Krista Wallace

Website

2011-05-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

My website is up and running at last. It's still a work in progress, with lots of things changing as I learn how to use it, and my dear administrator makes me website-literate, but it does exist! Aha!

All new blog posts from here onward will be posted on the website. Leastwise, that's how I see it working. It is my prerogative, however, to change my mind.

The website is.... www.kristawallace.com.

Cheers!

Write what you know....

2011-03-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

After crazy thoughts of direct communication, followed by advice about futility, I recall the most important words of wisdom:

Be careful what you say, or I'll put you in my novel.

I'm off, now, to pile frustration onto Griffin now. Golly, I wonder what she'll be driven to do by the end of this story??

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones

2011-03-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

Had the pleasure of seeing these guys live just before Christmas. Brings a whole new meaning to the term "mind-blowing." Thanks to Victor Wooten for inspiring The Girl to play bass again. This tune is called "Zona Mona" from the "Live at the Quick" album. Cheers.

Pug Dog discovery

2011-03-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

Years ago I saw an old B&W movie on TV wherein there was a scene of a woman going on to her husband about a "pug dog". For years I've been wondering what that movie was, but had not much to go on, because all I could remember was the woman's voice saying, "pug dog."

I happen to be presently reading "Life With Mother" by Clarence Day, Jr., the sequel to "Life With Father." In this book I came across a chapter called "Mother and Pug Dogs and Rubber Trees." Naturally I experienced an Aha! moment. I searched it up online, and sure enough, there was a movie made in 1947 of Life With Father, starring William Powell and Irene Dunne. I think the bit I remember happened earlier in the film than this clip, but this confirms that the mystery is solved. Hooray!

Starting fresh

2011-03-07T14:41:00.000-08:00

I've given my blog a new look. It may not stay like this, as I experiment with it. But it needed a facelift, as I'm off to a new start.

2010 was a year of far too much excitement. Some of it was good: The Winter Olympics in Vancouver; Healthy, happy children having their own successes; my short story, He Had It Coming, was a finalist in the SiWC Storyteller's contest. Some of it was less good: forced lessons in acceptance of circumstances, plus learning that I'm a strong coper. Earth to Doris folded, for a variety of reasons, though I miss it very much. Also said goodbye to Chris Colt and the 45's, again a variety of reasons. FAT Jazz is still going strong.

I learned that I am still a positive, happy person in spite of troublesome circumstances.

In spite of the troubles of the fall, I have continued to write: the story for SiWC, two short pieces for the Sleuth Mystery contest (which I believe did not arrive in time, so perhaps I can resubmit them next year!). I worked a fair amount on my paranormal romance until I realise it was too much right now. Instead I am back into Griffin, a decision which is heartily supported by Loki and JS Lyster, as per earlier posts! I have submitted this story to the PNWA Writing Contest, so we'll see how that goes.

Meantime, we continue. Griffin is calling.

Public Health Care

2010-01-20T09:23:00.000-08:00

With all due respect, I don't understand why so many Americans are opposed to public health care.

Is it about the way taxes are distributed? Well, that could be said about all kinds of things: a portion of taxes goes to public education, even if a taxpayer doesn't have children. What's the difference? That's the nature of a tax system. A portion of my taxes goes to build roads I will never drive on, but I know they are needed so I don't complain about it. To put it simply, all tax moneys collected are divided and used to pay for all kinds of things the country or province needs. Perhaps I don't particularly wish to have my tax dollars spent on supporting the military, but we don't get to pick and choose which programmes we wish to support. That's not how it works.

And there seems to be some misconception that the government gets to control my health care. Rest assured: the Prime Minister does not sit in on my pap tests, nor does the Premier of the province tell me which drugs I can and cannot take. No government official decides which doctor I see, and government workers don't have access to my medical files.

I saw a documentary on TV a number of years ago about a public health care Bill being presented in the state of Oregon. I found it very interesting that the loudest opponents to the Bill were..... The Insurance Companies. Gee, I wonder who stands to lose the most should the state offer public health care? And so the fear-mongering began, and the Bill did not pass.

Here's the thing: Bottom line. We're a family of four. We pay $114.00 per month (it was only $108 until a couple of months ago), and that's it. I can go to any doctor, have blood tests, X-Rays, Ultrasounds, MRIs, Bone scans, see specialists, basically have all my health care needs addressed. AND I DON'T HAVE TO PAY ANY MORE than that $114. [I pay a small fee to go to Physiotherapy, or massage therapy, and the like, but that's it]. I have given birth to two children and it didn't cost me a cent extra. (That number is lower for people of lower income). Where's the problem here?

Wouldn't it be nice for Americans to NOT be locked into seeing only a doctor that is covered by their health insurance? or to not have to go to a particular hospital that is covered by their health insurance? or to receive necessary surgery and treatment without worry that their insurance will cover it? To receive health care even if they can't afford health insurance?

It seems to me that the American system has a lot more limitations than ours. I think there's a lot of miscommunication out there.

To Each Her Own in Problem Solving

2010-01-18T07:08:00.000-08:00

New obstacles to finishing this dang rewrite are being thrown at me. Every time I think I've solved some major problems and I nearly have the pieces together, someone gives me a new reason to pause the forward motion. (By golly this sounds like a plotline in itself!) It never feels good to hear these things, that the climax of the story isn't climactic enough, so yes, I was upset about it. I'm recovering from the death of my hard drive, and still mourning the loss of a lot of stuff due to the back-up system having failed me. I knew I'd have to rewrite some rewrites I had completed in the fall, which is bad enough, but now I have to go back and re-evaluate a whole plot concept and figure out how to fix it.

But you see, I'm a problem solver. That's one of the things I love about writing, and it's one of my strengths.

Colleen has been saying to me for months....

"You need to set Book One aside and get some distance from it. Work on Griffin."

A few weeks ago I finally said to her, "You know, when you say that I think you're telling me that Book One sucks."

She said, "I'm glad you said that, because that's not at all what I'm saying, and now we can clear this up." [Did I ever mention the importance of having writer friends you can work with closely? To help each other through these challenges? Someone you trust] We did clear it up and she stopped telling me to set this story aside.

The other day, after Colleen (yes, it was Colleen) pointed out the flaws in the climax of my story, I vented a bit to Jonathan, another wonderful writer friend whom I trust. [my partner for the 2009 3-Day Novel Contest.... You can't collaborate on a project like that with someone you don't get along with!] So I vented to Jonathan and he said...

"You should set this story aside and get some distance from it. Work on Griffin."

Errrrrrg.

I understand where he's coming from, of course. And I'm glad everybody's excited about the Griffin story. But here's the thing: I don't want to work on Griffin. My passion is still with Kyer and Valrayker right now. I've been working on this massive edit/rewrite for ages and I want to finish it. If I set it aside it needs to be my decision; it needs to be because I feel that is the best choice right now.

I've given it lots of thought, taking my gut feeling into consideration, as I always do. I've already shifted into problem solving mode, I can feel those wheels turning.... So no, this is not the time to set the story aside.

Now that I'm over being upset about it, it's time to get back to it.

The Joy of Plot Element Labels

2009-07-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

The chest of potions that appears early on in my first novel, Dark Elf's Warrior, has been a bit of a problematic device to myself and to some readers. I never really wanted said chest to draw a lot of focus, but of course it does, because it affects the actions and decisions of certain characters. For instance, Ronav is the one who bought the potions and needs them to carry out his ultimate scheme, but when they fall into Kyer's hands after she kills Simon, Ronav decides he wants his men to capture Kyer, and not bother with the chest. This is partly because he wishes to downplay their significance to his men. Kyer takes the chest of potions to an expert in Shael, hoping to learn what they are. That's it for book one. The chest appears again at the beginning of book two, but only plays a minor role there.

I don't want the chest of potions to become a loose end, a "plot hole" that leaves the reader dissatisfied. It has always been my intention to make them useful later on, but I haven't figured out how yet.

Now, this morning I read an e-mail from Ron in which he describes his intriguing plotline for his novel. He referred to the MacGuffin I had heard this term but wasn't familiar enough with it to truly understand what he meant by it. This called for Online Research. Now, with a new understanding of the MacGuffin, as well as other terms such as Chekhov's Gun, I am mulling over how to solve the potion problem.

The potions in my novel are NOT the MacGuffin ("a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction.": Princeton University, Wordnet 3.0; from wikipedia) If anything, that term could be applied to Kyer's medallion, and maybe even to Kyer herself. I think the chest of potions is Chekhov's Gun, which refers to an object which appears early on, but whose purpose is not clear until later. Without even knowing this term I've always believed that if there's an item on stage that draws my attention, the characters had better use it at some point, or it's just a distraction. And that's annoying. That is where the term Chekhov's Gun comes from (Anton Chekhov, who insisted that if a loaded gun is on stage a character had better try to shoot somebody with it eventually).

In order to not leave the reader hanging with regards to the potions, I need to clarify (for myself at this point) how they will be used later. I don't write with an outline, I make stuff up as I go. Somehow, labelling the potions as a particular plot element has helped me to focus on what I need to do to avoid a terrible plot hole problem.

Satire over the head

2009-07-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

We are quickly discovering that if we are going to show satirical movies to our kids, they need to understand what is being satirized. They didn't really "get" Spinal Tap, and though we started watching For Your Consideration, I think we won't finish that one with them. Similarly the Girl didn't quite "get" The Life of Brian last night. I think we will show them Jesus Christ Superstar. Matt suggested Godspell, but I think that just might confuse them more.

On another note, thanks to Mel Buenaventura for taking some photos of FAT Jazz at Golden Spike Days. Here's a cool couple of shots of my shoes and me spliced together.

flickr.com/nomsg.

Ok, this is interesting. That was my first time posting a photo, and I discovered that Blogger doesn't want me to put the photo in the middle of the post, only at the top. So when I move it, it does some weird stuff: It underlined the first paragraph, turned it blue (which I managed to fix) and it has taken away my power to change fonts, so as you can see my font is now different. This has redirected focus away from the photo itself, and the fact that I wished to credit Mel and tell you where you can see more of his work. He has some pretty neat stuff: check him out at flickr.com/nomsg. Ok, there, I've put Mel's link up next to the photo. What a pain this is! I suppose there must be a way to fix it, but I don't have time to muck about with it now. See? We've changed fonts again. I can change the size, you see, but not the font itself. Isn't technology fun?

Ok, so those shoes are Wallace tartan, for those of you unfamiliar with it. The hat belongs to the Boy, but he figured I ought to wear it for this event. Thanks Boy! In the shot on the right you can see Ray Faoro, our bari sax player, and Laurie is sorta visible. Check out FAT Jazz's new work-in-progress website at www.fatjazz.ca. Look at me go, I just figured out how to insert a link.

