The Next Big Thing

Len Joy  my best writing friend for the last seven years, invited me to join this chain-blog thingy (his words) in which writers answer a set of questions about their recently published book or their work in progress. 

Since I haven’t blogged for what it seems like years and my latest novel is not finished, I was somewhat reluctant to participate, but then I read Tara Laskowski’s interview  about her short story collection "Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons," and decided it would be a fun way to return to blogging. 

But before I start, let me introduce my writing group buddy, a Halifax-based YA author James Leck, who will be blogging from http://jamesleck.blogspot.ca/ on December 26th. His first novel, The Adventures of Jack Lime has been shortlisted for the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award 2012 and the Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Awards 2012. Buy it on amazon.ca or amazon.com .

What is your working title of your book (or story)?

I’m on the 4^th or 5^th (or is it 25^th?) draft of the novel. The first title was “The Sabbatical.” The second title, until very recently, was “Sandara.” Last week it changed to “The Faery,” and I’m sure it will change again.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

When we first came to Nova Scotia four years ago I stumbled upon an abandoned, one room cottage on one of the beaches. I really wanted to populate it, preferably by a witch who’d torment tourists with her dark and wacky magic. At that time I was finishing a different novel and it would be a couple of years until I started writing the current one. Sandara, the woman who lives in this cottage (in my imagination) is not a witch, but many think she is.

What genre does your book fall under?

Accessible Literary with a dash of mystery.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Younger Sandara: Meryl Streep.

Older Sandara: Meryl Streep. She can pull it off.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Flamboyant, charismatic Sandara is the master of deception and destruction and her exuberant joy, flippant indifference and cutting hatred bring strangers together and tear lovers apart.

Was your book self-published or represented by an agency?

I’m represented by the Beverley Slopen Agency.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

My first draft was relatively fast—maybe about 3-4 months. I knew how the novel would end, but the middle was muddled. I like the process of creating and some level of initial ambiguity. If I pre-planned everything, the writing itself wouldn’t be as fun and rewording. The subsequent drafts, especially “the last draft” take me much longer.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I’ve always been interested in how people behave in unusual circumstances. I also like to explore the concept of magic. In this novel it is very subtle, but it is still there.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The novel’s main force is Sandara, but the story is told from the point of views of Frannie, who starts out being Sandara’s friend, and Vera, who is at first a stranger to Sandara.

The End. But please keep on reading. ;-)

Check out the interviews of other participants: 

Len Joy (American Jukebox)

Amber Sparks (May We Shed These Human Bodies)

Bonnie ZoBell (The Whack-Job Girls)

Ashley Inguanta (The Way Home)

Cliff Garstang (What the Zhang Boys Know) I wasn't able to link the interview directly, so scroll down.

James Leck (The Adventures of Jack Lime)

*Note to future participants: I skipped one of the interview questions, so if you'd like to get the full list check one of the links above. 

a couple of macros from our walk today

24942

This is my total word count at the moment. Look how pretty, look how symmetrical!
This novel is going well, and I'm really excited about all the stuff that's happening in it. Writing it has been fun.

Back in 10,000 words.

Woooooooohooooooo!

I just received the official notification from Descant that my story, Imagined Proximity to Death, (Descant #149) was nominated for the Journey Prize. Or to be more precise, the Writers' Trust of Canada / McClelland & Stewart 2011 Journey Prize.

I heard via email about a week or so ago, but now as the letter is taped to my fridge with my favourite duct tape, I no longer have any reasons to believe the initial email was an elaborate hoax.

I'm beyond thrilled! Still feels rather surreal, to be honest.

a follower! Hi there! :-)

I have a follower who is not someone I already know, and not a duplicate of someone I already know (Hey, Chris! You're following me in double doses. It might cause health problems, and who knows what.)

So now I feel I have an obligation to the wild world wide web to maybe blog like once a week. And because Stacy (HIIIIIIIII!!!!!) reads my blog *always* and warms my heart (*always*).

Deep thought of the day: Came home tonight to my driveway completely blocked by a knee high wall of already frozen snow. Well, thank you! And, my dear husband, it was NOT like this when I left the house in the morning. I have blisters now from all of the angry shovelling.

I'm still here (sort of)

I set aside my almost finished experimental novel about the Chernobyl accident, and for the last two weeks I've been working on a new novel. I'm 17,000 words into it, and I think about it when falling asleep, and when I wake up.

It is a very different writing experience from my first novel (Swearing in Russian...) In Swearing my protagonist was extremely isolated and introspective, and being in her head was often difficult, as it was such a different mental space. In the current draft I'm writing mostly dialogues--my protagonist is meeting all those strange people, and there's a bit of a mystery going on.

