Is it an ending or a beginning?

I love stories where the ending is the beginning, or the beginning starts first with the ending. Or, the beginning is the core of the story, the tight center, and the narrative flows out and away from it, a widening aperture. 

I rarely see the end of a year as an ending. Or as a beginning. In fact, I never feel this kind of transition in January (I feel it more in September, probably because I've inculcated the academic calendar to my rhythms and can't help but think of the end of summer as the "end" of the year). 

This all reminds me of a psychic I once saw. I asked her why I was so attracted to the spiral symbol. She told me to stop thinking about it as a two-dimensional thing, that I should stretch it out like a spiral staircase that never ends. 

For me, that was a watershed moment. I began to recognize personal, creative energy as a kind of ebb and flow, or contraction/expansion, instead of a path walked around a circular labyrinth. 

2018 has been equal parts contraction and expansion. I:

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

Pre-Centrum Silent Writing Retreat: Photos

Guess where I am... 

It's not hard to guess. I'm in Port Townsend for my annual pilgrimage to the Port Townsend Writers Conference.

The official conference starts Sunday, but it's my habit to go up the Thursday before for a personal writing retreat, something I refer to as a silent retreat because I limit my interaction with other people during that time.

It's one way I unwind before the intensity of the writing conference hits. I think of it as doing yoga in order to achieve meditation. The former, after all, exists to prepare for the latter.

What's the plan?

My goals are fairly simple this year. I didn't sign up for a daily workshop this year, opting for the "residency" option instead.

I'll spend this weekend writing drafts to complete a poetry chapbook I'm working on (I've already written one poem, just this morning, and have six left, which my goal to complete all of them to draft level by Sunday night).

Once Monday morning hits, I will switch gears and launch into a project I started at last year's conference: generating new work toward a book of creative nonfiction, personal essays, and experimental forms addressing the topic of my dream life. My writing schedule will consume all of my mornings and a few of my afternoons. If I am an early riser, I might pop in for a few early AM free writes.

Meanwhile, I'm reading Ursula K. LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven and have other books on my Kindle that discuss the science of dreams that I can read for inspiration.

Where I'm staying

Those of you who follow me know that I normally take my 25-foot travel trailer up the conference and opt for a camping experience at Fort Worden rather than a dorm-life experience.

I love doing this because it affords me a nightly (and daily morning) campfire and the opportunity to cook for myself. I like being close to the beach and appreciate the fresh air and laid-back vibe of the campground.

However, this year I have split my 10 days into a 3-day silent retreat at a local Victorian hotel followed by 7 days in the Fort dorms (like everyone else).

Over the last year, Fort Worden switched their campground reservation system to the state parks utility. They did not open up reservations to the park until March, and by the time I was able to register, the entire campground was booked!

I'm a bit sad to miss out on my campfires and home-cooked meals, but much of what I value at the conference exists in the people I enter while I'm there: the hard-core regulars who have become a kind of second family to me, and the brand-new seekers who bring new ideas and energy to the event.

Even if I'm only attending as a resident (meaning, no morning classes), I will be taking 3 afternoon mini classes, attending the evening readings, the post-reading open mics at the 262, and will take all my meals at the Commons... all great opportunities to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

The pictures above illustrate the magical place I'm inhabiting this weekend pre-conference.

Time to decompress!

The weather is perfect: 70s with a cool breeze, sunny, great for sleeping, walking, writing, and decompressing.

There will be a luxurious lavender bath salts soak tonight, home-cooked breakfast and lettuce wraps for dinner (I picked the kitchenette-equipped suite for this reason), a fresh pedicure, and a downtown walkabout so I can visit my favorite Port Townsend haunts. Usually the walkabout includes a trek through the bookstores, a couple of galleries I favor, the bead store, the candy and ice cream shops, and the general store, where I always find a great pair of new shoes.

I have reserved a week from today for a possible trek up to the Sequim Lavender Festival, should I feel like I've made the most productive use of my week. I'm also thinking about a Starlight Room reward for later next week, for the same reason.

But only as long as I don't miss the Whiskey and Pie Night next week, which has become a regular social feature of the conference, thanks to the clever creativity of organizer Sam Ligon and author Kate Lebo. Nor will I miss any wiffle ball pickup games with Jordan Hartt, Philip Shaw and the rest of the bleacher bums!

Before I go... my latest news 

I'm happy to report that The Broken City has accepted my poem, "On the Day After Gary Ridgway's 48 Confessions," for reprint in their upcoming "Death" themed issue.

I continue to write daily for 5 different publishers (SleepyHeadCENTRAL, the American Sleep Apnea Association, Health Union, BioNews Services, and the American Association of Sleep Technologists, and this makes me super happy.

I've also launched a literary series for SleepyHeadCENTRAL called "Vitamin Zzz" which focuses on sleep-related poetry and short prose which you might want to check out (here).

For now, it's sayonara. I've got some words to write and some time to fill with silence. Happy Summer!

~Tamara

Echoes from the past aren't necessarily a bad thing

I heard from literary maven, Esther Altshul Helfgott, in a Facebook message today as I was scouring my Twitter feed for news this morning.

It turns out that a presentation I delivered ten years ago for the wonderful writer's reading series in Seattle, It's About Time, that she still curates, is going to publish its first anthology with Cave Moon Press (Yakima, WA).

Not only that, but they want to publish my presentation transcripts in it!

What constitutes "real" writing? Money? Effort? Creativity?

Last summer, a friend of mine who writes across genres asked me how my writing life was. I told him, Great! I'm writing every day and getting paid for it! Which is still true, and which I'm still extremely excited to be doing. 

Then he asked me, but are you doing any real writing? I had to pause because I didn't actually know what he meant. You know, he said, creative writing (fiction, poetry, etc.)? 

It never occurred to me to designate writing in this way.