That is enough new computer stuff for me today. I need a lie-down.

Family and Friends. Oh, and POV. Part 2

2009-07-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

Like I said, summer is always a difficult time for me to write.... Little to no structure to the day, the kids are around, other committments, etc. I've had no fewer than four family dinners in the last week! Not that I'm complaining about that, anyone who knows me is well aware of my love of good food, good music and my family (not prioritizing, there), but one needs a good deal of discipline to stay on track with writing with all these other things going on. I got in some ukulele practise, doing more uke/mandolin duets with Kev, which is always good for a laugh.

Good FAT Jazz gig yesterday, (we were able to start on time, thank goodness) and then raced home to have 15 people over for lobster (sponsored by Helen, thanks Helen!) and much fun and food was had by all. I love hosting, coz it means we get the leftovers. Again, no complaints. It's a grey day today, and perhaps that means some progress.

I've been pondering point of view, and how to introduce some of the story of what's going on in the village of Nennia earlier, to lighten the "info dump" near the end. I've also gone through that section and identified some nasty examples of "telling", which should be no trick to eliminate, as well as a couple of bits I can more effectively bring out by showing the actual scene in real time. Stephanie's comments have been helpful for all this, too. She's the one who suggested I write some earlier scenes from Shawn Carver's pov. I don't think I'll do that exactly, but that gave me the idea of writing them from his daughter Sasha's pov: the Unreliable Narrator will allow me to show the reader what I want them to know, without the character understanding it, which would give away too much.

And now I must get on it.

The Retreat Was Successful, Now Get Back to Work!

2009-06-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

Life gets in again... I had a very successful retreat up to Powell River. I wrote on the coach on the way there, I wrote on the ferry, I wrote in my little room in Myst and Jonathan's house, I wrote in the coffee shop, I wrote in the bakery in Lund, I wrote on the way home... They fed me, they didn't mind when I ignored them for hours, they discussed writing with me. I came home feeling stoked about book three and just getting back into writing after a long hiatus. Of course now that I'm home I have two kids and a house and responsibilities to get in the way, but I'm in a way better frame of mind than I usually am at the beginning of summer holidays.

Part of what helped me, I think, is that I stopped worrying about what I was going to write while I was away. I told myself that in order to get the ball rolling again I had to simply write and not worry about what I was producing. "The first 100 pages you write are going to be shite," I told myself, "so just get them over with, and then you can proceed." It seemed to work, because I didn't worry about what I was writing, and I managed to produce some stuff that might actually turn out to be useful. It certainly helped me with the goal of generating ideas for book three! And I even tackled a problem that affects the story as a whole and I came up with a solution.

So, onward and upward! And when Myst and Jonathan eventually open up their Writers' Hideaway Retreat destination, I will highly recommend it to all my writer friends (so long as I get first dibs).

Back to it.

Back into Writing... I hope

2009-05-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Again with this! Way too long between posts... Sorry. Well, not that anyone's been pestering me to update, so maybe my absence went unnoticed!

Election's over, Seussical's over... it's time to get my life back. I am exhausted, and I'm still not sleeping well at night, so it's kind of hard to get back into the swing of things. Seussical went extremely well and I'm very proud of the kids and the product we created. I have, for those of you bugging me about it, already told the powers that be that I will not be directing the play next year: Two years in a row is enough when you're a parent volunteer.

I haven't done ANYTHING new besides work on the show since January. A little bit of work training SP's for Kwantlen, and a little bit of my own SP work, but virtually nothing in the way of writing. Colleen is critiquing Dark Elf's Warrior for me, so I have done a small amount of editing/rewriting here and there, but as for creating anything new.... I hardly know what that means anymore. I certainly don't remember what it feels like. So now I have to retrain myself. My creative mind has worked overtime dealing with problems on stage, and now I must turn it inward again, dig up those characters who have been so badly neglected that they've stopped even tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "Hello? What about us?" They've been really quiet lately, and I need to wake them up.

I have started by arranging a Writing Retreat to Powell River. My writer friends Myst and Jonathan will put me up for a few days, feed me (I will help, of course), make sure I have coffee and they will make me write. I will critique for them and they will bug at me and even critique for me... Even if all I produce in those few days is utter shite at least it will be something new to flush those cobwebs out. Myst might even let me throw a few more knives to work out frustration! [see my photo].

Oh, and I've recently taken up the ukulele. That's another good way to focus. My uke is bright purple with sparkles. It's pretty Rock & Roll. I can play Five Year's Time (Noah and the Whale), Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python), and Five Dollar Bill (Corb Lund), among other things. My brother and I had a most excellent duet jamming session with him on mandolin and me on uke, playing Highway to Hell, and Day Tripper and other cool stuff. Can't wait to see what my purple rock & roll ukulele looks like on stage. All I need is a wicked strap and some electric pickups.

I wish to not do that to myself again, this whole "put writing completely aside so I can do some other project that will not, ultimately, do much for me, at least, not my writing career."

Ok? You heard it here.

2009-04-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I forgot about my blog. Man. I keep sitting down at the computer thinking there's something I should be doing. Should I open my novel? No, Colleen already has the last chunk so I need to wait until I get feedback from her. I know, I'll check Facebook. Ok, that's done. I can do some jobs on Mafia Wars (boy, I hate that game). What else? What am I supposed to do??

Oh yeah. The blog. Duh. Way more important than stupid Mafia Wars, but my whole circle of family and friends are addicted to it, so I keep being reminded of it. That's one of the reasons I hate it, quite frankly.

Oh, and another thing I hate? Election campaigns. It began officially today, so between now and May 12 when we get to vote for a Provincial government I am going to be inundated with talk on the radio about politics, all negative, and nothing new. Neither is there likely to be anything that makes me change the way I will vote. I hate it all.

I need to do some more research about the STV, because it seems to make sense to me, but I know there are people opposed to it. Are they opposed to it because they are afraid of how it will affect them? Or are their fears unfounded? Is there legitimate reason not to approve this system which seems to me would make better use of our ballots and give us something closer to proportional representation? I really want to know.

If anyone out there is concerned about the Single Transferable Vote, please let me know why, so that I can make an educated choice about it.

Gotta go. Rehearsal after school. Then it's off on a music retreat with 150 kids for three days. Virtually zero enthusiasm on my part. I'm just a body to make up the number of adults we need per group of kids. Send me good vibes.

Not punting...

2009-03-30T13:02:00.001-07:00

But we didn't assume she was gone and replace her. We talked to her first. And were dismayed to hear excuses for her absence, with no apology, then an announcement that she would be at every Thursday rehearsal, but that she was in yet another show and would have to leave early on Tuesdays.

At this point that was no longer cool. We cast someone in the show because we feel they would be good for that part. If someone cares more about a different project, then it gives us the impression that our show is not important to them. We were fine with the actor missing a few rehearsals because we were assured the pattern would come to an end. But when the actor took on yet another project which would draw focus.... we were done. We asked her to decide which show she was going to do, making it very clear that to do our show means fully participating in every rehearsal. She chose.

Rehearsing a show isn't just about whether each actor knows his or her lines, any more than being on a basketball team is about whether a player can dribble the ball. A play is a team project, just like a sports team. This actor did not know her blocking (where she was to stand and move about on stage). She had not built any kind of relationship with the actor playing her cohort. The other actors in the play were constantly having to remember where the missing person would be standing. Not to mention the fact that she is not the only actor who was ever missing. Every once in a while another actor or two is missing because of illness, or previous committment, and suddenly there are two or three people we have to keep in mind. And as a director trying to place 50 kids on stage when folks are missing.... It's pretty tricky to imagine where the missing kids should be.

The parent asked, "So what you're saying is that you don't want my daughter in your show?"

Nonsense. We gave her a role. We gave her a Principal role. The message we got, however, is that said daughter doesn't much care about being in our show. No actor, regardless of their role, is above the rules that we set out at the beginning. No exceptions. We want kids who want to be here, and aren't prepared to put up with a lack of commitment. If that's upsetting to someone, then maybe that's because it's the first time a person has refused to cowtow.

Making a replacement was a piece of cake, and I'm very excited to have given another girl from the cast a chance to shine; an enthusiastic girl with talent who now will learn that she has a lot to offer.

We did NOT punt a kid from the show last week...

2009-03-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

It's important to say so. We simply asked her to choose. Every actor in the show signed a rehearsal agreement at the beginning: Rehearsal dates and times were made very clear, as were our expectations that everyone is required to be at every rehearsal unless otherwise notified. If an actor misses a rehearsal without notifying us, he/she would get a warning. If it happened a second time, the actor would be out.

In the most recent case, many provisions had been made. She was involved in another show, so at the beginning of rehearsals for Seussical we agreed that it was all right for her to miss a few rehearsals and have to leave early for some. We made this agreement based on the assurance that she would be at the last two rehearsals before spring break, and that her show would then be over and she would be fully committed to our show.

She didn't turn up to the last two rehearsals before spring break. No notice. After spring break she missed the Tuesday rehearsal. Again, no notice. Now, by rights we could assume she was gone and replace her.

Exploring the Unknown

2009-03-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

Jumping into the pool: world of the web. More like the big scary ocean. I am afraid of drowning, getting hypothermia and being stung by jellyfish, not necessarily in that order.

Heh. Ok, so I have two domain names, which I purchased last summer with the idea of creating a website. Easier said than done, when you have as much knowledge of this as I have. Which is none. I might as well be stepping into a front-end loader and trying to dig a hole. Actually, I'd probably be able to figure that out.

Why is this so scary? It just means learning it. Same as I didn't know how to use Excel a long time ago, and now it's a piece of cake. And Facebook. I used to be scared of Facebook. And then I got Facebook lessons from Sue. Actually Facebook is kind of boring, when it comes right down to it.

Point is, I guess I need lessons in setting up a website, too. I need someone to hold my hand and sit with me while I follow the steps. Someone who won't mind if I phone them six times a day to say, "How do I do that?"

This must be what my mom felt like when she was first learning to use a computer. She'd been a secretary all her working life, and knew how to type stuff like crazy, with a 700 word per minute average speed. But then technology took over and she had to learn how to use a computer. Then it wasn't so much about typing letters as it was about clicking and dragging and buttons and shortcuts... She eventually figured out most stuff, but still phones me once in a while wondering how to fix something that screwed up. [now that she has a Mac I hardly ever hear from her anymore, same as my bro-in-law said about me when I got mine]

I guess I'll eventually get this figured out, too, but I've dipped my toe in and it's freezing cold. I need some scuba gear.

