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

December brings a review of November gains and losses in the writing life (but mostly GAINS!!!)

Lots of news these last few weeks! Check out my What's New? page to get the November boilerplate and catch up on all my latest writing gigs and efforts. Hint: I have a new job! Check out the links below to see what I'm up to these days in the science writing world:

• SomnoSure -- Snoring, Sleep Apnea, and Pregnancy: Risks and what to do 12.1.15

• SomnoSure -- "Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Depression" 11.26.15

• SomnoSure -- "Tired all the time? Maybe you have a sleep disorder" 11.24.15

• SomnoSure -- The Relationship Between Sleep Apnea and Diabetes 11.18.15

[WERDZ] Writing Life Updates!

Weber: The Contemporary West, Spring 2014

Finally I can return here with some news and some plans (however amorphous these might be at the moment).

NEWS

I have a personal essay in the Spring 2014 edition of Weber: The Contemporary West; it's entitled "Intersections." Of interest to those with a deep connection to the Olympic National Forest, especially in the southwest part of Washington State. The archives at the Weber website aren't live with the latest edition yet, but if you can get hold of a hard copy, please look for my work there! There might be a link to my piece in the coming months, so stay tuned!

Poetry Corners poem broadsides displayed at Eagle
Harbor Books, Bainbridge Island, WA

I also have a poem broadside posted at Island Fitness as part of the local National Poetry Month effort; this Poetry Corners project here in Bainbridge Island. Many thanks to BI Arts & Humanities for their continued effort with this successful campaign to get more poetry out in the community.
year's theme is "Don't Be Afraid," and my poem is entitled "Bus Stop Meditation." I believe it will also be included in a poetry anthology, a new development in the

PLANS

I have launched my new career in sleep technology and I'm really loving the work! I put in two 12.5-hour overnight shifts a week (Mondays and Tuesdays) and sleep during the day (Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with a nap on Monday afternoon as well). On top of that, I'm now secretary of the Washington State Sleep Society and helping out with the organization of their annual conference as well as their website. You can imagine that having a working life does cut into writing time.

However, having an active working life out in the world has afforded me some great experiences with people, technology, medicine and society that are beginning to fill my creative well with ideas. I'm narrowing my focus, for now, on science journalism, personal essay, creative nonfiction and some flash fiction for the time being. Part of my goal in becoming an RPSGT was to get quality credentials to solidify my place in the science journalism world. Now I am studying for an additional credential, the CCSH (Certificate for Clinical Sleep Health) which will allow me to become even more involved in patient sleep education and general health literacy, two pet subjects of mine. I'm also looking into writing more about multiple sclerosis.

As for flash fiction, it's a pleasurable pursuit I can wait to return to. I'm taking Sam Ligon's class in the form at the 11-day Port Townsend Writers Conference at Centrum this coming July and can't wait to generate some new material in a focused environment. I'll be camping out in the campground in our FunFinder this time so I can make use of an open fire every night, one of my favorite energizing practices. It'll be great to see old friends, make new friends and generally re-immerse myself in the writing landscape for that time.

I'm still getting requests for consulting and editing via Writer's Rainbow and, yes, even Margin. Just a reminder: I retired Writer's Rainbow in 2010 and Margin was archived in 2007. They were both wonderful pursuits, but I have moved on and will be focusing my non-work time on my own writing projects.

That's it from the trenches. Wish me luck as I return to the land of wandering word minstrels; I must confess I've missed quite a few of you out there!

~ Tamara

[WERDZ] Please sponsor me to benefit Clarion West Writers

I've decided to sign up for Clarion West’s tenth annual Write-a-thon. What they want from their participants is to Write, write, write! My writing goal is simple: return to a daily writing jam starting June 23 and ending August 2. No word count minimum, just a goal of writing something everyday. I'll report back here and at my Write-a-thon page here.

I'm doing this to get back into writing while also helping to benefit a great writing community here in the PacNW. Clarion West has served many of my friends very well over the years. I'm asking for a pretty cheap sponsorship from everyone: $1 a day, $10 for 10 days or $40 if you already know I'll meet my goal (which I will). If you want me to send you a new poem about sleep, food or the brain at the end of the Write-a-thon, send in $50. I promise it will be passionate and masterful and accessible and whatever else you'd like for it to be!

How to sponsor a Write-a-thon participant

To sponsor me, click my participant page here. Your support helps me to meet my goals and gives Clarion West a leg up on funding their fantastic (pun intended) program. Go with whatever amount suits your budget using either my page’s PayPal links, or by sending a check to headquarters (claiming me as sponsored participant):

Clarion West

P.O. Box 31264

Seattle, WA 98103-1264

Donations to Clarion West are tax deductible in the U.S. Clarion West is a nonprofit educational organization under Section 501 © (3) of the Internal Revenue Code; our Federal EIN is 91-1352168. Check with your tax advisor for other tax jurisdictions. After you send in your donation, you will receive a thank-you letter acknowledging your gift from Clarion. You can use this letter as a receipt for tax purposes.

Meanwhile, I'll drop you a note here daily to let you know how things are going. Thanks, friends!