The Not-So Novelist Returns!

Hi, everyone- long time, no post.

It's been a rather-boring winter and, between rewriting my lost novel and fixing my modified-vampire sleep schedule, let's just say that I've been more than a bit occupied these days. I'm just glad that the whole mess is over, and that there are some wonderful writerly events coming up next month.

February 4-25th: local author Deborah Carr will be hosting a workshop series at the Riverview Public Library, for only $55/session. Yours Truly will be there as well, so those of you in the Moncton area should join in the fun.

February 8th: the Ottawa-based Canadian Conference of the Arts comes to Moncton! National Director Alain Pineau will be speaking about the federal government's perspectives on the arts and the future of the CCA, amongst other interesting topics, at the city hall. It's free, so check out their website for more info.

February 16th: Not-So Novelist celebrates her 25th birthday. I hereby declare this to be National Writers' Day, and the new stat holiday, since v-day sucks (and just who do you think comes up with all of those cheesy v-day cards, anyway? Hint: it's not your mom).

ArtsEast, a trendy new magazine based out of Nova Scotia is also looking for writers. Yours Truly has, of course, applied and will hopefully hear back soon. More on that later.

Good day to you all!

El Veeb

Merry Times In The Maritimes.

Why, hello there!

As usual, the title is a perfect segue into this morning's post. My new WFNB profile is finally up and running, and I've just received word of yet another wonderful workshop with the amazing Donna Morrissey.!

This one starts at 10 a.m. on December 3rd at the Moncton Lions' Club; you'll need only $85, some stationery, and a smile. :) If you're a writer in the Moncton/Dieppe/Riverview area, and are looking for an excuse to leave your attic/cubicle/kitchen chair, come on out and join the writerly festivities.

Signing off,
El Veeb.

Sweet Victory, & The Bitter End.

Good evening, all! I interrupt this blog-post with a very-special announcement...

I DID IT! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, BABY!

*shifty eyes*

That's right, everyone. Nineteen days and 50,512 words later, my NaNoWriMo journey is over- at least until next year. Best get plotting, and celebrating this well-deserved end to an otherwise-crappy week. In the meantime, I think I'll give my hands a break and get back to drinking my wine... Now, back to our regularly-scheduled programming!

Cheers!
El Veeb.

/youthful enthusiasm

Find Yourself In Fiction!

Hello, again!

Now that The Firestarter can officially hold a connection, without setting anything aflame, it's time for some more good news!

Awesome adventure #1: This Saturday (October 1st), W.F.N.B director and local author Lee Thompson will be reading from his novel-in-progress at the Riverview Public Library, followed by a workshop. The reading starts at 1 pm, and is free; the workshop, Find Yourself In Fiction, costs $40 and will run from 2-4 pm.

Awesome adventure #2: The hospital recitation has been confirmed for October 24th, and I'll be reading from my novel-in-progress as part of a presentation on family violence. I've got 30 minutes to fill, so I'd best get to work.

Awesome adventure #3: The Writers Who CARE campaign begins next week. For those who are in the area and are interested, please contact Kathy-Diane Leveille, via her website.

Awesome adventure #4: National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner- if caffeine, sleepless nights, and speed-writing are your thing, check out NaNoWriMo.org for more info. I also applied for a position as an ML (Municipal Liaison), so those of you in the Moncton/Dieppe/Riverview area may see more of me... Lucky you. :)

-

Signing off,
El Veeb.

Bow Down To My Awesomeness!

Okay, so... happy dance time!

Just got some great news from Lee Thompson (the director of our wonderful WFNB) yesterday afternoon: on September 15th, two days before the workshop of awesomeness, Donna Morrissey will be reading from her latest book, What They Wanted, at La Teraz. It's a cozy little banquet hall on Church St., and I can't think of anyone I'd rather share the space with for a few hours on a Thursday night than a group of writers. :)

But it gets better...

Lee also said that they'd wanted a local author to open the festivities, and guess who they picked? Me! Isn't that just spiffy? Seriously... How awesome is that?

I'll be reading a short passage from the novel (yes, THE novel)- the one that Donna herself told me had "better be written exactly like [the piece you wrote in class], or else you've gotta go back and rewrite every, single darn line" Naturally, I'm excited to show her what I've done with it, and that I've taken her advice.This means that I expect you, if you're in the Moncton area and you love me, to be there- I'll make another post when I get a full itinerary for the evening.

Off to gloat some more!

The Long and Fruitless Summer Ends.

