Nelsa Roberto's Out of the Wordwork

Show Don't Tell - Truth or Lie??

2012-01-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

I've been reading a lot of articles lately about writing advice and how, like any advice, much of it should be taken with a grain of salt (I need to look that up and see why salt is used in this cliché). See this piece by Nick Mamatas. Hilarious and makes the point that a writer needs to do what he needs to do and don't let the so-called rules constrain you. I agree with much of it but I do think writers just starting out should be aware of these pieces of advice and follow them at first. When they are more comfortable in their writing voice then they can determine how much of that advice, if any, they should take. Still, at some point, a writer will be faced with one of these rules, like 'Show Don't Tell', and have to decide whether they will break it.

In my case, I was always a firm believer in the 'show don't tell' piece of advice. Why on earth would a writer choose to drone on about what a tree looked like when they could have their main character climbing the tree, feeling the rough bark beneath his fingers and balancing precariously on a low hanging branch? Well, I did believe this advice until I wrote THE BREAK and I had two major scenes where, in effect I was telling rather than showing.

Oh, my God, I worried over those scenes. I kept thinking: "Is there any way to reveal this information without a character just talking about it?" Well, since that information happened in the past, I would have had to have a flashback and I really don't like flashbacks. Flashbacks are another thing some writers advise to keep to a bare minimum if used at all. I guess that's one piece of writerly advice I've kind of stuck with but, since cutting myself some slack on the show don't tell advice now, I figure that one is also ready to be blown up. I'll probably have a flashback scene in my next book, for all I know! As for 'show don't tell, I finally accepted that sometimes in a story (as in life) characters tell another character about something that happened to them. Talking reveals information, characters react to that information and (here's the big thing) if it is DONE WELL a reader will not feel like the information is revealed in a flat, boring way. I really hope I did those 'telling' scenes well. Time will tell (agagaga!!)

In fact, in a book I'm reading now called "World War Z", the entire story is told in a 'telling' way because the format is based on interviews about events that occurred in the past during the zombie war. The writer still manages to make the telling compelling even though it reads like a historical document based on interviews. But because those interviews are filled with complex, flawed characters that went through a horrific experience the stories they are telling are never boring. Very different and very well done.

I guess the moral of this is that the more you write, the more so-called 'rules' you come across and the more comfortable you become in breaking those rules when you need to in order to tell (show??) the story. Writing is not mathematics (thank God). There are instincts that must be listened to, rules that sometimes need to be broken and, most importantly, a story that needs to be told in the way the writer feels works the best.

How about you? Have you broken any of the so-called 'rules' of writing?

Canadian Children's Book Centre List of Books for Family Literacy Day (and ILLEGALLY BLONDE is on it!)

2012-01-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

We have a fantastic resource in the Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) that promotes reading and books by our authors and helps teachers, librarians, and the general public in their book buying and reading decisions. Canada has a strong, supportive culture that encourages reading (the recent budget threats to our Toronto Public Library system notwithstanding) and as part of that, we celebrate Family Literacy Day on January 27th. As the CCBC states in its promotion of this day:

"Family Literacy Day is a national awareness initiative created by ABC Life Literacy Canada in 1999 and held annually on January 27 to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. More than 1.5 million Canadians have already participated in the initiative since its debut. Taking time every day to read or do a learning activity with children is crucial to a child’s development. Even just 15 minutes a day can improve a child’s literacy skills dramatically, and can help a parent improve their skills as well. For more information, please email info@abclifeliteracy.ca."

In celebration of Family Literacy Day, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre compiled a list of 50 Canadian books (25 picture books and 25 works of fiction) that share in the joys (and struggles) of families of all sizes and combinations. And guess what? They included ILLEGALLY BLONDE on it! Here's the link

I'm so very, very pleased IB is on this list since, at it's heart, the story is about the strength and strains of family and what we do and what we have to sacrifice for the ones we love. I'm also awed and honoured by the fantastic company of books ILLEGALLY BLONDE sits with.

So Yay for the CCBC! and YAY! For Family Literacy Day (January 27th). Here's hoping that the joy of reading spreads to those that need to hear it the most.

Preview's Sell E-books! (at least to me)

2012-01-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long hiatus but it's been an unusually busy holiday season. Hockey tournaments, Dad's 80th birthday celebrations (on New Year's Eve no less) and ongoing house reno madness has left me about six balls behind the 8th one. I must confess, though, that one of the things that led to my distraction from blogging was my hubby's birthday gift for me of the new Kobo Vox. It's sort of the Canadian version of the Kindle Fire - a tablet e-reader (that also allows me to surf the web since I can never get my hands on any of the computers at home!). It's fabulous. After I pried it away from my husband (seriously, I did not see it for the first six hours it was home) I was finally able to download my first e-book purchase.

I chose World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Apocalypse by Max Brooks for a number of reasons, one of them being my recent fascination with all things zombie due to The Walking Dead. But the biggie? The publisher let me read the first few pages. What, you ask? Isn't that standard e-book practice? Don't ALL e-books allow a potential buyer to get a taste of the book, an author's style, whether the beginning pages hook you or not? Surprisingly, NO.

I'm a big lover of sneak peeks. I love watching movie trailers for upcoming releases before the main movie begins. In fact, if we're late to a movie and miss the previews, it puts me in a grumpy enough mood for me to not enjoy the movie I actually came to watch. Those trailers hook me (or not) and are necessary (along with reviews) to help me make my decision about what movies I want to pay money to see in future. Same thing with books. When I browse for books from authors I have not read before I go through my process: Interesting title? Cover's cool? Blurb intrigues me? If all those are a yes, then I open the book and read a few pages. If it's all good then I usually buy.

When I was going through the Kobo library, I used the same process. Cover, title, blurb then I clicked on the Download Preview button. Then I went to my library where the book was sitting on my shelf, clicked on it and 9 times out of 10 I would get to read the first few pages. Well, I was deciding on whether to purchase World War Z and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. World War Z had it all and the writing was good so it was a no brainer. Click on Buy. With the second one, I already new Jonathan Safran Foer was a fabulous writer, my brother had spoken highly of the book, and I wanted to read the book before I saw the extremely well-reviewed movie. So you figure I should just buy it, right? Well, when I downloaded the preview and scrolled through the pages what I got were the first few pages of illustrations/pictures that were in the book but none of the actual writing. What the … ? No first five pages of writing, nothing. I know it probably didn't matter since the writer is who he is. But still. It irked me. I was denied the pleasure of browsing. I don't like to buy without browsing. No matter how many people tell me it's an amazing product. No click on Buy.

And it wasn't just that book. There were a few books from major publishing houses that gave me a preview of copyright and acknowledgement pages but stopped just before chapter one. I just don't get what they think they're accomplishing by doing that. Seriously. I don't buy the car without the test drive, people.

On a more positive note, I'm really enjoying World War Z and my Kobo Vox. And I'll probably go buy Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close the old fashioned way - standing in the bookstore aisle, flipping through the pages and enjoying the preview.

How about you guys? Do you need the test drive when you buy an e-book or not?

Thoughts on Getting Older

2011-12-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

Well, today is my birthday and, for once, I'm not totally bummed out.

This is kind of a big deal for me since this birthday is the one that ends a decade and that is usually the birthday that bums me out the most. It's not turning the big whatever-O (I still can't type the number) but it is the lead up to that big number that freaks me out. It's like my mind and body need a year of preparation before they can accept that I am, inevitably, getting older. But I've noticed that with each successive birthday in the last 20 years I'm getting better at dealing with this aging thing. So, for all of us hitting whatever big birthdays or just for those of us who struggle with the thought of getting older lets put some perspective on things. I offer you some of my favourite inspirational quotes on getting older from people much wiser than me. If they said it, I must believe it, yes?

Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. ~Leroy "Satchel" Paige

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. ~Samuel Ullman

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~Chili Davis

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. ~Mark Twain
(Note from Nelsa: I've never actually seen my neck smile so this one's kinda bogus. Sorry, Mark.)

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative. ~Maurice Chevalier, New York Times, 9 October 1960

Everyone is the age of their heart. ~Guatemalan Proverb

The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible. ~Judith Regan

Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. ~Quoted by Francis Bacon, Apothegm

And with that last quote, I thank all my old (and new) friends for the birthday wishes today and their vital, constant friendship. I reach for a glass of good red wine and a favourite book and sit by an imaginary fireplace toasting my feet and this day. For birthdays are, indeed, to be celebrated not feared. Thank you all for celebrating with me!

Christmas Traditions - Love 'em or Hate 'em?

2011-12-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas is my absolute favouritist time of year. Decorating the house, buying presents for friends and loved ones, trimming the tree, snow, carolling, hot chocolate, lights, cookies, food … aww. What's not to love?? But, I must admit, there are some things I don't love too much. School Christmas concerts for one. Christmas travelling for another. Still, this year I realized those last two traditions might be coming to an end and you know what? I might, kinda, miss them. Who knew?

Now I love hearing kids sing at concerts but when it's instruments only? Sigh. It is a bit of a struggle to sit through, I must say. This year was my seventeenth Christmas concert . Yep. You read that right. SEVENTEENTH. I have heard way too many awkward string and band renditions of Good King Wenceslas to ever hear it again without a slight cringe. And yet. When I saw The Boy up there this year doing his best on the trumpet and sounding surprisingly good for a kid that doesn't practice enough (although his band mates might have been working overtime) I actually got a little nostalgic. There is only one more Christmas concert I am to attend at his school. All three of my children have been in the band or strings program there and I do believe music helps with academic and with social skills. I'm proud all of them joined the music program at school. But once those concerts stop, it almost feels like the childhood stops too. Ya' know?

The other thing that changes this year is that we are not travelling home for Christmas. We are staying in Toronto for once. The Boy has a hockey tournament right after Boxing Day. So we would have had to do the four hour drive to my parents , drive back for the 27th then on the 30th drive back again to celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday for New Year's Eve. Way too much driving even for us who are used to it. So we are spending Christmas entre nous. No grandparents or aunts and uncles to distract the kids. We'll either have a lovely, quiet celebration with much walking of the dog and watching old movies or you'll hear something about a family tragedy on the news the next night. I think I might actually miss the long drive home and the squabbling, cramped van with presents piled in the back and the dog breathing on everyone's faces. Hmm. Maybe I won't miss that part too much. But I'll definitely miss the chaos of Christmas morning and seeing my mom cry at least once over some silly little gift one of the kids has given her. Ah, well. Next year we'll host the Christmas gathering at our newly reno'd house and the grandparents and aunts and uncles can travel to us. It will be the start of a new birthday decade for me then and it's only fitting that a new Chrsitmas tradition should start as well.

Still, the only tradition I hope will always continue is that my husband and I are together celebrating the holidays with our kids for as long as possible. That's the only thing that really matters. Not where, but who.

How about you? What are your favourite and least favourite holiday traditions?

Writers Face-to-Face

2011-12-08T08:13:00.000-08:00

Last night the amazing Claudia Osmond hosted the 2nd Annual Torkidlit Christmas gathering of writers in her lovely, beautifully renovated home (BTW.I love seeing reno'd homes. Makes me think there is hope for my home!). Anyway, I can't thank Claudia enough for opening her home to quite a few of the Torkidlit writers but, more importantly, I don't know if she realizes what an important thing she started a couple of years ago when she gathered a few Toronto PB, MG and YA writers and illustrators together in a downtown Toronto pub for an evening of talk, drinking and laughter (and sometimes tears). It's become a regular monthly, must-go outing for many of us. And, for writers, once you've experience that community of like-minded individuals talking face-to-face nothing can replace it.

I know the thing now is Facebook and Twitter and writing boards. And, yes, those communities and the chance to connect virtually with writers from thousands of miles away is a wonderous and, in many ways, life-saving opportunity. But face-to-face time with other writers is SO important. There is such value in hearing the voice of the person you might have only connected to via the web. In that voice you hear the subtle nuances of the information they are trying to convey and see the facial expressions that give you so much more context. You can literally give someone a shoulder to cry on or jump up and down with them when they have fabulous news. Putting a real face to the tweets, messages, blogs, etc. then makes your virtual connection even that much stronger.

I'm not saying that Face-to-Face is better than virtual. I'm saying that it gives many writers that added human connection and understanding that we need once in a while in order to be able to slog through the hard times and celebrate the good times. Even if a writer lives in outer Siberia, if there is the faintest chance that they can attend a workshop or travel to a gathering of writers once in a blue moon, I would encourage them to do it. Sometimes, that human connection may be enough to help keep the writing fire alive. Join CANSCAIP. Join SCBWI. Join RWA. JOIN. Meet. Talk. Face to face. It's a life-line.

So, yes, thanks to the Internet, we are more connected now than ever. But also thanks to writers like Claudia Osmond (and Debbie Ohi!) for starting that Face-to-Face time here in Toronto. Thank you, ladies. Very much.

My Latest Obsession

2011-11-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

While I continue to tinker with various writing projects, I must admit it is with only half a heart at present. The largest part of my life right now is dealing with the massive amounts of time and decision-making that must go into finalizing our home reno. We are in the last leg of the race. Not that we are anywhere close to moving in - I'd say another two - three months at least. But now is the time when all the decisions on colours and finishes are made as well as furniture shopping. I tell you, I would have gone mad right about now if it hadn't been for my discovery of this fabulous website: www.houzz.com

Oh, my God. I LOVE this site.

You can search by style (traditional, contemporary, eclectic, etc.) and any type of room from kitchen to entranceway. You can specify you want a search done on "mirror over fireplace" or something and literally hundreds if not thousands of pictures in that theme, style, particular search will come up. If you have a specific question on what paint colour or where a piece of furniture was purchased, you can leave a question and a designer will come back and give you the answer. If you're anything like me, you might have a vague idea of the kind of style you might want to have in your space but nothing concrete. With this site, you can create your own ideabooks and start collecting the pictures that will help you to finalize the look you want in your own space. Who knew I would gravitate towards gray walls with white trim? Who knew that I would decide on going with dark kitchen cabinets rather than the more common white? After collecting hundreds of pictures, I kept seeing the same themes/styles emerge. That was so helpful.

It also doesn't hurt when your husband looks at you funny when you say you want a room done a certain way and he scoffs. But when you email him what the room could look like as a finished space (no need to have him sit down with you and flip through home decorating magazines) it makes life so much easier!

Anyway, sorry for this non-writing related post but if you're about to embark on a home reno I have two pieces of advice:
1. Move and buy a house that's already finished.
2. If you still insist on renovating, then go to houzz.com. You'll thank me later.

Have I Lost the Blogger/Twitter Love?

2011-11-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

I really had to force myself to write this post today. I'm finding that this feeling is becoming much more prevalent with all of my social networking, including Twitter and Facebook. Well, I never really got into Facebook that much but Twitter and doing my blog posts I enjoyed. Just … not so much anymore.

I could just be feeling social networking exhaustion. I could, after almost 3 years of blogging have nothing more to say. More likely, with how busy my life has been lately, I just don't have the time and energy to create a blog every week. I used to blog three times a week, then I went down to two and now I'm down to once a week. That worked for a while but even that once a week posting seems an effort now. So, if I'm not seeing someone as much as I used to, doesn't that tell me something?

I'm also not finding anything new or fabulous out in the internet world these days. Even Twitter seems to be filled with people I haven't had a chance to get to know and, in my attempts to be a good, polite Twitter follower, I've perhaps followed too many people just because they followed me first. A lot of them seem to be using Twitter as an ongoing advertisement for their books. Which is fine. I just don't want to read about it every time I'm on line. Similarly, I used to love Google and would always have a pile of searches on various topics (mostly writing related) that would keep me happily entertained for hours. But it feels like I'm seeing the same old subjects being talked about by a few different people and nothing new is being discussed. Have I really read it all or am I just burnt out and need to step away from the computer for awhile?

I'm hoping it is the latter. Because I don't want to stop after all this time. But stopping cold turkey just makes it all the harder to step back into it when you do decide to come back. For example, I have (had?) an online friend who was very active for a time on blogger and Twitter and then she just dropped out. For over a year I didn't hear from her and then there was a brief little email to a few of her online friends that said 'Hey, how's everything? Hope to hear from you" but, honestly, I didn't feel the connection anymore because of that separation. That's what I feel will happen to me if I step away completely. But I may have to do that. Keeping up with it all is just way too much sometimes.

Am I the only one feeling this fatigue? If you're feeling it, did it hit you all of a sudden or has it been building slowly and what have you decided to do about it?

The Devil is in the Details

2011-11-16T18:22:00.001-08:00

I'm in the midst of the reno from hell and, for the most part, my husband has had to deal with stuff. Mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, etc. Not very glamorous (to me anyway) but all those little details add up to a working house that I will one day celebrate and not curse because it doesn't have adequate heating, low water pressure etc. Now that we're getting toward the last third of the reno I now have to become immersed in the details. Lighting, paint colour, tile selection, ack! I know if I screw up on those things that no matter how well my husband has taken care of his details, my details will be out there for everyone to see. So, you might ask, what's your point? What does this have to do with anything - especially writing??

So many writers are doing NaNoWriMo (NaNo for short)this month that I keep reading about the deluge of submissions agents will be inundated with in January. I also keep reading that writers should please, for the love of God, please hold off on submitting. Why? Because it's the details that make your submission stand out. You might have got the bones of the book down this month. Maybe even some flesh and blood. But do you have the right nuances of character? Are your secondary characters fleshed out enough? Like a house that needs the right furniture, have you gone through the book and made sure the setting is solid and evocative and does it contribute to the overall mood of the room ... I mean book! So, so many DETAILS. You get my drift?

Those details - and like a house reno there can be hundreds of details/decisions to attend to - are critical if you want that book (or house) to shine. Even if you get sick of going through every scene (room) to make sure it flows with the rest of the scenes, even if you are sick of looking at lighting fixtures ... I mean descriptions! you need to to make sure your scene is as bright or as dark as you want it to be.

So, yes, the devil is in the details but the beauty will show in the book. And, I hope, my house. Good luck you NaNoWriMo's! Come January our books and houses may not be quite ready but they'll be on their way!

The Book is the Thing

2011-11-08T17:41:00.000-08:00

I've been writing for nine years now. Not a great long stretch of time when you think of writers like Stephen King who started writing his stories as a young boy and he's in his 60's now or Nora Roberts who has been writing over 30 some years now(sorry, I'm too tired tonight to Google and find out exactly how long she's been at the game). I'm wondering if it's just me or if this happens to all writers at a certain point, no matter how successful they are:

There comes a point in your writing process where you finally realize that the book is the thing.

Not the agent.
Not the publishing contract.
Not a launch party.
Not pretty covers.
Not how many sales you've made (or haven't made).

Those things are the wrapping that's around the actual present. THE BOOK.

I was wondering why, since I parted ways with my agent earlier this year, I haven't been angsting about what's coming next. I'm not panicking about whether I've got a book to go out on sub right this very second. I'm not freaking out over the ever shrinking book shelf space or the lack of reviewers out there. I'm not stressing over whether I'll find another agent or get another publishing contract. I'm not worried about whether I'm tweeting or facebooking or blogging enough. I have finally, blessedly, come to the realization that all of those frets and worries and stressors and strains do very little to help get the real work of writing done. It always comes down to one thing: THE BOOK.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very conscious of the business side of things and I try and stay on top of what's happening - I'm not writing in a vacuum. But I understand now that I will still write stories without all of that. Maybe they won't get published or it may take a while to get them out there but I think I may have finally become confident enough about my stories and my writing to accept that not all of them will be going out into the world. It doesn't mean I won't try. It doesn't mean that I don't believe in the stories I write. It just means that I am accepting the reality that this is a tough business to break into, a tough business to stay in and a tough business to keep slogging through.

With acceptance comes a very relaxed attitude. But relaxed does not mean indifferent. Not by any means. I care about my stories and I want them to find supporters and homes and readers. But if that doesn't happen I know that it doesn't lessen them in any way. The act of creating something out of nothing is significant. And all writers need to understand that what they do and what they write is to be celebrated.

You wrote a BOOK. Holy cow, people. You wrote a frigging BOOK.

Stop worrying about the other stuff. Work on THE BOOK. And the rest will follow. If it doesn't? You still have THE BOOK.

What Keeps You Keeping On?

2011-11-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

In the last week, I've heard the same thing from two different people: There's no point in looking back. That's not where you want to go anyway.

My husband is more succinct. He just says: I don't look back.

That philosophy, I believe, is the only thing that keeps a person's head from going below the water, from falling into the abyss, from whatever precipice you find yourself teetering on.

Don't look back.

Looking back, whether it is at past successes or failures, does nothing to help your present reality. If you keep dwelling on what has gone wrong (my instinctive go to reaction, unfortunately) it will only cement your negative thinking. Conversely, if you only think about all the wonderful things that have happened in the past, it will either make you crave more and bigger things (which can be good sometimes) or make you dissatisfied with what you have now (it's not as good as it was before!). Either way, you won't be happy.

So what's the answer?

Move forward. Keep your eye on the next day.

Or better yet.

Deal with today. Enjoy today. Make it through today. Make today count.

Because while the past may hold some answers, it can also hold you back.

In the most wise words of one of my favourite Pixar characters, Dorrie, from Finding Nemo: Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...

Halloween Strike

2011-10-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm going to own up to this, even if it might alienate a few people. I know it's alienated my kids when I've said it before:

I freaking hate Halloween.

Stupidest holiday EVER.

I don't like to be scared. I don't like spiders. I don't like having to stockpile candy that tempts me, hubby or my kids if I buy it too early or that stresses me out by buying it too late so I have to pay exhorbitant amounts of money when it's going to be half price the next day. I don't like fake cobwebby things on my bushes (I like to make my house look nice not run down!) I don't like carving pumpkins (messy, yucky inside stuff!). I don't like teenagers who are way too old to be asking for candy standing on my front porch with a stupid hat or old mask on as their limited attempt at costuming grunting out: Trick or treat. I find that threatening. Not cute. Most of all, I don't like feeling like a Halloween scrooge if I say I don't like Halloween.

What DO I like about it?

Well, I am a fan of zombie movies and there's tons of them to be seen at this time of year (zombies aren't scary - just gory). I do appreciate the art that goes into carving pumpkins. How do they DO those designs? Mine always look like a squirrel has gnawed on the outside shell and I've just forgotten that there's a half-chewed squash sitting on my front step. But I especially like that it's usually my husband who has taken the kids out over the years and I've stayed at home giving out the candy to cute little ones in costume while sipping a glass of wine in between door bell rings.

So this year whenThe Boy asked me: When are we putting up the halloween decorations? I thought: No. I'm on strike this year. It's one more thing I don't want to do and I don't even LIKE doing it. I grumbled and said, "Meh. We're still at the rental. I don't want to haul out the box. Can't we just have a pumpkin? I got that today! And I got the candy too!"

But not even the thrill of having several boxes of candy available made the disappointment of not having Halloween decorations more palatable. He looked at me with those big, brown eyes and said: "Can't we at least put the shaking skull outside? It scares EVERYBODY, Mom."

Sigh. "Okay. We can put up the shaking skull. But that's it!"

A little smile. "Isn't the shaking skull inside the box with all the other Halloween stuff?"

Sigh again. "Yes. Yes, it is."

A shrug. "So maybe we can put up the witch, and the skull with the flashing lights for eyes, and the scarecrow and the…"

I need a union.

And just to prove I'm not all that grumpy, here are a few pictures of amazing Halloween pumpkins my friend emailed me. These I DO like. What about you? What do you hate/love about Halloween?

That 'In Between' Time

2011-10-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

There comes a time in every writer's life when they are 'in between' projects. Okay, not if you're Nora Roberts who's like a writing machine but I'm talking about regular Joe Blow writers like, well, moi. It's the time where one project is done and out the door but the next project is not quite coalesced in your head so it is a time for peering up from the paper/computer and blinking in fascinating wonder at the world around you and saying: Whoa. It's Fall?? When did my kids get bigger than me? Yikes. Look at that laundry. I think a new life form is growing under those towels there.

Used to be I'd finish that one project and almost immediately start another one. But whether it's a result of less pure in-between time (working on edits or various other things for the book that's coming or already out there, blogging, facebook, twitter, etc makes for less empty time) or maybe it's because I'm getting really picky about what ideas I'll develop (damn that 'marketability is important' voice in my head!) or maybe it's just knowing how much time writing a book takes and I'm putting it off, whatever it is, now I really treasure the in between time. It's a time to recharge and do something with my time besides writing. Oh wow, did I start that cross-stitch Santa stocking for The Boy ten years ago?? Um, maybe I should work on that a little. Whoa, when's the last time I shopped for clothes? Oh, dear, winter is coming and I need boots!!! And there is that little thing called the reno. Hmm, eventually the house will be done and it will need furniture. Need to start looking now...

So my in between time is already filling up. But notice that it has nothing to do with words. Doing all that other 'stuff' that's not writing really makes me appreciate the time when I dive back into the words. I will have missed them terribly by then and, like coming home after a long vacation, I sigh with pleasure as I sink back into my familiar, comfortable, always untidy, house.

How about you? Do you take that in between time to do different things and what are they? Or are you a back to back writer who can't let the words alone for too long else you go crazy?

Photographs and Memories

2011-10-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

Something awful happened yesterday. Not awful in the sense of life threatening or earth-shattering but awful in my son's world. He accidentally deleted a few years worth of images and videos from our digital camera.

He was devastated.

No matter how much I assured him that we had other videos, other pictures I couldn't really reassure him that all the events captured within this one camera were captured by others. He felt like a part of his past had been deleted as well and he could never retrieve it again.

My son's generation has had almost every moment of their entire lives captured on camera You'd think with so much footage this deletion wouldn't have been a big deal. But for The Boy, having his personal history and memories there in a physical form - in some way - is reassuring. It made me wonder: has our reliance on pictures and videos become more important than the family history we share verbally?

I have some photos of my childhood. An average number I guess. Not so many when I was first born and those photos are certainly precious to me. But it is the stories told to me by my parents that are more important. Luckily those can't be erased so easily (let's hope my brain keeps them for as long as possible anyway!)But the incident yesterday made me think hard about the role pictures have in our lives. In fact, one of the themes in THE BREAK has to do with how photos can help release memory and connect people. But by themselves, without memory to help tell the story, the photographs eventually mean nothing. Here's an example.

