Books, are essential landmarks for readers and must-do stops in historic downtown. It’s a great honor to receive this nod from what has long been a rainy day refuge for me and countless others — all the sweeter because the historical and physical landscapes of the island were so important to the writing of the novel.
Order the book directly from the bookstore here.
Will Poole’s Island is Teen Pick of the Month
Great news this morning from one of the world’s greatest independent bookstores: Will Poole’s Island has been selected as Nantucket Bookworks‘ Teen Pick of the Month!
If you’ve been lucky enough to visit the mysterious and evocative isle of Nantucket then you know that this bookstore and its partner store, Mitchell’s Books, are essential landmarks for readers and must-do stops in historic downtown. It’s a great honor to receive this nod from what has long been a rainy day refuge for me and countless others — all the sweeter because the historical and physical landscapes of the island were so important to the writing of the novel.
Order the book directly from the bookstore here.
July 14, 2014
Literary New England Radio Show
It was a true pleasure to chat recently with Literary New England Radio Show host Cindy Wolfe Boynton about Will Poole’s Island. We discussed the genesis of the book, some of the historical research that went into it, the extent to which the protagonist is an autobiographical figure, and my version of the 21st century writing life. Cindy asked good questions, and I began by reading a brief excerpt from Chapter Four of the book. All in all, a most enjoyable conversation!
The show, which also features distinguished New England authors Deborah Harkness, Erika Johansen, and Courtney Maum, aired Monday, July 14, 2014, and is available as a podcast for you to download and hear at your own leisure by clicking here.
Note: Once you download the podcast you can move the cursor to whatever point you want to start listening. My portion of the interview begins at minute 38.50.
New historical fiction article up at The Grub Daily
My two part writing craft article, “Narrative as Time Machine: Five Tools for World Building in Historical Fiction” is now up at The Grub Daily.
The article grew out of a talk I gave at Grub Street’s fantastic Muse and the Marketplace conference in May, 2014, and analyzes key excerpts from great historical fiction novels such as The Age of Innocence, The English Patient, Cold Mountain, The King Must Die, and more. If this sounds interesting to you, click here for Part I, and here for Part II. Hope you enjoy it!
July 6, 2014
Writing in Ireland Program
This week I am once again privileged to joining a group of young American writers on Putney Student Travel’s Writing in Ireland program. We’ll be spending time in Dublin and on the stunning, mystical isle of Inishbofin off the Connemara coast. Very excited!
As anyone who’s been following this blog knows, in my day job I travel a great deal — mostly to Spanish-speaking countries with wonderful organizations like National Geographic Expeditions and the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center — but I have to say this is a special trip, one of my favorites. There’s nothing like working and adventuring with a group of passionate young writers who are up for anything and enjoy spending all day and night geeking out about literature and craft.
We’ll do field exercises to generate new work, have some feedback sessions leading to revision, and of course mount a final reading, which will take place this year on July 12th, 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m., at the Irish Writer’s Centre, located at 19 Parnell Square, Dublin.
If you’re interested to see what we’re up to and what an international travel program for young writers looks like, take a look at the program blog.
June 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews!
“Immersive, like the best of historical fiction . . . This riveting portrayal of early Colonial New England shines a speculative but compelling light on the time and place.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Read the full review here. 
June 17, 2014
Interview with Alden Jones up at Fiction Writers Review
I recently had a chance to talk about the writing craft with the brilliant and fascinating Alden Jones, who’s made a splash this year with two great new books: a highly acclaimed travel memoir and a short fiction collection that is among the best I’ve read in the last few years. In the interview, which is now up at Fiction Writers Review, we talk about some of the differences between writing fiction and nonfiction, how exotic and/or extreme experiences can be transmuted into narrative, the benefits of publishing your work with small presses, and much more. Here’s a quick excerpt:
“I especially like to explore characters who think they understand their motives, when really they are after something entirely different than they think they are. But I think some contemporary fiction writers condescend to their characters this way—for example, I love Jonathan Franzen, but sometimes I wonder if he spends hundreds of pages developing a character for the purpose of exposing every single shortcoming, mining for humor at the character’s expense—and I don’t want to do that. I like to think I respect my characters, but know them better than they happen to know themselves in the particular situation in which I’ve placed them.”
Good stuff. You can read the full interview here.
