Valerie Nieman v. 3.0

A big thank you to James Tate Hill, my colleague at North Carolina A&T State University, for inviting me on this blog tour, My Writing Process. His post appeared last week at this site. It’s always interesting when people ask us to step back and explain exactly what we’re doing, what I’m doing there in the corner in front of the computer, early in the morning or into the night, typing in words in uneven bursts. 1)                    What are you working on? Right now, I’m engaged in far too many projects. I am completing final edits to a new collection of poetry, Hotel Worthy , which will be published in the spring by Press 53. I’m pretty pumped about that – the best of ten years’ worth of poetizing. The editing has been light from the publisher, but I have to skinny down three formal poems – a ghazal, pantoum, and sestina – to fit the page width. Free verse and prose poems are not an issue...

I ran into this "app" at the Books by Women site. It only took me a couple of hours to put it together, using photos that I had taken along with videos from the site and a public domain image. Pretty slick! I only did the free 30-second one, but you can upgrade to a longer paid video. For authors with small presses, this seems like a nice option. Check it out!

Our State magazine is one of the gems of North Carolina - a state magazine that is chock-full of information and entertainment. I was so pleased to see Blood Clay get  such a nice notice there. Blood Clay by Valerie Nieman | Our State Magazine

I was up early, watching a UNC-EX program on the crocodile god in Egypt. Lots of images of sand sifting through ruins, and archaologists digging layer by careful layer. I've been asked lately about how a book begins, and it seems at least for me it begins only when there is enough history accumulated. What happened when I was 5 or 11 or 23 or 36 is still there, like the ruins buried in the desert. Then something new occurs that reaches right back through the layers like a shaft dug straight into the past. It's a certain slant of light .... a note from an old bell ... the way a dirt road curves into a forest and the sky reflects from a crescent puddle. Then, and only then, my senses and emotions awakened, is there a sense of a story waiting to be told. And interviewers have asked, of course, how much overlap there is between author and character. Does Tracey in Blood Clay represent my feelings in her sometimes caustic comments? Is she me ? Well, no. But she has some parts ...

My neighbor's been trying to rehabilitate a feral cat. Francis, or Francis, named for the saint, this skinny cat arrived a few weeks back, white with pale marmalade patches. No one could get close enough to determine the gender, hence, a name that would serve in either eventuality. She was able to trap Francis, as he turned out to be, and take him to the vet for vaccinations and neutering. He complained loudly from the screened porch that afternoon, his usual interrogatives turned to outrage. The main character in Blood Clay , Tracey, is engaged in rehabilitating a passel of cats abandoned by earlier occupants of her farmhouse. It's not an easy task, and I'll leave it to the novel to show how well she does in it. But I will say that Garland, who has the largest "walk-on" part from the cat world, is modeled closely on a great old tomcat from my youth. I had some wonderful cat friends - Heckle and Jeckle, Goldie, Tiger. Boogie was special, though. He was a big bl...

I've been following the Facebook conversation launched by a friend in Pennsylvania who is considering opening a bookstore. "Try with all your might to find the tiniest, nookiest, very least expensive, spot to rent," one comment read. " Bookstores ARE NOT a thing of the past!" said another. And people had suggestions for ways an indie store could add to its revenue stream, as well as warnings about the hazard of starting a new business, any new business. It made me think of Barnhill's in Winston-Salem, a newish store that's working hard to revitalize a community on and around Burke Street. In addition to books, and strong support for the small press (especially W-S's own Press 53 ), Barnhill's has wine tastings from regional vineyards, local art on the walls, children's items, fudge from a nearby shop. None of this is new, but it is part of a pattern of local businesses helping each other out, making networks to sustain them and their cust...

I was in Asheville this weekend for a gathering of writers, and was delighted to read at Malaprop's, one of the great bookstores. Emoke, founder of Malaprop's some 30 years ago, was honored for her life's work by the state's writers, and it was a well-deserved recognition. And here's a shout-out to Alsace, Jan, and all the folks who make an author feel welcome in the shop. Asheville crowns the mountains with grace and good humor, a irrepressible young queen of the high country. The annual Bele Chere festival filled the downtown for the weekend, and despite the heat and threat of thunderstorms, everyone seemed to have a grand time. I enjoyed the music, both the stage productions and the intimate sound of buskers along the streets, and art of every variety. Speaking of queens - I'm in the Queen City on Aug. 13 to visit Park Road Books from 1-3 p.m. Pam Kelley is giving away a copy of Blood Clay - stop by her website before Wednesday, Aug. 3, to get your name i...

If you're picking up some novels for summer reading, Ed Davis had nice things to say about Blood Clay.   Author Ed Davis: Great Summer Reading: A Writer to Watch Speaking of watching writers - Ed's novel won the Hackney Award, so watch for him moving up the charts in a few months.

Seems like things come in threes - most recently, three Q&As. Two I've just sent off to their respective e-publications, but the first of the trio is now up at StorySouth . Ben Klinkner, formerly of the Greensboro Review, did a great review of Blood Clay , and sent a list of questions to follow the review. They were interesting, and demanding - the questions that come when a person has read the book and taken mental notes - I was hard pressed to respond in kind. (I have to say, being likened to Alice Munro will give an author the big head!) Since leaving journalism, I've found myself on the opposite side of the table from my 25-year experience as an interviewer. Now I'm the one trying to make a cogent sentence, or come up with a name or title from the lumber room of my  memory. And it's tough. Hats off to those celebrities and newly formed celebrities who have to be poised and polished for a ceaseless round of interviews.

I'm setting up a blog tour for the spring and summer. If you are interested in interviewing me, reviewing Blood Clay , or hosting a book giveaway on your blog, please get in touch with me at valnieman@gmail.com or respond to this post and I'll be happy to work with you. Make sure to include your email address so I can reply to you.

What a St. Patrick's Day... My senior seminar class for creative writing is held in a small library, and today a student asked to be allowed to stay there and read during the session. At the end, he asked, "What is this class," and we told him. Then he asked, "Can I come back and attend the class? It's so interesting!" Yes, of course, we said. He won't get any course credit, but that didn't seem to matter. Bless you, Andre - a moment like that can keep a teacher going for years. Better energy than uranium. Then... The first shipment of Blood Clay arrived.... Then... I saw a flock of cedar waxwings down the street, wonderful to run into these nomads, so quickly present and gone, so quiet in their discussions as they fed.

It's only five weeks until the release of Blood Clay , yet this morning I had another title ghost through my head. There's something about naming the child that is difficult, sometimes impossible - the right name has already been taken, is too close to another, too plain, too exotic. Just like in families. One aunt has a lovely name but an unfortunate history. The father loves Angela and the mother loves Helene and the great-aunt chooses - Zenobia? Blood Clay started life with a working title of Feral , which links to the behavior of cats, dogs, people, and communities - but also conjures up images of horror movies. I tried Birds Without Nests - maybe it was the negativity, but that didn't fly. My publisher loved the book but hated the title, and there was a flurry of email as we tried various options. Finally, a recurrent image in the text provided a path. But should it be Blood/Clay ? Clay/Blood ? Blood and Clay ? We settled, at last, on Blood Clay . And I like it. You c...