Cereal Box Reader

I'm getting published, twice!

2013-05-12T23:20:00.002-04:00

I am bursting to tell you my publishing news, times two:

My short story "Wild Caving," is going to be published in the Amprosia anthology, which launches in two weeks.

My poem "Fallow God," is going to be published in the Urban Green Man Anthology, with an introduction by Charles De Lint.

The Green Man is an archetype of renewal and fertility, associated with forests and the European countryside. You might see his carved face disgorging sculpted stone leaves or hear legends of the Green Knight. He is at home in churches, forests and at the ever popular Green Man Inn.

This new anthology, edited by Adria Laycraft, takes the Green Man archetype into the modern landscape where he is reinvented, relevant, reborn. To me, the urban green man is a shot of hot sap to reawaken our true natures and shake us out of complacency.

EARTH

Evergreen by Susan MacGregor
The Gift by Susan Forest
Sap and Blood by Martin Rose
The Green Square by dvsduncan
Awake by Peter Storey
Breath Stirs in the Husk by Eileen Wiedbrauk
Green Apples by Rhiannon Held

AIR

The Grey Man by Randy McCharles
Mr. Green by Gary Budgen
Whithergreen by Karlene Tura Clark
Cui Bono by Eric James Stone
Fallow God by Maaja Wentz
Green Man She Restless by Billie Milholland

FIRE

Purple Vine Flowers by Sandra Wickham
Exile by Mark Russell Reed
Without Blemish by Celeste Peters
Waking the Holly Kin Eileen Donaldson
Deer Feet by Michael J. DeLuca
Buried in the Green by Heather M. O'Connor
The Forest Lord by Sarina Dorie

WATER

Greentropy by Calie Voorhis
Abandon All... by Goldeen Ogawa
Green Salvage by Miriah Hetherington
The Ring of Life by Nu Yang
Cottage on the Bluff Michael Healy
Johnny Serious Satyros Phil Brucato
Fun Sucker by Suzanne Church

WOOD

Greener Pastures by Micheal J. Martineck
Green Jack by Alyxandra Harvey
Green is Good by Karen Danylak
Neither Slumber Nor Sleep by Kim Goldberg

Lena Coakley's Witchlanders & WCDR Contest update

2013-02-16T18:25:00.002-05:00

Witchlanders

I attended the WCDR breakfast meeting this morning. Speaker Lena Coakley was excellent, laying out the seven things she wished she had known about story, before she published her first novel. Lena is the author of Witchlanders, a high fantasy YA novel.

Some of her tips were:

Learn about plot from screenwriters
Know what your protagonist wants before you start to write
Yearning must escalate in the protagonist as the story progresses
Stories need to have different but linked character arcs and plot arcs
Have your protagonist 'save the bunny' early in the story (perform some action to make readers like him or her)
Mind the gap, ensuring reader expectations and character challenges are always worse and more interesting than they originally appear
Use the objective correlative like a screen writer (the environment mirrors inner feelings)

This list is just a glimpse of Lena's ideas which were supported by anecdotes and examples from authors as varied as Charlotte Bronte, Garth Nix, Aristotle and Terry Pratchett. If you get a chance to hear Lena speak, you won't regret it.

Breakfast, with a side of suspense

While waiting for Lena to speak, we were served smoked salmon eggs Benedict, a delicious combination I could not eat. Why? They started naming finalists in the WCDR Amprosia contest. As my breakfast cooled, they called the final eight names, very slowly. I was sure I was 'out' when they said one last name, at the end of the alphabet: Maaja Wentz.

My story, "Wild Caving," moves on to the final round, judged by acclaimed novelist Terry Fallis. Honourable mentions as well as prize winners will be announced at the March 16 breakfast meeting. I wonder if I can stand the suspense?

My poem, "Fallow God," is being published!

2013-02-03T10:56:00.000-05:00

My latest poem, "Fallow God," is being published by Edge in their Urban Green Man Anthology. The book will be launched at When Words Collide in Calgary this August. I feel very lucky to be included.

Happy Reading!

