"Book Madam" via AliasGrace in Google Reader

The Four (Canada Reads) Agreements: Don Miguel Ruiz-Wilson

2011-10-18T18:41:08Z

Authors, take with a grain of salt. I'd do the same. And you didn't do it to yourself, the Mother Corp did it to us all. (CBC, take with a grain of salt. You give us so much to debate and it's always a fascinating journey!)

With that . . . The Four (Canada Reads) Agreements: Don Miguel Ruiz-Wilson

1. Be impeccable with your word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. When pitching your book during Canada Reads, avoid self-deprecation, because, really, you're probably right, your book isn't any screaming hell. But, buck up, little one! That doesn't mean it doesn't deserve the same shot as all the other mediocre books in Canada. (I happen to like the look of a lot of the titles on the list. Don't take this personally. Oh, but I've gone and spoiled #2!)

2. Don't take anything personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When pitching your book during Canada Reads, ask yourself, "Has this person actually read my work? Does it matter?" It's OK, writer-friends, to just ask for what you want because you want it. There's no room on the poll for passionate elaboration. It's not a solid. We don't owe one another. It's a click. Frankly, get enough wine in me and I'll likely hit the wrong button anyhow.

3. Don't make assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. When pitching your book during Canada Reads, don't say, "If you vote for me, I will give you my first born child!" Because, listen, I'm already outside your house and I have fucking candy and you've already told him/her he/she can't have any until Halloween, which kind of makes me more popular than you with or without a poll.

4. Always do your best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret. When pitching your book for Canada Reads, don't be a pussy, punch em' in the throat and get 'er done!

Take good care. And as I always like to say: Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. (Like Casey Kasem stands a chance against me.)

Margaret Atwood v City Hall?

2011-07-26T19:12:30Z

Seriously! In an unprecedented show of neanderthalmanship, Toronto city councillor Doug Ford has decided to shit-talk Margaret Atwood.

Atwood took issue with Ford’s comments on talk radio that he has more library branches in his Etobicoke ward than there are Tim Hortons outlets.

Asked about her efforts, Ford said: “Well good luck to Margaret Atwood. I don’t even know her. If she walked by me, I wouldn’t have a clue who she is.”

Here's the link to the Toronto Star article. And apparently Ford Nation knows who she is, as the Toronto Sun also deemed it fit for reporting.

As my friend Robbie pointed out to me, he must not have gone to high school, as you cannot escape without reading a Margaret Atwood novel.

Moreso, when you have an internationally-famous artist in your city, as a high-ranking official, would you not want to pay her some modicum of respect?

One Line Wonder Review: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

2011-07-18T14:00:05Z

You can also file this one under "Notes from a Kelley Armstrong Fangirl"...

Let me know what you thought about the book in the comments below or send me your video response using the tag #1linewonders on YouTube or Twitter.

Writing the 5-Hour Novel

2011-07-16T17:11:33Z

Recently, I reorganized my life around a new full-time game writing job at Ubisoft, where I get to work on Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, writing, among other things, the dialogue of all the in-game dance coaches. This is a total sandbox playtime job for movement-enthusiast, dance-writing me. I love it.

Since taking this big step, I've been getting a lot of questions from friends, acquaintances at book launches, and People of the Internet, about whether this means I'm "giving up" on my "career as a novelist."

This question surprises me, since I’ve always done other things along with writing fiction. But more importantly, writing a novel, and especially, writing well, has never been a function of how much time I have, nor do I think it should be.

So how does this work, exactly-- writing long fiction, while also sustaining a full-time writing gig in another discipline?

I'm still learning my way through my new novel writing routine. I have about 45 minutes to an hour every week day morning to work on my novel. (I also have an an available hour or so a few evenings a week, and a few hours on the weekend, but I tend to fill those with various business chores and designing silly t-shirts. I also cook a lot at home and get a reasonable amount of exercise. A girl can have multiple priorities.)

The question is: can a novel really be written in 5 hours a week?

My answer: yes.

Since I started this new routine, the time I spend fictionalizing takes place very early in the day, enveloped by ritual calm.

I get up early, make lunches, walk the dog. I read on the metro for half an hour. By 8am, I’m at a cafe, with a coffee and bagel. I open my iPad, and something productive happens. Every day, something productive-- a small thing each time, but completely productive, every time.

