NaNoNoWri

I love the concept of NaNoWriMo (for those who don't know what it is, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It was started in 1999 by Chris Baty and meant to be a socialization of a personal and "sole" activity. With the goal of writing 50,000 words in a single month (November), registrants post and share how they are doing towards that goal.

More than a quarter of a million people participate each year, and the number continues to grow.

I have participated in the past. I'll likely participate in the future again.

But right now, I'm just happy when I can get ANY writing done.

Which was why, Saturday morning, I got frustrated when my writing got cut short by an activity that frequently occurs when I'm in the middle of something.

I was "in the Zone" and composing what I thought was an important moment in a novel. I came to a part where one of the characters was going to say something about a subject where he was supposed to be knowledgeable and authoritative.

I, of course, was nowhere near authoritative or knowledgeable about the subject -- that's my cue to doing a bit of research.

And therein lies the mistake I made.

I took a quick moment to check a fact, do an internet search about a topic so as to ensure my character was speaking with the correct degree of knowledge. That "quick moment" of research turned into fifteen minutes of reading about the topic and about a related topic, getting drawn in and interested in learning more.

The next thing I knew, the writing flow had been broken. I was no longer in the Zone.

In that same fifteen minutes, I could have likely written another 500 to 1000 words. But alas, those words remain unwritten.

quill writing from wpclipart.com

This is a mistake I regularly make - the trick is catching myself in the midst of it so as to prevent the "full stop" that occurs. A strategy I have employed in the past (which tends to work) is inserting a note for myself to pay attention to during the re-write. So, instead of breaking the narrative flow by more than a few words, I insert a line in the middle of the sentence [just like this - just a few words] and then, satisfied I have recognized a moment that needs to be addresses when I have the time, I continue writing.

During the re-write phase, or when I'm about to quit for that session, I do the research and substitute in the appropriate word or detail.

Example.

Robert turned toward the instrument panel and noticed that [the proper technical name of the radial dial] was glowing [alert colour]. He immediately sounded the alarm and called Steve on his cell phone.

In the example above, once I do a bit of research to determine the proper technical name of the radial dial on the monitoring device Robert is looking at and whether the alert colour is red or orange, I return to them and insert the details.  Note that the research doesn't have to be into real stuff. This could be a piece of speculative fiction in which the instrument panel system Robert is observing is entirely fictitious but I need to look back to my own notes or where this detail was previously mentioned in the novel and merely fill in the info there.

It's a useful device. One I should remember to use so I don't get all carried away with the enjoyment of the research.

Black Friday OR "Occu-buy" Chaos?

One wonders about the whole "Occupy" movement. Despite the "we are the 99%" slogan being used in wonderfully, creative ways, the movement consists of a relatively small percentage of the population dedicating an incredible degree of time and effort into bringing a serious issue to our attention.

It all started just a few months ago and was gaining some traction world-wide.

Interesting though, that there are issues with a bunch of people wanting to stand up and make people pay attention to social and economic inequalities that exist throughout the world by camping and planting themselves in public places.

I suppose there isn't as big a deal made over the fact that, for Black Friday, a slightly larger group of people in many more parts of North America, were setting up tents and sleeping bags so they could "camp" outside retail spaces to be there when the doors began to open.

Cartoon 11/22 from Wesley's Cartoons - Dec 3, 2009

On one side, a bunch of disruptive people with a desperate message are looked down upon. On the other, those perpetuating capitalistic culture are just part of the norm.


And yet I look at incidents like the one recently reported in the Los Angeles Times in which a woman used pepper spray on her fellow shoppers in order to get to the deals first at a Wal-Mart and I just shake my head.

Cartoon: The Spirit of the Season from The Boiling Point by Mikhaela B. Reid

Google "Black Friday Violence" and you'll see this is a trend that has been growing.

Sigh . . .

HNT - Seeing Santa

This past weekend Santa arrived at Limeridge Mall.

We headed over to the mall to see the incoming mini parade which included Sir Topham Hatt (from Thomas the Tank Engine), a couple of ponies from My Little Pony, as well as a few other characters, bagpipe musicians and mall staff dressed as Santa's helpers handing out fun activity/colouring books for the kids.

