THE AFTERLIFE PROJECT excerpt up at Amazing Stories
April 18, 2025 § Leave a comment
It’s such an honor to be excerpted in the pages of this venerable old science fiction magazine – where such luminaries as Isaac Asimov, Howard Fast, and Ursula K LeGuin published some of their early stories.
In case you want a little amuse-bouche before you order a copy of The Afterlife Project. Enjoy!
Upcoming travel programs
August 29, 2024 § 1 Comment
Cuba Writers Program (with Alden Jones): March 7 – 15, 2025
Join me and my old friend Alden Jones, distinguished fellow novelist and creative writing professor, for the 5th edition of the Cuba Writers Program: a fun, informal, dynamic, off-the-beaten track nine-day literary adventure in Havana and on the island’s southern coast.
Alden and I have been traveling to Cuba together and separately since the early 2000s; we’ve developed a formidable network of very special in-country contacts and if you’ve been thinking about a trip I can tell you without caveats that this is simply the best way to do it—especially if you’re a writer, though the program is also open to aspiring writers, significant others, friends, and family members. Generative writing workshops combined with amazing encounters and interactions with real Cubans make this an unparalleled and unforgettable opportunity to experience the unique richness and joy of Cuba. More info and an application form here.
Friends trip to Spain: Madrid and points north, April 23 – May 2, 2025
Join a small group of fellow travelers for a ten-day insider’s journey to a country I’ve known and loved since I first lived in Madrid as an undergraduate Spanish major. Later I spent a year directing college semester abroad programs in Spain and have returned countless times since, both on my own and as a guide and featured expert for National Geographic.
This informal, creative, light-hearted educational small-group trip will get you off the tourist circuit and out into the hidden corners of Madrid and points north. Our focus will be art, architecture, history, wine, cuisine (in particular the quintessentially Spanish art of tapas or pintxos), and generally taking the time to enjoy Spanish life! The itinerary has not yet been formalized but is likely to include Madrid, León, Bilbao, and the Basque Country. Throughout the trip we’ll have the chance to interact with carefully selected local guides and experts, and I’ll be hosting several cocktail hours with a special illustrated lecture series on Iberian history, the artist Francisco de Goya, and Ernest Hemingway’s long love affair with Spain. If this trip is of interest to you, send me a message and I’ll put you on the list of potential traveling friends.
Custom small-group trips to Cuba
As many of you know, the island of Cuba—its art, landscape, music, history, and especially its people—has been an enduring fascination for me since 1999. I try to visit at least once a year, and as a result of the knowledge and the contacts I’ve developed over the years I’ve been able to help quite a few friends and their families put together some amazing trips.
“I find that words are insufficient in conveying the depth of my gratitude for our extraordinary adventure in Cuba. Your deep relationships with Cubans allowed us to glimpse a Cuba hidden to most tourists.”
With the help of my excellent, highly experienced Havana ground crew I can set up spectacular, informal, very affordable, and legally compliant custom trips for small groups of family and friends (preferably a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12). To explore your own custom small-group travel program send me a note and we can set up a no-obligation informational call. Note that it’s good to have at least a 2-3 months advance notice to plan these trips.
And in the slightly longer term . . .
June ‘25: Book launch & tour! Bookmark the “Upcoming” page on my website or follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or Threads, for updates on readings, signings, and a limited national speaking tour.
Fall 2025 . . . Peru! I’m so excited about doing an adventurous off-the-beaten track expedition to Peru with my good friend and former college classmate, the talented Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Amy Bucher. If you’re up for an adventure, and are interested in archaeology and ancient cultures, this is going to be an amazing trip! There will be more about it in a future newsletter, but meanwhile if you want to put your name on an early interest list, send me a message here.
Paperback release, Douro River, Eastern Cuba, and other news
April 24, 2018 § Leave a comment
Dear friends,
It’s been a year since the release of A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing in hardcover. This is just a quick post to let you know that the paperback launches today! It’s a nice little book I think, and I’m pleased to report that since the hardcover release there’s been plenty of good news. It’s been shortlisted for two international book awards (one of which is still in process—please keep your fingers crossed), has resulted in a lot of good press including interviews on both Vermont and New Hampshire Public radio (links to both podcasts here), and has continued to garner favorable reviews.