My husband inherited a very old family photo album from his father who had it handed down from some cousin or another and none of those pictures or the people in them mean anything to us. Even if those photos had captions saying who they were it wouldn't mean much to me because there wasn't a story - a memory behind the photo - that had been told to or written down for us.

So, I understand The Boy's sadness at the loss of all those pictures and the stories behind them. But, as I told him last night, what's more important are the memories you keep inside you - not on some digital camera. Still, it never hurts to download a camera a little more often. :)

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2011-10-03T17:14:00.000-07:00

We interrupt this regularly scheduled writers blog to make a public service announcement. On top of all the things I love about October (Fall! Wedding Anniversary! No Humidity! Leather Boots!) I also add Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In honour of this most important month, I have changed my background blog post colour from green to pink and I'm posting some stats on breast cancer we all should be aware of (courtesy of the metro "think pink" columns appearing in the Toronto metro news this month):

An estimated 23,200 women in Canada were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 (an increase of 500 from 2009) and 5,300 died from the disease.

On average, 445 Canadian women are diagnosed with breast cancer every week.
One in nine (or 11 per cent) Canadian women are expected to develop breast cancer during their lifetime (by age 90).

Personal note: my mom was 73 when she was diagnosed in 2010 through a routine mammography. She is currently breast cancer free. My mother-in-law was 49 when she was diagnosed in the spring of 1975. She passed away in November of the same year leaving behind a devastated husband, 12 year old son and 16 year old daughter.)

At present, the five-year survival rate for female breast cancer in Canada is 87 per cent (84 per cent for men) which means women diagnosed with breast cancer have an 87 per cent likelihood of living for five years after their diagnosis.

Breast cancer death rates have declined in every age group since the mid-1990's.
Of the women who undergo mammography screening, about five per cent are invited for a return visit; of these, 90 per cent are given a clean bill of health and 10 per cent undergo further investigation.

An average of one in 2,500 women investigated will undergo surgery for breast cancer.
About 88 per cent of possible cases are detected by mammography.

Think about how far we have come. Think about how far we have to go. Think about your mom, sister, wife, daughter, granddaughter, son, husband, grandmother, grandfather, grandson, and friends who are touched or might be touched by cancer. Do everyone a favour: Get tested. Survive. For all of us.

Sometimes It's Just A Feeling You Get

2011-09-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

There are countless books, articles, websites, magazines, courses, conferences etc. etc. where a writer can go to learn his/her craft, to study the nuances of plot and structure, to learn how to incorporate symbolism and theme, to hone pace and develop characterization and a myriad of other technical elements that make up a story. But there is one thing that a writer needs to have in their arsenal of writing tools that is not so easily studied or obtained. That mysterious thing? The gut feeling when you know a story is not working.

This feeling can't be explained very easily. At least, I can't explain it well. Maybe it can be as simple as plot points not working but plot is one of the easiest things to fix, I think. What I'm talking about is when you know you have a good main character, a great idea, the pace is clipping along and the secondary characters are interesting, and there is escalating tension, a strong climax and appropriate denouement and, still, after all that, something is just not right. It is an undefined feeling that the story is just not popping off the page - for whatever reason. It's not about the technical components of the story. Those things can be fixed. But if, as the author of your story, you are feeling a general sense of unease when you read through your pages, or apathy, or reluctance to continue writing it, if you do not feel a little flame of excitement as you read the pages you've created then something is not working on an emotional level.

The other night, I was fixing up some things for THE BREAK as we head into the final stages for it's release in the spring, and my daughter asked me, "Mom, aren't you sick of that book yet?" And I honestly could tell her, no. I really love this book and I love tweaking it to make it better and spending time with it. Sure, I'm sure I'll get sick of it (there are only so many times you can read a book through before your eyes begin bleeding) but it hasn't happened yet. And that is the sign I look for when I'm writing my stories. You don't weary of it. It still holds some special charm over you. And it's not the fact that it's being published! I had one story (paranormal) that was sent out to a few editors and did not sell. Got great feedback and all that but just didn't sell. I still love that story. I could read it again even after all this time still get a little thrill when reading it. Still smile at certain scenes and want to keep turning the pages. So it's not about selling a story that makes it more appealing to me. That doesn't matter. It's that indefineable something a story contains.

I've been working on two WIP's this past year. One is finished and I've gone through a revision with it. I thought that was the one I'd be querying with this fall. Great premise, solid characters, etc. etc. But. There's something missing. I don't know what it is yet but I don't get that FEELING. I put it aside and picked up the other WIP. Still needs work, still need to finish the last 3 chapters or so. Maybe it's not as technically ready as the other WIP. But, boy, when I started reading it - BAM! - that feeling was totally there. There was something about this one…

So, there you go. Like anything that is creative in nature a strong emotion has to be involved or it doesn't work. You can have a technically perfect reproduction of Michaelangelo's David but, from what people tell me (because I haven't seen the real thing), there is something about seeing that actual statue that makes it special. I'm sure it was the emotion that the artist infused into carving that piece of marble.

What about you? Do you get that unexplainable 'feeling' when you know a story has - or doesn't have - something?

Milestone Birthdays

2011-09-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not having one right now (thank God) but I just came back from celebrating my mom's 75th birthday and it's gotten me to thinking about not just any birthdays but the 'milestone' birthdays. You know - the ones where the entering of a new year or hitting the actual number means a pretty big deal in your life?

Mom's 75th wasn't big just because the number is. It was a big deal this year because she reached it. Last year, her battle with cancer really made her feel and think about mortality and how every day is truly precious. She (and we!) are so thankful to have her here to celebrate her life. This birthday, for her, is a pretty big milestone because it meant she made it through to the other side. Somewhat changed, weaker in some ways, stronger in others. I think that's what milestone birthdays are all about - knowing or believing that you are about to or have made significant change in your life. Maybe the change is not all good but after that birthday, upon reflection, you know you are a different person.

My milestone birthday was my 40th. I began thinking about it several months before I hit it (I'm always thinking about the approaching date well ahead that it's become a running joke with my husband who says I was born 60 years old already). But that one was a biggie and because I'd made it so significant it must have changed my brain chemistry or something. Why else would I, out of the blue, want to start writing a book? Which is what I started doing the summer before I turned 40. I also lost weight and just had a real "Is this all I want to do and be in my life" kind of moment. Call it a mid-life crisis, call it needing a change, call it what you will but if that big birthday hadn't been looming I wonder if I would have picked up that pen that changed my life in so many ways.

Next year I'll be approaching the big 5-0. In fact, I turn 50 the day after the Mayans say the world will end. Of course it will! I'm turning 50, dammit!! I have a feeling this will be another big milestone for me. I don't know what will change or how but I know that whatever happens I embrace it because now I know 'milestones' are not 'millstones' around your neck. Instead of dragging you down they can lift you up.

What about you all? What have been your milestone birthdays and why?

On Dedications and Acknowledgements

2011-09-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd write a little blog post on these two often overlooked parts of a book: The Dedication and The Acknowledgements pages. Maybe not everyone cares about these two pieces, maybe not every book has them, maybe they're not essential to the enjoyment of reading a book but for an author (and sometimes a reader) these two things can add another layer to the story. A personal slant that can give some insight into the author's thoughts and feelings when writing that book.

Before I began writing, I never used to think much about, or necessarily even read, the dedication or acknowledgement pages. Well, perhaps the dedication because it was at the beginning of a book and maybe only consisted of a few lines. But half the time the dedication was so cryptic: e.g. For L.M. Huh? Who was/is L.M. ? What kind of influence did they have on the author? Was it their wife? Maybe it was the librarian at the public library? Who knew? Sometimes the dedication was more personal and offered a little tease like: For Alice. The woman who changed my life. Really? Again, who is Alice and how, exactly did she change the author's life?

Maybe I'm just an overly curious person. I know a dedication is a very personal thing. Maybe it's best that a dedication be cryptic. Maybe the person being dedicated to is very private and doesn't want their name splashed over the pages of a book. There is no rule that says the author has to explain anything about who he/she is dedicating the book to and why. Still, I kind of like to know. When I dedicated ILLEGALLY BLONDE I wrote the dedication to my parents both in Portuguese and English so that they understood why I was dedicating it to them. But, again, that was a personal choice.

The Acknowledgement page is a different beast altogether. I've read some beautifully crafted words that acknowledge the special people who have influenced or inspired the author in their writing. I've also read just a long listing of names that have no meaning for me whatsoever but, with space constraints, maybe a listing was all the author could do. I'm sure the author at least wanted to make note of all the people who have had some role in making the book come to fruition - whether with research, moral support or as part of the publishing team. Again, how an author wishes to acknowledge the people involved in their personal or writing life is up to them but in the case of acknowledgements, I feel like cryptic or a long list of names doesn't work.

Now that I'm an author I often read the acknowledgement page with as much interest as the book itself. Sometimes, an author will give the reader a little story as to how/why they wrote the book or who inspired them. Maybe the issue in the book has touched them personally in some way. Also, from a purely selfish publishing perspective, I love to read the acknowledgements that authors give to their editors or agents. Those shout-outs can tell a prospective author a lot about who they would love to work with in future. I find that in debut novels the acknowledgements page can go on for quite a bit. But that's understandable - who knows if a writer will ever get another chance to publish their thanks?!

I've just finished writing the dedication and acknowledgements for my second book, THE BREAK. For some reason this time it was harder. My dedication for the book is not to one particular person but is more generic in nature and it gave me a lot of trouble for being only one line in length! My acknowledgements were easier but I still fretted about acknowledging some of the same people I did in ILLEGALLY BLONDE while saying something different to them. I also acknowledged people who have passed away and hope I did it with caring and respect and didn't make it too maudlin. What I always worry about the most is the people who I have NOT acknowledged. Many of my friends and family may not be identified specifically but since I like to acknowledge a name with a statement as to why they're being acknowledged if I named everyone I'd have an Acknowledgement book not a page. Ah, well. I wouldn't be me if I didn't fret about something.

So, what do you think about it? Are Dedications and Acknowledgements important? Or do you not think about/notice them at all?

When Panic Hits - Keep Calm and Carry On

2011-09-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

I thought I had things together. Figured that this past week when I was on vacation I'd get so much done before September hit. I would prepared. Yeah. What's that saying?? Something about best laid plans...?

Well, I woke up today, realized I was already two days into September and hit full blown panic mode.

Our house reno is so far behind I think it's in a different time zone.

My son's birthday is in two days and I haven't planned a thing!

I realize my MRI to look into this wonky back is scheduled the same day as son's said, unplanned birthday.

The four new toilets for the reno were delivered today but the guy wouldn't deliver them to the basement so had to put them in the garage where The Boy practices his hockey shots. I may have four new cracked toilets to put in the new still not finished house.

The Boy's hockey schedule firmed up and, yes, he has a tournament starting next Wednesday, going all weekend, and yes, he has one the same weekend as my mom's 75th birthday and, oh, yes, all his practices until November occur on Saturdays and Sundays too.

Our main computer got some weird virus so now all of us have to share my poor, overworked laptop until it's fixed (and I still haven't taken it in yet! School starts in four days!)

I'm still only half-way through my revision to the wip and still not sure it's working.

I have to write the dedication and acknowledgements for THE BREAK and the one, freaking line for the dedication is giving me more grief than writing the whole book. What is UP with that?

I'm only halfway through a beta read for a friend who I told I would get to it in a week and feeling very guilty about it.

And that's only the start of my panic. Let's not forget that I'm back to work next week and school starts too.

But you know how I get through the panic? I remember that all these things are small and the panic will soon pass. The Brits survived the Blitz and had the best saying ever to come out of a war: Keep Calm and Carry On.

It's all in the attitude. And remembering that there are way worse things happening to people who are handling true crises with grace, humour and way more courage than we shall ever know.

How are you all handling your busy lives? And how do you handle it when the panic hits?

Take Cover! Fall is Coming!

2011-08-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

You've felt it haven't you? The slightly cooler nights. The change in the sun's angle. The crankiness from your children. The opening of the CNE(the Canadian National Exhibition for non-Canucks out there). The slight, inexplicable feeling of anxiousness seeping into your skin. Oh, yes. You know what it is. All the signs point to it. It may be a month away but Fall is definitely coming. And no one is safe.

Don't get me wrong. I love Fall. In fact, my favourite month is October. I love the cooler days, and the changing season. But I also know what that season means. School will start soon. Clothes will have to be organized and laundered on a more frequent basis (the Boy cannot go to school in a swimsuit and flip flops no matter how much he might argue for it). Hockey season starts right after Labour Day with an early bird tournament. Homework commences. Food for lunches will need to be ready (*shudder*).

Any one of those things might be enough to send me into a tizzy. Put them all together and I feel a fainting spell coming on. Put them all together with the last three months of a reno thrown in, then a move in November plus a personal deadline to finish the revision to a wip and also send THE BREAK off to my publisher as spic and span as I can get it (just got my line edits a few days ago) I have a sudden desire to follow the very sensible bear population and go into hibernation for six months.

Alas, I'm not a bear (except for a few hours very early in the morning) and no matter how much I wish I could sleep away the busy season I know that for some weird reason I tend to be WAY more productive when I have absolutely no time to do anything. Is that some kind of scientific phenomena? Less time = More product? Who knows, but once Sept 1st kicks in I seem to get a sudden burst of can-do energy. Maybe it's a primal survival instinct. I'm running on adrenaline because I know if I don't keep ahead of the tidal wave about to crash over me I'm a goner. Man, I knew I should have started that exercise regime earlier…

How about you? Have you thought about Fall? Or are you still sipping a wine spritzer and dipping your toe into the pool?

Surprise! And Why It's Good for a Story

2011-08-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

I hate surprises. Seriously. Hate 'em. Don't like people jumping out at me yelling 'Happy Birthday'. Don't like someone putting a dish in front of me for which I have not ordered and don't know what it is. Don't like someone not telling me something because "It's a surprise". So you'd think, then, that I'd also hate when a book or movie has a surprise in it, right? Well, um, no actually. Surprise! :)

Writers know that if there are surprises in a story a reader is more likely hooked by the story. In the last month I've been made aware of how important this element is to story telling in two very different stories and mediums: the George R.R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire book series and the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love.

I just finished reading the fourth installment of the book series a couple of weeks ago and I saw the movie last week with my daughters so they're both fresh in my mind. In both cases, the author and the screenwriter, used surprises very, very well and those surprises are what I keep thinking about when I think back to the stories. Martin is known for killing off characters that a reader expects to survive but he also throws in some unexpected character actions that make a reader perk up and say, "Whoa! He did not just DO that!" But those surprises, while coming where and when you least expect them, are not OUT of character - ever. That's the key to a surprise. It must be set up properly (without a reader or viewer) being aware that it is being set up. So that when the surprise happens, all these little 'clicks' happen in your brain that take you back through the events of the story and you realize that while this is a surprise to you, all the stepping stones were there - all the little clues to the character or the storyline - that you cannot (or should not) be aware of while you're reading the story. This kind of intricate, subtle story-telling leading to a surprise (or twist or whatever you want to call it) was also done exceptionally well in Crazy, Stupid, Love. I can't reveal the surprise (one minor one and one major one) but it's a beauty and it throws all the storylines together. It elevated an already highly enjoyable movie into an excellent one for me.

The other thing that a surprise can do for your story is save it. I'll be honest, by the middle of the third Martin book my interest was flagging. Too many characters, too many stories, taking too long. But then in the third book … the author does something to a character I was not expecting. It changes the character and the story and immediately my interest is peaked again. That kind of thing can make the difference between a reader putting down a book and never picking it up again or hanging on to see what else might be thrown at a character.

Understandably, you can't have a story filled with surprises and twists on every page and just for the sake of 'throwing something in there'. However, I would recommend having one or two surprises, set up nicely, timed to be revealed at a critical point in the story and making it a game-changer - where everything you thought about a character or a storyline now needs to be re-thought. As a writer, I've found the best surprises in a story are not necessarily planned. In ILLEGALLY BLONDE I have a surprise towards the end that when I wrote it I went, "Seriously? SHE's the one??" and it was perfect. Same with my current wip. I thought I was writing one character in a certain way and "Bam!" she pulls something on the hero and it's a game-changer - for her and the story. I had to go back and carefully re-read the story to that point and, in many instances subtly change some of her actions/thoughts in order for the reader not to say, "Okay. That is totally not in character." For, above all else, a surprise must be BELIEVABLE.

What about you? Hate or love surprises? And, if you're a writer, do you plan them or are you, you know, surprised when they happen?

Obsession: Good for Reading But What About Your Writing?

2011-08-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

I'm back from a week at the cottage and, like every year, I planned on doing a lot of reading and, hopefully, some writing as well. Alas, I failed miserably on the writing front and I blame it entirely on my current reading obsession with George R.R. Martin's SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series. Most everyone knows it by the title of the first book A Game of Thrones.

I have been completely OBSESSED by this series. I devoured the first book, kind of went 'meh' on the second book, LOVED the third book and trudged through the fourth book. I am taking a pause before beginning the fifth book. My obsession may be waning - much like a torrid love affair that's run it's course. I still have interest, I'm still curious but ... I need a break. Reading four books with that many characters, that many story lines, that many PAGES ... well, I'm an avid reader, yes, but I'm a bit burnt out.

After finishing the fourth book and reading the first line of the author's acknowledgement page I wonder if his obsession wasn't getting to him too. The fourth book was a bit meandering, bringing in new characters, remaining totally silent on others and just seemed to have less, I don't know, spark? than the previous three books. In his acknowledgement page, Mr. Martin said "This one was a bitch." I had to laugh because I figured he suffered through it more than his readers did. He explained why he wrote the book this way and promised our old, faithful characters would be back in the fifth book.

The fourth book was written in 2005. His fifth book only came out this year. SIX years. That's a long time to spend with a book. You kind of need to be a bit obsessed to stay with a story this long. Which leads me to the question in the title of this post: is obsession with a story always a good thing for your writing? I know that when writers start off with a story idea that initial burst of obsession doesn't always stay. I know I can get tired of my story after working on it for a few months. I can't even imagine working on it for years! I know it's different when you build a world as complex as Mr. Martin has. But I wonder does he ever feel like chucking it all and writing a completely different story set in another world with other characters? Is he still obsessed or does he even need to be to write a good story? Can the passion for your story come through when you are sick to death of it?

A lot of questions I pose and I have no answers. What about you writers and readers out there? What do you think - is obsession with your story necessary to make it good?

Slow Progress Better than No Progress

2011-07-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but the concept of 'slow' is a real irritant for me. I've grown accustomed to fast-paced city life. I grew up in a rural farming community and, believe me, I know the concept of slow. There is nothing more frustrating than being caught behind a crawling tractor with a wide-load combine taking up most of the space on a rural road when you are running late for an English exam! When I moved to the city I was at first overwhelmed by how fast things sped by - both highway and people! The stereotype of rushing here and there, get 'er done yesterday, no time to waste really is a part of city life. Especially city life with 3 kids, full-time job, dog, and home renovation to contend with! But I adapted - even welcomed - that faster pace.

When I began the journey into book publishing people warned me how slow it could be at times and it's very true - and very frustrating. Weirdly, lately things in this business seem to be changing at the speed of light (e.g. self-publishing, agents getting into that part of the business, etc). But everyone still agrees that publishing slows down over the summer. For once, I'm glad there is slowness. I'll tell you why.

Per my blog post last week, I have a few goals to meet over the summer. And every one of them seems to be going slower than my never-ending house renovation (publishing isn't the only slow business, people. Construction - especially on my house! - is SLOW.) I've only been trying to lose ten pounds for one week and I only managed to lose 2. I wanted to revise a chunk of my wip and I only got through 4 chapters. I wanted to clear out the mess of paper in my office and I only got through one pile. I wanted to organize the stuff in my house for a yard sale and haven't come close. I wanted to get my wonky back straightened out and it's still wonky.

But slow progress is still better than nothing. Going slow has its benefits (as all those proponents of slow cooking will tell you). Losing weight slowly tends to stay off longer. Four chapters of revision is a start and there is no way a quick revision helps a book become better. One pile of paper is one less to go through. And those other two projects - well, a back is a complicated thing and miracles take time. A shot of cortizone is not going to help me in the long run. The yard sale organizing … well, I just have no excuse for that (beyond the fact I hate going through stuff and would just as soon send all of it to Goodwill. I may still end up doing that.)

My point (and I do have one) is that sometimes it's better to take things slowly - especially when that thing is important to you. The care with which we undertake to do something always shows up in the final product. There is a time and place for speed, certainly. But if something matters to you, taking the time to do it right is a hundred times better than a quick fix, get it off my desk, approach. Inevitably, those quick fixes break faster and you'll just have to re-do them later.

So, count this writer as one who is thankful that summertime is slow. The livin' may not exactly be easy but the pressure cooker doesn't need to be on when it's this hot outside!

Goals and Public Accountability

2011-07-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back from vacation, have dumped the kids on my parents for ten days, and I suddenly find myself with TIME on my hands. Time? Time? Whah?? *cue Nelsa wandering aimlessly around wondering what to do with herself*

After the shock wears off I will realize that while I have some time NOW, there isn't a lot of time before September hits and the crazy of my life begins again. This is akin to those ticking clocks in the movies where you know a bomb is about to go off and the hero has only a certain amount of time to save the world. While I don't have a world to save I do have A LOT of unfinished projects I've been ignor - uh, waiting for the right time to get to them. So, no time like the present, right??

So, what does this mean? It means giving myself a good kick in the butt to get some things accomplished that's what! And here's where a good dose of public humiliation - uh, accountability - comes in.

There are 7 weeks until the beginning of September. Not a lot of time to get things done but that's why they call things a challenge, right? I am here to publicly vow the following:

1. I WILL finish my revision by September 1st and be ready to query it in the fall.
2. I WILL lose ten pounds by September 1st (no more potato chips this summer dammit!! I will also be stepping on that bathroom scale every morning now - no avoiding the horror any longer.)
3. I WILL go through all the boxes and cupboards and general JUNK we have carted with us at the rental and organize it for a yard sale.
4. I WILL clean up the towering piles of paper in my office. Shred and file will be my favourite words.
5. I WILL get my wonky back straightened out. Doctors, chiro, physio, exercise - whatever it takes. I'm tired of seizing up like an old car.

Okay. Five's enough. I'm already daunted by the prospect of what I have to do. Losing those 10 pounds seems the most impossible task of all. Gah.

But now that I've put it out publicly in the universe I can't take it back. Stampsies no erasies.

Oh. Thought of one more.

6. I WILL forgive myself if I don't accomplish all these goals. (Everyone needs a Plan B, okay??)

How about you? Do you prefer to keep your goals to yourself or is a little public shaming a big motivator?

The Lost Art of Doing Nothing

2011-07-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

I know adults tend to romanticize their childhoods somewhat. Especially our summers. Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer where life was one long stretch of time with not enough stuff to do to fill it. Now I know that's not entirely true. Many kids had to work long hours on parents farms or family businesses. But, even though I do remember the work, I also remember that there wasn't this rush, rush kind of feeling that I think is happening too much with today's generation of kids. Get up early to get to this camp, come home and run to this practice, take this lesson, plan a play date, whatever but make sure every minute of every hour is scheduled with SOMETHING to do. Even when it's summer.

After a weekend getaway to the cottage I got to thinking about my kids and what they'll remember about their summers. My first daughter was put into a lot of summer camps up until she was thirteen or so. We don't have much family around here so all she got for down time in the summer was a one or two week stint on my parents farm or a one or two week vacation with us. Same thing with Daughter Two. By the time The Boy arrived the girls were sick of camps. The Boy went to a few but this year he rebelled. When we asked him what one or two week camps he wanted to attend (swimming? Golf? Tennis?) he said, "I just want to be bored this summer."

I totally get that. The Boy is so overscheduled during the school year I'm not surprised he's burnt out. Plus, he's more of an introvert and needs quiet down time to recharge his batteries. School takes a lot out of him and add to that the three times a week he's at Tae Kwon Do and the 4 or 5 times a week he's at hockey the kid gets wiped. So, when he wanted to do 'nothing' this summer I said okay. But nothing still includes three times a week Tae Kwon Do, a weekly hockey treadmill session to improve his stride, and one 3 on 3 hockey game Wednesday nights. Compared to his regular schedule that's cake. Still, during the day he's free (a minimal amount of chores notwithstanding).

Last night, I was supposed to take him to Tae Kwon Do but when I got home he wasn't there. His sister said he'd gone to a particular friend's house but when I called he wasn't there. Not unusual for The Boy to take off to one place on his bike and end up at another without calling us to let us know (a horrible habit we can't seem to break him of). So, with 15 minutes until the Tae Kwon Do class I'm driving through the neighbourhood searching for him, silently cursing his irresponsibility under my breath and trying not to let images of strangers kidnapping my son off the street enter my anxious brain. I find him at a local park. The sun is just about to lower behind the trees so the light is hazy and the park is speckled with shade from the surrounding trees. There are people playing tennis, a few mom's and their babies are in the playground area and there, sitting on the swings is The Boy dragging his flip flops through the sand, talking with a neighbourhood girl we haven't seen in a while. His friend is also beside him doing the same thing, staring into space. All their bikes are jumbled in a heap on the grass. It is one of those 'moments' that makes me flash back to a feeling of my childhood summers - that lazy, kind of bored, but comfortable sensation of not having to go anywhere, just hanging out, talking with a friend, probably asking each other "What do you guys want to do?" and no one having any idea. Just. Doing. Nothing.

I didn't make him go to Tae Kwon Do (for which I got heck from my husband. Oh, well.)

I did make him go home and cut the grass because he didn't tell me where he'd been since 2 p.m.

There is a time for doing nothing and I'm glad The Boy is experiencing that. There is also a time to do chores. After all, it's never too late to teach kids about trying to have balance in your life. :)

How Many Risks Are You Willing To Take?

2011-06-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

I was pointed to this article via Debbie Ohi (@inkygirl on Twitter) written by the always brilliant Ms. Jane Friedman. It was full of helpful questions and thoughtful observations about what it takes to become a successful writer. And it's not always about talent. It is a lot about how how many risks you take and how you respond to failure.

There is one line that really caught my attention. Ms. Friedman says

"It’s the old cliché: Nothing risked, nothing gained. Playing it safe as a writer will lead to mediocre writing at best. If you’re not failing, you’re not shooting high enough."

