JM Prescott

New Beginnings

2012-01-10T17:38:00.004-08:00

I've decided to break from this blog, at least for a while. Many of you may already know that I've dropped the pseudonym, JM Prescott, and am writing under my real name, Jo McClelland. I am focusing on The Glass Coin and my freelance writing.Follow me on Twitter @JoMcClelland to keep up with all my goings on and writing. And read The Glass Coin. We will be posting new flash again in

Pumpkin seeds don't belong in ice cream...

2011-08-29T16:30:00.001-07:00

I tried a new flavor of ice cream today, or rather frozen yogurt: Trail Mix. Chocolate and Strawberry stay calm, and Pralines don't panic. This won't become my new favorite flavor. It was just weird. Almonds, yeah okay. Cranberries, I'm with you so far. Sunflower Seeds, weird... Pumpkin seeds... I'll try it.... Locust Beans.. NO! I did not just put that in my mouth?! Only I did and it's - weird.

What Harry Potter says about me.

2011-08-16T08:25:00.002-07:00

I've been rereading the Harry Potter series this summer and it's been wonderful. It's the first time I've read them back to back and the first time I've reread a series (unless the two Lewis Carroll books count as a series) and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, maybe more the second go round. I'm up to book 6 now and am almost dreading the end. I've heard that J.K. Rowling knows quite a bit about her

Ice Cream for Dinner

2011-08-02T18:40:00.001-07:00

Well, I did a few firsts today but this is by far the more interesting to write about. I came back from swimming thirty and warm and not at all interested in making supper. But there was ice cream, and chocolate, and nuts, and caramel, and cones. An out later I had finished my feast of might-as-well-not-gone-swimming-at-all licking my fingers and wondering what was for dessert. My mother once

A Beginning

2011-08-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

Last week I posted about finding my character, my character now has a story. I wrote the first 500 words of her story last night. I am excited, not just to be writing again, but to find out what happens next. How are you doing with your current writing project?

The Morning After

2011-07-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I was struck with inspiration and wondered if it was just a one night stand. But today I feel just as inspired, and just as love stuck. I still have a long way to go, but the still silent night is over, dawn is breaking and it is going to be a beautiful day. Thank you everyone for your encouragement. I'll keep you posted.

Discouraged and Rewriten

2011-07-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's the absence of words that make a writer. I've been away and not posting about my new adventures. That doesn't mean I haven't been keeping up with my pledge to try new things. I've been trying as many new things as I can (and the Starbucks passion-fruit ice tea is yummy) I just felt that my simple summer adventures weren't interesting and in my discouragement, fell silent.

The Next Generation

2011-07-20T17:14:00.001-07:00

Today I met my cousin for the first time. She's 10 and an aspiring authoress. We were told by my aunt - her grandmother - of one another and the writer-connection. She had the chance to go to Wonderland but chose to come meet me instead. No pressure. I will confide in you and the world wide web that I have absolutely no idea how to mentor a young writer. I shared with her some of my feelings

Do you ever have trouble writing?

2011-07-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

I don't have writer's block I just seem to have lost my voice. My journalism style and my blog style has improved this year but I can't get the grip on my first love - fiction. I feel lost without the ability to write a story. I feel empty without a story to tell. When I write my words fall flat and lay around, dishonest. Have you ever felt like this? What did you do?

Rereading

2011-07-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

I'm on holiday this week, just enjoying the time alone. But as these things go I'm ill and the only thing that makes me feel better is Harry Potter. After a day of reading, I just finished Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone and have started in on The Chamber of Secrets. It's my third time reading The Philosopher's Stone and my second time through Chamber. I'm not much for rereading, other

Eating Raw Cake?

2011-07-12T13:57:00.001-07:00

Ever since I was a little girl I always preferred fruit to candy and raw veg to cooked. So when the assignment came up to write about the raw food movement I was intrigued. I knew nothing about it so it meant a lot of research. I visited Marbles which is a local restaurant, local health and organic food sellers, bookstores and I also read a lot of blogs. After talking to experts and doing my

The Gift Gloria Watts

2011-07-11T03:37:00.001-07:00

It came by post,sat on the hall carpet,has sat, for more than an hour. Wrapped in brown paperwith a pink ribbon bowwith the words –‘To a loved one.’ How did I resist;with fingers itchingwith heart racing,I declined – had too. Or once again,be beguiled bywords, tender wordsto melt my heart. And so it lay, andlay, until the finepink ribbon bowfaded, the years passed. It came by post,sits on the

Global Biscuits

2011-07-09T09:35:00.003-07:00

On Thursday I posted a new technique I tried in my biscuit recipe. The same day, I got a message on Facebook asking me for the full recipe which I was happy to share with Jerry Guarino. Jerry tried the recipe himself and added raspberries. You can see his version of my biscuits on his blog and read his story, First Love, currently at The Glass Coin. Full Biscuit Recipe ‎2c flour 1tbsp sugar

