Lorna's lark

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

It's that time again--Halloween. I love Halloween. I heard a radio talk show yesterday--Adler On-Line--and the host Charles Adler was talking about how some school board in Toronto wanted to now call Halloween--Orange and Black day. Give me a break. Why do some people always have to take the fun out of everything. Halloween is a fun, fun day for kids and adults so why is there this big push to ruin a good thing. Why? Why? Why? If we're having fun it's not a good thing? Charles was hilarious as he talked about how this was ridiculous to take away Halloween. By the way, he has a great show. He is by far my favourite talk show radio host. Anyway, all of you out there, HAVE A GREAT HALLOWEEN. I will not be calling this Orange and Black Day-- I'm sorry. And if my children had to go a school that decided to do that--I would write Halloween all over their costumes. And when I have grandchildren one day I will be encouraging them to go Trick or Treating. My kids are now teens and I miss going trick or treating with them. Yes, I was the mother who dressed up and took the kids out. I loved it! So much fun. And what is so wrong about fun???? Let's stop being so bloody politically correct and just enjoy ourselves for a change.
Okay, so I've been travelling a lot and touring schools with my books. I had such a wonderful time at all the libraries and schools I visited. And many, many, many schools had HALLOWEEN decorations all over the walls. Yeah!! Pumpkins and scary ghosts and black cats. The schools were amazing and I do love the children. One funny story was at Diamond Willow School in Ponoka. Maureen Bell, the librarian, was introducing me and told the children that I was married to someone sort of famous in Canadian hockey. Then she asked, "Does anyone know who that is? Think of her last name." A lovely child put up his hand and said, "Don Cherry."
Well, I thought I would pee my pants laughing. Kids do say the darndest things.
So thank you to all the schools who invited me to come and speak, I'm always grateful and I always love talking and meeting students. It is a great part of my career as a children's author.
AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE.

Website Woes

2008-09-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, Sorry for the long delay in blogging and updating my website but summer was busy...and now my website is doing crazy things and won't let me update. I'm working on getting it fixed. How was your summer? It's hard to believe we're back at it.
My daughter left for school in the States at the end of August and, yes, I shed many tears. I miss her a lot but I talk to her a often so that makes it easier. And she's coming home for Canadian Thanksgiving. My second daughter is in grade twelve and I think I'm smothering her to make up for the loss. Not too worry, she'll tell me to back-off if I get too close! My son is in hockey try-outs and that is stressful for sure. If any parents are reading this and you have kids in hockey try-outs, I'm here to listen. And for all you kids out there trying out, do your best. I always tell my son, try your hardest and then see what happens. Because, really, what else can you do.
I'm going to have a busy month in October. Because I can't seem to update my presentations page here are the dates of my school visits:

October 6th- E.G. Wahalstrom School in Slave Lake
October 7-10th - Peace Country Tour
October 20th - Manning Elementary School in Manning
October 21st - Ridgeview Central School in La Crete
October 22nd - St. Mary's Elementary School in Fort Vermillion
October 23rd - Fort Vermillions Public School
October 24th - Buffalo Head Prairie School
October 26th - Diamond Willow Middle School in Ponoka

Okay, so I'm booked in October but give me a shout if you want a school visit after October. I'm heading to Switzerland at the end of September but most schools don't book that early in the school year anyway.
The eighth book in my hockey series, HOLDING, will be out September 18th, after much delay. It was supposed to be out in the spring but there was a hold up at the printers.
And my Sledge hockey book is in revisions. There's a great documentary coming out on CTV about the sledge hockey players. Look for it this fall. The title is SLEDHEAD.
What else?
Did I tell you I hate website troubles. Oh yeah, I sort of did at the beginning of this e-mail.
I'll try to get them solved so I can update my website for you.
Until then.
Take Care!

Long time!

2008-06-12T13:13:00.001-07:00

Sorry to have been so long with the posting but...to use a really bad expression, where does the time go? My daughter graduated grade twelve and is leaving in the fall, my son graduated from grade nine and is heading into high school. And he's my baby. My middle girl is going into grade twelve so she has one more year. Although, I've been told by many parents that kids these days don't leave forever. The continually return to the nest--to use another bad expression.
So many things in the news lately. One is the family in Calgary found dead in their home in Dalhousie. And in the home was a 30 year old woman who was just renting from this family. How sad. How horrible. How will her parents cope. I think, what if that was my daughter. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why? And why did the man snap. He must have snapped. What makes that happen to someone? From all the reports, he sounded like a good guy. I guess in some way, we're all capable of snapping. What an absolutely frightening thought. And then to top it all off, a one-year-old girl lived through this mess. She was spared. I think about her, and what she will be like when she gets to be 14 or so and is completely aware of what her father did to the rest of her family. A family she will never have, never get to know.
Okay...so this tragic incident has caused many of us to think. Then we have Paul Bernardo back in the news. The guy is still a psychopath but he's alive while many others are dead. And his lovely ex-wife Karla, from what I've read, is living somewhere in the Caribbean and has a baby boy. Another baby who when he gets to be 14 will say, "Mom, I heard something about you today." Does she think he will never find out?
Paul Bernardo in his interview said, "I made a few mistakes." I made a few mistakes!!! Is that what Karla will tell her boy. "I made a few mistakes."
How do that couple get to live after they took so many lives?
Okay, so this is a depressing blog.
Sorry. When the weather gets nicer here in Calgary, I'll think happy thoughts.