Semi-finalist in SF Poetry & contest short lists

2013-01-20T07:50:00.001-05:00

I haven't blogged much lately but I do have some good news. One of my poems was shortlisted for the annual Science Fiction Poetry Association Contest. My name appears after the winners here.

I also have a piece shortlisted for inclusion in a fantasy fiction anthology which I can't mention by name until I know if my piece will be published.

Another of my short stories has made the semi-finals in the WCDR's Amprosia contest which offers a $1000.00 prize. Whether I win that one or not, semi-finalists are considered for publication so I'm happy about that as well.

The live critique group I belong to, Bloor West Writers, is back at it after the December holidays. I look forward to their literary and genre submissions. For now I have taken time off critiquing in the online SF/F Anticipation critique group because I have been in writing mode. In addition to the poems and stories I wrote this fall, this summer I completed the first draft of a new novel. You can read a description about it here on my blog.

Happy writing!

Drama, Poetry, Short Stories

2012-10-20T13:45:00.000-04:00

When the leaves change colours, I feel like going for walks to hear the crunch underfoot and wind up being inspired by all that natural beauty. Fall is the perfect time to spend evenings and early mornings curled up with a coffee to read or to write.

I'm having a busy season. This Sunday my very short one-act play "Dust on White Water," will get a staged reading at Toronto's Alumnae Theatre. It was written as part of a writing challenge. Playwrights received the theme (running water) last Friday and had until noon that Sunday to turn in a one-act play of ten minutes or less. The reading is open to the public and will take place from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Sunday October 21. For directions or more info on the Alumnae theatre, see their website.

I also have my fingers crossed for a longer one-act play I submitted to the Alumnae Theatre's juried New Ideas Festival. If accepted, a producer and director would get it ready for presentation in March.

I'm editing at least one short story for a contest due Nov. 1, perhaps two if things go well. I'm also waiting to hear back about a poem of mine which made the short list in a contest I am not yet allowed to mention online.

Happy Reading.

Ark of the Convenient

2012-08-17T14:30:00.001-04:00

I completed the first draft of my work-in-progress "Ark of the Convenient," on Monday this week. This was a great new experience for me, completing a novel manuscript in less than two months, without rushing it because of a deadline.

Since then I have been letting it 'rest' while I clean out the office, work on the scenario for a new one-act play and gear up to edit my last manuscripts. I have a backlog of two since I find writing the draft of a new novel more fun than editing. The difficulty is prioritizing as my summer holidays dwindle.

Ark of the Convenient -- Writing at the Cottage

2012-08-13T15:02:00.001-04:00

I managed to write regularly over the last nine days despite parties, kids, singing, dancing, drinking, swimming, video taping a crazy family horror spoof and generally having a great time at the cottage.

My rough goal was to write a 80 000 word manuscript but I've reached "the end" of the rough draft in under 60 000. The finished novel will probably fall somewhere between 65 000 and 80 000 words.

Update as of 8/3/2012

58000 / 80000 (72.50%)

Ark of the Convenient -- I don't get 'writer's block'

2012-08-03T12:46:00.000-04:00

I never have writer's block in the pure sense. Ideas are easy to come by and if I sit down to write, I can always write story, character, scenario, scenes. What slows progress, is feeling my story is going down the wrong path. It means reevaluating, making changes, rewriting. Until all the problems are resolved, it is both painful and pointless to move forward. I have to be patient with the process.

Another problem is research. In a story set on Mars, there is a lot of world-building and speculation to do. For enrichment, I'm reading The Princess of Mars, inspiration for the recent film. It's a fun tale but it isn't really helping me research terraforming and Mars settlement scenarios. I could read web articles, non-fiction books and novels about Mars every day for the rest of the summer and I'd never run out of material, just writing time.

If "Ark of the Convenient," finishes around my approximate goal of 80 000 words, I'm halfway through the rough draft. I also know how it ends. Now, if I could just figure out the details between here and there...

Progress as of 8/03/2012

40400 / 80000 (50.50%)

Ark of the Convenient: A new novel inspired by Douglas Adams, Red Dwarf and Doctor Who

2012-07-08T10:19:00.001-04:00

Progress Update 7/27/2012

34180 / 80000 (42.73%)

I reached page 90 today. It's take stock time and, although I can see myself making progress, I am simultaneously discouraged. My writing will never be brilliantly scientific and philosophical in the way that Douglas Adams' novels are.