Weekend

2009-03-07T10:49:00.001-08:00

Woke up at 5:00 for no reason. Fretting about things I have to do, or things I said to various people throughout the week which may have hurt their feelings, worrying about how to create a website and use the two domain names I own, everything feels urgent but it's certainly nothing I can do anything about at 5 am on a Saturday morning. Got up and read for a bit, went back to bed but not to sleep. Eeveennnttuuualllyyy fell asleep again and woke up at 10. I hate that!

Shopping day, get pants for the Boy, and a birthday present. Groceries. Work on blocking Scene One of the play (the last scene to block of the first half), fret about when I'm going to set up the stage, and bring in some volunteers to help go through the costume storage. How to delegate when others don't know what I have in mind for props and costumes? How lovely it would be to have one person in charge of costumes and have that person simply read my mind. (song begins playing in my head).

Also have to go in at lunch time this week to do vocal coaching with Horton and choreography with Wickershams... Must block Scene One before Tuesday!

Boy's birthday tomorrow. Need a cake. Oh, and a present. Right.

Finished going through Book One the other day, tweaking, trying to critique it the way Colleen would... she's really preoccupied right now so I need to let her go at her own pace and everything she does is greatly appreciated. I know there's more I can cut and tweak and I truly hope the entire climax of the novel doesn't SUCK!

Coffee's nearly done, time to move.

Facebook Friends

2009-03-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

Facebook defines "Friend" very differently from the way I do. It bugs me because I get notes from people asking to be my "Friend", and then I have a decision to make.

Sometimes it's somebody I've never heard of or seen before. That's a no-brainer. [clicks on Ignore] I have to ask, though: Do some people say Yes to a person they don't even know? I don't get that. I think if I were going to set up a Facebook page for fans, should there ever be any, it would be a separate page where I would not put all my personal stuff and all my relationships with people I actually know. Maybe I'm missing the point of Facebook, but then, oh well.

Trouble is when someone I DO know asks to be my Friend. Well, if I am friends with you, then sure, no problem. But what about when it's someone I met once? Or worked with once or twice? Or played a single gig with? Or don't even like all that much? Well, chances are I don't really consider that person a Friend, and therefore I don't want to be Facebook "Friends" either. I feel like a snob saying Ignore to those people, but if in regular life I would refer to someone as an acquaintance, or "This person I used to know this one time," then I can't consider them "Friends."

I apologise for any hard feelings.

Actually, no I don't.

Choices and results

2009-03-02T22:03:00.001-08:00

So Colleen made a special phone call today to tell me that she likes the New Chapter Seventeen. With all the work I put into the rewrite she wanted to let me know as soon as possible that it was good. It remains to be seen whether the rest of that section works for her, but I am gratified that all that work paid off. I do admit that in comparison to the new version the old one was lame and didn't go far enough. The buildup is more intense and some new conflicts--inner and outer--have arisen making Kyer's relationship with her captors that much more exciting.

I am feeling the loss of the story's playfulness, though. I always liked the fact that it was kind of lighthearted. However, I didn't like the notion that one reader presented, that if I removed the sex scene the book could pretty much be aimed at children. NOT cool.

I can't have it both ways, I guess. I wanted the reader reaction to be stronger, but I can't have that without deepening the intensity, which I guess means losing that playfulness, the sense of humour. I hope it isn't gone completely. My newer readers will be able to tell me. I have to say that I like the, "I can't stop reading it, give me MORE!" reaction I've been getting.

I guess I'm on the right track.

Daddy

2009-02-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

One more thing.... I'm listening to Monsoon House, a radio program starring Russell Peters on CBC Radio One. The woman keeps calling her dad "Daddy." This comes up a lot on TV and in movies, too, and it drives me crazy. Grown women! Even teenagers. Why?

Am I the only female who has not called her dad "Daddy," since I was eight?

Just another thing to get on my nerves.

Elitist Art

2009-02-26T11:35:00.001-08:00

I'm listening to CBC Radio One, as usual. Q just ended, wherein Jian Ghomeshi was speaking to a producer of a documentary about a couple who collected art over the years and recently donated the entire collection to an art museum. The producer said she struggled at first with the making of the film, because she would ask Herb and Dorothy why they purchased a particular painting, and the response was inevitably, "I liked it. It's beautiful." The filmmaker was at first horrified that these people could not articulate their reasons for liking the art. I got worried.

This attitude that one must be able to wax pseudo-intellectual about art, or music, or, yes, literature! perpetuates the notion that art is elitist. This is the wrong way to think about it! All forms of art should be accessible to everyone! I can't imagine an artist, or a musician or a writer claiming that they don't want their material to be enjoyed (or purchased!) by someone who does not have a vocabulary the size of North America to discuss it. It seems to me that artists create because it's in their souls. They hope to build an appreciative audience and likely aren't going to be snobbish about who is permitted to make it up.

The filmmaker redeemed herself by coming to this conclusion herself, and recognising that part of Herb and Dorothy's charm is just that: they love art, they love the pieces they chose, and don't give a damn whether they "fit in" with all the art intellectuals.

I make no apology for the fact that I didn't like The Great Gatsby. I didn't finish Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell because it was BORING. Salman Rushdie uses too many damn words such that once I finish a sentence I can't remember how it began.

There you go. I'm not wrong. I just don't pretend to be anything I'm not.

Balance of Work and Writing et cetera

2009-02-18T07:45:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed these days. I don't know if I'm wearing too many hats, or if I'm not managing my time well enough, or if I'm simply overthinking things and looking for stuff to worry about.

I have this job that has turned into way more than it was supposed to, and I still don't have assurance yet that I'm going to be compensated for the extra work.

I'm directing a musical. I've been in lots, but I've never directed one, and I'm feeling a little out of my element. There's that niggling feeling of being out of control. There's that weight of knowing that lots of people are counting on me yet only a hope that things will come together and fall into place. I don't do well with poor attitudes, so to have kids complain about their parts, or show any signs of lack of commitment really ticks me off. What I want to do is yell at them, but because I can't do that and it takes too much time to explain to them why they shouldn't do what they're doing or say what they're saying, I mostly just brush them off, and I don't know if any message is getting through. My wonderful musical director is much better at dealing with that stuff. I DO have cool ideas of how to stage it, but I don't know how much the kids are capable of... I know they'll surprise me and be capable of all sorts of things... Maybe it's just that things are still early. Once we get up on our feet and start blocking things may start to make sense.

Then there's my writing. I am committed to making room for it in my schedule, but as I said, work is seeping in where I didn't expect it to. So far, most of the days I have set aside for writing have been at one point interrupted by a need to deal with something work-related. I try to keep breathing and staying calm and turning the dial back to writing, and have been successful to a point: it takes time though, and is frustrating to not be able to completely focus on it. I know that it's partially my fault for choosing to deal with work things. But here again is that knowledge that others are counting on me. It's a tough call.

Everything would be better if I could only sleep past 5am!

[At the Surrey Writers' Conference in October some friends and I were discussing the word 'only'. Evidently it is the most frequently misused word in the English language. Now I get all worried every time I use it! Did I do it right? Oh no! What if I've used it incorrectly! Oh well, the sky hasn't fallen yet.]

A great day of entertainment.

2009-02-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

I needed that. When son and I went to Adam Sandler's Bedtime Stories one of the trailers was for Paul Blart--Mall Cop. It made me laugh, as so few trailers do, and I knew I wanted to see it. It took us weeks, but the four of us finally went this afternoon. It was exactly what I expected. Dumb, but funny, and it made me laugh. In fact, I'm rather embarrassed to say, one part made me cry. Isn't that dumb?? I was shaking my head at my own goofiness, but for some reason I reacted all seriously. [how can you tell I've had a stressful few weeks...?] Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and I recommend it if anyone is looking for a larf.

Now, it's time to watch the Canucks. We were unable to get tickets to the Habs game here in Vancouver, and it turned out to be on Pay Per View, much to the terrible disappointment of Huge Habs Fan Son Of Mine. We considered going to a restaurant where they play ppv games, but we decided that in the long run it would be cheaper just to get it here at home. Home-made nachos are cheaper than restaurant ones, and this way we don't have to leave a tip or buy drinks. And I love curling up in my basement under soft blankets.

So. Hockey here I come.

Workload, time management, writing

2009-02-13T15:32:00.001-08:00

Every time I get some sort of part-time job, it becomes more than I ever dreamed it would be. This is not necessarily a good thing. I'm trying to keep a positive outlook, but I don't like feeling out of control. Being asked to do more than I expected is fine, to a point, but having all kinds of extra things added to not only my workload, but to my job description is not something I'm enjoying right now.

I have lots on the go right now, which is fine, but I have certain expectations going into a project about what it's going to be like, how much time and how much energy it's going to take. Each time something gets added to a single activity, the balance goes askew, and that's what's happening right now. I don't know how to make it stop.

Work as SP Trainer/Co-ordinator for Kwantlen, directing Seussical at the middle school, Earth to Doris, FAT Jazz. Oh, and there's that book I'm trying to write... Getting overwhelmed here.

Ok, now I have to go because I'm expecting a work-related phone call any time now. Cheers.

headlines

2009-02-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, here's the funniest newspaper headline I've seen in a long time: The NOW from Wednesday, February 4th, front page:

City Worker Pulls Senior From Hedge

'nuff said.

Same shite, different day

2009-01-30T08:59:00.000-08:00

I managed to fit in a little bit of writing yesterday. This is going to be a very busy time for me, what with directing the musical at the school, work, FAT Jazz, Earth to Doris and family stuff. I've blocked aside chunks of time, and hopefully I will be able to focus well enough to be productive in those times.

It's funny the things that occur to me. I was mucking away on a particular scene that has been plaguing me for several weeks. I left it to simmer over Christmas, and sat down to get some things moving, did a little, wrote a few lines, puzzled and puzzed til my puzzler was sore, left it, came back a while later, mucked about a bit, wrote a few lines, puzzled and puzzed... You see where this is going, right? I didn't get back to it for a week or ten days or so, meaning yesterday. I was supposed to write on Monday, but this whole week has just been a "shmoz" as my mother would call it (find your own definition of that... I know what it means to me) and I didn't get any writing in. So there I was working on it yesterday, Thursday.

What came to my mind was this, "I like what I'm coming up with here, and the way the scene is progressing. Now, if I'd sat down on Monday to write, would it have come out the same way? Would I have written the same words? If they were different, I wonder if they'd have been better words, better lines, a better way of carrying on with the scene?"