Price of Passion

2008-05-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

Canada lost to Russia 5-4 yesterday in the World Championships in Quebec City. The game went to overtime and Russia scored in overtime. Canada was leading 4-2 going into the third period. This is called devastation for the Canadian players and fans. I was in Halifax for two of the games and know how passionate the players and their families and all the Hockey Canada staff are about their game. Plus the fans. Canadians love their hockey. My hubby was there the entire time and know he still has that morning-after sick feeling. But it's because he's so passionate about the game and about his job. Yeah, he works a ton of hours, but he does so because he loves his job and the crazy game of hockey. When people say things to me like "your husband is gone so much how do you stand it?" I say, "he loves what he does and how can that be a bad thing." He's here when he needs to be here. He has balance.
Now the thing is--when you're passionate about something you put yourself out there to be rejected. The Canadian players, coaches, management staff put themselves on the line.
And so do people in the arts!!!
I know about rejection too. I'm a writer. Yes, I've published eleven books to date but none of that guarantees me anything. I still get rejected. Over and over. But I can't stop writing and I certainly can't stop ideas and characters from entering into my thoughts. I still get excited when a new idea just mysteriously pops into my mind. And sometimes those crazy ideas end up being good ones and sometimes they don't or sometimes the ideas just take time to become good.
I think passion in life is so important. My kids have all found something that makes them feel fantastic and I think that is great. Their passion has so much significance in their lives. And they don't want to veer off and head down the wrong path because the cost is so great. They will lose what they love to do--what they are passionate about. But passion has that price. I've seen them lose or not be successful in auditions. I've seen them cry.
And I've cried. I used to cry when I got rejections. And I got a lot, let me tell you. I don't cry much anymore because I know I'm not going to stop writing. And I know another idea is just around the corner. That would be insane to quit!!! I love what I do too much.
My agent has moved out of the literary agent business and I'm now agentless. So I guess I'll be getting the letters of rejection in the mail now. And when I get into the mood to try and find a new agent--I think I'll fly solo for the summer- I'm sure I'll be rejected over and over until I find one. That's the writing world. If you want to read a passionate writing blog you should read eidtor Cheryl Klein's. She's at CherylKlein.com. From her blog you can tell she is so passionate about editing and writers. I love reading her blog because the passion oozes from her words. And she has such good words of advice for writers. It's obvious that she loves books.
Okay, so find what you're passionate about and do it. But the trick is to make sure while you are being passionate to have a life too. Hmm. Am I making sense. Sometimes, I need to step back from my computer and go outside and garden or exercise and I always make sure I'm there for my children. Of course, when I'm there for my children I'm listening to pick up ideas. Okay, so I don't really have a life!!!
And I've definitely babbled long enough.
My heart is healing from the loss yesterday.
My heart will heal from all my rejections.
And those guys will still play hockey, and I'll still write.
Onwards.
Find what you love to do and do it.
And this is not a Nike ad.

My daughter's graduation

2008-05-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

My daughter graduated last night from grade twelve. Did I cry? Of course. How could my baby be 18 already, leaving high school, and leaving home in September. I don't get it. I've had her for 18 years now, known her whereabouts just about every minute of her day, and now, well, she's her own amazing person. Doing her own things, living her own life. She's leaving next year to go to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in LA. Okay, so I'm crying again. She won't live in our house next year!
I watched stunned as she walked across the stage in her cap and gown. That was the morning. Then the afternoon was spent getting her hair and make-up done and putting on her beautiful dress. She went with the short style. We gathered as parents to drink champagne and watch our not-so-young children climb into the limo-bus. There were twenty-eight in my daughter's group who were celebrating together. The girls looked fabulous in their dresses and up-dos and the guys looked fabulous too in their suits and ties. Many I'm sure have never worn a tie before. Okay, so more tears are flowing, just remembering. To be perfectly cliched and write like Peanuts Snoopy from the comics; All in all, it was a beautiful night. (I think he says it was a dark and stormy night.) My daugher gave the toast to the teachers at the dinner and, of course, I cried through that. I thought she was amazing. She talked about being scared but being ready to move on.
Really???
Is she really 18? Is she really old enough to be finished grade twelve?
Can you tell, she's my first to leave the nest?
Yikes.
Didn't she just start kindergarden?
Okay, okay. I'll be quiet.
Sniff. Sniff.

What's calories among friends!!!

2008-05-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well, the funeral for Ed Chynoweth was yesterday. Today I ran into a friend and she asked how it was and I said, "Great!" Then, I thought, did I just say a funeral was great. But it was great. I cried and I laughed. Ed was a character, larger than life, and we celebrated his life, just like he would want us to do. Hubby and I went to Ed's nephew's house afterwards for a dinner and there was so much food and drinks and wonderful conversation. All good times with Ed. But then the Chynoweth family is from Saskatchewan and there is no way anyone from Saskatchewan would have a party with not enough food. They feed and feed and it is wonderful. Their hospitality was terrific. I loved Cheryl, Ed's nephew's wife, when she said, "What's calories among friends?"
I laughed and took another chocolate square.
Ed was a wonderful man.
We celebrated his life.

Sunday morning musings

2008-05-04T07:18:00.001-07:00

It's early on a Sunday morning and, of course, I'm up early. My teenagers sleep in and don't bug me but...my dogs wake me up. They don't figure out that it is Sunday. Sunday mornings come with thoughts. Tomorrow, I have to go to a funeral for a man who died of cancer. He was only in his mid-sixties. Last spring, he was doing okay. This spring, he's gone. I hate cancer. I hate what it does to people. How it makes them suffer. I hate what it does to families. How it makes them lonely. It leaves such a hole and it doesn't seem to care. It still eats away at people every day.

