Saying goodbye to our old apartment.

The moving van almost about loaded to go to our new home.

Beautiful tree greeting us at new home.

Inside the new home, post-move.

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And so, what’s next? Well, I’d like to write that I’ll be catching my breath, unpacking, and decorating to my heart’s content. But that will have to wait until after THE LILY MAID novel deadline in January. To be honest, this move felt a bit like being thrown out of the delivery room mid-labor. There I was, chugging along with my revisions and then everything came to an crashing halt (albeit for a very welcome and wonderful reason). Still, the muses don’t like being thwarted, so the nesting will have wait a bit.

To help get things moving again, I’ll be off on writer’s retreat for a week. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to catch up enough to feel less panicked about the state of my novel! Right now, I have about 85,000 words revised, with the final 35,000 to go. Here’s hoping I’ll build up enough momentum that it’ll be easy to tie up all those character arcs and plot threads. Just in case, I have a second retreat planned in January. This one is for two weeks in England near where my novel’s ending takes place. (Never underestimate the power of place to spur inspiration!)

]]> http://kriswaldherr.com/blog/2011/11/moving-on/feed/ 4 http://kriswaldherr.com/blog/2011/10/cleopatras-moon-giveaway-and-the-winner-is/ http://kriswaldherr.com/blog/2011/10/cleopatras-moon-giveaway-and-the-winner-is/#comments Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:34:02 +0000 kriswaldherr http://kriswaldherr.com/blog/?p=1824

…. Congratulations to Indigene! An e-mail will be sent to you with information for claiming your copy of Vicky Alvear Shecter’s CLEOPATRA’S MOON. I know you’re going to enjoy this wonderful novel!

In other notes, it is snowing—SNOWING!—in Brooklyn this afternoon. Below is a view taken during my walk to the new house. This is the earliest snow I can remember in my twenty-plus years of living here. Is a long winter upon us?

I guess it’s no surprise that I’m not alone in possessing semi-artistically arranged piles of books in my workspace. For the record, here are two of my recent piles. I’m sure you can tell by their titles that these are all for my novel THE LILY MAID. And yes, that is a Tim Gunn bobble head doll. It’s autographed too. These days, I’m all about making it work!

On a related note, I’m about to jump in head-first to revising the rest of THE LILY MAID. My agent and I have agreed on an end-of January deadline for me to complete my next draft for reasons that are too soon to reveal. As things stand now, I’m about 2/3rds of the way through. Sooo, to make this goal doable, I’m streamlining my life until this novel is safely finished. I’ve planned several writer’s retreats. I’ve cut back on gallery hours and events. I’m turning down lunch dates and other extra-curricular activities. I’m also tying up loose ends on other projects such as the Sacred World Oracle (which is just about finished). My lovely beta readers have been placed on alert.

The reality is that book deadlines require me to go into my “cave*”. Much as I want to do everything, I realize it’s not possible for me to do so right now. Nor do I want to, frankly. I’m adoring writing THE LILY MAID. More importantly, I’m at the stage where it’s emotionally distressing not to be working on it.

So here’s to the final marathon. May I have lots of gaterade along the way and no shin splints!

* Phrase courtesy of the lovely Christy English, author of TO BE QUEEN.

First off, congratulations to Sally! You’ve won a copy of Joanna Powell Colbert’s luminous Gaian Tarot. Sally wrote:

What a beautiful deck. It’s great to read about the creative process behind it.”

I heartily agree. I loved the Gaian Tarot’s compassionate and expansive view of humanity—how embracing it is of all cultures and experiences. The art is truly lovely too. I especially thought the accompanying guide book was wonderfully written and very well organized. I’m finding Joanna’s tarot philosophy to be similar to mine, especially in regards to viewing the numbered minors as organic developments of a suit’s energy.

Sally, an e-mail has been sent to you with information for claiming your prize. And many thanks to Joanna for sharing her wisdom and creativity with us on my blog! As I mentioned in my interview with Joanna last week, the Gaian Tarot is now available as a trade publication from Llewellyn Worldwide as well as in a limited edition format. To learn more and try an online reading, visit the Gaian Tarot website.

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In other news, I was fortunate to attend the 11th annual National Book Festival last week. The National Book Festival is organized and hosted by the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. With over one hundred stellar authors participating, it’s a veritable harvest of publishing goodness. I was fortunate not only to attend the very glamorous opening reception (which was held in the stunning Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson building), but to also hear some of my favorite authors speak about their books: Dave Eggers, Toni Morrison, Sarah Vowell, Gregory Maguire, and others.

