Originally posted on March 22, 2011.
Twitter is a fantastic resource for any writer that wants to learn more about the craft. That is how I got to meet @JodiCleghorn. Today, you are in for a treat. Jodi is one of the rare, the few and the insane who has taken on writing, editing and publication. Yes, as professions. Without further delay, give Jodi a warm welcome!
Those who comment on this interview will be entered to win a digital copy of one of several ebooks. The titles in our giveaway are: The Red Book, The Yin and Yang Book, and Nothing But Flowers.
See Jodi’s comments about this interview on her blog!
Greetings Jodi,
Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer a few questions. I can’t even begin to imagine how much work it is for you to be a writer, editor and publisher. Any one of these three occupations can be busy enough to easily fill a lifetime. The fact that you have taken on all three is very impressive.
Can you tell us a little about what made you decide to jump into all three fields? Did you fall into it, or was it a conscious decision you made from the very start?
I think I would have been mad to have made a conscious decision to do all three. While they look complimentary, they’re not. It was basically pure accident.
I started writing when I was ten but gradually stopped after I got a bad critique by a writing-in-residence at uni. After my son was born, I fell into editing a grassroots homebirth magazine and left to focus purely on writing early 2008. I found within a couple of weeks of handing over my final magazine, I was itching to do another project – a fiction one. That project became Chinese Whisperings’ ‘The Red Book’. eMergent Publishing was born via Chinese Whisperings and since then we’ve been growing and adding new dimensions to the business, including adding in 2011 the Write Anything blog to our business umbrella.
Do you find your ability to work as a writer, editor and publisher suffers at all from trying to do it all?
Yes, and sadly it is my writing which always takes a back seat – either because of tiredness, or lack of inspiration, because I’m just too full up with other people’s stories to find room for my own (last year the Yin and Yang books was 22 interconnected stories!) or I feel editing and publishing take a higher priority. The irony of giving up editing to write, only to find myself back with an editor’s hat firmly on my head is not lost on me. Editing is a suck on your creative reserve – especially the projects I am involved in, which are very ‘hands on’.
Late last week I made the difficult decision to take a month away from editing and publishing. Firstly to have a break from the stress after a ballistic start to the year, secondly to spend some quality time with my family and lastly to get some writing momentum happening again.
Of the three, which one occupies your time the most?
Editing is the most time intensive of all the three areas I work in and as such, occupies the most time if I were to plug it into a pie chart (and yes, the amateur statistician in me would if I had the data on hand!) Since the 1st January this year I have edited 155 stories – give or take a couple, published two short story anthologies and administrated the 100 Stories for Queensland project. In comparison I have written one story to submission standard, half of two other drafts and a rewrite to submission standard on one other.
But my work landscape is forever in flux, so it’s a good thing I’m not a stickler for routine or sameness. My scheduling calendar is divided into writing, editing, administration and publishing (layout and design) – and on any given week the balance between the four areas is different. When I return from my break two days will scheduled for writing and three to business – divided between the other three areas.
I will admit, short stories are a little (ok, a lot!) out of my normal ballpark. I can’t even imagine how difficult it is to organize an anthology. Can you tell us about what spurred your decision to start your Chinese Whisperings project? Was there any defining moment that made you really want to make this project come to life?
Firstly – so everyone understand what Chinese Whisperings is – it is a series of conceptual anthologies. All stories are interconnected and have to 1. stand on their own merits as a short story but 2. feed into the larger narrative picture. To date we’ve produce two – ‘The Red Book’ which can be read beginning at any story, and can be read backward or forward. It is set in a small Northern American University town. After the intial success of The Red Book we were keen to further push the boundaries of the anthology form.
‘The Yin and Yang Book’ is a mated anthology (a term coined by Tony Noland) – The Yin Book follows the decision of a would-be thief to leave behind a painting she has just stolen after her getaway airline collapses. The Yang Book follows the decision to retrieve the painting. The two anthologies are connected by a common Prologue and Epilogue. It is ‘Sliding Door’s created in a spider web. The stories weave vertically and horizontally.
How the hell to you come up with something like that? There is no one defining moment – it was like a succession of tiny epiphanies.
