Things a writer wishes she knew at the beginning of her career

This weekend May 23 to 26 is The Writers' Union of Canada general meeting and I went to a workshop
entitled "Everything I wanted to know at the beginning of my career". There were a few interesting things that came out.
How at the start Nino Ricci's creative writing instructor W.O. Mitchell thought he should quit. Nino actually grew more determined.Another speaker said that you might have a great story inside you but you really needed to hone your craft.
Paul Quarrington spoke about how arbitrary awards were. So awards now act as reviews used to--if you don't win or shortlist
your book gets pulled from the shelf after a couple of months. And yet these same career building or killing awards are handed out with a fair bit of randomness. He also talked about humility and how you always found yourself next to a writer with a long line up of fans while you yourself had none or few, or how you had readings or signings where no one turned up except the librarians or booksellers.

I think what's humbling is when a writer starts out way after you and suddenly vaults to the top. Writing is subjective so everyone can say, well that writer's better and so deserves the quick rise. But I think we all have to accept that for whatever laws of the universe sometimes you're not the flavour of the month and, point of fact, sometimes you never will be. Despite whatever promotion you do or how hard you work. Another amazing truisim, to me anyway, is that I work just as hard at a book that gets rejected as one that wins an award.

Atikoken Trip

I regret that while in schools, I rarely take photos. It takes someone else to suggest it and then I hand over my camera.
So while I really enjoyed the students at St. Partircks, North Star Community School and Atikoken Highschool, the only images I took with on computer were of the cemetary headstones and the Little Falls there. It was a great day for a walk and the seagulls were calling with all different sounds. "Ow, Ow, Ow!" one of them screamed. The headstone reminded me of the one on the cover of Grave Secrets, my ghost mystery novel. I especially enjoyed meeting the young writers Alicia and Chris. Hope I read them some day.

The photo of the lake shows the Sleeping Giant. from Prince Arthur Hotel in Thunderbay. I bought some amethysists, the purple stone mined here, and some Persian donuts: cinnamon buns with strawberry icing that are Thunderbay's trademark pastry.

At Thunderbay I visited a school and visited with one of my favourite librarians Angela Meady. If you want to listen view our interview, visit: http://www.tbpl.ca/internal.asp?id=%2087&cid=5631

Sudbury tour

Best week ever in Sudbury. Algonquin Public hosted a great young author's day complete with television and media coverage. I spent a lovely day at Warren Public with just a handful of writers, see the photo. CR Judd, AB Ellis and Valleyfield all showed me great hospitality and enthusiasm. With the younger readers, I shared Slam Dunk Robot, a short grade two novel set right in Sudbury mostly at Science North.

Fun in Saskatchewan

After visiting schools, we enjoyed the long drives back to Regina. We stopped in Corner Gas Land (Dog River=Rouleau) and bought some souvenirs. We also stopped to just enjoy an old ghost farm complete with this great tractor.

On the way to Macoun

Touring schools around Estevan, I really enjoyed myself but we were never quite sure how long a drive would take--especially when there was a train derailment. It all worked well and I loved meeting the kids in Estevan and Macoun.

Swift Current Library

At work with my new readers in Swift Current--well, actually we're chowing down on some great homemade cookies, discussing writing and life in general. It's such a privilege to be able to travel and talk about what I like best, writing. Whenever one my student audience asks what made you want to be a writer, I'm always a little dumfounded. Like what other job is as good as this?

Why everyone should want to be a writer

When people think research, they may think of hoisting heavy encyclopedia volumes to a library table and leafing through the tiny print pages for information. Here is the best part of research. I needed to finish book five in my Norwegian and Swedish Series Et Vilt Liv and just to make sure things were exactly as I described them, my husband and I booked a helicopter ride.
It was everything I expected and less sickening in terms of motion than a small plane. Everyone should save for one ride in his or her lifetime. We also rented skis and took advantage of the great quantity and quality of snow for April. The trail was as wide as a six lane highway. Terrific fun!

The big surprise was hiking the ice canyon. We didn't know enough to rent crampons so at times where we needed to hike up hill or slide downhill, we crawled on all fours. Still I found the perfect location for my main character Zanna to be stranded.

On the road again...

This is a catchup blog from the first week of April. Invited to speak at the Saskatchewan Reading Conference, I decided to add a few days to my trip and tour schools in the area but first a little detour to Canmore for some research and vacation. While we were driving across the prairie I was once again astounded by the big blue sky and the way a train snaked across the entire golden horizon. It was my turn to drive when I took this shot. A plane had just carved a white scratch into the sky but I couldn't quite capture that.