Never thought I would hear those words from my mouth. Hey, who didn't look forward to summer, at some point- we all had vacation plans, and fun things to do; not to mention a ton of free time to commune with family and nature; and dreaded going back to school (the place where I once pursued an edu-ma-cation).

Once we are adults, though, that all changes. Most of us now live alone (or with a significant other), don't have time for the holidays we used to take, and no longer have to worry about dodging the hordes of angry back-to-school shoppers at Wal-Mart; yet September still signifies a time of change. As a writer, this is a great thing- it means that the drought is ending, and that all of the adventures of aspiring writerdom that were on hiatus through the summer are coming back full-force! Among them:

The one and only Donna Morrissey is returning to Moncton for yet another amazing fiction workshop! This awesome event costs $85, and will take place on September 17th, at the Riverview Public Library... Having worked with Donna previously, I have to admit that I not-so-secretly adore her; she is very warm and friendly, funny as hell, and a wonderful teacher, so I highly recommend her seminar to anyone who's ever written anything, or wanted to.

Also on the calendar is the Writers Who Care project, the brainchild of local author Kathy-Diane Leveille and CARE International. For $50, donors will receive the opportunity to submit 50 pages of a work-in-progress to a published author for review- proceeds go to the Somali refugees facing starvation. Whether you are a published author and would like to give us writers some C.C., or a writer who'd like some feedback, I encourage you to contact Kathy-Diane through her website- it's a pretty sweet perk, and for a great cause. :)

Writing for change,
L.

Attic Owl Reading a Hoot!

Here's a tip: when among writers, one must do as writers do. If you're an introvert, like me, this means sharing your work, pretending that you're totally at-home in front of people and not about to commune with the floor of the banquet hall.

Fortunately, neither I, nor my lunch, spent any time bonding with the carpet. I was fourth, out of fourteen writers/readers, one of whom I'd met previously, at Donna Morrissey's workshop, and met a ton of cool people- superheroes, broken hearts, and the female posterior were only a few of the themes touched on tonight, and I'm honoured to have had the opportunity to participate in such a fantastic event. I also hope that Lee Thompson will now remember me as someone other than the girl who can never remember to attach files to her emails!

I also have a new respect for James Joyce, whose work was read aloud at the end of the night (The Dubliners is exactly the kind of stuff I love to read), by a woman whose speaking-voice held me for the entire six-page excerpt.

Tomorrow night, I'll be helping one of the girls I met at the reading to set up another event similar to this one, except that we'll be choosing and reading works by famous black poets; the event takes place at Kimberly: the Studio, on Archibald St. in Moncton, and includes poetry, a film-screening, and even dancing! What's better, this can all be yours for only a $5 cover-charge, so come & join the party!

Write on,
L.

Epic Adventures of Aspiring Writerdom: The Movie.

Well, not exactly.

The title of this post, however, is half-true- I'll be attending the Trimedia Atlantic screenwriting workshop, with Chris Fulton, tomorrow at 11 a.m. This will surely come in handy when I decide to bring K. and M.'s story to life, in a way that doesn't involve Windows Movie Maker and/or The Sims; after last night's/this morning's adventure, I'm not sure I want to look at either one, ever again (I probably will, anyway).

Write on,
L.

More Epic Adventures of Aspiring Writerdom.

As anticipated, Donna's workshop was a total blast! All of us (14 women and one man) had one helluva time learning how to combine fiction and truth- to make our characters so real and flawed that they are, in the readers' eyes, like old friends. The exercises opened our minds and helped us to see that even our antagonists are human, somehow- take M, for instance. He's as whiny and annoying as they come, but there's a part of him that's real (and lovable), too- the awesome Lynn Casey and I talked about this over lunch, and the ensuing conversation was more amazing than even our cheeseburger-meals!

I love meeting other writers- hearing their stories, getting to know them and the passion they feel for their own projects. Assuming that we all become literary phenomena (sooner, rather than later), I will buy a copy of everyone's published work- including some 60 copies of my own, which I will display proudly whilst admiring my own artistic genius. Gotta have a sense of humour!

The most-important thing I learned today, though (besides that writers are awesome- d'uh), was rediscovering my voice. When we shared some of our work (exercises we'd done in class), I read a poetic prose-piece that I'd written about Ron/my bro-in-law, and Donna said:

"That's your voice right there. I hope that your entire novel is written like that because, if it isn't, you're going to have to rewrite every, single line!"

