Create Your Own Writer's Retreat

Hello everyone. I've inherited a wonderful cottage in Ellisville, MA - the southernmost tip of Plymouth, about 5 minutes from the Sagamore Bridge onto Cape Cod and about a 20-30 minute drive to Hyannis. Beaches, restaurants, hiking trails, bike trails, etc. are all close by.

But the best news is that the cottage is off two dirt roads and located on a peaceful pond - a quiet, relaxed environment. It is the perfect location for writers who want to spend a weekend or week working on their craft, editing a manuscript, or drafting new material.

We are looking at selectively renting the cottage, both the upstairs and downstairs (each has its own kitchen) on a weekend or weekly basis to people we know, including my writer friends. I imagine we'll keep the cottage open through fall. If you are interested in receiving more information please let me know and I'll be happy to share with you when it is available. If you have an idea of possible dates you'd be interested in, that would be helpful, too.

Residency Schedule and Peer Workshops

The residency schedule is up! You'll find the link on the MFA web page (http://www.wcsu.edu/writing/mfa) under the Residencies section.

Also, a reminder that the peer workshops are self-organized this residency. I haven't seen any chatter on this issue, so I can only assume that either you are organizing behind the scenes... or not. If you are a first-semester student and you are at a loss on how to proceed with this, let me know, and I'll see what I can do to help you find a group to workshop with.

Residency Workshops

Click on the title link to go to the residency workshop selection page. Once there, you can click the workshop name to get a description. Please make your workshop selections by July 13; you will receive immediate confirmation of your registrations, and you should begin right away with any preparations thatyou can make on your own. On July 14, we will provide any required materials and email distribution lists for exchange of work in advance of the residency.

Editorial Assistant Needed

Firewheel Editions/Sentence: a Journal of Prose Poetics/Kugelmass are in need of an Editorial Assistant or two to be in the office at least 3 hours per week. Duties will include submission and subscription tracking, correspondence with authors and editors, press/journal publicity, mailings, proofreading, and other tasks associated with the operation of an independent non-profit press and journals. Like all positions at Firewheel, this is a volunteer position, but it offers great experience to anyone interested in small press publishing. Interested parties should email me at editor@firewheel-editions.org or at clementsb@wcsu.edu.

New Blog

I decided I wasn't wasting enough time, so I started blogging...

New Story in DARK FAITH

Hey all. I just got the contributor copy for my latest anthology appearance, in Apex Publications' book of religion and horror, Dark Faith.

My story is "The Last Words of Dutch Schultz Jesus Christ", and I'm pretty pleased. The book is getting some good reviews already, including this one at BN.com's Sci-Fi and Fantasy blog.

If you're interested, here's a link to the publisher's page. The first 500 direct orders also get a bonus chapbook with some extra stories.


Check it out!

Peer Workshops at August Residency

We're going to handle the Peer Workshops a bit differently this time. Rather than group you all into sections by genre, I'm going to throw the doors open and let you self-organize. Use the comments space under this post to discuss what you might like to do or discus in peer workshops, topics you might like to cover, organization by genre or subgenre or technical question or whatever. I'll have the time reserved on the schedule for you (two 3-hour sessions); you just need to decide how you're going to use that time and let Laurel know if your group is going to have any unusual needs in terms of technology, space, etc. So... have at it! Keep in mind that the incoming first-semester students have no frame of reference for this (maybe they will chime in here) and could use some guidance from some of the more seasoned students.

Contract Advice

Hey gang,

Know you're all glad another semester is behind you and summer is just around the corner.

Have a question for the group. I've been approached about writing a how-to book for a company to sell. They're well-known in their field but this would be the first book in their publishing wing. Great brand, in other words, but not a lot of experience. The topic is right in my sweet area so that's great. I'm flattered they asked.

My question: what should I be looking for in terms of the contract? I want to protect as much of my intellectual property as possible - which is to say I'll want to repackage some of this at some point and I would prefer they NOT repackage it. But I'm not sure how to do that. They're not offering an advance but a hefty commission and I imagine some speaking gigs to help promote the book as well.

Thoughts? I'm out of my element here.

Thanks!

Fletch