I like to think that there's a reason I don't write on a certain day. I like to think that if I can't write on that day [ok, sorry, I'm getting distracted by the radio: they've just begun a documentary on teaching safe sex to seniors]. If I can't write on that day, then if I had I'd have produced nothing but shite. What I wrote yesterday was the best thing I could have written. If I'd waited until today, it would have turned out differently again. I kind of wonder what the scene would look like if I'd written it on a different day. Would the mood of the scene be more cheerful? or less? Would my word retrieval have been more effective so that the colour of the scene would be brighter, more intense? Or maybe it would have been yucky and boring. Maybe the only word I'd be able to produce is "sandwich" or "little." Or "the."

Thank goodness I wasn't able to write on Monday.

Congratulations to Mr. Obama

2009-01-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Barack Obama. I'm getting tired of hearing about it, quite frankly, but I can't deny that this is a significant and exciting moment in history. I applaud the American people for their choice. Isn't it nice to be able to say that? Of course, unlike some, I'm cautious. I do not believe that Obama is the second coming of Christ. I believe he is a terrific orator, and he's the right person to come along and pull the United States together--as evidenced by the way people are flocking to be involved in his inauguration, and just the wild enthusiasm with which he is being greeted and accepted. I'm a little wary, though, because the whole world has their eyes on him. He's under tremendous pressure to "fix" everything. But he's still just a Guy. A man. A human. There are some who feel he can do no wrong. The world is going to learn that is not true. So let's proceed with caution.

I am most amazed by the way the American people flock to their politicians with admiration and adoration. In my lifetime I have never seen a politician here in Canada who grabbed people and drew them in like that. Are we more jaded than Americans? Are we less hopeful that one person has the ability to change our lives? Are we more realistic? Or do we simply have crummy politicians?

This IS history right before our eyes. I can't help but feel shivers and share the excitement even on my smaller scale. I share the thoughts and feelings of African-Americans who never believed in a million years that this was possible, and I try to imagine (but probably can't) what that must feel like.

I truly hope that the new President succeeds in living up to all that is expected of him. I wish him the best of luck, and congratulations to all Americans. This is all very cool.

Too Many Kates

2009-01-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

There are too many actors named Kate. Just a few:

-Katherine (Kate) Hepburn

-Kate Hudson

-Kate Winslet

-Kate Beckinsale

-Cate Blanchett

-Kate (Katie) Holmes

-Kate Walsh

-Kate Mara

-Kate Bosworth

-Kate Capshaw

-Kate Jackson

-Kate Nelligan

There are probably others. Isn't it crazy? I get them mixed up. "Who's in that movie?" "Oh, one of the Kates."

It has to stop!

Progress, conflict and Poo

2009-01-13T07:44:00.000-08:00

This time the reason I haven't blogged for a bit is that I've actually been writing. I had a breakthrough on this-here mid-way climactic scene and have been working on it bit by bit, rewriting, cutting, adding... I think it's--well, I know it's much better than it was before. More intense, more suspenseful, lots more conflict.

Janak now gets a fairly nasty head wound from the ogre that the bad guys use as a distraction while they abduct Kyer. Now the head wound in itself makes him not altogether happy, of course: not only is he in a lot of pain, but he's worried about the sight in his left eye, and as he becomes more fearful of how this may affect his life, his ability to fight (work for Valrayker) etc. he becomes angrier than usual. His circumstances also have created a lovely inner conflict for Derry: As Captain of the company, his duty is to find Kyer. But as Physicker-Adept, his duty is more immediately to his patient. He feels helpless on both counts because there isn't much he can do for Janak, yet he has to send Phennil and Jesqellan to look for Kyer, and when they aren't successful, he feels terribly guilty. Phennil also chooses this time to inform the captain that he's the one who inadvertently told Kyer's enemies how to find her. The fact that Phennil remains alive at that point is a testament to Derry's self-control.

So this has all been fun fun fun, watching what happens between these guys.

Now, on an unrelated note.... People, just because there's snow on the ground does NOT mean you are exempt from picking up your dog's poo. Sure, we can see it better, but it's slippery out there and hard enough to walk without having to skirt round brown lumps, and hopefully not fall on them should one lose one's balance. I dog sat for a week and it is not difficult at all to use a plastic bag to pick it up. Oh, and then, once you have picked it up, take it to a garbage bin, don't just huck the poo-filled plastic bag into the woods.

And off I go to carry on with my day.

A moment I wish I'd caught on the videocamera.

2009-01-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

My next-door neighbours have several birdfeeders in their yard. Over Christmas they acquired a new one: a Squirrel-Proof feeder. It has a large bell-shaped hunk of bird seed covered by a broad, inverted cone of thin metal which hangs from a chain wrapped in a cylinder of plastic. This whole contraption hangs from a long branch of the severely pruned plumb tree.

Today a fat grey squirrel crawled along the branch and hung by its feet as it tried to figure out how to get down to the cone. It grabbed onto the plastic cylinder with its forepaws and got its rear end down to join the front end. Then it hung on to the top of the cone with its rear paws as it tried to figure out how to get round underneath the cone to the delectable seedy delights beneath.

Then it slipped.

It flew down the cone, off the edge and plummeted into the snow.

God I laughed.

Squirrels: rats with a good PR Department. Anytime a squirrel suffers humiliation is a time for joy.

Catching up time after the Holidays

2009-01-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

I've been away so long I'm not sure if my blog remembers me.

Snow snow and more freakin' snow. It's pretty but.... I'm done. Even though I'm sure it's not. Winter's not even half over, so we can expect more. I walked daughter to school today to make sure she didn't have to plough her way across the field by herself. But thankfully some other folks had been that way first.

Ok, now why am I really here? Not to complain about the snow, coz that's been done before. No, it's time to get back into the time management with which I was doing so well before Christmas happened. I have writing to fit in, rewriting, and even--gasp!--Outsidethehome-type-work! I have to write to Fleetwood Robbins, who has yet to let me know what he thought of my first 100 pages. Hopefully he will give me an opening to submit the New Improved version. Colleen tells me, "I have some pacing issues," 24 hours AFTER I hit Send.... Oh well, it's being improved anyway, that's the main thing.

Thanks to Melanie for the reminder to write to Fleetwood. She is needing to do the same thing.

Also did some brainstorming over the holidays (not even consciously. Sometimes simply taking a break is all I need to bring forward some new ideas). Poor Janak is in trouble now. I needed a way to make at least one of the characters suffer more after the ogre attack, and it looks like Janak is going to come away with some permanent damage, poor fellow. He will take it ill, I know, coz he's just a born complainer at the best of times. It reminds me of when my dad used to say, "Quit crying, or I'll give you something to cry about!" (Which never made sense to me.... Surely I am crying because I have something to... Grown-ups just don't GET these things). In any event, Janak needs something to bitch about, so here he goes.

And Kyer's in bigger trouble, too. I'm not sure, but I think I need to have Ronav remove her from the room for his initial "discussion" with her. That could prompt some extra nastiness. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Ok, this is getting long and I'm not really saying much. Just thinking "aloud" as it were.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T11:13:00.000-08:00

I don't know that I have ever seen this much snow in this neck of the woods ever, let alone at Christmas. It's beautiful, but...

I am very glad my folks live within walking distance, so they can still come for Christmas Eve. And Matt's mom is on her way from Holly's place, so hopefully she drives carefully and makes it ok. Tonight's feast is not to be missed: Our traditional fondue, with veggies, chicken, beef, and this year's Exotic Meat... Wild Boar. I can't wait.

Thank goodness, too, for my sharp eye that noticed the water trickling down the basement wall last night, entering where the main enters the house. We managed to set up a bucket overnight and caught about 8 litres of water. But the plumbers are here and it...might be fixed now.

All is good. I haven't showered yet, coz the water's been off, but that is ok, I'll get there. The mulled wine and spiced apple cider are filling the air with their Christmassy scents and we have lots of food, lots of firewood, so if the power goes off we'll be fine. We're healthy and happy, and Santa Claus will make it through any weather.

Merry Christmas to all and sundry, and I wish that everyone has as delightful a time as we will have.

Christmas and Rewrites

2008-12-22T18:23:00.001-08:00

Spaghetti's cooking away, the toboggan hill is awaiting our arrival and all those incredibly loud rumbling noises have been identified as the train pulling in in The Polar Express, which is playing downstairs with the surround sound on. That scared the heck out of me, man.

I want to thank everyone who so kindly sends us Christmas cards, even though we never send them. I do love receiving them, and have them all hung on a string above the pony wall in the living room. I tried to send Christmas cards once or twice but didn't make it through the project and it just became a huge dark cloud of guilt hovering over me. So I just said, NO! to doing Christmas cards. Man, I can't even seem to get the kids' school photos organised and sent out to friends and family. I suck at that sort of thing. [sigh] I love that everyone still sends me cards, though. That's very big of them.

Had a nice chat with Rob today, even though he's sick with the flu, poor fellow. Also talked to Colleen, which I do quite regularly lately, mostly because we're talking writing so much. I told her about my Stream of Consciousness writing I did t'other day. I wanted to find out what was truly going on in Kyer's mind once she gets taken by the enemy at the river. So I just wrote and wrote, occasionally checking back with the story to find out what happens next. I wrote in her dialogue, and her reactions to the things others said to her, but no narrative, just all Kyer's inner monologue. It was very interesting to discover some new things:

1) Kyer notes that Con is a coward. To finally pick her up but require eight men to do it, shows her that he's afraid of her. This knowledge keeps up her confidence for a lot longer than she might otherwise have lasted.

2) This also leads to a determination not to be broken. There are limits, of course, to how much she can take, and she's about to learn about those limits. However, during the trip to Ronav's headquarters she manages to keep her courage up.

3) Kyer compares her current situation to an event that occurred in the schoolyard where it took eight boys to beat her up. She still did them some damage AND walked home. They won the fight but they did not defeat her. Another source of courage for Kyer to draw on during this current little get-together with Con and Gyles and friends, whilst on their way to Ronav's headquarters.

And what a surprise awaits her when she gets there...

Now I need to figure out what nasty things to do to Janak. Derry, Jesqellan, Janak and Phennil are attacked by an ogre at the same time that Con & Co. are picking up Kyer, and I need Janak to incur some damage. Something that prevents them from following after Kyer, and something that royally ticks him off, so he can blame it on Kyer.

This has been the trickiest rewrite I've ever tackled. Don't know why. But I'm finally making headway. Making my characters suffer... what larks. Merry Christmas, guys.

Rejection: Get over it

2008-12-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

Jonathan just nagged me to blog, coz I've neglected it. Ok fine. I thought about blogging about the Canadian political circus, but then I decided that some people are afraid of clowns, so I'd better not. It's a busy time, coming up to Christmas. School concerts, shopping, dinner guests, decorating... My advent calendar says we're supposed to buy a tree today. Considering I haven't done the advent calendar tasks I was supposed to do yesterday nor the day before, I can't guarantee that the tree will happen today.