Which made me think about the kind of person I am and whether I have enough courage to take the risks I need to challenge myself - both as a person and as a writer. I'm a cautious person by nature. I think things through and weigh the pros and cons of every decision. I'm a slow and steady wins the race kind of gal who is comfortable with a certain level of routine and a need to plan ahead so there are few to little surprises in store (did I mention I hate surprise birthday parties, too?) Makes me sound pretty dull and boring, no? Yeah, that's what I think too. But there is one thing about me that balances that cautionary nature out: once I make a decision, there is no looking back and re-assessing or regretting that decision. It is what it is and I will make the best of it and learn and grow from that decision.

Lately, I've been feeling the need to challenge myself more - and not only in writing but with other areas of life. I have felt that lack of challenge creating a restlessness within me. Now, with so many changes happening on the home front I am also looking to challenge myself on the writing front. How that will turn out, I don't know. But I do know that if I don't risk some things nothing will change and human beings have survived and dominated because they have adapted best to change.

Change, risk, failing, getting up again, trying something new, challenging the status quo, facing your fears, leaping into the great unknown - however you wish to describe it - is necessary and vital to keep you from becoming complacent and bored. And is that how you really want to feel on a daily basis? Not me. So, say it with me folks, a little risk is a good thing. If I fail it meant I at least tried.

Diary Writing and What it Can Teach You

2011-06-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

How many of you were diary writers as kids? I know a few people who kept diaries but I wonder out of the writers I've met what percentage kept a diary and for how long? The reason I'm asking these questions was because I recently did an interview on Deb Marshall's blog and one of the questions she asked me was what advice I would give to young (and young as in 8-13 years old) writers. The first thing that immediately popped into my head was writing in a diary.

I used to keep a diary from about 11 years old until I was maybe, thirteen or so. Then I kept a diary all through my late twenties until I began writing fiction. I still have those diaries. I remember when I was in Grade 7 I wrote - whether I wanted to or not - in that diary every night for months. I often wonder whether that was the inception of my later discipline for writing regularly? What I am sure of is that it was the development of not only a good habit but it was also the early stirrings of developing craft.

Diary or journal entries allow us to describe our inner feelings, our daily activities, our friends and families, the events in our lives. Basically, it helps you to write character, emotion and plot. Kind of essential skills for a writer. I know it's hard (for some kids) to create a story out of thin air but they can all describe what happened to them on a given day. They can all describe how they felt at a particular moment or how someone looked when they dropped ice cream all over their new shirt. Diary writing skills are not self indulgent, navel gazing that is a waste of time. Diaries can tell us a lot about ourselves and our world. And, for this writer anyway, writing a diary was the start of a long, long love affair with the written word...

I guess I'm still writing a diary all these years later. We just call them 'blogs' now! :) How about you? Did you or do you still keep a diary? And what has it taught you?

The Hardest Writing Lesson to Learn

2011-06-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

Of all the things that make up a good book - active dialogue, believable and empathetic characters, kick-ass plot, strong narrative structure, increasing conflict, external and internal goals, etc. etc. (put the next hundred important things in writing a book here ___) one of the most important is probably one of the simplest - yet hardest - to do.

Putting the book aside after you've drafted it and waiting.

I think waiting, and all its subtle torments, is especially hard for writers (see my older posts tagged 'waiting' and my own struggles with that elusive virtue). But, like the proverb says, good things do come to those who wait. Especially when you've finished your first draft or when you're about to tackle an editor's or agent's revision letter. I know, I know. It's so, so tempting to send the thing out there once you've drafted it. You can feel it. It's so close to perfect! You feel the passion of that book. You want it to be read! Why wait to revise after you've already spent months working on it? What more could you possibly do to those thousands of words? Well, in the immortal words of Yoda (who never said this but totally could have!) "Oh, young Skywalker. More you can do, yes."

Would you advocate your son or daughter marrying someone after only two or three dates? Heck, even two or three months worth of dates? No, you say. Of course not. To know someone - really know someone - takes time. How can you learn all the nuances of this complex person in such a short time? You only begin to understand someone through exploring their layers: first the superficial - the looks, the sound of the voice, the physical mannerisms. Then, after a time comes the deep conversations, the surprise revelations, the knowledge that there is good and maybe not so good in this book - I mean person! Anyway, you get my meaning, I hope? Time and distance can make you see a person more clearly. The same thing applies to a book.

I'm thinking about this now because I'm about to enter into my editor's revision for The Break. Since submitting and receiving word that it was accepted for publication I have not opened it. Not once. In 9 months. Because I knew that the time away from it would make me see it more clearly. So now I can look upon it with a slight detachment that will make it easier to make choices about it. That will, hopefully, make me fall in love with it again.

And as for the WIP I finished a couple of weeks ago? We're on a break right now for a couple of months. My WIP understands. It knows how important it is to explore other novels for a time. That way when we start seeing each other again, I'll know it's the one for me and what we have to in order to make the relationship work.

So, what about you? Do you take a break from your draft? And for how long?

The "Y" of Character in "X-Men: First Class"

2011-06-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

I saw the latest installment of the X-men franchise on the weekend and I can't gush enough about it to people. Smart, funny screenplay. Great sets and action sequences. Love the 1960's setting. But the best part, for me, was the way the screenwriters developed the characters so that for those of us who have been fans of the whole franchise and have seen the older versions of the characters, we now get to see not just the "X" but the "Y" of the way they are. It's all about the motivation - why ("Y") a character does what he or she does sells the story - for me anyway. And the X-Men writers did a great selling job.

The two characters whose motivation are best revealed in First Class are the two that are the villains in the original movies: Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). Magneto is given such a rich history - Nazi concentration camp survivor, what the villain in this movie did to his mother, how it was done and how it affected Magneto, how the young Magneto's mind and emotions now work because of it, his complicated yet respectful friendship with Professor X. All of this was backstory in the earlier movies but now becomes its own story here. Each facet of this character's emotional make-up is done with action/tension and we are shown how all of what preceded in his life leads directly to his later actions. Because we are shown all of these bits and pieces of him - many not very pleasant - we understand "Y" he does what he does. He's not a typical hero character - how could he be when he becomes a villain later on? Yet he is definitely the hero of this movie. Nothing he says or does makes the viewer think, "Well, where did THAT come from?" We absolutely believe it when he finally becomes the Magneto we know at the end of this movie. And though we know he will do despicable things, we still have sympathy for him because the writers have shown the complexity of who he is - the good and the bad. THAT is great character building people.

Now, Mystique. Wow. I so loved what happened with this character. I was so surprised to find out what she was like as a child/teenager. The role in the earlier movies was so much more one-dimensional and, had I known her backstory in those movies, I would have been more sympathetic to her. I knew Mystique had this obsession/love/commitment to Magneto. But I never understood it because it was never really explained that well. "Y" was she was so devoted to this villain? In X-Men: First Class we are shown "Y" she became who she became. It was done in two or three small scenes with Magneto, it didn't take up a lot of screen time, but because the writers had shown her insecurities - had shown her weak spot - we could understand "Y" she would turn from the 'good' to the 'bad'. She did it because Magneto saw and loved the real her when everyone around her wanted her to 'fit in'. Magneto encouraged her to embrace her mutation - to be herself and proud of it. So we believed it when she made her choice. It was a natural evolution of her characters thoughts, feelings and, eventual, actions. Just so well done.

I love it when movies teach me how to evolve characters in writing. X-Men: First Class is a master class in character motivation. If you haven't already seen it go forth and enjoy.

The Necessity of Scaling Back

2011-05-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

You may or may not have noticed (or cared :) that for the last couple of weeks I've only been posting on the blog once per week. No, it's not me being lazy or forgetful. I made a conscious decision that for the next little while I need to scale back on a few activities - one of which is how often I really need to post on this blog.

I'm not advocating a complete retreat from social networking - far from it. I will still be on Twitter and Facebook and on Verla Kay's message boards. I don't think I overuse my time on those sites (well, Verla's can be an addiction, I must admit). I think every writer needs to have connectivity to other writers in order to survive, maintain sanity and impart and receive support. I will also still visit the blogs of fellow writers and gain knowledge, laughs, tears on whatever topic catches my interest that day. Again, this is not about complete retreat - it is about determining what is essential. It is about how much time I spend on what activity and, for me, the blog posts took up more thought and time space than those other things.

It is not a coincidence that I've finished the rough first draft of a WIP that's been a long time gestating in the same period that I scaled back on doing posts for the blog. I found I was thinking way too much about what to post every few days than what I needed to be worrying about - what to write so I could finish this damn book! So why, now that I have the first draft, am I not going to blog twice weekly again? Because, for me, the most important part of writing - the re-writing - is when I have to have the most focus. This revision is probably going to be the hardest one I've ever done. The book will expand and contract in numerous ways. Ultimately, what I have to remember is the philosophy of scaling back: there is too much unnecessary clutter in our lives and when we let go of those things that are not absolutely essential we are free to make the necessary things so much more important and meaningful in our lives.

Think about it. If you had to give up a few things related to your writing life what would they be? The only essential thing, really, is the writing. It is the water we all need to drink from in order to survive and thrive. So, yeah, I'll be drinking a lot more of it these days. :)

Why Does it Get Harder the Closer You are to Finishing?

2011-05-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

For every writer who has ever written "The End" on a piece of work there is no greater thrill or sense of satisfaction during the whole process. I've missed that thrill for a great long while now. For a variety of reasons (my first book released last year, I submitted my option book last fall, I've had two WIP's that have stopped and started for a variety of reasons, my mom got cancer, we're in the middle of a major house reno, you know ... Life?) Anyway, I'm now approaching the last fifty pages of the book and I'm so close I can taste the end. So why the heck is it so hard to get there?

I'm thinking, for me, it's a couple of things. For this WIP I have a vague idea of the ending but it keeps shifting as my characters do unexpected things. That's okay, I can handle shifts but it means I need to add in another scene to get the right resolution. I can't just leave things hanging. I hate endings that don't feel complete. I'm okay with some open endedness but I need to close up some loops on a few characters and the action just hasn't stopped! I've had the first climax of one storyline and now I'm approaching the second climax. After that things get resolved fairly quickly. But approaching that climax? That's climbing the mountain, that's stretching the calf muscles a bit more than rolling down the hill toward the end. And that's always why it's harder for me to get to that finish line. There's the climb just before it.

How about you? Is reaching the end the easiest part of the book for you? Or is it a bit of a struggle?

Spring Cleaning Your Novel

2011-05-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

I don't know if there's any truth to that whole spring cleaning frenzy people seem to enter when the days turn longer and warmer (it's certainly never affected me before) but the last couple of weeks I've really felt the urge to clean house. It's not just the basic laundry and vacuuming but I'm talking clean out the van, organize clothes, eliminate unnecessary 'stuff', even cleaning out old messages on my cell phone (and I hardly ever do that!). Just an overall less is more attitude has pervaded my consciousness. I've even pulled back from the little social networking I do attempt and, instead of logging on at night, I'm reading more, being more 'present' rather than distracted by endless web-searching for useless tidbits of information that clutter your brain and trying to live more in the moment. As for my writing, even though I haven't 'quite' finished my wip (but the end is in sight people! Yes it is!) I'm already thinking about how I can 'purge' some unnecessary 'stuff' in it.

Usually, my first drafts are lean - meaning after revision I end up with a few thousand more words because I add in more description, layer in more meaning, add a scene that deepens characterization, etc. But for this wip I'm now approaching the 65,000 word mark. My goal is to hit no more than 70,000 words. With what I know I still have left to write, I may inch over that mark. I also know that there are a couple of short scenes that I need to add in as a sub-plot. I may be heading into 75,000 words at that point. This is not a huge problem but it is heading towards the upper range for contempory YA. But then my wip is a fairy-tale inspired YA so maybe I have a bit more wiggle room because it's not exactly a contemporary - but it's not exactly a fantasy either and not exactly a paranormal. Yeah. I like to make my life difficult. :) Regardless, I really do not want to make this longer than 70,000-75,000 words. So, I know will have to purge.

I know that most of the purging will be done in the first half of the book. It took me awhile to get to the end of this wip and I took a few detours along the way that either have to be trimmed or cut altogether. A couple of secondary characters didn't pan into much by the end of the book so I'll have to lesson their importance at the beginning while beefing up the presence or changing some motivations for some others. There's always the little things that add up and are an easy clean: unnecessary words like 'that' and 'seemed'. Too many dialogue tags or repetition of information. Scenes that are 'filler' - don't progress the plot or deepen characterization. Combining scenes where one can do both of these things. Like any good spring cleaning, I know things have to get messier before they get cleaner so I really hope all my moving around and throwing things out won't end up making the wip messier than it is right now. But the urge to purge is still strong in me. I have a vision of a more organized, well-put together story that hopefully will appear seamless to a reader. Like the result of any good cleaning, when you enter a room you may not notice all the details like the plumped up pillows or dust-free tables but you will sense a peacefulness - a sense of zen - that allows you to enjoy the room as a whole. A good book should be the same - don't let clutter destroy what is essentially a really good story.

So, are any of you spring cleaning your novels? Any tips you can share to help clear away the mess?

How Do You Measure Success as a Writer?

2011-05-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

When I began writing - almost nine years ago now! - I hadn't made any kind of plan, or listed my goals or anything that many writing organizations or professional coaches tell their clients to do when embarking on a business. I suppose it was because I didn't consider my writing to be a business. It was - and still is - my artistic outlet in a life filled with non-artistic pursuits (well, except for my kids. I think they're pretty awesome works of art, myself. :) But once you publish - heck, even way before you publish - people are constantly reminding you that this is a business. And to be successful in it - and why would you deliberately set out to fail? - then it does make sense to have some measures by which you, as a writer, can define whether you feel you've been successful. The issue is: what exactly are those measures?

Now I'm not talking about other peoples measures of success. Other people's definition of success is theirs and shouldn't be applied to you because, like everything in this business, it is subjective. One person might say someone is successful only when they've achieved the fame and numbers of books sold of a J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins. If that's your measure then great! But, personally, my measures have always been less 'out there' and maybe not as obvious in the typical business definition of success (i.e. money). For me, my measures have been to make my writing stronger and better with each book and to put myself 'out there' in the social network arena as much as I can without making myself overly-stressed and too uncomfortable. Is that it, you say? How puny those measures seem to be! But I could have kept my writing to myself - I kept a journal for many years and could have continued to do that. But I needed to stretch myself and the only way to do that was to have my writing put out there for others to see. One of the first measures of success was letting others read my work without getting physically ill over the thought. Got over that so Yay! Successful!! Then it was querying agents and letting them judge my work. Got over that so Yay! Success number two. Actually landing an agent? Wow, I'm feeling pretty successful. Go me. Getting a book published. A dream. No way. But it happened. Another measure of success attained. The biggest yet. Yes!

So, then, after all that, I must be successful, right? And, by my measures, I am. By others? Maybe not. I'm not a household name. I haven't sold a gajillion books. Or gotten a movie deal or ______ (insert your measure of success here). But I've met mostly all the measures of success I set out to do plus a few more like gotten good reviews, a second book contract, I'm in lots of public libraries, and I just learned that I earned out my advance. As a bonus my independent publisher is supportive and believes in my work and continues to champion all their authors works so I've had a lovely publishing experience with them. These may not be huge measures of success for others but they are for me. I believe myself to be successful for the place I'm in now. But, by the same token, my measures are constantly changing as life happens and circumstances change. After all, evolution is the only way to survive in life and in business.

But what is the one constant measure of success that I know will never change for me? Writing the best book I am capable of at the time. For me, writing is a marathon, not a sprint and the only measure of success that matters is set by me and not others.

What about you? How do you define your success as a writer?

Self-Criticism and 5 Ways to Stop It from Paralyzing Your Writing

2011-05-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

I am, like most writers I think, an extremely picky person about my writing. I don't know if it is a gene or if it's because we read so much and see so many amazing stories out there but this tendency to look so critically at our own work can absolutely paralyze us sometimes. And, for me, rather than losing this self-criticism over the years of writing it's gotten worse. Why? Because I have learned so much and I see, so much more clearly now, where the problems lie and, unlike a beginning writer, I'm no longer unaware of the pit falls that can crop up as I'm drafting a story. Things like weak story structure, shallow characterization, slow pacing, lack of plot … my God, the issues could go on and on. It's enough to make a person shut off their computer for life.

But we love stories. We should love writing them! Obviously, with so many stories out there, other writers have silenced their self-criticism (or, at the very least, put ear muffs on). So then how can we, as writers, stop those critical voices in the back of our heads telling us our writing/story is just not up to snuff? The following may not work for you but here are some of the things I do to become unstuck.

1. Study
When in doubt, take a class, read a writing book (two books I recommend and that always inspire and help me work through problems are Stephen King's On Writing and Jack Bickham's Scene and Structure), go to a conference or read a book you really admire and analyze why it's so darn good. I'm a big believer in researching information when something is scaring me or blocking me from progress. Store that information you obtain like a squirrel does acorns in a tree. When that awful winter of discontent (your self-criticism) hits you then you burrow into your nest and eat those acorns you've stored so you can survive the winter.

2. Get Critiqued
I know it's scary to let what you think is crappy writing be seen by people. This is the one bit of advice I struggle with the most. I only let my CP and then my agent see what I think is my best work. Maybe that's wrong - especially when I'm slogging through a rough patch. But what you should never do is assume that you can see your work clearly because what you think is crap could be gold. What you think is gold could be dreck. Yes, you make the final call but if your self-criticism is clouding your judgement then get someone else to give you fresh eyes.

3. Get Inspired By Other Writers
It's easy to let the progress of others make you feel like you're a sluggish writer who is not producing enough words or, worse yet, words that aren't worth reading. Yeah, how's that negativity working for you? Not so much? Then use their progress to inspire you. My CP is inspiring me with her progress on her first draft of a women's fiction novel. It's going really well for her and her excitement excites me and makes me remember what it's like to be on that finishing a novel wave that's cresting toward shore. Another writer I know is also finishing her book. She's struggling with it - especially as it's getting toward the end. So she's not exactly riding a wave but she's swimming against a current that seems determined to keep pushing her back. But she's not giving up and that inspires me too. If she can do it, even if she's hating that story right now, so can I. Remember: Fellow writers are not your competition - they are - or should be - your inspiration.

4. Work on Another Project
If you are truly hating the work, then start something else. Maybe it's just noodling out a new idea to work on later. Maybe it's a short story. Maybe it's a completely new genre you've always wanted to try. Whatever it is, use that to get excited again - sometimes the thrill of a new idea or new area is enough to smother those self-criticism creatures long enough for you to move forward again.

And the most important thing...

5. Whatever You Do - Don't Stop Writing
This is critical. I don't care if you have to tie yourself to a chair to stare at that screen or look at that journal the best thing you can do is force out the words. Even if it's one measley paragraph a day. Defeat is not when you write crap. Defeat is when you don't write at all. Those crappy words (or so you think) that you are putting down were not there before - that in itself should be celebrated, not criticized. Pushing through the hard part of writing makes you a better writer - even if you don't believe you are. Once those words are down celebrate that achievement. It's like when my son makes an ugly goal in hockey - lying on his stomach, stretching out his stick to shove that puck in the net. Yes, it's ugly. But he got the job done. He didn't give up and say, "Well, I'm lying on the ice. Why bother even trying?" Get those ugly words down. You never know which ones will become a goal.

I'm sure there are many other ways you may have to stop the voices of self-criticism. Please share! I'm always looking for inspiration.

The Return of the Prodigal Daughter

2011-04-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

Daughter One finished her last exam yesterday and I'll be picking her up from university tomorrow to bring her back home for the summer. I am both excited and apprehensive about this. Excited because I've missed her and our chats about movies, life, books, clothes and whatnot. Apprehensive because she's been away, living as an almost adult, for over 8 months now and is used to coming and going as she sees fit and not having a worried mom and dad looking over her shoulder every second of the day. Now, she'll be living with us again and we have to settle into a new family dynamic. I really don't know how this will turn out.

I've discovered in the time D1 has been away that a life of blissful ignorance for parents can be a really good thing. When she first left I'd be texting and calling frequently, mostly to see if all was going well and to be assured she was adjusting to life in the dorm and away from home. I needn't have worried. D1 was ready to leave home at 10. She has LOVED her first year at university and, I think, if she could she'd stay there year round and be perfectly happy to do so. It's not that she doesn't love us but she's had a fabulous year and is already excited and planning her involvement with the university for her second year coming up in September. The only thing she's really excited about in coming home for the summer is getting a job and making some money :)

So,in the past eight months I've become used to worrying about her from a distance which is a totally different kind of worry than when a child is home. The transition from child to adult is hard enough on the teen but, my God, as a parent I'm struggling with it now that she's coming home from such a long time away. How much do I get involved in her life now? What do I need to know about what she's doing while living under my roof? How do rules apply to her as opposed to her other two, younger siblings?

I've already promised her that I will try and be as laid back as my control-oriented personality will allow. All I told her was, "Please, just let me know if you'll be home late and text me if you are staying at a friend's house otherwise I'll get absolutely no sleep this summer." She assured me that since all her friends are of legal age now to go out to clubs and she's got to wait until later in the year not to worry she won't be out that late. Yeah, right. Like she'll be hanging out at the library when her friends are out partying. Uh-huh.

But, as any parent who is lucky enough to still have a decent relationship with their kids as they hit this young adulthood age, we have to remember that we are blessed to see them progressing not only in age but hopefully in wisdom. I only hope some of that wisdom rubs off on me too.

So as my prodigal daughter returns I ask the universe to grant me the following wishes:

Please let me have the wisdom to keep my mouth shut when I need to.
Please let me know when to prod and ask her to talk about things that may be bothering her.
Please let me understand that she won't want to talk to Mom about many things. And please let me be okay with that.
Please let me remember that I am also evolving as a mother and that our relationship is evolving (or should be) as well.
Please let me remember that she is still only 'almost' an adult and won't necessarily always speak or behave as one all the time.
Please let her do her own laundry.

Those are pretty reasonable wishes, right? Well, maybe I was pushing it on the laundry one ...

Rainy Day Randomness and 7 Things You didn't Know About Me

2011-04-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone's Easter weekend was lovely and restful. Mine was spent visiting my folks back on the farm. Only hubby had to stay here to deal with reno stuff and Daughter One had an exam on the Saturday so couldn't come down. I did briefly get to see her on the way back home Sunday night and she'll be home for the summer this Friday so that's good! What wasn't so good was my car battery dying while at my folks but that's okay - Dad charged it. What wasn't ok was me locking the keys in my van while cleaning the inside of it. Oi. Thank God for CAA. As a result of all the running/driving around/general craziness I didn't get to see my old buddy Jan (sorry bud! :( and I didn't really plan a blog post for today. Luckily I'm home on a planned vacation day and I found that one of my lovely fellow bloggers, Kelly Hashway, at http://www.kellyhashway.com/apps/blog/ awarded me the Stylish Blogger award! Thank you Kelly! And congrats to her on her just released picture book May The Best Dog Win!

But to receive this award I understand I must share 7 things about myself that you all may not have already known. I can't imagine what you don't already know about me but here goes:

1. I've travelled to Portugal, Spain, Florida, South Carolina, PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, New York City, Las Vegas, Cuba, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Israel.
2. I REALLY want to travel to California, see the Grand Canyon, tour the Greek Islands, and visit Hawaii. Oh, and England and Ireland of course. Sigh. One day, one day...
3. When I was 29 I went to Israel to work as a volunteer on an archaelogical dig where we dug up a 3,000 year old Phoenician cemetary. We stayed on a kibbutz near the Lebanese border. Never got a chance to travel to Jerusalem. Big regret on that but that whole trip made me live out my childhood fantasy of becoming an archaelogist.
4. My favourite bad snack is Humpty Dumpty Bar-b-q chips (I think they're only available in Canada)
5. My favourite meal that requires no cooking is French bread, pate, olives and cheese. Put me on a Greek island with that meal and a good book and I've found nirvana.
6. My favourite meal that requires actual cooking - anything in a restaurant. (I know you all know I hate cooking)
7. My favourite TV mini-series is Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. However, (and this is a momentous admission people) I think that might have been supplanted last night when I watched BBC's North and South for the first time with Richard Armitage. Holy smoldering dark romantic hero people! I'd seen Richard in the mini-series Robin Hood as Sir Guy of Gisbourne but this mini-series is what launched his career. The last ten minutes of the series is probably the most romantic thing you will watch. EVER. If you haven't seen it go forth immediately and watch.

'nuff said.

And that's it. Thanks for letting me be random on this rainy day!

Is Finishing Your Story Always a Good Thing?

2011-04-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

So before you assume that the question in the title of this blog post is the result of my love-hate affair with my current wip, let me first state unequivocally that I absolutely believe that writers need to complete a novel before they can see whether the story works or not. You learn soooo much by writing the entire character and story arc of a novel that the question I just posed should probably never be posed. And yet...

As much as I believe in this in theory, and as much as I believe in this in practice (dear God, the PRACTICE you get from writing a complete novel - or several complete novels - is priceless)there sometimes comes a point when a writer thinks "I'm beating a dead horse here. The story is not coming together. The spark is gone." But when does a writer know when a story is truly dead? Maybe it's just in a coma. Let me offer a case in point.

My next novel, THE BREAK (coming out in Spring 2012), I'd abandoned in the murky middle before sending it to my agent along with another (complete but needing revision) novel. I wanted her advice as to which story should be the one I concentrate on. She felt THE BREAK had more potential. I turned back to it (after a good several months away)and something clicked. Not sure if it was the agent's validation, not sure if the break on THE BREAK (sorry, couldn't resist)was all I needed. Whatever it was, I forged on and finished it in a couple of months after that. Now it's being published next year after I'd initially abandoned it (can't really remember the reasons now. Probably the same frustrations I have whenever I get to the middle. But my point is, it was a good thing I finished it because it will see the light of day now. And yet...

I'm 3/4 's of the way through the first draft of two books. I'm having issues with both of them. I stopped one last fall to start work on a 'shiny new idea' and wrote to the murky middle on that one, edged past the middle, decided it wasn't working for me, went back to the one I'd abandoned, fell in love again, wrote to the almost end point, noticed a whole slew of flaws (the biggest one being that it's supposed to be a paranormal when there isn't enough paranormal in it) and I'm now thinking "What's the point? I'm beating a dead horse here. The story is not coming together. The spark is gone."