New Baby McNicoll

Last Monday, Owen McNicoll was born in London Ontario. Weighing in at nine pounds, he's my latest nephew, and very cute.
We celebrated the next day, breaking pizza together. Babies are wonderful!

Blog of the week January 3, 2008

February 3, 2008

I enjoy blogging, really, I do. But I never get around to it after all my other writing commitments. I’m going to try to at least put in one entry a week. So many exciting things happen to me. Yeah. Like I suffered through some gastrointestinal flu this week.I slept for a day then dragged myself around for another.

Then I applied for an Ontario Arts Council Grant. That involves a lot of careful reading and filling out of forms, double checking you’ve put everything together in the crafty way they’ve asked, finding the office equipment, envelopes, stapler, clips—the printer ink ran out in the middle of the first copy of five. Finally, with great relief, it weighed in at the post office and was mailed away.

Then I emceed what I think is the fourth annual CANSCAIP OLA Booklaunch. Eighteen out of twenty authors showed up at the Convention Centre in Toronto on this stormy day. Most businesses and government offices, certainly schools closed. Librarians didn’t all make it. But I think everyone enjoyed it. Just getting together with each other is fun. And publishers and librarians did drift in and out.

Today, the culmination of the week, I read a nice review of Last Chance for Paris by Gary Curtis in The Hamilton Spectator. He celebrates the fact that dialogue moves the story forward. Many reviewers feel disdain for dialogue, I think, because it brings a story closer to a television or film script.
But it does liven the pace. And who doesn’t want to eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation?

Wedding in the Dominican

My nephew got married in the Dominican Republic. What a great excuse for an all inclusive vacation. I loved sampling the fruity drink of the day: banana mama, dirty monkey, the Titanic etc. Better was floating on the huge waves of the Atlantic, or swimming the saltwater pool. The wedding itself was very romantic, with three guitarist and a Fabio looking photographer. Guaranteed sunshine, lots of relaxation. I enjoyed spending the week with my brother and his wife too. I haven’t spent so much time with him since I was a kid. Hurray for celebrations!

Last Chance for Paris Launched!

Finally my new book Last Chance for Paris is out! What better way to celebrate than a party. Seconds before the official launch, okay, days actually,all our windows and our front door were replaced. Mortie the Jackapoo huddled, shivered and complained in my office as the house became an icebox.

Then we had to plow the rest of the house. We’d also installed new floors on two levels and the junk was moved to the next levels. For the party it all had to be placed or hidden.
There are things we’ll never find again.

Still on the day itself, all went well. A light sprinkling of snow made the world just a little bit more friendly and holiday like.

Lots of friends turned out and I sang the madeup country song from the actual story.

My baby left me for a body builder
She didn’t want to live with a pipe welder
I’ve got the tools
But He hangs around pools
I’ve got to get me a six pack
If I should want my baby back.
Oooh My beby left me for a body builder

Cover for My New Book

One thing we spent most of June evenings on was photographing my daughter Robin for my new book Last Chance for Paris.
She cooincidentally has a strawberry tatoo on her ankle much like my character Zanna. My husband Bob was trying to achieve the same light as the image the Fitzhenry designer originally chose. It didn't have enough resolution for the cover. Over and over we piled into the car, Mortie the Jackapoo, Robin, the model, Hunter, who wanted to spend time with his mom Robin and me the nanny for puppy and child. We chased the sunset in watery areas that we thought resembled Alberta. In the end the publisher and designer chose one of the first images which I will show here.

But on an off moment I took my little digital and caught Hunter posing like Mom. Consider it an outtake for the cover.

Franklin Gardens

On Saturday of Labour Day Weekend, I was slated to perform at Franklin Garden on Centre Island. First I needed to meet up with the other author Gwen Molinar from Edmonton and make sure she was set up properly at the story stage. I knew that we needed some promotion as on the island the author visits are not publicized much. The year before the flyer my daughter Robin had created for me didn't help much. What to do?

Well since the story I wanted to tell was The Biggest Little Dog, I decided to use Mortie as my walking advertisement. I cut up a t shirt of mine and used a permanent marker to write about my reading. Did it work? Well, sure it make me feel like I was doing something. And Mortie always draws a lot of attention. I had a nice crowd at Franklin and I enjoyed talking to them and giving away free books.