Really, what I want to talk about today is rejection. Again. I got a letter from Eddie Schneider yesterday. It simply was not tos his taste, and there's nothing I can do about that. Rats. But you know the worst part about getting rejected, once I've gotten through the initial drag of reading the letter and a bit of, "Why am I doing this to myself? Why don't I pursue some other career instead?" Really the worst part is telling other people. I always feel like I'm giving bad news. Like a doctor who has to say, "Sorry, your tests results showed a positive indication for [insert Really Crummy Condition here]."

Everyone cares so much and they get excited for me whenever something cool happens in this long and often painful process, and I hate having to go around and tell people that it was just another false alarm. There's a small part of me that cringes and wants to hide away and pretend it didn't happen, but that's because there's a niggling fear that being rejected means my work is bad; and maybe it's a greater fear that if I tell people my work was rejected, they will believe my work is bad.

As Tom keeps reminding me, Jasper Fforde received 75 rejections for The Eyre Affair before he hit paydirt.

The point is that the announcement of a rejection needs to be just as matter of fact as the announcement of the request for submission. Work through the misery and dejection and despondency (a process which should take about... 13 minutes) and then hunker down and get back to work. So here goes: Ladies and Gentlemen... I received a rejection from Eddie Schneider yesterday!

Now where's my pen?

Editing madness

2008-12-03T14:04:00.001-08:00

Colleen said to me on Monday, "You're going to hate me." Why would I do that? Because she's editing my MS, and came to a part that she thought was totally lame, and said so. Grrrr.

It's never easy to hear a comment like that, and if you ever get the privilege of being edited by Colleen, you will learn that she doesn't hold back, she makes her points VERY clear with lots of comments, honest reaction, and even a little sarcasm. I take criticism in that way from her because she's my friend and I trust her. (Plus there's that little bit of knowledge in the back of my mind that turnabout is fair play and I'm going to be editing for her some day very soon!!) I brace myself for her negative comments and take lots of deep breaths, but I listen to them and remain objective. I don't get all pissy and mad... because she's... well, she's right. It's refreshing to hear someone say, "I really wanted something bad to happen to Kyer in that scene, and it didn't, and I felt totally let down." Believe me, there was more to it than that. Ouch!

That kind of feedback is crucial. I appreciate her candor, and said so. I don't want an agent to read my book and feel "totally let down." I'd rather get it from a friend in a timely fashion, allowing me to fix the problems before they can be read by an agent who might then reject the whole thing.

So, I've worked on the chapter in question, using a scene I wrote for book two but removed because it didn't really fit. See, that's a reason to never reject an idea: always write the scene, even if you don't wind up using it where you planned. It has found a place elsewhere.

Now Kyer is in bigger trouble than she was before, and furthermore, she tries to talk her way out of it, but it fails, and boy oh boy is she in for it. And hopefully the reader response will be, "Oh NO! How's she going to get out of this?!"

And THAT is the kind of reaction I want. So once again, thanks Colleen, for being so very nasty. And no, I couldn't hate you if I tried.

"Don't judge a book by its movie"

2008-11-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

So says the marquee in front of a bookstore on the Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge. And it's true, so true.

I watched a bunch of movie trailers online yesterday and I can say with all certainty that I will not be going to see Coraline. Why do film makers think they have to exaggerate everything? If a scene is exciting and intense in a book why is it not possible to reproduce that intensity on screen without overblowing it? A battle scene does not have to be twenty minutes long and keep going until every item in the vicinity has been either smashed, blown up, or used as a weapon. Writers work really hard to create great scenes in their books. Some even succeed. ;-) And yet film makers don't seem to trust that what they've been given is better than something new.

I liked a lot about the movie of Stardust. But the opening scene was dumb, and the big overblown neverending battle scene at the end wrecked the whole thing for me. Robert De Niro was hilarious, but why did Yvaine call Tristan (and he's Tristran in the book) him "a moron"? That did not work. So many parts of the book they could have followed but didn't. And though I liked a lot about it I was really disappointed with Stardust.

I was talking the other day about A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I was told a while ago that it had been made into a movie, too. When I told my daughter so she said immediately, "I don't want to see it!" I understand what she means, because I feel the same way. My imagination has created such a vivid picture of what that story looks and feels like that I don't want to wreck it by seeing someone else's interpretation. I was pretty cautious about Lord of the Rings, too, but Peter Jackson et al took such pains to maintain the integrity of the story and I loved it. (I had great difficulty with the changes to the Two Towers, with Frodo being taken to Gondor by Faramir and all, but when I watched the discussion about it in the extended version their reasoning made sense).

Now Coraline is a book I read out loud to my kids in a single afternoon. I had asked them several times if they'd like me to read it to them and they said, "No." So one day as they played on the livingroom floor with their trains and whatever else, I sat on the couch and just started reading to them. They kept playing. They were listening, though. Soon they stopped playing and kept listening. And not long after that they were up on the couch with me, listening and rapt. If I tried to stop they said, "Keep reading!"

It took several hours, but we read the entire book.

And now the movie is coming out. The trailer shows that it is computer generated animation, which is fine. [Upon further reading I have learned it is 3D stop motion. That's fine too] I think it would be better live action, but that's ok. No, the trouble I can see right away is that it's a lot more colourful than the way I see the story. Added to that it looks like they've taken the story completely away from its dark simplicity, that spine-tingling fear of all those things kids are afraid of. From the trailer, it looks like they've turned it into a big spectacular extravaganza. I don't know... I found the book downright eerie, and the movie does not look that way at all. I can just see them overblowing everything, the way filmmakers tend to do these days.

Henry Selick has an alternate vision of the story from mine. Oh well. Enjoy everyone. I will stay home and keep my vision of it to myself.

Or maybe I'll watch it, but with only one eye...

Favourite books and favourite moments

2008-11-25T22:26:00.000-08:00

One more thing... This evening I finished reading A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, out loud to my daughter. MAN, I love that book. Reading out loud is so much more emotional than reading in my head. Maybe it's the actor in me, but I can't just read words when I read out loud. I have to put in all the emotion, too. So there I am reading out loud as Meg tells Charles Wallace that she loves him with all her heart, and begs him to come back to her, dear baby brother whom she loves... Tears are running down my cheeks at the same time as they're running down Meg's and Charles Wallace's....

And a number of years ago, I read Lord of the Rings out loud to my son, and by the end of it, when Sam says, "Well, I'm back." We both of us were bawling our eyes out.

Yeah, my kids are as old as they are, but damn right I still read out loud to them every night. I treasure that time. When they were wee I couldn't wait until they were old enough for me to read Word to Caesar, by Geoffrey Trease, to them. And The House in Cornwall, and Treasure Island, and all the Great Brain books and all the Madeleine L'Engle books. Now I'm reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, to The Boy, coz he's old enough for that, and the Girl and I have watched the tv series of Pride and Prejudice so I can't wait to read that to her. So many books, so little time. There's a part of me that hopes they never move away from home, coz I'll miss this dreadfully.

In ten years' time, somebody remind me of this, ok?

Another day, a few more words written down...

2008-11-25T22:05:00.000-08:00

"So how's the writing coming?" asks Tom today.

"Not bad," I say. "I'm doing a lot of brainstorming and mulling these days. A bit of writing, jotting notes, playing with ideas, and all that."

See, book three is tricky. This whole story has been based on the Fantasy role playing game my friends and I used to play; that's where a lot of the ideas came from--stories that had already been created. Mind you, very little that happens in the story actually "happened" in the game. There are really only a few events that I've used, and of course I had to create the story to go round them, not to mention flesh out the characters and make them real (one of the funnest parts of all this, I must say). Book one stemmed from Kyer killing Simon at the Burnished Blade. The rest of Dark Elf's Warrior came from my brain. Book two stemmed from an event in the game, wherein Alon Maer (Kien Bartheylen's wife) is terribly ill, and pregnant, and will die if our heroes don't find a cure. The visit to the wizard Kayme "happened" in the game, as did Kyer's rather nasty fall, and of course... The Gate. But now that I think about it, that's about it. The story surrounding those events was all me: The fact that the theme is Trust, the whole relationship with the Guardian, the antagonist's motivation and his goal (look at me not giving away spoilers!), the Indyn Caves situation, a certain pair of twin assassins named Misty and Juggler...

So why is book three so tricky? Now, here's why blogging is a helpful tool: I hadn't truly put those thoughts down in tangible form. I was thinking all along that I had to make book three up completely, but that's not the case. Sure I'm still not sure if they'll take that journey by ship, and if not, then that negates Skimnoddle's need to pose as the merchant Flavius. But if I don't use that, then it also means I lose Skimnoddle forcing Derry to be his lackey which is such a delightful abuse of Derry's gallantry. The battle with the dragon Greok is there, as is the ultimate confrontation... Ah, but IS it the ultimate confrontation? I'm not so sure. See, the Guardian is still around and is most definitely up to no good. Maybe.

Oh, it's such fun! I do have lots of things to work with, now that I think of it, at least as much as I had when I began Book Two. I just have to remember back to the time when I started writing it, and how long did that take? Crikey, I started it at the same time as Book One, because I had no idea how many pages the first part of the story would take up. The Kayme scene was the second scene I wrote, and much later realised that it would have to go in the second book. Sheesh.

I guess the message I am getting from this is that I just have to keep writing and it will all fall into place the same way the first two did. I don't have to plan everything now.

But yes, Tom, I will continue to walk round and round through my living room and kitchen talking out loud to myself to work out ideas. Writers, I think, have to be just a little bit crazy. And please, Tom, chat with Jock and help me with some brainstorming, ok?

Grey Cup 2008

2008-11-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

Another Grey Cup has come and gone... and my mighty Roughriders were not a part of it this year. But the fans sure were! I think the cameras could not show us a shot of the crowd without several spots of green in there.

Congratulations to the Stamps, who haven't won the Grey Cup since 2001, and heck, the Alouettes have had lots of chances over the last few years. Much as I respect Anthony Calvillo, I am pleased for Henry Burris, who's been shut out for far too long for such a talented guy.

Just a quicky today. Gotta go. My mum will flip if I'm not ready when she arrives to pick me up! I don't want to face the wrath...

The guy just ticks me off

2008-11-14T19:28:00.000-08:00

It's a little late to blog about the civic elections tomorrow, but I feel like mouthing off, so I will.

Greg Moore (mayoral candidate) drives me crazy. All his talk about PoCo's reputation having been "tarnished" and PoCo residents feeling shame over our former Mayor's assault conviction is ridiculous. Ok, so what happened was regrettable, but you know what? The courts--the body whose job it is to deal with such things--dealt with it. It is now in the past. The witch hunt is over.

