Parodies Lost

Just checking in ...and shouting out

2010-03-15T17:19:00.003-06:00

Yes, it's been a long time. Things got busy, then they got crazy-busy, then they got just plain insane ... and now they've settled down again.

I'm no longer working with Sage Hill, but I'm happy to give a shout out to a great organization. If you're a writer, it's a great place to go:

Sage Hill Summer Writing Experience

July 19-29, 2010 In Saskatchewan’s Qu’appelle Valley

Application Deadline: April 19, 2010

Introduction to Writing Fiction and Poetry—Geared for emerging writers who have demonstrated potential, this workshop provides an introduction to the basics of poetry and fiction, as well as self-editing. Limit of 11 participants. Facilitators: John Lent and Susan Stenson

Fiction Workshop—This course is designed for writers who have published in periodicals and wish to focus on a work in progress. The workshop includes group discussion, writing time and individual critiques with the facilitator. Limit of 6 participants. Facilitator: Terry Jordan

Poetry Workshop—This program is designed for poets who have published in periodicals and wish to focus on a work in progress. The workshop includes group discussions, writing time and individual critiques with the facilitator. Limit of 6 participants. Facilitator: Elizabeth Bachinsky

Fiction Colloquium—With the focus on works in progress, participants can expect individual consultations with the facilitator, as well as writing time and discussions dealing with technical, philosophical and conceptual issues in contemporary fiction. Limit of 5 participants. Facilitator: Catherine Bush

Poetry Colloquium—With the focus on works in progress, participants can expect individual consultations with the facilitator, as well as writing time and discussions dealing with technical, philosophical and conceptual issues in contemporary poetry. Limit of 5 participants. Facilitator: Daphne Marlatt

Non-fiction—This program is designed for writers who have published in periodicals and wish to focus on a work in progress. The workshop includes group discussion, writing time and individual critiques with the facilitator. Limit of 6 participants. Facilitator: Ted Barris

More info here

Sage Hill Writing Experience Needs YOU!

2009-04-28T09:26:00.003-06:00

Sure, the economy's in a bit of a downturn. And it's still chilly in Saskatchewan. And we've all got things that are driving us crazy, keeping us up at night, dogging our steps.

But we can still write! We can take the things we want, the things we think, the things we need to say and turn them into words, put words on paper (or screen), shape them, mould them, set them loose upon the world.

What better way to find your writer's voice than to hang out with other writers for 11 days in July. Think of it ... 39 participants from across the country, ranging in age from early twenties to seventies. Award-winning nationally-recognized faculty in poetry (Karen Solie and Daphne Marlatt!), fiction (Catherine Bush and Terry Jordan), and Writing for Young Adults (GG winner, Arthur Slade). Plus we've got the great team of Susan Stenson and John Lent coming to put our Introductory class through its paces with practice in both poetry and ficiton. Think you can only write one thing? Let them push you. You might find out something that surprises you.

And, of course, we've got Richard Ford as our special guest. Richard Ford! Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. His prose is elegance personified. One of the best writers of contemporary fiction there is out there, and he's coming to Saskatchewan to spend some time with us, talking to writers, sharing his insights. Where else can you get all this wisdom and creativity in one place?

If you've never been to Sage Hill, you should come. I went twice as a particpant and it changed my writing life. It changed the way I thought about what I was doing - it helped me to see myself as a writer.

Join us: http://www.sagehillwriting.ca

Application Deadline Extended to May 8, 2009

Jeramy Dodds, Matt Tierney, and Taylor Leedahl rocked the house!

2009-04-28T09:20:00.002-06:00

I had the absolute privilege of being at the reading on April 22, 2009, by Taylor Leedahl, Matthew Tierney, and future Griffin-prize winner Jeramy Dodds. It was an amazing reading with something for everyone. Taylor's a young poet with a strong sense of herself - you might know her from Flint's (in)famous "Tonight It's Poetry" sessions on Sunday nights. She's a poet to watch.

Matt Tierney treated us to poems about phobias and the eighties - two things my sense of quirkiness finds intriguing. Check out the Book Trailer for The Hayflick Limit.

And Jeramy Dodds ended the evening with a brilliant reading. Power and absolutely breathtaking poetry. If he doesn't win the Griffin, I'll be surprised. If you've got the chance to hear him read, take it. You won't be disappointed.

But I was fighting ZOMBIES at the time ...

2008-11-10T10:36:00.000-06:00

I have vague recollections of kicking my husband the other night. Kicking him hard, and having him wake up and say, "Why did you kick me?"

I was only partially awake myself, and of course my reply was: "It wasn't you. I was fighting zombies."

Oh, yes. That absolutely explains and justifies the nighttime domestic abuse. *G*

I Love the Whole World

2008-09-30T11:19:00.001-06:00

My love for the latest Discovery Channel ad is unparalleled. Seriously, my husband knows better than to change the channel or mock my singing when this comes on. It's got a great white in the commercial and I still love it. "I love Egyptian kings" - that could possibly be my favourite line just in how it's delivered. And it has Stephen Hawking going "Boom de Yada"! The song has that quality of making you feel like part of something larger, and wow, that's difficult to do in a TV commercial.