I got an invitation to help get a new multicultural women’s magazine off the ground. I said no, but I realised how much I longed for a ‘project’ to work on.
I wanted to work a fiction project and I wanted to work with other people (that was my magazine background). So the natural progression was to create an anthology (which isn’t too unlike a magazine, really).
If I was going to do an anthology it needed something unique to stand out from the massive crowd of other anthologies. I’d wanted to write a series of interconnected short stories for my first NaNoWriMo, but felt it was beyond where I was at as a writer. I wondered, as I stood ironing my husband’s business shirts one Sunday evening in March, if it was possible for 10 people to write 10 interconnected stories (the spec-fic ‘what if’ was right there at the conception of my first business project!)
1:28am the following Saturday morning I pitched the idea to a writing friend of mine, Paul Anderson, on Facebook chat, typing: “Do you think it is crazy enough to work.” He readily agreed it was crazy enough to work and said he’d lend a hand to get it off the ground (he has his own take on the Universal wisdom of answering my crazy questions!) That was early 2008. Three years on Paul and I are business partners in a small but well-respected indie publishing house.
The tiny epiphanies and junctions aside, Paul and I were both keen to provide writers with collaborative writing experience that had a publishing outcome and I’d like to believe we’ve done that.
The idea of an interconnected anthology is new to me. The first thing I think of when attempting to coordinate any number of writers on a project like this is ‘herding cats’. I have four cats, and if I can get even one of them to listen, I’m thrilled. Just how many writers did you manage to wrangle for Chinese Whisperings?
Those herding cats are known as mutant, purple kittens, born from green goop on a far away planet, who leave glow in the dark rub marks on walls in Chinese Whisperings’ circles!
Seriously though… getting The Red Book completed in 2009 was a nightmare. We suffered all possible new project teething problems. By the time we reached November (six months on from our original date) and with 10 stories, 13 separate writers had been involved in the project. In 2010 we went from 8 writers to 20 writers in 2010. We proved an interconnected anthology was possible, so everyone involved last year, wanted to be part of it.
I have this business philosophy, akin to Michelle Pffiefer’s character in “Dangerous minds” – give people something they really want (in our case, a publishing spot) and they do their darnest to live up to your expectations. We trust writers who work with us to produce top quality work (that’s why their invited in the first place) – and they produce – often well in excess of our best expectations, and not just once, but on a regular basis.
All the writer we work with, take their job and craft seriously, themselves less so – all egos are checked in at the door (writers and editors). Last year many pushed their personal boundaries (writing something totally different to what they would normally pen). Tina Hunter, who has contributed to both CW anthologies said last year, CW is an opportunity to experiment with an editorial safety net.
We’ve found all the writers make the most of the collaborative environment. The Yin and Yang book is ‘mated anthology’ (it starts with a single mutual prologue which presents a decision to be made – the Yin book branches off to follow one decision and the Yang book branches in the opposite direction, they both end with a common epilogue) This meant everyone had a writing partner on the alternate side of the anthology. We didn’t rigorously enforce an expectation of how people used this partnership. Some writers used it as an informal cheer squad but others traded drafts and several writers had weird moments where they found their characters in their partner’s story without having previously showed them a copy of their draft (the ‘mother’ character in Claudia Osmond and Dan Powell’s stories in one such character). The unexpected consequence of this was the stories were woven vertically within their own anthology but horizontally between anthologies.
Even at the end, Paul and I were still having ‘a-ha’ moments seeing the entire story on the final edits. It is chaos, I won’t lie… but it is almost ordered chaos, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
How does your Literary Mix Tapes project differ from Chinese Whisperings?
Like chalk and cheese in the details but twins in terms of beginning from a crazy idea and finding traction. What they do both have at the heart is the desire to give emerging writers an opportunity to work with an editor and be published. My greatest delight is giving a writer their first publishing opportunity – and there have been many in the last three days.
Chinese Whisperings was always intended to be a series of anthologies. Each CW anthology takes a minimum of 20 weeks to write – as they are written back to back, on a rolling base, drawing on work previously penned. We hand pick the writers involved, so it is pretty much a closed project.