Another bit of news that I’m thrilled to share is that I’ll be starting a job this June on the core faculty of a new low-residency graduate writing program: the “Newport MFA in Creative Writing,” based at Salve Regina College in Newport, Rhode Island (and Havana!). This is the brainchild of my friend, the brilliant Ann Hood, and it’s an exciting new venture in the writing world. If any of you’ve been contemplating a writing MFA, I highly recommend that you check it out!
The coming year is also shaping up to be exciting in terms of travel: I’ll be the National Geographic featured lecturer on a new Douro River cruise navigating from Porto, Portugal, to Salamanca, Spain and back (Sept 23 – Oct 3). I’ll be leading a new off-the-beaten-track program in Eastern Cuba in collaboration with my publisher, Green Writers Press (Nov 5 – 12). And in May, 2019, we’ll be offering the fourth annual Cuba Writers Program in Havana and one other Cuban destination (TBA).
If you’re interested in any of these and/or in other adventures in the months and years to come, you can find details and keep track of evolving dates here. Maybe we’ll see you out in the world! (And don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like explore ways to organize an affordable custom trip to Cuba.)
Here’s a photo I just took of the new paperbacks. If you want to get your hands on a copy, now’s an auspicious time to buy one! A wave of purchases around the release date can trigger algorithms that can make books more visible to the public, which is of course extremely helpful for ambitious and little-known authors such as yours truly (as are reviews on Amazon or Goodreads, by the way).
As always, thanks for being out there. I’m deeply grateful for your friendship and support. Please don’t hesitate to send a note if you want to run something by me or simply catch up. Meanwhile, here’s wishing you a happy and productive spring!
Warm regards,
Tim
Collection is a finalist for the International Book Awards
May 23, 2017 § Leave a comment
Honored and very pleased to report that A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing has been chosen as a finalist in the 2017 International Book Awards (Short Story category).
It occurs to me to mention that for a certain kind of person, this collection would make an excellent Father’s Day gift! You can order the beautiful hardcover first edition at IndieBound, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble — or request it from your favorite local bookstore! (ISBN# 978-0997452877). Read all the latest reviews, and check the upcoming events page for a reading or signing near you!
Advance praise & early reviews: A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER & FLY FISHING
February 17, 2017 § 4 Comments
Deeply honored by these early reactions to my forthcoming short fiction collection, which launches officially on April 7, 2017. Excerpts linked to full reviews:
“From the mountain lakes of the Colorado Rockies to cobbled streets of Spain, this fascinating collection of short stories by Vermont-based writer Tim Weed (Will Poole’s Island) never disappoints. The stories are more about choices than they are about fly fishing or murder, but time and again Weed’s vivid characters in these thirteen tales of dark adventure are forced to confront a vision of themselves—or others—that’s not quite as positive as they’d hoped . . . A Field Guide to Murder and Fly Fishing is a collection you’ll be happy to get lost in.” Julie Reiff (full review at Ploughshares).
“Tim Weed’s A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing is a fiction collection of the first order. I found myself parceling out the stories to make them last. These are stories that will live a long time both on the page and in your heart.” —Joseph Monninger, author of The World as We Know It.