And I think I figured out why. Apparently, it's based on an old camp song, but the tune is so reminiscent of that piano piece that every kid learns even if you don't know how to really play the piano ... you know the one ... with the two parts that repeat, and kids everywhere play it over and over.

Duh, duh, duh ... da-da da-duh da-da (change key and repeat with slight variation) ... Okay, I realize that helps not at all, but seriously, listen to it and think about that piano piece and ... it's all there.

This is the link to the Canadian version on Youtube. It's slightly different from the American version. We apparently like the planet more than we like oceans. Hey, we've got oceans! I don't know why they changed that, but anyway ...

I Love the Whole World: Discovery Ad (Canada)

CV2 2-Day Poem Long List

2008-09-23T15:34:00.002-06:00

Well, who knew? I went to correct my subscription info for Contemporary Verse 2 and discovered that, although I knew I hadn't placed in their 2 day poem competition, I apparently made the long list. Cool!

On his workbench

Can you recommend a good book?

2008-09-05T16:39:00.001-06:00

I'm taking a short fiction class, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm tragically under-read in terms of short stories. So, if you could recommend one collection that everyone should read, something you love, that moved you, that's well-written or innovative, that you think exemplifies the craft ... what would it be?

Back to School!

2008-08-29T14:20:00.001-06:00

I love the fall, September, the back-to-school time of year. And I'm going back to school. Those of you who know the saga of my M.A. are wondering ... why? But, it's Creative Writing, and that makes all the difference in the world. I'm really excited about the courses I'm taking, and I'm looking forward to making a committment to my writing again.

The Dark Knight - a review of sorts

2008-08-22T09:13:00.002-06:00

So, I finally got to see The Dark Knight. Loved it. For so many reasons.

If there has to be a love interest ... - It's no secret that I didn't like the creation of Rachel Dawes just for the sake of there being a love interest for Batman in the first film. However, Maggie Gyllenhall beats Katie Holmes hands down in this role. She may still be mostly a token female, but she's a better actress, more complex (mostly), and aside from a bit of waffling in her relationship with Harvey Dent, a stronger female presence. And the scene where she realizes who's being saved ... she played that remarkably well. I'm not sure I would've been so composed when you expect someone to save the day and he doesn't come.

Alfred - OMG, Alfred. Michael Caine is my favourite Alfred of all, and that's saying a lot because I adore just about every incarnation of the character from comic to cartoon to film. And yes, Michael Caine's gentle humour and support, his unfailing commitment to Bruce and what he stands for, being the person there for him to help him see the bigger picture are all qualities that really work for me. And the little moments - the canon nod to Alfred stitching Bruce up, the teasing that Bruce is going to say it was all Alfred's idea.

Lucius Fox - It makes sense to me that Bruce's "advisors" are men of a certain age. Morgan Freeman is brilliant in this role, especially in dealing with the blackmailing accountant: "Let me get this straight. You think that your employer, one of the richest men in the world, is spending his nights running around the city beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands? And your plan is to blackmail him? Good luck with that." Yeah. Seriously.

Harvey Dent - Excellent casting. Harvey is personable, likable, determined, and charismatic. He's what Bruce Wayne could be if he wasn't playing the playboy with three models on his arm and a drink in each hand. The comparisons are clear, and yet, even before what happens with the Joker, what happens to Rachel, Harvey's already showing an instability, an inability to cope with the frustration of the system. He really does want to shoot the Joker's henchman ... and Batman stops him. He can't be seen to do these things, but he's thinking about them anyway. Because of this it's more believable to me that he ends up going down that road when something horrific happens to him; the seeds were already there. And the irony, of course, is that the White Knight of Gotham has a dark side, while the Dark Knight is pretty incorruptible, even in the face of losing someone he loves. Nice parallels.

Heath Ledger as The Joker - It's sad that we'll never have another Joker performance from Heath Ledger. He was perfect in this role. They finally got it right, that weird balance of psychotic and insane but brilliantly logical. The Joker's a psychopath - he does things just to see what happens. There's no clear motivation; he's driven by strange whims, the workings of his mind, and that's what makes him such a great villain. You can appeal to someone who wants money or power. How do you deal with someone who just wants chaos in the world? Who just wants to see what happens when you set ordinary people loose upon one another?

Multiple Origin Stories - I love that The Joker has multiple origin stories, and that the film didn't feel the need to either a) tell us what The Truth is and b) show us the creation. The Joker exists because he exists, and the reality is that the Truth behind the scars, the makeup, the psychosis ... none of that matters. Does an abusive father justify what he does? Does anything? Would there be a story that would make us more sympathetic? How interesting that our sympathy is lessened the second time we hear the story of how he got the scars and it's different ... how quickly we want to believe that there's a reason for bad people doing bad things, when the reality is that there isn't always a reason, and there isn't ever an excuse.

Two-Face - I've heard criticism that the burned half of his face is overdone. It did remind me a bit of the Mummy, but I think it served its purpose in generating a sense of horror ... especially the unblinking eye and the exposed teeth. The teeth thing ... can totally happen. Maybe I'm more forgiving of its theatricality because I like to remember that as "realistic" as they've tried to make the films, this is still a comic book world. Amazing feats happen without the correct number of broken bones (ie when Batman and Rachel fall off a building and land on a car with no apparent injuries!), and sometimes the villain is hideously scarred beyond what normal people might endure.

