It was a very good year.

All in all, 2011 turned out to be a pretty good year. It didn't begin with much promise. My agent had still not managed to sell my novel in stories, and I was struggling with the manuscript of a new novel, unsure of what would become of it. I was studying French (that was fun, at least), but was turned down for a residency in France. I was working hard, but nothing seemed to be going right.

But then . . .

The AWP conference was in March in DC. I was on two panels, saw a lot of friends, and spent a lot of time in the bookfair. I was energized, as I usually am, and full of ideas.

In May I attended the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Queens University of Charlotte MFA Program, and also participated in the alumni workshop in which the beginning of my novel was critiqued by peers and by an editor from a major publisher. That experience was encouraging--the feedback was quite positive--and I pushed ahead with the book.

In June I attended the Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop at Hollins College. I did it in part because several friends had plans to go to various workshops around the country and I suddenly felt left out, but also because Fred Leebron was teaching an advanced novel writing class and I felt that was what I needed. It was great. I got more good feedback and encouragement about the novel.

In July I went to Korea. This had been planned for some time. The government of South Korea has been sponsoring re-visits for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served there, organized by the RPCV group Friends of Korea. I hadn't managed to get one of the earlier trips, so this was my time. Plus, the novel I was working on was partly set in Korea, and it seemed a good opportunity to refresh my sense memory. It was a fun trip. I didn't get any writing done while I was there, but had a great time.

Around this time, I got some good publishing news. Although my agent had not been able to sell my novel in stories, I had submitted it to a few small presses on my own (with my agent's blessing), and finally got an offer to publish it. Since I knew the publisher--Press 53 also published my first book, In an Uncharted Country--I felt very good about that. In addition, a number of the stories from the novel in stories were accepted by good magazines, which made me very happy, too. The book, WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW, will be published in September 2012.

And then I found out that I got the residency in France after all. So, in mid-August, I went to the South of France for three weeks, the first of which was being a tourist in Toulouse. During the last two weeks, spent at VCCA France in Auvillar, I completed the revisions on my novel. (I posted a lot of pictures from that trip, as well as the earlier Korea trip, here on Perpetual Folly.) Just before I began that trip, my agent and I parted ways, so I knew that I would be looking for a new agent when I got home in September.

In September, then, with a completed novel in hand, I began the search. Having done that three times before--without success for my MFA Thesis novel and also for my story collection, and then for my novel in stories--I knew what a hard and frustrating process that could be. But something was different this time. Lower expectations? Timing? A better query letter? A better novel? Whatever was different, by the end of the month I had signed with a new agent.

In October I worked at placing more of the stories from the WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW (there are only 3 left at this point) and also did research and outlining for a new novel.

In November I participated in Nanowrimo, simply as a way to get a lot of words for the new novel on paper, to see if the structure worked. But I also had a 2-week residency at VCCA in Amherst, Virginia, and so was able to get most of a first, very rough, pre-draft of the novel done.

And in December I continued work on that novel and some other projects, as well as finalizing Issue No. 17 of Prime Number Magzine (our 7th issue), which comes out in January. Also in December, a couple of stories appeared in some fine online magazines, and another story acceptance came in.

Which brings us to now, the New Year. I realize that 2011 was actually a very good year, and I'm grateful, but also looking forward to more good things in 2012.

VCCA Residency--The End is Near

I’m nearing the end of my stay at VCCA. It’s been a relatively productive period, and I have made a lot of progress on shaping a new novel. (If nothing else, I think I found a killer title for it.)

We didn’t have a lot of artist presentations this week, which I was happy about. I love the presentations, but it’s not so great when they happen every night. Not that anyone is obligated to attend, but I like to support the other resident fellows and, besides, they can be inspiring.

On Thursday we had a couple of brief open studios. First, Margie Nea, a photographer, showed us some of her amazing photographs from her many trips taken on behalf of Bread for the World and other organizations. The accompanying YouTube video shows some of these pictures. 

Then we moved to the next studio where Katherine Fahey did a performance of her “cranky”—a light-box puppet show illustrating a shape-note song about a pioneering Vermont woman. (That description does NOT do the project justice; check out her website to get a better idea of what she’s doing.)

