Tag: Create in Costa Rica

Interviews

The Zen of Writing, Literary Pilgrimages, & Retreating in Costa Rica: A Chat with Bill Merklee

Kathy Fish

Hi Bill! You’re joining us in Costa Rica in January for our retreat. What has been your writing workshop/retreat experience in the past? How do you find ways to honor your writing in your day to day life?

I’ve attended the Gotham Writers Workshop in NYC and have taken some of their online workshops. Some of us from one of the online classes have stayed in touch and regularly read and critique each other’s work. I also took one of your Fast Flash classes and had a blast.

I mostly succeed at writing every day. It can be anything from a story to working on my novel to journal entries to writing exercises I set for myself. The exercises include things like sketches about ex-girlfriends, “letters never sent,” and writing down everything my dad ever told me about his life. The point is to keep writing. I’ve also slowly evolved into a morning person. I feel like I get more done in the early hours before the rest of the house wakes up.

Respond to this quote by Kurt Vonnegut: “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” ― Kurt Vonnegut

Oh I love Kurt. I think Ray Bradbury said something similar, too. To me it means don’t over-think things, just jump in. I have to remind myself of that every time I start a new story. It also speaks to my going off to Costa Rica. I’ve never done anything like this, which seems as good a reason as any to do it.

What is your favorite story that you yourself have written (“favorite” doesn’t have to mean “best” or more successful or whatever). And why is it your favorite?

“Currents” is a favorite longer story that I’m still honing. It has some attempts at Vonnegut-like commentary and dark humor around climate change, and is also written for my father. He served in the Navy in World War II. He got very sick at one point and his ship had to leave without him. The ship was later sunk in battle with the loss of most of the crew. He always carried around a kind of survivor’s guilt about it. So in the story I try to give him some imagined closure, some absolution.

A favorite flash of mine is called “Portugal.” It’s my attempt at writing in second person. It got honorable mention in a Glimmer Train contest, but I have yet to find a home for it.

Oh wow. What a story about your father! That’s a great idea to write a story that gives that harrowing experience closure. And congratulations on your Glimmer Train nod!

Have you traveled to Costa Rica before? What are you most looking forward to as a writer retreating to this beautiful place?

I’ve never been to Costa Rica, but have heard wonderful things.

I’ve made literary pilgrimages to Mark Twain’s house, Carson McCuller’s house, John Steinbeck’s house, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s house, Walden Pond, Indianapolis (Vonnegut), and Lowell, MA (Kerouac) hoping I would have these writing epiphanies. I once took a cross-country train trip for inspiration, thinking I would get all this writing done. It wound up being more of a four-day Disney ride through America (though it did become writing fodder later). I always come back to the line from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance that says the only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. In other words, the location is not as important as just putting your ass in the chair wherever you are and writing.

I’m sure I will love Costa Rica, and I’m excited to be on such an extended retreat. What’s more important to me is being in the company of other writers, and the chance to work with you and Nancy.

Well, thank you! And I get that regarding: Zen. That makes a lot of sense. I think there’s something to be said for receptivity and for inspiration to line up at the confluence of the right time in the right place. I feel like the Peace Retreat in Costa Rica is such a place. Nancy and I are excited too!

Bill, your wife Lucy is joining you on this trip. How did you get her interested in flash fiction?

I talk about flash all the time, and there are collections all around the house. Oddly enough, I only read excerpts of my work to her — I never show her work in progress. She’s done a lot of corporate writing, and I said flash might be a good way to try out fiction writing. Now she’s coming to Costa Rica. Talk about jumping off cliffs…

I think that’s wonderful! We’re really looking forward to meeting you both! Tell us something we don’t know about you that you are happy to share. : )

In addition to really short stories, I also enjoy really short films and really short songs. I’ve got a collection of 3,000+ songs that are each under two minutes long. I see a lot of similarities between a well-written flash and a well-crafted song that clocks in at 1:32.

Oh I agree. I love short films too. Novellas. Art in miniature. Thanks so much for chatting with me, Bill! Here’s to Costa Rica in January!

Bill Merklee is a writer and graphic designer. His writing has appeared in Columbia, StoryBytes, New Jersey Monthly, and the HIV Here & Now project. He lives in the beautiful Ramapo Mountains of northern New Jersey with his wife and children and two very Zen cats. You can find some things of his at The Amber of the Moment and occasional outbursts on Twitter @bmerklee.