Every little bit counts

2008-05-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

A big thanks goes to Suncor for sponsoring the WordPower tour in Fort McMurray. There were six authors, one storyteller and one illustrator from Alberta that went to Fort McMurray. We are all members of the Young Alberta Book Society. Suncor works with YABS to get the authors up north and to the schools. Suncor's goal is to have presenters hit every school in the area. Authors were: Rob Feagan, Faye Holt, Rita Feutl, Don Meredith, Joan Marie Galat and myself. Cathy Jessup was the lone storyteller, (and can she tell stories), and Lorna Bennett, (who is amazing), was the lone illustrator. We had a wonderful time, despite the snow. Lots of snow. Did I say lots of snow. On the Tuesday we actually had a snow day because the school buses weren't running. Locals told us that was the first time in thirty years that the children of Fort McMurray had a snow day. Crazy. Unfortunately, the one school that missed out was Fort Chip because the presenters couldn't fly in. Next year!
Now...I have to give a huge thanks to the schools I went to: Westview, Timberlea, Sister Mary Phillips, St. Martha, and Fort McKay. You guys are awesome! I was treated like royalty. My partner in the school was Rita Feutl and she has a great book out! Check out all the authors who toured. I think you'll find all their books very, very interesting.
I think it's fabulous that Suncor sponsors this trip. It gets us presenters up north and it is a huge bonus for literacy. Literacy is a big topic right now and the more we can help the better our society will be. Even Anne Murray is on the literacy bandwagon. In a society full of Hollywood stars taking all the limelight, it's nice for children to think of authors and storytellers and illustrators as being interesting. I had one class who knew so many authors names that I was blown away. They thought their favorite authors were heros. How's that for awesome.
Now, I know my books are not like JK Rowlings, and I'm not famous like her, nor am I famous like Judy Blume or the woman who wrote "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", but... maybe I'm still doing something good for society! Thanks to a company like Suncor who paid for me to do this tour, I was able to reach some students.
Every little bit counts.
My daughter has a drama teacher at school and she is unbelievable. I look at her and think, wow. You have done so much for the kids you teach. She has made them dig deep and she has encouraged them and her students do amazing work because she is their mentor.
Every little bit counts.
Every little bit counts.

computer woes

2008-04-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm trying to update my website and I keep getting the message about the connection being wrong. The FTP something or other. Hmm. Last time I made changes it worked. So, why all of sudden has it decided to not do its job? Gosh darn computer! Computers might be a bit like teenagers. Sometimes they do what you want and sometimes they don't. And you never know when that sometimes is going to happen.
I'm ready to bite the bullet and hire someone to do all of this website stuff for me. I had great help setting it up, then I thought, (okay, so that's scary unless I'm thinking about ideas for books), I would be able to do the updating myself. But...I actually find it rather frustrating.
Okay, so that's out. Big breath.
On to good news. I finished the first draft of my Sledge Hockey book. I loved writing it! Man, those guys are amazing. And I finished the first draft of my Dany Heatley book. Too bad the Sens are having a tough time with Pittsburg in the NHL playoffs. They are so close. How about those Flames!!!!
More good news--I'm off for the Young Alberta Book Society Suncour tour on Sunday! Should be fun.
Other good news - It's sunny in Calgary and not SNOWING. Okay, so our weather is crazy. Sunday was 20 degrees and the next day it snowed. Of course the 20 degrees was the day my son played hockey eighty times in one day. Well, not quite, but twice. So, I was in an arena wearing a winter coat when it was nice out. But I did get to Homesense to buy a few gardeing things. And this weekend when there is no hockey--it is supposed to be -6 degrees. Great, I say. Okay, so I can still go to the gardening store.
Other good news. Is this good, I don't know. My daughter turned 18 and I can't beleive that I'm the mother of an 18-year-old. Wasn't I just 18 yesterday??? Oh, no I wasn't. That was like almost 32 years ago. Really? I think you're fibbing.
Okay, so back to the bad news. I'm still frustrated about my website. I thought I could divert myself by blogging, and I did for a few moments, but now the nasty, creeping feeling is back that sometimes I am totally computer illiterate.
Hellllpppppp.

grim news

2008-04-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

The news was horrible yesterday. Here in Alberta, a young 17-year-old girl was killed on a school bus. The bus was hit by a cement truck; the morning was foggy. An accident for sure. But why? Why that girl? Then I found out this young girl was an only child. And this horrible accident happened on my daughter's 18th birthday. I can't imagine losing my child. She was the same age as my daughter. The young girl was in grade twelve. This hurts to even write about this. My heart breaks for those parents. How do they feel today? What they say to each other when they woke up? Or did they not go to bed, to sleep last night? I was just in Rimbey, for a school visit, and I know the school the girl was going to. Routine morning for her. Catch the bus. Go to school. Say hi to friends. But she didn't get to say hi to friends. Did her parents say good-bye in the morning. My husband often leaves early for work. He'd feel horrible not saying good-bye. This is so sad. I can't even imagine.
Then there's the man in Merritt who is suspected of killing his children and on the run somewhere. Is he hiding in bushes? Is he in Alberta? I heard this morning that child welfare had been at their house a few times over the past months. How do those workers feel? If only they had taken the children? Are they asking themselves those questions? But, of course, there are rules and regulations for taking the children. It's not their fault. But, I bet some of them think it is. I bet some want a new profession. And what about THAT mom, who went for groceries, only to return to three dead babies. Her babies. I'm sure she is asking herself, why didn't I leave him? Why didn't I get help?
It is all so sad.
I guess I'm thinking about all of this because my daughter had her birthday, we went for dinner, had a wonderful time.
I'm lucky!! Really, really lucky!
And I count my blessings every day.

Juno

2008-03-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

Juno, the movie, is stirring up controversy. I heard a radio talk-show the other day and a woman was on saying she didn't think the movie appropriate. Now, the first time she made a big statement, she had never seen the movie. That raised a few flags with me. Why bash something you haven't seen. It was about teenage pregnancy so she immediately got her back up. She has daughters. I do too. And they're also teenagers. They've seen Juno and loved it. And guess what, they don't want to go out and get pregnant right away. The woman thought this movie will encourage teenage girls to go out and get pregnant because it glorified teenage pregnancy. Hmm. Did I tell you she hadn't seen the movie. Anyway, in our house, we love Ellen Page. She did an amazing job. As Canadians, we're proud of her and her acting abilities. The director is also Canadian and so is the writer.
Go Juno go.
Great movie!!!