Instead of getting blocked, I spent a few hours on Mars research, which helped the flow of ideas. Reading Princess of Mars at the same time as researching Martian Rover missions and theories of terraforming yields strange combinations of ideas...

Progress Update 7/26/2012

32000 / 80000 (40.00%)

Progress today brings me to page 83 of my manuscript-in-progress "Ark of the Convenient."

Progress Update 7/24/2012

29000 / 80000 (36.25%)

This progress bar represents 75 pages of my new manuscript-in-progress "Ark of the Convenient."

Yesterday I also took the current draft of "Marmalade Cat Detective," and created a new outline for rewriting it using cards. I'm taking it in a slightly different direction, closer to my original vision for this piece which was always intended to be satirical and written for adults. It's an experiment...

Progress Update 7/18/2012

18408 / 80000 (23.01%)

Progress Update 7/16/2012

I took some time to put my outline onto cards and I've written a little more.

15162 / 80000 (18.95%)

Progress Update 7/12/2012

11229 / 80000 (14.04%)

Are you a compulsive writer? I'm one of those people who always believe their newest project is their best. On summer mornings, whether or not I have guests, I like to get up early and do some free writing. The result this July is the first chapter and outline for a brand new novel called "Ark of the Convenient." You could accuse me of procrastination. I already have Marmalade Cat Detective to edit for submissions and I did write the 50 000 word draft of a novel tentatively called "Wild Caving," which got positive feedback at an agent pitch session at the Ontario Writers' Conference. Both are worthy projects, but they can't compete with writing something new and funny over the summer.

One reason I'm dropping everything else to write "Ark of the Convenient" is I miss Douglas Adams. I miss reading new things from the author of Last Chance to See, The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul and, of course, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. It's such a shame that Douglas Adams is no longer with us. I yearn for the zany fun of his humour, as well as his satirical views on environmental issues.

Inspired by my love of Douglas Adams, Monty Python, Red Dwarf and Doctor Who, my story is about a failed grant writer, embroiled in civil war between humans, cyborgs and Martian Rovers 'gone wild.'

Rob Nohap is shanghaied aboard a colony ship where he is expected to promote Mars via social marketing campaigns. This Science Fiction romp involves a pet psychologist with fossil Martian DNA, a ship's computer who thinks she is Pipi Longstocking and the Wyms, an ancient dragon-like race who control wormholes through space. Can Rob can save an Ark of kidnapped humans and survive to impress the woman who was his high school obsession? I'm writing to find out...

Follow me for updates on my newest project. I still intend to podcast "Marmalade Cat Detective," but not until I have this hot new idea down as a first draft.

The Second Coming on Scribd

2012-06-10T10:08:00.001-04:00

I wrote a new poem this morning in homage to W.B. Yeat's Second Coming. It's my very first post on Scribd and I look forward to you comments and critiques. The title is "Coming Second."

MIROSLAV VAJDIĆ for openphoto.net

Podcasting and Writing Plays

2012-04-29T14:09:00.000-04:00

I have been less active on this blog lately because I'm starting a new podcasting project. I'm going to be podcasting my novel, "Marmalade, Cat Detective," at my new Marmalade Cat Detective blog.

I also have a long-term plan for writing a book on how to write and produce children's plays and videos.

I've had so much fun doing this over the years that I think it's time to share. I will always be grateful to Mike Taylor, a teacher who let me help direct some of his original plays. For me, many of the special projects teachers do have to be learned on the apprenticeship system. Working with Mike, I observed which elements of a show were crucial to successful school productions.

At first I was going to write a book about it. I even drew up a list of chapters and topics but the process seemed daunting. I work as a teacher-librarian, I'm a hockey mom and my first love is fiction. Where would I find the time to write a non-fiction book? Instead, I started a blog about the process of writing and directing scripts for kids called Dramafun. It seemed like a good way to share some of my tips and tricks with others.