There's a different name that comes to my mind: Does Greg Moore recall the name Robert Willy Pickton? Golly, I think that name will go down in history with a bit more infamy than our former mayor. If we can live THAT down, I think we'll be ok. Scott who? Anyhow, Scott's served his time, and sought help.

And why should the rules be different for him than they are for the Premier of our Province?

The point is that everyone I know is proud and happy to be a resident of Port Coquitlam, regardless of the personal issues of our former mayor, and even a PoCo resident's conviction on 26 counts of murder.

Also, this guy has done an awful lot of bad-mouthing of his fellow candidate. Not cool, Greg, buddy. Mike Bowen hasn't put out any flyers with negative comments about his opponent. Nope. Just Greg. I'm not impressed, nor are any of the other people I've spoken to. He seems to be trying too hard to turn this election into something bigger than it is.

That's it. I have to go read to The Girl now, so I'm done. We're reading A Wrinkle in Time, one of my favourites, and soon to be one of hers.

Where would I be...?

2008-11-14T09:21:00.001-08:00

I had a very nice phone call from Colleen last night. I was half an hour late for FAT Jazz rehearsal, but it's all right. She said some very nice things, with which I will not bore anyone, but I will say this:

I would have given up a LOOoooonnnnnnggggg time ago if not for all of these marvellous friends who critique and edit for me and keep saying, "Well done." I haven't even got where I want to be yet, but I know I wouldn't have come this far without all of you: Rob (who started this whole thing), Myst, Tom, Stuart, Kathy, Colleen and LOTS of others, not to mention my family who put up with me. See, here's the thing. I strongly believe that if I ever gave up and said, "I've had enough of this! I've had it with rejection, with hearing, 'this just doesn't do it for me,' or 'the writing is good, but...', I can't take it anymore!" If I ever said that? There would be so very many people who would KICK MY ASS.

So quitting isn't an option, coz that would hurt a lot.

And if I do take criticism well, it's because... well, a lot of things, really. 1) I learned years ago that being arrogant about my work (any kind of work) isn't good for anyone, least of all myself. 2) I want my work to be the best it can be, so I need to listen to others. 3) My friends want me to succeed as much as I do, and they wouldn't steer me wrong. 4) I'm tired of messing around with this, and I'm ready to do what I have to do! It's still not easy to take, and some days I don't do so well (such as last Sunday when Colleen managed to talk me down off the ledge... again), but I know in the end I have a better product than I had before.

I'm looking forward to having Tom and Myst, and some others as well, read Dark Elf's Warrior in its new incarnation because they're the ones who read the first version. They will see an enormous transformation!

I'll just keep plugging away til I get where I want to be, and thank you all.

Told ya...

2008-11-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

See? I did it. I just sent off a query to Michelle Grajkowski at 3 Seas Literary. I said I would and I did.

Man, I love places that accept e-queries.

Another day, another rejection

2008-11-13T06:51:00.000-08:00

I feel that each day just isn't complete without a rejection, don't you? [My best week was last spring when I received seven rejections in seven days]

I received a very nice e-rejection yesterday from Brandi Bowles at Howard Morhaim. [not the agent I submitted to on Monday] She's the agent with whom I had an appointment at the PNWA conference in July. I'm disappointed, of course, but not terribly surprised, as it was a bit of a long shot: she's not hugely into fantasy, but gave it a good try. Actually her boss had told her to try fantasy, and she went into it willingly. In fact, I saw it as a good opportunity.

Why did I sign up to speak to her when she doesn't "do" fantasy? Well, here's the tricky thing. Her agency does represent fantasy, which is why I chose her. And I tried to get a meeting with Michelle Grajkowski but was unsuccessful. It's a bit of a gamble sometimes at these conferences, when you get to sign up for one appointment and just hope to get a chance to speak to someone else. There wasn't a lot of opportunity to run into agents at the PNWA con and chat in an offhand way. I don't know where they went to hang out in between workshop sessions, but it was rare to catch a glimpse of agents and editors, unless they were eating in the restaurant. And maybe it's just me, but I don't like to interrupt someone while she's eating.

Anyway, it's easy for me to look back and say, "I should have signed up with a different agent." But if another agent had been interested, and had ultimately rejected my MS, I'd be saying the same thing about them. I made as educated a choice as I could based on the agents' sales and all, and it didn't pan out this time. She said very nice things about my writing, and I take those seriously.

I can still query the others. And what's more, I will.

Success in spite of stress

2008-11-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

What a week it has been. Proctor for the MCC last Thursday, the hot water hose on my washing machine split on Friday, spraying water all round my basement for about 20 minutes until I discovered what that hissing noise was (I wasn't even doing laundry!), working the PEBC exam on Saturday, tremendously foul mood from Friday to Tuesday, sent myself to my room, the rain keeps dumping down and the siding on my house is leaking somewhere, allowing water to seep in along the foundation and soak up the cloths and towels we lay there for that purpose.

BUT! On Monday I mailed off my sample chapters and synopsis to Eddie Schneider at JABberwocky, who requested them a couple of weeks ago. That is something I'm very proud of. It's always scary to seal that envelope, and even scarier to slip it into that slot. So I celebrated with a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard at our local Dairy Queen. And now I just hope the guy takes his time reading, so I am able to finish revisions on the rest of the novel. Nothing like living on the edge.

AND! (golly, wouldn't an editor just hate my capitals and exclamation points??) I used my proctoring time productively. Yes, yes, I was still paying attention to the candidates in my section, signed them out to the bathroom as they needed, confiscated their drinks that weren't water [honestly, how ambiguous is "bottle water only"?] and cell phones. However, it was such a long, quiet day that I wrote a good three pages of book three. By hand. In my notebook. Which will likely translate into 6-8 pages of typed work. So this is book three of Dark Elf's Warrior. Ideas are just formulating and percolating, and some of them are even starting to make some sense in my brain. It's such fun!

Nearly Ready

2008-11-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

I have a big submission coming up and have been quite preoccupied with editing, revising and generally getting it as close to "perfect" as possible. Two weeks ago, Dark Elf's Warrior had about 122,000 words. Thanks to much hacking and slashing and harsh criticism from my writer friends (look out you guys when it's my turn to look at your work!) it is now under 118k. It's pretty hard to take at first, but I was ready for it. The words, "This scene doesn't accomplish enough," and "This really slows the pace," are, in a perverse way, music to my ears. (Thanks Colleen). If cutting these bits, no matter how fun they are, means picking up the pace of the story and adding to the tension... then I'm all for it.

The lovely amusing scene wherein Aidan, the overbearing proprietor of the inn in Paterak, feeds the party average food, pushes Kyer and Phennil together, and hopes for a sale of some of her ghastly paintings (to goofball Phennil, of course) is GONE. Who knows? Maybe I can bring it back at another time in a later book, but it truly is not necessary here. And how fascinating that to keep Kyer and Derry on horseback instead of stopping to rest elevates the tension? In spite of making virtually no changes to the dialogue, the scene is much more interesting all of a sudden. Kind of mind-blowing, really. I love this process!

Jonathan told me the discussion about the war between Valrayker, Kien and Governor Lyndon was too conversational. So yesterday I worked on stepping that up, giving each character a firmer motivation behind their words. Funny how a lot of the dialogue remained the same, but I switched them around so Kien says something that Val used to say...that sort of thing.

I read my submission to hubby over the last two nights. Now, he's been involved in the story since day one, naturally, so he noticed huge changes in the pace and all. He didn't think his comments on it were very helpful, but that's not true.

See, each reader who critiques for me has a different perspective, and therefore has a different type of comment. Colleen was big on the pacing, which was absolutely necessary at this point. Jonathan is very nit-picky about words, rearranging them, losing unnecessary dialogue tags, that sort of thing. Kathy is not a writer, but loves to read and is certainly an intelligent person... She pointed out where things felt awkward or confusing to her, and it is up to me to figure out why. Hubby's comments are similar. "I don't get that," works just as well. I've only just sent this chunk of chapters to Ron... I'm afraid!

I think my friends will be just as upset as I will be if this submission gets rejected. It's good to have friends.

It's not supposed to be a writing day. I'm supposed to be baking so the kids have things for snacks in their lunches. Better get back to it.

Post Conference Energy

2008-10-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

Was that a week ago I last wrote?? Just shows how much fun I've been having.

Once again, the Surrey International Writers Conference was an uplifting, invigorating and exciting experience. This year I enjoyed it as a volunteer, rather than as an attendee. Colleen and I had a great time as Timers in the agent/editor appointment room, and felt we helped things run smoothly and ease everyone's nerves. It was neat to work with the agents and editors, helping them and making sure they had everything they needed. No stress for us, because we weren't pitching. Funny how it made the author/agent relationship feel more human...

And I loved hearing people's success stories: Jonathan was asked for submissions and had great feedback from an author or two, Ron received an overwhelming positive response to his work being read allowed in the SiWC Idol... and many other good news stories.

And of course we linked up with old friends, hung out in the bar with them, and also met new ones. In our spare time Colleen edited my MS in preparation for my submission to the agent who requested it. All is good. I worked all day on that yesterday, cutting trimming, revising transitions... I love this process. Sure, it's hard to be told that a scene, although it's amusing, doesn't accomplish anything and serves only to bog down the pace of the story, I do love the problem solving. I'm happy to cut and to smooth out, and it never ceases to amaze me how plot items fall into place in very intriguing ways. Simply by not allowing Kyer and Derry to stop and rest that one time after the battle in the woods not only added more urgency, it also added some lovely tension which was missed before. Gosh I wish I'd thought of writing it that way! I feel like I can't claim responsibility for the cleverness of it.

Now I have to write a cover letter to accompany my chapter submission, print off my pages and my synopsis and get it in the mail. Let's get this show on the road.

It's another busy day with appointments and errands... but the added bonus is a lunch date with buddy Jonathan, who was down for the conference and is now down on business. Yay! I get to talk writing some more!

Writing's in the Air

2008-10-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Ooo, there's a buzz in the city today.... Master Classes are already underway at the Surrey International Writers' Conference, and tomorrow is the official opening. Ron is attending two classes, so I know he's already in town. Colleen's on her way up and Jonathan's on his way down today. Excitement is in the air!

I will be a timer in the Agent/Editor appointment room tomorrow, and am looking forward to being a part of all those writers' pitching experiences. I wish them all best of luck and hope everyone is asked for submissions! And maybe I'll get a chance to pitch informally, too.

I've hardly done any reading about what's going on at the conference this year, because I'm not an attendee... but I had better figure out which workshops are going on tomorrow afternoon so I can decided which one to attend, as my volunteer "free time." Oooo, what to do! There's so much to choose from.