And yet...

I hate not finishing a story. I keep thinking if I just keep working at it, maybe the spark will ignite again. But then sometimes, maybe trying to work up a fire in a dead hearth just exhausts you. And maybe, sometimes, it would make more sense to gather up some new wood and get that crackling fire going without so much huffing and puffing to fire up that one, small coal buried under a lot of burnt out wood.

I guess my question to you all is: how do you know when the fire in your story is really out?

What's the Kiss of Death in a Novel for You?

2011-04-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

I know that appreciation for a novel and whether someone thinks it's good or bad is a subjective thing. I know that depending on your mood, a reader could pick up a novel one day and think it dreck and on another day might be so engrossed in it that they miss picking up their kids from school. But in the last week, two writer friends have both said the same thing about two different novels (neither one of which I have read) that made me think this one descriptor is probably the worst thing someone could say about a novel - for me, anyway. The thing they mentioned? The books were BORING.

For me, that one word is the kiss of death for a novel. I hadn't planned on reading one of the books (it was the last in a series I'd never gotten into) and now I likely never will. But the other one had been on my list to pick up. I'd actually been looking forward to when it came out in paperback so I could have a good summer cottage read. But now? With the BORING label stuck on it? Nuh-uh. I can forgive a lot of things: characters that are TSTL (Too Stupid To Live), overly-complicated plots, writing that is too bare-bones, or too overblown, but a boring story? That's it.

Now boring could, of course, mean different things to different people. But the way these two writers described the books to me, it sounded very similar. Basically, a whole lot of nothing happening for a whole lot of pages. No conflict, no action, page after page of descriptive prose about setting, just … nothing. The writing was good. In both cases written by very accomplished authors. But a reason to keep turning the pages? Um, not there.

I've seen evidence of this meandering, boring, why-is-this scene-even-in-the-book? type of writing in many a novel. When it happens in the case of the last of a series (hello? The first half of the last couple of books in the HP series? Boring.) you still keep reading because you know there is a payoff at the end. Some big event that will be coming that will make the slog worthwhile. And maybe, when it gets to the end of a long series like HP, readers will want to stretch out that time until the end, not wanting to say good-bye to Harry and all that. But in a stand-alone novel? In a first time authors work? Why?

Yes, boring is subjective but character and good writing can only take you so far. Plot and conflict and making things worse for your characters is what keeps people turning a page (not talking about literary fiction here folks, just your average commercial book). Personally, I'd rather be accused of a whole slew of other issues in my writing but if someone tells me they were bored? Agh. As the inimitable Jack Nicholson once said "I'd rather stick needles in my eyes".

How about you? What's the the Kiss of Death for you in a novel?

Editors Revision Letter - Anticipation or Dread?

2011-04-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

I've recently had a few writer friends about to publish their first books mention how nerve wracking it is waiting for the revision letter to come from their editor. I can totally sympathize because when I was waiting for the revision letter for ILLEGALLY BLONDE I truly did not know what to expect. Even when you talk to your editor beforehand and they assure you that it won't be horrible, that they are there to help you work through it, you can't help but picture a massive evisceration of your novel coming at you at some point and you being left to put the torn apart body back in some manner that won't make your book look like Frankenstein's monster. Well, even though I'm by no means an old hand at this publishing game, I am now waiting for the revision letter for my second book, THE BREAK, to come sometime in the next few weeks and this time around, let me tell you, I am totally NOT dreading it. In fact, I am completely, one hundred percent, looking forward to it. Am I nuts? I don't think so. Let me explain.

A revision letter is actually a wonderful, exciting thing to receive. It is a gift. If it's from an editor you trust and with whom you enjoy communicating it is - or should be - a fascinating dialogue about your book. If you love your book, why wouldn't you love talking about it? Dissecting it? Looking at it from different angles. Yes, tearing it apart might be hard but a good editor (and I've been very lucky to have worked with a very good editor) will give you a blueprint. Sort of like an architect and a builder working together to make this book the most beautiful house it can be. Now note that I said 'working together'. This is key. In no way could I have worked with a dictatorial process. "You must remove this scene. You will change this character from a male to a female. You must make the ending a happy one, not the tear-jerker you have now." No. Working together means that the suggestions and questions an editor has of your story should be just that: suggestions and questions. And, for the writer's part, you should be open to all suggestions and willing to answer/consider all questions. As for whether you accept or reject suggestions, a writer has the ultimate responsibility to their story. I'm not advocating a writer dutifully say: "Oh, yes. You think that scene would be much better if those secondary characters were gone? Okay. I'll do that." Don't accept changes without thinking about them and what they would do to your story.

The writer should always have a reason to accept or reject a suggestion. Do you believe, as your editor has suggested, that the secondary characters clutter the scene with too much dialogue, taking away from the emotional impact of the heroine confronting the hero? Or do you believe that having the secondary characters there, watching the train wreck of a relationship crumbling in front of them, will make the scene more impactful for the reader? Whatever you decide, keeping them or letting them go, give the reasons for your decision to your editor. It may be enough for the editor to say: "Okay. Glad we agree." or "Hmm. I didn't think of that. Maybe you're right." or "Are you sure? Because if you do keep them then…" - and the dialogue will continue.

The other reason I'm anticipating getting that revision letter is simply because I LOVE revision. I hate first drafts and I'm in the middle of one now that is beating my butt so maybe that's why I'm looking forward to working on revisions. The chance to work on a novel that is 'finished' so to speak but that will benefit from some spit and polish is exciting to me. It makes me feel like there's progress being made. It's the decorating phase of the house build. All the boring wiring, plumbing, drywall, etc has been done. Now it's time to paint, select the right furniture, place it just so to make that house really show off well (You can tell I'm in the middle of a house reno right now, can't you?:))

So, to all my friends waiting for those letters or who have just received them: embrace this part of the process, don't dread it. It means your book is getting so close to being published!! What's to dread about that?

Things That Go Bump in the Night

2011-04-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

I don't write horror nor am I a particular rabid fan of the genre but I do admire those authors who can scare the beejeezus out of people. It is a talent most rare.

At one point in my life - primarily in my teenage and early twenties days - I was a huge Stephen King fan and loved watching horror movies. Reading the book IT made me even more deathly afraid of clowns. I have vivid recollections of the TV series Night Gallery (gah, The Earwig! Dolls coming to life *shudder*). I remember calling my friend Jan on the phone when we were both home alone at our respective houses watching the TV adaptation of King's 'Salem's Lot and at a crucial point (I think a vampire was floating outside the window of a 2nd floor bedroom asking to be let in or something) the roll-up blinds in Jan's bedroom flew up with a clatter causing her to scream over the phone and me to have a heart attack. I remember watching my brother reading The Exorcist and him having to put the book down every few minutes and pace around just to get a break from the tension. He still remembers seeing the movie when it first came out and the hype was about people fainting in the aisles during the screening. He said the producers weren't over-hyping. The movie was that freaky. I still have vivid memories about The Blair Witch Project and going home alone (8 months pregnant) thinking the movie wasn't that bad but, when faced with a dark, empty house (hubby and Daughters One and Two were gone) and calling up my Golden Retriever to the bedroom, allowing her to sleep in the bed with me (strictly a forbidden thing until that point) and locking the bedroom door against … what, really? Don't even get me started on Paranormal Activity or The Ring. Nightmares, I tell you.

So you'd think that with all those vivid recollections I would run the other way when my daughter said she wanted to see this very hyped and buzzed West End hit play called "Ghost Stories" that's now playing here in Toronto. I have to admit, the advertising is very well done. Warnings in the ads state:

"Please be advised that Ghost Stories contains moments of extreme shock
and tension. The show is unsuitable for anyone under the age of 14"

They even have videos showing audience members cowering behind their coats and screaming at key moments.

Ya. Sounds like fun, huh?

Well, instead of running the other way, the two daughters, my brother, hubby and I will be going to see it this Saturday (the Boy does NOT enjoy scary things. He will be at a friend's house well away from ghosts, demons and other supernatural beings). My brother has said that he wants his money back if he's not terrified when he turns off the lights that night. My brother is sick. The teenage girls like to be scared and love to scream so they're all in. My husband will think it's stupid. And me? I used to enjoy being frightened but now I'm not so sure. Why put myself through the stress? Yet, horror is a big business. Do it well and you've got a career out of it. Hello? Stephen King, R.L. Stine? But people wanting to be scared? I don't get it. What is it about some people that like to have that fear adrenaline rush?

What about you? What really scares you when you read or watch a movie (besides bad writing that is :)? I'll let you know if the play was as good as the hype or if the overpriced tickets were a scam. And if I survived...

Birth Order and Your Characters

2011-04-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

Ever since I read an article about how the birth order of children affects their personality I've been analyzing my family and friends to see if their character traits reflect or refute the birth order characteristics. Since every one of us lines up somewhere it's kind of a fun checklist to see whether this is fact or fiction. And speaking of fiction, here's my question: do you consciously attribute your hero/heroine's personality characteristics to their birth order?

I know in the case of my novels, I've had a younger sister (with an older brother), an older sister (with a younger brother), an only female child, an older brother (with a much younger brother). I have yet to write about a character with more than one sibling. As I read through the list below I can see that I have attributed many of the characteristics of the Oldest and Youngest to my characters. Maybe I did it because I was aware of this birth order theory but I didn't consciously set out to write them as a 'type'. Goodness, I hope my characters have a little more complexity than that. However, I have to admit many of the traits listed below can be attributed to my firstborn and youngest siblings that I've created. I haven't written a middle child character yet but, from the list below, it would be an interesting character study. Middles seem much more complex and harder to define than the other two (that's my Daughter Two for you!)

Below, I've excerpted the descriptions of the three main birth orders care of this article

OLDEST CHILD
First born children are natural leaders. They tend to be perfectionists, reliable and conscientious people. They don't react well to surprises and can be aggressive, but can often be people pleasers. Children who are first born have a strong need for approval by others.

Traits
Responsible
Conservative
Doesn’t make waves
Follows parents’ wishes
Emotionally intense
Authoritarian
Perfectionist
Driven
Surrogate parent
Leadership material
(Note: Only children are similar to first born children. However, they are even bigger perfectionists, are more responsible and tend to get along better with older people than individuals their own age)

MIDDLE CHILD
The middle child is often the most difficult to stereotype. Almost always guaranteed to be the opposite of their older sibling, middle children typically feel as though their older sibling stole the spotlight from them, while their younger siblings could get away with murder. They tend to be secretive, more withdrawn and not prone to talk about their emotions. Since middle children feel as though they were overlooked by their family they grow stronger connections with peers and are excellent people readers and peacemakers.

Traits
Peacemaker
Negotiator
Highly attuned to needs of others
Doesn’t like to follow authority
Creative
Independent
Peer-focused
“Chameleon”

YOUNGEST CHILD
Last born children tend to be outgoing, social butterflies. They are also the most financially unstable of all the other siblings since their primary interest is in having a good time. The youngest children of the family are often very charming, but can also be manipulative and spoiled

Traits
Comical/entertaining
Highly social
Laid back
Dependent
Creative
Unconventional
Few expectations of self

Please note that these traits may change based on the space of years between children and the female/male dynamic. For example, I'm the youngest of two but there were 7 years between me and my brother so I'm more like an only child.

What about your characters (or family members :) ? Do they follow these traits or at least some of them? Or do you think this is a bunch of hooey?

Celebrating Cinderella Ninja Warrior and Sleeping Beauty Vampire Slayer

2011-04-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

I'm so thrilled to help my good friend and fellow #torkidlit author Maureen McGowan celebrate the release of TWO (that's right, people, you heard me TWO) new YA books: Cinderella Ninja Warrior and Sleeping Beauty Vampire Slayer. Now if those titles aren't enough to make you run to your nearest bookstore and grab them off the shelf then the concept of having kick ass heroines save themselves instead of waiting for a prince to do it for them should get your butt in gear (hmm, I seem to be writing in a very 'kick butt' oriented kind of way. I'm already being influenced by the books). Not only do you get characters you'd want your pre-teen and teen daughter to emulate, the reader also get to choose which decisions our heroines must make along the way. Romance, adventure, humour and vampires? What's not to love?

But I have to confess, while I'm very excited about the concepts of these two books and what Maureen has done with them, I'm absolutely thrilled to celebrate the fact that Maureen is the one who wrote them. Anyone who has ever met her knows what a great personality, a wealth of writerly knowledge and a true-blue friend she is but, most importantly, Maureen is a GREAT writer. She's been nominated for the prestigious RWA Golden Heart award twice for two different books. (For those who don't know, RWA is the Romance Writer's of America. Being nominated for the Golden Heart is a very big deal folks.) Now that her first books are out everyone can get a chance to see what so many of us already know: Maureen is a true class act, a very fine writer and these will only be the first of many great stories we can expect from her. I'm always thrilled to celebrate when an author has spent years honing their craft and is finally being rewarded for their patience, perserverance and passion. Maureen has all three in spades (she may suggest her patience is over-rated)and this is a big deal for all who know and love her.

So, yeah, I'm celebrating and I hope you do too. Bring on the Ninja's and the Vampire Slayer's! Maureen's books are out! Whoo-Hoo!!!

What Genre of Writing Do You Wish You Could Write?

2011-04-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

A good writer should be able to write anything, right? I mean, if you have the chops to write a good horror story, why couldn't you write a good thriller or mystery, or a romance even. Lord knows a lot of romances could be classified as horror stories. :) And yet, we don't have many writers who cross all genres successfully. Not to say we don't have some. Nora Roberts excelled at romance and women's fiction and then moved into thriller territory writing as J.D. Robb and becoming just as big a writer there. You have quite a lot of romance writers branching into closely related genres like romantic suspense or women's fiction. And, of course, just about everyone is trying their hand at a YA these days. But cross genre writing is not that common a practice even though I'm sure many of us have a secret passion for writing a genre we love to read yet can't for the life of us nail down.

I wish I was one of those writers who could write every kind of genre and write it well. I mean, my reading is eclectic and I go from YA to romance to thriller to literary fiction depending on my mood. I used to love reading horror but less so these days. So why can't I write in all of those styles? I know my strength is YA and romance, maybe one day branching into women's fiction though that's a tough nut to crack. But the one genre I love and wish I could tackle and come out triumphant is historical romance. I love this genre. When it's written well it has everything I need: great heroes and heroines, rich, evocative settings, intrigue, chivalry, dastardly villains, a foray into a past time that makes me forget the stresses of today. I'm not a big fantasy reader but the world setting done in historical is just as important as a fantasy world and, I think, even harder to accomplish because there will always be a reader out there ready to pounce on you if you've gotten something wrong. I was so in love with historical fiction that it became my first attempt at writing a book. Specifically a middle grade story set in medieval England. I called it Castle Walls and it sucked. Well, I could see glimmers of my future writing voice in there but it definitely wasn't a historical voice. My 14th century heroine sounded suspiciously like a 21st century teen. But it was so much fun finding out about the peasant revolt and describing castles and moats and things like that. However, it wasn't meant to be. Probably a good thing :)

So, come on, fess up. Are there any genres that you have a secret hankering to write? And do you think you will one day?

One Year Ago Today

2011-03-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

One year ago today I was waiting for the release of my book Illegally Blonde. I wrote a blog post on the day before the release where I wrote these words

... for now I am taking a deep breath, being a bit more reflective of what this not insignificant event means and what it might - or might not - change in my life. It may not change anything in my future at all, really. But even if it doesn't I know what has led up to it has already changed me. Writing and publishing a book has opened my life up in so many different ways. I've met so many new and interesting people I'd never have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. I'm already changed, I hope, for the better. And because of that, I think I owe it to myself to reflect a little this week. To dream a little bit about the future but mostly, to appreciate my incredible good fortune on having gotten this far and understanding how special this moment really is. The past informs our future and while we can't live in it we must surely appreciate what has happened to us to get us here and to keep us going in the future. So tomorrow, when the book is officially 'out' I may just be sitting quietly at home, not doing anything much beyond spending time with my kids and husband and thinking to myself: Nelsa, you're a very, very lucky girl.

So then I was looking to the future and now I'm looking into the past and, let me tell you, it's a very interesting view. Why?

Because one year ago today I had no clue that right after my book was released my mom would be diagnosed with breast cancer. I had no idea that the stress and anxiety of planning and having a book launch would pale into insignificance when measured against the stress and anxiety about to invade my personal life for the next nine months. It was a surreal summer of celebrating a huge achievement in my writing life and also waiting with dread to hear whether my mom's cancer had spread. On one day I'd find my book was a recommended read in the Canadian Children's Book News magazine summer issue and the next day I'd be sitting in a waiting room waiting for my mom's surgery to be over. To say I was feeling exceptionally strung out would be a major understatement. Then add to that minor details like moving out of our home and my baby girl leaving for university and it's no wonder that my writing last year became something like the runt in a litter of puppies. There and still important but unfortunately neglected due to all the other stronger pups vying for the mother's limited attention.

But now, looking back on that surreal year, I think all that happened because the universe was trying to tell me that for every goal that you set for yourself and that you believe is the reason behind your life here on earth, for every mountain you think you need to climb, you need to remember that no goal is so important that it overshadows all the other stuff happening in your life. So, to all my fellow writers out there, indulge me a bit in my retrospective look back on a most momentous year and forgive me for giving some unasked for and maybe un-needed advice in the next few sentences. But if you can, please, please always remember this:

Your LIFE is about more than getting a book published. Your LIFE is joy, trauma, headaches, laughter, work, friendships, children, parents, school, vacation, bills, watching TV, walking the dog, cooking, cleaning, reading with your kid, picking out shoes with your daughters, crying, hugging your husband/boyfriend, taking a nap, going to every freaking cold hockey arena in the city to watch your kid play a game you still don't quite understand, taking your child to the dentist/doctor/optometrist, having lunch/dinner with a girlfriend, watching your mother cry with worry, sending texts to your brother, screaming in your car, singing Kanye West songs with your kids, painting a shed, writing in your journal, doing laundry, blubbering at Toy Story 3, going to the hairdresser, venting with a friend, having a glass of wine (or two), looking up at the sky and thanking God your mother is cancer free now.

So, yes, I achieved one goal by getting my book published. Yes, I'm very proud of that. But I'd throw it away in a second if I could have prevented my mom from having to go through her cancer scare last year. She made it through. I still have both my parents. I have my children and husband with me. What have I learned in the year since I became a published author?

I'm still one very, very lucky girl.

Which Influences a Teen Reader More: Title, Cover or Back Cover Blurb?

2011-03-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

Last week on Twitter there was a very interesting discussion on #yalitchat about what draws a teen to pick up a book from a shelf. There was general consensus that the biggest influencer on teen reading was word of mouth. Of course teens listen and watch what their friends are reading - just like adults do. Reviews don't seem to be as big an influencer (whereas that enters into adult book choices much more. Not saying they don't help make a decision but I'm talking more about impulse buys.

My personal belief is that Covers and Titles are the biggest influencers for teens. As I have my very own little test group at home (i.e. a teen daughter) I thought I'd find out straight from the horse's mouth what influences her to get a book (forgive me for comparing my DD to a horse - she looks nothing like a horse. She's quite lovely actually. Not that horses aren't lovely too. And where did that weird saying come from anyway? Must research and do a blog post about weird sayings another time. Sorry. I digress.)So the next time Daughter Two and I were in a bookstore and she was picking up a couple of books for her collection I asked her why she chose those particular books.

One book, The Clearing by Heather Davis, she said she picked up first for the pretty colour of the green on the cover (she's into colour choices now since she has to pick one for her room walls) and that it drew her eye. The title was interesting (what happened in The Clearing?) and then the back cover blurb intrigued her because it was a bit of a time travel love story. So all three of these things drew her in but the most prominent was the cover.

The second book she got was Looking for Alaska by John Green. This was strictly a choice based on a friend of hers having read it and recommending it.

The third book was Whip It by Shauna Cross. Again the image on the cover drew her in but then she remembered that a movie was made of it and she heard the movie was good so she wanted to see what the book was like.

I also remember when I brought home Across the Universe by Beth Revis (which I purchased because of all the positive reviews I'd been reading) and Daughter Two's reaction was "Oh, I wanted to check that one out because the cover was so pretty."

Totally unscientific but it supported my belief that Covers are probably one of the biggest influencers for a teen who doesn't have a preconceived notion of what she/he wants to read when she walks into a book store. That cover may hook them but the back cover blurb might keep them hooked. Then they might check out the first page or two (at least that's what I've always counselled my kids to do if they're about to spend some hard earned cash on a book). I don't always check out the first page if a book has received fantabulous reviews but if I know nothing of the book besides what's written on the back or inside flap then I will check out the writing.

But what about the title, you ask? I always thought it was one of the things that hooked a potential teen reader more than anything. I still believe that though I have no scientific proof (or unscientific because Daughter Two only peripherally acknowledged that a title helped her in selecting her books). I know ILLEGALLY BLONDE was a title that got attention from agents and editors but have no idea if it hooks a teen reader. I do think the cover draws the eye and am hopeful that a teen will pick it up because of that and read the back cover blurb etc.

I know publishers spend a lot of time and money on getting the right cover so there must be more scientific data that confirms all the expense that goes into either getting the right stock photography, or hiring an artist or photographer to create original artwork. I wonder also, with the proliferation of e-books whether the same sensibilities will happen when browsing through e-books? My brother, not a teen mind you, but an avid iPad book user says his main determinant for buying an ebook now is the free chapter download and not cover or blurb. So the first chapter will become even more important than it already is I guess. But will teens buy e-books in the same way? Or will they browse through the covers and download the most evocative covers for them?

What do you think? Covers, title, blurb or all three?

A Hit Book Series - Is the World Your Oyster or are you Pigeon-holed?

2011-03-22T03:32:00.000-07:00

I just read this article about Jeff Kinney and his musings on life and writing with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise going stronger than ever. He describes the surreal moment of seeing his main character Greg Heffley as a giant helium balloon floating over him in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and he mused

"That was a real moment of joy, along with a feeling of ‘It can’t possibly get any bigger than this.’"

He's working on the sixth Wimpy Kid book now, which by any stretch of the imagination is a wonderful, every-writer-wants-this-kind-of-success, story. And yet, Mr. Kinney said he'd also like to write a non-Greg sitcome and feature film. "“I don’t want Wimpy Kid to be my one thing.”

Which brings up an interesting question: Does a mega successful series mean it will be harder or easier to do something else? Will you be pigeon-holed for life? And always found wanting?

Of course not, you say. There are many examples of writers writing other things beyond their successful series or novels. But what are the odds that the next thing you write would be just as successful as that hit series? The expectations from readers are huge. Writing that Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games or, the mother of all hit series, Harry Potter, is like catching lightning in a bottle - so rare, so once in a lifetime, that writing two hit book series is a rare, rare beast. But who cares, you say? That author got five, six or seven books out of this lightning. Years of being a successful writer. Mega bucks. Mega fame. Complete nirvana. And yet…

Would that kind of fame and success be stifling creatively? I mean we all know what happened to Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird) right? And that was just one book that did it to her. Having a series success, a series success that builds with each book mind you, that has to be even more stifling and stress-inducing. You've spent years only writing about these characters, this one world, questions must enter the authors mind when the series is over like: Will I ever be able to write another story? Will it ever be as big as the one before? Will anyone accept another character's world as they did the first one?

I know how hard it is to emerge from even one story and then start another so I can't imagine spending YEARS writing about the same characters and then, all of a sudden, switching to completely different ones. The worry about repeating things/character types because they've become so ingrained in your writing repertoire must always be lurking at the back of the author's mind. I know the last time I read an interview with J.K. Rowling she was writing an adult crime/mystery novel I think. Maybe the answer is to go off with a completely different genre like she's doing and keep challenging yourself as an artist by trying new and different things. But I haven't heard anything about a new J.K. Rowling book coming out. And Stephanie Myers seems to have become a recluse. Hmmm.

I guess what's important to remember is, as Mr. Kinney said, as long as what you wrote before doesn't become your 'one' thing, you can appreciate that success and try not to let it defeat you, then keep creating more 'things'. And maybe keep your perspective by not expecting the next thing to be a big thing.

What do you think? Would writing a hit series be the be and end all for you? Or just the end?

Even Tim Burton Got Rejected

2011-03-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a little March Break excursion with the kids. We went to see the Tim Burton exhibit, curated by MoMA, and being shown at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. If any of you have a chance to see this should the exhibit travel to your city I highly recommend it. The drawings, paintings and models are so weirdly beautiful you can't help but wonder how this nice suburban California boy came up with such dark, twisted fantasies. There are also props from his movies - my favourite one was the Edward Scissorhands black, vinyl suit. Johnny Depp's skin touched that suit people. That alone is worth the price of admission.

But what really got me was some of the memorabilia from Tim Burton's younger days. In particular, there was a handwritten submission letter from the young, teenager Burton to Walt Disney books attaching an illustrated story (The Big Zlig ?? I think that was the title). Even then you could see the talent he had as an artist. As a writer who's had her fair share of rejection letters I was curious to see what the editor at Walt Disney books had said. It was what you call a 'good' rejection. Back when editors had more time than they do now, I think because it was a good two paragraph critique pointing out that he enjoyed reading the story (apart from some grammatical issues :)
but that it sounded a bit too much like Dr. Suess. What he did spend time praising was Burton's art, how he could see even with the 'rudimentary' material Burton had to work with his artwork showed talent. He thanked him for submitting and encouraged him to continue pursuing his artwork.

First of all, what I thought was sweet was the kindness this editor showed a young, naive artist. Back then, with no email, the man had to write out his thoughts in long-hand and get a secretary to type it out then mail it. I mean, it took effort. He could have just sent him a form reject but he didn't. Secondly, I was surprised that Tim Burton kept all these old pictures, doodles, artwork from his teen years but I wasn't surprised he kept that rejection letter. Even then he must have known how special it was and hopefully he recognized that the editor saw he had talent. That encouragement must have meant the world to him. Maybe it kept him going when he started to doubt himself a little. And thank God he did. Who knows what he might have done if he'd gotten a curt, dismissive letter that shattered his confidence? I like to think Mr. Burton is a very confident man - now. But when you're a 17 year old kid, probably feeling slightly freakish because, let's face it, what came out of that boys head was a bit freakish, that letter VALIDATED him. And when we're so hard on ourselves to hear someone offer some praise, some encouragement, that is a long, cold drink of water in a baking desert.