It is a very intricate process of writing and editing, ensuring the highest level of connection between the largest number of stories – but at the same time, keeping the integrity of each story as a stand alone narrative unit. The editors are involved from the first draft onward and it becomes a very intense partnership. The stories (in the past) have been mainstream fiction but this is likely to change this year as we branch into genre anthologies utilising the concepts we’ve tried and tested.
CW is exhausting – keeping all those characters and their interconnections (and possible cross covers in your head) – it sucks you into an alternate universe. Last year I joked I was never going to leave the airport (where the Yin and Yang Book are set) – I still get flash backs when I go to the airport, imagining I recognise a character or looking for kidnapped children in the toilet. It leaves an indelible mark on you.
Literary Mix Tapes by contrast, was a frivolous, one time only, Christmas project I set up so I could write a Christmas story! Then I decided I’d do a Valentines version and in the space of several weeks saw the potential for this kind of anthology – and other associated benefits for the writers involved.
Literary Mix Tapes is a six week project – three weeks of writing and another three weeks to bring it to publication. It is the 100 meter dash compared to the marathon of CW. The stories are all written to musical prompts which shape the narrative. Deck the Halls contained 20 non-Christian stories, which included everything from a lesbian couple coming out at Christmas dinner, to a gang of boys finding a baby among the rubbish, a woman having a close encounter with the Green Man at an office Christmas partner and a coming of age solstice ceremony in a futuristic Brisbane – all to the lyrics of Deck the Halls.
The Valentines anthology, “Nothing But Flowers” was inspired by the Talking Heads song. All stories explore the challenges and complexities of love in a post-apocalyptic landscape – love comes in the guise of a take away coffee mug, a gun to the head, a car on the open road and a guitar. Certainly not the run of the mill love stories.
LMT is ‘crowd sourced’ which means a shout out goes on twitter and people nominate to be part of the project by leaving a comment on the website. It is still growing into itself as a concept (as something only a few months old is want to do) – so future anthologies will be a mixture of brand new participants and veterans. At the moment we have more than 30 writers attached to LMT.
LMT has also evolved quickly into an amazing community of writers. The writers all beta-read and edit for each other, before the final submission. It has more of a speculative fiction slant, which is where my own writing is heading (taking my editing and publishing with it, it seems!)
You are a short story author with international publication credentials. What advice can you offer to those who want to get their spec fiction out there? Is there any little trick to getting an acceptance letter?
The advice goes for all genres really when it comes to getting fiction out there!
A publishing credit is a publishing credit. Never consider any opportunity too small, or too obscure. Be willing in the beginning to have your work published for nothing to grow a portfolio of publishing credentials and work your way up.
Join writing communities which also have publishing opportunities attached to them. For example Jon Strother publishes a Best of #fridayflash anthology every year.
Research your markets and write your story for specific marketplace, rather than write a story and then look for a market. “The Chameleon” was written specifically for AXP’s Flash Challenge. “Kissed by the Sun” for Ticonderoga’s “Dead Red Heart”. Not sure what markets are out there? Duotrope has an exhaustive list but keep watch on twitter and Facebook for competitions. Writers are generous in terms of sharing what is open for submission.
In terms of getting that coveted acceptance letter (I’ve recently had the opportunity to sit on voting panels so I have seen it from both sides of the fence) there are two pieces of wisdom you should never ignore!
Ensure your story conforms to the submission guidelines – at the very least these will be word length, genre and whether stories have been previously published. Stories which do not conform will not be considered. This links back into knowing and writing for the market!
Ensure you are submitting the best piece of work possible. All the stories I submit are beta read, edited and proof read. I never send anything out unless it has been through these three steps (honestly, I’m a bit superstitious about it now!) Stories which have been through rigorous critiquing process stand out from those that haven’t. Always, ALWAYS (as a bare minimum) have your final draft proof read. If an editor has two stories of equal narrative merit and one if full of punctuation errors and the other isn’t… Enough said!
Many people don’t consider international publications, so far as I am aware. What made you decide to look for venues outside of the United States?