Did I mention that I love writers?

Off to rewrite every, single, damn line of that manuscript- it's not going to write itself, after all.

Signing off,
L.

Fiction Is Fun!

Yes- yes, it is.

Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I hate mornings, with a fiery passion. But tomorrow is different- at 9 a.m., I'll be going to a 6-hour fiction workshop with Donna Morrissey, the award-winning writer of such books as Kit's Law and Downhill Chance, at the Riverview Library. Having spoken to her a few times by email, I've gathered that I'll be making at least one very-cool acquaintance! Who knew that Moncton was such a great place to be a writer?

Definitely worth getting up early for.

The Literary Goddess (Not Me... Yet!).

First of all, thank you to Rachel (my wonderful photographer-friend) for allowing me to see how fat I've gotten. I hope that this picture never surfaces until after I'm famous, and the press can airbrush to their hearts' content... Until then, I'm working on it- honest!

Of course, the point of this post is not that I'm getting fat, but to show off the picture! This is me, with Margaret Atwood at the Capitol Theatre in Moncton- she is one amazing gal, a real class act, and I'm so lucky to have met her!

Now that you've seen the literary goddess (well, both of us- haha) in action, I'll go back to doing crunches and muttering some form of encouragement to myself as I attempt to continue reading You Comma Idiot (which is excellent, so far) while doing said crunches... If that isn't dedication, then I don't know what is.

Goodnight, world!

Frye Fest 2011: My Trip To Writer-Heaven and Beyond!

So, it's official- Moncton is an untapped goldmine of literary awesomeness!

After spending the day at Chapters, I attended the Frye Festival's meet-and-greet, which featured all sorts of Canadian writers, both big names and some newly-published ones. Since I'm painfully-shy in crowds, it took some guts, but I finally got to networking! Here are a few of the awesome people I met today:

Susan Juby

She is an adult- and YA-fiction writer from BC, who moved to Toronto (not far from my own hometown of Mississauga, Ontario) at the age of 20. This trailblazer also taught me a lot about query-writing, as well as possible pros and cons of breaking the rules (including unsolicited excerpts, for example) and that it's all about marketing: "Whether or not your book is any good doesn't matter, as long as you can market it well."

 Helaine Becker

A successful writer of children's books, she also had a lot to say about putting myself out there. When I asked her about "networking for introverts", which was how I'd gotten talking to her and Susan in the first place, she had this to say: "Go to workshops, go to seminars and places like this- take a plane home to Toronto, and go to the literature festival. Get practice."

This is a picture of me with Doug Harris, the bestselling author of You Comma Idiot. We started talking titles by the punch bowl, which ended in him giving me a copy of his winning query-letter and teaching me how to sign my future masterpiece. He said, "when your book gets published, you can scratch out your name on the first page and sign there. But, if you like the person- and I like you- you probably want to sign in a bigger spot." Inside my copy, he also wrote this:

"To Laura- I hope that you enjoy the book, but more than that, I truly hope that you never give up on your writing dreams. All the very best."

I was surprised at how down-to-earth he was! We had a great chat, and having met him in person will make reading his book twice as awesome.

I'll also be posting a picture that my friend Rachel took of me with Margaret Atwood at the Capitol Theatre. Margaret gave a presentation on Northrop Frye and mythology, but also talked about her own life and work- even at 70-odd, she is a very funny and intelligent lady. While she signed my copy of Alias Grace, I asked her if she had any words of wisdom for an aspiring writer; she recommended her book Negotiating With The Dead: A Writer On Writing, saying that "it's not exactly a resource, but I hope that you find some encouragement in it. Just keep at it, and don't ever give up".

The world needs more events like this; more writers, and more Canada.

Off to read my autographed masterpieces, and fill out my volunteer-form for FryeFest 2012!

Margaret Atwood, and the Book-Signing of Awesomeness!

First, there's the Frye Festival. As the site says, it's "Atlantic Canada's largest literary gathering"- rough translation: mecca, for reader/writer-folk like me.

As if that weren't enough, my friend Rachel and I got tickets to the interview with all different writers, including awesome fellow Canadian, Margaret Atwood! She is like the Lady Gaga of Canadian literature- it's impossible to set foot in any bookstore or writing seminar, without seeing her work, or hearing about her. Her website is full of great advice for aspiring novelists (such as, say, Yours Truly), and I'm bringing in one of her books for the signing- maybe she'll even tell me who her agent is!

Mucho stoked for Saturday night!