Springing

May Day.

Tomorrow is the first day of May. On the Pagan calendar, the holiday Beltane is coming up fast, on May 5th.

May is spring. It’s springing from your seed, ready to bloom into the world. It’s movement, rebirth, growth. It’s putting into action all the stuff you spent the long dark winter planning. May is sexual awakening too (the rights of Beltane were often celebrated with folks going off into the woods together to spend a night doing the dirty).

Perhaps paradoxically, my spring has started off with me growing in a new way–learning to say no to things and prioritizing what I need to do. If you know me, if you’ve been reading for a while, you know this is HUGE for me. I turned down a conference I really wanted to go to because I knew I’d be spreading myself too thin on the day. I only booked a teaching day in Leicester because I knew other scheduled things weren’t happening that week.

And on the other hand, I’m learning to network. To chat, discuss, politely laugh, send emails, and generally get folks to remember me. This seems to have led to another teaching opportunity in London…we’ll see.

Coming up on my to-do list:

Poster presentation for my Uni work (think third grade science fair, with judges coming around to ask questions. Yes, really. No, I don’t know why), business presentation for the end of my business course to business owners in the community (think Dragon’s Den, with no money in it), blood tests/clinic visit, teaching marginalized kids, writing lecture at the BBC, Women of Troy at the theater, workshops for phd cred, editing, editing, editing. Writing, writing, writing.

And then the first weekend of June brings the Bold Strokes Book Festival in Nottingham, which is coming up fast. I REALLY hope you’ll be there.

So, because I’ve got some time in my schedule May, I’m going to participate in Be Love Live’s next month long photo challenge, Who Am I? I’m hoping it will get me to think about who I am in relation to the budding world around me, even as I throw stuff on my calendar like splattering mud on a window. Some sticks, some smears.

What are your plans for May? Are you coming to the event in June in Nottingham?

Song: Somebody that I used to know by Gotye

Book: The Dragon Tree Legacy by Ali Vali

 

Checking In and a Question for You

This week is one of the busiest of my year so far. And if you know me, that’s saying something. Here’s a quick run down, and at the end, a question for you.

You know I did the detox last month in an effort to suss out what was causing my migraines and throat issues. You know that my migraines decreased exponentially, while my throat problem remained an issue.

Yesterday, this little fact became glaringly clear: 1 coffee = 1 migraine.

Now I know. And strangely, I’m not as devastated as I thought I would be. I didn’t actually really enjoy the coffee anyway. I can have a nice chai tea instead if I go out, and I’ll be just fine. I’ve also determined that wheat hates me, and my stomach is far happier without it. Again, not upset by this.

Progress. Yay me!

I started physio for the pain in my hips and back on Monday. It was unpleasant.  And it’s going to be for several months, most likely. Hopefully the benefits will outweigh the excruciating pain and debilitating exhaustion that come with it.

Yesterday I started a business course to get Global Words off the ground. Eight hours every Tuesday for thirteen weeks. That’s a hell of a lot of business for someone who prefers the ethereal realm of words.

Today I’m heading to my weekly research course for my PhD work (an extension of my MA work, in a lot of ways), something I look forward to every week. I’ve met some fascinating people I’m fast developing friendships and community with. My writing itself has stalled due to red-tape. I have to get my project approved, and I’m not doing a lot of writing because I’m worried about them saying it’s not viable or something. Fortunately, it’s a hurdle that should have been overcome by next week.

And at various points throughout the week, I’m teaching aspects of writing. My editing workshop is going extremely well, and I think the few folks taking it are enjoying it. Tomorrow, I’m teaching a writing masterclass to young people about to take their exit exams and on the cusp of not passing. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. There’s something about teaching the joys of writing and story telling to young people that lights up my day.

Friday brings a day spent with a group of German and Hungarian writers for the Dovetail project, wandering through museums and talking international writing.

