Milford 2014
Two Milfords: August and September

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Milford First Week, August 23rd - 30th 2014

Milford Group, August 2014 L - R: Tina Anghelatos, Gus Smith, Jim Anderson, Jacey Bedford,
Sue Thomason (kneeling) Terry Jackman, Nick Moulton, Pauline Dungate

Milford 2014 – Week 1 – A report by Gus Smith

There were eight of us at this year’s first Milford. We were all seasoned Milfordians, and most of us knew one another, which meant there was a strong group feeling right from the start. And having half the amount of critiquing to do certainly made everything more relaxed, compared to the pressure-cooker atmosphere I remember from Milfords past, when we didn’t even have the benefit of submissions circulated beforehand.

This was my first time at Trigonos. Set among the old slate quarries of the Nantlle valley in North Wales, there is a fascinating contrast between the remains of the industrial past, and the wonderful open views to the Snowdon range and Snowdon itself on a clear day (which we didn’t have many of!).

It is a truly delightful place, and not only in its setting. Plas Baladeulyn was a small, fairly modest country house, and has been minimally converted to provide guest accommodation, still retaining the atmosphere of the old place. Meeting rooms and other facilities for activities and courses are in new buildings nearby. The Main Meeting Room where we held our crits has the Snowdon view across fields and a lake, and is a superb space in which to work.

And the meals! Wow! Being a company where social values are more important than maximizing profits, Trigonos’s aim is to produce the best meals they possibly can, from home-grown and ethically-sourced produce, and the results are amazing. They are happy to provide for varied dietary requirements, and I mean happy -– there’s nothing begrudging at Trigonos.

The twelve submissions covered the field of speculative fiction – SF, Fantasy, Horror – and varied from Jacey’s all-action space epic, to Jim’s quietly contemplative story about death and loss. And – for the first time in my Milford experience – a play script. The thorough, constructive criticism which is Milford’s byword was well up to standard, aided, perhaps, by the fact that we didn’t need to make any nervous newbie allowances (do we ever?). And eight is still enough to provide sufficient divergence of opinion and reaction (at least it was with this eight!) to be challenging and unexpected at times, which, for me, is one of Milford’s chief benefits.
A relatively light load meant that we had more time to enjoy Trigonos and its locality. Sue came with Rory, whose enthusiasm for walking rubbed off on several of our number, while I explored the more immediate environs – eighteen acres of fields, woods and lake shore. It includes two acres of worked land where the food is grown, as field crops and in two large polytunnels, according to organic or biodynamic methods. It was good to see the care and attention to detail that went into it, and to appreciate the direct connection with what appeared on our table. Truly inspiring.

On Friday we took our customary trip out, this time to Penrhyn Castle, a ‘19th century fantasy castle’ (their description) with its extensive gardens. It’s a fascinating place, but it had an air of unreality about it. I found it difficult to imagine it being lived in. Maybe those who did, lived fantasy lives, while the workers in their slate quarries, railways and plantations created the wealth to make it possible. In some places I found it decidedly creepy.

With only eight of us, it was possible to have conversations in which everyone was involved, rather than splitting up into smaller groups. This was particularly so at meal times, when our discussions tended to be lively and loud, at times bizarre, and almost invariably came round to sex at some point. We were joined at breakfast and dinner by Eva, a young German student on a three-month placement working on the land. She was rather quiet and demure, though not shy, and what she made of us I don’t know!
The evenings were spent in the library gathered round the log fire, carefully tended by Jim, reliving his youth. There was a lot of laughter, impromptu singing and reading aloud from our own work. We did a reading of Nick’s ghost play, with some remarkably effective casting, which gave him another perspective on it. With suitable sound and lighting effects it could be really scary. It was good to have Rory with us on these occasions. He added much to our conversations during the week.

A splendid conference, I thought. The words round the Trigonos logo are ‘Learning, Discovery, Retreat.’ I enjoyed something of all three.

Confessions of a Milford returnee, or, how to stay sane at Milford - A report by by Sue Thomason
Milford Week 1

Milford Second Week September 13th - 20th 2014

Milford Group, September 2014 L - R: Phil Suggars, Carl Allery, Mike Lewis, Al Robertson, Jacey Bedford,
Guy T Martland, Sue Oke, Liz Williams, James Maxwell, David Allan

Milford 2014 – Week 2 – A report by Philip A. Suggars

This was my first Milford and in fact my first face-to-face workshop. If I’m honest, I was filled with apprehension,

Even a cursory glance at the history of Milford reveals a roll call of illustrious early attendees. As an example, founder member and original attendee James Blish, wrote the wonderful Cities in Flight books, a series that was a favourite of mine as a nerdling growing up.

Similarly, this list of alumni makes it hard not to constantly reflect upon the fact that this workshop, or conference as it should more properly be called, is now over forty years old.

Given all of the above then, it gives me great pleasure to report that Milford appears to be in very rude health and shows no sign of losing its vitality as a place to talk about, critique (and if you're lucky) write genre fiction.

The setting, a converted farmhouse and office complex nestling in the Nantlle Valley in the Snowdonia National Park, is absolutely gorgeous. Going for a stroll along the lakeside in the spare moments between reading, writing, critiquing or socialising was a relaxing and memorable experience.
That’s not to say that the pace of work at Milford is breakneck or stress inducing, but it certainly is intense. I usually spent my mornings reading submissions and preparing critiques. Afternoons were spent in the main office with the other attendees going over the pieces that each writer has submitted.