The Scarecrow - Cillian Murphy is still one of the creepiest hot guys ever. And his cameo was perfect. It links us back to the first film, it's not too long or drawn out, and it serves to introduce the idea that there are lots of people out there trying to be Batman. Also, that Arkham apparently already has a bad record of being able to keep the crazies locked up. I also like the delight that Batman's opponents take in meeting him in battle so to speak ... they really do see him as a challenge, as someone who's just as screwed up as they are but still calling himself "the good guy". You can see how amusing that would get. I'm the freak? Yeah, says you in the giant bat suit.

Ordinary People - In the Spider-man films, ordinary New Yorkers always come to the aid of the fallen superhero. In Gotham, more often than not, appealing to people's better sides gets you nowhere. It's a city that seems to bring out the worst in people, and the ferry conundrum is a perfect example. A boatload of prisoners, a boatload of regular people. Each has a detonator, supposedly for the other boat. Blow up the other people before they get you first. My first thought was that you have to throw the detonator overboard, or someone will make a move to do it. Honestly, are you really going to trust someone who's put explosives on two boats and wants people to kill each other? The Joker understands people, probably better than Batman who tries to believe that people will do the right thing. He honestly believes there will be a time when the city won't need him, when he can step away from this path. The fact that he can believe that is one of the most interesting things about his character. His blind spot, so to speak.

Batman - Christian Bale is my Batman. He truly manages to pull off both the playboy and the hero. I couldn't recognize him in that costume ... unlike Superman you can actually understand how Bruce Wayne could hide his identity. And little moments like his talk with Gordon when he "crashes" his Lamborghini ... cement how clever Bruce is about maintaining what he has to be to protect who he needs to be.

Commissioner Gordon - I like that we got to see a little more of the family, although it's interesting all the focus tends to be on the son and no mention of young Barbara, although she's there. Maybe it's true that it's always the quiet ones. Corruption in the GCPD abounds, and Gordon's truly fighting a losing battle. But he keeps fighting, he keeps making the hard decisions, even when it means denying those he's trying to protect. It's not only Batman having to make the hard choices here, and that's good.

Overall, I just loved the film. I thought it was well-paced, suitably dark, and very well cast. It was necessarily violent, but it's the kind of violence I can manage because it shows very little and hints at a lot. It gave us a sense of closure, while at the same time still opening up a vision of a pretty bleak future in Gotham. I can't wait to see it again.

(Oh, didn't I mention I'm a bit of a superhero geek? And you thought I was just a poet!)

Disappointment by Mail

2008-08-16T17:12:00.002-06:00

My course package from UBC arrived the other day, and I tore open the envelope delighted to learn all about what I would be doing in my Screenwriting class. Except the course pack was for Biology.

Somewhere out there, I have no doubt there is an equally disappointed Biology major going, "Creative writing?"

The bookstore has promised to fix it.

Panda-Fu

2008-08-15T09:34:00.010-06:00

I have to say that I love the Beijing Olympic Mascots. They're cute, they're colourful, and there's a panda. Although I worry about the panda ...

He's more aggressive than past mascots ... he's got, not only a gun, but a baseball bat, a bow, boxing gloves, and a wicked judo toss.

Those are all Olympic sports, you say? Ooooohhh, I get it. *g* But seriously, the panda got all the ones with weapons. Makes you wonder. He is a bear after all, and you know what Steven Colbert says about bears: "godless killing machines." Bears are the Number One Threat to America. Good thing we don't worry about such matters in Canada.

Jury Duty

2008-08-14T07:19:00.002-06:00

I've been excused from Jury Duty.

I'm actually kind of sad about that in some way. I mean, I think it would be fascinating to be on a jury, to be part of the system. (Or possibly I've just seen way too much Law and Order.) I even considered if there was any way I could manage being on a jury and work/classes too, but since I'm pretty much it for Sage Hill's employee roster at the moment, it didn't seem like a wise idea.

Still ... it would've been interesting. I actually wanted to be a lawyer at one point in my life. Went to the Terry Fox Youth Centre in Ottawa for a one week "Experience" when I was in Grade 11. The focus was The Law, and we got to go see the Supreme Court, go to Parliament, have speakers, etc. It was really great, but I think at the time I probably only saw law school as having two options - boring contracts or morally-challenging criminal law. I couldn't see myself as a courtroom lawyer, and I thought the other stuff was all too dull. Funny how things change ... now I think I'd enjoy doing work in Intellectual Property law, but honestly, Trent would strangle me if I told him I want to go to law school. *g* I think I'll stick with the MFA and this writing gig for now.

(Note my new committment to posting ... whether anyone's reading or not, well, that's another matter entirely.)

Now is the Summer of ... Awesome!