Saturday and Sunday bring the Nottingham Festival of Words. Not only will I be selling books for BSB, but I’ll also be reading a section of one of my short stories for the LGBT prose panel, (I haven’t decided what I’m reading yet, of course), and I’ll also be on the panel after discussing the nature of LGBT literature today with a few other far more distinguished and elegantly spoken folks. If you’re anywhere in the UK and think you’d like a good weekend of Lit events and LGBT panels (there’s a LGBT poetry and performance session on Sunday too), then come join us.

That’s my seven days. Somewhere in there I have to fit in the editing of a book promised to a certain author (sorry, author X), I have to do my own writing, an assignment is due for my research course, and I believe there’s some kind of heart-ish holiday too.

Here is my question for you, because it’s foremost on my mind right now:

If you were a storyteller, and you had to tell your story, what would your first line be?

Come Write with Me

There’s still time to register for my course, Editing Your Prose.

It starts on January 14th and is six weeks–every Monday night at the Nottingham Writer’s Studio.

I’d love to have you there. I’ve pasted the course details below. To register, go to http://www.nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk.

 

Editing Your Prose with Victoria Oldham

14 January – 18 February (6 weeks)

Victoria is back with her much praised Editing Your Prose course. So many people were asking about it we decided to run it again! See what past participants have said:

“I was a bit stuck on what type of editing the second draft of my novel needed – now I’m not.”

“It more than met my expectations – covering material I hadn’t thought about – despite my own professional editing experience. [...] I now understand things I’ve been told before, that didn’t entirely make sense. It’s improved my planning process almost beyond recognition.”

The Course

The first course of action when writing is to write. To get your ideas down in, at least theoretically, a cohesive and plausible way. But when you’re done with that, it’s time to give your work some tough love. This six-week editing course will go over various aspects of self-editing, including point of view, structural gaps and how to fill them, word choice, dialogue and basic editing tips on both line and structural levels. You will be working on your own manuscript, and the instructor will use examples from everyone’s work in order to show, not tell.

The Tutor

Victoria Oldham is a professional editor with a publishing house in New York, and has published more than sixty articles and short stories.

Cost: £48 full price, £36 NWS members
Dates: Mondays, weekly, from 14 January to 18 February 2013, 7–9pm
Where: the NWS meeting room.
To book: Contact us on admin@nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk.

 

Do Not Go Quietly

So, 2012: 

1. I began my PhD journey at Nottingham Trent Uni.
2. Travelled to California for the Bold Strokes Book Fest. Shopped.
3. States of Independence publishing conference. LGBT panel with Andrea Bramhall,  Rebecca Buck and Kev Troughton.
4. 3rd Annual BSB UK book festival. Eleven authors attend.
5. The London Olympics 2012. I was there. 
6. I made contact with the paternal side of the family after nearly thirty years.
7. Redundancy
8. Florida. Mom. Kayaking with dolphins. Harry Potter land.
9. The house falls apart. Washing machine floods kitchen. Toilet tanks splits in half.
10. Teaching workshops on writing.
11. New business opportunities land in my lap.
12. Meet England Foootball manager Hope Powell.
13. Work with 300 teenagers over three days. Rewarding.

And in 2013, so far:

1. PhD project approval. Novel work begins in earnest.
2. Teaching writing workshops. 
3. The Nottingham Festival of Words. LGBT Panel discussion and reading.
4. States of Independence?
5. Business funding?
6. 10th short story comes out.
7. Conference in Belfast: Mapping Feminist Movements.
8. 4th Annual Bold Strokes Book Festival, UK.
9. Conference in Nottingham: The F Word in Contemporary Literature
10. Travel to the US. Not sure where yet.
11. Editing. Writing. Reading. Editing. Writing. Reading.
12. Dec: 1st draft of novel finished.

Thank you. For reading, for coming along on my journey. A writer writes to be read, and without you, I would be less.

Happy New Year. Do you have plans for 2013 yet? 

