Interview with Linda Little, Part II

Today's post continues my interview with Linda Little and focusses on the stuff we writers are dying to hear: how other writers have become successful.
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Tell us about your path to publication.

When I sent my first manuscript out, I didn’t have an agent and didn’t need one. It’s good to remember that agents are looking for work they can sell – not work they love. They know a lot about literature, a lot about markets, a lot about the possibilities that exist.

But even the big publishing houses still accept unsolicited manuscripts. When you have a full-length manuscript, you can do simultaneous submissions although the chances of getting a big publisher on a first novel is, again statistically, very low.

I sent my book proposal for my first book off to the seven small publishing houses and two of them responded quite quickly that they wanted to see the full manuscript. Then it took ten months before anyone read it. Once the editor at Goose Lane read it, it was only about a month before they offered to publish it. After the offer to publish, it took about 18 months before it was ready for release.

For the second novel, I thought I would see if I could get an agent to make sure I did everything I could for my book. To find my agent I applied to three prospective agents with query letters and all three agreed to read my ms. Based on the ms, two called me on the phone to talk about it and to talk about representing me. The third agent, who was not interested, sent me a refusal letter. I chose from the two interested agents based on the conversations we had.

As a writer, you have every right to expect that an agent will have read your book and be able to talk about it before they give you an offer of representation. They shouldn’t agree to take you on just because you’ve won an award.

Don’t send and wait. Send and write. Keep going.

Did you focus on Canadian agents or did you approach American agents as well?

I stuck to agents in Canada because I’m Canadian and this is where I live and this is how we do things. I don’t know anything about the American market.

A bit of advice I can give is that at some point you have to start looking at your manuscript – your baby – as a commodity. Agents and publishers work in a marketplace and it’s a completely different world. If you think of it as a good in a marketplace, you’ll know what they need of you. They don’t ask, ‘Is this good?’ They ask, ‘Can I sell it.’ And you want them to ask that, otherwise they won’t be in business in ten years and you want them to be in business in ten years.

Your first book, Strong Hollow, won the Cunard First Book Award in 2002 and was short listed for many others. What was that like – winning an award for your first book and what doors, if any did it open for you?

They don’t open the doors you might think.

I was just thrilled to get a nomination for a national award, for the Raddall Award. Totally thrilled. The thing about an award – and I’ve been on all sides, as juror, as nominee as winner – you have a bunch of books and specific people come with their choices and depending upon who’s on the jury will determine who wins. You can win the Giller and not the Raddall. You can’t put books in order of how good they are. Long after awards come and go, the book is left.

There are books you read and ‘Oh!,’ you think. ‘I can never write like that. If I kill someone, can I write like that?’ And the gun’s loaded. You must love your book. You can’t say one is better than another.

I can tell you the moment I cried was the moment I got the published book in the mail and unwrapped it and held it in my hands. I can look at them and say, ‘These are things I did in my life.’

Your second book, Scotch River, won this year’s Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction and made it to the 2006 Globe & Mail Best Book List. How important is it for honours like these to be available for writers?

It’s great for publicity. Few books are mentioned of the hundreds that come out so, if you can get your book publicised, that’s great. If you can get your book to poke its head above the others.

What does the publisher do for promotion?

I don’t quite get the publisher’s job, but generally, they get you invited to events to talk about your book.

What’s your writing process? Do you write every day?

I don’t write and work at the same time. I do each in seasons. For me, it’s a long way from River John to Scotch River so, when I get there I want to stay for a few months. When it’s writing season, I write from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

It’s no secret that writing is a damn hard way to earn a living and that, in fact, many very good writers aren’t able to. Can you talk a little bit about your experience earning a living as a writer in Nova Scotia?

I don’t make a living from writing. It’s extraordinarily unlikely to be able to do so. You might as well buy a lottery ticket.

It takes a long time to write and the financial recompense is very low. If a person is going to be in it for the long haul, it’s responsible to figure out what you need to do financially.

I used to work at the Nova Scotia Museum during the summer. Now I teach at the Agricultural College during the fall. I teach how to write academic papers and a course on Atlantic Canadian Literature.

Do you sense that this is any different than for writers in other parts of the country or in the U.S.?

It is. I have no idea how they do it in Toronto – it’s so expensive to live there. It’s easier here because the cost of living is lower.

Have you begun thinking about or writing another book?

Yes, I have. The Alleged Third Novel, as I call it, is a work of historical fiction. We’ll see what becomes of it.

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Many thanks to Linda for taking the time to speak with me. If you have any questions for Linda, please send them and I'll forward them along to her.


Have a great writing day!