I hoisted Alexander on my shoulders so he could get a good view through the crowd.  Then I readied my iPhone to take a few pictures and remembered that there was a front facing cam on my new iPhone. So I snapped a couple of quick pictures to test it out.

Then, as things begin to start, it was cute how he was yelling out: "I see Sir Topham Hatt!" at the top of his lungs as the characters began their march far far down the hall.

At that point we knew it was a good idea to take him to this. (We'd debated on attending the Parade in Toronto which was the same day, but the concept of the drive plus the possible 5 hour wait just to get a good spot just wasn't feasible given our schedule of activities and chores for the weekend. This little event was enough to kindle the fun excitement of Christmas without overpowering it with long waits and being stuck in a huge crowd far from the comforts of home)

I took a few pictures of the characters and Santa, but I'd been more eager to see the look of joy that I knew must be plastered on my son's face.

So I switched to the front facing camera and took a few shots.

Ahh - got to love this smile as the various characters are marching by.

And this one, waving at Santa as he passes in front of us.

Got to love Christmas, and, in particular, the excitement and joy my son gets in the various little traditions that we do together which make it that much more special.

An 80's Geek's Bookgasm

I think the best way that I can describe Ernest Cline's Ready Player One is as an 80's Geek's Bookgasm.

I'd leave it at that, but I feel I should at least discuss how I came to discover and enjoy the book.

First, let me blame Mark and Jon of The Enthusiasticast. It was in Episode 72 that Jon starting talking about this novel by Cline. Before he was even half-way done, I was practically salivating and knew I wanted to read it.

No, I didn't want to read it.

I wanted to listen to the audio version read by Wil Wheaton. (I'd previously enjoyed listened to Wheaton read a few of his own books and knew he was an excellent narrator. Having Wheaton as the voice for this 80's "nerdgasm" was the perfect fit.

Throughout the listening (most of which was done via my 1.5 hour commute from Hamilton to Toronto), there were times when I just sat in the car and kept listening to the novel. And half the time, when traffic was so bad that I was stuck on the highway for up to 2 hours or more it didn't bother me in the slightest - because it meant I had more time to listen to the book. It was the perfect thing to soothe this commuter's soul . . .

In a nutshell, Ready Player One is set in a dystopian future in which a huge cross between social media and online gaming exists in a virtual world called The Oasis. The Oasis was created by billionaire James Halliday -- (think of him as a cross between Steve Jobs and Howard Hughes - hmm, maybe more of a John Hughes, given his love for that film-maker`s popular movies from the 80`s)

When Halliday dies, there is an announcement that his entire fortune will go to the person who can succeed in finding the 3 hidden Easter eggs that he planted somewhere in The Oasis. An entire culture of people dedicate their lives to finding these eggs - and it is, the way online gaming can become for some, an overwhelming obsession that takes over their lives.

A good deal of the Gunters (the "Egg Hunters") role is studying and leaning about Halliday - about the things he wrote, the things he said, the things he loved. Because Halliday was a product of and a huge fan of the 80`s (he was a teen in the 1980's) a good deal of understanding of where he might have hidden the eggs comes from understanding and knowing 80's pop culture.

This element of the book makes it an incredibly wonderful trip down memory lane for anyone who enjoyed the John Hughes teen movies of the time, playing Dungeons & Dragons, the very first text-based adventure games, the hype of Pac-Man and the video game arcade frenzy, and a slew of other pop culture music and movie references from the time.

Combine that with an intriguing set of characters (who are often extreme in their dedication to this virtual world and the hunt), a beautiful mirror held up to our current fascinating with online and mobile connectedness via social media, and an easy to approach style of writing made this a fantastic novel that I simply couldn't get enough of.

To top it off, the Canadian rock trio Rush ends up playing a significant role in the novel -- as a huge Rush nerd that completely blew my mind.

Being a fan of sci-fi, a fan of dystopian fiction, a lover of the 80's, a lover of Rush and a fan of Wil Wheaton it seems as if this novel was written for me -- or at least that I was one of the intended audience for this book.

But perhaps you might see how this novel was a kind of bookgasm for this particular 80's book nerd.