Then on Friday night we had two poets reading in the living room. First Sabra Loomis read from her book and also some newer poems—lyrical and very moving work about family, friends, and landscape. And then Dan Vera also read from his book and some newer poems. Dan’s work is edgy and sometimes political. Both Sabra and Dan were very good readers. Plus, they supplied a couple of big bottles of wine, some chocolate and nuts, and so many of us stayed around after the reading to talk. It was the first night I didn’t go back to the studio in the evening to work.

It’s been a nice stay. As always, I hope I can carry some momentum with me when I resume work at home on Monday. We’ll see.

VCCA: Mid-residency

Mid-residency, already? Afraid so. I have only one more week.

I can't say that I've been terribly efficient, but then I'm floundering a little with the new work. I'm calling my output so far a "pre-draft"; it's not really a first draft since I'm still figuring out what the story is and who the characters are. But I'm nearly done with this first phase, and may begin writing the actual first draft tomorrow. That will take some time, of course, and I'll be lucky if I can finish a chapter or two by the time I leave next Sunday.

Since last I reported, we've had Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful dinner with turkey and stuffing and various veggies, plus pumpkin pie for dessert. Before dinner, the composer Andrea Clearfield was kind enough to play a selection of classical pieces (a little Brahms, a little Debussy, a little Bolling), and after dinner many of the writers did a "sampler" reading. We each read for about 5 minutes, which I thought was a great way to get a taste of what everyone is doing. Since my current work isn't ready for sharing, I read the prologue to the novel I recently finished. It only takes about four minutes, and I think gives a good sense of that book.

On Friday evening we had a reading by Shari Motro, a law professor at University of Richmond. She's working on a memoir and read a very personal section. (Not all memoirs are as personal, it seems to me.)

On Saturday night a bunch of the fellows went to Rapunzel's Coffee & Books for a presentation/puppet show by another of our fellows, Katherine Fahey, but I chose to stay in and work.

The weather has been great, although a bit too warm for this time of year. I wouldn't mind if the coming week turned cooler.

The picture above is from the woods on the grounds, although it's a picture I took last year. Haven't been doing much photography this year, but maybe I'll make up for that in the next few days.

VCCA: Residency Begins

I arrived at VCCA on Monday after several days at home of trying to catch up on various other responsibilities. Since I hadn’t been writing for that period, I struggled Monday afternoon to get back into the flow. But I did get some work done, and that felt good.

One of the great things—and one of the distractions—about being here, is that a few times a week we have presentations in the evenings by some of the residents. A fellow can skip them, which I do from time to time if I’m feeling pressed, but on my first night, Monday, I wanted to attend.

Two artists presented. The first was Jenny Krasner who showed images she has created and also read from a long manuscript she’s written about a trip to India she took recently. It’s got a lot of humor and a great voice, and it was fun to see the slide show of images at the same time as she read the chapter from the book.

The second was Olive Ayhens, a painter who works in watercolor and oil, and she showed slides of her work over a long period of time, showing many influences  and styles, as well as the many locations in which she has worked—San Francisco, New York, Spain, Brittany, various National Parks, and elsewhere.

Tuesday was my first full day, and I felt like I got a lot done, but in the evening I decided to keep going. I always feel bad about missing a presentation, so I didn’t hear Jerry Weinstein read, unfortunately.

Today, Wednesday, I got even more done, so this time I stayed in the residence for presentations by composer Andrea  Clearfield, who played a work in progress based on some extensive work she’s been doing in the Tibetan region of Northern Nepal, and writer Katey Schultz who read some flash fiction and story from a collection she’s working on about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It’s all good, and we’ve got a special Thanksgiving presentation on tap for tomorrow, with a lot of people reading very short pieces.

VCCA France is a go!

Photo by Richard McCord, from VCCA website

The last several days have been hectic. Midweek I learned that I might be getting a residency at VCCA's facilities in France: Moulin à Nef, in the village of Auvillar. Trying to make that happen was stressful--the residency available was almost 4 weeks, and adding in travel would have been almost a month. That's a long time to be away--from the garden, the dog, the house, other responsibilities (which is the POINT of a residency, of course, but the thought of it was a little overwhelming). So I said no. But then the next day a much shorter residency opened up because of a cancellation and I grabbed it. Then it turned out I have a possible house-sitter (and dog-sitter), so I could be away for a couple of weeks without worrying too much.