I know that others manage to blog, and FB (may I use it as a verb?) and write novels, and send out short story submissions, and what not. I'm only managing my novel and my kiddos right now. I will blog more when this novel is out of the first draft stage, I promise.

Getting ready to fly

I don't know what I've been bying on Amazon, but I just received a notification that I might also like Customized Learning: Potential Air Force Applications.

In other news, when I work more on my novel, I blog less. I've been writing more. I'm happy about it.

I've wanted to decorate a wild tree for years

Someone else did!

And I couldn't resist snapping this picture! Someone lost a sock??? Or maybe another attempt at tree decoration.

What we do at 3AM. Yes, seriously.

What do YOU think about first drafts?

“Only ambitious nonentities and hearty mediocrities exhibit their rough drafts. It is like passing around samples of one’s sputum.”

More Vladimir Nabokov quotes in this post on the dianedooley.wordperss.com

I sometimes get so excited about my first drafts, especially the difficult ones, the troublesome ones, that I am too eager to share them. But only one person in the world is lucky enough to receive my sputum. He is kind enough to always praise me and tell me that "it was great" and then add, "for sputum." Just what I need to start working on the second draft!

Hint fiction: 25 words or less that hint at a larger, more complex story

It is my first time joining a blog chain with the fellow bloggers from Absolute Write. This month’s task is to write a piece of hint fiction, a story of 25 words or less that hints at a larger, more complex story.  Here's my attempt:

______________________

The helicopter plunged over the jungle. Mathilde chuckled: Daddy allowed only melted ice cream. How drôle.

"She's ninety, but she'll make it,” the nurses said.

_______________________

One reason for blog chains is to discover other blogs, so here's a list of all the other participants.

http://clairegillian.com/2010/12/06/december-blog-chain-hint-fiction-the-time-mirror/

http://jonbonbenjamin.blogspot.com/2010/12/december-blog-chain.html

http://writersinprogresswip.blogspot.com/2010/12/december-blog-chain.html

http://cscottmorrisbooks.com/2010/12/08/december-blog-chain/

http://desstories.blogspot.com/2010/12/aw-december-blog-chain.html

http://thewriteaholicblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/aw-december-blog-chain-hint-fiction/

http://www.aimeelaine.com/blog/?p=8183

http://www.reganleigh.com/?p=1896

http://hillaryjacques.blogspot.com/2010/12/aw-blog-chain-couldnt-love-you-more.html

http://everingoodstead.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/the-aw-blog-chain-diciembre/

http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/from-the-annabelle-waltz-by-christian-c-denner/

http://regypsy.wordpress.com/2010/12/19/aw-december-blog-chain-hint-fiction/

http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/2010/12/19/25-little-words/

http://writingalchemy.blogspot.com/

http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/

http://www.gradyhendrix.com/

CBC flash challenge--congrats to the winners + my malevolent offering

Congrats to the winners of the CBC flash fiction challenge--Carolyn Ciccoritti, Kate Belcher, and E. Craig McKay. Read their stories on the CBC site.  Now I can finally place my glorious, magnificent, unprecedented work of art right here on my blog, as some of you have asked.  Happy Holidays!

ANIMAL MAGNETISM OR BEWARE OF THE EVIL SNOWMAN

By Ania Vesenny (HO! HO! HO!)

The snowman grinned malevolently as Prancer and Dancer jumped off the roof. Taking over Christmas might, after all, be easy. He barely counted to five, and two of them submitted. Animal magnetism at its best! The deer landed on all fours like overgrown kittens and trotted to the bucket of carrots by his side.

Every year he agreed to a ratty scarf, tolerated snowballs with a placid smile. And not an iota of appreciation! Did anyone ever bring him cookies and milk? All he got was the pesky jingle. Frosty! No glory in that name! He fixed his eyes on Rudolph, imagined the red-nosed wonder pulling his sleigh for a change.

Snow started falling, wet and dense. Soon the kids would be out, patting his thighs, smoothing his biceps: twenty minutes of bliss. Then they’d scurry inside, blabbering about Santa and his hoofed beasts. Not the time to get sentimental, the snowman thought. Rudolph, still on the roof, glowed like a zit. “Your hoofs are loose and limp.” The snowman licked his lips. “I’m gonna count up to twenty now.”

Santa’s head popped out of the chimney. “Mitts off my transportation, Frosty!” The snowman felt sharp hooves busting his body open as Prancer and Dancer galloped back to the roof. “Hee, hee, hee!” Santa wagged his finger.

The snowman groaned. He’d need to re-read Hypnosis for Dummies and improve his reaction time. At least not another slow melt this year. What a treat, what splendour, to be buried alive!

