9.19.2018

Fall Updates: Workshops, acceptances, and big plans for the next year!



Early fall (pre-equinox) seems like the perfect time to share "how I spent my summer." (I won't say vacation because there was plenty of hard work in there even if I did go on hiatus for 6 weeks.)

July was all about the Port Townsend Writers Conference

Bill Ransom workshop 
I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure in hybrid forms with one of THE original founders of the PTWC. We took some risks, he shared some Wayback Machine worthy tidbits about the conference grounds and life in town, and I made some new friends. I also had a great camping experience down at the beach, and put in some serious walking time while listening to the first two seasons of Serial. 

August was all about the Hugo House


Waverly Fitzgerald workshop
I started this prior to Centrum/PTWC and missed one class, but came back and finished "Submission Strategies" in mid-August. During that time, I reacquainted myself with guerilla submission tactics I've used in the past, and to good outcomes (see below). I also (insert chorus of trumpets here) made  my first submission of my abecedarian collection (that was on July 17 while I was in PT, actually). 

September started with the PNWA


Pacific Northwest Writers Association conference 2018

I followed the marketing track mostly because I am preparing to make some moves in 2019 (see below). I also found the first day of marketing workshops totally worth the price of the entire conference. So much has changed in the field of indy publishing, POD, and related technologies, services, and distributors. I'm still learning more about KDP, the evaporation of CreateSpace, and challenges to others like IngramSpark. Never a dull moment.

September midstream

SleepyHeadCENTRAL.com is 4 today!
Well, technically, it's closer to 5 (when my dream was first born), but I launched my active sleep health and news clearinghouse exactly 4 years ago today. 

September in the crystal ball

American Association of Sleep Technologists annual meeting, 2018
I'm heading to Indianapolis at the end of the month for the big event, where I will be giving two presentations, one on "Unauthorized CPAP" and the other on "Multiple Sclerosis & Sleep Disorders." 

October and beyond

Washington State Sleep Society annual meeting 2018
I'm retiring as secretary of this organization after 5 years, but will be there for this regular event in mid-October featuring some great speakers and topics related to sleep health education and technology. I look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones!

Richard Hugo House reopens!!!!
I'll miss the grand opening this coming weekend but plan to make a trip over for a class, an event... something to check out the new digs! So excited!

And yes, I #amwriting
My current professional writing and editing status: 
  • I'm writing and producing continuing education seminars, working on pieces for the industry magazine, A2Zzz, and posting weekly on the blog for the AAST
  • I'm still writing my column at Health Union, while taking a short hiatus from BioNews Services
  • I'm working toward a potential new gig starting later in the year in the field of sleep health
  • SleepyHeadCENTRAL.com still captures some of my attention
  • I am evolving SHC to a beefed-up satellite site and blogging less, to make more room for a future podcast ("ZZZCast") 
  • I continue to edit and produce SHC's new literary quarterly, VitaminZZZ, which launched last winter 
  • I'm waiting to see the fruit of shared labor last winter when sleep tech Rui de Sousa and I composed an updated chapter on Hypersomnia for a new sleep technology textbook coming out (I think?) this month. I was second author, and really excited to see it in its final form. 
  • I have a couple of nonfiction books to review that are related to sleep, as well. 
As for my creative writing, here's what I am looking at between now and the end of the year:
  • Polishing and submitting my abecedarian chapbook manuscript (and that includes sending out individual pieces, as well
  • Polishing a new short story collection with the help of an independent editor to prepare for self publication in 2019
  • Working on a new novel manuscript I started while at the PTWC
  • Continuing to research and outline a book on illness narrative in conjunction with a workshop I'd like to teach on the topic
And yes, I #amreading
  • The Power (Naomi Alderman) *
  • Rootless (Chris Howard)
  • So Lucky (Nicola Griffith)
  • Station Eleven (Emily St. John Mandel)
  • The Postmortal (Drew Magary)
  • Soft Apocalypse (Will McIntosh)
  • Ready Player One (Ernest Cline)
  • White is for Witching (Helen Oyeyemi)
  • Exit Channel (Lily Vonderheide)
  • The Sheltering Sky (Paul Bowles)
  • The Forgiven (Lawrence Osborne)
  • Fever Dream (Samanta Schweblin)
  • *What I'm reading now

Acceptances/publications for 2017


With thanks to the support of the crew in Waverly's workshop (see above), I have a few accepts to show for my efforts! Here's an update for folks who take an interest in such matters:

Poetry
  • "American Blackshirt,"On September 22," and "Slow Information" in Collective Unrest (reprints)
  • "Sideways" in Postcard Poems and Prose (original)
Short Stories

  • "April 9" in Crab Creek Review (original)

Flash Nonfiction
  • "The Expert" in Halfway Down the Stairs (original)
  • "Gaze" in The Nervous Breakdown (original)
  • "Onset, Multiple Sclerosis, August 1975" (original)
Submissions since Jan 1
  • Poetry - 58 poems submitted
  • Poetry Collection - 4 manuscripts submitted
  • Fiction - 16 story submissions
  • Nonfiction - 40 submitted

Submissions still under consideration
  • Poetry - 38 poems 
  • Poetry Collection - 4 manuscripts
  • Fiction - 10 stories 
  • Nonfiction - 19 essays, creative nonfiction, or flash nonfiction
This doesn't count the half dozen or so manuscripts I've withdrawn over the last year because they were pushing one year responses. That's just too long; I find that to be an inexcusable practice among literary publishers.


Coming up


I'll be missing the Autumn YAWP at Centrum in Port Townsend because my daughter is performing in a show that same weekend. BUT! I'm heading to Oysterville, WA to hang out in an Airbnb on the back side of a bakery and hope to log some serious writing hours then. 

In January, I don't believe the Winter YAWP is returning, but that's okay... I've got another Airbnb A-frame house south of Hood Canal reserved for a full on, week-long silent retreat to get my writing year off to a productive start. 

I'm also biting the bullet and going to AWP in Portland next April. I've got reservations at a hipster hotel just a block off the people mover, and will spend some time with friends and family locally, as these are old stomping grounds for me. 

July 2019 brings the PTWC and I'll be camping out again next year. I'm not sure what my plans are just yet, I only know that I'll be going.  I'm also heading back to Indianapolis in August 2019 to watch my youngest shine at the DCI Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium, where she will be "aging out" with the most elite drum and bugle corps in the world. 

Also in 2019: I'll be launching a new sleep-related podcast as well as continuing publication of VitaminZZZ

That's it in a big, fat nutshell, the kind a squirrel dreams of. Thanks for your support as friends, readers, and peers!

~Tamara