The studio is dead, long live the studio (and other news)

It’s been almost a month since my last update. As you can imagine, it’s been an intense time between closing up the old studio (*sob*) and setting up the new one (yay!). Above and below are first looks at my new space. Above is my writing corner adorned by my Queen of Arrows painting from The Lover’s Path Tarot and a beautiful print of the Lady of Shalott (given to me by my friend Lunaea Weatherstone). Below is my new chalkboard wall which replaces the chalkboard wall of my previous studio. The peacock feathers are for inspiration.

Best of all, I have a studio view for the first time in over a decade. I can see several blocks all around. Cats in backyards, people walking, trees galore, squirrels and birds. Northern exposure, so no harsh sunlight on computer screens. It’s going to feel like a tree house of green once spring arrives.

It’s been a lot of work closing out the old for the new. (You may recall that besides moving my studio I also moved my home. Changes upon changes upon changes.) On top of all this, I’ve had some personal stuff going on that necessitated my attention and an unexpected trip to the West Coast. These interruptions are simply the realities of life when one has an elderly mother and a young daughter. All of this has pushed me behind on my January 31st deadline for THE LILY MAID, my novel-in-progress set in Victorian England. But what can one do except “make it work” (to quote St. Tim of Project Runway fame)?

However, a break awaits: I’m off to England for two weeks for a writer’s retreat. During this time, I plan to tie up the remaining plot threads for THE LILY MAID as well as finish researching the last details. For example, an entire section of my novel is set in the Cotswolds, a part of England where I’ve hardly spent any time. I’m also planning to revisit the Tate Gallery for a dose of inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelites and their cohort.Waterhouse’s Lady of Shalott painting is back on display there.

As for my intentions for the book, It would be lovely to come back with a ready-to-send-to-agent manuscript, but I’ll setting for the rest of the book being drafted after all these interruptions. Right now, I have about 95,000 words revised and polished to a high sheen. But I fear that the remaining 20K will be the hardest; they’re going to require the most amount of revising and reworking.

So here’s to the muses cooperating and nearly-completed manuscripts!

• Filed under The Novel, art and words, studio and gallery, travels | 4 Responses

Magick for Terri: last day for an offering

Magick for Terri is a fundraising auction to help much loved editor, artist and writer Terri Windling. She’s helped so many in the publishing community (including myself); now she need our help because of various health and legal issues.

If you don’t know who Terri Windling is, you’ve probably come across many of her creative works and just didn’t realize her involvement. Terri is the creator of groundbreaking fantasy and mythic art and literature over the past several decades, ranging from the influential urban fantasy series Bordertown to the online Journal of Mythic Arts. With co-editor Ellen Datlow, she changed the face of contemporary short fiction with The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and other award-winning anthologies, including Silver Birch, Blood Moon, and The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest. Her remarkable Endicott Studio blog continues to bring music, poetry, art and inspiration to people all over the world.

As for myself, Terri was a huge help to me when I was a new illustrator fresh out of art school. She introduced me to my first literary agent and authors, encouraged me at a time when I really and truly needed it. I’ve never forgotten her kindness to me. She was there at a time when I truly needed someone to be.

On a “I must shop for the holidays season” front, there are some amazing offerings: an Alan Lee drawing, writing critiques from authors such as Theodora Goss and Delia Sherman, Neil Gaiman autographed items, prints, books, jewelry, and so much more. So Magick for Terri is a great way to get something special for your someone special and do good too.

I’ve become involved myself: I’ve donated an autographed Gwenhywfar giclée print (above) to help Terri out. But there’s only one day left to bid on it—the auction ends tomorrow, December 15th, for all items. So if you’re interested, go forth and bid. If bidding goes over $90, I’ll throw in other goodies to go with it.

• Filed under art and words, friends and colleagues, the world around me | One Response

Publishing Monday: home stretch—and an interview with moi

As I gear into the home stretch of this draft of THE LILY MAID, I’m reminded how I felt when I was nine months pregnant with Thea: so ready to get it over and also not believing that it would ever be over. This, on top of moving house and studio, makes me a very grumpy and overwhelmed camper. Bah humbug and all that! Regardless, here’s where I’m at right now with my novel:

~ I’ve revised about 320 pages of the manuscript. I have about another 120 to go. So if I revise 30 pages a week between now and my February 1, 2012 deadline, I should be okay. Right?

~ That written, based on the comments I’m getting from my wonderful critique partners, I’ve still a few last refinements to make. Not big deals, but they’ll help immensely with clarifying character motivation, plot arc, and all those important details that push a novel from “why did that happen again?” to “wow.” Hopefully. So I need to allow time for that.

~ I’m also off to England for two weeks in mid-January for my next writer’s retreat/last round of research trip. This time I’ll be staying in the Cotswolds, where a section of my novel takes place, as well as in London. Since daylight is short in the UK right now, I’m figuring I’ll research during the day and write at night. Having uninterrupted time is so useful for my focus at this stage, so I suspect this will speed up the process. But I will miss my family, especially Thea who is at such a delicious age right now.