“In his first short story collection, novelist Tim Weed shows his stunningly impressive range—transporting readers from the heights of the Andes and the depths of the Amazon to the backstreets of Rome and Granada. Many of Weed’s stories have a hint of the mysterious, even the supernatural, but they are all grounded in sharply-rendered material worlds so fresh one feels one might step directly into the literary photographs he has created and stroll around for a while. A top-notch debut, not to be missed.”—Jacob Appel, author of Einstein’s Beach House (full review at Goodreads)
“Each story is a jewel, cracking open what matters most: love, family, and our big beautiful planet.” —Ann Hood, author of The Book That Matters Most
“A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing is more than a collection of adventure stories. It is a significant and moving collection of ideas, snapshots, and visions that leave a lasting impression . . . Never predictable, this collection is a must for travelers, adventure seekers, and anyone who cares to examine the depth of [Weed’s] varied and flawed characters.” —Ron Samul (full review at We Are the Curriculum)
Stay tuned for the official announcement of the April 7, 2017 release on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the email newsletter. No need to wait though! Pre-order the collection at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
New story out in Main Street Rag ghost anthology
October 12, 2016 § Leave a comment
Pleased to report that my story, “The Foreigner,” is about to appear in a new anthology of ghost stories and poems. The story is set in my one-time home city of Granada, Spain, where an amateur photographer’s increasingly uncanny encounters with locals lead him to a difficult pass. The anthology, titled Polterguests, is available for pre-order from Main Street Rag Press.
“The Foreigner” will also appear in my new collection, A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing, to be published this April by Green Writers Press. The collection is also available for pre-order.
The Life & Times of Goya at the Brattleboro Museum
July 18, 2016 § Leave a comment
Very much looking forward to giving this illustrated talk on one of my favorite Spanish artists and the times that produced him. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries encompass a fascinating era in Spanish history, well into the decline of the great Empire, with plenty of corruption and chaos to go around, culminating in the Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula and the dark times that followed.
Among other things, we’ll be tracing Goya’s evolution from a designer of light-hearted tapestry cartoons to First Court Painter to an artist who captured his age with a darkness and power that sent western civilization’s understanding of what creative art is and can be hurtling into the future.
We’ll also be serving tapas and summer wine. So if you’re in the area on Thursday, July 21, at 5:30 PM, stop by BMAC in downtown Brattleboro!
Collection is Semifinalist for Subito Press Book Prize
November 26, 2015 § 2 Comments
Pleased to note that my short fiction collection, “A Field Guide to Murder and Fly Fishing,” was named a semifinalist for the 2015 Subito Press Book Prize. So far, earlier versions of the same book have also been shortlisted for the New Rivers Press Many Voices Project, the Autumn House Fiction Prize, and the Lewis-Clark Press Discovery Award. Stories within the collection have won a Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Award and the Grand Prize of Outrider Press’s The Mountain anthology, and have been shortlisted for many awards including the Lightship Publishing International Literature Prize, the Glimmer Train Short Story Award, The Richard Yates Short Story Award, and others.
It’s been a long road for these stories, all of which have appeared previously in literary magazines and/or anthologies, but a final home may be in sight. Stay tuned for more exciting news about the collection . . .
Northern Spain by Rail with National Geographic
September 15, 2015 § 3 Comments
What a privilege it is to be heading back to Spain, the country that I’ve long considered my home away from home. This is a special trip, too, my first time on National Geographic’s fascinating Northern Spain by Private Rail. We’ll be starting in Santiago de Compostela and making our way across the northern breadth of the Iberian peninsula to San Sebastián, all aboard the extremely well appointed Transcantábrico Gran Lujo.
Of course we’ll be stopping quite a bit along the way, to explore Romanesque chapels, mountain villages, and prehistoric cave art. I’ll be giving a series of lectures focusing on Spanish history, the life and times of Francisco de Goya, and Ernest Hemingway’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War, and of course I’m hoping to be able to get a bit of good writing done too. All in all, much to look forward to!
Follow me on Instagram or Facebook if you’d like to see photos from the experience!
Hemingway talk at the Brattleboro Museum
August 24, 2015 § Leave a comment
Thrilled to be giving this talk at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, next Thursday, September 3, at 7pm. If you’re in the neighborhood, I’d love to see you there!
The Expatriate Novelist: Hemingway in Spain and Cuba
“Drawing upon his extensive experience in Spain and Cuba, novelist and travel guide Tim Weed gives a vividly illustrated talk on author Ernest Hemingway’s life in the two countries he loved most, with particular reference to the influence of place and culture on Hemingway’s fiction. This talk will be of interest to writers, travelers, Hemingway readers, and anyone interested in learning more about BMAC’s upcoming ARTravel programs in Spain and Cuba. Admission is free.”
Tim Weed 