2008-08-13T20:00:00.002-06:00

Seriously, I love my job. Okay, so it's kept me very busy and I haven't had much time for my own writing or blogging (yet), but I like what I do. I get to meet great people, spend time with writers in a wonderful retreat, and I get to satisfy my control freak nature by making sure every detail is taken care of. For two weeks I can run on pure adrenaline, solving problems and providing support. I can tend to cut feet, unruly ghosts, persistent ticks, talks, and tacks. I can lend an ear, a hand, a stapler, a shoulder, a laptop, a smile. I can tame technology, expand the space-time continuum at breakfast, and reroute power to the warp drive ... or something like that. I can even lock myself out of my own room on the first night (one of only two rooms with an actual key!), and no one would be the wiser ... not that that happened or anything. *whistles and looks into space*

And after the two weeks, I can put away my Wonder Woman cape and take a deep breath knowing that everything went just fine. Steven definitely left me a legacy, and I'm so pleased to be running Sage Hill these days. It's made of Awesome!

Tick Talk

2008-05-15T18:00:00.002-06:00

Ah, spring. The grass is greening, the robins are deworming the lawns, and the Rocky Mountain Wood Ticks have arrived at St. Michael's. I'm out here as the Director for Sage Hill Writing Experience, with poet and translator Erin Moure and 8 poets from across Canada. Moving the colloquium from fall to spring resulted in an unexpected addition of participants ... wood ticks are in season. Thankfully, our Saskatchewan ticks appear to be lazy and indecisive. They really only cling to your clothes if you brush right by them, and it takes them hours to decide to actually get around to biting anyone - which means you've got a good chance to notice them long before that happens. So far they've been more of an annoyance than anything else.

Talking Fresh 6 and Sage Hill Job

2008-03-28T09:04:00.003-06:00

Life has been a swirl of change lately. I've gone in a very short time from trying to manage my unstructured life to having a job with a structured (yet flexible) schedule which seems to be a perfect fit for my personality/skills. I've taken over from Steven Ross Smith as Executive Director of the Sage Hill Writing Experience. It's a half-time gig that will allow me the chance to continue to work on my own writing as well as pursue the optional residency MFA through UBC in the fall. I'm tremendously excited about the possibilities right now.

Plus, I just returned from the annual International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts conference in Florida. Aside from being a great conference, it's also a time to reconnect with academic friends I only see once or twice a year. And it's Florida. In March. I even managed to minimize the sunburn this year.

I'm off to Regina for Talking Fresh 6 this weekend and then the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild Board meeting on Sunday. Busy, busy, but it's all good.

Can I have that delivered ... ?

2008-02-16T08:38:00.002-06:00

One of my dear friends had her baby this week. Emma is two weeks early and arrived on Valentine's Day after 29 hours of labour. Welcome, Emma, future blog-reader. *g*

Seriously, one wonders why do women do this? 29 HOURS. I mean, I keep telling my friends if there's going to be even the slightest chance I'll decide to have a child before my biological clock runs out, they need to STOP TELLING ME THE DETAILS of pregnancy, labour, delivery, and child-rearing. I want to go into the experience in blissful innocence if I go into it at all. I don't want to know what's coming. I don't want to be prepared. I think it's better that way because if I think 29 hours sounds bad, I can almost guarantee I'll be one of those women who's in labour for 14 DAYS! That's just the way things go in my life. (And seriously, I don't want to know that labour that long is even possible.)

I'm going out today to pick up the new baby (plus mother and father) from the hospital. Brenda said I made it sound like pizza delivery:

"I'm going out. You want anything?"
"Yeah, bring me back a baby."
"Sure thing."

(Um, except that would be kidnapping.)

Ah, babies. Glorious noise and mess. Gotta love 'em. When I think of babies, I think of this quote by Friedrich Nietzsche: "One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star." If I'm ever going to have one, I want it to be exactly that - a dancing star.

(And no, not like "Dancing with the Stars". Oh, never mind.)

And the Winner is ...

2008-02-10T14:57:00.000-06:00

The CBC Poetry Face-Off was fabulous. I didn't win, but seriously, that's okay. (I know, I know, people always lie when they say, 'I was happy to be nominated', but considering I didn't have a good draft until last week, I really was just pleased that the poem/performance went over well.) Jennifer Still was the winner, but apparently the vote was close (or they lied to us to make us all feel better), and we all got swanky stuff from CBC. The five participants were me, Michael Trussler, Jennifer Still, Steven Ross Smith, and Mari-Lou Rowley. All wonderful performances that were completely different interpretations of the theme "heating up", and we were all complimentd by the musical stylings of guitarist Lee Kozak.

The actual program will air on CBC Radio 1 on April 12. I'll send out info a little closer to the date with a link for people who couldn't be there in person.

Special thanks to friends and family who braved the near-blizzard conditions to be there in person. It was much appreciated. *hugs*

Poetry Night In Canada

2008-02-08T14:24:00.000-06:00

I am safely ensconced in the hotel in Regina, and have had my absolutely fabulous soundcheck at CBC. They provide a musical backdrop for the reading, and mine is kind of funky electric guitar, 70s and technoporn and a bit of Young Frankenstein thrown in. Which makes sense because my poem is all about a boy and his robot - heating up is the theme. I caught the tale end of Michael Trussler's reading - really good stuff, but totally different style than mine, which is the whole point. Poetry can be as diverse as anything else.

So if you're in Regina, it's the CBC Galleria on Broad Street. Show starts at 8:00.