I LOVE the writers' conference. The best time is just hanging out with my friends, old and new, in the bar. Come by and say Hi! I'll be there in every chunk of free time I have. I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait!

Celebration time!

2008-10-20T12:19:00.001-07:00

The mail just arrived. I sent out a query to JABberwocky Literary Agency on October 8th and today I received a reply. Eddie Schneider wants to see the first 50-75 pages of Dark Elf's Warrior. I can hardly believe it. I opened the letter expecting yet another rejection... I guess that "contest finalist" phrase is going to come in handy.

Gotta go. I have some work to do!

Family and Friends. Oh, and POV.

2008-10-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

How'd so much time go by between posts? Oh yeah, I know. I worked on Friday, the overnight retreat at the school happened, I began recovery on Saturday, went to a dinner party, I had a FAT Jazz gig yesterday.... Ok, it's all making sense now. Work was exhausting, the overnight retreat was successful thanks to all my many volunteers, I had a nap on Saturday afternoon, the dinner party was lovely, and the gig went great with much audience enthusiasm. We helped the Eagle Ridge Hospital Auxiliary raise about $8000, which is pretty good for only the second year of this fundraiser.

And can rest easy now, thanks to my friend Tom returning the rest of my Jasper Fforde collection. I'm happy to loan out books to eagerly curious readers, but I always feel just a little on edge until my favourites are returned to me. It's like when the kids are out at a birthday party and hubby's at football... I don't feel completely whole until the family has come home. It's worth it, though, if everyone had a good time and the books were enjoyed by the borrower. Especially if it means I've converted another friend into a Fforde Fan.

I would never have discovered Jasper Fforde if not for my friend Sheila. See, Jasper is her neighbour in Wales and she, knowing I'm a writer, suggested I read his work. Why he isn't classified as Fantasy I can't understand, because I can't think of any books more "alternate world" than his, and yet there he is on the General Fiction shelf. I don't get it. In any event, I found him, and Man, he's terrific and clever and hilarious. Love it.

After a nice chat with Ron the other day while he was driving north to Seattle (yes, he's hands-free) I am looking forward to sitting down and mucking about with Griffin today. (After I create the agenda for tonight's music parents' meeting). See, I really wanted to write this novel in the first person and I love the way it's coming out. Trouble is that one of the ways I figure out where a story needs to go next is to play around with other characters. For instance, what is Jesqellan up to? That's how I developed that character in Dark Elf's Warrior, and by golly that also created a lovely sub-plot which became a integral part of the sequel, Deception.

I guess I was blocking myself from trying that with Griffin because I'm writing in the first person and somehow convinced myself that I wouldn't be able to use it. But I have to remember that there are no hard and fast rules in this art form, and I can do whatever the hell I want. I can play around with other point of view, and I can find other ways to bring that stuff in even though it's in Griffin's pov. Or, I can insert small segments from other POV's, so long as I do it smoothly. (I read a book recently that was mostly in 1st person, and then stuck in these 3rd person bits and I didn't like it, so I'd have to handle it another way). Whatever I do in the final draught, I can try anything. So that's what's going to happen today.

Let's see what Rickenbacker Topiary and Fenix Overland are up to, shall we?

[Apologies to Griffin fans: I don't have anything more for you to read yet! I've been working on the end.]

elections and turkeys and conferences, oh my.

2008-10-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

So we had our federal election on Tuesday. Did I mention our turkey dinner was fantastic? Yup. Good food, good company, lousy football....

300 Million dollars later we have virtually the same government. A slightly stronger minority. Apparently the election was needed because Parliament was behaving like a dysfunctional family. And now that he didn't get his way, by golly, Stephen Harper has now said that they'll all work together. Cool. Why didn't they just get along properly before? Oh, I know! It's because Harper figured he'd be able to get a majority government, and then he'd be able to have his way in all things. Thanks pal.

Lowest voter turnout in the history of Canada. Gee I wonder why.

Now it's time to prep for one of my favourite events of the year: the Surrey International Writers' Conference. I'm not officially attending this year, because I went to the PNWA conference in July (because Dark Elf's Warrior was a finalist in the writing contest... did I mention that?) ;-) Instead I'm going to volunteer at Surrey. My friend and I decided to go and hang out at the conference just to be a part of it, and because I have lots of friends there and want to see them and talk writing. And then I said, "Hey! If we volunteer.... we'll get nametags! And then we'll look like we're not just generic hotel guests! We'll look like writers!" So that's what we're doing. And besides, I've often thought about volunteering but preferred to register. This is going to be fun in a behind-the-scenes kind of way.

I am hoping to have a chance to pitch my work to relevant folks, and I'll attend a workshop as "remuneration" for my volunteer efforts, and I know I'll laugh a lot and be a part of that invigorating writers' atmosphere. Colleen's coming up, Ron's coming up, Jonathan's coming down, Josef's practically walking over, and lots of others as well. I'll still come home buzzing the way I always do.

One week to go!

Making Reader Connections

2008-10-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Lyon, (an independent editor and writing instructor with whom I've worked many times at the Surrey International Writers' Conference), said that it's important to open your novel with helping the reader connect with the protagonist. She warned me against opening book two (Deception) in Kien Bartheylen's point of view, because the reader will automatically assume he is the protagonist. Then I'll have to work that much harder to help the reader connect with Kyer when we meet her in scene two.

One of the things I love about the way Elizabeth teaches is that she never says, "Don't do this, it's wrong, it's a bad idea." No, she simply warns you of the potential hazards so you can be sure your decision is right for your story, and allows you to forestall those problems. When I was reading at 5:00 this morning coz I couldn't sleep, I discovered that she was right.

This is the same book that has the long and boring prologue, by the way. Chapter one opens in the point of view of a girl, the daughter of the title character. Chapter two opens in a different point of view, and we spend a couple of chapters with him. Chapter three turns to another character.... It's not that I can't follow the story, it's just that I keep wondering when we're going back to the girl. And when are we going back to the second character? I'm having trouble settling in. I don't know who the protagonist is! Not that I can't still enjoy the story, but each POV change does pull me out of the story a little. This new understanding will affect the way I review my own Book Two when I get back into it.

The other problem I'm having with the book I'm reading is where/when it begins. A murder has taken place, which is usually something that a reader can connect with emotionally. But in this story the information has come out in a rather distant way, in that the girl has finished writing a letter to her brother telling him about the murder. Because I hadn't had a chance to connect with the character, because it followed the aforementioned prologue, and because the murder came out in such an indirect way...I didn't connect with the information.

The issue of the murder came up again a few chapters later, and I found myself thinking, "Have I heard about this before? It sounds sorta familiar...." So I went back and basically re-read all of chapter one again to get the story of the murder straight. How irritating! Why not open the story with the girl hearing about the murder firsthand? Then I'd be able to feel the same emotions she feels as she hears about it, and it'd be pretty unlikely that I'd forget having read about it.

It's interesting to read a book critically and figure out what works for me and what doesn't. Trouble is, I haven't been able to read a book for pure enjoyment in years. Flawless books are hard to find.

election day

2008-10-14T07:37:00.001-07:00

Here it is again, another day in which we collectively decide who's going to make decisions for the country for the next few years. I am always puzzled by the emphasis on voting for the party leaders: Vote for Harper! Vote for Layton! Vote for Dion! Vote for May! Gee, I don't know if these guys know much about the way the Canadian voting system works, but uh... I can't vote for any of those people.... None of them is running in my riding.

I need to vote for the person who is best going to represent me and my views in Parliament. I don't think the person I'm going to vote for will win, but that's OK. My vote still counts because I will have made my views known. I don't approve of every policy of every party. In fact, several views have been expressed with which I heartily disagree, throughout the election campaign, and previously. But I believe we need balance in government: we need representation from all the parties in order to best make the best decisions; choices that reflect what Canadians want.

What bugs me is when politics get...well, political. When politicians try so hard to say what they think Canadians want to hear, instead of asserting their views, speaking up for what they believe. This is pretty idealistic, I know, but I do wish politicians would just be (oh I can't believe I'm going to use this word...) honest! When there's an issue being discussed in the House of Commons, why must they vote according to what the party wants? Why not vote the way they truly believe is right? or the way that best represents their constituents? (Remember Chuck Cadman voting in favour of bill C-48? He listened to his constituents and made his decision. Regardless of the result of the vote, Chuck Cadman earned a lot of respect for that move).

Oh, these are rhetorical questions... I already know the answers. But I can dream, can't I? Have you noticed, though, that the individual who is most successful in the debate is the one with the least pressure on him or her? The one who isn't trying so hard, but just being honest and straightforward about their position. Maybe if they all worked that way we could feel we were making an educated choice. Maybe we would trust our politicians more. (That's pretty funny.)

To quote Michael Franti of Spearhead (this was at a concert just before the 2000 US election): "Vote for your hopes, not your fears."

Focus

2008-10-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

I need a gear shift in my head. Or, I know! a few switches. I envision a switchboard like telephone operators used in the olden days, where they took a plug from one location and plugged it into a different outlet to connect two people together. That would be great!

I have all this work in various locations, playing various roles and I literally need to remember who I am at any given time. Add to that, I'm trying to keep writing in my Off times. Add to that, I have to vote on Tuesday, Add to that, I'm the Chair of the Music Parents' committee at our middle school and we have our October Overnight Retreat this coming Friday, and I have a whole ton of wonderful volunteers to co-ordinate, grocery shopping list to create, shopping trip to arrange, many jobs to delegate, AND I have to work on that day til 4:30, which means I won't be there until about 5:30...

Hold on... it also means that I am forced to delegate, and will not have to do much work myself on the day. That's never a bad thing. I don't have a problem delegating, but being the one "in charge" I also have to think of everything and make sure I've told everyone everything they need to know. That's why I wake up at bizarre hours of the night saying, "The strawberries have to be kept out on the counter overnight so they're thawed in time for breakfast!" or, "The music teacher needs to ask the Home Arts teacher if we can put our perishables in her fridges and freezers, or else I'm going to have to store 7 boxes of frozen waffles in my mom's deep freeze!" or, "What happens politically in Griffin's sister Gillian's dance company that takes Gillian's dance solo away from Gillian and gives it to her rival?" [Must get together with dancer friend to learn about dance politics to apply to book]

[Geez, I'm starting to see a theme in these posts... time management]

So, you see, if I had a switch board I could unplug from the Music Parent Chair and switch into writing mode. Or switch from Work mode into Music Parent Chair.

Most importantly, I'd unplug everything so I could SLEEP.

Thanksgiving!!!

