This time, the Villa Diodati workshop was held near Nice thanks to the organizational superpowers of Jeff Spock.
We came in on Friday, and Jeff made several car trips to pick us up and drop us off at this place. One of the best ooohs and aaahs of the first day at Villa Diodati is checking out the house we're staying in. So far, we've never been disappointed. The first workshop was held in a German castle, the second one in Jaulzy, near Paris. Both were beautiful and inspiring locations.
There were more participants this time and quite a few newcomers. Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Catherine M. Morrison and Benjamin Rosenbaum came for the first time. Ben has been involved in Villa Diodati from the start. Together with Ruth, he's the brainfather of the project, but he'd never made it to the actual workshop before. I was thrilled to meet those three.
Rochita I knew over the internet: I already had a soft spot for her writing style, which grew even softer over the course of the workshop. Her Villa story was delicate, hung on spiderwebs and deliciously understated.
I hadn't met Catherine before, but I developed an appreciation for her sense of humor. The story she brought was packed with really neat technical details (unsurprising, since she's an engineer). I liked the way she worked them seamlessly into the story.
Ben... Well. After having met him, I understand why he's so successful. His imagination is truly outstanding but he also has a feel for the internal logic of a story and can point out the plot holes and character motivation problems in the wackiest slipstream. He understands the underlying threads of a story better than anyone else I know and he shares that knowledge freely. His critiques were great.
And then there were the repeats: Jeff Spock (organizer, logistics officer, second-in-command), Ruth Nestvold (Our Beloved Dictator), John Olsen (chef, subtle fiction expert), Floris Kleijne (goof, goblin expert), Aliette de Bodard (Asian specialist, tea brewer), Stephen Gaskell (Englishman, monsters-in-the-cellar specialist), Dianna Carlyle (certified English-Teenager translator) and myself (talker).
We held critiquing sessions in the morning and wrote in the evening. There were prompts, writing marathons and the Surreal Oracle, a game which probably only works well with writers.
On Saturday, I came down with stomach flu, but I was fine by Sunday, so that was ok. Jeff made another slew of car trips on Tuesday to drop us all off.
I can't wait for Villa Diodati 4. I want to see how an AI writes (the Surrealist Oracle predicted that the AIs would come to Villa Diodati 4)
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta John Olsen. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta John Olsen. Mostrar todas las entradas
jueves, 30 de octubre de 2008
martes, 30 de octubre de 2007
Villa Diodati Workshop
I'm back home after a blast of a weekend.
I'd had some experience with live workshopping from the Madrid Writer's Critique Group, but nothing near as extensive and intensive as this. We spent three glorious days in a German castle with a moat and a gorgeous garden, sipping tea, coffee and wine, chatting about everything, crittin' and writin' writin' writin'!
I got to meet six writers who've gone straight to my list of favorite people.
Ruth Nestvold organized the whole affair. I never imagined she'd have such an exuberant personality. She had us laughing the whole time and she was generous with her knowledge of writing and the publishing world. Imagine having someone who is as accomplished and talented as she is, locked up in a castle with you and knowing she can't run away from your questions! Awesome! Thanks, Ruth, for putting this together.
Nancy Fulda is sweet and funny and also shared her writing and editing experience. She endured my conversation for the two hour drive from Frankfurt to Mosbach and back. Big thanks for picking me up and dropping me off at Frankfurt!
Deanna Carlyle writes chicklit and YA and has a great eye for plot. She was the only one of us from outside the genre, which was good, since she challenged our views of how things are and showed us how an SF story looks like to a mainstream reader. Her insight was hugely valuable and she's a blast to be around with.
John Olsen has a beautiful lyrical writing style. I loved the story he had up for critique. He made us a three course meal for supper on Sunday that was absolutely great. Great sense of humour. He stoically put up with five jabbering women.
Aliette de Bodard. What can I say? I already knew her from Liberty Hall, and she's already great over the Internet but she was absolutely hilarious in person. We shared a room and chatted long into the night. She and I were the only two people there who'd grown up outside of the US, so I found we shared some common experiences. We've both decided to write in English because our other languages don't have a strong Speculative readership. We've both come to American culture in a roundabout way. What can I say? I can't wait to see what she writes next.
The weekend also turned out to be totally affordable. We paid 127e for three nights of lodging and food. Although we doubled up, the rooms were so huge that I didn't feel cramped. There was loads of little nooks to write in. The bathrooms were humongous, with a fresco of Botticelli's Aphrodite, of all things. There was a giant bathtub (yes, I took a bath, something I haven't done in years).
In the garden, there was a plastic mannequin in a nightgown half submerged in the river. The leaves from the trees kept falling. We have mostly perennials in Spain, so watching red crunchy leaves fall was a treat.
I wouldn't be surprised if some of us end up setting a story in that castle.
It was decided that there had to be another workshop next year. Villa Diodati lives!