Thanks, Mr. Cline. Escaping into Ready Player One the way that many of the characters of the novel escape into The Oasis was a glorious treat that I fully enjoyed. Having the book read by Wil Wheaton was the perfect icing on that cake.

Needless to say I highly recommend this novel - but only if you're serious about 80's geek culture. If you are, chances are you'll have similar strong feelings. If you're not, you'll likely still enjoy the storyline, the twists and turns and the tension, along with the various plot strings that Cline sets up, but it's hard to say how you'll react to the strong 80's presence in the book.

HNT - CSC2011

Yesterday I spent the day networking with the great folks from Campus Stores Canada.

It was an odd sort of reunion, because for the past few years I had been a CSC member and attending as a campus bookseller.

This year, though I was there to do a presentation about the POD success I had at McMaster University with the bookstore's Espresso Book Machine, my name tag was showing my role as: Director, Self-Publishing & Author Relations for Kobo, the company I now work for.

It was fantastic to see so many great folks from the campus side, and share great POD information with them, but, of course, also chat about Kobo, talk with them about getting content from them (particularly those campus stores who are already offering self-publish POD services. When I was at McMaster I had set up an account with Kobo so that any self-pub clients who wanted global ebook distribution could get it through that Kobo relationship - and I was encouraging folks using EBM's to do the same thing and thus expand their business through mutually beneficial partnerships. By the end of the day, I had a handful of new folks who will be setting up an account with us, giving their authors a new sales channel and great presence.

It was also fun showing many of them the Kobo Vox.

I didn't take any pictures while there -- so busy that I neglected to whip out the camera to take any pictures . . . . so I thought I'd share a photo from way back. A shot taken of Paul Wilde (from U of Alberta bookstore) and me in front of the EBM at their store - the first in Canada and the third location in the world to embrace the POD technology back in 2007.

Good times!

Just The Boys Writing Scary Stories Together

Francine flew off to Banff on Saturday. (Okay, in the interest of accuracy, she flew to Calgary then took land transportation to Banff).

Fran's trip left Alexander and I to our own devices this weekend.

The original thought was that, without Francine's calm head, and clear guidance, and proper influence, Alexander and I would be running wild all weekend, having nothing but pizza parties (okay, we did have one, but ate a healthy, well balanced home made meal Saturday night and a nice hearty breakfast on Sunday), playing video games (well, yes, we did that too, but just for a couple of hours at the neighbour's house), and making huge messes (okay, we did make a few little ones, but we also did some cleaning)

But here was the funny thing.

We spent a lot of time writing.

All week, Alexander has been talking about wanting to write a story on his computer. I told him we'd have a chance to do that on the weekend.

So, Saturday morning, after he woke up he joined me down in the den. I was working on a revision to a novel and across from me, he was beginning his first experience at typing up a story.

I helped him figure out some of the basics such as how to open Word and save a new document, how to BOLD a selection of text and how to delete and replace a word.

Here is his first attempt at a story he was itching to tell . . .

Immediately after writing, then printing this first draft of his story, he took out some pencil crayons and added some illustrations to it. I love it. I think I'm going to have it framed.

Then, this morning, during the Sunday morning father and son writing session, he expressed the fact that the story wasn't over and he had more to tell. I was delighted to hear this. I then explained to him the importance of re-reading the previous day's work and working on a second draft. As part of this exercise, I asked him to explain a few things to me.

When I told him that the first sentence didn't make sense because it wasn't a proper sentence, he explained that it was an overview/summary of the story. So we talked about it and he modified it slightly and I suggested that he add an indicator that it wasn't part of the story.

Then we had a quick chat about POV. I gently explained that he couldn't write "Alex" using a third person narrator, then revert to "we" and "me" -- but that he had to keep the point of view the story was being told from consistent.

He immediately caught on and said: "I should change Alex to I." I nodded vigorously.

Then I explained a bit about past and present tense. I wasn't even half-way through my intended explanation when he said: "I need to change it from see to saw."

"Exactly!" I said.

"And change run to ran."

"Precisely!"

So he made the changes and then began working on the next "chapter" of his his story.

At a certain point, because he kept asking me how to spell words, I took him up to his room and we pulled out two difference dictionaries he had there and brought them downstairs. I showed him he could look up words he wanted to know how to spell in either his The Cat in the Hat Beginning Book Dictionary or his Macmillan First Dictionary. (The latter was a bit more sophisticated and had a lot more words and more descriptive meanings).

