You must have patience to be a writer

To be a writer one must have patience. This part of the business has been extremely hard for me but I'm learning and I think I'm improving, maybe, I hope. As mentioned in my last post, I went to the movie, Little Miss Sunshine. There is a scene in the movie where the main male character is trying desperately to get his "Nine Steps to Success" program made into a book. He thinks he has done it but the guy who is pitching it to the publishing houses for him, won't return his phone calls. He gets frantic and when the guy finally does call, he is over-excited and way, way too eager. But I could relate. I've been there. The phone call comes, you just about die, then you find out it's an almost. A few years back I had an agent in New York and we almost sold See Fox Run to Bantam. Almost. But not quite. I was so eager to get the phone call, the email message that I checked every few minutes. Only to find out in the end, it was a no go. I also remember the days of going to the mailbox, seeing the letter, ripping it open, only to be rejected. But every writer has to go through this, unless you're an instant success and this does happen to one in a million. But for the rest of us, it's all about patience and persistence. You send something off, you might get a form rejection letter in a week, or a year later a letter might come and you open it and think, "What is this?" You have to send off and keep writing because if you wait it takes months and months. It's a crazy business. Then you finally, finally get published and it takes, sometimes, up to two years to get the book on the shelves. Patience is almost as important as writing well. If you're out there and trying to get published, keep at it. Remember patience and persistence win out in the end.

Little Miss Sunshine movie

My daughter and I had a date last night and we went to see Little Miss Sunshine. As a writer if you haven't seen it, you really should. What a brilliant movie. I'm not going to give you a synopsis of the movie, you can read that somewhere else besides this blog. What I want to talk about is how the writer and the actors managed to pull off an extremely funny movie that was deep. I found myself crying (there is a scene with the little girl Olive and her grandfather that moved me to tears), and laughing hysterically. The ending made me cry I was laughing so hard. All day today, I thought about this combination of emotions and what a tremendous job the screenwriter did to evoke this with his/her writing. More often than not a story is either funny or serious. And the funny stories are usually fluffy and light and you leave the theatre smiling or you finish the book and say, "that was a fun read." And the serious stories heavy, so you leave the theatre with a sad heart or you slowly close the book and think, "Wow that was thought provoking." After seeing Little Miss Sunshine, I left the theatre smiling but thinking about each and every character and the problems they had and how they were solved throughout the movie. And the way they were solved was not at all what the viewer expected. This movie had the theme about being successful and each character had to find out their own path to success. It also had a theme about not giving up, trying no matter what and not giving in even if life throws you a curve.
I think the other impressive thing about this movie was how real it was. At the beginning the Mom comes home and the house looks like a real family house and she looks like a real mom and wife. The actor they cast (she was also in In Her Shoes playing the sister to Cameron Diaz) is not a Hollywood beauty and I liked this because she portrayed a normal woman who I might meet at the supermarket.
I guess I'm writing this post because I was so impressed with the writing and how the author of the screenplay managed to create something so funny but so thought provoking.

writers block

Hello, A good writer friend of mine, Deborah Nicholson, (no we're not related) just posted on her blog about how she hasn't written a word since October 3rd. This is very, very unusual for her. She writes the wonderful Kate Carpenter mystery series and sometimes writes two books a year. I think of all my writer friends she is the most prolific. I mean, I write two children's sports novels a year but...hey, they're considerably smaller in word count. Recently, Deb's cat died and she's had a hard time writing. What I love about her is how on her blog she says it's not writers block and you know I agree with her. I don't believe in writers block either. I do believe in life getting in the way, like the death of a loved pet. But you know when life doesn't get in the way, procrastination does. It's not writers block. Sometimes I have to sit at my computer and write and delete but that means I'm just writing really poorly. It doesn't mean I have a block. Saying you have writers block is just way too easy. It's such a good excuse and sounds so official. Like you're a real writer. Ha. The trick in this business, and the trick to being a real writer, is to sit and write. For example, I'm supposed to be working right now and I'm blogging, that's called procrastination. Big procrastination. When I go to schools I tell the students there is no such thing as writers block. They can't go to the teacher and say, oh gee, I didn't get my assignment done, I had writers block. That just will get them a big fat zero. So, writing is writing. Forget the block and get going. Hmm. I might need a trip to the fridge first.

mistake

In last post I said I'm not that computer illiterate so I meant I'm not that computer literate but I guess I was thinking I'm soooo computer illiterate. Mornining you know, early, mind is thinking but not really thinking. Have a great day everyone!