I carry each small advancement and all my characters around with me all day. I sleep on it. The next morning: another hour, another small advancement. No drama. No hair pulling. Just every week day, a coffee, a bagel, a few paragraphs that make sense, or some editing that leaves me satisfied. With my basic needs provided for by my job (including a great measure of daily creativity and interaction with other creative professionals), I go about my routine. I feel energized. The text grows.

Writing a novel can be like quilting or embroidery. Few people need to quit their jobs to quilt or embroider. Writing a novel can be like running a marathon. Few would say “when I quit my job and run full time, I’ll finally run a marathon.” We have piecework. We have interval training. We have novels fed by the rhythms of life.

AppSumo - Groupon for Web Nerds

2011-07-14T12:48:58Z

Hola amigos, been a while since I rapped at ya. The data keeps coming in and I've been pulling long nights working on this food book for the fall.

But I still find time to go on the Internet. If you're reading this, you do too!

And so, since you love the web, like so much you want to marry it, I bring you AppSumo. It's like Groupon, or w00t, except you don't destroy a local small business and it caters to web-minded individuals like us!

Today's deal, for instance, is 17 Wordpress themes from Themify for $75 bucks. I know you can get WP themes for free, but there are a lot of benefits to buying a pro-theme. Customer support, generally a lot better usability, and often are much more customizable than free themes. AppSumo also had a great deal a while back for Zed Shaw's Learn Python the Hard Way course (now in it's second edition).

Currently on the AppSumo all deals page, they've got a ton of stuff, like learning to code Ruby, Wordpress training, and one-year access to a design library from MediaLoot. Beats half-price at the tanning salon, that's for sure.

EVENT: Parkdale Street Writers Launch New Zine. @GladstoneHotel. July 1. 7 p.m. FREE!

2011-06-28T17:13:08Z

To learn more about the Parkdale Street Writers, visit their site: www.parkdalewriters.ca

The group is run by writer and activisit Emily Pohl-Weary. I really have to force myself not to get gooey over Emily's work this past years, because it's not about heroism. But, jeebus, is it ever inspiring the amount of dedication and vision she puts into this project and the weekly workshops, as is the participation of those who help facilitate them. It's truly a labour of love and passion.

So, why not help Emily and the youth celebrate their efforts and accomplishments by attending the launch of their latest zine?

Party to launch our new zine Underground Inspirations, with performances by contributors, plus special guests LAL and Abstract Random!

Canada Day
Friday, July 1, 2011
7 p.m. at Gladstone Hotel, 2nd Floor
1214 Queen Street W, Toronto

FREE! fun! SNACKS! cake!
READINGS! books!
DJ! art! PERFORMANCES! really nice people!

More info about the event or Parkdale Street Writers: 416-779-1448 or info@parkdalewriters.ca

We are grateful to our community partners (Lakeview Lunch, Toronto Public Library, Small Print) and our sponsors (Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Celebrate Canada Fund, Diaspora Dialogues).

More on the Parkdale Street Writers and how to get involved.

What: PARKDALE STREET WRITERS is a free weekly writing group for youth 16-29 led by local authors, poets, graphic novelists and lyricists.
Where: Parkdale Library, 1303 Queen St. W (Toronto)
When: Tuesdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Info: www.parkdalewriters.ca

EVENT: @thebookbakery Fund-Fair! June 29. 7 p.m. $10. Kisses!

2011-06-28T16:03:13Z

Visit The Book Bakery to learn more about how grrreat they are.

From the site:

The Book Bakery is properly known as Publication Studio Toronto, an outpost of the original Publication Studio in Portland, Oregon. The Book Bakery produces special book projects by artists and writers and publishes them in limited-edition, print-on-demand runs; it also produces jewelry and other delicious doodads. At its heart it's an art project, a not-for-profit experiment in sustainable publishing. It is located in the heart of Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood; its goods and goodies are sold online at the Publication Studio site; selected book titles are available at TYPE Books on Queen Street West in Toronto. The first slate of books will be announced in March 2011; following that, new books will be announced often, but not on any regular schedule.

Publication Studio is a laboratory for publication in its fullest sense — not just the production of books, but the production of a public.
–Matthew Stadler

Read more about Publication Studio here.

