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...

Writing is a tough business. It’s not laying bricks, sure, but it does demand the mental toughness to keep hitting the keyboard long after saner folks would have taken up orchid hybridization as an easier hobby. But we keep on keeping on, putting one word after the other. The late Octavia Butler, a black woman writer in science fiction (for far too long a bastion of white males), commented, "You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say that one of the most valuable traits is persistence." So – we work, in order to do better work. It’s an apprenticeship, and if we want to become better writers, we create journeyman efforts until we can accomplish a masterwork. We’ve seen a lot of advice for writers over the years – write every day, write so many words every day, take part in marathons like Nanowrimo. But the best advice I ever received came from the ...

R iding down to the Weymouth Center on Saturday, I heard two bits of news from Press 53 publisher Kevin Morgan Watson. One, that he was not going to publish any more novels or memoirs, so that he could focus on short story collections (his first love) and poetry. I'm happy he's making this move, even though it means I'll be back in the hunt for a publisher and/or agent for my next Southern/crime novel Backwater , now in the writing - because short fiction deserves its champion. The other bit of news is that Darlin' Neal, author of Rattlesnakes and the Moon from Press 53, will be back soon with another collection of short fiction. I love Rattlesnakes , an unflinching look into the lives of blue-collar woman that take us into the truck stops and trailer parks, but doesn't showing women at the hardscrabble end of things as simply victims. Her heartbreaking stories of the road and hard times are set in small places of the South and West. In “Lafayette,” a woman...

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...

Press 53 has announced the winners and finalists of its Open Competition , and it's exciting to welcome these authors into the family. One thing about being part of an Indie publisher like Press 53 is that, year by year, you see the community grow and make connections with other writers from coast to coast - and beyond. Among the winners and finalists this year were friends from the Triad - Michael Gaspeny, Ray Morrison and others. Their work emerged from blind judging, along with that from writers from as far away as Bellingham, WA; Watsonville, CA; Brooklyn, NY; and British Columbia, Canada. It will be fun to get to know them through their work in the 2012 anthology. Publisher Kevin Morgan Watson often speaks about choosing his first two poets, without knowing where they were from, and finding after he decided on the manuscripts that they were from Greensboro (me) and Winston-Salem (Joseph Mills.) Although the press publishes North Carolinians, its reach is nationwide, with a r...

Indie bookstores keep the flame of literature alive. Press 53 is supporting "indies" all over the nation with "Support our Indie Friends Weekend" right now - including one of my faves, Barnhill's in Winston-Salem. June 25 is "Save a Bookstore" day, and all of us readers who enjoy browsing and sipping some good coffee need to come on out and show the love by actually (ahem) buying a book. Me, I'll be at McIntyre's in Fearrington Village, where I'm scheduled to read at 11 a.m. Maybe I'll see you there!

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...

I'm off to meet with my publisher this morning, going over the final edits for Blood Clay and looking at the cover. It's worth noting that these edits mark about the fifth time I've been been through the MSS since it was accepted, approving changes and making a few more. Kevin , Sheryl, the "Saras", Alexandria, and the other interns - all have combed through the text, looking for consistency problems, awkward phrasing, repetitions, and more. Their work has been careful, thorough, and surprising - because as a longtime reporter and editor, I prided myself on "clean copy." We don't see this kind of editing much any more in the publishing business. Things move too quickly, there aren't as many eyes on the text. Even expensive hardcover books from major writers and leading publishers can have eye-popping mistakes. Check out this site for a look into the work of copy editors. And if you know one, send a thank you to these too-little-recognized keepe...