There were ten writers in attendance for this year's second Milford. Some like Jacey Bedford, Liz Williams, Carl Allery, Mike Lewis and Al Robertson were old hands. A couple like Guy T Martland and Sue Oke had been at least once before, while David Allan, James Maxwell (and of course me) made up the newbie contingent.

The opportunity to share your work-in-progress with talented, dedicated and big-brained writers who are serious about their work is worth the price of admission alone, but add to that the fact that you all get to eat and hang out together afterwards really does make this an invaluable opportunity. (Oh and there’s regular cake. Did mention that there’s cake?)

The fiction submitted this year ran the entire gamut of genres. We had a selection of second world medievalist stories, noir-ish urban fantasy, YA doom fiction, space opera, future set science-fiction/fantasy and neo-cyber-punk and even some magical realism in there for good measure. Moreover, there was a good balance between shorter works and novel excerpts (attendees can submit up to 15,000 words split over multiple pieces or just one larger piece).
The Milford critique process is a simple one. Before arrival Liz circulates a timetable denoting when each piece will be critiqued (which allows you to plan your reading if you haven't had the time to go through it all beforehand). During the crit itself each participant gets to speak without interruption for four minutes while the author frantically scribbles down these comments. Once everyone has had his or her turn the author gets the chance to reply.
Generally we critiqued three to four pieces each day this way and although there is a standing tradition at Milford that a writer whose work is in for a kicking has the blow(s) softened by the application of chocolate, no one in our group suffered this fate.

Evenings are usually spent in the library where, after a few drinks, the conversational topics are wide and varied, but always pursued in a good natured and inclusive way. On my visit discussions included: the arcane laws of Swiss toilet usage, how much guano a man has to be smeared with before he ceases to be attractive and (this being the week of the Scottish referendum) whether David Allan (who was a Scot) would have to sit at a different dinner table if his nation seceded from the union.

Occasionally, Jacey would lead a breakout team to an adjoining room to play Bananagram (think combat Scrabble). Given the name of the game, I found the absence of any fruit in play notable, although perhaps players waited until I had retired before brandishing their bananas.
We were blessed with unseasonably warm weather during my visit, so much so that it led to us running at least one critique session seated around the sundial on the lawn overlooking the lake, something unheard of since Milford took up residence at Trigonos in 2004. (I should also point out that despite frequent threats to do so, Guy Martland never did jump in and go for a swim – maybe next year, eh?).

The food was enjoyable and plentiful and Al Robertson and I both reflected that going home would be difficult, given that we'd have to forgo being fed every 2-3 hours.

That said, I do remember one rather avant-garde (and bright green) cheesecake that had come to us from a planet where a race of tiny humans milked giant avocados in order to make cheese. (Maybe). Despite this peculiar provenance, it was actually pretty tasty.

My only two pieces of advice for any potential attendees would be:
1) relax. The idea of the critique process is a little intimidating at first, but in practice Jacey and Liz go out of their way to make newbies feel instantly at home. Moreover, the feedback (especially about the parts of your submission that might not be working) is absolutely invaluable and motivational.
2) do as much of the reading as you can before you get there. While it’s easily possible to read through all of the submissions on site, having got through everything beforehand means you’ll be able to do some writing in a wonderfully tranquil settingI felt for those old hands, such as Mike Lewis, who reminded me of the pre-internet days when attendees would be greeted at the door by a stack of printed manuscripts and told to get on with it.

Writing this now, it occurs to me that compared to our colleagues elsewhere in the world we are starved of world-class genre writing workshops here in the UK. We have no Clarions, no Taos ToolBoxes and no Viable Paradises.

Perhaps that dearth is merely a reflection of the few native, professionally paying short fiction markets here in Blighty, but if that is the case then it’s also at odds with the fact that as a relatively small nation of speculative scribblers we seem to punch well above our weight.

For all of the grit and graft of our industrial history and post-empire angst, maybe this island of ours is full of dreamers after all.

It's a good thing then, that we have Milford.

Also check out Guy T Martland's blog for 'I am Not a Number. I Am a Free Man - the September group's trip to Portmeirion .

Milford Sayings 2014
There's a tradition of taking snippets of conversation and crits out of context and here's a collection of 2014 snippets from both Milfords. gems from the mouths of Al Robertson, David Allan, Carl Allery, Phil Suggars, Guy T Martland, Jacey Bedford, Sue Thomason, Nick Moulton, Jim Anderson and Terry Jackman, not necessarily in that order.

"I have been hypnotised by a personal friend of King Arthur."

"This story reminds me of Ballard, despite the fact that it managed to avoid his twin obsessions of big breasts and concrete."

"Is West Country science fiction Cider Punk?"

"Is he literally the child of Hermes, because Hermes did put it about a bit?"

"This was written at speed--well--written at speed over a period of two years."

"It's an anal probe."
"Ooh, the things that just fall out of your mouth."

On breasts: "It's almost as if the narrator is saying: Oooh, yeah, nice set."

"I confess I like happy endings. If the protagonist doesn't get a happy-ever-after I want a good and satisfying reason--not just that his world is shitty and his dad's a right bastard."

"Reminds me of Brideshead Revisited with the improving addition of a heavily militarised refugeee from Little Grey rabbit."

"I was a bit disappointed--I wanted complete carnage."

"I love the idea of grumpy vengeful floorboards as a main character."