All done? Now come have some fun and support these fine books and people at the same time! I'm sorry to say my lips won't be on call during the kissing booth, but there are plenty of other delectable Labium superius/inferius on offer. Go get you some!

Facebook RSVP. > It's fun to RSVP.

PODCAST: Writers Reading Recipes, Ep. 7 (@trevor_cole)

2011-06-25T12:55:06Z

This week's Writers Reading Recipes comes to you from Trevor Cole: "Canadian novelist, journalist, winner of the 2011 Leacock Medal for Humour, lover of good wine and dark espresso, and cheerer for the home team."

Practical Jean, published with McClelland & Stewart in September of 2010, is Trevor's third novel. It was short-listed for the Rogers Writer's Trust Fiction Prize and recently won the 2011 Leacock Medal for Humour.

For more Trevor, follow him on Twitter at @trevor_cole and visit him at his online home: www.trevorcole.com.

Click on the below link to enjoy the dulcet tones of Trevor Cole reading "Cranberry-Orange Relish" by John Engels, a poem and recipe in one!

2 SPOTS LEFT: Online Short Fiction Workshop with Matthew J. Trafford

2011-06-21T12:47:01Z

Let's get straight to the point: There are only TWO SPOTS LEFT in this short fiction online correspondence course.

Let's make another point: Matthew J. Trafford (The Divinity Gene) is a freakin' delight and one whip-smart writer. Those two people are going to be damn lucky to have him as an instructor.

Run, don't walk: http://www.sarahselecky.ca/matthewjtrafford

If you're still having a think, here's the full monty.

July 4th - August 17th (seven weeks)
$450.00 (CDN)

(Editor's note: That's just over $60 a week. You could get seven simple tattoos for the same price. Choose your pleasure. Seven simple tattoos? Or seven weeks of Matthew J. Trafford gazing lovingly upon your written word? I just got another tattoo, so don't go thinking I'm dissing simple tattoos.)

About the course. (In the words of Sarah Selecky who is hosting this workshop from her online home where she, too, offers correspondence courses.)

Matthew has created a special correspondence class exclusively for short fiction writers, especially those who have worked with me before. I know Matthew very well; we've worked together for years. He's the real thing.

This class is online, with weekly meetings, assignments and discussions. You will deepen your understanding about the craft - dialogue, characterization, plot, scene, exposition - by sharing your story with a team of close readers.

Matthew will help you refine your writing by guiding the critique of each submission carefully. By describing the strengths and weaknesses of each story, you will uncover your own writing habits. The idea is to recognize the potential of a story even before it is polished, and then to articulate what can be done in revision to bring it closer to itself.

Students should have one story draft that is ready to be workshopped before the start of the course.

Finally, here's a picture of Matthew. C'mon! How sweet is this guy?

REGISTER NOW!

Interview with Jo Treggiari author of Ashes, Ashes

2011-06-21T13:00:00Z

There's this thing called Atlantic Author Day that takes place in June of every year. It's basically where authors from the region tour bookstores around the province in allotted time slots. On Saturday, I caught up with Jo Treggiari at Woozles Bookstore to wrap up her Canadian "Plague & Pestilence" blogger tour for her YA dystopian novel Ashes, Ashes. The interview was filled with lots of surprises including:

special guest co-host Lauren Oostveen from ZombiesAteLauren.com who dressed as a post-apocalyptic survivor
most of the streets downtown were closed to a massive street hockey tournament which made us all a little late (welcome to Canada!)
we made the very poor judgement call of situating the interview next to a children's train set (you'll see what I mean)
a very special treat for Jo at the end (if you've been paying attention to her other blogger interviews you might find this funny)

PODCAST: Writers Reading Recipes, Ep. 6 (@sarahbleavitt)

2011-06-18T11:38:02Z

Hello, weekend! Hungry?

Sarah Leavitt, author/illustrator of Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother and Me (Freehand Books), had such a good time recording a recipe for the debut edition of Writers Reading Recipes, she asked if she could be a regular correspondent. I'd take a bite out of that! Also? That didn't come out right.

I'm particularly happy with Sarah's latest recording because she hits on something I've been thinking about too, that we enjoy reading from cook books because the writing is often so wonderful and captivating. Today, Sarah reads from throughout The Joy of Cooking. (Sarah: "They cook turtles and brains, but, you know, it's good literature.")

Enjoy!