So that much was decided by Thursday night. On Friday I headed to Chicago for my niece's wedding--although there were some horrific storms during the weekend, none of them disrupted any of the festivities, some of which--including the ceremony--were outside. Lots of fun, and I met lots of family and friends of my new nephew-in-law.

Today I've booked a flight (I decided to skip Paris on this trip, as much as I enjoy it) direct to Toulouse, where I'll explore for a few days before going to to Auvillar. I even booked a hotel. Really the last bit will be to figure out the train schedule from Toulouse to the nearest train station and book that. And then I'll be [mostly] all set!

VCCA/The Real World

If you've ever had the pleasure of being in residence at VCCA, you'll recognize this photo--it's the last thing you see as you leave the grounds. It's a warning, but it's also an invitation to carry your creative energy back with you to whatever your "real" life is like. So I'm home now after a productive two weeks in Studio W2, and hope I can do exactly that.

Last Day at VCCA

Today is the last full day at VCCA and I think about half the remaining residents leave today. The rest of us are here all day and will be leaving tomorrow as the place shuts down for Christmas. (VCCA will reopen on 12/28 with the arrival of a boatload of artists who will have the pleasure of welcoming the New Year in this wonderful environment.)

Yesterday was a day of presentations. In the afternoon, several visual artists opened their studios to visitors, so I got to see what they've been working on here: Joanna Kao, Kim Manfredi, Yvonne Kunz. That was fun--I always love to see what the visual artists are up to.

In the evening, Gyun Hur showed some slides of her work, which is very much influenced by her Korean heritage. And writer Michele Surat read some poems that also in part reflected her cultural background, and so that made a nice match.

I tried to do a little work after that, but at 10pm there was a party in Sam Taylor's studio--W5 (the Crib)--and I wanted to stop by there before I called it night. The party was in celebration of the eclipse, the solstice, and the end of the residency. Fun, loud, but I couldn't stay up for the eclipse.

Now, instead of blogging, I really ought to get some work done.

Sunday night at VCCA

It's very near the end of my residency (VCCA shuts down for Christmas on the 22nd) and it seems as though we've had a busy few days.

A few nights ago, Fern Seiden gave a presentation in the studio--a short film called "Air Intoxication" that she made for Swedish Television. The film was full of great images, some of which she got from the Swedish Television archives.

Last night we had a short reading by Janie Miller and Ruiyan Xu. Janie read some poems, including several that she's been working on here at VCCA, and Ruiyan read from her novel, The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai.

On Thursday night we heard two short essays read by Lori Horvitz--here's an example, although this isn't what she read: The Girls of Usually. And we also heard several poems from Rachel Hadas. That was especially fun because one of the poems she read is in the anthology I teach from and I plan to add it to my syllabus for next semester.

But now it is Sunday night and because we all leave on Wednesday we had a final reading tonight: Kristen-Paige Madonia read from her as-yet untitled novel, due out in 2012, and Natania Rosenfeld read several short poems and a short essay. Nice!

And now I'm back at work. I think that was the last reading--several of the visual artists are having open studios tomorrow afternoon . . .

Wednesday already?

Wednesday already? It seems like it’s been a busy few days here at VCCA. On Monday I had to dash back to the Valley to school to give an “exam” (not really an exam, but we are required to have a final class) and also to be examined (I’m taking French). I’d been worried about weather, but there was just some very light snow, although very high winds especially crossing Afton Mountain. Il y a du vent.

I got back shortly before dinner, and after dinner we had a presentation by poet John Wesley Horton and biographer Joshua Kendall (whose biography of Noah Webster is coming out in April). I was tired from the driving and examining so, although I went back out to my studio after the presentations I didn’t get much done.

I did get a fair amount done on Tuesday. At lunch, one of the visual artists, Scott Finch opened his studio and it was fun to take a look at his work (yo-yo's, hula hoops, death). (I forgot to mention earlier that last week Alexandra Rozenman had done the same. A group open-studio session is planned for next Monday.) Tuesday evening we had another reading. This time we heard from poet Laura Apol, who read a number of very moving poems about some work she’s been doing in Rwanda, and prose-writer Daniel Meltzer who read a couple of funny pieces.