Awards

2008-01-25T06:51:00.000-08:00

I'm an Oscar junkie. I love this time of year when the Oscars are announced. Okay, so I'm a bit of an award junkie. I also love reading about all the book awards when they come out too. I will admit this. This year when the Oscar's were announced I was excited that there was an 82-year-old up for a supporting actor award. I thought to myself, maybe I'll win an award with one of my books when I'm 82. I still have lots and lots of time to write lots and lots more books. (Well, not that much but quite a few years.) I'm determined to still be writing in my eighties. There are so many awards in the Children's literature categories. Silver Birch, Red Maple, TD Children's Literature Award, Norma Fleck Award and then there is the one I was nominated for (my only nomination to date), the Golden Eagle Award in Alberta. The list does go on. When I got my nomination I immediately thought, they only picked my book to have a book that the boys can read. Talk about confidence. And there are all the awards for mystery novels. I only have one mystery novel out and, like Angelina Jolie this year, it's not award material. The Crime Writers of Canada has the Arthur Ellis awards and they will be announced in the spring. I put my book in for first novel but it wasn't nominated and rightly so.
I always wonder how the people who win the "big" award right away, after the first book or the first big movie feel. Probably a bit overwhelmed. I saw the young girl, Ellen, from Nova Scotia who played in the movie Juno on Oprah--she was humble and honoured and did look like stunned that she was up for an Oscar. My editor--who actually quit her job at Lorimer to write full-time, wrote her first book Johnny Kellock Died Today and it was up for numerous awards, including the coveted TD Children's Literature Award. I was proud of her. She's a great editor and great writer. I know she felt honoured too.
Awards are something our society loves.
Maybe I will win one before I'm 82.
I'll keep writing!!!!

Raincoast closing doors to publishing

2008-01-11T07:31:00.000-08:00

Hello, It's been a long time but one of my New Year's Resolutions is to blog more. And write more. Even though the publishing business is slow. I heard last night that Raincoast has decided to stop publishing and focus on just distribution. My initial thoughts were--where are all the Raincoast authors going to go. Where are all the Raincoast editors going to go? Well, the authors will be trying to find homes elsewhere which will make it all the more difficult to get published in Canada. More authors fighting for the same amount of spots. My agent has some books of mine and she's having a difficult time selling them. Just before Christmas she said the business is "slow." I guess some of this 'slowness' has to do with our dollar rising. Funny how that works. The prices have to be adjusted and Canadian prices might be forced to go down to meet with the American prices. We have to meet somewhere in the middle I guess. I'm not sure about any of this, I don't have a business degree, I'm just speculating. I did a book signing at Christmas and on the back of one of my books was, Can $8.95, US $5.50. Yes, there does need to be some adjustment there.
Before I found about Raincoast, I was hashing out my career and wondering why I only seemed to get contracts to write about hockey. I've written other stuff. Really I have. I have a mystery novel out with publishing houses and my agent has a YA historical novel, a first-grade dance novel and a volleyball book. (Still sport but at least a different sport.) Yet, I just agreed to write two more books for Lorimers Recordbook series--yes, both are hockey. One is the 2002 Women's Olympic story and the other is the 2006 Paralympic Men's story. I'm excited to write both for sure but I keep thinking, I do have other interests, I can write about other things too. (Plus I'm talking to Fenn about another hockey book with them as well.) And I thought to myself hockey, hockey. Then I heard about Raincoast and I thought I was blessed to even have two books pending and a third maybe. I once heard where Agatha Christie really wanted to write either historical fiction or historical non-fiction, I can't remember which one but one of those. On a lark, she sent off a mystery novel to a publisher and...well, we all know the success of Agatha Christie.
So, I'll count my lucky stars to quote a bad cliche, and feel blessed just to be alive in this crazy business called publishing.
By the way, my latest hockey book Pink Power is available--published by James Lorimer-- and I'm quite proud of the story. It's about the first ever women's world hockey championships when Canada dressed their women in PINK.
And I helped Cassie Campbell write her book HEART. It's also available--published by Fenn. It's a fantastic book with great hockey stories and tips for being successful.
Oh yeah, and I just finished an edit on Holding, my eighth book in my sports series. It will be out in the spring and will wrap up that series.
Did I tell you, I've got other works about other things that haven't sold yet.
Oh yeah, I did tell you.

competition in kids

2007-05-19T07:59:00.001-07:00

Hey, I'm back as promised. My daughter has just finished her last dance competition and I'm moved to write about competition in kids. I write about hockey, a competitive sport, and I'm an extremely competitive person. I always have been. This is not something my parents instilled in me, in fact, it was something they tried not to instill in me. My father was probably the least competitive man I've ever known. (My husband is Pres of Hockey Canada sooooo....I married Mr. Competitive). He was gentle and beautiful and let everyone else around him be competitive. So how did I end up this fiery little thing that absolutely wanted to win at everything and cried when she didn't. Yes, I had to learn how to control my emotions, that horrible gut-wrenching feeling I got when I didn't win. I remember running a race in public school. The 100 hard dash they called it then. My lane was muddy, it had rained the night before. I was slotted to win but when I took off, my shoes became heavy with mud and I fell behind. I remember crying about how unfair it was. My friend from school who I always beat, won the race. She was happy. I wasn't. I was mad.
Now, as a parent, I have to sit in stands or in the audience and I feel that same gut-wrenching for my children. I want them to win. Okay, so with hockey you win or lose because the puck goes in the net or it doesn't. But in Dance and Singing (the arts) it's all up to judges. Wow is all I can say. So many times as a biased, competitive parent, I think my daughter or daughters because my oldest sings in the Kiwanis Music Festival, should have won. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I get in the car and say, "You should have won that."
Whichever daughter will look at me like, "Moommmmm." I don't think either one possesses my over-the-top competitiveness and I'm glad and wish I could be like them. I think they're more sane about it than I am. They deal with it with more control. I don't think their skin boils like mine does. It itches but it doesn't boil. But why is that? Have my hubby and I taught them that. Yeah, right I think. Both my hubby and I are the youngest and we both are the same. So I dont' think so. My son, the baby, rants and raves like I did. So why was I born into a non-competitive family, a total competitive person?
Okay, so I believe in competitiveness though. I think without we have mediocrity. A part of me says to my kids, get mad, get angry, and get out there and show them you're better than that. But you know I think I've learned so much from them. Yes, get out there, and get better at your craft and your art and your game, but do it how you're doing it, in a controlled, methodical manner. I've taken up golf and it drives me insane when I hit a bad ball but I have to control myself and talk to myself. I've learned from my daughters, I think. My son throws his clubs and reminds me of me at that age. That's what I would have done. ( I used to tip over the board in games with my brother until he wouldn't play with me anymore.) Now, I'm able to talk my son through his competitive anger and tell him it does no good. And he calms. Sometimes. And I still clench my teeth sometimes. But I'm better.
I know I've rambled. It's Saturday morning and I'm still thinking about how my daughter should have won last night but.......
Who says we can't learn from our kids. I learn every day.

