Calling all SF writers

[jacey]

Most of you already know about Milford, a week for published SF writers to get together and workshop short stories and novel excerpts in a small, intensive peer to peer gathering. This year it's being held in Snowdonia from 24th to 31st October in our venue of recent years Trigonos - a lovely eco-friendly and comfortable venue within sight of Snowdon itself committed to home grown (organic) food

I've been attending various Milfords (off and on) since 1998 and am on the organising committee. When the bookings first started earlier in the year we filled the places quite quickly, but we've had a surprisingly high dropout rate and as of the present moment we have four available places, one of them only notified to us this week. We obviously need to fill these if at all possible as we block book a specific number of rooms at Triginos.

So please pass the word around, or if you fancy a bracing trip to North Wales in October with a bunch of other SF writerly types please get in touch with us via the Milford web site or drop a note in the comments.

Please note that the minimum requirement for coming to Milford is one professionally published story - so relative beginners are welcome, but many of the writers who attend are multi-published novelists.

Comments

[anghara.livejournal.com]

...This year it's being held in Snowdonia from 24th to 31st August...

A bit of time travel involved...?

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Oops. Always did have a problem with August and October. Edited.Thanks

[anghara.livejournal.com]

...and I DO fancy a "bracing trip to North Wales in October". Very much so. Trouble is I'm in North America which is quite a whack away from North Wales. I'm afraid that my return to North Wales will have to wait a little while....

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

But that's why aeroplanes were invented!
:-)

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Can't afford it. Would *love* North Wales in October.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

It would probably be marginally warmer than Maine and you get a different variety of roadkill.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

I'll be at World Fantasy. If not for that, I'd have already signed up. And I'm so ready for 2010.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'll ever make the entry level requirements, however much experience I shall acquire. I just don't get short story ideas.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

There are ways of deliberately generating ideas, especially for short stories.

I know that when one is the type of writer who just gets ideas turning up, it seems unnecessary to try techniques of idea creation, but it is another useful skill to have.

[brownnicky.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry to have had to pull out. I was really looking forward to it, but I couldn't turn down work : (

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I can't write short stories because I don't understand short stories. Half the time when I read published shorts I go 'huh' because I cannot see the _story_ in them - all I see is a vignette, a series of events that don't seem to have an arc. Other people obviously see them differently. I get a short story idea about once every five years, and if I 'try to generate one' all that happens is that I have soemthing that's cardboard all the way through - the characters don't come to life, the setting is flat, the plot is clicheed, I hate every word, and there is no STORY.

I wouldn't know a short story idea if it bit me on the bum, so trying to create them is pretty fraught from the start, and if I had one, I wouldn't know what to do with it.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I'm not a natural short story writer, either, but I've sold about seven over the last decade or so. Not a great track record, but I qualified for Milford in 1998 and went when I was just on minimum entry level. That was Alastair Reynold's first year, too, and Liz Williams. Neither had sold a novel at that stage. Al just got a million pound, ten book deal - as reported in the press!
:-)

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

Right now the only reason for me to learn to write short stories would be to sell one so I could qualify for Milford so I could improve my novel writing skills...

...can you see anything wrong with that picture?

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I wish I could have made it. I was looking forward to it. But clashes occur and... Next year!

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Oh, bugger! I thought you were coming! Aargh. I think that makes five spaces!

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I emailed Liz last week: I should have mailed you also. Apologies.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

The thing is - it's the weight of late cancellations that are going to be a problem. It would have been easier to 'sell' the spaces earlier in the summer. Any chance of you changing your mind? Apart from anything else, we'll miss you.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Unfortunately not. It's a date thing -- that week turns out to clash with World Fantasy, and I have to go to the latter, and I really can't manage both either timewise or financially. Bah.

[charlieallery.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll have a think about this, and let you know for certain in the next day or so, but it looks like a jolly good idea to me. Good usage of some of the prize money I'd have to say. Not to mention the ideal chance to tackle Snowdonia on 2 wheels! (Yes, I do have heated handlebar grips!)

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

That would be fantastic. I'm sure you'll love it! the Heated handlebar grips is a brilliant idea! Do you still have my personal email address? It hasn't changed.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hope you can go. I'm feeling guilty now, though I cancelled at the end of July.

Unfortunately, things have moved on since I booked and as I'll be studying two different degree courses and doing some kind of extra work in addition to my part-time OU tutoring, it would be far too stressful to try to do a week of critiquing as well.

[charlieallery.livejournal.com]

I understand that position. I had to cancel last year because I just wouldn't have coped with being around that many people. That shouldn't be an issue now and since I'm just getting back into the production of words, the timing's about right as well. :)

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

As the new term is getting under way, I'm actually starting to panic a bit about all the things I have to do this autumn. It will be all right as long as I time everything right, but if I let things get out of hand, I'll be doomed. :(

I have even started doing a Gantt chart to see how everything pans out!

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

There are often occasional dropouts and it's not usually a problem, but to lose five out of twelve is just plain careless of us!
:-)