Magazine Travel

Finally a perk to working for the magazine. It feels like I have been slaving all summer on it. Hunter, Bob and I went travelling to Bruce Grey County to experience what they have to offer. We visited three museums, two beaches, four lighthouses, four waterfalls and hiked at two caves as well as Baldy's Lookout. I loved swimming at the beach and at the Westin Resort Pool.
Now to write about all that in two thousand words and do it justice.

End of Summer Roundup

Besides making the magazine run, I also wrote a shortstory based on my husband Bob’s adventures at Burlington Animal Shelter. He photographs the animals, mostly cats and helps the shelter upload the photos to their website so that they can be viewed for adoption. My story, called The Unaddoptable Pet, now needs some rewriting to make the character older. By September 19 it will go back for a final looksee. It would be good to say, here’s something new I wrote over the summer.

Just as the summer began with sadness so it ended. My favourite and pretty much the only aunt I have contact with, since the rest of my extended family lives in Germany, died of cancer. Renate Wildenburg in my mind will always be the beautiful 19 year old with the black up do that was so popular in the Elvis years when she came to live with us. Over the past years I have been e-mailing with her mostly about my mother’s condition but in between the lines I could read that Renate was also failing.

A sad thing for me is that I can’t tell my mother. She wouldn’t understand. And yet beyond the sadness it would cause I think it would help my mom release her own life or consciousness as it is with Alzheimers. I’d like to be able to share the news with someone who cared about her too. I’ll try to find an old photo in an album later to load in.

Summer Catchup

Sadly the summer began with a close colleague dying. Helen Keeler was the managing editor of Today’s Parent Toronto. By the time we all heard about her cancer re-occurring she was at peace with her death and let go. We all found it difficult to keep going and yet had to work harder without her sound advice and coaching.

Happily I had my grandson Hunter to distract me. Every morning I would work and in the afternoon we would have excellent adventures, mostly going to the pool. I had forgotten how much swimming puts me into a state of zen.

Mortie Graduates!

Mortie graduated from Puppy Kindergarten. He can now come when you call him if you have treats and nothing distracts him. He also sits, shakes paw and rolls over. Sometimes in anticipation of a treat he’ll bring out all three like party tricks.

Le Weekend

Mortie, the Jackapoo, did beautifully at puppie kindergarten. Last class Merve the trainer challenged me with the task of getting him to lie down on command and by that afternoon Mortie could do it. He just loves his treats, he'll bring out his whole repetoire of tricks to get them. Mortie will look, sit, wave his paw madly, lie down roll over--anything till he figures out what I want to part with some goodies.

But on command, in front of the whole class, I got Mortie to lie down on command. We got applause. Merve sat down and told me to teach the class. As if.

Then Mortie fell in love with the lovely black-furred brown-eyed shitz poo Maggie right beside us. He would no longer listen to anybody. Merve wanted to demonstrate "Stay" with Mortie but gave up. In fact he finally made Maggie sit at the other end of the room. Poor Mortie's heart was broken.

Then we needed to go to a pool party to say goodbye to writer/friend Rachael Preston. Mortie went into the crate, what a day for him. Broken hearted and no family to comfort him.

We left the party early to comfort him.

Now we have to work on the commands Stay and Fetch. Eat would be way easier. Bite me, that would be good too.

The End

Yesterday I finished writing a book I call Avalanche, the fourth book in The Wild Life Series in Norway and Sweden. It's due there in August so it should be ready in time.

It's tough ending a book. There's such a feeling of dissatisfaction for me ,knowing the perfect version in my head is now an imperfect version on paper that needs to be re read and rewritten over and over.

I reread it today and found some astounding date and day errors. This kind of stuff always happens. As you reread you mark what day it is on a paper, then suddenly you're really into the content and forget to mark that the day has changed when characters go to bed and/or wake up.

So tonight I made more adjustments, making sure clues that I had inserted are reaped when solving the mystery.

Tomorrow I need to review the subplot, the romantic element. I'm sure that that problem gets solved way too early and needs to be stretched out.
For the most part the real rewriting will be after other writers have read the manuscript and commented on it.

Time for some creative panic now. What if something major is wrong? To complicate life a coworker at my magazine is seriously ill. I know I may have to jump in and write and edit things that I've never had to before. But her illness also wants to make me "seize the day" and not work myself to death.

My best hope is that Avalanche is sound structurally.