Time/MVP books

2007-05-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hello, I know I haven't posted in a long time but...where does the time go? I know, an old cliche, but the older I get the faster time seems to move. I remember being a kid and thinking time moved too slowly, except when summer holidays rolled around. And summer is soon upon us, again. Another year of school almost completed. My oldest going into grade twelve. Last year she was in grade one. Time is strange and I'm always baffled about how important it is to all of us. How often we look at the clock in a day. And how we use the word for many different things. Like--What time is it?
Or...speaking of time, I had a great time in Kelowna. Since I last posted I took a trip to Kelowna for a hockey tournament. The organizer, Mike Rout, decided to order my books for MVP awards. After every game a player from each team was picked. The books were a huge success and I'm thrilled. I wasn't sure how the hockey players, mainly boys, would react to getting a book instead of a medal. But they were excited! This is a great plug for literacy. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm actually doing anything to help the world but then after this tournament I think I might be. Yes, I sponser two children with World Vision, but hey, I'm not a movie star and I haven't adopted a child from Vietnam and I don't sit on the board of the UN and I haven't yet been to Africa or Mexico to build a school or house. (My daughter has applied to do this with the Free the Children organization and this is something I've always wanted to do but am totally encouraging her to do.) The big things seem to pass me by, because...back to time...I'm still at home raising children and trying to write books and stay afloat. A part of me says, excuses, excuses. But then, after this tournament,I think, maybe I am doing something by encouraging kids to read. In my small, small way maybe I'm a tiny, tiny cog in the wheel. When the kids came to me with excitement in their eyes to get their books signed my heart swelled. And not from ego but from a small sense of purpose.
I think we all need a sense of purpose, even if it is a small token towards helping society in a positive way.
We can't all be movie stars. But we can recycle, we can turn off our lights, we can smile at people, we can something nice to someone and make their day. And I think, even if we can only do the small things, we can do them with pride.
Have a great day everyone and I promise to blog more often.

Hard work is The Secret

2007-04-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching part of The Secret. When I say part, I mean, I didn't finish it. Okay, so what is the big hype? This is old, old news regurgitated and said in a new and secretive way. Yes, I used the word secretive. Okay, call me a cynic. For what it's worth I do believe in the power of positive thinking, and I do believe we can make things happen. But what gets us there is hard, hard work. And yes, a belief that we can do what we want. I always believed that I would one day be a published author. That didn't mean it happened just because I "believed" or I held "the Secret." I worked hard. And I cried a lot. I have a file folder full of rejection letters. And I do believe that one day I'll have a book on the New York Times bestselling list. But I'll probably be disappointed many, many more times along the way before I get there. I will have to keep writing and working and writing and working some more. Will it be because I hold "The Secret" or because I watched this movie?? Doubtful. Anyway, I thought this movie talked too much about the material things in life too. Having that necklace in the window. Give me a break. I was talking to my eldest daughter (she's 16) about the movie and she has a friend who has a friend who quit high school because he watched this movie. He just convinced himself that high school wasn't important. He believed that this wasn't his path and he had The Secret about high school. Okay, so that's a bit scary. We all know a high school diploma is kind of important today. My 16-year-old daughter thinks the movie is bogus because of this. Bravo for her. Bravo to her friends for seeing through a hype to make money. Years ago I bought a book titled "The Magic of Believing" by Claude M. Bristol, copyright 1948. Yup, you guessed it. This book says all the same stuff. It's all about believing and how you can make things happen. It's called being positive and working hard. Sooooooo.....did they get "The Secret" that long ago.
To me this quantum physics stuff is the old spirituality stuff of the 80's.
Now, I must get back to work because hard work really is "The Secret".

Academy Award movies

2007-03-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

As a writer I want to talk about a couple of movies I watched on the weekend. Okay, first up was Departed. The Academy Award winner of, I think, four Oscars. Best picture for sure and best adapted screenplay. I totally disagree with these awards. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when the credits rolled at the end of the movie. This movie was so violent that I really wonder why it was picked by the Academy. What are they trying to tell us? That violence is okay? That this kind of violence is normal? That is how I felt they depicted violence. That is really was okay and normal. I also think that the writing wasn't worth an academy award. They used the "f" bomb more than they needed to for sure. I'm not against swearing, but this was way over the top and to me, swearing should be used sparingly to give a message. This was way overdone as was the talk of "bj's" and sex. Maybe I missed something with this movie. I thought the acting was great though and any one of them could have been nominated for that category. But the movie as a movie was not Academy material for sure. I think it was okay, but not an academy award winner.
Okay, next movie of the weekend was Babel. This movie I enjoyed a whole lot more because it gave us something to talk about around the dinner table. The depth was far greater in Babel then The Departed. Although, I did think the ending was a but rushed. I guess they were trying to get back to the beginning of why? (I'm purposely not saying anything about the plot in case you haven't watched either movie.) This movie had substance and not just guns being shot constantly. Interesting that both movies were about guns and that this is what our society at this particular time likes. Obviously, we want movies with guns and violence. It's what is selling and what the Academy prefers. Although to me The Departed glorified gun violence while Babel told the story of how many people are affected by an innocent gun shot. I have to say, that contrast made me think.
Any comments? Tell me what I missed in the Departed.