Last night I discovered Howtoblogabook.com. It's ingenious! The idea is to write a blog which becomes a book. Written in small increments, even a long book shouldn't take more than a year to write. Who knows, maybe once I've taught myself to podcast by podcasting my novel, I might podcast episodes about making plays and movies with children as well.

Positive Rejection

2012-01-18T20:04:00.002-05:00

I had a very positive rejection for a poem I submitted to Strange Horizons recently. The editor suggested two other markets I could try and invited me to submit to Strange Horizons again. Yeah!

Books are magical

2012-01-14T18:42:00.002-05:00

I'm really enjoying running the Silver Birch Awards and Red Maple Awards programs this year as a librarian. It gives me a chance to read all the award-nominated books! I think this video captures a little bit of that magic feeling of discovery. More about the books and the club to follow. Happy reading...

Wayson Choy at WCDR

2011-12-10T19:33:00.001-05:00

I took away some great tidbits from Wayson Choy's talk at the WCDR breakfast this morning. It was the first time I have attended one of their monthly breakfast meetings although I've been to the related Ontario Writers Conference.

When I first stepped into the dining room at the Ajax Convention Centre, it reminded me of facing the cafeteria, my first day of grade nine. Most of the seats were full and there were countless unfamiliar faces. I sat down at a table near the back and crossed my fingers. I needn't have worried. WCDR members are very friendly. I enjoyed meeting new writers and saying hello to others I knew from CANSCAIP and beyond.

Choy began his talk by evoking discipline. He encouraged us to never give up but to find an individual writing process. Choy criticized teachers who insist all students learn as they do, likening this to a "teaching disability." With my background in special education, I have to agree. There are many ways to mastery and they are seldom the same for everyone.

Choy emphasized writers must try different methods and switch if they don't work. In other words: "If at first you don't succeed, don't be an idiot."

My other favorite Choy quotes were: "Good writing is great gossip" and "Don't call yourself a failure until you understand that failure is your teacher."

NANOWRIMO novel drafted in time

2011-12-01T06:14:00.001-05:00

This year I participated in National Novel Writing Month. It was great fun. I wrote a complete, short novel draft, mostly in the mornings between 5:00 am and 6:15, that is to say, before work. The information about my novel is on their site http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/cerealboxreader but it will expire eventually. For archival purposes, here's what I wrote...

Author bio:

For Halloween this year, I went to school dressed as "Conan the Librarian." I speak fluent Hockey Mom. I've taught everything from Gifted grades 1-8 to French to Remedial Math. I prefer to hang with people who don't take themselves too seriously. I have completed the 3-Day Novel Contest and JulNoWrimo. This is my second NanoWrimo. Best of luck all! I'm going to have a lot of fun with this.

Synopsis:

An anthropology grad student finds love and breakthroughs, caving in southern France, but must defeat a prehistoric doppelganger who assumes her identity.

I do speed-writing experiments like Nano to try out new things, including new genres. This time I can't decide whether it's literary or horror, but for once I am writing a story in which two humans experience romantic longing. That does not mean I've written a Paranormal Romance :-)

Excerpt:

When she could extricate herself, Jade wanted a bath and a change of clothes, absolutely, but her desire for knowledge was stronger. She'd spent years studying cave paintings, bone remnants and tools, theorizing about paleolithic humans. She didn’t care how evil this thing was. She would give anything to find out what it knew.

My statistics:

Average Words Per Day: 1,698
Target Average Words Per Day: 1,667
Target Final Word Count: 50,000

I have completed the 50 000 words with about four scenes to go. I am estimating a word count of 60 000 for the next draft.

NaNoWrimo 2011

2011-11-14T06:37:00.001-05:00

I won't be blogging much in the month of November. I have a new novel in the works and I'm trying to get the rough draft done as part of National Novel Writing Month.

If you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo, the link to my NaNo profile is here and the link to my novel synopsis is here. The goal is to write a 50 000 word novel, in thirty days. Wish me luck!

On this calendar widget, green days are very productive. Red days are bad. The green progress bar measures the number of words written out of 50 000.

Happy reading and writing all.