A couple of people are leaving today, but a few more arrive . . . which is the nature of such colonies.

Sunday at VCCA

I arrived at VCCA on Thursday, got settled into my room and studio, and began to work. I had some papers to grade, but got those out of the way fairly quickly, and then dived into my novel edits. I’m in Studio W2—the same studio I was in this time last year.

It seems as though there are more fellows in residence this time, and that might be the case—they’ve now opened both spaces in the remodeled cottage and there are 2 writers in there, so we’re at least 25 or so—a nice group. Quite a few familiar faces, too, from real life in Charlottesville and also from past residencies.

So, mostly, I’ve been working. But there was one presentation on my first night, by Serge Levy. He showed slides of his work, including a series of his “street photography” and also some images—self portraits—that he’s manipulated. Beautiful stuff.

And then last night we had a presentation by the only composer in residence, Michael Remson. Michael writes operas, songs, and choral work, and played a little of each for us. It’s pretty incredible stuff. I’m always blown away by the composers here because what they do seems so very foreign to me, like they’re speaking a different language. A beautiful language, but one that I don’t understand.

It’s raining today. I've been taking walks in the woods each afternoon, but not today. We’re all going over to Sweetbriar College for dinner this evening and tomorrow I have to head back to the Valley for finals at Blue Ridge Community College. But there’s snow in the forecast and I’m worried about that. Keeping an eye on the weather . . .

VCCA-bound

Headed to VCCA today. That's about all I have to say about that. Sporadic blogging ahead.

VCCA Report, Day 10

It's the last full day of my residency at VCCA. It's been an odd couple of days because of the snow event that began Friday evening and continued through last night. The snow finally stopped, leaving close to 2 feet on everything. It was fun to see the horses out in it (see the picture) and also a couple of runaway cows. It was not too hard to get back to the residence for dinner (actually, we'd had to make the trip for lunch, too, since the truck couldn't get out to the barns to deliver the food), and then many of us returned to work afterward. (More snow disruption--Barbara, one of the resident artists, is filling in for the regular kitchen staff.) The main event out there last night was the open studio presented by Katherine Sullivan (who was also here in 2007 when I was here). Her work is abstract but symbolic--I liked it a lot.

And today has been odd as people make preparations to leave. I got some work done this morning, but in the afternoon it was really hard to concentrate. So I got my studio organized for leaving tomorrow, I shoveled the snow away from my car so I can make my escape, and so. . . I'm ready to go. I'll probably work tonight and will definitely work in the morning (I'll be one of the last to leave again).

But this will be the last report. I'm calling it a residency.

VCCA Report, Day 9

VCCA Report, Day 8

I took this picture in the early afternoon on Friday while taking a walk--I figured it might be my last chance on this residency given the promised snow that was headed our way. Also saw a deer on this walk--usually happens once a residency, so I was due. At around 2:30 the snow started and by 4:00, when we were due at the office for the holiday party, it was already serious. A couple of inches, wind blowing, very cold. Etc. The party was nice (pictures on my facebook page), but i wanted to get back to my studio to do a little more work before dinner. Instead, I packed up the computer, my manuscript, and the books I might need--in case I can't get back out there tomorrow.

Dinner seemed subdued, as we all tried to adjust to the snowstorm reality and discussed whether we were going to trek back to the studios tonight or not. And I was not. I happily worked in my room for a while.

It's amazing how much snow has piled up already!

VCCA Report, Day 7

Today is, um, Thursday. It's hard to tell sometimes, but I know because I had to run home today to give my "final exam" at the college where I teach, and tonight I've been fiddling with grades.

But earlier today I got some work done on the book, although I won't finish this draft during the residency as I'd originally hoped. That's okay. New target is Christmas, and then I'll work on revisions after that.

Aside from a lovely drive over the mountain on a beautiful day, the highlight was the presentations after dinner. First up was composer Matthew Barnson who played a CD of two pieces--a string quartet and part of a longer work for percussion that just premiered in Chicago this week. I especially liked the percussion piece which also uses space in an intriguing way. And then we saw two short films by David Licata. The first was "8 1/2 x 11" which is about a guy interviewing for jobs and the second, "Tango Octogenario" is about an elderly couple dancing the tango.