Camelot

2011-07-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday just before dinner my friend Kevin posted on Facebook that he had tickets to Straford he couldn't use. I immediately messaged him and asked him about them. Less than an hour later, my brother and I were on our way. My brother isn't spontaneous but he loves me and rarely turns me down. He saw Camelot during the previews and didn't want me to miss my chance. And now I know why. From the

Biscuit Rise

2011-07-07T13:27:00.000-07:00

I grew up on Canadian tea biscuits, a lighter, dryer scone-like pastry except it isn't sweet. In North Carolina I was introduced to the southern biscuit which is butterier, saltier and denser. Southern biscuits go just as well with fried chicken or breakfast. tea biscuits are more of a snack or breakfast food. I've made all kinds of tea biscuits my whole life, raisin, cheese, cranberry, tea

Water Yoga

2011-07-06T18:41:00.002-07:00

This summer I have the benefit of access to a pool and I'm loving the cooler alternative to jogging. For no reason whatever, after doing a few laps, the other day I stood in Mountain pose. I then moved through the Warrior poses, Triangle, Goddess and Tree poses. It seemed a little strange to be doing yoga in water, but when I finished up in Mountain pose I fell back into a back stoke and felt

off in my own little dreamworld....

2011-07-05T14:18:00.001-07:00

Missing my work being published is not something new. Editors can't always tell when a piece will be published when the publication is online. So writers have to be vigilant and not, as I tend to be, off in their own little dream world. The latest article I missed being posted was a first for me. Vancouver Boutique Empowers Women includes the first interview I did live and in person. I've been

Summer Gift Dare

2011-07-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

This long weekend, sit out with a cool drink by the pool and write a poem, a short story, a memory or whatever comes to mind. The only rule. Keep it to about a page and somehow include a gift. A gift is never just a simple gift. You've heard it said that it's the thought that counts, to me that means that a gift is a symbol of something lasting. Every year I give myself a birthday gift, but

Success

2011-06-30T19:30:00.001-07:00

How do I measure success? Today, I took a risk. I shed the scales of yesterday and pushed tomorrow into change. But Today peeled back my skin. Change chopped short my emotions. Now, I've stunted nerve endings and I don't know what to feel. Sometimes I have to do things I don't want to do. Sometimes it doesn't feel like success to try something new. #

A Birthday Win

2011-06-29T20:22:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I posted about my yearly habit of buying myself a birthday gift and asked you if I should get a Jim Henson Collection or ReBoot On Facebook, my sister posted her vote for ReBoot and tonight, at a birthday family dinner, I found out why when I opened my prezzies. Me and my new copy of Jim Henson's Fantasy Film Collection (The back descriptions stuck nicely to my forehead) Jim

Happy Birthday to Me and Second Summer Dare

2011-06-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I started a tradition of buying myself a birthday gift. Usually I pick something I wouldn't normally get myself - like a DVD series. The first year I bought Tin Man based on a recommendation from Amazon. I loved it and kept up the tradition with Cowboy BeBop, Jim Henson's Storyteller, and some graphic novels by Terry Moore. Although a graphic novel is something I would normally

For Liv by Jen Schneider

2011-06-27T04:26:00.002-07:00

I didn’t believe in love at first sight. I’ve never felt that reality-dating show fabricated spark. Then four weeks ago, I met you. I had a picture of my mind of what you might look like or who you might become, but the moment I held you in my arms, all preconceived notions were gone. That first moment was more than anything I could have ever imagined. The tears didn’t fall, despite my

A Mad Tea Party

2011-06-24T22:51:00.001-07:00

I have loved Lewis Carroll's stories for as long as I can remember but never drank tea. Tea was one of those things I knew I didn't like without having to taste it. I tasted a new tea last night, mango coconut green tea. It was unusual, smooth sweet (but not too sweet) and aromatic. I love tasting new teas, even though I have a cupboard of favorites which include Chai and green tea fusions. I

The Sound of Writing

2011-06-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes new things keep you out late. Last night I attended the second ever The Sound of Writing where my good friend Andrea Shalay reading her story. I intended to write about the event but after getting home and getting Andrea sorted in my makeshift guest room - I wasn't feeling up to writing. Marcy Italiano and Douglas Smith joined her on the platform. The brilliant thing Kevin Nunn is

If You Build It The Books Will Come

2011-06-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today I built a bookcase. Everyone has probably done this, so I won't walk you through the steps - the manufacturers do that anyway. I will walk you through how it felt. It's always been done for me, when there are men in the house, fathers, brothers, they like to take the tools from a girl. But I went and got the screwdriver and the hammer and read the instructions. I was impressed with how easy