CBC Poetry Face-off Prelude

2008-02-03T11:08:00.001-06:00

I am currently enjoying the comfort of blue leather couches in the student lounge area at St. Peter's College at Muenster. And my draft for the CBC Poetry Face-off is nearly done.

If you're curious what I've done with this year's theme of "heating up" and you're going to be in Regina on Friday, February 8, why not come down to the CBC Building on Broad Street and listen to five SK poets go head-to-head and stanza-to-stanza?

I'm kind of excited about the whole thing, especially since I'm the least experienced poet on the list. I'm still in the "thrilled to be asked" mode. The other poets are Steven Ross Smith, Mari-Lou Rowley, Jennifer Still, and Michael Trussler.

All I can tell you about my poem is that there's a robot, and electricity, and ... well, love. We'll see how to goes on Friday.

Of Robosaurus and GTOs

2008-01-20T14:43:00.000-06:00

Everyone has secrets. And this is mine. Once a year, my husband and I transform from relatively normal artsy souls into car people. Our metamorphosis inevitably coincides with the Barrett-Jackson Annual Collector Car Auction, shown every year on Speed TV. From Tuesday till Sunday, they feature 30+ hours of coverage of what can only be considered the ultimate reality show. Real people buying real cars at auction. Live.

Now, most of the time I don't care all that much about V8s and V6s, fastbacks and hard tops, coupes and customs, retro-mods or originals. But for this one week, I'm hooked. I'm invested in why one car sells for 50,000 and the same model and year can sell for 300,00 two days later because of a difference in paint colour, mileage, etc.

The people bidding are also characters. There are the regulars - the people who are there every year and drop millions of dollars. There's the Ferrari Guy, and the Suit Jacket Guy, and the inevitable parade of celebrities like Leno, Reggie Jackson, Patrick Dempsey. This year John Schneider did an impromptu concert on top of The General Lee before it hit the block. A recreation of The Batmobile sold for two hundred thousand plus - and the main bidders were all dressed like Batman. I've never actually seen so many Batmen in one place. And when the car-crushing, fire-breathing Robosaurus went up for sale, it brought a respectable $575,000. Who knew?

So, once a year I'm a car girl. Makes you wonder what else you don't know about me, doesn't it? *smirk*

Meet Shiba

2008-01-08T19:23:00.000-06:00

It's been a good Christmas and New Year. I have a new addition to my family ... Shiba. Short for Toshiba (and not to be confused with Trent's Toby). Yes, I finally got a new laptop.

If you know me at all, you'll realize this is very exciting for me since my old laptop (my first laptop) was purchased second hand from a friend. It only runs Windows 98 and has less memory than most people's iPods. No, I'm not joking. The good thing about it was that it had a disk drive (I really prefer them to CDs) and it seemed mostly indestructible - I dropped it once ...

But I'm quite excited about this new friend of mine. Of course, Windows Vista and I have a few issues to work out - seriously, who does it think is initiating the programs I'm running? Someone else?

However, it's got wireless access and lots of memory and it's so shiny and new! It's really very nice to have something a little more up-to-date, and this is as good a time as any to organize my writing files as I transfer them to the new machine.

Happy New Year 2008

2008-01-02T09:03:00.000-06:00

A new year begins.
Resolutions strong as steel.
Not to be broken.

Good things come to those who blog ...

2007-12-07T23:59:00.000-06:00

Is it just a coincidence that after I updated my blog (after how many months!?!) that I received my acceptance to UBC's optional MFA program today? Hm, I feel like I've been kind of weirdly blessed - like one of those chain letter things that you know is just a trick, but you find yourself thinking about torturing five of your friends with copies anyway.

I am over the moon with happy!

Blog Blah Blah

2007-12-06T12:28:00.000-06:00

I'm figuring out it's much harder to keep a blog than I thought. I read other people's witty, insightful, or just plain interesting comments ... Brenda ... and I think, "what do I really have to say that's interesting?" Now, if I took my own advice, or rather David Carpenter's advice I wrote about in my Freelance article, I'd know that it's just a matter of finding the way in. That maybe finding the important thing to say isn't the most important thing after all. We'll see. I'm trying to make a commitment to doing this more often. Just settling down to the computer and writing.

I do still think it's easier to be someone else, someone anonymous sometimes. In this context, the only people who read this are people who already know me. There's a certain attraction in being read by people who have no knowledge of you and no expectations.

Of Mentees and Readings

2007-06-25T07:09:00.000-06:00

The SWG Mentorship reading in Regina went SO well! It was a blast!

One of the reasons I've been quiet on here the last few months is that I've been working my ass off with my mentor, Sylvia. We've had our ups and downs, but definitely the last two months I've hit my stride a little more and have been producing some work I'm really pleased with.

The reading was held at the Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina. The Guild put us both up at the hotel for the night, and for some reason known only to the hotel gods, we were both upgraded to suites. Sweet! Seriously, Trent and I had a whole separate bedroom with a king-size bed, in addition to the room with the table, couch, loveseat and TV. It would've been nice to stay a few days and really enjoy it. I think Sylvia's room was even bigger than mine! (Not that size matters.)

