Clarion, neil gaiman, WorldCon
In Events and Happenings on August 6, 2009 at 7:45 pm
The World Science Fiction convention is well underway in Montreal by now. Up until a few weeks ago I was sure I would be attending, but when it came down to it I just could not justify it for this year. I’m doubly sad as many Clarion friends are there and I would love to see each and every one of them again, and our Clarion instructor Neil Gaiman is the guest of honour (I still find it hard to parse the reality that I spent six weeks being taught by Neil, Kelly, Jim, Geoff, Nalo and Mary-Ann just a year ago) and really wanted to see him take the Hugo (which I am certain he will).
But I refuse to be sad. Instead this weekend I am having a WorldCon of my own. My own micro-convention, to which I am inviting all my favourite authors (in their paper and print incarnations) and you. If you to are missing the party, then feel free to join me on Twitter @damiengwalter or #notworldcon and we can form our very own virtual con.
A few random links:
I say a bit about the Hugo’s for SF Signal
I argue for Neuromancer as the book that should have won the 1984 Booker prize. Others disagree. (perhaps more on this subject to come)
Clarion, Fictionwise, HBO, Stanza, Weird Tales
In The Fiction Front, Writing Journal on January 2, 2009 at 1:57 pm
With the new year upon us, I thought I would give all you lucky people a glimpse inside my head, or at least the parts of it that like things, and post a run down of all that was good about 2008 from my perspective. I don’t claim to be at the cutting edge of the cultural wave, but who knows, you might find one or two new and enjoyable wastes of time below.
Read the rest of this entry »
Behing the Wainscot, Clarion, The Sun tarot
In Clarion San Diego 08, Writing Journal on August 5, 2008 at 4:59 am
Amidst my hectic Clarion schedule I’ve been working on a flash fiction piece for Behind the Wainscot, who are publishing a linked series of stories inspired by tarot cards a little later this month. I was pretty excited to be invited to take part, especialy when I saw the list of other contributors which includes many of favourite short fiction writers. I chose to take a stab at interpreting The Sun, and after a few versions and rewrites I submitted my story today. I’ll link to it when the tarot stories all go live.
Clarion is now in its last week. It feels slightly unreal, as the differential between Clarion and real world time means I feel like I’ve been here for about eighteen months. As happy as I am to be seeing home again, I’m very, very sad about leaving my Clarion friends behind. I can’t imagine getting to know such a brilliant group of people in such an intense way again any time soon. I’ve made friends here that I know I will see again, but more than likely there are a few faces I will miss. Now at least I have additional motivation to be a bestselling author, so I can come back to the US on book tour and catch up with everyone! And in the unlikely circumstance that doesn’t happen this year I’m resolved to attend at least one major con in the states so I can see other Clarionites in person.
But Clarion isn’t over yet. I still have one more story to finish, and a dozen or more to read and critique. So…back to the word mines!
Clarion, sleep deprivation
In Clarion San Diego 08 on July 3, 2008 at 4:07 am
So, I’m now settled into the routine at Clarion, which goes a little something like this – get up, eat breakfast, 3 -4 hours group critique of stories submitted the day before. Have lunch. Afternoon lecture, followed by tech session / other essential life maintenance chores, write, dinner, read stories for next morning, write critique notes for next morning, write more. Choose between 4 hours sleep or more writing. Choose between 2 hours sleep or more writing. Wake-up / leave bed. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
This is a barely manageable schedule on a good day. Add in any of the following variables (jet-lag, desire to talk / socialise with fellow Clarionites, critique rage, collapse of internet connection to girlfriend, symptons of cold and flu, laziness or general lack of self-discipline (all of which I have been afflicted with)) and the Clarion schedule becomes a punishing one. Today is the first day I have managed to write anything meaning ful…and I have so much more ahead of me!
But the there is reason behind this madness. Clarion is all about challenging your assumptions about writing and about genre, and expanding your experiece of writing short fiction. If there are fundamental problems with a story – as there were with my first critiqued story – the workshop process will nail them. Reading in detail 3-4 stories an evening makes you really examine the approaches other writers in your peer group are using. Discussions in crit group and elsewhere dig down into some of the issues that animate fiction writing. Most of all going through this experience with other writers who are all absolutely committed takes the act of writing, which can seem mad and obscure amongst the hurly burly of everyday life, and puts it at the absolute centre of your experience. Two days in I’ve already found it inspiring, infuriating, intimidating and intellectualy challenging beyond my expectations. What the hell happens in the next six weeks I have no idea, but I am determined to find out.
aberystwyth, Clarion, fragile things, kelly link, merlin codex, neil gaiman, strager things happen, the name of the wind
In Book Reviews, Infinite Book Pile, Writing Journal on June 15, 2008 at 12:42 am
The locals call Aberystwyth, the almost capital of Wales, simply Aber. It makes sense, its a mouthfull of constanants.
Its an odd almost capital. Twelve thousands residents, seven thousands students. Some tourists and caravan parks. More than a few hippies and a sprinkling of writers, if you can seperate the two. I like it. I want to move.
My second trip to Aber and I wanted to get some reading done. Its a town that suits fantasy. High cliffs. Long grey beaches. Sea gulls the size of labradors. I took some books with me but was also lured in by the Waterstones 3 for 2. A mistake.
The Merlin Codex is one of those sophisticated fantasy novels I’ve been meaning to read. I keep picking it up off the book shelf the putting it back. I’ve read the prologue six or seven times so this week I read the rest. Its very evocative. Intense prose. Packed with dark imigiary. But where are the characters? Merlin, Jason, Medea and other figures from the Greek / Celtic mythic melange author Robert Holdstock mixes are there, but in name only. Perhaps its the fantasy iotself that overweighs the chracters, but facinating as the book was I couldn’t really get absorbed into it. Maybe it was just me.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss wasn’t me. This book seems to fulfill all the worst accusations levelled at fantasy blockbusters. Perhaps that isn’t entirely fair. Rothfuss is trying to write the kid of gritty, low fantasy that George R R Martin has popularised. Writers like Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch and many more have followed down this path, none very successfully IMHO. These books are very, very ambitious. Dozens of lead characters with hundreds more in support. Numerous intertwining plotlines. Massive themes unfolding accross a vast imagined world. It takes a massive amounts of skill and craft to write this kind of books, and with the exception of Martin, few of the writers attempting it are good enough. The Name of the Wind typifies this for me. It has grand ambition but the basics of good storytelling and character bulding are’t there.Thats a great disappointment because I really want a book to get lost in, but The Name of the Winde surely is not it.
My Clarion reading continued with Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman and Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link. Interesting to read these two short story collections intertwined with each other. there are a lot of commonalities. Gaiman’s writing is more diverse, whilst links has the edge in intensity. I could sit and read the Gaiman collection straight through, but Link’s is more a thing to read over time. I also read through some more James Patrick Kelly, which reminded me that I wat to catch up with some more hard-SF. Its two weeks to Clarion now. I’m excited in ways I can’t express.