He was rather pleased with the exercise of looking up words he didn't know how to spell, but then he asked why he would use more than one dictionary and I showed him Daddio's four different dictionaries, and told him that writers often use these types of writers tools to help them, depending on what was important at the time.

We didn't get into the hundred or so other writer guides and other reference books on the shelf to the immediate left of my writing space. Those lessons will come at a future day.

I was initially pleased at how productive this past weekend was for my own writing. But I'm tickled pink, and as proud as can be to see my son enjoying the simple yet powerful act of pouring his creative spirit into words on a page.

HNT - Down With The Old, Up With The New

As I began to write this I took at quick look back at the last few posts. The previous four were about Halloween, and I noticed I have not been blogging regularly. I suppose that's because I used to blog early in the morning before getting ready for work as part of my daily morning writing routine. (I began blogging as a warm-up to actual writing)

But the new job and 1.5 hour morning commute takes that time away. Sure, I could get up at 4 AM rather than 5 AM, but I'm needing between 5 and 6 hours of sleep a night, and that would cut into that in a bad way.

Still need to figure out optimum writing times. (Hmm, maybe actually taking a lunch break at work might do the trick - a difficult task when I enjoy my job so much that it doesn't feel like work.)

In any case, today's post is another HNT one - at least I have the HNT ritual to ensure that I blog at least once per week.  Today's post also refers to -- one last time for a while at least -- Halloween.

On Saturday, Alexander and I spent a couple of hours taking down the massive Halloween setup from our front yard. And on Sunday, with the weather being so absolutely gorgeous (particularly for November), Francine suggested that we put up the Christmas lights. She's a smart gal, that Fran - often reminding me of the challenges of climbing across the roof and slipping and sliding on a cold, icy surface when I wait too long to get those lights up (Of course, when Fran suggested it mid week after hearing the weather forecast, Alexander was itching to get started every day when I got home from work last week)

This week's HNT pics are of Alexander and I on the roof preparing to complete our task. (Yes, he has been involved in helping get the decorations up since he could walk - although it's only in the past few years he has been coming out onto the roof with me - when he was two he used to pass me the decorations through his bedroom window then point out where to place things.)

And I just couldn't bare to take pictures of the putting away of the Halloween decorations. It's still too painful to think about . . .

HNT - Halloween 2011

Francine and I have always loved Halloween. It's thus natural that our son Alexander would love it, too. Usually, once August ends and the first days of school begin, Alexander starts to talk about setting up the Halloween decorations in our front yard (yes, we tend to go "all out" on this) as well as what costume he'll want to wear.

This year, being mad about everything Star Wars, he dressed as Captain Rex one of the lead clone troopers from The Clone Wars (an animated series which takes place in the time between the 2nd and 3rd installment of the prequel series - a war eluded to by Obi-Wan back in the very 1st Star Wars movie when Obi-Wan and Anakin fought side-by-side before Anakin turned entirely to the dark side)

Since Alexander was Captain Rex, I was going to dress up as Obi-Wan, only I didn't decide in time to grow a beard. So perhaps I'm Anakin (the black I'm wearing might suggest that), or maybe just some miscellaneous Jedi "guest-star" for a single episode . . . you know, like the disposable ensigns on Star Trek that get killed off . . .

In any case, it was another fun Halloween.

How many days is it until Halloween 2012?

Music With Halloween Spirit

Alexander & Francine's Jack-o-Lantern for Halloween 2011

I always feel the post-Halloween blues kick in at about the same time I go to blow the candle out in the Jack-o-Lantern for the night on the evening of October 31st. A strong part of me wants to keep that candle lit for a few moments more as I peer down the street hoping for just one last trick or treater to come calling.


That's usually when my mind starts trying to conjure ways to bring back that beautiful Halloween spirit that the rest of the world shares but which I seem to hold in my heart for most of the year.

This time, I began composing a list of songs I'd love to mix together to celebrate Halloween. Sort of a virtual "mixed tape" like the ones we used to make when we were younger.