Western High School Career Day

2007-03-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

Hello, It's been awhile because I've been writing. I find blogging takes away from my writing time. Not good when you're under contract. But I must post about my morning. I was asked by my daughter's friend to participate in the Western High School career day as an author. Now, this school is one of the top schools academically in Alberta. I wondered what I would say to students who are trying to get into Harvard and Princeton. But you know, both of my sessions had students who were passionate about writing. Some of these high school students have books they've finished. They asked questions about where to send, how to write a query. I was thrilled. They are so young and vibrant that I left with a feeling of pride in my work and what I do. Kids are aspiring to be writers. I tried to tell them not to give up on their dream but...they may have to find a way to write to make money first, before they actually have that book published. The publishing business has a lot of options as does the writing world. If I had to do it over again, I would enroll in a Creative Writing program at a University. That would be so exciting! I have a piece of paper that says--BSc. Yes, I graduated with a BSc in Kinesiology.
Okay, so about this career day. I was so impressed with who they had speaking and the booths that were set up in the job fair. They didn't just focus on academics, even though the school is well known for academics. They had information on trades, cosmetology, massage therapy, sports psychology, the Red Cross, graphic art, design, fashion and on and on. The list was endless. They even had a stunt person/actor and a dancer from the Alberta Ballet. And of course they had a firemen, police officer, paramedic, vet, and lots of info on different universities. It was a wonderful event and I'm sure the students left feeling a little more secure about their future. Or maybe overwhelmed too. I guess I was impressed that they would include the arts!!! And thrilled. What a great day. Oh to be young again and filled with so many options and so much future. Onwards!

Women's hockey

2007-02-21T07:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm still on the topic of women's hockey. But the more I research the more I realize how far women have come and what great hockey they play. I played as well, in the 70's. I loved the game. I participated in a lot of sports but playing hockey was probably my favourite. I remember I had some good friends who were great players but they had nowhere to go in those days but our league. We were the city All-Star team. The St. Catharines Jaycee Jets. We had coaches and they organized chalk talks and we travelled and we were serious. The other day as I was writing names kept popping into my head. Girls who I played with: Karen Vine, Brenda Patterson, Laurie White, Lyndsay Powell, Laurie Ifftodie, Mary Jo, Anita, Bonzo (Where are you now Bonzo?), and there were many more. Those were the olden days as my kids say. And they're sort of right because now...women can strive for an Olympic Gold medal. The women I'm writing about in 1990 who played in the first-ever official World Hockey Championships wore the pink uniforms knowing they were doing something important. Maybe I was too on a much smaller scale. My Pink Power women are pioneers and played an unbelievable gritty style of hockey. Susie Yuen from Manitoba was 4'10" and still played in this hit hockey. Now, women's hockey is non-contact, but just because they don't body-check doesn't mean they don't play tough hockey. As you can see, I'm sinking my teeth into this book. I'm loving the inspiration from the women!!! Thanks to everyone who made this possible!

New Book I['m working on! Pink Power!

2007-02-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a new book these days. Pink Power! And it's not fiction. Hmmm. It's creative non-fiction. I think that's the genre. Or narrative non-fiction. Anyhoo, it's definitely a challenge, a big fat challenge. I write fiction. But I'm totally enjoying it even thought I have moments of pure frustration where I feel I just can't get a flow going. The book is about the first-ever Women's World Hockey Championships that took place in 1990 in Ottawa, and the Canadian Team that won the event wearing pink jerseys, white pants and pink socks. What a story! Women had been playing hockey for years but it wasn't until 1990 when there was actually a World Championships. Now look at our women. Look at what they did in the 2002 and 2006 Olympics. I also recently co-authored a book with Cassie Campbell and she was 16 at the time this event took place and went to the try-outs. She got cut. She really admires the girls on the PINK POWER team because she knows they were pioneers for her success. Pioneers in 1990. Crazy eh! Women had been playing hockey since the early 1900's but the pioneers are a 1990 team. They finally broke the old boys club and how did they do this. By wearing pink! This 1990 team wore the pink uniforms because it was a gimmick, a media ploy. They were getting no press, nothing. No media showed up at the try-outs. Press releases were sent out and tossed is waste baskets. And the organizers (Hockey Canada) of the tournament were panicked that no-one was going to show up to watch the event. They stood to lose a ton of money. But once they announced the pink uniforms, the media went crazy. I remember a lot of this because we were living in Ottawa at the time and I went to all the games. I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. The final game between Canada and the US was crazy. The arena was sold-out and everyone was wearing pink t-shirts, waving pink flamingos and the entire tournament was a huge success. I thought this would make a great movie and pitched to CTV but got rejected. I think they're doing another women's hockey movie which is great. I was a bit too late maybe. But, hey, I got the book contract. But, wow, I admire all you writers who do biographies. My hats are off to you for sure. It's a lot of work to dig up the research and I'm struggling with the opening, knowing my first three chapters are crap and will get scrapped. But I'm on a mission now because I want a great read to honour the women. This is not about me, it's about them! They deserve the best from me.