The reading was well-attended. Probably 80-100 people. I have trouble estimating those things and I was too busy re-connecting with people I hadn't seen in a while. I was so pleased to see Sharon and Alison, Tracy and Annette, Shelley B., my good friend Sarah, and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone! Plus Gertrude Story was there, and seriously, I did my very first reading when I was around 13-14, and it was with Gertrude Story. I've been around the writing community a really long time ... I'm just a slow emerger. *g*

I felt surprisingly confident considering it was all brand-new poetry, and some of it still needs a lot of work. People seemed to respond favourably and in general I was flying pretty high by the time the evening was done. Definitely a positive experience all around. And Sylvia and I are meeting on Wednesday again ... no rest for the mentee!

Reading in Regina

2007-06-20T23:16:00.000-06:00

I've been awfully quiet on here ... mostly because I've been really working hard for the SWG mentorship program these last few months. It's all culminating in the reading of the "mentees" tomorrow evening. Anyone who's in Regina is welcome to attend. The reading is open to the public and being held at the Hotel Saskatchewan at 8:00 pm, June 21. There will be three readers - myself, another poet, and a fiction writer. Also in attendance will be our esteemed mentors: Sylvia Legris, Steven Ross Smith, and Connie Gault.

I'm reading all new work - most of which feels still pretty fresh - so we'll see how things go. I like the work and I've been pretty excited about the progress I've made recently. I'm looking forward to a very writerly summer with Writer's colony and then a stint at Sage Hill.

Hope to see some of you there tomorrow night! Wish me luck!!

A Spring in My Step, Poems in Print

2007-04-29T06:55:00.000-06:00

Hagios Press had its spring launch on Thursday and I was pleased to be one of the readers at the event. There were over 100 people in attendance, a selection of wonderful readers, and such positive support for poets. It was a joy to see!

In addition to the poem in Fast Forward: New Saskatchewan Poets, I also have a piece at The Fieldstone Review. It's an exploration of language and colour in relation to the retirement of colours of Crayola crayons. The piece is called Burnt Sienna.

The mentorship surges onward ... I'm learning a lot about my own writing style, how I work (or don't work), want I really want to say, how difficult slaving over a keyboard can be, how sometimes I crave completion to the work and just can't find it, and how there are days when a great line can be the same as a smile. Writing is damn hard work, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

But sometimes there are cupcakes! (Alas, mine was only a virtual visual consumption. Lucky Brenda!)

When Did I Get This Old?

2007-01-25T10:25:00.000-06:00

I'm taking this fiction writing class and as of last count, I was the second oldest student in the class. Of course, it's an undergrad class with enthusiastic young people and that's great. And it's a big class - 16 of us - which means workshopping four stories a night. Confidence certainly isn't a bad thing in a writer, especially a young one, and God knows I had a stage where everything I wrote was brilliant (or so I thought.) If I didn't have a healthy ego, I wouldn't still be doing this. Ultimately you have to believe in the value of your own work, even if no one else does at that particular moment.

But, wow - sometimes I'm astounded by the gulf between my experience and theirs. It doesn't seem that I could possibly be that much older, but apparently I am. 15 years in some cases, I'd bet. (When did that happen?) And when they ask questions about getting ideas, I remember I have a ton of life experience to draw on. I don't struggle for ideas any more - mostly I struggle with putting the words on paper and then making them into something polished. Finishing things. That's what I have trouble with.

It's an interesting class, although it feels more like a beginning fiction class than an advanced. I suppose once we actually start workshopping that might change, but in the meantime, I'm reading, I'm thinking, and oh yeah, writing! *g*

Dialogue vs. Diary

2007-01-21T11:03:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking for some time about why it is I'm not so inclined to post here more regularly, and I think some of it comes down to what kind of writer I am. It's probably the same reason I've always had trouble keeping a diary, although I write letters regularly.

It seems to me that the difference for a blogger is in whether you're seeking a diary or a dialogue. A diary - online or otherwise - gives you a place to record that is primarily for yourself. If other people read it, that's inconsequential. Perhaps one still writes with the idea of being read, but that's not the primary purpose. The need to write fuels the posts, dictates the subject matter, and keeps the writer posting whether there are comments or not.

The writer who seeks dialogue wants a response, wants some acknowledgement that the words have touched someone else. It explains why so many are seeking "publication" in blogs. I think I'm the kind of person who likes a response, but also, who likes to continue the discussion. Unfortunately, this particular blog engine isn't set up to do that very well, and therein lies my main problem. People can leave comments, but in order for them to hear my reply, they must deliberately check back to this journal and check the comments.

Other systems, such as Livejournal.com, have a structure that sends replies to every comment by email. That means not only are conversations possible, it's possible to have layers of conversation with multiple participants. You can follow the thread of a discussion, receive notices if a particular blog is updated, etc. It seems to be doing far more in terms of allowing the kind of interaction I'm probably looking for.

So why am I here? Because all the other kids are? Because the majority of writers I know are participating in this blog space, and movement between blog spaces is still a difficult thing to negotiate. I'm trying to decide whether this works for me, though. I suspect it doesn't, but I'm not sure moving to somewhere like LJ is the answer either because the people that I'm currently talking to about writing are all here. LJ allows dialogue, but it also requires a certain amount of commuity building if you want people to respond.