Here's hoping that many of you have or will receive an "encouraging" rejection. It can keep an artist going for a long, long time.

The Difference Between Commitment and Interest

2011-03-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

I love stumbling upon articles in the paper about people who are changing their lives or are inspiring others in some way by the philosophy with which they live. They can be business people, teachers, office workers, stay at home moms or dads, whatever it is they've chosen to do they all have that special something that has driven them forward and continued to drive them forward towards success.

Today I read about a woman called Jen Hamel. She used to be a stay at home mom who one day saw a picture of herself from a family reunion and couldn't recognize herself. She'd gained weight. A lot of weight. She recalls "I saw those pictures and thought, 'Oh my gosh, where have I gone?" That moment drove her to exercise but not just any exercise it was something called Turbo Jam and from the moment she started that DVD exercise program she didn't quit. In a little over a year she lost 130 pounds and has kept it off. She's now a certified fitness trainer, nutritionist and owner of her own fitness company. What I really loved about this article are the following quotes outlining Jen's philosophy:

"There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results."

and

"When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life."

Truly, a philosophy that is inspirational.

I've met many writers who are definitely committed (and some of us should be committed! :)) because of the consistent/persistent belief that the only way forward is by getting that result whatever you decide that result is. Whether it's getting published, finding an agent, finishing the book, only commitment will get you that result. Lots of people start things but, like many dieters (and I'm one of those) if you only have a peripheral interest in losing that extra ten pounds no amount of calorie reduction is going to work for you. You have to do more, do it often, do it consistently and, most importantly, DO IT FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES AND THEN KEEP ON DOING IT.

Writing doesn't end when you've finished the first book. It doesn't end when you've got the agent and it certainly doesn't or shouldn't end when you've got a book contract.

So. Commitment or Interest. Which one do you have?

The Power of the Outline

2011-03-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

I've blogged about my writing process before (see this blog post)and you can see that I'm part pantser and part plotter. Usually I start with a back cover blurb one page synopsis thingy, I fly through my beginning, get lost in the murky middle, stop for a while, go back, can see my ending and six months later I usually have a book. However, this wip has been nothing if not different.

Everything started off pretty normally. I had a great idea, started off running, as per usual got lost in the middle, stopped, went back but this time I re-wrote (and re-wrote) the beginning, continued to struggle through the middle but forced my way through (it still needs a serious re-write) and for whatever reason (maybe because I didn't want to struggle so much anymore) as I hit the last third of the book, I decided to write an outline that would get me to the end. But not a short, vague outline. I'm talking about a scene by scene, chapter by chapter outline. How did that work out you ask?

Holy Mary Mother of Writers. Why had I never done this before?

I had characters with a purpose, where an action led directly and purposefully toward another action. Things I'd brought in at the beginning were pulled into the lead up to the climax so I now knew why I'd put them in the beginning in the first place. Everytime I stumbled now, I didn't need to angst. I could just flip back to my outline and remind myself of where I was, what my characters were supposed to be doing and, most importantly, where they were supposed to be going and why. I could see my finish! Heck, I could count the number of steps to get me there! No wonder plotters love their system. It's a great system.

But what of my old process? Will I ever outline that murky middle? Well, of course, you say. Didn't you just prove that outlining solves all writers problems? Ummm. Maybe. But you see, I outlined the last third of my book. I was almost done. If I'd outlined the whole thing right from the get go, knowing me, I'd be sick of the book. My scene by scene outlines are detailed things, people. I think I could only do that for the last ten chapters because I was so close to finishing already. Outlining 30 chapters or more?? No.

However, maybe for the next wip I'll outline the murky middle and then stumble through to the end with no outline. I can't just stop being a part pantser just like that!

Thoughts and Feelings on Becoming a Sophmore Author

2011-03-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted much lately about my publishing journey and 'the trying to figure it all out' part (supposedly the purpose of this blog) and I feel a little guilty about that. But since this darn journey is so long and filled with so many hours of sitting by a roadside and waiting for something to happen it doesn't allow for that many scintillating and/or illuminating posts. However, as most of you heard or read about last week, I do finally have some news: my second book titled THE BREAK sold to Great Plains Teen Fiction for publication in Spring 2012!

Here's the PM announcement:
Nelsa Roberto's THE BREAK, in which a teenager is left alone during Spring Break to watch over her beloved, and increasingly forgetful, grandmother and will do anything to stop her from being sent to a retirement home, to Gregg Shilliday and Anita Daher at Great Plains Teen, for publication in Spring 2012, by Kris Rothstein at Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency. kris@swayzeagency.com

And the longer blurb found on my agency's website:

The Break. When Abby Lambert’s parents leave for an emergency Doctors Without Borders mission she knows she’ll have to give up her long-anticipated March Break ski trip with her friends to watch over her grandmother (Nona) Lucia. She doesn’t like it but if she doesn’t stay home she fears her mother will finally commit Nona to the Sunny Haven Community Retirement Home and Abby has no intention of Nona ever leaving her. So begins the craziest week of Abby’s life. She somehow agrees to help out at the very place she’s been trying to avoid – Sunny Haven. And to make her life even more stressful, she has to deal with Kyle DiLuca – the stuck up nephew of Sunny Haven’s owner. But when Nona disappears on a bitter winter night Abby discovers that assumptions aren’t always facts and intentions are only as good as what you can deliver on. Rights Sold: Great Plains Teen, Canada, for spring 2012.

So beyond being obviously thrilled that THE BREAK will be published (I truly do adore this story and the characters so much) what am I feeling about no longer being a debut (newbie) author?

Well, the most overwhelming feeling is one of GRATITUDE. I'm so grateful that Great Plains Teen and my awesome editor, Anita Daher, are behind this story and feel as passionately about it as I do. There is never a guarantee that the next book you write will be received with any enthusiasm. It's all a crap shoot, as we know. To receive the validation that people whom you respect and who know this business and see so many stories believe this one is worthwhile enough to spend their time, effort and money on is very humbling.

Gratitude is closely followed by RELIEF.

Yup, I'm relieved that I'll be published again. I have many stories inside me. I know not all of them will be published but I always have hope that the one I'm writing will be 'it'. But I'm also aware of how very, very hard it is to keep writing in the face of so many amazing books and so many talented writers out there. But as a beginning writer what I have learned is that you need to tune out a little bit of that overwhelming noise that is the publishing world. Keeping the focus on writing stories that you care about is the best thing you can do in trying to get (and keep getting) published. My personal formula for getting published (Passion + Persistence = Published) can be easily applied to Staying Published. There may be months or, more likely, years between books but all you can do is keep writing and keep that passion for writing alive.

The third thing I'm feeling is ANXIETY.

Unfortunately, this feeling doesn't stop the second time around. The excitement of knowing your words will see the light of day is always (for me, anyway) quickly followed by it's ugly sister: anxiety. The sophmore effort has a little more anxiety oomph for me as it has those extra thoughts layered in about trying to do better than your first effort. Why even bother writing if you don't learn from your past mistakes and make your next effort better? Then you start to worry are you repeating yourself? You want to keep the style and your voice consistent so that when someone picks up your books they feel like they are part of a family but, at the same time, you want to stretch and grow as a writer, even if only a little bit. Gah. I know, I know. Just enjoy the fact that it's being published, Nelsa. Sheesh.

I really liken this sophmore experience to being a sophmore in high school. You've gotten over the huge thrill and fear of starting your first year. You've bumped along, made some new friends, made some mistakes but hopefully haven't screwed up too much as you try and navigate the alien landscape before you. Now, in your second year, you kind of know what to avoid, who to trust, you don't get lost as much but there's still so much to learn, still so many things that you haven't experienced yet. It is still a long journey ahead (and you may never graduate!) but, as the old Beatles song goes: "I'll get by with a little help from my friends".

So thanks for listening to my thoughts and, as long as I keep writing, hopefully the journey will continue.

"I Vant to be Alone" - at least sometimes...

2011-03-03T16:20:00.001-08:00

I grew up with huge swatches of time when I was, for the most part, alone. Parents out working on the farm, older brother away at school so I got used to quiet time with my books or my TV shows. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't abandoned! One of my parents was always around outside, a shout away, so it's not like Children's Aid needed to be called or anything but there were definitely hours that went by when I didn't need to speak to a living soul. And you know what? I really kinda liked it. Hence my Marlena Dietrich quote and picture on this post. Remember as well that alone is not lonely. Not by a long shot.

Now, with the life I lead as a working mom, alone doesn't happen so much. Maybe I'll get a half-hour in the car on the way to do the groceries if I'm lucky. But there's always that pesky cell phone that I feel guilty about turning off should somebody need to get hold of me. But that's not really alone. I can be alone in a room somewhere in the house but with other people yakking or squabbling with each other a wall away from me that's not so much being alone as 'hiding'.

What I crave is real alone time. I'm talking like an entire afternoon when no one is in the house, not even the dog. I don't have to be doing anything special. It could be an afternoon of laundry, I don't care. But that silence, that blessed quiet, when you know there isn't anything that will interrupt your thoughts or create stress, when you can revel in the peace that silence brings. Oh, my. That is gold to me, people.

What about you guys? Does being alone make you twitchy or does it rejuvenate your tired, over-stimulated soul?

Post-Oscar Recap in Text Messages

2011-02-28T09:40:00.000-08:00

Since Daughter One was not home for our annual Oscar love in we had to make do with texting back and forth as we watched the Oscars. I'd been planning on doing a post-Oscar blog post and after all was texted and done, I thought our little exchange kinda summed up the whole show for me. So for those of you who are Oscarholics like I am here's my/daughter One's take on the 2011 Oscar show.

Me: I kinda hope Toy Story 3 would win Best Picture too (after it had won best animated)

Daughter One: How awesome would that be? I don't think we're at that point though. It'll be Kings' Speech or Social Network. Maybe Inception for a long shot.

Daughter One: That was this years "I love you more than Rainbows" (speech). Sasha Gordon you're my dream come true. So precious.

Me: What? What happened? I just got my Oscar feed back! (after my computer lost it)

Daughter One: The guy who won Best Original Short.

Me: Hope his acceptance speech is on YouTube soon.

Daughter One: Yep. It was just the end. Really cute. Love Billy Crystal though.

Me: I love Billy! He should always host!

Daughter One: I agree. I don't like the hosting too much this year. James Franco is being underused.

Me: Or RDJ! (Note from me: Robert Downey Junior for those of you who don't shorten their text messages)

Daughter One: Ooooh. RDJ would be amazing!

Me: Wouldn't he be though? Start a Facebook campaign. I wish u were here to do the Oscars with me. You're the only one who appreciates how awful and wonderful they are.

Daughter One: He'd be awesome. And maybe I'll come next year when we actually have a TV.

Me: Okay. It's a date. 55 Inch TV baby!

Daughter One: Deal!

Me: I have eaten nothing but various types of cheese tonight. With a smattering of Crunch n Munch.

Daughter One: Oh my goodness. Explain what Munch n Crunch is please...

Me: Toffee coated popcorn and peanuts.

Daughter One: Also I'm not too big on the dresses this year.

Me: Strangely the only one I liked was Marisa Tomei's. And worst hair goes to Scarlett Johanssen.

Daughter One: I didn't like it actually. I feel like they all look real fat. Is that bad to say?

Me: Not Jennifer Hudson. She lost 80 lbs!

Daughter One: Yeah. I could tell! But her boobs looked weird.

Me: Cleavage malfunction.

Daughter One: I'm really upset about Gloria Stuart. I hate this part.

Me: She was like a 100. We should all be so lucky.

Me: Love the Lena Horne quote! (Note from me: for those of you who missed it it said: "It's not the load that breaks you down. It's how you carry it." Second favourite quote, Colin Firth: "I have a feeling my career just peaked.")

Daughter One: Yeah. Really nice. Celine Dion is so good.

Daughter One: Hilary Swank has best dress so far.

Me: OMG! I just thought the same thing.

Me: Who won Best Supporting Actress?

Daughter One: Apparently whoever was in The Fighter. Maybe Marisa Tomei? (Note from me: it was Melissa Leo, by the way)

Me: "Listen to your mother!"

Daughter One: Listen to my mother?

Me: That was what the Best Director said who won for The King's Speech.

Daughter One: Oh! Yeah I really liked his speech. Didn't know that was best director.

Daughter One: LOVE SANDRA BULLOCK!

Me: She's my girl crush!

Me: COLIN!!

Daughter One: Love him!

Me: I love him more!

Me: British actors are so eloquent and funny!

Daughter One: You can have Colin if I can have … um think of someone for me.

Me: There is no one else. Ahh, Mr. Darcy!

Daughter One: Oh. Mister Darcy! Called that.

Me: It was Colin's film. But Toy Story 3 was the perfect film.

Daughter One: That's true but you knew it wouldn't win. I decided that I want James Franco. Even though he didn't do anything. :(

Me: Good night my Oscar buddy. I think my blog post tomorrow will be a recap of our text messages back and forth. Seriously. It's a perfect recap.

Daughter One: Haha. It was a good discussion.

And a few random thoughts that didn't get texted:
Worst Dress: Cate Blanchette - it looked like she had warts growing over a breast plate.
Now I really want to see Winter's Bone and Blue Valentine from the clips they showed.
I think Javier Bardem has the most interesting face ever. Just so filled with emotion.
How many changes of dress did Anne Hathaway go through?
Loved The King's Speech audio over the Best Picture video montage.

Did you watch the Oscars? What did you think?

A Guest Blog Post - from Daughter One

2011-02-24T04:47:00.000-08:00

I know I said that I won't mention my family too much in this blog but a proud mama can't help but want to share with as many people as possible when one of their kids is doing something good.

Daughter One is taking part in the University of Western Ontario's Alternative Spring Break where students take their reading week and, instead of partying in Florida, they go help in shelters, build homes or whatever a particular area needs somewhere in the world. It's a hands-on learning experience designed not only to teach young people how to give back but to expand their world in ways you can only do by entering into experiences so foreign to your own. My daughter is currently spending the week in Winnipeg helping out at the Siloam Mission and Winnipeg Harvest. She blogged about the experience here

I know I'm a bit biased but I think Daughter One has a real flair for writing, dontcha think? :)

Sometimes parents can only sit back and be thankful their kids have turned out so well. Way to go, baby.

I've Finally Succumbed. I'm On Facebook

2011-02-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought I could hold out. I put up a pretty long fight. I think I might be one of the last writers who joined Facebook. But after missing some messages from my Torkidlit group who communicate primarily via Facebook I thought I'm missing out on pretty important things because of some philosophical objection about 'conforming to a mass societal lemming-like onslaught of social media frenzy'. Uh, well. Maybe I've been too harsh on the thing. So, on the weekend, with Daughter Two guiding me, I became a Facebook friend. Yes, I went over to the Dark Side.

I don't know why I resisted for so long. I mean, I'm blogging, I twitter, what's the big deal with the Facebook thing? Maybe it's because I've seen how addictive it is - with my daughters practically having an umbilical cord connected to this social media monster. I'm not really worried about my own addiction - Lord, I hardly have enough time as it is to blog twice a week much less be a constant presence on Facebook. Maybe it's a feeling that I need to be more, I don't know, personal on that site, sharing pictures and things and feeling just more accessible that makes me nervous. I know not everyone is going to follow this blog or is that into Twitter, but it seems like the entire universe is on Facebook. What's the count up to these days? Over 500 million and still growing or something like that? Honestly, I think Facebook will become a sentient being soon and take over the Internet just like that computer did in the Terminator movies.

Well, despite all my misgivings, I have joined now and it has been cool to connect with a few old friends. And it is cool to connect with all my writer friends. Still, I must say that I think I prefer Twitter for my brief connections and 'status statements' updates. Wow. I never thought I'd ever say that either. I actually like Twitter. Huh.

How about you? What's your favourite social media platform and why?

Handwriting Good for Your Brain?

2011-02-17T18:23:00.000-08:00

I've just read this fascinating article about how handwriting boosts your brainpower. I'm not trying to convince anyone that writing an entire first draft of a novel by hand is the way to go (even if that's my preferred method)but it does offer some interesting thoughts and research that seems to reinforce the benefits that handwriting gives to your brain function. Don't believe me? Here's some quotes from the article.

"handwriting helps with learning letters and shapes, can improve idea composition and expression, and may aid fine motor-skill development."

"Other research highlights the hand's unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas. Virginia Berninger, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says handwriting differs from typing because it requires executing sequential strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding involves selecting a whole letter by touching a key."

"Pictures of the brain have illustrated that sequential finger movements activated massive regions involved in thinking, language and working memory—the system for temporarily storing and managing information."

Pretty cool, huh? Who knew my hanging on to an ancient practice was actually good for my brain and might even help me in 'composing thoughts and ideas"? Kind of important when one is writing a novel, dontcha think?

What do you think? Is this another flakey bit of research or do you think there's still a place in this techno age for scratching out words?

Going Back to An Old Love

2011-02-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

I should have posted this on Valentine's Day. No, I'm not leaving the husband (the house reno hasn't done us in yet!). The old love I'm talking about is the unfinished wip that I dumped last summer to work on the current wip. Now, before you go assuming I'm a fickle writer, hear me out. Sometimes, going back to an old love is the right thing to do - especially when the current one is fighting you day after day.

When I left the old love, I was really struggling. I wanted to stay but I had concerns about the wip's beginning. Basically, I knew it started off in the wrong place but I wasn't sure how I could re-start it the right way. And we all know that if a love affair starts off on the wrong foot it's never going to settle down into a real groove, is it? There's always going to be a sense that something is wrong, that something needs to be fixed and until it's fixed the love affair will go nowhere. So I left it. Maybe I should have stayed, worked it out with my old love but when the current wip beckoned with its perfect beginning that just spilled out so easy and uncomplicated, I have to admit it, my head was turned. And it's not to say that my time with the new wip has been wasted. I still love it too. But right now, I need some space. I have unfinished business with my old love.

And you know what? When I went back, we fixed the problem. We're now starting off on the right foot and I remember why I loved that wip so much at the time. Why I loved those characters and that story. All that love was being overshadowed by a beginning that had too much old baggage. My old wip needed to shed its history and "get to the point" right away. And no more getting caught up in other people's stories. My old love has figured out who he is and what he wants to say. Now I'm working with it instead of trying to pull the story out of him. We're communicating so well right now!

So, don't judge. Sometimes an old love can be a true love. You just have to be patient enough to give it a second chance.

Things That Make the Crankies Go Away

2011-02-11T04:23:00.000-08:00

I should have posted this blog post yesterday but I was in an epically cranky mood. No particular reason - a combination of delays and frustrations on the reno, The Boy not being ready when I got home to take him to Tae Kwon Do when I'd asked him to (this is a recurring theme with him), my hair needing a major re-do and a few other things that, by themselves aren't anything epic but accumulate them over a day or a week and suddenly I find myself in a major Blue Funk or becoming "The World's Crankiest Mom and Wife".

Besides having a glass of wine to deal with these episodes (and that wasn't possible in yesterday's busyness) there is one other thing that never fails to help me to feel better when I've got a case of crankies: I search where my book is in various public libraries across the country and see if it's been checked out. I know, I know. A bit self-obsessive, isn't it? But the idea that someone is reading Illegally Blonde always cheers me up. And the other day I checked the Toronto Public Library and found they'd ordered 14 copies of it! This was a major pick me up because Toronto's my home library and the city with the biggest Portuguese-Canadian population in Canada. Since IB features a Portuguese-Canadian teen I was a little bummed the TPL hadn't stocked it yet. Well, as always, librarians come through and make somebody's day (mine this time) a little sunshinier. Thank you, TPL!

How about you guys? What cheers you up when you've got the crankies?

The Best of Times or the Worst of Times?

2011-02-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

So, I walk into my local Chapters store a little while ago, one I hadn't been inside for in a while, and discover they've done a major reno. The small, tucked into a corner teen section that used to be there had blown up, moved and placed in a prominent location (taking over the entire back wall that had formerly housed the adult bestsellers). Whoa. How cool was that, I thought? So much more space, so much more prominence. Such an obvious example of how teen fiction has exploded in the last few years. It was both exhilerating and depression-inducing because in that split second I realized how lucky I was to be writing in such a hot medium right now and how brutally hard it is to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.

I've also been reading the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It's an incredibly fascinating analysis about what makes 'outliers' - those who stand out from the pack or break out because of some amazing talent - so successful. And one of the things that I never thought about is the time in which you are living being so critical in making whatever you work on a success. Sure, I knew about the 10,000 hours of practice (and for writers - writing over a million words) being a large part of your success, but what got me was that sometimes (heck, a lot of times) its not so much how much work you do but just the time in which you are born or when you're living that makes a difference. For example, hockey players born between January and March are more likely to make it to the NHL than those born in later months because they get picked for minor hockey teams more often because they're just physically bigger so they get more practice, people who grew up during the Depression and then started working in the 50's and 60's had much more chance of making it simply because there were fewer of their age group in the population and the economy was booming at the right time.

So it makes me wonder are we in the best of times or worst of times for YA writing? Everyone is writing for the YA market right now because it is booming, but publishers are downsizing because people are supposedly reading less. More people writing YA makes for more competition, which makes for better books (the best of times - for readers anyway), but the economic climate makes it harder to break in or stand out because there are less publishers and less retail space to house those books and the competition is fierce (the worst of times).

Sigh. It's enough to make a poor YA writer nuts. But, like when I was born, I can't control the climate within which I happen to be writing. Maybe I might have had an easier time if I'd sold my first book in the 1990's instead of 2010. But, then again, would I want to be published when not many people were noticing YA and would I have been published because there weren't that many teen books out there then? Isn't competition a good thing, anyway? Upping your game is always worthwhile, right?

So then why did the sight of all those teen books make me wilt a little bit? Ah, well. Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy, right folks? :)

200th Blog Post! And What I've Learned About the Fine Art of Blogging

2011-02-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it but I've hit a milestone with today's post - number 200. Wow. I started this blog two years ago in February. I wasn't sure what I was doing then (am still not) but with a book coming out the following year it seemed like everyone was saying "Get a web presence!" "Start a blog!" "Get on Twitter!" "You're not on Facebook??? What are you, a hermit?" Well, they didn't say that last one exactly (althought I'm pretty sure that's what they're still thinking :) but, hey, at least I'm doing 3 out of 4 things now. And while blogging seems to be on the wane in light of 140 character posts and quick Facebook wall posts I've decided I like it. I may not be the best blogger in the world and I may have entered into this world late and reluctantly, I can appreciate the positive about this art form.

So, what have I learned in my two short years doing two blog posts a week? Here are some thoughts about what I think works (and the things I know I should do but still need to work on to improve) FWIW.

Do
1. Keep Things Short and Simple
I'm still working on keeping posts to just 3 or four paragraphs (today's post is a bit longish)but it's essential. People are busy, they might visit several blogs a day and if they see a long post at most they'll skim, at worst they won't even bother to read it.

2. Have a Snappy Blog Title
Sometimes that title alone is what draws people in. It's like the back cover blurb of the book - the blog title is a short synopsis about what your post is about or an intriguing question that leads someone to read more.

3. Make Your Blog Template Reflect a Little of Your Personality
A blog is a little insight to who you are as a person so why not spend some time and think about how it looks? Put up some pictures, think about the colours and fonts. You know a house doesn't look like a home until you decorate it, right?

4. Share Your Blog Posts on Twitter and Other Social Networking Sites
What's the point of blogging if no one knows you've written anything?

5. Visit Other Blogs and Follow the Ones You're Interested In
There's a whole world outside your own home with tons of interesting characters. You'll be amazed at the number of people you'll meet and the kinds of interesting discussions you'll get a chance to be part of.

6. Comment on Blogs and respond to Comments on Your Own Blog
I'm starting to improve on this but I could get better. I don't comment on others blogs just for the sake of commenting. When I think I have something to say I'll say it. But it is like visiting your neighbours - if you don't say hi to them, they won't say hi to you.

7. Be Personable But Don't Get Too Personal
This is a hard one - I'm all for sharing info about your personal life that you are comfortable sharing - it's how people get to know you. But I'm also worried about too much info getting out there that should be kept to yourself. Some people's blogs are all about their family and names, dates, photos are shared. That's not for me. You won't see many pictures of my family here nor will you hear their names. I signed on to be a writer in the public domain but they didn't. Same goes for info about my day job. It has nothing to do with writing so I'm not going to comment about it.

8. Make Your Blog Be About Something (Focus!)
I'm still working on having a real focus here - yes, I blog about writing and the publishing journey but there are sooo many blogs out there that do it better than I that I'm realistic about what I can contribute to the dialogue. So this blog is about what I'm learning through the writing journey - with occasional side trips to the lands of TV, movies, life lessons and hockey mom craziness. Not really a focus but I'm trying to just get comfortable in the land of public discussion.

9. Be a Regular Poster
I don't care if it's once a week, twice a week or daily but if you're going to do it, commit. And a blog is a living document - it needs nourishment. So I recommend at least a once a week posting. Like a plant needs water, posting regularly will keep the blog thriving.

10. Make Lists
People like lists. They're easy to read and help you to organize your thoughts - as you can see by this ten item list I've just posted!

So, there you have it, my totally unscientific list of what I think works for blog posting. What other things have I missed? (ooh, I just remembered. #11: Ask Questions! It helps build dialogue! :)

A New Look

2011-01-31T11:24:00.000-08:00

So have you noticed I changed my blog template? I'd had the old blue/grey background with the picture of a range of blue mountain vistas up for a while and this weekend I felt the need to change it up. I went through tons of template designs. Tried black backgrounds with bursting stars, abstract neon colours and shapes but finally I settled on this picture of a green, summer time field of grass and flowers. I immediately felt soothed by it. Even my daughter said, "Yeah, Mom. That one is more you."

Why do some things seem more "you" I wonder? I do love the color green but what about this particular background seemed to fit me better than a rainbow of colours and swirling shapes? Part of it is my love of spring, summer and sunshine and being sick of winter right now. But I think I'm drawn to images that invoke a peaceful, calming, centred view of the world. Partly because my life is more than usually chaotic but also because I strive for that peacefulness. I may not achieve it but I do strive! Why not just choose a white background then? Keep it plain and simple - how much more peaceful can you get than that? I guess I just need a little bit of colour in my life too. And right now, with a big winter storm coming on Wednesday I need to see some green somewhere in my life!