NOTE: A few spaces remain for our Create in Costa Rica retreat in January, 2019. Get more info HERE. Hope you can join us!

Interviews

Onward to Costa Rica: An Interview with Author, Poet, & Editor, Amy Gavin

Kathy Fish


Hi, Amy! Nancy and I are so excited that you’ll be joining us in Costa Rica in January for our retreat. What has been your writing workshop/retreat experience in the past? How do you find ways to honor your writing in your day to day life?

My writing retreat and workshop experiences are quite unique. During the first of three Master Classes I attended at Hedgebrook, I bonded with four other women and together we created the Roving Writers. Since then, we’ve been meeting for two retreats a year. We hit the jackpot for our spring retreat, with you as our teacher!

One of my daughters describes my writing room as a mega vision board. I fix a cup of tea, light a candle, and work surrounded by books, photographs, trinkets from my childhood, and weird totems. One of my favorites is a small crystal book etched with the first haiku I had published, a gift from my hubby. Another favorite is the body and dress left over from an apple head doll my grandmother made me in the 1970s.

I really enjoyed working with you and all the Roving Writers, Amy. I love your description of your writing space, how you surround yourself with things that inspire your creativity. What a cool way to honor your writing! Please respond to this quote by Nancy Kress:

“Fiction is about stuff that’s screwed up.”

This is amazing! The screw ups give life to the stories. A couple of years ago, a complete stranger called and revealed a shocking family secret to me. I was struggling with this unexpected screw-up and my friend said, “Wow! I’m so jealous! You’ll have a lot of writing material from this one.”

Oh, wow. Absolutely. Tell me, what is your favorite story that you yourself have written (“favorite” doesn’t have to mean “best” or more successful or whatever). And why is it your favorite?

“Two For the Price of One” from issue six of MATH, a sex positive, ethical, diverse, feminist porn magazine. It’s my favorite because it was way outside my comfort zone, and I’ve had a ton of fun autographing and gifting copies of the magazine to friends and family! I thought erotica would be a one and done for me, but…stay tuned.

I think it’s great for writers to do exactly that: Write outside their comfort zones. And–you have more erotica in store? Keep us posted! Have you been to Costa Rica before? What are you most looking forward to as a writer retreating to this beautiful place?

I’ve never been to Costa Rica and admit I’m a little nervous. I love the ocean and I love adventure (point me to the zip-lines), but I’m completely freaked out by all things creepy crawly. AND, I’ve heard the cute little monkeys are known for flinging their poo at passersby.

Ha! Oh no, I’ve not heard this myself! Thanks for the warning. Now, can you tell us something we don’t know about you that you are happy to share. 🙂

I am an extreme weather geek who loves thunderstorms and dark rainy days.

Ah, those are the best! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat, Amy!

Amy Gavin is an author, poet, and editor striving to push boundaries and create change with both her writing and social justice activism. A survivor herself, Amy is drawn to stories tackling issues of domestic violence and healing.

Amy has studied at Hedgebrook and writes in community with the Roving Writers, a small group of courageous women artists. You can find her most recent fiction in MATH.

Amy shares her home in Garnet Valley, PA with her husband and four wily cats.

(NOTE: A very few spaces remain for our Create in Costa Rica retreat in January. Find more information HERE.)

Interviews

Strange Beauty & Writing Rituals: A Conversation with K.C. Mead-Brewer

Kathy Fish

Katie Author Photo (3)Hi K.C.! Nancy and I are so excited that you will be joining us in Costa Rica in January for our retreat. What has been your writing workshop/retreat experience in the past? How do you find ways to honor your writing in your day to day life?

This is turning out to be a big workshop year for me. Before this year, I’ve participated in a couple Hedgebrook Master Classes and a residency through the Vermont Studio Center (not to mention regular meetings with my writing group!), but I’d never attended an actual workshop until the Tin House Winter Workshop this past January. And then, this summer, I’ll also be fortunate enough to participate in the Clarion Workshop. (!

Day-by-day, I engage in a lot of small rituals for my writing. (See question 5!) For example, I draw a tarot card for the day to help focus me, I light a candle, fix a cup of tea, eat a piece of chocolate, read something new, etc. I’m a worshipper of the goddess Ritual.