The Joy of Cooking: thoughts on meat, poultry and variety (mp3)

Visit Sarah: www.sarahleavitt.com
Follow Sarah on Twitter: @sarahbleavitt

Book Madam Book Club: Live-to-Chat (@FoundPress)

2011-06-16T00:38:04Z

Slave Lake Book Auction

2011-06-13T12:07:38Z

File this one under "And Now For Something Completely Different." This post really has less to do with YA and more to do with the book community coming together to help out one of our own. The Slave Lake Public Library faced a devastating fire and is trying to rebuild. Through the generous spirit of book blogger and writer Colleen McKie, an idea was born to raise funds through a book auction. To help make a final push in these last days, I put together this short video:

If you can help out by bidding on the amazing items listed on the site, you could not only potentially be walking away with some great books and other items but you'll also be supporting a library in need. Visit the Slave Lake Book Auction site for full details.

Reading (out loud and in public places)

2011-06-10T00:24:54Z

Earlier tonight, I read my as-yet unpublished novel in public for the first time. In fact, it was my first time reading any of my work out loud unless you include all the plays I wrote and performed in elementary, junior high, and high school (I don't). In any case, when I heard that All Rights Reserved was holding a reading/fundraiser at the Company House in Halifax, I jumped on the opportunity. There were lots of pros around including local legend Steve Vernon who just published his first YA novel, Sinking Deeper. Needless to say, I had to get on stage before him or else all bets were off..! Before heading to the stage I asked for writerly advice from fellow Book Madam contributors, Jill Murray and Julie Wilson (the Madam herself). Some of the valuable tips:

Keep the reading under five minutes
Stay hydrated all day but don't drink water too close to reading
Practice
Don't rush
Smile with your eyes

Another tip I'd like to add is:

Don't eat a three course meal directly before you appear on stage (I may or may not know this from experience)

In any case, here's the video. The quality of the video and audio isn't fantastic but I'd love to hear any constructive feedback (besides the fact that I look like a chubby little chipmunk from that angle).

Do you have any tips to add for author readings?

PODCAST: Writers Reading Recipes, Ep. 5 (@alisonpick)

2011-06-11T11:11:24Z

Writers Reading Recipes continues with Alison Pick reading "Basic Vegetable Stock for Soups and Sauces" from the Rebar Vegetarian Cookbook.

Alison Pick is the author of Far to Go (House of Anansi Press), the recent winner of the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction. She has published two volumes of poetry and one previous novel, The Sweet Edge, which appeared to rave reviews and was a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book. After living for a number of years in St. John's, Newfoundland, she now lives in Toronto, Ontario. Follow her on Twitter.

Click on the below file to hear her tasty aural treat.

Live-to-Chat with Lauren DeStefano (Author of The Chemical Garden Trilogy)

2011-06-07T00:52:45Z

Had a blast chatting with Lauren DeStefano whose debut novel Wither was the first of my One Line Wonders book reviews. We talk about hype, the Queen of CanLit, and the controversial WSJ article that's got everyone in YA circles hot and bothered. Check out our conversation below.

I'm with Eckler (sort of. On the Quill comments board, anyway).

2011-06-07T02:27:04Z

I have no opinion, really, on the recent Twitter spat between Rebecca Eckler and the now-defunct Key Porter as chronicled on Quill and Quire. Eckler is known for saying somewhat-outrageous BS (her book is called the Lucky Sperm Club, for crissakes!), and I'm as yet undecided, in general, about how I feel about calling people out on Twitter*.

But you know what, at least she's owning her posts!

Anonymous, Edit, Anon, Observer; the list goes on. And it's cowardly! Internet trolling, the posting of anonymous cuts, jibes, and general snarkiness is bad enough, but to post anonymously is to contribute to the general noise and everything everyone hates about the Internet.

If you're not willing to stand behind your words, why should anyone take them seriously? Get off the Quill blog and get on to 4Chan.

*I think it's generally unclassy to air your dirty laundry on Twitter, but complaining through the Internet is a way to get things done. I've seen so many examples of customer service ignoring people and then responding only when publicly shamed that I feel it's valid.

That said, I would never go off on anything that directly affected me, like poor treatment at work, unpaid advances, or anything that would effect me proffesionally . There are better ways to handle things. Eckler certainly isn't rich, to my knowledge, and 9k is a LOT of money for most people. She's gotta eat!