Here's the list I came up with:

Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Running with the Devil - Van Halen
Time Warp - Rocky Horror Picture Show
Witchy Woman - Eagles
Clap for the Wolfman - The Guess Who
Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Boris the Spider - The Who
Devil with a Blue Dress - Mitch Ryder & Detroit Wheels
Welcome to my Nightmare - Alice Cooper
Crazy Train - Ozzy Osborne
People Are Strange - The Doors
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Tubular Bells (Exorcist Theme) - Mike Oldfield
Let's Go Crazy - Prince
Witch Doctor - David Seville
Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Iron Man - Black Sabbath
Black Magic Woman - Santana
Witch Hunt - Rush
Highway to Hell - ACDC
Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones
Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Picket

Maybe if I put together a playlist like this I could bring back just a bit of the Halloween spirit. Or at least, when I hear some of these songs throughout the next 364 days, it'll help rekindle the dying embers of that wonderful feeling of Halloween.

What songs would you add?

Bizarre Halloween Nightmare

I normally don't blog about dreams that I've had - however, I've been working on the latest draft of my forthcoming novel I, DEATH and recently going back and doing touch-ups on scenes in the first third of the novel where the main character Peter O'Mallick - a teenager convinced he has some sort of supernatural death curse because the people around him are dropping like flies - is blogging about nightmares he has been having.

Because I'm trying to spend every free moment working on the novel, it's the first thing I think about when I wake up.

So last night, I had a very vivid dream about being woken up by a noise in the house.

It seemed normal and natural, because at 1:30 AM, I HAD ACTUALLY awoken to a strange BUMP in the night.

For real. It was no dream. A loud noise coming from downstairs woke me.

I sat up, heard another loud thump. Then another. I wasn't frightened though, because I recognized the sound immediately. It was our dwarf rabbit, Earl, thumping his back paw. He does this when he's particularly pissed off about something. And when he does it in his cage (with a plastic bottom that reverberates quite loudly off the tile floor), you can hear it, quite loud, through the entire house.

I figured that Earl had run out of food so I went downstairs to check on him.

He had plenty of water, pellets and hay (he even had half a tortilla chip - a treat we'd given him before bedtime). So he wasn't annoyed about the food situation. I reached into his cage and petted him, thinking maybe he was lonely. But then he thumped a couple more times.

I thought maybe he was thumping to alert us of something (a common reason why rabbits thump is to warn other rabbits of danger), so I peered out into the back yard - nothing. Then I went to the front to check the front yard and our quite elaborate Halloween decorations (always leery of vandals) - everything there was fine.

Earl thumped one more time. I told him to knock it off, got a glass of water, gave him a small handful of Cheerios, then went back up to bed.

He ceased the thumping and I went back to sleep.

Some time later is when I had the nightmare. In the dream, I woke to a strange noise. I, naturally, assumed it was Earl "voicing" his displeasure to the rest of the house. I sat up, shook my head and then threw the covers back, thinking I might as well head downstairs and continue work on my novel. I was annoyed to be woken, but didn't feel tired - so was actually feeling pleased with the thought of having some time to work on the book.

As I walked over to my dresser and leaned down to pull out a pair of pajama bottoms from the bottom shelf, I saw a shadowy figure standing quietly and motionlessly in our bedroom doorway.

I shook my head and did a double-take. It was a dark, very tall figure, obviously not Alexander coming in from his room. My heart leapt into my throat.

There was someone in our house!

I scrambled to grab the mag lite that I keep on my side of the bed.

"Get out!" I tried to scream at the dark figure, and at the same time I tried calling out to Francine to call 911; but my voice was breaking, I could barely push any words out. I lunged toward the door with the mag-lite raised high, ready to strike, and the figure turned around and quickly started moving down the stairs. I began to chase him.

As he moved down the steps, he moved through a beam of moonlight coming in from outside. That's when I saw the unique black with white smudge pattern of the robes he was wearing and realized the figure walking through our upstairs was the grim reaper from our front lawn Halloween decorations.

The Grim Reaper who stands at the front left side of our yard this Halloween

That's when I woke up for real.

Wow! Strange dream. But still pretty cool.