That's where my head is right now. Thinking a lot about writing - the process, the particulars. Less of the actual writing going on, but I think that's okay for now.

The Little Voices are Back

2007-01-04T07:03:00.000-06:00

The thing that I like about taking classes, talking to other writers, even reading, is that it often leads to ideas. In the post-thesis phase of my life, I've been having enormous difficulty reading and writing. I was just plain tired. My brain was strained and drained. Pickled, put in a jar, and stored on a dusty shelf.

Now, I'm starting to feel the glimmer of ideas again. Woke up at 5 am with stories swirling in my head, or at least bits of them. So I got up and wrote down the pieces because I've learned not to believe I'll remember them in the morning. Maybe they won't turn into stories. Maybe they will. But the fact is, I've got the fragments of a beginning. Several beginnings. Characters waving from the shadows. Voices whispering dialogues. It's good. It's very very good.

Beginnings

2007-01-03T15:49:00.000-06:00

Much to no one's surprise, I'm starting a class tonight. Yes, I have trouble staying out of school. I've always loved being a student, and I get a particular kind of energy from the experience.

Tonight I'm starting English 366.3 at the U of S - Guy Vanderhaeghe's Advanced Fiction class. I'm very much looking forward to it because I've been writing more fiction and thinking about writing longer works. I've found that any writing class tends to get me writing more, and if nothing else, that's a positive thing.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T20:47:00.000-06:00

Another new year begins, and I have a few resolutions:

1) Write more! Read more!
2) Eat less. Exercise more.
3) Stress less. Laugh more.
4) Update my journal regularly.

Let's see if I can stick to those sticky resolutions.

John V. Hicks Memorial Portatif Organ

2006-11-22T16:29:00.000-06:00

Things have been very busy, so this is short notice, but I'm attending the dedication ceremony (and concert) tonight for the John V. Hicks Memorial Portatif Organ at the College of Emmanuel and Saint Chad, University of Saskatchewan. It's going to be an evening of festal song in honour of St. Cecilia.

The neatest thing is that the President of the College saw my thesis title listed in the convocation program and invited me because of my work on John V. Hicks. I was so thrilled! And he invited me to join the academic procession at the beginning of the evening, so I'll be there wearing the Master of Arts gown and hood. How cool is that?

Hope is the thing with feathers

2006-11-22T09:45:00.000-06:00

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a thing for cards. Paper. Stationery. Books. Any kind of paper-related product, and I'm happy. I pride myself on having the right card for every occasion - whether it's goofy or serious.

This past weekend, my Mom and I drove out to Caroline, AB, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of my friend Alice and her husband Dayle. It was a lovely weekend and well worth the 7 hour drive. The thing is ... I probably wouldn't have gotten to know Alice if her sister Susan hadn't died.

Susan and I started the Master's program together. In the summer after the first year, she was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately it was a kind that is basically not detectable until it's too late. It's hard when a friend is going through something like that and you're far away. I sent email, letters, cards. Susan had taken an Emily Dickinson class and hated it ... so I sent her a card with the poem about hope. It was partly a joke, but it partly wasn't ... because really, hope is the thing you hang on to when you're really ill, and apparently it was the right thing at the right time because Alice and Sue knew that poem backwards and forwards and read it to each other when things got tough.

Visiting the grave this time, I was really touched to see they'd put that poem on the gravestone. And the card I sent ... is framed in the living room with pictures of Susan around it. I didn't expect that. You never know when some small thing will be the thing that touches someone deeply and makes a difference. You really never know.

NaNoWriMo

2006-10-27T10:01:00.000-06:00

I am on top of the world. Seriously, the North Pole has nothing on me today. I just feel ... really positive about life in general.

Part of that is my Children's Writers retreat on the weekend. It went extremely well - new people and old blending together. There was lots of time for discussion and laughter, workshopping of manuscripts. The people of Gravelbourg made us feel a little like visiting royalty - made sure we were happy, well-fed, and informed. The mayor gave us a tour of the cathedral there, we attended a wine and cheese at the province's only French bookstore, and we ate like queens at Le Bistro Chez Julie. It was exactly the kind of weekend I needed to get refocused on my writing goals.

So, starting in November, I'm writing every day. It's my new job, and I'm treating it as such. One of the ways I'm going to help myself maintain that "write every day" goal is by signing up for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is 50,000 words by the end of the month - quantity, not necessarily quality is the goal - and just to keep up that steady progress instead of getting bogged down. I think it will be a good thing for me, and by telling the world (okay, the six people who regularly read this), I'm making myself accountable. Anyone else want to write a novel in November?

Sometimes you have to retreat

2006-10-17T15:57:00.000-06:00

I've learned that sometimes retreat is the only option. For writers, it's sometimes the best option. My children's writers group meets twice yearly, always in different locations, alternating between north and south, usually. This time we're meeting in Gravelbourg, SK, at a little bed and breakfast, and I took the option only available to the retired or self-employed of the group, and am staying a little extra for some writing time. It makes me feel indulgent, but in a good way. I haven't been indulging that part of me for a while, and I miss it. The way you might miss an arm.

So, from Thursday until next Monday, I'll be living it up at the Heritage Place B&B with the rest of the Round Robins.