ST. VINCENT'S SCHOOL

Hello, sorry for the weekend delay but I upgraded my site and had to re-publish everything and well, I'm not that computer literate. So, of course, I had to call Aaron from Hockey Canada again and he helped me out. He is fabulous and has designed my site. I was at St. Vincent's School in Edmonton last Wednesday and told the children I would talk about them on my blog. What a great group! They were so attentive and asked such wonderful questions. I read to them from Against the Boards because it's about a boy who moves from Tuktoyaktuk to Edmonton to play hockey. I even have a West Edmonton Mall Scene (for those of you who don't know West Ed. Mall, it's huge, even has a skating rink) but I didn't read that scene. Anyway, thanks you guys from St. Vincent's! I loved your school. And you have the coolest library.
I also did the television show Total WRite-off in Edmonton and it was a blast! I was teamed with Jack Whyte and we had to write a sci-fi story. Only one page. It was the most ridiculous story. Barbara North was an incredible host and she actually created the show. It is a great show to showcase writers and is totally entertaining. It has a bit of What's my Line and a bit of Canadian/American idol (a literary critic who totally trashed our story), and there is a genre wheel with Barbara North spinning as well as they do on Wheel of Fortune. Oh yeah, and mime artists perform the stories at the end of the show. They were hilarious. I'll let you know when it airs.
I'm glad to be up and running again!

Off to Edmonton

I'm off to Edmonton today for two reasons. First is a school visit. I'm heading to St. Vincent's School. I love the school visits because the children always ask such great questions like "How old are you?" When I say I'm 29 they look at me with that puzzled look in their eyes. Why I wonder??? Then after my school visit I'm heading over to Catalyst Theatre to take part in a show called "Total Write-Off". Sort of like a "What's my Line" for writers. I think this will be a blast. It's being produced by Panacea Entertainment. I'm thinking, what a clever idea. I'll let you know tomorrow how it went. I know the audience gives us ideas and we (authors for the day) have to come up with a story on the spot. Then the story gets read to the audience and acted out I think. I'm a bit of a hambone and have done a lot of improv acting so this is right up my alley. All I can think of is fun, fun, fun. Anyway, a long drive to Edmonton but well worth the drive even if it is foggy. Oh yeah and on another note, I finally finished the first draft of my latest children's book and have printed it off for my son to read! Yikes. And I am brewing another mystery series idea because I'm having a hard time selling the second book in my Intuko/ Angie series. Lots like it--good read--well written- but, (that nasty but is a staple for writers), it's the second book in a series. I'm convinced it will still sell though. I believe in the book and as we all know, belief is the most important ingredient to becoming a writer. You have to believe in your work! If you don't, then no one will. So many people who have read See Fox Run, want to read See Raven Fly. I get readers emailing me constantly, asking when the next book is out so...I keep the faith and tell them soooooon. Is this a lie? No. Because I believe. This publishing is a funny business but, hey, I love it! I get to go talk to children and be on a television show. At least that's today!

School visit to Vauxhall Alberta

I got home from Greece on Sunday, then last night (Tuesday) I got in my car and drove to Taber Alberta to stay overnight at the Heritage Inn so I could be at Vauxhall Elementary School for an author visit first thing in the morning. This visit was organized by the Young Alberta Book Society for Chrysalis. And I had a wonderful time at Vauxhall Elementary! The kids were fabulous and listened and asked questions. I have to say, I love school visits and I love children and their inquisitive minds. They thought they were so funny by asking my how old I was and when I said 29 they didn't quite believe me. Drats. Then they tried every question in the book to figure out how old I really was. Too funny. Along with the 'age' questions, they also asked some great questions about writing and they were so attentive when I read. And I wore my Hockey Canada jersey, like I always do, and when I walked in the school, I found out it was jersey day. The Principle had his Flames jersey! I enjoyed the staff too. Everyone was so friendly. I did a presentation at my son's school last year and the principle didn't even thank me. She basically ignored me and I was there for two days solid. The librarian was friendly though. I just think it's special when a school has a fun friendly Principle. This school in Vaushall welcomed me and treated me with total respect. Anyway, it was a great day and I even enjoyed the drive, as the sun was shining and the prairie fields were such an amazing colour. It's this light tan colour that just shimmers in the sun and wind. I'm off to Edmonton next week for another school visit and a stint on a television show that's called Total Write-off. I think it's like a "What's my Line" but there are writers who have to come up with a story. I'll let you know more after I get back. Any of you out there enjoy school visits? Or have some funny school visit stories?
What's everyone doing for Thanksgiving? We are currently renovating our kitchen so...no turkey at our house but we have been invited to friends. I love a good turkey dinner.