Recent Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan (A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD) was especially inspiring on the subject of writing fiction, a subject very dear to my heart—her words really resonated with me. Here’s a few of the many things she shared during her nearly hour-long talk. Bear in mind these are a bit paraphrased from my hastily scribbled notes:

On her reasons for writing: “Everyone advises you should ‘write what you know.’ Why do that? I write to escape to another dimension.”

On plotting a novel: “My subconscious is way smarter than I am. Writing is how I access the unconscious part of myself. I trust it to reveal the story.”

On writing A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD: “To tell this story, I had to use different narrative structures. I’ll do whatever it takes to tell a story.”

On a related note, here are the three rules she ultimately decided upon to structure GOON SQUAD:

1. Each chapter had to be about a separate character.

2. Each chapter had to have a different setting.

3. Each chapter had to stand alone as a story.

On the wisdom of story: “The story itself leads you to the place you need to go.”

On fiction: “The job of fiction is to raise questions.”

After hearing Ms. Egan speak, I was inspired to deviate from my LILY MAID-related “all-Victorian-all-the-time” reading list to read A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD. It’s really wonderful—a true tour de force of narrative structure and extremely memorable characters. It swerves dazzlingly in time from the San Francisco punk rock scene of the early 1980s into the present; and finally into a future New York City strangled by social media and global warming. While some have derided the chapter composed in PowerPoint as a gimmick, I thought it worked well.

I know there has been discussion whether GOON SQUAD is a novel or a clever collection of interlocked short stories. To my mind, it’s both. While each story stands on its own (as Egan intended), there’s a sense of elegiac loss permeating the book that ties everything together novelistically. Ultimately, GOOD SQUAD is a bittersweet Proustian meditation on the ravages of time. Highly recommended.

Here are the details:

Friday, May 6th, 7 to 9:30pm
Creative Women’s Networking Salon

Are you an artist, writer, creative entrepreneur or practioner? Come out and meet other like-minded women for conversation, inspiration, and wine. At previous salons, we were joined by photographers, crafters, editors, designers, artists, writers, and illustrators. Suggested donation: $5 for refreshments.

This event takes place at:
Kris Waldherr Art and Words studio-gallery
1501 Newkirk Avenue
entrance on Marlborough Road across from Rite Aid
Brooklyn, NY 11226
347-406-5811

More info: http://www.artandwords.com/events.html

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In other news, I’m hunkered down rewriting and revising my novel opening in preparation for the Backspace Writer’s Conference. I’m excited that I’ve already received my workshop group assignment — historical and commercial fiction — and am really looking forward to meeting the other authors. So far, my novel bible is really helping me clarify my characters’ motivations and relationship. That written, this new level of information is bringing up new questions as I write. It’s good in a somewhat nerve wracking way as I’m being forced to go deeper and truer.

I’ve also started running in Prospect Park with my friend illustrator Amy Saidens. And I’ve already injured myself. I feel like such a rube since I committed a classic newbie mistake: I didn’t get my running shoes checked out even though they were bothering me. Frankly, I didn’t want to spare the time or the money to shop for a new pair. Plus I figured my shoes were good enough for a beginning runner. So bad running shoes = lack of support in ankle =  intense knee pain.

I spent most of yesterday with my knee packed in ice and feeling deeply humbled. The good news is that my knee is already healing. And I’ve learned an important lesson: Don’t skint on time or money. This is a lesson I already know when it comes to my creative work, so I should have known better.

I’m back from my writer’s retreat, which was semi-successful in that I made healthy inroads into what I planned for it. My intent was to write and complete a novel “bible”* for THE LILY MAID. My agent set this task for me during our last meeting, thinking it would help clear up some character motivation issues. As usual, she was right. But little did I realize that such a project requires more than three days’ concentrated labor—I managed to set up the document formatting and begin writing the first third. Even as such, the document came to well over 25,000 words!

As usual, I was too ambitious in thinking that I’d work 24/7 since I’d be without distractions and interruptions. The reality is that writing a novel bible is hard. So distractions were needed to clear my head.

The top photograph is the view from my hotel room from where I spent my writer’s retreat. Below is what I saw on a walk outside my hotel—daffodils everywhere surrounded by wildness stung by sea water. Beautiful!

And yet, if I turned my head toward another direction, here was my view.

Monster uber-resort. Atlantic City, baby. It’s all how you frame it.

For the record, I didn’t play even a single slot machine. Gambling makes me feel queasy—publishing is high stakes enough for me. But the hotel had an amazing spa, which helped to stoke the creative muses. After all, inspiration likes fire and water and heat.