How about you? What made you choose the backgrounds you have on your blogs?

7 Words I've always wanted to say...

2011-01-28T03:32:00.000-08:00

"I am having lunch with my editor!"

How cool is that? Anita Daher from Great Plains Publications is in Toronto today and I'm finally (Finally!) going to meet her face to face. You see, Anita lives and works in Winnipeg and I'm here in Toronto. That's a distance of ... uh, well, a really long ways away. So we've only had the chance to talk on the phone and email since we first connected back in February 2009. I feel like I know Anita very well already because she's such an open person but there's just something about meeting someone face to face that's SO important. I'm looking forward to talking with her about writing, editing, how on earth she's not terrified of jumping over fences on her horse Wager - just soaking up her knowledge and experience as a writer and teacher of writing in general.

I'm also going to meet with a new member of the Great Plains author team who lives in the T.O. area - Sarah Raymond. Sarah's debuting her YA book SIGNS OF MARTHA this spring with Great Plains. It's about a girl growing up on a cucumber/pickle farm yearning to be an artist. Since I still remember the trauma of picking prickly cucumbers at 7 am on a hot, humid, flat patch of southwestern Ontario farm country I have a feeling I'm going to identify with Martha - and her creator Sarah! It'll be so nice to have another author close by who is part of the Great Plains team.

So, yup, I'm all excited except for one thing ... what am I going to wear??

A Message for Old Man Winter

2011-01-26T03:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've had it Winter. You win. I admit defeat. Day after day of cold, wind, snow and slush has ground me down. Thing is, I'd leave if I could. Fly off to some sunny, warm clime for a week and bask on a beach with a book and a gin and tonic. But between hockey, work and a renovation that is about to begin any day now (please God)I am trapped. And still weeks left of you, old man. Weeks!

So when my dearest and oldest friend sent me an email the other day suggesting she's had enough of you too, old dude, that we need a quick girl's getaway in February - nothing extravagant, just a couple of days in a hotel, shopping, maybe watching a movie, having a nice dinner, massages/facials/whatever makes us feel good - I was ready to say "YES! Get me away from this cold, hard tyrant now!"

But then I started thinking of all my responsibilities here with the kids and their schedules, how busy my husband is already between work and the reno, the cost, the guilt of leaving them ... oi. I always end up thinking of all the cons instead of just concentrating on the pros. And you, old man, don't make it any easier. Things always seem ten times harder when it's winter than summer.

But, you know what? I haven't completely given up hope, you old bugger. You haven't beaten me yet. I know I have to put up with you but you've only beaten me if my attitude lets you beat me. So when a lifeline is thrown out in a choppy sea and I'm about to drown do I let it float away from me? No sir. Even if I'm only pulled into a lifeboat for a couple of days, it will be enough to make me last the rest of your regime out. Because I know, eventually, like all tyrants you will be defeated! Spring is around the corner. I just need a reprieve for a short time.

Now, if I can just ignore the guilt like I can a snow-covered driveway...

The Usual

2011-01-21T17:48:00.000-08:00

I admit freely that I'm a creature of habit. I like starting my mornings off in a certain way, I like to plan vacations with the detail a five-star general gives to an invasion of a country, I like to have two definite routes to get to work (one usual, one an alternate in case of snafus), I go to certain restaurants and order the same thing every time because, hey, I know what it tastes like and if I don't go that often then why not get a sure thing? In fact, I'm such a regular at a particular bagel place near work that all I have to do is walk in, they see my face and say "The usual?" Yup. The usual. Everything bagel, double toasted with chives light cream cheese and coffee. My daughter is envious I have a usual. To her it means I'm in a familiar, friendly place. Sort of like the Cheers theme song where 'everybody knows your name'. Good thing it's a bagel and not a scotch and water.

So what's this got to do with writing? (Cuz you know, most everything has something to do with writing for me.) Well, I got to thinking: is it a good thing to have a 'usual' in your writing? Some people call it branding, other people call it writing in your own genre, still others call it being stuck in a rut.

Now me, personally, I LIKE knowing what a particular author is going to give me in a story. For example, if I need a good Regency romance fix I know I will satisfy that fix with a Julia Quinn romance. I have loved at least 95 per cent of what she's written. I know what I'm getting with that author and she usually doesn't disappoint. Same with Sarah Dessen. If I want a good, character driven YA that has themes of family, love, relationships and believable characters she delivers. Now neither one has written (to my knowledge)a sci-fi thriller or a horror novel but if they were, would I buy that book just because it's written by Ms. Quinn or Ms. Dessen? Hmm, maybe out of curiosity, I guess, but I think I'd be kind of disappointed because what I expect and what I would get would be so totally different.

Now many authors have switched genres after finding success in one. Nora Roberts being the most famous. And I'm sure legions of her loyal romance fans followed her to the J.D. Robb franchise. But she started writing J.D. Robb mystery/thrillers under that name because she was so well known as Nora Roberts and she -or the publisher- were worried that the romance label might hurt her sales. It was only later (I think) when she started getting a Robb fan base that it became more widely known that it was Roberts penning those. But I also know several authors in my Toronto Romance Writers group who write YA, romantic-comedy, and pure romance (as well as hot romance) and seem to be thriving.

So, what's the gist of all this? Is having a 'usual' a good thing or not? Well, for me - and my writing for now - the usual is YA. There are a few sub-categories of YA that I can go down but I know I'd like to have a reader come to me as a 'usual' for contemporary, realistic YA with some humour and a bit of heartbreak thrown in there too (Dessen light?). Maybe, eventually, some paranormal YA too. We shall see.

How about you? Do you have a usual or do you like to sample?

Why Can't I Love Cooking Like I Do Writing?

2011-01-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make. I don't just hate cooking, I LOATHE it. Seriously, I can't understand why I resent cooking meals so much. I mean, I'm Portuguese. I grew up with mouth-watering food in front of my face and nose every day. But did I stand by my mom and absorb all the tricks and nuances of a great cook? Did I ask questions, test recipes, watch cooking shows with all the avidness of a cooking groupie? No, I did not. Did I appreciate the meals my mother put in front of me? Probably not at the time since I did not appreciate the skill that went into making them.

Now that I'm responsible for cooking for my own household (only because we have children otherwise the hubby and I would be ordering in every night if I had any say over it. Or eating popcorn for dinner) I'm feeling distinctly guilty for not learning this skill. Oh, I can do a few meals well (I make a mean lasagna and a pretty good pork loin roast) but I can't do those two meals every night of the week! I need quick, easy feed the hungry masses before they eat me meals. Tonight, for example, was Kraft Pizza and broccoli. Not exactly high culinary art there. But I just have to come to terms with the fact that I don't have the interest! There is no passion to my cooking and, if writing has taught me anything, it's this: in order to become truly good at something you need to have passion.

Unlike my lack of interest in learning how to make chicken soup at my mother's side, I'm more than willing to take courses and read books about plot, structure and narrative. Unlike my immediate stress at having to fiddle with a recipe, doing it over and over again, trying different spices until it comes out tasting the way it should, I love revising, playing with the words of a sentence until they shine and sound exactly as I hear them in my head.

So, that's it. I will never be an amazing cook and my children will have to live with the fact that while I can't bake them a mouth-watering loaf of homemade bread, I can hand them a book that their mommy wrote with her own two hands. It may not fill their stomachs but at least it was made with love. Plus it would probably taste better than the bread anyway.

The Importance of the Back-Cover Blurb

2011-01-14T04:03:00.001-08:00

This post may be a pretty obvious one but this week I was reminded again about how important it is to get that paragraph or two that describes your book nailed down. The 'Back-cover Blurb' is your story in a nutshell. It's a selling feature, for sure. I know it's one of the first things I look for when I'm deciding on whether to buy a book or not. If all I see are one line reviews or raves about a book but nothing about what the story is about I put it down. But that's when a book is already for sale. Why is writing a blurb so important before you even finish writing the book? We-ell, let me tell you...

I'v been working on this WIP for a while now and I'm in my favourite (sarcasm font here please)section - the middle. I was really struggling trying to figure out where I was going with this story. So, after forcing myself to write a thousand words (that were okay but sure as heck didn't come easy) the other night I decided I wasn't going to wait until the first draft was done to write the blurb as I mostly do. Sometimes I do write it before I even start the book to see if the idea is strong enough to work on but usually I wait until the story is pretty much finished. I noodled out a few lines, then a few more. Pretty soon I was into the flow and I had 380 words that hopefully described what the core of the book was about in language that made the story sound interesting, even mysterious, and would entice someone to read it. These words are probably the most important you'll write because they are the ones that sell your story - to yourself, to an agent, to an editor and maybe, eventually, to a book buyer. In fact, the blurb I wrote for Illegally Blonde ended up almost exactly on the back cover as it appeared in my query letter. Writing those few words also helps to focus what you're writing about - to understand the core of your story so well that when you're struggling through it you can go back to it and say "Oh! Yes. I have to get back to that. Why did I wander off in this direction?"

When I finished those couple of paragraphs this week, I was sold on my story again. My CP was sold on it, too, which helped validate me - and the story. I'm struggling to write this story now but I know, because I wrote that blurb, that this is a story worth telling and, hopefully reading. And that's why a blurb is so important. If you can't sell it to yourself how are you going to sell it to a complete stranger?

So what about you guys? When do you write your blurb? And does it help you or drive you crazy?

Advice from a Business Entrepreneur

2011-01-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not someone who devours business and financial news like I would a juicy piece of entertainment gossip (hello? Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are SO together dudes)but there is the occasional time when I've read through everything in the paper - or it's just a particularly slow news day - and I, for want of other reading material, happen to glance through the business section. Usually, it's the human interest pieces that catch my eye - the rags to riches stories or the personal profiles behind the CEO's of big companies. And so it was today when I came across one article about the CEO of WIND Mobile, Anthony Lacavera, who aims to 'change the wireless industry in Canada' and 'change and challenge the way Bell, Rogers and Telus do business'. As the article put it, "if you want to run with the big boys you have to create your own turning point".

Well, Mr. Lacavera is definitely running after the big boys and he has big dreams but what I found most interesting about the article was the advice he gave to people who have their own dreams and vision. I'm sure he thought he was speaking to potential business entrepreneurs but I found something really inspiring for my own writerly dreams and ambitions. And, hey, really, aren't all writers entrepreneurs? We may not be building a massive business empire (yet ;) but we want to build good books and, like any decent entrepreneur, we want to reach an audience. So, then, what was his advice?

1. Building a business has up and down moments. In down moments always try to focus on the things you've done that have led to the up moments.

(In the book publishing biz, it's always so easy to focus on what hasn't happened yet. Focus on what has developed - your skills, the people you've met, better responses from agents/editors, every little positive thing that has helped you be where you are and become a better writer than you were when you started)

2. Whenever you meet an extraordinary person, try to think of a way to make it exciting for them to join your team.

(I read this to mean when you meet an extraordinary writer (published or not), share and learn from each other. Become part of a writing community is essential.)

3.Learn not to go after every great idea that you come across. It's so important to stay focused on what you do well and build from there.

(Don't be too scattered as a writer. Be focussed on what stories you want to tell. Find your voice and the genre you love. Take the time to develop both well and both will reward you)

4. Always make time for yourself to do whatever you enjoy no matter how much work you have to do.

(This piece of advice is self-evident. Don't focus on the writing to the exclusion of all else in your life. Even if you don't consider writing work, take a break from it and explore other things. Your writing - and you as a person - will benefit.)

5.Follow both your heart and mind on any important decision.

(The go with your gut or your head dilemma. Mr. Lacavera has addressed this conundrum for me - go with both. No decision should be made so intellectually that your feelings/instincts are ignored. Both sides are equally important and have equal merit)

And there you have it. Sound advice from an entrepreneur with passion, commitment and drive to succeed - three things all writers should strive for. I should read the business sections more often...

Keeping Things in Perspective

2011-01-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

Even though I didn't make any New Year's resolutions, I had high hopes that 2011 would start off with a fresh, positive outlook. Instead I've had a few days where a disappointment or two has dampened my enthusiasm and challenged me to keep my chin up and say, "hey, tomorrow is another day. Life is not as bad as you think. In fact it's pretty darned good." I hear heart wrenching stories about families who've lost loved ones and others who have so little and think, "There but for the grace of God go I..." So when these small - and I do mean small - disappointments (in people, in events) take place why is it sometimes so hard to shrug them off?

For me, keeping things in perspective is a constant battle. I am, truly, a very practical person and understand that sometimes people make mistakes, sometimes the world works a certain way and we have to accept that a certain journey is not always going to go smoothly. It may, for me, be a control issue. Many times, the disappointments that happen are out of my control, or belong to other people who I don't want to see hurt, and my heart breaks for them, and for my inability to 'fix it', to make it better for them. This is when I have to remind myself that I can only control my reaction to events - not the events themselves. For a control freak like me that is a really hard lesson to learn. It is a constant struggle to turn a negative into a positive and to not dwell on things and I'm in awe of those people who can remain upbeat in the most dire of circumstances.

Perhaps, this is just one of those things I will always need to work on and some days I may be able to do it. Other days it may slip from my grasp. But whatever day I happen to be living in, I need to remind myself that I have been blessed with a good life - not a perfect life - but a good life. And sometimes, I should just simply be thankful for it.

And 2011 Begins...

2011-01-03T05:59:00.000-08:00

...with a slight case of exhaustion. Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a restful and joyous holiday with friends and family. In our clan this year it was a holiday of driving. Driving to see my family in Windsor, driving back to Toronto before driving to Ottawa for a hockey tournament and driving back to Toronto to drive my daughter to London to university. I have to say welcoming in 2011 was a low key affair for us because The Boy had a 7 a.m. hockey game (they got to the Finals) on New Year's Day. Yup. That meant up at 4:30 to check out of the hotel and get to the arena by 6. Unfortunately, the boys lost but came in second overall in 20 teams. And they got to play on NHL ice (Ottawa Senators arena) and see themselves on the jumbo-tron. Very cool.

I hope the rest of 2011 isn't so frantic, to tell you the truth. I am so happy I have today as a holiday because I seriously need to recover. Who knew I'd ever look forward to a day of laundry and vacuuming?? But I am in one place and not the van. I am heartily sick of that van and hockey arenas, let me tell you. And as for writing? I am feeling distinctly guilty for not doing one word on the wip. I'm not one for New Year's resolutions but I am determined to finish that wip. It's a good story. I can feel it. I think I'm just scared of messing it up - funny because one of the themes in the story is our fears and having to face them. Beyond that one goal, the only other thing I want to accomplish in 2011 is trying to get a little less stress in my life. Not sure how I'll accomplish that with a house renovation the big ticket item this year. However, that's what the start of a New Year is for, right? The fresh, idealism of hope!

Do you make any New Year's resolutions? Or are they more like guidelines, really?

First Page Panda Today Featuring Illegally Blonde

2010-12-28T06:04:00.000-08:00

A fabulous writer friend I got to know through Verla Kay's blue boards, Anna Staniszewski, has created a terrific new blog featuring the first pages of new and upcoming young adult and middle grade books and sharing some information about the authors and their books. It's called First Page Panda because, hey, who doesn't like panda's?? and ILLEGALLY BLONDE is being featured today! Check it out here if you have a minute and make sure you go back often to read the first pages of some exciting new writers. Anna herself will be coming out with her debut book MY UN-FAIRY TALE LIFE in 2011 from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky imprint. I'm very excited to read that one!

Hope your holidays have been a source of joy and minimal family conflict so far. Tomorrow we're heading off to our nation's capital, Ottawa, to cheer on The Boy's hockey team in the Bell Canada Cup tournament. Hoping for good weather, good hockey and fun times. The next time I'll be posting will be in 2011 the Year of the Rabbit. After the turbulent Year of the Tiger that 2010 was I'm definitely looking forward to a calm, peaceful (and lucky) Rabbit Year!

Happy Holidays and See You in the New Year!

2010-12-23T09:24:00.001-08:00

Heading home for the holidays tomorrow so won't be blogging until 2011! Have a wonderful Christmas and may all your writerly hopes and wishes come true for you in 2011!!

And Another Birthday Approaches

2010-12-21T04:56:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is my birthday and for the first time in a long while I'm not dreading seeing the years add up. Granted I always deal better with 'even' birthday years than 'odd' ones but I don't think that's the reason for my unusual celebratory mood this go round. This year I got some very nice news just before my birthday hit(hope to share more soon) plus my mom is continuing her recovery and now Daughter One has returned home from university and I'm just feeling a bit more celebratory all around. But I think it's also just becoming more used to the whole 'aging' thing and appreciating that the alternative isn't a heck of a lot better!

Now, don't get me wrong. Nobody wants to see their face sliding into their neck or anything and I use a boatload of creams and moisturizers like the next girl. It's not the physical side of aging that I've come to terms with (in fact I've done something to the muscles in my neck that are just killing me today and I'm popping Robaxacet like it's candy) but it's more about enjoying and appreciating the mental aging. I just feel very comfortable with where my head's at these days. And I attribute that to discovering my passion for writing over eight years ago.

Writing has been my own personal fountain of youth - and not just because I write for teens (though I think that helps). It has allowed me to experience so many different things, meet so many different people, hope for so many different futures. Even with all the waiting, even with all the agony of writing books that sometimes go nowhere, even with the fickleness of the business, discovering writing relatively later in my life has given me new energy and, a lot of times, just more 'fun'.

So, with another birthday approaching, I'm embracing the coming year and looking forward to what new things I'll learn and what new people I'll meet. I know there'll be crappy days but with age, hopefully, comes some wisdom and I think I'm weathering those crappy days with a little more perspective every year. Each birthday is a gift and I plan on celebrating every one of them now instead of dreading them. Now if only my face would stay where I want it to... :)

Screen Reading vs Page Reading

2010-12-17T03:53:00.000-08:00

I've reached the point in my WIP (about 35,000 words in - a little over the half-way mark) when I usually stop to think over (i.e. panic) about where my story is headed and try and figure out (i.e. panic) what next few action/plot points I need to hit to get me to my ending. Usually, when I get to this point I do one of two things: 1. Stay away from the WIP for a few weeks while I mull over (i.e. panic) over the book or 2. I print out the whole shebang - about 135 pages - and read it in one go seeing if what I've written so far makes sense and can twig an 'aha!' moment of 'This is what must happen next'.

I've tried to outline the middle of this book more than my previous books and I have been doing that (the last ten chapters or so have been outlined before I've written them) but I need to stop and remind myself now about what all has gone before to make sure I'm not losing sight of characters, motivations and small threads that might prove important in the last half of the book. And to do that I need to read it on a page. For some reason, I tend to immerse myself in a story more completely when I can turn pages - maybe flip back and forth between scenes to make connections or notice when things don't add up. When I'm reading on the screen I seem to be able to concentrate more on deep editing and honing of words and phrases but less so on overall scenes and larger themeatic revisions. For that I need that WIP to be on old-fashioned paper.

Now, I don't have an e-reader (although I am contemplating getting one) but this is not about reading a book on paper or electronic devices. It could very well be that I become a convert to reading novels on e-readers. But for me as a writer, in this particular part of the process (and once again when I've finished the first draft) I need to print it out whole and revise it on paper before I begin to revise it on the screen.

So I'm curious - do any writers NOT print out their WIP's at some point and do a page read through? I'd fear I'd miss something if I just kept it on screen. I know I read things differently when I have them in my hand. Even at the day job where I do 90 per cent of my work on a computer screen, for large documents I need to print them out and look through them the old fashioned way.

How about you? Screen reader or page reader?

Celebrating REAL MERMAIDS DON'T WEAR TOE RINGS!

2010-12-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate enough to get to go to Helene Boudreau's (sorry I can't get the accents in on your first name, Helene!)book launch for her new tween book from Sourcebooks called REAL MERMAIDS DON'T WEAR TOE RINGS tonight. I've been anxiously awaiting the book like many of the #torkidlit group of writers and all the Verla Kay Blueborders(the book released December 1st but I wanted to get my copy at Helene's launch)Verla Kay's Blueboards was where I first met Helene and she, in turn, introduced me to the #torkidlit group. To say I am grateful to have met Helene would be an understatement.

It feels like MERMAIDS is very much a Blueboarder baby since Helene shared her agent search with the query letter for the book over a year ago. If you want to see the evolution of a great query check out this thread. Now, after all Helene's hard work was the celebration of the book itself. I wish I had pictures but I'll leave it for Helene to share the awesomeness of the cake (beautiful!) and the coolness of listening to the first chapter of the audio book and the joy of finally seeing a book you've worked so hard on come into being. I especially enjoyed seeing the scrap of paper where the idea for MERMAIDS was written - literally an old grocery receipt with the idea for the book scribbled on the back.

I got home and read the first few chapters and I'm hooked. Jade is a wonderful, funny, sweet heroine and I can't wait to see what happens to her (well, I know she becomes a mermaid but what about her mom? and her crush? and does she ever get rid of that zit??)

Congrats, HELENE!

Crying With Your Story

2010-12-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

I'm curious. All you writers out there, when you've written that gut-wrenching scene whatever it is, the most emotional scene in your book, it could be a death, it could be someone breaking up, it could be a farewell or just a description that tugs at the heartstrings ... do you cry when you write it?

I ask this because it takes a heck of a lot for me to cry when I read a book. I can remember exactly 3 times when I've done it. When I first read the play Cyrano de Bergerac and he ... well I won't spoil it if you haven't read it. When I read that scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Chapter 35 was it? You know, when Harry is walking and thinking that ... well I won't spoil it (has anyone NOT read it)? And the last few chapters of The Time Traveller's Wife. Sobbed. Sobbed I tell you! I wasn't able to do much of anything for hours. Now I don't know if Edmund Rostand (who wrote Cyrano) cried much, if at all, when writing the ending or even if Audrey Niffenegger did for Time Traveller's Wife. But I do remember reading an interview with J.K. Rowling and how she was sitting in the hotel room typing away and sobbing as she wrote this pivotal scene. I know I was completely wrenched when I finished it and glad no one was home to hear my sobs.

Now my stories haven't had that many sob-inducing scenes except for one. I won't go into details but two readers who I trust dearly both contacted me after finishing the book and told me that they sobbed at one particular scene. I knew it was emotional. It was not an easy scene to write but I knew it had to be written. Maybe that's why I didn't cry when I wrote it. I was so caught up in making sure it was right - not too melodramatic nor too distant. The right notes are so very, very hard to hit in these types of scenes. I was dreading writing it, was wiped after writing it but ... I did not cry while writing it. Was I too close? Had I thought about it too much to then feel the - hopefully - gut wrenching impact I wanted it to have? I guess it doesn't matter. As long as the reader feels the impact. Not necessarily to cry but to feel something inside them.

So, how about you? What books/scenes have made you cry? And have you ever written a particularly emotional scene that made you lose it?

Preparation is the Key to Peace of Mind

2010-12-07T06:53:00.000-08:00

The first snowfall arrived overnight. I love waking up to a soft, pearly white blanket of snow covering the ground. The only time I really love the snow is in the month of December. Snow just makes me anticipate the holidays even more. However (and you knew there had to be a however, didn't you?) the arrival of the season's first snowfall also brings with it the overriding feeling of panic. You see, I always think I've got the preparation covered for the first snow. Jackets, boots, gloves, hats, scarves, snow pants - whatever - but inevitably I find myself scrambling.

And so it was this yesterday morning. I hadn't been paying attention to the weather reports. I knew it was cold but I figured I'd have a few more days to deal with getting all those preparations set up. Daughter Two needed new winter boots (the kid keeps growing!) and my son needed new waterproof gloves. I was going to shop on the weekend but we'd just got back from a three day hockey tournament and laundry needed to be done, plus I had to get started on Christmas presents, plus some grocery shopping… well. You can guess the rest. Daughter Two had to go to school with running shoes (and thankfully it wasn't a massive dump of snow so it's not like she froze to death or anything) and Son just had to make do with soggy mitts for the day. And for the life of me I just didn't think about making him wear snow pants. Okay, so he'll have to live with soggy pants for the day too.

My point is, I know when I'm prepared - when I've planned for all eventualities - I'm a happier and more at peace person. So why don't I do it? I liken it to planning the plot of the middle of my books. I know I should do it, realize that it will make my life easier in the long run but for some reason I can't fathom, I put it off until the very last minute (i.e. when I reach the middle of the book) and then start to scramble. So I was yesterday morning, scrambling to find a pair of leather - not cloth - runners my daughter could wear and hoping I could find a pair of gloves that would give my son some measure of warmth if not waterproofing ability. I managed to do it and I went shopping with Daughter Two for her boots later(and sons gloves) but I should have done this weeks ago.

Well, lesson hopefully learned. If I didn't manage to plan for the first snowfall, I am planning the plot for the next few chapters of the WIP. It's time consuming and it feels sometimes like I'm spinning around in circles (much like boot shopping with my daughter) but I know, in the end, I will be a much happier writer for having done it.

Those Boy Scouts had it right: Always Be Prepared.

Reflections on 2010: The Highs and Lows of a Year

2010-11-30T10:55:00.000-08:00

Well, tomorrow is December 1st. Only 30 days left in 2010 so I'm feeling a bit reflective and, with the holidays (and my birthday! GAH!) approaching, also feeling somewhat maudlin. I have this overwhelming urge to just curl up on the couch with a fuzzy blanket and a mug of hot chocolate and do nothing except stare at the pretty silver and blue lights of my Christmas tree (yes, we just put it up on the weekend. I'm that keen on Christmas decorating. Cut me some slack.) and think, "Wow. I made it through."

This year has not been a restful one for me. In fact, it's been highly stressful in so many ways that I'm kind of glad to see it go. Not to say it's been all bad mind you. But there has been a pretty even mix of highs and lows. After all, I saw my first book published in the spring - one of the biggest highs a writer will ever experience. But on the personal side, it's been more drama and angst than I like. My mom diagnosed with cancer at the same time the book was released, so the high was immediately tamped down with a pretty devastating low. The ensuing months of surgeries and treatment and me being four hours away feeling pretty helpless most of the time weren't fun. But Mom's almost through radiation now and doing well. So we're creeping up to a cautious high in that area now. Then there was the excitement of my daughter getting accepted and choosing her university tempered with facing the reality of her leaving home. Not exactly a low but a pretty major change in our lives nonetheless. Finally, the high of taking the leap of doing our home renovation, hiring an architect and moving out of the home we've been in for twelve years. Highs in terms of "Yay! We've finally moved forward on this albatross of a reno!" to lows in terms of "Gah! I'd forgotten how stressful a move is!" and "When is that G*%$d*# building permit going to come in??"