Sandra Kasturi talks ChiZine at WOTS

2011-10-01T21:43:00.001-04:00

Since I discovered CZP through local readings and SF/Fantasy events, I've been curious as to how this publishing company got started. Sandra reveals ChiZine's audacious successes and economic setbacks. It's a cautionary tale for those who might think starting up an ezine is an easy road to financial success. I found her talk honest and inspiring. It's all done for the love of books, in her case, dark fiction and poetry.

This video is recorded with a flip camera and edited in Premiere Elements. I apologize for the rumbling when the subway goes under Queen's Park. Word on the Street talks are held outdoors in Toronto every fall. I go for the books but I also enjoy the author readings, workshops, publisher displays and magazines.

Word on the Street Toronto

2011-09-28T20:12:00.000-04:00

I visited Word on the Street this past weekend. It's my favourite celebration of booky goodness. The weather was sunny and warm, the crowds large and cheerful. There was even some fun street theatre to compliment the books, talks, signings, sales, giveaways and concerts. I came away with too many books but why not? As vices go, a book fetish isn't so bad. Here is a little video of my impressions. It's shot with a flip camera and edited with Adobe Premiere Elements.

To self-publish or not

2011-09-24T12:15:00.000-04:00

Focus is supposed to be the key to success, in art, business, hockey, anything. If you lose focus, you are bound to make mistakes. Lately I have been reading too many blogs, tweets and self-appointed online experts. They all say, follow the John Locke method. Publish an ebook. I even spent a couple of days reformatting one of my plays to publish on SmashWords. Is this procrastination? I should be polishing my manuscript, "Marmalade Cat Detective: The Astounding Vampire Dogs."

Self-publishing is tempting, but not for the novel. I have a backlog of school plays that I know work because I have produced them. It's fairly easy to see what works with an audience of 250 or so kids when you can observe directly. The problem is, children's plays are notoriously difficult to get published, especially for someone like me who has not produced my plays in a professional venue.

The rational solution would seem to be self-publishing. It seems low-risk. My plays are written and collecting dust. I'm more interested in writing new plays than putting my old ones on in bigger venues. I do plays for the love of working with kids and the love of writing. I'm not interested in quitting teaching and going into theatre. If I self-publish my plays, it will be virtually as a service to other teachers. I doubt they will make a lot of money.

There is just one problem. I have a novel almost ready to send to agents. It's a YA novel which might also suit an imaginative adult audience. This is where the warnings begin. I've heard that once you publish anything with an ISBN number, publishers and agents look you up every time you submit a manuscript. The first time I try to interest them in a manuscript, will they will look up my sales figures see my plays aren't selling and take a pass?

Does it have to be a catch-22? I am pessimistic about publishing my plays through the usual channels because the demand for kids' comedy scripts is small. I am optimistic about my novel because I have read many children's novels and I haven't seen one quite like mine. I think it might attract readers of Sherlock Holmes novels, and of Shane Peacock's excellent boy Holmes mysteries. My story is also a spoof on Gothic elements in mysteries, like James Howe but for older readers. Obviously, I'm not comparing the quality of my writing to these authors. I'm trying to give an idea of my story's flavour.

Like any artistic hopeful, I believe in my 'thing' and hope other people will too. I just wish I knew what to do about it.

Drama Blog and Cat Detective Blog

2011-09-18T15:44:00.002-04:00

I'm busy promoting book fair at my school and with Word on the Street Toronto coming up, this fall it's all about the books. I've even started a couple of new blogs recently.

This funny blog, for kids and imaginative adults, is inspired by the protagonist of my novel-in-progress.

http://marmaladecatdetective.com/

As a teacher, with experience writing and producing stage plays and videos, I want to swap inspiration with others who do the same.

http://dramafun.wordpress.com/

There is no Dog -- And his name is Bob

2011-09-04T16:00:00.007-04:00

I found Meg Rosoff's There is no Dog in the YA section of a Chapters store. Teens should find the book funny for its irreverent philosophy but I wouldn't expect every adolescent boy to appreciate it. The premise is that God is incompetent and apathetic because he is a teenage boy. The job is foisted on Bob when his goddess mother loses a poker game.