Robin Summerfield's column in the Herald, Saskatchewan and website difficulties

2007-02-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

Good Morning!! It's Sunday, and I'm up early. It snowed again last night so the world looks white. Sunday and snow make a person want to stay in for some reason. But of course that is not possible. But, I do have an hour or so before I have to get going. Time enough for a short blog. Does anyone read this blog? I wonder sometimes. Is this blog recorded for the rest of my life? Somewhere out there?
Okay, so I'll touch on my friends Robin's column that she writes every Friday in the Calgary Herald. By the way, if you haven't read her column it's fabulous. On Friday, February 9th she wrote about on-line stuff, blogging and personal websites. It was a great column. She wrote about all the people who post really stupid stuff on their websites and blogs. For instance, really personal stuff. Why would someone want to share their inner-inner thoughts on a blog? Maybe I'm doing that now. Am I? No, I'm sharing an opinion. And I'll share my travels. My luck at going to the Olympics, stuff like that. I'm not going to ever going to tell you about my family stuff or my love life or my childhood disasters, (unless they're funny), that's for sure. This stuff used to be saved for journals that were hid under clothes in a closet. But now people just share with the world, with people they don't know. That's scary. The thing Robin really harped on was--How are you going to feel about all that you wrote in five, ten twenty years? Where does all this stuff we write about on-line go? Well, it doesn't go away, folks. It's stored somewhere. And the crazy thing is young girls are doing really stupid, stupid things just to get attention thinking no one who knows them will ever know they did this. Crazy twenty-year-old sexual experimental stuff. Think Red Mile in Calgary when girls were taking off their tops for fun. Then someone snaps a picture and it goes on a website. Okay, so when these girls finally get married and have children what happens when little Johnny stumbles on Mommy with her tongue somewhere it shouldn't be. Girls, girls, have some dignity please. These stunts are not making you a better person. And then there's those who blog about personal stuff that would be better off said behind closed doors with a counsellor. Why share that stuff with people who are virtual friends? Maybe this writing can never be erased. The journal can't just be burned or thrown in the trash.
Okay, enough. I've stated my opinon.
Last weekend I was in Saskatchewan. It had been years since I'd been there. We went for my son's hockey tournament. This part of Canada is wonderful. We stayed in Saskatoon, a gorgeous city. Unfortunately, I didn't walk around much, the temperature was at least -30. The people in this part of Canada are so warm and inviting. But I had forgotten how desolate it was. Once you're outside of the city, the land goes on forever, with a few houses here and there. Then you hit a town. We played in Bruno, a place with just 400 people. It's an hour or so from Saskatoon. A grain elevator stands tall right smack in the middle of town. Or beside the town. Town people came to watch the games. As I sat there, observing, I came up with a plot for yet another children's sport novel. I do love to travel. And I do love to tell you about my travels.
Okay, now on to my website. I'm doing some updating so have patience with me as I am a bit computer illiterate. I get going, make the changes, then somehow they just don't work. I'm trying to add a new page for my new book out in the spring but it's not linking. I will figure it out though, in due time.
In the meantime everyone--have a great Sunday! Now I'm off to venture outside in the snow and cold.

Horrible blizzard but wonderful evening

2007-02-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I drove up to Edmonton for a Children's Literature Round-table. I got caught in this horrible storm and on the stretch of road from Red Deer to Edmonton there were so many cars slipping and sliding and heading right off the road into snow banks. The wind whipped across the lanes, making visibility almost impossible. As I gripped my steering wheel, I kept asking myself why I was doing what I was doing. Would it be another one those events where I sold only a few books. I finally arrived at my destination and was greeted by such friendly people. Marg Stephenson organized the event and there was a great dinner ready. I was still shaking a bit but after I ate I relaxed and started to socialize. My friend Debby Waldman, who I competed against in the show Total Write-Off, was there. She is so crazy and so fun--she can talk a mile-a-minute and I love her. When dinner was over all of us authors-eight in total--got to stand up and tell about our latest books. I talked about Northern Star and Too Many Men but I mentioned every book, of course. All the authors (Lanny Boutin, Marty Chan, Jacqueline Guest, Gail Sidoine Sobat, Linda Smith, Karen Spafford-Fitz and Debby Waldman) were entertaining and inspiring and I just loved hearing the stories behind their books. The entire night was fun, fascinating and just plain old fabulous! Because it was way, way too crappy to drive home, I thought I would get a hotel for the night but as soon as I mentioned this I had offers

from Edmontonians to put me up for the night. I stayed at Debby Waldman's because she asked first and we had a great evening, sitting around, talking about writing. She gave me a toothbrush, washcloth, towel, dental floss (I was impressed with the dental floss) and she set me up in her basement bedroom with clean flannel sheets on a comfortable futon. I mean, what else could a person want who was stranded in a city because of a snowstorm. I woke up this morning to sunshine and cold but was energized from talking writing. The roads home weren't too bad but there were at least two dozen stranded cars from the blizzard. I'm so glad I wasn't one of the two dozen vehicles off the road otherwise I would have a great event and a fun sleep-over!

Sad times for writers in Canada

2007-01-30T08:21:00.000-08:00

A writing friend just sent me this email with this article that Margaret Atwood wrote. I found it quite disturbing and I also feel at a loss. What can I do? What can we do? We can't give up, that's for sure. As I already told you, I'm teaching a class on children's writing at the Alexander Writing Centre and it has become the highlight of my week. I love the people in the class (Tina, Kim, Glennys, Lynn, Anne-Ina and Pam) and their enthusiasm for writing. It's contagious. We have these wonderful conversations and the passion in the room is incredible. As I drove home last night, I kept thinking, I can't wait for next Monday and my class again. Why do so many politicians think that what we writers do is nothing? Because it's not. We create stories that people read, promoting literacy. Why is this viewed as not worthy of money? I'll probably stew on this all day. What do you think about this?