Book: The Gift of Death by J. Derrida

Song: Hijo de la Luna by Mecano

Travel Related Travails

I’m not a novice traveler. 

I’ve been to the States on my own several times. I’ve taken buses, cabs, trains, planes.

I grew up in Southern California, land of freeways and driving an hour just for a nice dinner. I’ve walked through downtown LA and dated someone in Oakland–I drove the 800 miles on weekends to see her.

We’ve traveled countries where we have only a rudimentary knowledge of the language, if any knowledge at all.

I’ve done New York without a Native to guide us. (And the brief trip on the subway going the wrong direction wasn’t as awkward as it could have been).

So, what new travel could have my knickers in a twist?

London.

*cue Jaws music*

I’m taking a train from Nottingham to St Pancras, and then I must figure out which line to take on the tube, and pray I don’t get on the one going the wrong direction. Once I make it to my stop, assuming that happens, I must then walk to the conference venue.

I am unreasonably crapping myself over this, folks.

There’s something about London, about the underground, about the people, about not knowing where the hell I’m going but needing to be somewhere at a certain time. I don’t actually like London, but that’s not London’s fault. I don’t like big cities in general. I don’t like smog, I don’t like noise, I don’t like crowds. I’m a crotchety middle-aged woman and I like my green tea and garden and countryside.

So. Wish me luck. The conference is on Young People in Publishing, so it should be interesting. If not, I’ll have done another big-girl-grown-up thing on my own, and that can only be a good thing, right?

Song: Tonight I’m F’ing You by Enrique Iglesias

Book: A Word Child by Iris Murdoch

Growing Up

Another year of my life has passed, and it seems remiss if I don’t make some kind of note of it, especially as it falls on the Summer Solstice, a day of light before the return of the dark. Though I admit there’s almost too much going on to put it in writing.

Okay. So over the last year, I’ve:

Started my PhD.

Been to the Canary Islands.

Lost 20 lbs.

Edited a bunch of books and helped authors learn.

Had two more books come out with my stories in them.

Taught a class on self editing.

Found a side of my family lost for thirty years. (Sounds very Land of the Lost, doesn’t it?)

Been asked to join the Board of Directors.

Gained and lost two kittens.

Taken courses on writing.

Assisted with the literature section of Ladyfest.

Run the Bold Strokes Books Fest in Nottingham.

Been to loads of shows at the theater and written reviews for Left Lion.

And other stuff, obviously. It’s been a busy year. I have to say, my thirties have been the best years of my life so far. I’ve learned the most about myself, I’ve figured out what I want to be when I grow up (at least for the moment), I’ve unloaded an enormous amount of emotional baggage, and I’ve gained a family I may not have been able to accept ten years ago.

I have a ton of stuff ahead of me. I have years of PhD work, I have classes to teach (hopefully) I have family to meet and get to know. I have a partner to love and cherish no matter how busy my life becomes. I have book festivals to organize, authors to mentor and a publisher to impress. In the near future, trips to Florida, California and Greece are in various stages of planning.

How about you? What plans do you have or are you in the midst of? Have you figured out what you want to be when you grow up?

Song: Crazy Right Now by Beyoncé

Book: Hunger Games

Blog: She-Shifters (this one is a bit self serving–my newest story is in it, and it comes out next month, which I’m really excited about).

I remember that. I think…

Sorry about the prolonged absence. I’ve been slammed by an avalanche of work, and then drowned by tidal wave of commitments, both current and immanent. As well as swamped by new kittens and family. 

How’s that for water based metaphors?

So, I’m back in touch with family members I haven’t seen in nearly thirty years. People who knew my childhood self, but never my adult self.

It’s mind-blowing. Three decades of experiences to share: where do you start?

So there’s lots of sharing going back and forth, with the past left where it belongs.

But it’s led me to an interesting conundrum:

Where do your memories come from?