Aaaannnnd in typing all this up, I’m starting to feel overwhelmed all over again. (Cue hyperventilation. Reach for paper bag.) But I know this is a normal part of the process when finishing up a big creative project—it will pass, the book will get finished, life will go on. On a related note, I was reassured to read via author Sandra Gulland that Sarah Waters (FINGERSMITH, AFFINITY) keeps a bottle of Rescue Remedy by her desk to help with writing anxiety. So I’m in decidedly good company these days.

Other news:

~If you’re in the NYC area, we’re having a studio closing party this Saturday at my “old” space—our last hurrah.So come by, say hello, and take a last gander at the space where I’ve created many projects very happily over the past four years. Children are decidedly welcome.

~Out with the old, in with the new: The new studio space is in the process of being set up. I’m pleased to announce that, instead of a chalkboard door, there will an entire chalkboard wall. I also have a view that goes for blocks—gorgeous! Photos to come soon.

~Finally, amid all this craziness, I was recently interviewed about my publishing career, writing process, and views on storytelling. Here’s some advice I gave for aspiring authors:

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

A: To jump in and not be afraid. To allow yourself to write badly and often—what author Anne Lamott calls a “shitty first draft.” She also advises that “perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people.” It’s so true! I’m convinced that writers who become successful (which I define here as published by an established publishing house, though there are many definitions of what constitutes creative success) are those who allow themselves to do just this. The craft of writing is in the fearlessness of beginning and the tenacious bravery of revising and rewriting. It’s also in the willingness to allow yourself to be criticized and rejected, though of course acceptances and accolades are far more pleasant…”

You can read the rest of the interview here.

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Above: The Lady of Shalott by J. W. Waterhouse, the painting which inspired THE LILY  MAID.

• Filed under The Novel, interviews, publishing, travels | No Comments

Creativity Friday: a retreat to write

While others are stuffing themselves with pumpkin pie here in the States, I’m off for a week-long writer’s retreat. My destination this time: Washington DC. My goal: to untangle the final third of THE LILY MAID for public consumption.

As you can read in my last blog post, it’s no secret that the past month of my life has been devoted to all things domestic. So I’m eager to reacquaint myself with the twists and turns of my novel. Most importantly, I want to finish roughing out for revision what remains of the book—I have just over two months before my agent is expecting to see the next draft . I know how everything ends (and, trust me, it’s a great ending), but I’m still fuzzy on how I’ll get there from everything I’ve so carefully set up with my first 80,000 words.

As I’ve learned too well while writing THE LILY MAID, writing fiction is a much more mysterious process than writing nonfiction. The above pictures give you a sense of the scope of what I’m dealing with: the notes, the research, the just plain muddling through-it-ness of it all. I know it’s a cliche, but characters really do take on a life of their own, determining plot, theme, and story arc. Often the only way to figure it all out is to go someplace quiet enough to listen to them.

So I’m listening. And I’m writing.

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Upon my return to Brooklyn next week, another major transition awaits me: Setting up my new work studio. Though it’s only four blocks away from my current Brooklyn studio location, the new Art and Words will be situated on the top floor of my new home—a more private location for musing and making art. Fortunately, I have a month of overlap because I have my current storefront-studio until the end of the year. But I’m not deluding myself—it’s still going to be a major amount of work.

(Yes, all this on top of finishing a novel and setting up a new household as well as being a mom to the most adorable six-year-old ever and other Life Stuff.)

Despite everything going on, we’ll be having a last public salon before I close the storefront on Sunday, December 18th. If you’ve never visited the studio, this is your last chance to do so before I move to my new space. I hope to see you there!

• Filed under The Novel, art and words, creativity, events, studio and gallery, the world around me | No Comments

Moving on….

One of my favorite sayings is that you can do everything you want, but just not at the same time. This past month has especially brought this point home to me—and I mean “home” in the literal sense.

Saying goodbye to our old apartment.

The moving van almost about loaded to go to our new home.

Beautiful tree greeting us at new home.

Inside the new home, post-move.

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And so, what’s next? Well, I’d like to write that I’ll be catching my breath, unpacking, and decorating to my heart’s content. But that will have to wait until after THE LILY MAID novel deadline in January. To be honest, this move felt a bit like being thrown out of the delivery room mid-labor. There I was, chugging along with my revisions and then everything came to an crashing halt (albeit for a very welcome and wonderful reason). Still, the muses don’t like being thwarted, so the nesting will have wait a bit.

To help get things moving again, I’ll be off on writer’s retreat for a week. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to catch up enough to feel less panicked about the state of my novel! Right now, I have about 85,000 words revised, with the final 35,000 to go. Here’s hoping I’ll build up enough momentum that it’ll be easy to tie up all those character arcs and plot threads. Just in case, I have a second retreat planned in January. This one is for two weeks in England near where my novel’s ending takes place. (Never underestimate the power of place to spur inspiration!)

• Filed under art and words, be-mused | 4 Responses