Jacey Bedford
My first crit session of the week went well. This was my revised opening of The Amber Crown, set in an analogue of the Baltic States around the middle of the seventeenth century. I’m working on a revision at the moment and the consensus is that the rewrite is just about right now with only a few tweaks required. Whoo-hoo.
Matt Colborn
Finished crit session, really high standard of stories. Slightly intimidating: I’ve got my first grilling tomorrow! Just went for a walk along the lake. Saw the slopes of Snowdon in the distance, semi shrouded in cloud. This valley truly is a fairy kingdom: I can feel the doors of the otherworld swing open as dusk descends!
Liz Williams
I second the high standard of stories: we see some excellent work every year at Milford and this year is no exception. Trevor and I made it up the hillside and gazed out across the vast damp expanse of Snowdonia for a bit, spoke nicely to some sheep and admired an enormous cat in a field (maybe N Wales is diversifying into cat herding rather than sheep?). We’re now thinking about Wine o’clock and looking forward to fish pie. More work tomorrow!
Vaughan Stanger
This is my fifth time at Milford but the pleasure never lessens. What strikes me so strongly this time is that I still have so much to learn from listening to other peoples’ critiques, but not only of my own work. Everyone brings something different to the crit room: a different approach, a different focus. I major on structure and technology/science, but it’s the totality of perspectives that is so powerful.