Please respond to this quote by Krystal Sutherland: “Strangeness is a necessary ingredient in beauty.”
Veins in a rose petal / veins in a bat’s wing. The rippling of a skirt / the rippling of a serpent. The moaning of a lover / the moaning of the wind. The suppleness of flesh / the suppleness of flesh. A memory / a ghost. A beauty mark / a mole. Laughter / screams. Relaxation / vulnerability. Musk / sweat. Catharsis / The End. 

All beauty is strange. It’s just that not all strangeness is beautiful.

Oh that’s gorgeous. I love that response. Thank you. What is your favorite story that you yourself have written (“favorite” doesn’t have to mean “best” or more successful or whatever). And why is it your favorite? 

Probably my short story “Chameleons”. It isn’t the best thing I’ve ever written (anymore), but at the time it felt incredibly freeing for me–like I’d finally figured out the kind of stories I wanted to write. The kind I was good at writing. It’s the story that showed me I might actually really a little bit sorta kinda maybe possibly be pretty good at this.

(Read K.C.’s story here: Chameleons)

Have you been to Costa Rica before? What are you most looking forward to as a writer retreating to this beautiful place? 

I’ve never been to Costa Rica before, but I’m very excited about visiting. I’m usually more of a cloudy person, preferring places that are dark and rainy and stark. Really, I’m looking forward to being somewhere so different from what I know and might’ve chosen for myself. And of course the animals! I’m hoping to see a new reptile every day.

Tell us something we don’t know about you that you are happy to share. : )

I don’t talk about this often, though you might’ve guessed it about me: I’m oddly superstitious. I believe in signs, symbols, talismans, omens, and ghosts. I’m a pretty shy and private person, so I don’t mention this much, but it’s always there.

That’s so fascinating. Thanks so much, K.C.! We are so looking forward to retreating with you this January in Costa Rica!

Note: A few spaces are still available for Create in Costa Rica. Join us!

K.C. Mead-Brewer lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Her fiction appears or is forthcoming in Strange Horizons, Carve Magazine, Hobart, and elsewhere. As an author and reader, she loves everything weird—SFF, horror, magical realism, all the good stuff that shows change is not only possible but inevitable. She’s participated in residencies, classes, and/or workshops through Tin House, Hedgebrook, and The Vermont Studio Center. She’s thrilled to be participating in this year’s Clarion Workshop. For more information, visit kcmeadbrewer.com and follow her on Twitter @meadwriter.

Interviews

Max Hipp on Writing, Retreating, and “Getting Messy”

Kathy Fish

Hi Max! You will be joining Nancy & me for Create in Costa Rica in January. Thanks! We’re so excited for this retreat. What, if any, has been your writing workshop/retreat experience in the past? How do you find ways to honor your writing in your day-to-day life?

I did a Barrelhouse Writer Camp last summer in rural PA (Barrelhouse does great work for writing culture—not only do they publish a journal and many books, they also offer a grant for up-and-coming lit journals!). A creek ran through the property and we’d all get together, a few dozen writers and editors, to eat dinner and watch a terrible movie. I was able to get a lot done.

I make time for writing every day, at least a couple of hours. If I can’t do that, if I don’t have time to even sit down, I’ll write things on my phone. Even if it’s just a paragraph or an idea.

Respond to this quote by Brenda Ueland: “So you see, imagination needs moodling – long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.”

This is from one of the four million books on writing I’ve read that I wish I owned. Of course I agree. Personally I’m trying to spend less time “dawdling and puttering” so more of it has an end result.

What is your favorite story that you yourself have written (“favorite” doesn’t have to mean “best” or more successful or whatever). And why is it your favorite?

The truth is my favorite piece is whatever I’m working on. I’ve got a few new things bouncing around, though, that I think are pretty good. Even though nobody has taken them yet, the rejections from journals have been complimentary and specific rather than boilerplate, so that’s somewhat encouraging.

Tell us something we don’t know about you that you are happy to share. AND/OR What are you most looking forward to in the upcoming retreat in Costa Rica?

I write songs, short stories, flashes, and aborted novels. I used to compartmentalize the forms because I was thinking they should all be made so differently. Now I get messy and let them leak all over each other.

I’m looking forward to a community of writers in a new place. It helps so much to read works in progress with other writers and editors–people who are great readers–and just talk about what you’re making.

I love what you say about allowing different forms to “leak all over each other.” And I agree wholeheartedly about the value of community for writers! Max, thanks for taking the time to chat. Nancy and I look forward to creating in Costa Rica with you!