Snap, Crackle, Pop - Cheese Krispies Recipe

2006-10-02T14:42:00.000-06:00

One of the things that was a hit at the party was the little Cheese Krispies that I made. They're not really a cracker or a cookie, but they're a little spicy and more than a little addictive. We usually make them at New Year's and we have friends who say they take them to every party now.

Here's the recipe:

Cheese Krispies

1 pkg Imperial Cheese (red container)
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup butter (softened)
½ teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce (generous)
¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper (generous)
4 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Mix cheese and butter together. Add pepper and Worcestershire; alternately add flour and cereal until everything is blended. Drop in teaspoon-sized portions, slightly flattened, on greased or sprayed cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

I'm one of those "that looks about right" cooks, so feel free to experiment with the measurements. I certainly do. *g*

Let them eat cake!

2006-09-22T08:03:00.000-06:00

We had a great party on Saturday night. This was the "OMG, Paula Jane's finally finished her Master's degree" party and it was a blast. My Mom, who could give Martha Stewart a run for her money, insisted on making all the stuff for the party, so we had veggie trays and fruit, snacks, crackers and cheese, and six cakes. Yes, 6 cakes. At the end of the night it was very much like that Bible story about the fish and the loaves - we seemed to have just as much food as when we started (in spite the best efforts of 30 hungry party-goers), and we actually did have more wine than when we started because people brought bottles and didn't drink them. We seduced them with non-alcoholic punch that promised maraschino cherries in the bottom.

The cakes were 2 Carribean Rum cakes, a pan of brownies, lemon bars, and 2 double-chocolate cheesecakes. The cheesecake was a huge hit - it was lovely. I will provide the recipe to anyone who wishes.

Honestly, all we really did all night was sit around and eat while I revelled in the fact that there are no more revisions to be done, no more research, no more anything. The electronic copy is on file at the library, the print copy is at the bindery, and the official letter from graduate studies telling me I've met all the requirements is stuck to my fridge. Life is good.

The best thing about the party was that I really felt that everyone who was able to come was genuinely proud of me. That's a cool feeling, especially when it's people you work with or friends. Your family is supposed to be proud of you, but it's really nice to hear it from your friends too.

I also got gifties because I have the coolest friends. I got a Batman figurine that lights up and has fancy wing-movement action from a poet-friend who drove many hours to be there. Bats was attached to a bottle of wine with the charming name of Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush, and I got a book of pseudo-haikus too. My friend Craig presented me with a bottle of Painted Turtle wine, a Publish or Perish blank journal, and a slightly more grown-up version of my dollar-store tiara. He always makes me feel like a princess. It's important to have at least one male friend (that your husband likes) who thinks you're wonderful. I also got a lightsabre that lights up from another friend, Tim Horton's gift certificates, lots of cards, and a turtle watch from my mother.

If you're wondering about the turtle theme, well ... it did take me six years to finish the damn degree, so it's kind of a joke, but there's another story too. I'll tell you sometime. Another friend gave me Zippy the Wonder Turtle, a plush graduation turtle complete with hat and diploma. I really need to take pictures, or at least check what's on my camera. Craig was the official photographer for the evening. He, Zippy, and the camera disappeared for quite some time, so I'm almost afraid to see what's on there.

All in all, it was the best celebration I could've asked for. Things wound down sometime after 1 am, and not everyone could be there of course, but it was still a great celebration.

Poetic Tetris

2006-09-10T11:16:00.000-06:00

I've been fortunate enough to have a poem accepted to Hagios Press's new anthology Fast Forward: Saskatchewan's New Poets (Spring 2007), and it reminded me how complicated the revision and editing process gets for poetry. N0t that it isn't difficult for fiction, or any kind of writing, really - just coming off a thesis which seemed to be made up of endless revisions tells me that.

But poetry revision is alarmingly like Tetris. You change a word, one word, and everything shifts. You move something and it changes the way the lines look, the way words sit next to one another, the way they sound. Then you start moving other words, shifting line breaks, re-thinking word choices, and before you know it ... chaos. Or creativity. Depending how you look at it. It's one of the best parts of working with words on a page.

Business Cards of Truth

2006-09-07T09:49:00.000-06:00

For about two years I've had business cards that list my credentials: B. A. Hons, B. Ed., M.A. I got them partly as incentive to actually finish the M.A. - they're nice cards, very professional, bright and colourful. But every time I've handed one out, I've had to point out that I don't actually have my M.A. yet. I've gotten very good at spontaneously generating synonyms for "not done yet" - forthcoming, pending, imminent. Any day now. Seriously, it's so close the light at the end of the tunnel is giving me sunburn.

Well, finally, the cards no longer feel like a lie. My thesis defence was last week - it went surprisingly well considering this was the Murphy's Law Master's Thesis (if anything can go wrong it will) - and once the copy is in to Grad Studies, as far as the university is concerned, the degree is mine. The ceremony in October to actually give me that elusive piece of paper is just the icing on the cake.

It's a good feeling.

In the beginning ...

2006-09-04T15:45:00.000-06:00

... silence.

Well, only for a little while. I'm quite sure once I get my feet in the blogging waters - assuming the waters are free from sharks and other pointy things - I will be quite comfortable spilling my thoughts into virtual space.