And, of course, threaded throughout all of these major life changes the usual stressors of raising teenagers and being hockey parents and handling day jobs and feeling like you're not writing enough or not doing whatever your supposed to be doing enough. So no wonder I just want to sit, stare at pretty lights and be thankful the year is almost done. Unfortunately, I can't do that for very long. We've got two hockey practices this week, plus a drive to Coburg for a three day hockey tournament on the weekend, plus dealing with a few home reno decisions we've been putting off, plus Christmas prep, plus a school concert to attend, plus a Christmas party or two, plus a kick in the pants to push past the 30,000 word mark on the WIP and make myself finish the dang thing already, plus…

Oh, heck. Forget the hot chocolate and pass me the wine. Happy December everyone!

"We try to understand the world through stories..."

2010-11-25T18:18:00.000-08:00

I read this article the other day on how young children who can't read yet still identify intensely with the characters in the stories that are read to them. Here's the link. It's not surprising to hear that even if the written word isn't comprehensible, the words - the story - is what connects to a person. In the article one of the researchers tried to explain that when children listen to a story they empathize with characters - they are 'mentally simulating' what is happening to that character. It's the first step to comprehension. It's the first step to, ultimately, understanding the real world through a story.

Kind of awe-inspiring, isn't it? To think that stories can have such an impact. I don't think I could imagine a world without stories. Human existence has never not had stories (just check out those pictographs from cave man times if you don't believe me). Movies are stories, family dinner time has stories, photo albums have stories. We're programmed at some primal level to tell, write, watch and listen to stories. Why this all encompassing need to do this? Well, as one of those University of Waterloo researchers said, "We try to understand the world through stories". Yes, so very true. But, at an even deeper level, I think we're trying to not understand the world - which kind of intimidates me - but, on a more selfish level, I think we're trying to understand ourselves and our relationships. I think stories, the best kind of stories, are about human experiences and what is revealed about ourselves and the rest of the people with whom we share our lives.

Writers usually have similar themes running through their work. Issues and ideas that I think we're personally trying to understand and grapple with on an ongoing basis. When a reader listens/reads our stories we hope that some of those themes are shared so we can connect to others. We need to share our stories because, ultimately, we're not only trying to understand the world but we're trying to connect with people too.

So when you wonder why you're beating your head against the wall doing this crazy writing thing just remember that one day, somewhere someone might read one of your stories and feel a little shiver of something called "understanding" and know that you will have connected with another human being. Really, can there be anything better?

The Lost Weekend

2010-11-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've had one of those weekends. You know the ones - where you open your eyes Monday morning more tired and exhausted than when you fell into bed the night before? Where the past two days seem a blur and you can't quite figure out what you did, where you went or what, if anything, you accomplished? No, I did not have a bender. Please, who had time to even down a glass of wine? What I'm talking about is two days where your entire existence is for, about and in service to your children.

My kids are not infants or toddlers. They are, supposedly, getting more independent as the days and years go on. But honestly, with the demands put upon me these past two days with The Boy's hockey and a dreaded school project, we had more angst and drama than when one of my babies was up all night with colic. Please, I'd trade a colicky baby with having to motivate an eleven year old boy to get a school project done and getting studying accomplished for yet another math quiz on Monday any time. Throw into the mix that on the heels of having an awesome hockey game on Friday, the poor kid then has an unfortunate hit against another player on Sunday and gets his first ever game misconduct (thrown out of the game and suspended for one more) we had an extremely emotional end to an already conflict-filled weekend. This latter event caused some major upset for the poor kid. He always plays by the rules (both in hockey and in life) and when something like this happened he felt so horrible about it that both husband and I were thrown into instant counselling mode (as were several of his coaches from the team - we have a very supportive team and we know we're lucky).

So, by 11 pm Sunday night (a full two hours after The Boy is usually in bed) he's finally calmed down enough about what happened, he's finished his project and has done a bit of studying for his test. But not only is the poor kid wiped out today so are his parents. Needless to say, no writing has been done on my part (even missed one of my bi-weekly blog posts). Sometimes life just throws a few curve balls at you to remind you to put writing into perspective. Family first always - even if it wipes you out. You can recharge later. The words will always be there waiting for you even if you ignore them. Your kids may not be.

The Engagement of Wills and Kate: The Ring

2010-11-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

I was all ready to do a blog post about my need to Stop, Drop and Plot - you know a writerly kind of post that examines my process through that dreaded middle and my need to outline and plan ahead to the coming climax but I'm instead going to do a very silly post about the just announced engagement between Prince William and Kate Middleton. For no other reason beyond the fact that despite my trying to stay away from stories about the Royal Windsors I can't. WHY am I so fascinated by this Royal Family?? It goes beyond my understanding.

So, okay. Here's probably the genesis of my obsession. I've always found the history of the British royal family interesting. My goodness, all those betrayals, beheadings, abdication, duty, loyalty, wars, romance - the sheer vast scope of being able to trace your entire family back to William the Conquerer. Whew! What's not to love? It's a thousand year old soap opera! So when way back when the romance of the century (or so it was spinned) happened between Lady Di and Prince Charles I was a naïve, impressionable teen much like the naïve Lady Di. I was definitely caught up in the romance of the thing. The Fairy-tale (which we found out later wasn't so much a fairy-tale as a carefully concocted marriage of convenience). So of course I watched the engagement, got up early to see the wedding, celebrated the birth of the young prince, read with fascination the increasing rift between the two parents, remember with horror the news of the crash and death, and wept with abandon at seeing her two boys following her coffin and the close up shot of the envelope with the word "Mummy" written on it. I still remember how much I cried when I heard Sir Elton John singing Candle in the Wind at her funeral. Argh.

Whatever people think about Princess Diana and her troubles I don't believe anyone can doubt her love for her children (as I don't doubt that Prince Charles loves his boys as well. From all accounts he has been a kind and caring father and his sons seem to adore him). So now as 'Wills' becomes engaged I admit I will follow the story and watch the wedding but not with the naïve eyes of a teenager who believes love will conquer all but with a slightly more jaded view. I'm glad Will and Kate have been living together so they know exactly who they are committing to, glad they are in their late twenties before taking the leap and taken their time to come to this decision. I hope their marriage will be a strong one but there is no doubt they must be aware of the pitfalls that might be ahead of them. One only wishes good things for a young couple starting out on a long road together. Still, for all the celebratory happiness surrounding this story, for some reason, I have one question that all the media hasn't touched on (or maybe I just didn't see it): the engagement ring and the negative connotations it has.

I understand that the blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds is inextricably linked to Princess Diana and her son honours his mothers memory with sharing it with his fiancee. And that's lovely. But a part of me cringes at seeing Kate wear it. Am I too superstitious? Do I see this ring as a symbol of a young love gone bad? If I were her, would I want to wear it given it's turbulent history? Or am I putting too much stock in an inanimate object? It's a beautiful, valuable ring and many families provide their sons/daughters with these items to pass along to the next generation. But, for me, that ring is Diana's - not Kate's. I know it will be inevitable that the next Princess of Wales will be compared with Will's mother and what a burden for the poor girl. I was kind of hoping Kate would have at least gotten to establish her own style with her own ring. But, what do I know? Perhaps she loves it and is honoured that Will has given her something he finds so evocative of his mother.

So, for all you British Royal watchers out there (if there are any :) ) what do you think? Should Kate have gotten her own ring or is family tradition more important?

Subway Stranger Reading Recommendations

2010-11-13T18:15:00.000-08:00

Usually I pick the books I want to read in one of two ways: I receive recommendations from friends or I read reviews. It's been a simple and, for the most part, effective way to broaden my reading experience. But the other day, as I was sitting on the subway riding in to work, I looked up and saw a woman reading a book that had an intriguing cover. I tried to check the title without looking like I was a subway stalker but because of the angle I couldn't quite catch the title. She got off on a stop before mine and I was never to find out what book she was reading. This bugged me. I don't know why but I decided to pay more attention to what the mass of people were reading on the TTC (that means subway in T.O. but really stands for the Toronto Transit Commission. But that's not the point of this story). Anyway, I decided to check out these random books so that I could decide whether to add them to my reading pile. A stranger's recommendation, if you will. A barometer of what the everyday, joe-blow, go to work person like me is spending their precious 20 min, half-hour to an hour commute reading in the morning. It wasn't as easy a task as I thought it would be.

Some days not one person had a book. Which appalled me. It's not that people weren't reading - they were. It just happened to be newspapers, iPhones, or university or highschool textbooks. Many were just listening to music. Others just staring off into space. I despaired of finding ten different books that I could check out before Christmas. But, by the end of two weeks (and some days I didn't ride the subway) I had my Subway Stranger Reading Recommendations.

So here are the books (and the blurbs I hunted up on Amazon and other sites) that I'm committing to either buying or checking out from the library over the next few months. Of the 11 books I spotted, I only read one (The Time Traveler's Wife) so I have a nice even ten books to check out:

The Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
On the eve of the monsoons, in a remote Indian village, Kavita gives birth to a baby girl. But in a culture that favors sons, the only way for Kavita to save her newborn daughter's life is to give her away.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Stratten
January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

A Mortal Curiosity by Anne Granger
The second novel in Ann Granger's wonderfully atmospheric Victorian mystery series. Lizzie Martin, lady's companion, has been sent from London to the New Forest to comfort a young woman whose baby has tragically died. A sad enough task, but things take an even darker turn when a rat-catcher is found murdered in the garden, and the young woman is discovered beside the body, crying and covered in blood. Not knowing where else to turn, Lizzie calls upon her friend Inspector Ben Ross from Scotland Yard to solve the horrific crime.

Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard by Richard B. Wright
In a quiet manor house in Oxfordshire, an ailing housekeeper by the name of Aerlene Ward feels the time has come to confess the great secret that has shaped her life-she is the illegitimate daughter of William Shakespeare, England′s most famous playwright.

Lie Down with the Devil by Linda Barnes
Things get moving quickly in Bostonian Carlotta Carlyle’s twelfth mystery, picking up right where Heart of the World (2006) left off, with Carlyle’s mobbed-up fiancé, Sam, sought for murder, and teenage Paolina, Carlotta’s adopted little sister, recuperating from her horrific experiences in Colombia. In her emotional agony, Paolina has shut out Carlotta, so the six-foot ex-cop and part-time cabbie turns her energy toward proving Sam innocent—in the face of his secrecy, his womanizing, and, worst of all, mounting evidence that he actually did the deed.

The Debutante by Kathleen Turner
Cate Albion is a gifted artist who is hiding from her past in her elderly aunt’s London antique shop. When her aunt sends her to Devon to catalog the contents of an old Georgian house, Cate finds more than just antiques, she finds a mystery. The home belonged to Irene Blythe, a wealthy, elderly woman who was once a beautiful socialite between the wars. Cate finds an abandoned nursery, locked for years, and a shoebox full of mysterious articles hidden behind a stack of books. Cate realizes the box belongs not to Irene but to her sister, Baby Blythe, the dazzling, dangerous, over-the-top debutante who mysteriously disappeared without a trace more than 60 years ago. Unable to resist, Cate unpacks the box and follows the clues to Baby Blythe’s dark, secretive past––one that parallels Cate’s own dark life all too well.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
"The Lost Symbol" solves puzzles, analyzes paintings and reveals forgotten histories -- all so that Brown's tireless hero, Robert Langdon can find a legendary Masonic treasure despite special ops squads that are dogging him and a bizarre killer who has kidnapped his dear friend and mentor.

Black and Blue by Ian Rankin
Rebus is juggling four cases trying to nail one killer - who might just lead back to the infamous Bible John. And he's doing it under the scrutiny of an internal inquiry led by a man he has just accused of taking backhanders from Glasgow's Mr Big. Added to that there are TV cameras at his back investigating a miscarriage of justice, making Rebus a criminal in the eyes of a million or more viewers. Just one mistake is likely to mean an unpleasant and not particularly speedy death or, worse still, losing his job.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
This zany tale of the bungling of Armageddon features an angel, a demon, an 11-year-old Antichrist and a doomsaying witch; unmistakably British humor is in abundance.

The Kings Grace by Anne Easter Smith
Smith's newest historical fiction is a complex exploration of a turbulent period of English history, taking on one of its biggest mysteries: the fate of princes Edward and Richard, locked up in the Tower by Richard III. Protagonist Grace Plantagenet is the illegitimate daughter of Edward IV and had been confidant to his family—including her imprisoned half-brothers Edward and Richard. After Richard III is killed and the princes disappear, a man named Perkin Warbeck appears to challenge Henry VII, claiming to be the presumed dead Prince Richard. Determined to discover the truth of Warbeck's claim, Grace throws herself into the politics of the court, knowing that if Warbeck is Prince Richard, it could be drastic for Grace's family—especially for her half-sister Elizabeth of York, now Henry's queen.

Whew. That's a heck of a lot of different books. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I'm going to like each one. And if I don't, I'm not sure I'll finish them all. But it's an experiment in whether I can enjoy books I haven't sought out myself or that have been recommended to me by someone I know - a broadening of my reading experience to see if I like other tastes and genres. We'll see how it goes. I think I'm going to try The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society first - just because I love the title and I love WWII stories. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

So, have you read any of the above? And how do you go about picking what's going on your To Be Read pile? But, please, don't give me any more recommendations. I don't think I could handle it!

Is the Gut Always Right?

2010-11-09T16:56:00.000-08:00

I have to make a decision soon. It's not life or death or anything, just something that is not clear cut in my mind. So, like I do when I'm figuring something out I research the hell out of it and make a mental list of pros and cons. I'm a Capricorn and I'm a very practical, linear, and (mostly) logical person when it comes to matters of career or finance or day to day matters. So this decision is not based on emotional commitment or family/friend related matters which should make for a very clear cut decision then, right? Um... not so much.

For the first time I'm listening more to my gut than my brain. I feel more that I should go one way even though, logically, my brain is telling me I probably should go the other way. But I keep remembering the last time I made a decision where my gut was telling me "Uh, Nelsa, maybe you should hold up there a bit. Think on it a little more." But my brain said, "This is an opportunity you need to take advantage of now." I regret that decision now although it didn't result in a disaster or anything. Just a general feeling that maybe I should have listened a little more to my emotional radar rather than the intellectual one.

I wonder if my gut now is just mirroring my natural worry and anxiety of making a decision that will take me down a different, unknown route - maybe my gut wants to play it safe? But I really don't think that's it. I should be excited about the decision - it's all right to feel nervous, anxious even but ... a gut level feeling that this is not right for me when all logic is telling me otherwise? I think I need to listen to that.

Maybe I need to follow my gut this time and see where pure feeling takes me. How about you guys? Do you always trust your gut? Or does logic win out every time?

Vintage or Just Old Crap?

2010-11-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

So my daughters have decided that buying vintage sweaters from the Goodwill is cool (well, not cool exactly - they'd never use that word). I am, shall we say, ambivalent about this sudden thriftiness. I grew up with hand me down clothes (even a bra once, Lord help me) from my cousins. Some of them were even girls :). I did get new clothes as well but I remember getting dresses and coats and other sundry items from various relatives and thinking they really were not my style. Perhaps they were my style but, darn it, they weren't new so they couldn't be as good, right? Anyway, I've had no trouble over the years donating tons of clothing to Goodwill. It is a fabulous organization. But I never really ever shopped there before. So when, the other night, Daughter 2 said she wanted to go we went. I was pleasantly surprised.

The Goodwill Store we went to was just recently built, bright lights, clothes organized in colour-coded blocks on racks and while, yes, there were some sketchy items, most of them were very well cared for, clean and in good shape. Daughter 2 bought 3 old man sweaters (don't ask. Apparently old man is a style these days) in almost perfect condition for under 20 dollars and was thrilled. Now I know she's not going to stop buying ridiculously expensive brand name items at American Eagle or Hollister (she'll try her hardest to make me buy them for her) but I love the idea of her recognizing that just because something has been used before it doesn't mean it's crap. The idea of not wearing something that a thousand other girls have in their closet is also a good thing as well. Wanting to be unique/individual is to be celebrated so if my girl wants to wear an oversized sweater that has a picture of an equestrian and his horse on the front then more power to her! Even better that it only cost $5.99.

Now if I can just convince my Dad to donate all his old shirts and sweaters to me I've got the next few Christmas's and birthdays covered. But then they'd probably think they're just hand me downs. I guess the fine line between Crap and Vintage is being hung on a rack with a thousand other old man sweaters and a price tag of $5.99.

A Blog Post about Nothing

2010-11-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

It has come to this: I have no ideas for a blog post today. Blank. Nada. Empty. Some days there is just no water in the well. So, the big question is: what do I do? Do I just not post? Do I do a tepid 'writerly' post about my crawling along WIP? Do I talk about the stresses and strains of raising 3 kids, working full-time, my mother's cancer treatment, my stalled renovations? Do I post about something I heard on the news today? Do I try and do a motivational post about never giving up when things seem their bleakest? I feel like I've written these posts before, like there's nothing new to say and no new way to say it.

I know this is normal. I've been writing this blog for over a year and a half, so why try to force a blog post when there's nothing to say?

Why? Why, I ask??

Because if I stop writing one day, it might lead to two. If I don't write two blog posts then a whole month could quickly go by and before you know it I've stopped writing the blog altogether and even though it may not be the most widely read or the most filled with wisdom (not by a long shot!)it is something I've committed to do and I'm a big believer in sticking with something even when it's not easy, even when it doesn't seem to be returning anything tangible some days. Because there are moments when a blog post does work and someone might see something in it that helps them or they can identify with whatever was written. I know there have been many blog posts I've read that have helped me. Blog posts that might have never been written if that blogger decided to stop writing just for a day, or two, or three...

Huh. What do you know? My blog post about nothing kinda turned into something. Another lesson about why writing when you don't feel like it is very important. :)

The Teen 'Voice'

2010-10-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Any writer of YA fiction knows that one of the things - if not the thing - editors look for in a manuscript is an authentic voice. Voice encompasses the whole of the book, it gives a reader a 'feel' for the characters and story. A writer's voice infuses the entire story and one of the ways to demonstrate that voice is through dialogue. However, when your main character is a teen many writers feel that they need to write the dialogue in a certain way - like there's a 'typical' teen voice or something. Well, we all know that there's no such thing as typical. There are stereotypes for sure but no writer wants their character to be a stereotype. Yet I've noticed some writers who want to write YA seem to fixate on the dialogue and mannerisms of teens by asking themselves or other writers whether they think a teen would say this or do that. My response to the question? "I don't know about whether a teen would say this or do that but what would your character say or do?"

I write fiction that, for the most part, has older teens as the main characters. But it's not like there's a template that says what all 17-year-old girl protagonists sound like. I have the privilege (or is it the curse?? :) ) of being a parent to two teen girls. Those two girls sound, look and act nothing alike. Their friends sound, look and act differently as well. They are all individuals. Some of them sound extremely mature and adult, others more child-like and innocent. One 16 year-old-girl could say "Like, I totally can't deal with her drama." while another would say "Drama queen. She better grow up." while another would say "Well, she seem kind of emotional. Don't you think?" They're all conveying the same point about another character but saying it in different ways depending on their maturity level, personality type and style. The voice comes from the character. Always.

What really bugs me is how fixed so many people seem to be on making sure that voice 'sounds' teen enough. Maybe it's because I'm embedded in the YA world but I don’t hear nearly as much chatter about whether your sixty-five-year-old grandmother character sounds 'senior' enough. Yes, we as writers have to make sure that we don't make a teen sound like she's a neurosurgeon when she's only taking basic Biology in high school (unless she's some kind of super-genius or something. But then why would she be taking basic biology then? I digress.) but your manuscript is filled with a variety of characters with a variety of ages and backgrounds and you have to create several unique, realistic voices.

So the point of my semi-rant? Worry about the character and making the dialogue true to that character. Don't write what you think a teen should sound like. There is no typical teen voice. There is only emotional honesty. Once you nail that, everything else is gravy.

One Story At a Time

2010-10-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

I, like most mothers, are Grand Masters of Multi-tasking. I can plan a grocery list in my head, while driving my son to hockey practice, stopping to drop off dry cleaning and work on stubborn novel plot points all at the same time. This talent (or maybe not a talent but an essential survival skill in today's world) is not something I trained for or even thought I needed to have before I had children. Maybe it's a latent gene that turns on when you give birth. Suddenly you become a multi-tasker. Then again, maybe it's just a woman thing. Lord knows I despair of seeing it develop in my dearly loved son. My husband seems to be a great multi-tasker at work but when it comes to home life, uh, well, he tries. My point is, if this is something that I've developed to survive in my day to day life (or it's a genetic twist that a large percentage of women have) it seems to have by-passed me in terms of my ability to work on more than one story idea at a time.

I am a one draft at a time, one story at a time writer. I am amazed when I hear of other writers who can flip from working on their middle grade WIP to dip into a picture book draft and then, if they're stalled in these endeavors (or because they really are amazing multi-taskers), start drafting that YA novel they've had brewing in the back of their mind for a few weeks. I know I am not mentally or physically capable of stopping and starting three or more different projects with different voices, different plots, themes, tones and maintain the focus required to reach conclusion on any one of these projects. Ack. I get stressed just thinking about it. Even when I received my revision notes for Illegally Blonde, a story that was pretty much complete, I had to stop working on my WIP at the time to fully focus on Lucy's voice, Lucy's story and submerge myself into the story completely so that the revisions didn't have a different tone. That was my one big worry about the editorial revisions on IB. Because they came so many years after I'd completed the story, would I be able to get back into that 'voice'. So that's why I dropped the WIP I was working on at the time for a full month while I tackled the revisions. I didn't feel confident enough that switching from one story to another would benefit either of them very much. Yet I know many writers who can do this.

Is this writerly multi-tasking ability something that you can develop? Is it just a personal quirk? I'm genuinely curious even though I don't think I'll ever change my one story at a time method. I guess with my personal life already filled to overflowing with multiple tasks, I kind of enjoy just focussing on one thing at a time for a change. How about you? Are you a multi-tasker or one story at a time writer?

Exercise Your Writing

2010-10-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Let's put it on the table, people. I hate exercise. Running, push ups, leg-lifts, free-weights, you name it, I avoid it. I do like some physical activity. I like yoga. Used to do it fairly regularly after the birth of my last child. I like walking so I don't mind walking to the subway or walking the dog (if the weather isn't horrible). But, overall, my slug to Tazmanian Devil ratio is about 100:1. But here's the thing: I think I'm finally starting to understand that whole philosophy about forcing yourself to exercise -consistently- even when you feel like crap, even when you abhor the idea of getting up at 6 am to do your stretches or run on the treadmill, once you start it it's not so bad.

I noticed this because I haven't been writing very much on the WIP lately. I do a lot of writing on the subway and, for various reasons, I've been driving to and from work the last couple of weeks. Well I finally got on that subway again a couple of times this week and my old habits kicked in. Instead of grabbing the newspaper or a book to read like many people, what I've usually done for the last few years is take that time to write. Well, I'd gotten out of that habit and the first day I truly didn't feel like pulling out the journal. I thought, I'll just re-read what I wrote a couple of weeks ago. Just to remind myself of where I was in the story. Soon enough that led to some ideas, a few words of correction here and there, an additional paragraph and by the time I got to work I had two new pages added to the story. It wasn't easy, the words took a while to come but, like exercise, if you force yourself to just do it, start slowly, it does get easier. Same with my attendance at The Boy's Tae Kwon Do practices. When I go I make sure I have nothing to read except my own work. As soon as I sit down I'm like Pavlov's dog and out comes the journal. Again, my mind may not want to write but I'm forcing myself to just look at the words at first, scratch a few new ones out in the hopes that more will come. Like people who say I can only do one push up and then the next day they say maybe if I got one done, I can now do two.

It's been a really long week and I'm not sure if I'll get much more writing done over the weekend. But I know that avoiding exercise leads to a flabby, unhealthy person so avoiding writing leads to a flabby, unfinished manuscript. Write one paragraph this weekend? Yeah, I can do that. And if I can do one, then maybe I can do two...

The Perfect Scene

2010-10-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

Writers are notorious for their perfectionism - at least the quest for perfection - in their work. We know full well such a thing doesn't exist but we strive for that perfect word, perfect sentence, paragraph, page, etc. Most of the time we fail - or we feel like we fail. The stories in our heads never seem to match with what ends up on paper. That is why we revise - and keep revising - until we get as close as we can to that mental image/story or (and this is more likely) we finally get so sick of the story we can't stand reading it anymore and say "Good enough".

When chatting with other writers I inevitably hear how they've read their stuff so many times they'd rather swallow knives than have to re-read the scene they've already read, revised (rinse, repeat, rinse again) a hundred times or more. If they're lucky enough to get published some writers may not even want to crack open that book because 1)after revisions for the editor, copy edits, and line by line scrutiny they are more than ever deathly sick of it or 2)they are terrified to find an escaped error or get renewed doubt and angst over whether the scene/chapter is good enough or, horror of horrors, shouldn't be there or could have been done a different way to better effect.

It is rare to feel like anything you've written can't be improved upon because 99% of the time it can. But there are times - those rare, exceptional times - when writing a scene flows so easily, feels so right and is exactly as you pictured it in your head (if you are like me you see the scene unfold like a movie in your mind) that you wouldn't change a word of it when you're done. I've only experienced that feeling once and it was a scene in Illegally Blonde.

I wrote the scene where Lucy kisses Filipe for the first time at the church four years ago. I remember exactly where I was when I finished it(late at night, in bed) and I remember thinking "Yes. This is exactly how I imagined this scene should be." That scene is still almost exactly the same as from the moment I put pen to paper over four years ago. In fact, I was so sure of the 'rightness' of that scene that one of the first questions I asked my editor, Anita, in our first conversation was, "Please tell me you don't want to change or cut the scene with Lucy and Filipe's kiss at the church." Luckily, Anita had no problems with it either. If she wanted it cut it might have been a deal breaker! :)

The point is that sometimes it's not so much about whether a scene is perfect or not. I'm sure many people who would read the scene might think it's just an average scene or who would think it could definitely be improved upon - and maybe that's true. But for me, for the story I wanted to tell, in the way I wanted to tell it, the scene is so right, so 'perfect' I would not change a word of it. And given my love of revision, I know how rare that is.