As for finishing my novel bible, I’ve set up a schedule for the rest of it. It’s going to take me probably another week or so—maybe longer. Yikes!

On a totally unrelated note, congratulations to those who won copies of Stephanie Cowell’s CLAUDE AND CAMILLE! I’ve sent each winner an e-mail with instructions on how to claim your prize. I hope you enjoy it! This generous giveaway was courtesy of Crown Books.

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*I’ll write more about what’s involved in creating a novel bible next week.

Above are most of the research books I’m bringing with me on my latest novel writing retreat, which begins tomorrow morning. Hello, Umberto Eco and Oscar Wilde and 1880s’ Baedeckers! This time, I’m off to Atlantic City. Not that I like gambling—far from it!—but I do like cheap, luxurious mid-week hotel rooms where I can hunker down and stare at the ocean while ordering room service. Upon my return, I plan to write a guide entitled The Introvert’s Guide to Atlantic City, Or How I Went to AC and Avoided Slot Machines and Snookie.

My plan for these next three days: to finish writing the book “bible” for THE LILY MAID. My agent had given me this task when we last discussed my novel two months ago—she felt it would help me with this new draft—so time’s a-wasting. Another goal: to revise my first fifty pages anew, now that I’m armed with a new set of notes from said agent, her lovely and perceptive assistant, and two generous beta readers.

Meanwhile, I fear I’m starting to come down with laryngitis yet again. And I’m stretched out from trying to tie up all the various errands that need to be done before my departure, such as cleaning the hamster cage. (Don’t worry, Nibbles! I won’t let you down.)

But in the midst of this, I’ve had some wonderful news. My novel query for THE LILY MAID won the Backspace Query Contest for a scholarship to the Backspace Writers Conference. As part of my entry, I had to include my novel’s first two pages, so this feels like a lovely validation of where I’m going with this book. I’m really surprised—I never expected to win though, of course, one hopes to. I mainly entered the contest thinking it was a good spur for rewriting my novel synopsis, which has proved very helpful during the revision process. Anything else was icing on the cake.

So thank you, Backspace Writers Conference! I’m so pleased to be attending you.

Ever wonder what my desk looks like as I work? Terri Windling, the wonderfully inspiring creator of many books and much beautiful artwork, has included my workspace in her “On Your Desk” blog series. Also included: the desk of Jane Yolen and those of many other mythic artists and writers. I love this intimate look at creative working environments!

Terri was also the editor of the late and much lamented Journal of Mythic Arts, which I adored reading on a regular basis. Fortunately, the archives are still available for your perusal.

Terri and I have known each other for longer than I can believe—it makes me feel quite old to think of it. When I was first starting out as a children’s book illustrator over two decades ago, the illustrator Alan Lee suggested I contact Terri for advice regarding my first picture book, Rapunzel. I still remember the first time I met Terri—I was fresh out of art school and totally intimidated by the publishing world. In walked this lovely, fae-like woman who instantly put me at my ease and was so encouraging of my art. It was Terri, by way of author Ellen Kushner, who set me up with a literary agent for my children’s books so I was able to begin earning a living as an artist.

Though many books have passed since then, I have never forgotten Terri’s generous help and pure spirit. Anyone starting out in publishing knows how intimidatingly difficult can be to get that first foot in the door. It is through gestures of faith from people such as Terri Windling that creativity is encouraged to go out into the world and prosper.

You can view my desk here.

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Reminder: Tomorrow is our Holiday Artisan Fair at the gallery. If you live in the NYC area, I hope you’ll stop by for your holiday shopping needs! This is our last event of 2010.

I have several hundred photos from my trip, many of them research-oriented. One highlight was a visit to Highgate Cemetery’s West Cemetery to visit the grave of Elizabeth Siddal, Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s model, muse, and wife. Below is Rossetti’s Beata Beatrice, an oil painting he completed of Lizzie (which is how her many knew her) several years after her death from a laudanum overdose. Though her passing was ruled death by misadventure, she may have left a suicide note which her husband destroyed. However, Lizzie was a gifted poet and painter in her own right, a fact often overshadowed by the Sturm und Drang particulars of her association with Rossetti.

The fragile condition of Highgate’s West Cemetery leaves it closed to visitors except by advance arrangement. I feel very fortunate to have had such a special experience. I am grateful to Justin, my guide at Highgate, who was both knowledgeable and tolerant as I paid my respects.