However if you're going to say something on Twitter, people are going to report it if it's amusing.

I Just Want to Read. #YA

2011-06-06T13:03:30Z

This weekend the Wall Street Journal posted an editorial on the apparent awful state of YA. Basically a long diatribe of generalizations and rhetoric using a few select titles as proof-of-concept. The gist of the article is one of my favourite populist rants, the Parents Know Best drivel that, and I know I'm perhaps being controversial, and no, I don't have kids, more often than not seems to lead to entitlement issues and a rose-coloured-glasses view of reality.

Growing up Christian and in a small town, my coming of age was at best delayed, at worst severely damaging for my relationships in my early twenties. Now I love my parents, and they really did a pretty good job with my brothers and I. We're all outgoing, kind, and generous to a fault (well, they are, I'm sort of a louse and an irresponsible blogger), and a lot of Christian values have filtered out into my humanist world view.

That said, it wasn't until my early twenties that I was comfortable around anyone who was gay, and in fact almost lost friends based on religious views therein. I won't get into the details, but needless to say (I hope), I am well over that.

In my small town, there wasn't much to read. I was the 'smart kid' in school, and was an avid reader, like many I know, essentially burning through an entire library in my grade school years. My tastes were far-reaching and really there wasn't anyone who could recommend books. Except the librarian.

Recently, in Toronto, there was another attempt to ban To Kill a Mockingbird by the Catholic District School Board. The uproar from librarians and readers was loud, but on TV there were a slew of parents saying they didn't want their children exposed to that kind of violence or racism.

Protecting your children is one thing, denying them the realities of the world? That's another. I'm not saying the current trends towards violent vampire fiction or what have you (I admittedly don't read a lot of YA these days) are good or that we should be okay with normalizing torture, but I don't think that's what reading these titles does. The WSJ article basically accuses contemporary YA of being torture porn, and worse than that, accuses librarians and people whose jobs are finding and promoting good reading, some spending lifetimes curating content for teens being complicit in teaching evils to teens.

The article begins with a touching portrait of a Good Mother attempting to buy a book for her daughter:

Amy Freeman, a 46-year-old mother of three, stood recently in the young-adult section of her local Barnes & Noble, in Bethesda, Md., feeling thwarted and disheartened.

She had popped into the bookstore to pick up a welcome-home gift for her 13-year-old, who had been away. Hundreds of lurid and dramatic covers stood on the racks before her, and there was, she felt, "nothing, not a thing, that I could imagine giving my daughter. It was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff." She left the store empty-handed.

Obviously before judging the titles she read all of them, right? And by left the store, they mean she wandered over to the fiction section and bought her daughter Joyce Carol Oates' Foxfire. Or checked her iPhone and selected a starred review from School Library Journal.

Or she just judged all the books by their covers.

This type of rhetoric poisons us. It creates an atmosphere of mistrust for professionals, fear of outside perspectives, and insular morality that teaches kids not to talk about issues, but to avoid them. This is the kind of parenting that stunts growth and leaves people high and dry when confronted with the sometimes harsh, brutal realities of the real world.

Librarians and teachers know what they're talking about, and frankly are often the ones who have to talk to kids about the things that parents are trying, unsuccessfully, to address. They are professionals who have a lifetime of reading, carefully selecting, and discussing issue around books that grow and nurture young, creative, caring minds.

Articles like this only serve to poison our culture, turning us against the very people who care the most. Parents love, but sometimes parents just don't understand.

PODCAST: Writers Reading Recipes, Ep. 4 (Kristen Den Hartog)

2011-06-03T16:27:38Z

Happy weekend!

Writers Reading Recipes continues with Kristen Den Hartog reading "How to Make Dainty Sandwiches" from Five Roses Cookbook.

Kristen Den Hartog is a novelist, memoir writer, mom, sister, wife, daughter, kids’ book blogger, and perpetual amateur knitter. Her latest novel is And Me Among Them, about a girl who grows into a giant. Visit her here.

Click on the below file to hear her tasty aural treat.

Puddin' Time Pencast Series: Nathaniel G Moore on Performance and Public Readings

2011-06-03T15:53:45Z

Nathaniel G Moore on the Evolution of Performance and the Problems of Public Readings
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