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I'm seeing quite a bit of soldiering on among my writing colleagues and friends right now, and I thought I'd share this little poem with you all in solidarity. It isn't terribly polished or suitable for submission anywhere, but I wrote it in one of my own soldiering on moments this week.
Hang in there, friends.
Hush, monster. I am working.
And sit over there, if you please.
There is little enough space in this room,
and you sprawl unconscionably.
If I can sit in this corner, with my small lamp, and write
until night falls, at last, across my attic window -
and if there is music enough to drown the drone of your breath,
that might be enough, might just be enough.
I know you're hungry, and I know that you exist on one food alone,
but I've already fed you so much, and you are too fat now.
Can you not sit over there in the long shadows and lurk awhile?
I'm getting to the good part.
If you've been thinking about writing for the Dispatches from the Word Mines series, now is a great time. In terms of general parameters, I have few. I ask that you be working in your craft and have something to contribute to a conversation about writing, whether it be instructional or promotional. I also want a bio and any associated images you'd like added to the post. I don't mind the occasional bit of colourful language, and I don't mind publishing instructional or promotional posts containing adult content (I'd shy away from hardcore pornography, but writing about or promoting erotic fiction is just fine). Finally, I can't use posts about fictional religions right now (I've published quite a few of those already), and the Dispatches series really isn't the place for a broad survey of your work or career. However, I'd gladly accept a post about writing Christian, Pagan, or Buddhist SF (or any other sort of religious SF), and I'd gladly promote your shiny new novel or collection.
You can reach me here if you're interested: http://csmaccath.com/contact
Dispatches from the Word Mines is an irregular blog series about literature and writing from the perspective of writers themselves. This entry comes to us from Nina Munteanu, an award-winning Canadian ecologist and novelist. In addition to eight published novels, she has authored short stories, articles and non-fiction books, which have been translated into several languages throughout the world. She is currently an editor of European zine Europa SF and writes for Amazing Stories. Nina teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Her latest book “Water Is…” (due in Spring 2016 by Pixl Press) is a non-fiction examination of the meaning of water. In this second installment of a two-part dispatch, she discusses intersections between ecology, women, and science fiction. Many thanks, Nina!
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Welcome to Issue #18 of my quarterly newsletter, posted to csmaccath.com and e-mailed to subscribers on Imbolc 2016. |
I've been interviewed by Clare O'Connor for the January 2016 edition of Eastword, a printed publication of the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia.
I've been shoveling my way through a couple of snowstorms and working on the ML1 novel, so I haven't had the time to post a proper writing update. I have two bits of news:
Dispatches from the Word Mines is an irregular blog series about literature and writing from the perspective of writers themselves. This entry comes to us from Nina Munteanu, an award-winning Canadian ecologist and novelist. In addition to eight published novels, she has authored short stories, articles and non-fiction books, which have been translated into several languages throughout the world. She is currently an editor of European zine Europa SF and writes for Amazing Stories. Nina teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Her latest book “Water Is…” (due in Spring 2016 by Pixl Press) is a non-fiction examination of the meaning of water. In this first installment of a two-part dispatch, she discusses intersections between ecology, women, and science fiction. Many thanks, Nina!
It's New Years' Eve, and the most exciting thing I have planned for the day is a little work on the AF1 novel and an evening date with Scott Lynch's Republic of Thieves followed by John Twelve Hawk's essay Against Authority. It's been a good year on balance; we lost our beloved cat Winter in January, and we went through a dry spell late this year while Triskele Media navigated out of one tech contract into another, but we also went to England in June (a perfect time to see the country), and I had my best writing year yet.
I've just heard from Rhonda Parrish, editor of the Alphabet Anthologies series, that she has nominated my novelette "C is for Change" for the Pushcart Prize. This story appeared in B is for Broken and is dear to me for a number of reasons, so I'm delighted to receive this news.
Just a quick note here. I chatted with the folks at the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) when I was a guest at Hal-Con, and they mentioned that Cape Breton needed a regional coordinator. Since then, another Cape Bretoner has volunteered, and I've thrown my name into the hat as well, so it looks like we'll probably be splitting the job.
All this by way of saying that if you have any ideas about the sorts of writing events you'd like to see or participate in here on the island, I hope you'll let me know. You can drop me a line via social networking or via the contact page on my web site.