NOTE: A few spots remain for Create in Costa Rica in January! Join us!

Bio: Max Hipp is a teacher and writer living in Mississippi. His work has appeared in Black Warrior Review, New World Writing, Unbroken Journal, and Five 2 One. Follow him on Twitter: @maximumevil

Interviews

Where You’ve Been, What You’ve Seen: A Conversation with Gay Degani

Kathy Fish

The lovely Gay Degani is joining Nancy and me for Create in Costa Rica in January. We’re so excited to work with her and everyone! (Note: Though it’s filling up, some spaces in the Costa Rica retreat are still available.)

Hi,Gay. You’re joining us in Costa Rica in January to write, commune, rest, explore in an exotic space. We can’t wait! Can you talk a little about how you honor your writing time and your creative life in other ways? (it’s okay to talk about how you struggle with this too if that’s the case!)

2017 was a difficult year for me and I don’t think I’m alone in my reaction to the political situation, the number of shootings (my daughter was at the Las Vegas concert), and the sexual harassment revelations. Also for me, my desire to write another novel has made me come up against my own brand of angst.

However, being part of the online writing community has been a writing “life-saver” for me. It saved me in 2007 and it’s saved me in 2017. What I’ve tried to do to counter my lack of productivity last year is to make certain the same thing doesn’t happen in 2018 by signing up for classes on-line and retreats like the one you and Nancy Stohlman are putting together. With a Barrelhouse class and one with One Story completed, I’m already hard at work in 2018. It’s important, I think, to surround myself with as many like-minded people as I can, and writers make up my tribe.

Respond to this quote from Natalie Goldberg:

“Writing practice brings us back to the uniqueness of our own minds and an acceptance of it. We all have wild dreams, fantasies, and ordinary thoughts. Let us to feel the texture of them and not be afraid of them.Writing is still the wildest thing I know.”

I love Natalie Goldberg. Her books and tapes (yes, back then it was audio-tapes) gave me permission to be a writer. For so long I believed being an writer was a god-given gift and if you had that gift, you couldn’t help but write, no matter the odds.

Spending time to write always felt selfish to me. Something I would, of course, make myself do if I had that “GOD-GIVEN GIFT.”

But I always had other things on my agenda and they seemed so much more vital to my everyday life–kids, a husband, lists of errands–and I did them. The result was very little time to write, and since I didn’t feel irresistibly compelled to put words down, I thought I must not have that “GOD-GIVEN GIFT.”

But this concept is so so wrong. Yes, a person does need some amount of natural talent, but so much of developing that talent is believing you have a right to spend time honoring it, letting it breathe, and accepting that what you write doesn’t need to be perfect the first time around, and that it’s okay to let the act of writing take up chunks of your life.

Natalie Goldberg helped me see how to negotiate around my two great lacks–of confidence and of craft–by doing “morning pages.” Performing this early communion with myself allowed me to wrestle with questions on paper rather than in my mind where I could so easily push them into a dark corner. I owe as much to her as I do to the on-line writing community.

What is your favorite flash you’ve written (not “best” or “most successful” necessarily, but the one you love the most) and why?

I don’t know if I can really answer this. Each one that finds itself written is a little piece of my heart and my life. They are like children, some easily delivered and others full of pain.

And I never know what will resonate with others. Some of my pieces I feel are struggling so hard to grow up and I worry and nurture and almost give up, but then they do something to make me proud–like getting published. The ones I sense will go out there and slay dragons come back defeated. Like many mothers, I can’t pick favorites. Each feel special to me in their own way.

Is there something we probably don’t know about you that you’d like to share?

I feel as if my life is an open book. If you read my stories, you will glimpse many different aspects of “me,” though none of those are all of me. You are what you believe in, where you’ve been, what you’ve seen, what’s hurt you, what’s made you stronger.

peace-retreat-costa-rica1
A jungle walk ends at the ocean in Costa Rica
Oh, I love that. It’s so true and wise. What are you most looking forward to in Costa Rica?

You, Kathy, and Nancy, and being with other writers on the trip. This is what I need and crave. What most writers need and crave: To be with their tribe, if only for a short period of time.

Gay Degani is the author of a full-length collection of short stories, Rattle of Want (Pure Slush Press, 2015) and a suspense novel, What Came Before (Truth Serum Press, 2016). She’s had four flash pieces nominated for Pushcart consideration and won the 11th Glass Woman Prize. She blogs at Words in Place.