I still find it interesting that I wasn't as afraid of some strange dark figure that broke into our house (remember, I was prepared to chase after him and whack him with my mag-lite) as I was of an inanimate lawn decoration stalking through the house. The fact it was a "monster" is what scared me so much I woke from the dream.

For the record, this morning, once the sun came up, I went outside to check to make sure the grim reaper was still standing where I left him. He was. So I took the picture posted here.

After I snapped the shot, I could have sworn that he offered me a wry grin and a quick wink.

But then again, my imagination often gets the best of me.

All Hallow's Read 2011

I love All Hallow's Read.

It's a relatively new tradition started by Neil Gaiman - the basic premise is that it would be really nice if, at Halloween, people give a scary book.

No, not instead of candy, but as an additional fun thing to do. Give someone a scary book, give them something fun and scary to read.

I love the tradition - I think it's awesome.

People all over have embraced the idea - this year many have combined it with Bookcrossing (the act of leaving books with specially marked stickers for strangers to find, take and read, then pass along to others - with a tracking number for the book so that people can track a book on its journey) There's also a hashtag being used on Twitter (#allhallowsread) as people are sharing the love of giving a book for Halloween.

This year, apart from wanting to physically hand a few scary books over to people in person, I thought I'd do a little online "give a scary book" - so I've set up two fun giveaways.

First, I'll be purchasing a copy of Terribilis by Carol Weekes, a fantastic new thriller published by Atomic Fez. I'm doing that through the Goodreads giveaway - a great online book and reading community. (I love that Goodreads offers this "giveaway" capability, allowing a random person who enters/requests the book to win. (I've registered the giveaway, but as of early this morning it hasn't yet gone live)

Second, I'm giving away a three story Halloween themed chapbook of mine called Tricky Treats.

It collects three stories I had previously published in Crossroads magazine: But Once A Year, Treats and Tricky Treater (along with a poem: Holiday Demons). All four pieces were reprinted in my book One Hand Screaming, but I thought putting together a special short ebook for Halloween might be fun. (Note: the Halloween stories collected contain ADULT content and are meant for a mature audience -- ie, they're not meant to be read by young people)

Tricky Treats normally retails for $1.50 and is available at Amazon, Smashwords as well as many other places where you can buy ebooks, but I'm offering it free to as many people who want it.

To get Tricky Treats free, simply go to Smashwords and use the coupon code: KH45F. You can download various different versions of it and load it to the ereader of your choice.


The coupon will be good until November 2nd.

Happy Halloween - enjoy your reading!

HNT - Me And Margaret

The other night at International Festival of Authors there was a Canopy / McClelland & Stewart promotion featuring a cut-out of Margaret Atwood with an alien body. (Her latest book, In Other Worlds, is a series of essays about science fiction)

I, of course, couldn't resist getting my picture taken with the cardboard cutout of Margaret Atwood in Canopy's "My Evening with Margaret" promotion.

Can you really blame this fan-boy reader?

Dr. T Cartoons

When I was in Montreal last week, I was able to catch up with an old friend whom I hadn't seen in almost twenty years. One of the things she brought along with her was a couple of cut-outs of a cartoon I had drawn for The Gully Gazette, the Levack District High School student newspaper.

The cartoon was called "Dr T" and featured Jim Turcott, our Math and Physics teacher at LDHS who also ran a DJ service under the name "Dr T."  I have blogged about Jim, a man I truly admired, respected and wanted to grow up to be like -- but I thought it was really fun to see the cartoons I had put together back when I was in high school.

There are two separate strips here.  The first one is just Jim. The second one features me (sitting) and my buddy John Ellis (standing) and, of course, Jim. The drawing style I was using was one I had started back in Grade Seven inspired by a buddy named Kevin McAuley - AKA Slizz (whom I have also blogged about) - the characters look and feel is similar to the ones that artist Don Martin from Mad magazine used.

It was fun to see the fun "writing" I had been doing back in high school and great to smile and remember Jim, that fun teacher who didn't mind that I had drawn a cartoon featuring him.

Thanks, Mitch!

Making A Good Thing Better

You know how peanut butter and chocolate, when brought together, created a marvelous new taste sensation?

I discovered just such a sensation the other night when Francine and I were out on a date. Yes, our idea "date night" involves having a quiet and relaxed dinner, then spending an hour or two browsing around a bookstore, then having coffee and chatting.