How about you? Have you ever had a scene come out almost exactly as you envisioned it that it barely changed from the first draft? Or do you sculpt your scenes, layer by layer to get them to be as near to perfect as you can?

Celebrating an Amazing Author

2010-10-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

It is so rare to achieve any success in this writing game that when something comes along that is so amazing, so wonderful and the recipient of that success is so deserving of it it is a joy to celebrate it with them. The wonderful thing that happened today was that a fellow Torkidlit writer is a finalist for one of the most prestigious awards in Canada - the Governor General's Award. The writer is Cheryl Rainfield and the book is her searing story SCARS.

This honour is particularly special because Cheryl is, without question, one of the most supportive writers I have ever had the pleasure to meet. She is open and warm and caring of the struggle that writers - and people in general - go through. That comes from her compassionate nature and it comes from a lifetime of her own personal struggles and her ability to rise above the most horrible of circumstances to become an exceptionally positive and creative human being. Her love of books and reading enabled her to do this and it is that love that helped her write and gave the world SCARS. And now, with this nomination, even more people will be aware of the book and the story and hopefully, more teens will know they are not alone even when it seems the world has turned its back on them.

Bravo, Cheryl. I'm thrilled your book has received such an honour but mostly, my dear, I am thrilled for you. Enjoy the ride!

Link to an Awesome Blog Post

2010-10-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

I don't often link to other blog posts because I'm a horrible blog visitor. I can go long stretches of time without visiting or discovering other blogs and, most of the time, I find that I'm usually quite late to the game and everyone has already discovered, visited, commented or otherwise discussed the blog or blog post in question so there's really nothing more I can add to the issue/discussion.

But today I finally visited the blog of Sarah Davies the principal agent at Greenhouse Literary and her October 5th blog post was filled with such wonderful, practical and hopeful advice to writers I just had to share it with you (and I'll make a point to visit there more often). It's the kind of thoughtful post that will resonate with so many writers (or anyone who is endeavouring to accomplish an almost impossible pursuit)that it should be shared as widely as possible. It really did put things in perspective for me and is a reminder of what we set out to do with our writing and what we should be getting out of this perilous and fraught with angst endeavor.

Enjoy the post, thanks to Ms. Davies for writing it and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canucks out there!

A Kipling Moment

Just Keep Pushing

2010-10-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not advocating rude subway or bus riding behaviour. I'm talking about pushing through when you don't feel like any progress is being made. This happens to me in so many aspects of my life I feel like I could just write blog posts about only this topic. Sometimes it feels like all I'm doing is pushing but I'm not getting through. Like I'm holding a wall that feels like it's about to topple on me if I don't keep the pressure up against it. And that's exactly the feeling I have when I'm working through the middle of the book which I'm doing right now. And that's exactly the feeling I have when I'm dealing with family/life commitments that I can't possibly attend/deal with because there is a whole section of wall that is about to topple first so I have to let the other side crumble.

The last few weeks and the the few weeks coming up I have/had to:
- miss my mom's birthday
- miss my Uncle's surprise 65th birthday party
- delay getting my daughter's skating program started
- delay cleaning out the old house
- manage Thanksgiving weekend around two hockey games which means we might have our dinner on Saturday night so I can drive four hours on Sunday night (after the hockey game) to surprise my mom with a quick overnight visit from her grandkids, drive back on Monday afternoon, drop off my daughter at her university on the way and get back home by Monday night
- probably miss my husband's annual early extended family Christmas get together on the first weekend in December (another hockey tournament)
- slow my writing down to a painful crawl but still try and maintain some forward motion with a page or two written while waiting for the Boy to finish Tae Kwon Do practices

Yup, the wall is certainly crumbling and cracking but am I about to stop pushing and let the whole thing fall? No. I may not be entirely successful in keeping the wall straight and unbroken but, darn it, I am not going to stop pushing against it because I know if I do that I'll be a quitter and if there is anything writing has taught me is that you can't be a quitter. Not if you hope to succeed in this business. Not if you hope to suceed in completing a novel. Not if you hope to succeed in growing and expanding your own strength of character. Yes, it is hard. Yes, not everything will be perfect. But the beauty is not in perfection - the beauty is in the effort and in the holding on in face of seemingly unsupportable odds.

So for all of us holding on to those walls (or boulders) keep your strength, don't give up, don't give in. The effort will be worth it (and, if all else fails, at least your arms will get really toned).

Expectations - High, Low or No?

2010-09-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about expectations people put on things. You know what I'm talking about, right? You're excitedly looking forward to a big party, expecting to meet fun people, have scintillating conversations, maybe discover the love of your life. The party doesn't turn out quite like you expected, maybe the host is in a bad mood, didn't put any food out, has ghastly wine and the one person you do meet has bad breath, is a close talker and won't leave your side the entire night. Or another example all you readers out there can identify with: you hear about a GREAT book, a book you have been told over and over again you must read, you will love it, it gets all these awards. You're excited. Can't wait to read it so you pick it up and ... you can barely make it past chapter two. And it's a hardcover that you spent over 25 bucks on. I think that example ticks me off more than a lousy party.

So, was it the high expectations that ruined the party and the book? Would you have enjoyed both more if you went in thinking that you would have a lousy time and you checked the book out of the library because the cover caught your eye? Are high expectations the reason behind many of the negative reviews we see for movies and books? I wonder if I would have enjoyed Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins nearly as much as I did if I'd bought it after all the hoopla surrounding the series. I was lucky enough to buy it right when it came out - yes, it had some good reviews but it hadn't 'caught fire' (pardon the pun) as much as it has now. So, while I hoped for a good read I was blown away by the story. I don't know if I would have had the same kind of reaction if I'd been bombarded by all the hype it's getting now because, after all that press, I would 'expect' to be blown away. The bar has been set pretty high.

I guess you could argue that truly great books, movies, parties, whatever will always meet expectations because that's what makes them great. TOY STORY 3 for example, had HUGE expectations when people went to see it and by no means did it disappoint. It even, dare I say it? in my opinion, surpassed the expectations the audience had for it. But that is a rare, rare thing.

Pixar genius aside, I think I prefer going into something new - whether it's a book, movie, or a party having no expectations at all. I like approaching the new experience with a clean slate because then the intensity of the experience - if it's good - will be even more pronounced. It doesn't mean I don't read reviews - I do. But I try not to put too much stock in them. Maybe my husband has had it right all these years - he doesn't want to hear ANYTHING about a movie before he goes to see it. He doesn't want to hear what I've heard or what I think about it. He truly wants an empty slate so that he can be surprised, excited or totally disgusted on his own, without expectations.

What do you think? Are high expectations a good thing to have? Or is it better to temper expectations with a dose of "Whatever will be will be?"

And the Good News Keeps Coming!

2010-09-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

The Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) is a national, not-for-profit organization founded in 1976 dedicated to encouraging, promoting and supporting the reading, writing and illustrating of Canadian books for young readers through services, publications and programs. The CCBC is a vital resource for teachers, librarians, students, authors, illustrators, publishers, booksellers and parents. It is also now one of my favouritest organizations (I know favouritest isn't a word but cut me some slack in my excitement here) because it named ILLEGALLY BLONDE as a Recommended read in the Summer edition of its quarterly magazine!

I have been living in a world of packing boxes, family health issues and other related personal chaos for the last four months so when I picked up the magazine on Friday and flipped through the pages and saw a picture of my book in the section on Recommended Books I just about passed out. This was just after I'd read the lovely review in CM magazine. I cannot tell you how grateful I feel to read that the editor of the CCBC News thinks

"It's refreshing to see a Portuguese-Canadian protagonist in YA fiction and Lucy do Amaral is an appealing newcomer …"

and that

"Author Nelsa Roberto has taken a true story from the news headlines (about Portuguese-Canadians deported when their citizenship was called into question) and skillfully crafted an enjoyable and well-written tale. Lucy do Amaral is a welcome addition to the YA scene."

I am verklempt. It's also the best medicine for a very sore and aching back!

And that's not all, people!

On Saturday I saw a very nice advertisement in the Toronto Globe and Mail Book section from Great Plains Teen Fiction promoting their Spring books and ILLEGALLY BLONDE is right there alongside the two other teen books published this spring: Craig Russell's BLACK BOTTLE MAN and Susan Roccan's SPIRIT QUEST. Yay for a supportive publisher!

And best of all, it was a beautiful sunny, fall day yesterday for my son's belated birthday party and he also played an amazingly great game of hockey on Sunday.

Sometimes life is just plain good.

On Moving Day, A Good Review and a Lovely Decline

2010-09-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

So, it is over. The big stuff is moved/packed and we are officially housed at the rental home. But now comes the organizing of ourselves in our new house and dealing with some leftover stuff back at the old house to prep it for the upcoming demo/reno. It's not quite over yet. However, my back survived (sorta. I found a half-bottle of red wine works just as good as Robaxacet). It didn't rain. Nothing got broken/lost/damaged (although there was a scary moment when it looked like the couch wouldn't fit). My horoscope was right when it said the 23rd would be good for major home related moves. So, while exhausted, I am grateful to be officially relocated.

I was also rewarded with a surprise from my publisher who informed my agent of a review for ILLEGALLY BLONDE in CM magazine (Canadian Review of Materials) in the September 10/10 issue. For those who are unfamiliar with it, CM is a very well respected source in Canada for teachers, librarians, parents and kids that focuses on book reviews, media reviews, news, and author profiles of interest. Given this level of import, I was a bit nervous opening it up but it was really very nice! I got a Recommended 3/4 review. Here's the link but I'll just leave you with a quote from the review that I was thrilled to read

"The dialogue and Lucy’s interior self-talk is absolutely excellent. Because Roberto has captured perfectly the vocabulary, tone and emotions of the characters, the story flies by with the reader eagerly turning pages. From the rigid upper middle class kitchen of Joel’s parents to the cramped home of Lucy’s loving relatives, the settings not only reflect the characters’ values but also evoke a palpable love of Portuguese culture. Exceptional descriptions of the land and village in Portugal are woven seamlessly into the plot."

CM Review of ILLEGALLY BLONDE

So reading this made me feel a bit better after having gotten a lovely decline from an editor this week for my YA paranormal. I say a 'lovely' decline because she said my heroine was 'sharp and intelligent', was rooting for her on-again off-again love story and praised my engaging voice and smart writing. But she couldn't offer because she felt the paranormal story wasn't 'dark and epic' enough. Ah well. Different strokes. Let's hope there is an editor out there who loves all aspects of the story.

All-in-all I can't complain with how things have been going this week. Sure there have been moments of sheer mind and body numbing exhaustion and disappointments on the writing front but life is never just one thing or another. The good nearly always outweighs the bad and I am, as always, grateful for the good and plan to forget the bad as quickly as possible!

I hope to be back to a fairly normal routine next week (I know, I know: define normal) so hope to post more regularly again. See you on the bright side!

Ouickie Post: Surviving the Move Week and Link to Interview

2010-09-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Just popping in to let y'all know I'm surviving the final few days before our move on Thursday. My husband keeps telling me we are no where near ready and plans to stay awake 24/7 from now until Thursday to make sure we are completely organized. That way we'll be sitting on the stoop at 8 a.m. when the movers arrive with nothing more to do than point to a pile of neatly packed boxes and empty-of-clothing furniture and say: "There you go, boys."

Yeah. Good luck with that, sweetie.

I, on the other hand, need at least 6 hours sleep a night so I will not be staying up past 1 a.m. I expect this week to be full of sturm and drang but this too shall pass.

In the meantime, in lieu of a blog post I'm linking to an interview that the awesome Debbie Ohi did with me and just posted on her inkygirl website last week. Debbie, as many of you might know, is an awesome force, member of Torkidlit and both an illustrator and writer. In fact, she just got a contract to illustrate a book written by writer/actor/comedian Michael Ian Black, to be released by Simon & Schuster in 2012! Yay, Debbie!! So, with great thanks for taking the time to interview me, here's the link. Hope you enjoy!
http://bit.ly/9k9MKO

Thankful Thursday

2010-09-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

After the crazy, frantic summer of 2010 I'd rather forget, the month of September from Hell (and still descending) it seems strange for me to be posting a "Thankful Thursday" today. But what this year has taught me is that in the midst of the crazy and awful there are those moments where you realize how good you have it and how precious life is. Today, especially today, is an especially thankful Thursday because it is my mom's 74th birthday. And as a tribute to her I'm trying to keep upbeat in the face of so many day to day challenges life throws at you - just like she's been so brave about things this year. So, without further ado here is what I'm thankful for today:

My Mom's Cancer-free diagnosis
After her second surgery to remove the lymphnodes, the doctors confirmed the cancer had not spread and that she does not have to undergo chemotherapy - just radiation and hormone suppressant therapy. So for that and for being here on her birthday, I'm extremely thankful!

Daughter One's Awesomeness
Even with all the expectations we place on her as our first-born, even with her wish for too much independence, even with the moments where we wonder whether she'll end up a brain surgeon or living penniless in a commune in Bolivia, she continually amazes us and makes us proud. She just received notification that she is the recipient of the Wood Award at her high school (and no it's not a block of wood she carved or anything). She is receiving it for her high academic achievement, her contribution to the life and spirit of the school and her good citizenship. All that and she's getting the English award for having the highest marks in that subject. Guess all that reading paid off!

Son's Sweetness
Even after berating him for not doing his homework fast enough, even though he knows I get frustrated with him to the point of not being very nice sometimes, he still looks up at me with those big brown eyes of his after he's done writing up something that took a painfully long time to finish and asks with a 'I want to please you' voice, "Am I doing my homework all right now, Mom?" Yes, baby. Yes. You are doing more than all right. It's Mommy that's not doing so well, sometimes.

Daughter Two's Responsibility
With the focus the last few months on Daughter One's moving to university, son's ongoing hockey life and her parents focus on the move and reno, daughter two has gotten short shrift lately. The curse of the middle child. Well, I hope she knows how thankful I am for her sense of responsibility with getting herself ready for school and to the camp she's at this week (I barely noticed what she packed). I don't worry so much about her because she is so good at taking care of herself. But it doesn't mean she doesn't need some TLC once in a while. Just because she's so responsible I think she probably needs it more than the others.

My Home is About to Be Renovated
Even though it is a hot mess right now and the move is a week away and we are no where near organized enough, I'm still thankful that we are lucky enough to be able to undertake this massive project and our children will be lucky enough to have (one day) a beautiful home to live in (the permits get submitted to the city tomorrow - yay!). I know we're very, very fortunate to have this opportunity. I know it will be a struggle but anything worthwhile is, no?

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
When the days seem like they can't possibly have one more event crammed in or crisis to deal with, and you think you can't possibly cope with anything, the taste of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup melting in your mouth reminds you that there are simple, sweet moments in life to savour. Some days, several sweet moments.

That's it for today. I hope your own thankful Thursday is filled with all the things you sometimes take for granted and all of a sudden notice how important and wonderful they are. Now Go forth and Thank!

The Delicate Balance

2010-09-09T08:49:00.001-07:00

Before this summer of change and chaos descended on me I never before realized how delicately balanced my family life, work and writing were. While I would have the occasional time where one of those 3 would take a slight precedence and tip the scales a little bit in one direction or another, it was never so much that the other two would fly completely off the scales. It's the old adage: I never knew I had it so good. Eight years of good.

People would often ask me: How do you manage it, Nelsa? I'd always answer "I don't manage very well at all." Ha! I didn't know it but I was managing like a Major League Baseball coach. I just didn't realize it until these last few months how easy I had it. Well I guess the time has come for me to understand - and accept - that balance will probably not be achievable for at least another month for me. I liken it to being in the middle of the book where things are always their darkest. My way forward seems blocked and confused, I'm not quite sure how to make my way to the end. Sometimes I have to put the book aside for a time to figure things out. So my life is right now. I want to put it all aside (the move, the renovations, hockey season, etc) but I can't. Too many people would be affected. I certainly can't put work aside. So what goes? The writing. Which includes less time interacting with the many fabulous writing friends I've met in real life and online.

I'm not going to lie - this is hard. Only when you can't do something do you realize how much you love it. Writing makes me a happier person, there's no question about it. So while I could try to carve out the time, I've already shaved everything so close to the bone there's no meat left. The only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that - like any good scale - the imbalance will correct once I start putting weight on to it in the correct amounts. I know if I stay away from writing for too long my scale will topple. Let's hope the imbalance will be corrected soon.

A Love Poem for My Daughter

2010-09-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

When we said good-bye to our first born yesterday at university I had many words I wanted to leave with her. I'm a writer - I should have had the right words. But when it came time to say them not one could come out. None were right. None of them captured the feelings I had.

I'm not a poet but for the first time I felt like a poem would be the only way to capture the feelings flowing through me as my baby girl leaves home. It's not perfect but it's as close as I can get to telling her how much I love her.

This is a love poem for my daughter.

Never Before

I am watching your face as you look up at me
Holding you in my arms
As I rock you

I have never before felt such a surge of love

I am lying beside you waiting for you to fall asleep
You lean in toward me and give me a big, fat, wet with warm milk, kiss
Without me asking for it

I have never before felt such a longing to hold you forever

I am yelling at you, upset and angry over some silly thing you've done
I can't even remember what it was anymore
I find you sitting on your bed, holding your teddy bear, close to your chest
And whispering in its ear
"Mommy's not in a good mood right now, Henri. We'll just wait until she's feeling better."

I have never felt my heart break before

I watch you walking - wobbling - in your first high heel shoes and hold back a smile
Thinking how beautiful and awkward and wonderful you look
And stop myself from saying anything that might make you feel even sillier than you probably already do.

I have never before felt so helpless at the passing years

I leave you at your door with one last hug and kiss before we drive away
Knowing you are anxious and sad and excited all at once
To see us go

I have never missed you or loved you more.

All my love, forever,
Mom.

Serial Monogamist or Playing the Field?

2010-08-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

When it comes to reading books I've always been a serial monogamist. One book at a time and faithful to that book until I hit The End. I rarely ever strayed, never feeling the need to dip my toe into other books while I was still being faithful to the one I started. But lately, things have changed. I don't know whether it's a product of the erratic life I'm leading - running from one thing to another, packing one thing then being led astray by yet another, whatever it is in the last week I've started THREE books: MOCKINGJAY, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, and FORTY WORDS FOR SORROW. This is not normal behaviour for me!

So, because of this, I'm now feeling distinctly unfaithful and uncommitted when I pick up any one of these books to read these days. Granted, I can't be totally blamed for straying from MOCKINGJAY. I'd passed the 200 page mark and my daughters absconded with it while I was in the middle of packing a closet. Okay, I understood. I wasn't paying it the attention it deserved. It is a book deserving of a full hour upon hour of immersion and I just wasn't giving it that devoted, full-time attention. So MOCKINGJAY strayed to partners that would show it the devotion it required. I'm hurt and feeling guilty for my part in the break up but I totally understand. So, to console my bruised ego, I picked up THE PRINCESS BRIDE. After so many years of watching the movie and falling in love with the story I'd yet to actually read it. Well, how better to console oneself after the first book has left you to immediately go to a book that you've wanted to read for years? And what a book it was! Oh, my William Goldman is a master. I could totally forget MOCKINGJAY (for a time) while in the arms of THE PRINCESS BRIDE.

Alas, that too was doomed. While I was downstairs, trying to veg out after a day of exhausted pack and move duties, I was looking through the bookshelf and a mystery I'd been given years ago caught my eye. It was just going to be a casual read. Just a few chapters. It was meaningless time killer. But no. I got hooked.

So I'm now in a twisted three way love triangle with books I don't have time for. How did this happen?? I fear I'm going to have to give them all up for a time so I can make a decision on which one to choose. You see, it's just not in me to play the field. Yup, I'm a definite serial monogamist when it comes to reading.

How about you? One love affair at a time or a few going on all at once? And if it's the latter, how on earth can you keep them all straight?

One Box at a Time

2010-08-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

No, this is not a blog post about some TLC program on how to pack and organize your house. Okay, well, besides the TLC part, it is about packing and organizing your house but it's also about how going through that horrible process can teach you a few things about writing.

Many of you know that I'm in the process of packing up an entire house for our move in September. The last time I moved was over ten years ago and I still have the herniated disc to show for it. But physical impact aside, a move of this size is huge people. Do you have any idea how much stuff a family of five and a hundred pound dog can accumulate in ten years??? And why do we need to keep every single hockey jersey my son has worn in the last five years??? Seriously, it's enough to daunt the most organized of people into paralysis and I'm not the most organized of people by a long shot. While I can plan like a five star general about to invade a country for some things (think vacation planning), going through every item in a two storey house and either packing it for storage, packing it to move to the rental, throwing it away or taking it to the Goodwill is an exhausting, mind-numbing process. Pretty soon you start to make snap judgements without thinking just because you want to get it over with. "Who needs that brass candlestick I paid $200 for seven years ago? I don't like brass anymore. Goodwill." "Do I really need those suit jackets? How many conferences for work do I attend where I wear suits anymore? Goodwill." "The Boy will never miss this Bumblebee Transformer. It's practically broken anyway. Trash."

Pretty soon I'll have emptied out an entire house and the inevitable will happen: I'll redecorate and remember that the candlestick I blithely gave away would have looked perfect on that new table. I'll suddenly have a slew of meetings and won't have a thing to wear to them. My son will sob when he's looking for that favourite transformer and it's gone forever. Sigh. You see what I mean about paralysis. It's enough to make you want to sit in the middle of a half-packed room and cry.

But decisions have to be made and lived with if you are going to move forward with your life. Knowing this tendency of mine to go straight to being overwhelmed before I even start making decisions I have trained myself to think: "One room at a time. One box at a time. One item at a time." I can't tell you how that mantra has saved my sanity over the last few weeks.

So, what does this have to do with writing, you ask?

Well, when you start writing a book it seems like a huge mountainous task that would be impossible to complete. But, just like organizing a move, a little thought and preparation can help you break free of the paralysis. For example, think when you're preparing to write a book

One room at a time means Chapters: What does this one chapter have in it? What places and people are there to be organized?

One box at a time means Characters: Who is your main character? Who are their friends? What are the things that are most important to those characters that must go into that box?

One item at a time means Plot/Goal: What single most important thing does your main character want in this chapter? Keep that one item (your character's core goal) safe and secure and treasured. All the other stuff you can trash or donate (set it aside in another Word document if you don't want to let it go right away) But make sure you keep that one item safe and always know exactly where and what it is.

In this way, using this mantra, you can work through the house that is your book keeping the most important things and not worrying about what you've donated or trashed. One chapter - i.e. one room - at a time. Before you know it you'll have filled an entire house of rooms with neatly packed boxes.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go pack another box.

Strangers on a Train

2010-08-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

I'm back from another few days away visiting my mom first then spending a couple of days with my girlfriend - the longest relationship I've had in my life outside of my family. Longer even than my husband and we'll have been married 20 years this year plus dated for several more before that. Jan and I don't see each other very often - if we're lucky once or twice a year. But, as in most friendships if they're good, you don't need frequency so much as a deep empathy and understanding that makes the few get togethers you have seem like no time at all has passed. Simply put, we get each other. We have the same sense of humour and the same types of interests in TV shows, books, movies, and musical theatre. We do differ on some things and we definitely aren't personality clones or anything (she's way more patient and understanding than I am by a long shot. Guess that's why she's my friend :) Still, we complement each other. What more can you ask of a friendship? And how vital it is to have those types of relationships. It is one of the joys in life.

Mostly those kind of relationships take time to develop. But sometimes you can connect instantaneously with the most unexpected people. I was fortunate to have both experiences happen to me this weekend: a chance to reconnect with a life-long friend and a chance encounter with a stranger on a train.

I usually don't end up talking with the person sitting beside me on my infrequent train rides. I'm too busy writing or reading to really pay much attention or put much effort into the superficial chit-chat that typically occurs during these encounters. But yesterday, for some reason, as I was writing I paused and glanced over at my seat mate. He was an older gentleman (in his late eighties as I was to find out) partially blind, using a cane, well-dressed and quiet. I remember thinking in that first quick glance: "I wonder what he's experienced in his life." I'm always especially interested in talking with senior citizens. Inevitably, there is some really fascinating thing that has occurred in their lives. They did live through the most turbulent of times during the twentieth century after all. This man was no exception.

When he saw that I'd stopped writing he smiled and asked if I was writing my memoir. I laughed and said I hadn't had nearly that interesting a life. I did say I was a writer and that started the conversation rolling since he admitted he'd often thought about writing a memoir. He told me things about his life that were the stuff of movies. How he became a doctor at age 40 and lived in the Arctic for several years with his young family while caring for the indigenous people of the area. He saw the last real evidence of how the Arctic people lived for thousands of years before the modern world began to invade. After the Arctic he lived and worked in Saudi Arabia. Before he became a doctor he spent time in Rhodesia and other parts of Africa that were still under British or Portuguese colonial rule. He told me about his adored older brother who was a bomber pilot in WWII and was shot down and killed. He spoke eloquently of how that devastated his parents - and him - to lose the shining star of the family. He told me he was still practicing cardiology though not in clinical practice because of his blindness but he still consulted with other doctors and helped patients with the psychological stress and after effects of having heart surgery. He told me he was going back to work after visiting his children - a four day train ride from British Columbia. I said, "Four days?? I hope you had a sleeper car." "No," he said. "Veterans can travel free on coach class." I looked at him, stunned. "You sat for four days on a train?" He shrugged and replied, "Those things don't bother me."

After the life he lived, I guess not.

He was an amazing, positive, awe-inspiring man. He told me that when he got to Toronto (a trip he made weekly) he was going to take the subway to a hotel I knew was at least an hour's subway and bus ride away. But, like the four day cross-country train ride, it was nothing to this fiercely independent man. I will probably never see this gentleman again but I will never forget him. In two hours he taught me so much about following your dreams, staying passionate about life and the power of the human spirit. Sometimes, a brief encounter has as much impact on you as the relationships that have sustained you for a lifetime. I treasure them both.