I mean, are they real memories, or are they taken from accounts of an event or a picture meant to capture the moment? How much of what you remember is actual fact, and how much is filled in, the creamy center inserted after the product is already baked, so to speak?

You see a pic, and think, I’m sure I remember that…so you tell someone about it. But how much of the retelling is real, and how much have you subconsciously made up in order to make sense of the event years after the fact?

It seems to me memory is easily manipulated. Something happens, and a few weeks or months later you reinterpret the event as you mull it over. Adding layers of nuance, of subtext, until the memory itself is replaced by that subtext. So what’s real? The new adapted memory, or the original? Can you even determine what the original is?

What do you think?

Song: Whenever, Wherever by Shakira

Book: Haunting Whispers by VK Powell

Blog: Rebecca’s Blog. Our lovely local Nottingham author and my good friend. Also, she likes to play dress up…

Aside

Quick Aside: Please check out the new BSB UK blogsite, where we’ll be posting information about the upcoming event in Nottingham, as well as all the other cool stuff the UK authors are doing.

http://boldstrokesauthorfestuk.wordpress.com/

Let me know what you think! (and if you’re coming to one of our events!)

How About You?

What are your travel plans this year? 

Where are you going? Are you going to do anything fun, going anywhere interesting, got anything planned? Got anything we can do too?

Here’s mine so far:

Feb/March: Bold Strokes Book Festival, Palm Springs, CA. Four days of LGBTQ authors reading, chatting, laughing poolside at Casita Laquita, women’s resort. (Open to men during the day for the festival). Followed by a week in the sun doing nothing.

March 17th: States of Independence. Myself, Rebecca S Buck, Kevin Troughton and Andrea Bramhall will be representing Bold Strokes Books and doing a quick panel on LGBTQ literature today at DeMontfort University. And we’ll have lots of books for sale too!

June: A train trip to Edinburgh for my birthday!

June/July: I’ll be running a series of workshops on editing at the Nottingham Writer’s Studio. Every Weds night for six weeks we’ll be going over various style elements to make your manuscript stronger and weed out the weaknesses.

July: A week in the sun in Spain with the family.

August 4-5: Bold Strokes Books Author Festival in Nottingham. We’ve got at least two authors from the US coming over, possibly an editor, and lots of other returning and new UK authors. We’ll have the meet and greet on Saturday night, and the author luncheon on Sunday. It’s going to be an amazing weekend of lgbt fiction. I really, really hope you’ll join us.

September: Florida to see my mom, and Mickey. And some time laying on a beach doing nothing.

And of course, in between all these events, I’ve got my editing, writing, and PhD work to do. And there are three anthologies coming out with my writing in them.

It’s going to be a kick ass year.

How about you? What have you got planned? Where are you going? What are you doing?

Song: I Like It by Enrique Iglesias

Book: Helen of Troy by Margaret George

Nano, Ladyfest, Sunshine and Happy

So, I’ve got a few quick updates, because I’ve been at my computer for nine hours today and I’m just…done.

First, Lady Fest Nottingham 2011 is coming up fast. It’s on November 19th, and there’s all kinds of awesome stuff going on, and some really great writers coming along to the lit section. This is the flyer:

Lady Fest Nottingham 2011

The other thing is that I’ve jumped in and joined NanoWriMo for the first time. It’s a damn lot of work. I’ve forgotten how hard it is to write something other than a short story. I got my 1841 words written today, and I’m really going to make a go of it and get something decent out of November other than a butt load of editing other folks words.

My name on NanoWriMo is vaoldham if anyone feels the need for a WriMo buddy.

Love that there’s a whole new lexicon involved in writing.

And, last, I’ve had another story accepted for publication. This one, titled All the Colors of the Sun, will come out in an anthology in the Spring. I’ll come out with more details when I have them.

So, that’s it from me. Happy November and happy writing. Just happy, really.

Book: Reluctant Hope by Erin Dutton

Song: Free in You by Indigo Girls