Tag: memoir

Writing

My Artist Statement

Chrys Buckley

artiststatementimages(The artist statement is something I had to write for a grant I applied for. I railed against it, mainly by way of procrastination, but here’s how it eventually, perhaps a bit too passionately, came out.)

ARTIST STATEMENT

Like most people I know, my childhood was regularly awful. I am albino, which means that my skin, hair and eyes are paler than pale and I’m legally blind. This condition complicated social matters, but with a messy home life, I often felt more different and alienated on the inside than I was in outward appearance. I survived my difficult times by reading books. Books entertained and deepened me. Reading took me to other worlds, which paradoxically helped me understand my own life and illuminated what it meant to be human in a more universal way.

Continue reading “My Artist Statement” →

Writing

Unbidden Praise

Chrys Buckley

IMG_9093…is so awesome becomes it comes so unexpectedly.

Today I was walking through town on my way to get groceries. A friend who was in town to get mail saw me and we walked through the Farmer’s Market to catch up quickly. She went over to the San Juan County Fair yesterday, on the “big island” and ran into our old writing teacher, and a man who once came over to talk to our class. This was over three years ago, during our last class in Spring ’04. He gave a talk on self-publishing and then (apparently, I barely remember this) stayed to listen to us read our work. I’ve never seen him since.

So my friend ran into him yesterday at the fair, and told me that he said to her, “Oh I remember your class. There was this young, tall, blond girl. She was such a fabulous writer.”

Continue reading “Unbidden Praise” →

Writing

First Draft Writing Vs. Tweaking and Re-writing

Chrys Buckley

trees-moon-fantasy-art-hd-wallpaper-you-are-viewingI’m now about midway through the third draft of my first book, a memoir, tentatively titled Moonchild.

Well, that is, first book if you don’t count the “book” I wrote in high school, a novel about a group of teenagers on a cabin trip who discover that they are vampires and struggle with how to deal with that. I wrote it all, and edited a lot, then sent it to a friend’s English teacher (since I wanted the opinion of someone who didn’t know me, who’d be unbiased), and edited some more. I looked back at it while in college and was mortified, and so glad I’d never done anything with it!

So, now here I am, ten years later, working on another book and right in the middle of the re-writing process.

Continue reading “First Draft Writing Vs. Tweaking and Re-writing” →

Writing

Sept. 15, 2007 – Target Date

Chrys Buckley

Writing-is-a-Struggle_2650-x-1600_1920x1200So, my friend Linda and I have set Sept. 15 as the target date to finish our manuscripts. She’s writing a really awesome novel with immensely compelling characters and gorgeous prose. I’ve read a few earlier versions and have seen her novel evolve and grow stronger, more immediate and more specific. I have supreme faith that hers will be polished and perfected by our due date.

I’m a little less sure about my own, and maybe it’s simply because it’s my own. I worry that it isn’t compelling enough, that characters aren’t distinct enough, that people won’t relate, and the like. I suppose everyone worries that about their own work, and maybe it’s a good thing to be concerned with these things, because I’ll be conscious of them in the back of my mind at least, during revisions.

Continue reading “Sept. 15, 2007 – Target Date” →

Blindness and Disability, Music, Writing

A rough sketch of my book – Moonchild: A Memoir of Albinism

Chrys Buckley

moonchildimagesNote: This description can also be found on the Personal Essay and Memoir page.

I am albino. Albinism is a recessive genetic condition that means my skin and hair are white, and I’m legally blind. After a sheltered and chaotic childhood, during which I worried that my parents would murder me in my sleep, I felt more different on the inside than I am on the outside. I lost (and found) myself in alternative rock music and counted down the days until I could escape to college. I felt eclipsed.

Moonchild: A Memoir of Albinism details my freshman year at college. As I dealt with finding my way around college, I had intense social anxiety. I didn’t know how to talk about albinism with people, so I didn’t. I was at school on a creative writing scholarship, and I had writer’s block as big as the Great Pyramid of Giza. I wasn’t even sure if I felt anymore. The eclipse deepened.

Continue reading “A rough sketch of my book – Moonchild: A Memoir of Albinism” →

Writing

An Amazingly Awesome Weekend

Chrys Buckley

pnwaindexThis past weekend I went to the Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) conference. It was incredible.

Let’s get the one tiny bit of bad news out of the way first. When I got home and checked my email, the first one I had was a rejection email from an agent. Months ago I went to a public reading and read the first chapter of my book, and someone I met there passed my name along to an agent, and so I sent in that same first chapter to that agent, who decided to pass on asking to see more. She wrote me a nice, personal note on my submission though. From what I’ve heard, it’s definitely a good sign to get personalized rejections.

Continue reading “An Amazingly Awesome Weekend” →

Blindness and Disability, Metaphysics, Writing

Just Introducing Myself

Chrys Buckley

photo-4 newI’m a writer currently living on Orcas Island. I do fiction, poetry, essay, memoir and more. I also do freelance copy-editing and writing coaching, so if you’re interested in either, feel free to contact me for details.

I have a booth at the local Saturday Market where I have stories, memoir chapters and poetry for sale in little chapbooks, as well as CDs of a live performance I did last summer where I read writing pieces to an audience to raise money to get to a writing retreat at Esalen put on by The Sun magazine. Again, if interested in any of the above, contact me and I’ll hook you up.

My main jaunt at the Market booth is tarot reading. I use the Aleister Crowley Thoth deck for card readings of spreads ranging from one card to fifteen cards, with tons in between that address all sorts of specific or general issues. I offer over-the-phone and in-person readings by appointment, and incorporate astrology and numerology into longer appointment readings.

My current project and biggest time consumption is a memoir about my college years and the “school of life.” It’s titled Learning to Swim and I’ll probably post pieces of it here at this site. I have albinism, a genetic condition that affects 1 in 17,000 Americans. For those who aren’t familiar with it, albinism results in little or no pigment, and greatly reduced visual acuity (often legal blindness). I think I have an interesting story to tell as a girl growing up in America with a disability and looking different, and experiencing the world in all its anguish and beauty in a very deep way. I want to hold up the experiences to the light and let the reader peer at them very closely, the way I peer closely at everything.

Of the first major draft of the project, my first reader says:

“This is a book about vision (literally and metaphorically), about extreme courage, seeking to make your way and not settling for less, with a musical soundtrack that serves as its own journey providing clarity and perception along the way.” ~Stargazer

~Chrys

Related articles