Two treats right after dinner!

VCCA Report, Days 5 & 6

Not much to report about Tuesday. I worked. I graded papers. I got a lot done but it wasn't a very exciting day.

Wednesday was pretty much the same. I worked. I did laundry. I took a walk in the woods. (Regarding the pictures: on the left is a picture called the Loch VCCA Otter--I saw a trio of otters playing in the lake on campus; on the right is Roadblock!--a large tree had fallen across the walking trail since I was here last year.) And now I'm working again.

To see more of the pictures I took on my walk today, go here: Today's VCCA Pictures on Facebook

VCCA Report, Day 4

Monday was a good day, with few distractions. It was very wet from the rainy weekend, so I didn't walk in the woods. Just worked . . .

In the evening after dinner I read (research for the novel: Shamans, Housewives, and Other Restless Spirits, by Laurel Kendall) until it was time for the day's main entertainment: Open Studios.

I love Open Studios because I'm fascinated by the work of the visual artists. This was a group effort, which made it extra interesting. The fellows who were showing joined together to have oysters and champagne available, which sets a pretty high standard! The artists showing their work were Kate McGraw, Christy Georg, Chuck Webster, Dan Talbot, Christopher Domenick, and Patrick Shoemaker. All very different from one another. Good stuff!

And when I left that (I gather it went for a good long time, with music and the rest of the oysters), I graded a few papers. How exciting!

VCCA Report, Day 3

On Sunday morning we woke up to ice everywhere. Breakfast was limited--the kitchen regulars couldn't get in--and it was even tricky making the short walk out to the studios. After the sleet stopped, it rained. And rained. And rained. Which should have been conducive to work, but it just made me sleepy. Still, I got some work done.

In the evening we went over to Sweetbriar for the annual holiday dinner put on by the Dining Services there -- turkey, ham, all the fixings. We ate too much. Some of us did, anyway.

Although the rain had stopped, when we got back I didn't feel like going out to my studio to work so I graded papers. Made a lot of progress on that, so I feel like it's under control.

Now, if I can just keep the book moving forward . . .

VCCA Report, Day 2

It was nice to see Chef Rhonda at dinner Friday night. She has made such a difference here! After dinner, there was a Fellows reading. First Ruth Kessler read some poems, including a couple of ekphrastic pieces, always appropriate when there are visual artists in the audience. And Patrick Somerville, author of the novel Cradle which came out this year, read from the new novel he's working on. People stayed around in the living room after that, but I headed back to my studio for more work.

My task for the evening was to type up the changes I'd made on the manuscript during the day and also to grade some papers. I have to do a few each day if I'm going to get them done on time. That done, I came back to the residence and found that the party was still going on. But I was too beat, so I headed to bed.

Today, Saturday, started out clear and cold. I worked all morning and most of the afternoon, taking a break to walk on the trail in the woods. There is lots of deadfall this year, and not much in the way of new art that I noticed (except for a yellow wire sculpture that adorns a few trees). Still, it's a nice walk in the woods.

After dinner I went back to the studio to type and grade. Looks like that's going to be the pattern for this residency!

VCCA Report, Day 1

I'm rewarding myself with a little internet break! I got here Thursday morning, after a beautiful drive over the mountain. I spent the afternoon organizing my studio and planning the work ahead. Some of those plans are just a schedule--how much progress I need to make each day--and some was a list of issues that I know I need to address in the current draft. (Name changes, tropes, inconsistencies, etc.) I should have had that done already, before coming to VCCA, but, well, I didn't. So I got it done.

After dinner, where I met many of the other current fellows, I came back to the studio to review some of the research I did some time ago. By then I was worn out.

Today I've been working steadily and got to the point I wanted to in editing, but will probably do more revision when I key those changes in tonight. (But, I hear we've got a reading tonight, so that might not all get done.) I was going to take a walk in the woods this afternoon, but the light is fading, so that's not going to happen either.

I did get to the office today to donate a copy of my book for the Fellows Library. I've been looking forward to that!