On last Saturday night's date (our celebration of 15 years of marriage), I fell in love. But I didn't just fall in love again with my beautiful wife and the life we've created together (like peanut butter and chocolate - to carry the metaphor on, I suppose I'm the PB and she's the chocolate)

What I also fell in love with was the idea of a new version of Scrabble.  

Scrabble for Book Lovers. Or rather, Scrabble: Book Lovers Edition.

It plays like traditional Scrabble but there are bonus points for using author names, book titles or literary characters. There are also book-world themed cards that seem to work like CHANCE or COMMUNITY CHEST cards in Monopoly, where you can play one of those cards to perform some sort of special bonus activity) It looks like a lot of fun and a book nerd's delight.

The game is made by Usaopoly and licensed by Hasbro, but I haven't been able to find it on either of their websites.

In any case, both Francine and I were delighted to see this incredible merger of two things we love so much. We love playing Scrabble (although, admittedly, she often kicks my ass) and we love books.

This new version of the game seems to be just such a thing for us to spend a relaxing evening at home together in front of the fireplace after Alexander goes to bed.

The Hot And Cold Of Misperception

It wasn't until the end of the day yesterday when I finally figured out the answer to a strange little mystery that had been nagging me.

I was curious as to why the faucets at the washroom I'd been using at U of Montreal were reversed, with cold (C) on the left  and hot (H) on the right. I knew it wasn't a Quebec thing, because the faucets in my hotel room, which were colour coded (blue for cold and red for hot) were as expected. Hot on the left and cold on the right.

Also, by habit, I used the tap on the left (hot), and never clued in that the water running from it (marked C) was warm.

When I quickly glanced at the faucet on the right, I had abruptly interpreted the scripted letter there as some sort of fancy and strange "H" - but in fact, only noticed yesterday that it was an F.

C and F?

Then it struck me.

French.

C didn't stand for cold, it stood for the French word for hot, which is chaud. And that fancy script wasn't an "H", but an F, which meant froid.

It's funny how our mind makes quick and often incorrect assumptions that, although we are presented with concrete evidence that supports an alternative hypothesis (the water temperature, the F, the fact I was using a washroom in a predominantly French society), we ignore the facts and stick with that first assumption.

Sure, this is a simple thing regarding faucets in Quebec; but how many more other assumptions do we make each day which can have an adverse affect on the things we do and the people we communicate with?

I'm reminded of the importance to pause, step back, and take another look (attempt to take a fresh look) at something I thought I was looking at. And let the information presented to me try to get through rather than be filtered by the auto-editing that takes place in my perception.

A good thing to remember. A chaud little life lesson perhaps?

A Fun Play On Words (en français)

Although my last name is French (no, not "Leslie" - that's my middle name as well as part of my nom de plume), I'm not fluent in the French language.

Shame on me for that.

But I am trying. And working with a great group of folks at the University of Montreal (Université de Montréal) is helping me because it's given me a great excuse to try saying some things in French. And the best part about it is that everyone is so wonderfully accepting of the manner by which I'm gently murdering the French language that I'm not afraid to take large stabs at trying to express things in French. And when I stumble, everyone is helping me get it right.


And they are also very patiently explaining things to me.


For example, Simon, the Xerox rep whom I'm working quite closely with, explained the brilliant play on words on the sign for the U de M's forthcoming Espresso Book Machine launch later this week.

FAITES PARTIE DE L'HISTOIRE
IMPRIMEZ LA VOTRE


"Histoire" translates most closely to "history" but is also a synonym for "story" -- thus the play on words and the twofold message. Come to the opening of the EBM at U of Montreal and be part of history (ie, the evolution of printing). But, when printing your own book (imprimez la votre!) you're making your own story. So you're witnessing history AND being part of the story. Nice.


I'm just a sucker for a good play on words - no matter which language it's in. (J'aime un bon jeu sur les mots)


Okay, now back to my French lessons . . . (maintenant de retour à mon cours de français)

Celebrating Independent Booksellers

Today is Independents' Day - part of the Canadian Bookseller Association "Independents Matter" grassroots campaign designed to promote the importance of a locally owned business to communities.