I was pleased to see that someone else had recently visited Lizzie’s grave—I added my offering of a peach-colored rose to the red flowers already there. Lizzie’s plot in the Rossetti family enclave is located down a hidden, isolated and ivy-strewn pathway slick with autumn leaves. Justin said that she’s visited by more men than women–and the men tend to weep. One even became visibly angry and ranted about how she was abused by Rossetti. “I think the women who visit are made of sterner stuff,” my guide concluded.

Lizzie’s tragic life is included in THE LILY MAID as a cautionary tale. In this excerpt from my novel, my protagonist Elizabeth is warned about the dangers of being a muse from her ex-fiance:

Charles began, “Elizabeth Siddal was the muse for Dante Rossetti, the most famous Pre-Raphaelite of them all—”

“—Don’t bore me. I know who Rossetti is,“ I interrupted. “And I told you, Mr. Dulac is not a Pre-Raphaelite.”

“Doesn’t matter. All artists seek inspiration—a muse, if you will.”

“Indeed.”

“Everyone should have a muse. But nobody should have to be one.”

Charles’ eyes met mine, daring me to ignore him…. His voice became low. “Elizabeth Siddal posed for some of Rossetti’s most famous paintings—Beata Beatrice, Paolo and Francesca. His poems are about her. You know this one:

‘At length their long kiss severed, with sweet smart:
And as the last slow sudden drops are shed
From sparkling eaves when all the storm has fled,
So singly flagged the pulses of each heart….’

I flushed, remembering.

Charles continued, “Anyway, Rossetti claimed to be in love with Miss Siddal—that she was the only one who could inspire his art. But he soon tired of her, beautiful as she was, and replaced her with another muse, Jane Morris. Miss Siddal did not take it well. Sure, Rossetti did the right thing and married her, but she never recovered from losing that influence over him. It was like a drug to her. So she replaced it with another drug, laudanum. She died at the age of thirty-one from an overdose.”

I was disturbed, but determined not to show it.

“When she died, Rossetti tucked his only copy of his poems in her coffin next to her long copper hair. He regretted it, so he had the coffin exhumed from Highgate seven years later.”

THE LILY MAID is about a young woman who becomes a model to a charismatic artist and his wife and, in the process, uncovers a mysterious tragedy. It’s set during the Aesthetics art movement in 1880s London. You can learn more about Elizabeth Siddal and her work at LizzieSiddal.com and PreRaphaeliteSisterhood.com—both wonderful sites. I also highly recommend Lucinda Hawksley’s biography, Lizzie Siddal: Face of the Pre-Raphaelites.

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It wouldn’t be a Publishing Monday post without some mention of publishing. As I posted last month, my new e-book imprint Art and Words Editions is officially launched! I’m especially pleased that all of our Fall books have been approved and released by Amazon, BN.com, and Apple.

Our newest addition—and one which I’m especially proud of—is Lisa Hunt’s Soul Drawings. Thie e-book original is a stunning look at the fine art of this much-loved illustrator whose many publications include the Fairy Tale Tarot, Animals Divine Tarot, and Celestial Goddesses.

Soul Drawings is available for $9.99 in iBooks, Kindle, Nook, and PDF formats; the PDF will work on any computer. View excerpts from the book here. In addition, you can download a free chapter and art here from Apple, BN.com, and Amazon.

In January, we’ll be posting an exclusive and candid Q&A with Lisa about the creation of Soul Drawings as well as a video detailing what goes into creating a “soul drawing.” Not to be missed!

I have a guest post up on Harrowing Historicals, a month-long celebration of all things spooky and history-oriented. It’s hosted by the lovely Allie (of Hist Fic Chick) and the equally lovely Nicole (Linus’s Blanket). (I was fortunate to have met both of them at Mary Sharratt’s reading  at the gallery earlier this year.) A little about Harrowing Historicals:

Each day of the month at witching hour (12 midnight, EST), Nicole and I will feature a different historical fiction (and a few fun non-fiction!) read that has a Halloween tie-in. Because let’s face it – history is fraught with some scary stuff! Join us for chats on the history of vampires, Queens who died in gruesome ways, what it’s like to consult psychic mediums for historical fiction research, and scary personages like Elizabeth Bathory and Jack the Ripper. It’s going to be an exciting month filled with all things spooky history!”

My guest post is entitled “Let Them Eat … Ectoplasm?” Yup, it’s about the ghost of Marie Antoinette. Thanks to Allie and Nicole for inviting me to participate!

On top of this Allie has also posted a great review of DOOMED QUEENS. Plus there’s a giveaway of sets of Ask the Queens advice cards and Doomed Queens playing cards; info is listed at the bottom of my Harrowing Historicals guest post.

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