All material copyright Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved.Why did the Conservatives take the weed whacker to Canadian arts promotion abroad? asks MARGARET ATWOODDuring the last days of September, I was at a trilingual literary festival in Vincennes, near Paris. It's called Festival America: Littératures et Cultures d'Amérique du Nord. It was Canada's year of honour, so there were 26 Canadian writers there, as opposed to two Cubans, four Mexicans, and 24 Americans. The festival was attended by 23,000 people over three days, and generated a million mentions of Canada in the French press.The Canadian Embassy staff in Paris did a lot of work for the festival but the embassy didn't spend much money. It couldn't even afford to throw its own reception. Thus it was while attending the U.S. Embassy's reception for its own authors that I first heard an astonishing fact: The Canadian government had just cut every penny once budgeted for the promotion of Canadian artists abroad.That's it -- every penny, for everything cultural and Canadian, around the world. Some of those pennies have now been "unfrozen" but they're not enough to save the programs and networks that have been built up over the past 40 years (in part by art-savvy Tory cabinet ministers such as Flora MacDonald, Marcel Masse and Barbara McDougall). Staff remain in place, but they can't do much. It's like a dance floor with no more dancers.Not that there were that many pennies to begin with. The amounts of money removed were minute -- a fraction of a fraction of a per cent of Canada's federal budget. And the Harper government had just posted a $13-billion surplus. So why had they taken this bizarre step?The axing of culture abroad is even stranger when you consider the following facts: The money generated by Canadian-based artists' works that sell abroad flows into the country and is taxed here, a net gain to the economy. The arts and creative industries in Europe now earn "more than double the cash produced by European car-makers and contribute more to the economy than the chemical industry, property or the food and drink business," according to The Independent of Dec. 26. There are comparable statistics for Canada -- some say $40-billion, but even if it were half that it wouldn't be a number to blow off easily. Or so you'd think.So why had the Conservatives taken the weed whacker to Canadian arts promotion abroad? Was it just part of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's shoot-first, ask-afterwards habit -- familiar now to anyone with money in an income trust -- of slicing the heads off anything in sight, leaving the mangled stems to be dealt with by later regimes?Due to the impenetrability of Fortress Harper -- colder than the Kremlin, more secret than the Inquisition -- it was unlikely we'd get any answers. But we are still free to speculate, so here's what I came up with to explain why they did it:1) Ignorance. The Harperites have no idea how much money the arts generate.2) Willed ignorance. They've seen the figures, but have labelled them "junk economics" in the same way they once labelled global-warming statistics as "junk science."3) Hatred. The Harper Conservatives think artists are a bunch of whiners who don't have real jobs, and that any money spent on the arts is a degenerate frill.4) Frugality. There's lots of arts around. We can get them cheaper from across the border than it costs to make them here, and if you've seen one art, you've seen them all.5) Stupidity. They thought they were gassing a hornet's nest, not poking it with a stick.6) More hatred. They tried to slash local museums, until too many people screamed. They've cut the Canada Council top-up proposed by the Liberals down to a sixth of its size. They've stuck the knife into the National Literacy Program, perhaps on the theory that they won't be able to set up a working dictatorship if too many people can read. And that's just for starters. If these things can be done in a minority government, lo, I say unto you, what things shall be done in a majority?The banner under which the Conservatives have been ditching stuff that displeases them has been "waste." They're trashing programs that "don't work." They want things that "get results." (That went for the environmental plans they once binned, and have now hastily revivified.) Arts promotion is like supporting entrepreneurs, or local hockey teams, or school systems. But how do we define "results" in relation to the arts? And what exactly does "work" mean? Does it mean that money must flow back in the same year it's invested? If so, the Conservatives should get rid of all primary education, since no 10-year-old marches right out of Grade Five and gets an executive job.Typically, cultural money is arranged so that younger artists who need to build their audiences can piggyback on old poops like me who have already done that. That's how you support the next generation, and the one after that. Not to do so is truly wasteful. Yes, you might save a lot of money by killing all the children: You'd cancel those pesky education expenses. But you wouldn't survive long as a society.But maybe the Harper Conservatives don't want a society in which the arts and the creative industries are important. Maybe they don't want the jobs in those fields to exist. Maybe, as in so many other areas of their thinking, they want to turn back the clock to the good old days -- some time back in the golden fifties, when there wasn't all this bilingualism and multiculturalism, or indeed any lingualism or culturalism at all, and most Canadian artists left the country, and those who remained could be referred to jokingly in Parliament as a bunch of fruits jumping around in long underwear.That's a lot of maybes. But maybes are all we have in the absence of any coherent cultural policy or even any explanation for the lack of one. Who was it said that there's more culture in a cup of yoghurt than in the Harper Conservatives? Let's hope that person was wrong.Margaret Atwood is the author of more than 40 volumes of poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Her latest is a collection of short stories, Moral Disorder.

Writing talk

2007-01-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

I taught my first class at Alexander Writing Centre last night and it was stimulating and rewarding. The group of women (no men signed up) are all at different stages in their writing which is wonderful. They will all be able to set their own goals. To me it was thrilling to listen to them talk so passionately about their stories. The group has great dynamics and I'm already thinking of next week, sitting around the room, talking writing. What a treat for me who sometimes works in a vacuum.
I've also been asked to do a career day at Western High School and a literacy/motivational conference at a school in Calgary. As a writer, (I'm in that darn editing process right now), I enjoy getting out into the real world, meeting students, adults who share something similiar. Books and reading is still so much a part of our lives. In my opinion, books can co-exist with Nintendo and TV. So, keep asking me to do things folks, I'm game and just love being in rooms where people are passionate and you can feel the electricity surrounding the written word.

The Journey

2007-01-22T12:06:00.000-08:00

This writing life sometimes seems like a long journey. You know the car ride when you were little, where you sat in the back seat and kept saying, "Are we there yet?"
But I don't think with writing we ever really get there. You only reach levels then you push on to reach a new level. There are days when I feel as if it's going along smooth sailing then there are days where it feels a bit still. Waiting is a part of the game and so are highs and lows. I'm waiting right now for word on three books. One might sell and two might get rejected or all three could sell or....no, I won't go there. No matter what, when that rejection comes in there is a thud in my heart. But now, I refuse to let the thud take over my heart. I let it thud then I push it aside.
Because, in the end though, the highs always outweigh the lows.
I got a note from a man in Penticton, Walter Huebert, he's a retired secondary school teacher. The note was hand written on a cue card and this is what it said:

"On December 7th, I presented your autographed books to four of my grandchildren. They immediately began reading. As is was the day of their annual excursion to pick out a Christmas tree at a local tree farm, they jumped into the truck. They continued reading on the way. As soon as they picked out the tree and had hot chocolate they ran back to the truck to continue reading. As it was getting dark they continued to read as soon as they got home. You certainly brought enjoyment to four "kids." Thanks."

Okay, so how can let any rejection ride over that note. It's by my desk.
I'm starting something new in this writing business tonight. I'm teaching a class on Writing for Children at the Alexander Center here in Calgary. I'm thrilled they asked me and even more thrilled that we got enough people for it to go. I'll let you know how it goes. Another high perhaps!