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!

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.