I’m based in Australia, which has a very small pool of print journals on offer, so Australian writers are almost bound to look beyond our own shores for publication at some point.
But to be totally honest, I looked beyond from the beginning simply by virtue of belonging to an international online community of writers. I came to know about AXP through one of the Canadian writers who I worked with us on the first CW, Greg McQueen’s charity anthologies came to my attention via a close writing in friend in Germany and so on.
Ironically, now I’m looking back to the home grown journals and publications for my stories and I’m very excited to have “Kissed by the Sun” as my very first Australian print credit (my very first story was sold online here in Australia).
You have participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). How long have you participated in this event? As someone who primarily focuses on the short story, do you suggest NaNoWriMo for other writers with this same focus?
I’ve successfully completed NaNo four times 2007-11; written mainstream fiction once, science-fiction twice and historical once.
I’m a firm believer that writers should write in a variety of lengths – from flash fiction to longer short stories, novellas and novels. I’m yet to complete a novel, but have an almost completed first draft novella. A novel requires the kind of stamina you never have to draw on for a short story. It is something I think every writer should do at least once (NaNo)! My friend Chris mentioned two years ago how every 1000 words or so he kept bringing the narrative round to a close – the hangover of writing flash fiction every week!
The main thing about NaNo – it isn’t just about writing the 50,000 words in a month. NaNo teaches so many things and it is worth doing it just for the lessons learnt and wisdom grokked. The first year I did it, my family ‘go it’ that writing was something important to me. We mark it off on the calendar every year now and we negotiate around it. It hooks me into my local writing community through the write-ins (I have one friend Jen who I don’t see for 11 months of the year but we sit next to each other every Sunday through November!) Every year I learn something new about my creative process (in 2009 I realised how important the menial jobs in life are to a continual creative output something I’ve been able to go on and share in my Write Anything columns.)
Writing and reading go hand in hand. How do your reading habits compare to your writing habits? Do you feel that a writer has to be a voracious reader in order to succeed at the craft?
I believe writers have to read, perhaps not voraciously but on a regular basis. It’s a bit like walking your talk and I honestly don’t get writers who don’t read, or who choose to read ‘easy books’ on a regular basis (yes, I sometimes read what I consider ‘trash’ during the hardest months of CW simply because my brain can’t cope with anything else).
When I took up writing again in 2008, I also came back to reading. I set myself a goal of reading two books or a minimum of 600 words a month – one book for pleasure and the other for extension. I have been able to reach the book/page goal every month since then. The pleasure vs extensions skews at different times of the year – as per the comment above about reading trash! I know writers who read more, I know writers who read less – but all the really great emerging writers I know, read as a priority and as an extension of their writing! It’s the best professional development and you can do it every day in small or large amounts.
I see the influence, sometimes subtle and other times bloody obvious, in my own writing – especially when I read more challenging books. This is why I’m so keen to delve into far more spec-fic and short fiction.
What interview is complete without at least one strange question? If you could meet any author, dead or alive, who would you want to meet and why?
I’m odd (stop nodding all you friends out there reading this) I have no desire to meet any famous writers, alive or dead. I’ve never yearned for that kind of thing. Ask me which musician I’d want to meet – well that would be a totally different matter (I’m still waiting for my spin in the TARDIS to go back to Woodstock!)
What I do yearn for is face-to-face time with the writers I have the honour to work with – both as an editor and a writer. These writers are scattered across the globe. I dream of being able to meet up with my business partner Paul, minus the headsets and skype software, and enjoy a pint and a laugh in person.
I have Sunday afternoons where I wish my friend Chris (Maine, USA) and Dan (Germany) would bring their wives and tribe of kids over to my place for a BBQ and a few beers. I sit down for a pot of tea and wish my dear friend Em (author of the soon to be released, ‘From Dark Places’) was just down the road and not in Somerset, or Carrie in Texas was in Texas Queensland because I can at least drive there in a few hours!
Sorry Margaret Attwood, Stephen King and Gabriel Garcia Marquez!
You can visit Jodi’s website at www.jodicleghorn.com — She was able to provide a few images of herself, one taken by her young son. (I think I see a born photographer, the kid was five at the time!)
