Learning, Celebrating, and a Near-Death Experience.

Writers are sometimes dramatic. That's our job, and also lucky for me because I love being dramatic. And not dead.

Hello friends,

When I sent my last newsletter in June, I was convinced I wouldn’t have much to update you on too quickly, and it would probably be another six months until I cobbled together any more info.

The universe likes to laugh at my plans and ideas sometimes.

Since many of the things keeping me occupied lately are all writing-related, I’m grateful for how busy I am. (And dear universe, you can take that other stuff away….I have plenty of writing material now, thank you very much. I could use a few more hours to write it down as a completed story instead of living it so big and hard in the present. Ok, thanks, got that off my chest).

So, back to the writing world, what’s happened, and what’s next?

Well, I had a near-death experience. From joy. I didn’t know that could happen. But it can.

One of my all-time favorite writers in the world, creator of one of my all-time favorite heroines (Charley Davidson, AKA the Grim Reaper), award-winning author Darynda Jones, shared MY short story Vanishing Act on her Facebook page. Darynda Jones. One of my favorite authors.

Shared.

My.

Story.

See?

I almost die every time I say it out loud. Or write it down. So, much like Angel accidentally getting his soul back after his one moment of happiness with his true love, Buffy, seeing someone I admire send accolades right back at me about my writing made my life feel complete. Thus, my heart full, it almost stopped working, and I accidentally almost died.

Also Darynda and I are friends now. That makes me feel so cool.

One of the cool problems about having some of your dreams come true is that you get to dream up new ones while working on the old ones. I’ve been working on this book dream for some time, and I recognize that the work I’m doing now lays the groundwork for all that heart-filling, heart-stopping, I love writing and amazing vibes feeling later.

That dedication to the work is how I found myself at the Southampton Writers Conference this July, my first conference that required an application and writing sample to be allowed in the door. And boy, did I love the experience. For five days, I sat each morning for a three-hour workshop led by the acclaimed and award-winning novelist Ladee Hubbard. For five days, I sat up late at night reading pages of my fellow writers, making notes on craft, what works on the page, and what questions came to light. The last day was my birthday, and my crew sang Happy Birthday to me, and then sang the praises of LILITH LAND. Probably one of my favorite birthdays ever.

That good vibe didn’t fade with summer. Last weekend, my workshop friends and I caught up on a Zoom call from around the country and nerded out talking about comps (books like yours to prove to an agent that your story is also marketable and likely to be commercially profitable), how Steinbeck handled flashback (craft just the first sentence in past perfect, allow the rest of the segment to read in the simple past tense, then return with the last line to past perfect to cue the reader back to the present day), and how I’m trying to flip some of the tropes of Dystopian fiction. One of my writing crew agreed.

“Your book’s not Dystopian,” he said, “it’s Dys-HOPE-ian.” 

And that, my friends, is precisely what I’m trying to do. Write a story about the end of the world where only the women survive, and it’s not depressing. Exploring how women operate in a future without the patriarchy has been some of the most fun I’ve had dreaming and writing. Also, it’s a novel, not an action plan.

While I’m always working on the book, I’m also doing some side project writing. I’ve been having a blast writing humor for the e-zine Dharma Direction. You can find me on Substack each month riffing on the zodiac, and there are just a few months left of this astrological year when I’ll be answering questions sent to Colleen@ColleenMarkley.com. “Dear Humorist Doling Out Advice” has been an awful lot of fun.

I got to record my first audio version of a Dharma story I’d written about my brother Sean (AKA the plothole from my piece about my sister in the Sisters! Bonded by Love and Laughter anthology published by the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop). I attended the Erma workshop in person last October and had taken studious notes during the podcast session, so I thought I was ready for audio action. I had my fancy QE2 whatever it’s called microphone, and I set myself up in my closet (apparently, big rooms sound like an echo chamber, and a little closet with your clothes absorbing sound is much better). The irony is that I was sitting in front of my favorite new skirt, which I’d worn for my anniversary dinner, and it looked much more glamorous in that photo than the recording in progress photo. Four sound checks later (not including the three times I didn’t turn the microphone on), I was finally ready to start. Note to self: closets are hot. Especially in August. Learning edges may be sweat-inducing.

A life-long learner, I love sharing what I find interesting and intriguing. I’m in the midst of a multi-part online series with Lisa Cooper Ellison, one of my favorite thought leaders in approaching memoir. Did you know we process different kinds of memories in different locations in our brains? And there are specific things we can do to access more of the details of those memories? I'm glad the webinar came with a recording, as brain science is outside my comfort zone. I'm looking forward to watching it again (with a second cup of caffeine) to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time around. 

I'm excited to share some new techniques with my students this fall when I once again teach Exploring Memoir: Writing from the Landscape of Memory for The Writers Circle. Class will be in person on Tuesdays in Summit at 10 a.m. If you (or a friend!) are thinking about writing, I highly recommend a class (especially mine)! Group work and external accountability have been the main ways I ensure productivity. Why do I write when I know I need to hand it over to someone else instead of just for myself? I used to feel bad about this until I learned to harness it as my superpower. The first memoir class for the fall session is on September 26th; the link for registration is here. If that time doesn't work, I encourage you to explore everything offered this fall in the entire catalog of classes available here. 

Phew. That’s enough for now. Thanks for reading!

Onward!

Colleen