I'd had some experience with live workshopping from the Madrid Writer's Critique Group, but nothing near as extensive and intensive as this. We spent three glorious days in a German castle with a moat and a gorgeous garden, sipping tea, coffee and wine, chatting about everything, crittin' and writin' writin' writin'!
I got to meet six writers who've gone straight to my list of favorite people.
Ruth Nestvold organized the whole affair. I never imagined she'd have such an exuberant personality. She had us laughing the whole time and she was generous with her knowledge of writing and the publishing world. Imagine having someone who is as accomplished and talented as she is, locked up in a castle with you and knowing she can't run away from your questions! Awesome! Thanks, Ruth, for putting this together.
Nancy Fulda is sweet and funny and also shared her writing and editing experience. She endured my conversation for the two hour drive from Frankfurt to Mosbach and back. Big thanks for picking me up and dropping me off at Frankfurt!
Deanna Carlyle writes chicklit and YA and has a great eye for plot. She was the only one of us from outside the genre, which was good, since she challenged our views of how things are and showed us how an SF story looks like to a mainstream reader. Her insight was hugely valuable and she's a blast to be around with.
John Olsen has a beautiful lyrical writing style. I loved the story he had up for critique. He made us a three course meal for supper on Sunday that was absolutely great. Great sense of humour. He stoically put up with five jabbering women.
Aliette de Bodard. What can I say? I already knew her from Liberty Hall, and she's already great over the Internet but she was absolutely hilarious in person. We shared a room and chatted long into the night. She and I were the only two people there who'd grown up outside of the US, so I found we shared some common experiences. We've both decided to write in English because our other languages don't have a strong Speculative readership. We've both come to American culture in a roundabout way. What can I say? I can't wait to see what she writes next.
The weekend also turned out to be totally affordable. We paid 127e for three nights of lodging and food. Although we doubled up, the rooms were so huge that I didn't feel cramped. There was loads of little nooks to write in. The bathrooms were humongous, with a fresco of Botticelli's Aphrodite, of all things. There was a giant bathtub (yes, I took a bath, something I haven't done in years).
In the garden, there was a plastic mannequin in a nightgown half submerged in the river. The leaves from the trees kept falling. We have mostly perennials in Spain, so watching red crunchy leaves fall was a treat.
I wouldn't be surprised if some of us end up setting a story in that castle.
It was decided that there had to be another workshop next year. Villa Diodati lives!
jueves, 25 de octubre de 2007
Villa Diodati Workshop Weekend
It's here! It's arrived! It's real!
Tomorrow I'm leaving for Frankfurt to participate in the Villa Diodati Worshop. This workshop was devised for expat English Speculative Fiction writers who usually don't have the time and cash to go to the US for workshops and conventions. This year, there are five of us: Nancy Fulda, Ruth Nestvold, John Olsen, Deanna Carlyle and me, but if all goes well, I expect we'll repeat the experience next year (hint: if you want to join, drop me an email).
Ruth got this webpage going http://www.lit-arts.net/VillaDiodati/
We're staying at Schloß Lohrbach, which is a Castle. With a Moat.
This Moated Castle looks awesome
I'd like to think of this as more than a consolation prize for European writers. My foreign reprints of Godtouched have taught me that there's a whole wide world outside of the American SF community, and I'd love to cultivate that. European SF could really lift off, if we just gave it a push.
On a different note, the Apex Raffle is still OPEN until October 31st. The number of yummy items on the list is mind boggling. Besides, it's a way to bet with a clean conscience, seeing as how it's for a good cause. A percentage goes to the National Centre For Family Literacy. Actually, upon second thought I'm not sure giving money to them is "altruist". After all, literate people are a writer's bread and butter.
Tomorrow I'm leaving for Frankfurt to participate in the Villa Diodati Worshop. This workshop was devised for expat English Speculative Fiction writers who usually don't have the time and cash to go to the US for workshops and conventions. This year, there are five of us: Nancy Fulda, Ruth Nestvold, John Olsen, Deanna Carlyle and me, but if all goes well, I expect we'll repeat the experience next year (hint: if you want to join, drop me an email).
Ruth got this webpage going http://www.lit-arts.net/VillaDiodati/
We're staying at Schloß Lohrbach, which is a Castle. With a Moat.
This Moated Castle looks awesome
I'd like to think of this as more than a consolation prize for European writers. My foreign reprints of Godtouched have taught me that there's a whole wide world outside of the American SF community, and I'd love to cultivate that. European SF could really lift off, if we just gave it a push.
On a different note, the Apex Raffle is still OPEN until October 31st. The number of yummy items on the list is mind boggling. Besides, it's a way to bet with a clean conscience, seeing as how it's for a good cause. A percentage goes to the National Centre For Family Literacy. Actually, upon second thought I'm not sure giving money to them is "altruist". After all, literate people are a writer's bread and butter.
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