Today, across Canada, is the perfect time to pop into your local bookshop and check out all they have to offer.

Hundreds of booksellers across the country are hosting special Independents' Day events, some of them featuring authors, some featuring special sales and promotions, some featuring special activities.  Others will simply just doing what they always do every Saturday afternoon - offering customers a chance to step into a magically world when they cross the threshold of their bookstore.

Yesterday, Quill & Quire did a feature spot on this day, highlighting events at 6 different stores in four different provinces:

Burlington, ON: A Different Drummer
Edmonton, AB: Audreys
Saskatoon, SK: McNally Robinson
Sarnia, ON: The Book Keeper
Ottawa, ON: Collected Works
Sackville, NB: Tidewater Books

These are just 6 great locations where something fun is going on. The Free Press also did a nice bit on Polar Peek Books in Fernie, BC, the activities they have planned as well as a bit more about the store and owner.

If you live near any of these seven locations, they're certainly something to check out. If you don't, check out the bookstore(s) in your local community so you can see all they have to offer and take the time to celebrate your independents.

Last year for Independents' Day, I made a point of visiting a few different stores that were doing Independents Day activities in the Toronto area. It was part of a mini Celebrate Independents tour I did with Toronto Mayor David Miller, who was signing copies of his book Witness To A City.  We visited Another Story Bookshop and Mables Fables.

David Miller, Eleanor LeFave and me

This year, my schedule prevents me from having the time to do something as fun as visiting a few different stores; so I'm making a point of doing a special "Indie" celebration errand.

Later this morning, when Francine gets back from her Saturday morning run, I'm heading down to Locke Street in Hamilton, buying some bagels at an independent bagel and coffee shop, Locke Street Bakery - then I'm going to pop in to Epic Books on Locke Street and purchase one of the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlisted books.

How will you be celebrating the great local bookstores in your neighbourhood?

I Got A New Skull

Yesterday, as part of a themed series of gifts from Francine (she loves to do fun themes that she knows I'll love), I received this great skull.

It's a bowl - we'll likely use it as a candy dish for Halloween - but I'll want to use it when I do book signings - particularly when I do them during the Halloween season. You fill the bowl with some free treats and it often brings people a little bit closer to your lonely store-front table . . . it's also a fun conversation piece.

Okay, who am I kidding? I'll want to keep this thing out year, round. I could eat popcorn out of it. Wouldn't that be a great popcorn bowl when you're watching horror movies? I could perhaps find a spot on the end of my desk to keep this on, fill it with tiny chocolate bars so that when I'm in the throes of an all-day writing marathon I don't need to stop for sustenance - I simply reach over and keep myself fueled.

Hmm - I wonder if they have a similarly sized skull coffee mug?

Fifteen Years

It has been fifteen years since the glorious day captured so wonderfully in this picture.

I'm normally pretty verbose but only one simple question strikes me now.

How did I get to be so lucky?

Turning Points

My article regarding the latest turning point in publishing with respect to print on demand and the Espresso Book Machine appears at The Mark News this morning. It is one of the 5 top featured stories scrolling through the initial landing page.

The article is my commentary on the recent HarperCollins announcement of making a batch of comprehensive backlist titles available through the Espresso Book Machine market and how I feel it marks a positive mindset change from one of the industries larger players.

As always, I'm impressed by the fantastic editing job done on the originally submitted article.

Check out my original post on Sept 24th "First Major Publisher Finally Gets It!" and compare it to the edited post "A Turning Point for the Publishing Industry" printed on The Mark News.

Yes, I believe that I have talent as a writer. I've been writing for almost thirty years now, continually plugging away at stringing words together to tell stories and share ideas. But I'm no fool in believing that my writing doesn't benefit from the fine surgeon-like skill of a good editor's touch. Simply, the editor's touch typically makes my writing shine, allows the things I am expressing to be more crisp and concise.

I believe that, in every writer's journey, there is likely a turning point in which they recognize that as hard as they work, as much as they revise, there's nothing that compares to getting to work with a really good editor. I was fortunate to benefit from learning that early on and have been able to use that knowledge to my advantage rather than get into ego-based fights with those whose goal it is to help refine and polish a raw piece of writing.

Three cheers for great editors!