2008-10-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

Pies are done. Turnips and carrots are done. Brussels sprouts are ready for steaming. Turkeys (yes, we are doing two, coz they're small) are thawing. Stuffing is begun, and must have a few other tidbits added to it then it will be ready to be stuffed into the turkeys. House is in process of being cleaned. There's beer and wine and rye and gin and vodka and scotch and whatever else we need to mix it with. TV is pre-programmed to turn on to TSN in time for the Saskatchewan Roughriders game at 1:30 on Monday. The bed is made for Gramma B to sleep in Sunday and Monday night. Yup, we're nearly ready for Thanksgiving.

Go Roughriders!

What a productive day. And now we're ready to eat nachos for dinner. That's it for now.

A Tiny Little World

2008-10-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

I spent all afternoon as a Standardized Patient for the BCIT School of Nursing... a very emotional role and I'm spent. BUT! I chatted at break time with my colleague, and it turns out she went to highschool with my parents in Regina. What a tiny little world we live in... So when we went to my folks' for dinner this evening, nothing would do but my mom got out the old yearbooks from Scott Collegiate and we had to find photos of the persons in question. What larks! I am going to take the yearbooks with me to work on Wednesday and show them to Marian.

Colleen and I were going to chat this evening about my MS for Dark Elf's Warrior. She's critiquing for me. But I wound up not being home, as I mentioned, and it wasn't a good night for chatting for her either, according to her message on my answering machine. It can wait. We two are also looking forward to volunteering at the Surrey International Writers' Conference. It'll be my ninth time at that conference, but my first time volunteering. I couldn't actually attend this year because I blew my budget going down to Seattle for the PNWA conference in July, where Dark Elf's Warrior was a finalist. (Hooray!!!)

Tomorrow is Pie day. I've already made pastry and I have to make the filling for pumpkin pie. 13 or 14 people for Thanksgiving dinner on Monday. All Roughrider fans, if they know what's good for them. Oh. Lori's a Blue Bombers fan.... but she's a lot of fun, so we'll let her stay anyway. Everyone else had better pose, at least.

ICK!!!

2008-10-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

I am SO glad I don't have to do that every day. I mean driving to and from UBC. Once in awhile is fine, but golly that's a long drive. And in rush hour traffic it really sucks. Today I had to detour into the West End for a meeting after UBC, so that made the day even longer. I am exhausted.

Gee, didn't I start the day exhausted?

Off to FAT Jazz rehearsal this evening. What is FAT Jazz you say? It is the jazz big band I've been singing with for about 11 years. FAT has nothing to do with our physique. It is an acronym for Friends and Teachers. The band, originally formed back in the mid-eighties, is comprised of music teachers who didn't want their love of teaching music to overshadow their love of playing music. The Friends fill the gaps in the instrumentation. The Friends come from a variety of backgrounds: we have a doctor, an architectural engineer, a youth worker, a music store owner, for instance. (And me, I'm a writer.)

We play as guests at schools in a mentorship role, we play for fundraisers and dances and festivals, and we simply have a great time. We're playing a fundraiser for Eagle Ridge Hospital at the Inlet Theatre in Port Moody in a week or so.

I didn't get any reading in today. Perhaps in the morning. After my blurb about prologues this morning I checked in the book I'm reading and found the copyright was in 1976. Maybe the rules were different back then...

I think they were, because I don't think Peter Pan would be published in its original form if Barry had written it today.

Thinking about prologues...

2008-10-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

A word about prologues.

I bring this up because the book I started reading at 4:50 this morning has one. Now, there's a bit of debate over To Prologue or Not to Prologue. Many times I've heard agents say, "I hate prologues." I've even been given the impression that they will reject a novel outright because it has a prologue. I think that's a bit silly, and maybe I don't want an agent who would reject a work for a goofy reason like that. To be fair, maybe the agents in question were just being melodramatic. But it has made me think about prologues.

I have to confess [flushes guiltily] that I have skipped prologues. Why? Because so often they are too long and dull. If a prologue just gives me a bunch of world history and background info, well that's boring. Why hasn't the author skillfully worked that stuff into the story itself if it's so important? The book I began this morning has such a prologue.

The whole time I was reading it I was thinking, "This had all better be crucial information." It was about five pages long, and that's a lot of energy to invest in something that is kind of boring. If it isn't crucial I will resent being treated so disrespectfully by the author.

Sometimes a prologue is the right way to impart critical information to the reader. If it's an event that takes place prior to the time period of the story but is somehow a catalyst for the events of the story. Or if it involves characters that may or may not appear in the main story. Or when said event needs to be from the point of view of a character who will not otherwise be a POV character. Those are some case where a prologue is a great tool. But for me as a reader I want it to be short and I want it to be intriguing. I have been known to skip prologues that go on and on. I read a book years ago, I can't remember which book it was, but its prologue went on for about 14 pages and I was so confused

[Growls in frustration because this is the point where the internet shuts down, and everything typed after this point is lost so it must be typed again... Grrrr]

...that I stopped reading after just a few pages. See, without any grounding in the story none of the places and names mentioned in the prologue made any sense.

An example of a prologue I liked is in The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie.

It is 1915 and the Lusitania is sinking. A man approaches a young lady and asks her to take charge of a packet of important papers, "because of 'women and children first'. He gives her a few instructions and that's it. It takes about a page and a half. That is the inciting incident for the rest of the story. When the story opens it is several years later, and the reader meets the protagonists, but continues to wonder what happened to the girl and the papers and why they are significant.

That's a prologue that really works for me because it is intriguing and it's short! I figure I shouldn't refuse to write a prologue because some people "don't like prologues." If it's the best thing for the story, then I will go for it. At the moment my second book has a prologue which I quite like, but I revisit it when I return to that book for revision.

My original ending for this post was way better, but I can't remember what it was. Ah well.

Boy, it's really easy to make these posts very long, isn't it? (sort of like some prologues). I'll have to watch that.

What a way to start a day

2008-10-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

4:something am...Bam. Wide awake. Man, I hate it when that happens. The brain turns on and I start itemizing all the things on my To Do list for the next few days: E-mail middle school music teacher about upcoming retreat to see how many students are attending so we can plan the shopping list...Take kids in to have passport photos taken...Plan Thanksgiving dinner...Oh my god I have to make pies this weekend!...Don't panic, I DO have pumpkin in the freezer...Clean the house...assign clean-up duties to the kids...hubby can manage on his own...E-mail people on my volunteer list and recruit more folks to help with music retreat...Oh, and I have to plan dinner for today because I'm not coming directly home after work because I have to meet with my co-ordinator for work tomorrow...must leave that meeting in time to battle traffic to get home in time to eat dinner before going to FAT Jazz rehearsal...Daughter has to come with me because Son and hubby have hockey, but that's ok because her friend Silky the doggie will be there.

4:50 am. Get up. Come downstairs and curl up under Wallace tartan blanket on couch. Read fantasy novel borrowed from Rob until sleepy. Go back upstairs. It's 5:23. Wonder of wonders...fall asleep again!

6:15 am. Alarm goes off for hubby to get up. Normally I get up, too, but I'm too wiped. Fall asleep again.

6:43 am. Wake up because son has band this morning and has to leave early. Is he up? Also, does he have rehearsal for Macbeth after school? Go downstairs. Son is sitting at dining room table holding his stomach. He hasn't made his lunch yet. He ate breakfast and his belly started hurting. "What have you done about it?" I ask. "Nothing," says he. Grr... Surely I have given my kids tools to know what to do in this situation, and that at the age of 14 he ought to have some clue? Silly. He has a drink of water, and belly activities begin. He is soon feeling better but I have to coach him to keep moving to get ready for school. He and his dad leave together.

I get to sit and have a cup of coffee. I'm exhausted and it's 7:04 am.

At the end of the day...

2008-10-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

Considering I've had a nasty headache all day I feel pretty good about what I accomplished today. I did a word count of Griffin and I'm nearing 27k, so I'm pleased. A bunch of those words are at the beginning of the story, and a bunch of them are at the end... Now I just have to put a whole bunch of words in between.

I have to write what comes into my mind, so the last little while it's been all the build-up to the climax of the story. Eventually I'll figure out exactly how she gets there! It's such a fascinating process.

My work schedule is so busy this fall that I've had to set aside blocks of time for writing. It's working pretty well. Some things have to be neglected, and since it can't be the writing and it can't be the kids.... Golly, look at all those dishes over there. Wow.

It's my first time, eh?

2008-10-08T11:51:00.001-07:00

Here goes. Welcome to my blog. We'll see how much fun I have, and how much of my limited time it uses up!

It's a writing day, today, which means I'm not booked to do other work elsewhere. I've started out by creating this blog, so that counts as writing-related work. Yesterday I had some bonus writing time, between working and meeting my step-sister-in-law for dinner before going to work again. I sat in the bright and beautiful atrium of the Health Sciences building out at UBC, and wrote for a couple of hours.

What am I working on right now? I'm continuing to revise, as well as market, my first fantasy novel, currently titled Dark Elf's Warrior, which was a finalist in this year's PNWA writing contest. (Hooray!!!!) I continue to revise because to my mind, it's a work in progress until such time as it is published and on bookstore shelves. But I'm marketing because it's awfully easy to hold onto something forever because it's not "perfect" yet.

I'm looking forward to revising the sequel, (the Serpent and the Sage... or maybe Dark Elf's Warrior: Deception, I don't know which is better. And it'll probably change later anyway). I'm looking forward to it, because I've learned so much in recent years and have fixed up book one so much that I want to apply all those things to book two!

My new project is what I call a Modern Fantasy. The term Urban Fantasy seems to indicate werewolves and vampires and so forth, which is entirely inaccurate for this one. It's simply a fantasy that takes place right here and now. It's about a girl named Griffin, who's dying for validation as a musician, (she's a guitarist), as well as a decent relationship. Her Big Chance to make a good impression is ruined by an ex-boyfriend's drug-induced thrasher solo accompanied by many insults and expletives. But then she meets Rickenbacker Topiary, a manager of the Salamander House of Music and Pudding, who is also a self-proclaimed Finder of People and Things. He promises to find her the lead guitarist of her dreams. Which he does. And that's the beginning of a most bizarre period of life for Griffin...

I'm having great fun writing this story. It's funny and crazy and because language is not limited by the medieval-ish world of my first two books, I'm finding that simile, and metaphorical descriptive passages are coming much more easily than ever before. I'm getting great feedback and terrific reactions from my writer friends, and my writing partner Ron is grilling me for more detail, forcing me to think of background info I haven't thought of yet, mainly because I'm writing off the top of my head. Fun stuff, anyway.

Ok, I think that's probably enough for the first one. It's time for lunch, and then I must get back to finding out what's going on in Griffin's life, poor thing, innocent victim that she is.