Bob has a middle-aged adviser, Mr. B., whom he mistreats as only a spoiled teen can. Bob is too selfish, easily distracted and sex-obsessed to be bothered to look after Earth. He even flubs Creation because he rushes it in six days. Bob's genius consists of creating humans with a built-in desire to worship him, so he'll always be adored. It also gives him a whole planet of girls to chase.

Mr. B, who feels slighted to be passed over for the top job, does his best to alleviate some human suffering. In the end, he also fails, overwhelmed by a paperwork tower of prayers and problems.

This clever novel reads very quickly at 240 pages. It's one of those 'candy' books that affords simple pleasure but leaves little aftertaste. I don't recommend it to the extremely devout, unless they can tolerate a lot of playfulness in the premise. Reader know thyself.

Happy reading!

The Fiendish Plot of Doctor Cyclone

2011-06-16T18:26:00.001-04:00

I had my 3 showings of my video, The Fiendish Plot of Doctor Cyclone yesterday. People seemed to enjoy it and it was a pleasure to see the cast get up and get some applause after all their hard work. Here's the blurb:

The Fiendish Plot of Doctor Cyclone, a lunar comedy orbiting your funny bone...

You'd have to be crazy to raise kids on the Moon but when you work on a lunar base, what choice do you have?

When parents start acting strangely, it's up to the kids to find answers:
Why doesn't their teacher act like a teacher?
Is Shao's father really a traitor?
Can they stop Doctor Cyclone from attaining total galactic domination?

I wrote the script in July, cast students in grades 6-8 in December. Since then we have spent lunch hours and after school rehearsing or filming three days a week. I had all my footage by the end of April which gave me time to edit and figure out how to use Adobe Premier Elements. Not a bad program for the price. I like having the ability to edit the sound clips and to use colour key editing. Most of my scenes are filmed with a stationary camera in front of a green screen. I had a lot of fun later, putting in backgrounds. The story is set on the Moon so I used lots of copyright free pictures from Nasa. It was fun, way too many hours of work to edit but I've learned a lot. Next time it's going to be easier...

Cat Detective Novel Critique

2011-06-05T09:00:00.002-04:00

Encouraging Feedback
I recently attended the Ontario Writer's Conference and received some encouraging feedback for my mystery-in-progress. An editor with big publishing house credentials called my story good, saleable and said it should go to an American publisher. She liked the style and compared it to Alexander McCall Smith. She also told me I have a timely concept and I should submit it soon. Work is too busy right now with end-of-the-year deadlines and an upcoming change of position to do much editing before the end of June. You can guess how I'll be spending July.

I can't believe what I'm writing

2011-03-06T08:43:00.006-05:00

Here is a ticky tacky pic to go with my latest project. If you told me a year ago that I'd be writing a novel about a cat detective, I wouldn't have believed you. I guess that's what NaNo does to your brain.

I'm learning lots of things about structuring and editing as I move the manuscript through my critique groups. The question is, will I like what I've done when it's finished? I have abandoned so many first and second draft novels over the years. It seems a shame to ditch this one. On the other hand, I didn't realize what cliched territory I was wandering into in that mad, 2 000 word per day rush that is NaNoWrimo. Can you imagine? I thought I'd come up with a completely original idea. Worse yet, I don't read a lot of mystery or detective fiction and I don't read that much Fantasy that isn't SF. Who knows how many more cliches I will have put into this piece?

To help me figure it out, I read Sax Rohmer's Green Eyes of Bast because it was free on Project Gutenberg. His work is so racist as to be utterly irredeemable. I can see why there needed to be a workshop devoted to racism in genre fiction (particularly anti-Asian racism) at the SFContario conference. More of this kind of examination is needed.

I now have a reading list of popular titles starring kitty detectives that I can potentially order from the library. I hope I enjoy them. At least I'll find out if I'm wasting my time.

We have achieved a state of NaNo

2010-11-27T17:47:00.006-05:00

I finished my NaNo novel today! It needs lots of editing but who cares? Celebrate now, edit later. I love a good first draft.

Happy reading.