 

Highway in the snow

I was driving home from a shopping center when it started to snow. A couple of thin flakes, like dandruff, at the red light. The kids told me it was snowing, but I said, naaaaah. Then within seconds, before the light changed, the snow was copious, each snowflake large and fluffy. I could barely see the traffic light. And then I had to turn into the ramp to the highway, so I turned.

I’ve never been on a highway in such a snow, not even as a passenger. My kids screamed ‘Wow, wow, wow!’ And yes, it was that amazing, that beautiful. The snowflakes in the light of the headlights rushed towards me, around me, twirled and jumped in large leaps, then in tiny hops. I was flying in space, amidst stars.

14C on December 14th in photos

 

Would you name your child Lenin?

I was reading a similarly titled thread on one of the baby forums, and stumbled on this reply:

"No, I wouldn't. It immediately  makes me think of bed sheets and then I move to thinking about the Beatles. That said, it's not the WORST name I've ever come across and there are far worse associations than bed sheets. :)."

I wasn't sure whether to cry or laugh. I laughed. But it made me a little bit sad too. Even horrific things are easily forgotten, especially in the far away lands.

Now Lenin makes me think of bed bugs, not linens. Word associations can bring up funny ideas.

Other than the bloody dictatorship, what does the name Lenin makes you think of?

Love the ocean, fear the waves

My husband's dream is to go on a cruise. The idea of never needing to cook or do anything for the entire vacation appeals to him. I don't know why not cooking is important to him, as the last time he cooked was 100 years ago.

Ever since the kids and I watched a DVD on rogue waves, we pretty much vetoed a cruise vacation. I'm glad the kids still agree to go to the beach once in a while. In retrospect that very educational DVD might not have been such a great idea.

I just emailed this video to my husband. A cruise ship losing its engine, but still getting to their destination port on time. The waves were pretty big. Like HUGE.

If my husband wants not to cook for a week, he can go on a cruise. Or he can stay home. Though I don't guarantee the same eat till you die selection.

Something that awesome can't be embarrassing

Yesterday I duct taped the right passenger door of our van. Apparently there’s nothing wrong with it, at least according to the mechanics that we just paid close to a thousand bucks to service the van for winter. Despite the fact that there’s nothing wrong with it, it still opens when I drive up hill.

Duct tape is awesome.

My husband of course thinks it is embarrassing to duct tape the door. He also agrees with the mechanic—there’s nothing wrong with the door. Easy to be so level headed, if you never experienced the door opening and my 5 year old holding on for dear life to his seat. (We were just getting out of our driveway, with the speed that my husband calls “is your parking break on?”, but still.)

According to my research, duct tape was originally developed in 1942 as a water resistant sealing tape for ammunition cases. It was also used to repair military equipment, including jeeps, firearms, and aircraft (!). There’s a variety of duct tape that is supposed to hold in up to 160 km/ h winds. I doubt I got that particular variety at Canadian Tire, but I don’t drive that fast anyway.

For the record—this is not my baby. I borrowed it from here. What a patient cutie!

So you want to write a novel

Super funny and spot on. (by David Kazzie). Those xtranormal videos are a riot!

How to buy and lose a book by local authors

Last week in Chapters I stumbled on a group of local authors who got together and self published a book of their stories. Whenever I see an author doing a signing, I stop by and at least chat, and mostly often buy their book. In a rather selfish way I imagine myself in the same situation in a couple of years, and I hope that at least 2-3 people would stop and smile. It is disheartening how many people just rush by.

 My toddler was crying in my arms—we were on our way home, I had no right to stop on my way to the car! My older two kids weren’t pleased either, but I persevered. The authors didn’t look too forlorn or miserable. Doing a signing in a group must be not as depressing as doing it alone. But even then, I ended up buying the book, for $12. All the authors signed it really fast for me, I appreciated that.

Now I want to read it. And I can’t find it. Granted, our van is our second house, as there we have a library, three closets, a collections of bags, emergency food supplies, and somewhere there I lost my glasses. And yet I checked every square inch of that car. Not there. Not in the house either. My only guess is that maybe we quickly tossed it together with the not-to-be-seen kids’ Christmas gifts somewhere in the basement. I will find out on Christmas morning, perhaps. For now I can’t even recall the book’s title. Something about chances and choices, I think.

2 days left to submit to the CBC flash fiction challenge!

At first I groaned and moaned. I didn't like the first line. "The snowman grinned malevolently as..."? Pleeeeeeeeeease! But a challenge is a challenge, and I do like to challenge myself. Sure, it isn't a line I would have ever come up with on my own. But the last line, "...buried alive." possessed morbid promise.

I just submitted my 249 word wonder. Go, challenge yourself! The deadline is Wednesday, December 8, 4PM. The rules are here, and here. The second link says that the deadline is Wednesday, December 6... My own assessment is that it is still on the 8th.