writing camp 7/15 the role of place in fiction, making "grass angels" & more proof that white men can't dance

Saturday, July 15th, 2006 started off far too early indeed...no workshop though we were all meeting for brunch at some schmancy place in a hotel followed by a rumored trip to Powell's...spent the morning catching up on the "real" world & taking picture of trees (yes, I know, they're the same trees I took pictures of last year)...brunch was good but wayyy too expensive for my sad budget...I gave up on trying to find something vegan (again) and had pancakes & mimosas...I would say that the conversation was deeply intellectual but I think we talked about a lot of other things...it was nice though & I will miss these people & definitely miss the workshop/brain stimulation...Made it back to campus in time for 2 p.m. CREATING A WORLD: The Role of “Place” in Fiction Setting is too often captured in clichés or hollow glances, but a rich and textured setting can inform the plot, help define characters, and draw a reader into the story. These three writers, each highly skilled at crafting place, discuss their various approaches. Panel with Dorothy Allison, Ann Cummins, Charles D’Ambrosio" (from schedule description)...here are my notes..."the way I see it, smell it, etc." (D. Allison)..."the inherent arrogance of writing anything" (D'Ambrosio)..."Beer shit & baby bottles" (verbal slip by Dorothy Allison - corrected as "baby shit and beer bottles")..."emotional landscape vs. physical landscape"..."specificity of place - Wide Sargasso Sea, Out of Africa" D. Allison referenced LeGuin's islands...other references James Welch, the Book of Salt...the most important thing isn't the landscape but that WE are key in the landscape...horrific stories set in really beautiful places..."small, cramped & evil" (D. Allison)..."Do have to be willing to be bad - be bad before you can be good" (Dorothy Allison)...and that's all I wrote...I remember a comment D'Ambrosio made about the quality of rain in Washington vs. the quality of rain in Portland which I thought was brilliant but won't mean a whole hell of a lot to anyone not from the Northwest...The next 2 seminars on the schedule were: 3 p.m. SPINNING FICTION FROM HISTORY AND/OR FACT Seminar with Jim Shepard This seminar investigates the particular problems and excitements involved in the use of historical and/or nonfictional material as the part of the basis for fiction. Students are asked to have read, in advance of the seminar, two short stories—Ron Hansen’s “Wickedness”(from Nebraska) and Nathan Englander’s “The Tumblers” (from For the Relief of Unbearable Urges)—and, if possible, two novels: Marguerite Yourcenar’s Memoirs of Hadrian and Marta Morazzoni’s The Invention of Truth. 4 p.m. A BOOK IN THE WORLD What happens to your book after the agent sells it? How does yourpublisher work to get it into the hands (and hearts and minds!) of thebooksellers and readers? Follow the odyssey of the novella Girls in Peril, the first book in the Tin House Books New Voice series, and learn about the intricate process behind every book’s introduction to the world. Panelists include Elise Cannon, director of sales, PGW; Lee Montgomery, Editorial Director Tin House Books; Laura Howard, Marketing and Publicity Manager for Tin House Books; Andrea Tetrick, sales rep at PGW; and Gerry Donaghy, buyer at Powell’s." BUT I cut class and started packing and finally, called an "outside" friend and met up with her for a good long afternoon of catching up, drinking too much & enjoying the fact that not only were we both wearing bright colors ("pink IS the new black") but she spent time making grass angels...you'd have to know her to get the joke...Missed Alex Lemon's reading to spend time with said friend & had dinner with some of my classmates followed by 8 p.m. Reading with Nick Flynn, Steve Almond, Aimee Bender & 10 p.m. dance party...whoo. My friend had to take off to work & while I thoroughly enjoyed the readings by all 3 - Nick Flynn (always a favorite), Steve Almond (a new discovery for me & a new favorite) & the always wonderful Aimee Bender (whose story was sexy & sad at the same time) - I thought the party was less fun than last year (or maybe I'm less fun?) and I didn't stay all that long...just long enough to confirm that beer was not good for my brain & my long held opinion that white men can't dance...Sunday was spent packing, trying to find the woman I was sharing a cab with to the airport, getting on my flight (which was shared with a few of the Tin House faculty) and waiting for a certain faculty member's luggage...after dropping everyone off, I got home to an extra hot apartment, wayyy too many messages on my home answering machine (why don't people just call the cell?) & lots of questions as to just why I'd come back to nyc when I like it so much more in the Northwest...still haven't come up with any answers though this fall semester's course descriptions gave me a small glimmer of hope for some level of intellectual stimulation not too far off on the horizon...& in the meantime after seeing the photos from Tin House, I'll be living in the gym for at least the next 6 months (6 years?)...ouch.