Colleen

Interview with Linda Little, Part I

As promised, here is the interview with Linda Little, author of the recent award-winning Scotch River and her award-winning first novel, Strong Hollow.

Linda generously shared her journey to publication as well as the realities of being a published author as she was gearing up for the River John Literary Festival. I hope you find her story as fascinating and helpful as I did.


What brought you from Hawkesbury, Ontario to River John, NS?

The story isn’t in what brought me from Hawkesbury to River John, but what brought me from St. John’s to River John. Remember that assumption we used to have that after high school you’d leave home -- instead of living in your parent’s basement until you were 35 like now? After high school, I went to university in Kingston [Ontario] and then to university in Newfoundland for my second degree. Both in history. I waited five years for spring to arrive and when it didn’t I went looking for it. Newfoundland is an amazing place, but the weather? Holey moley.

When and how did you discover you were a writer?

Don’t really know. It’s part of the mystery of writing. About ten years after I left school and was in recovery from reading, I read a memoir by Timothy Findlay called Inside Memory and discovered that I wanted the bits between the chapters. As soon as I’d start to get interested in something, he’d change topics. I realized that you could make the bits between chapters up and I started to write as a hobby.

What path did your writing take on the way to writing your first novel?

In 1998 or 97, the Canada Council had a grant program you could apply for without having any thing published. A friend who was a writer said we should apply so I did with no expectations whatsoever. When I got it, I was able to take time away from contract work and wrote what I thought were short stories. I had to come to terms with the fact that I was writing a novel. I wrote full-time for six months and part time for twelve. Strong Hollow was published in 2001 by Goose Lane.

When I began writing, I wrote a short story, Manhandling, that was published in an English magazine out of Montreal called Matrix. I had thought that getting something published would be evidence of whether I could write. As it turns out – you don’t think it. You wonder whether you can write the next thing. Like anything else that ever happens in life you never know if you’re doing the right thing. You don’t think: ‘Oh, I’ve written six books, I don’t have to worry, I know how to write. But, you haven’t written the seventh.’

After the first story, I wrote a little as a hobby. I’d write and send, write and send, and only get the tiniest little thing published in the tiniest little publications. I find it amazing that I was able to keep going, but it was enough – I think because I loved it and would do it anyway. I was doing it for itself.

As writers, we don’t know if our writing’s any good and we just want something, someone to tell us we are. You need to keep at it when the prospect of stopping looks worse than the prospect of keeping on. When the prospect of stopping looks better then you have to stop.

So, you advise writing short stories for publication?

It’s nice if you can get a little something so you can tell a publisher that somebody somewhere – not your mother – chose your work over a stack of others. Keep track of what you’ve sent where. I have a column that tells me what date I sent something and what date I got it back. Always have stuff out there so you’re in the game.

It’ good to remember that literary magazines publish only between three and four percent of what they receive so, statistically, it is extremely unlikely that anything you send them will be published. That means that when you get a story returned, it’s not a big deal. But when you get one published? That’s a big deal. That’s when you inflate balloons, and dance, and get a cake and eat the whole thing. Lap it up. Roll in it.

Always have something out and always watch the mail. When a story is returned, take it out of one envelope and stick it into the next. After I’ve sent a story out fifteen times and three years have gone by, I’ll have a look at it and think, ‘Oh, this sucks. No wonder it isn’t getting published.’ It’s an indication of where you’re at, of how your writing has grown. I don’t know how writing gets better over time, but it does.

I think I would have saved time had I taken advantage of workshops and mentorship programs earlier. I would have gotten better faster. But there is a danger in workshops. You’ll run into many writers who only write at workshops. You’ll see them at one and then at another months later and they haven’t written anything. If you are attending six workshops a year, that’s probably a bad idea, but a few well-placed workshops are very helpful.

Keep any eye out for little anthologies. It’ll shrink the amount of time it takes you to get better.

Do you read your books after they’ve been printed?

I don’t. There are so many other great books to read. But sometimes, when I’m looking for something for a class, I’ll read something from one of my books and I think: ‘You wrote that? How did that happen? Where did that come from?’

It’s only when the golden acorn is left in your palm that you can say, ‘I did that.’ It illuminates the mystery of the creation.

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Stay tuned for part II of the interview tomorrow as Linda discusses getting published and getting an agent.

Cheers!
Colleen

Don't give up

For Richard and Kristina.

Link

Love
Colleen

The Simpsons

In case this blog was getting too highbrow, I'm injecting a little pop culture. :-)

Drum roll, please.

Introducing my Simpsons alter-ego.

Here's the link, if you'd like to create your own.

Colleen

The Star Trek quiz

Blame this on Richard!

I've taken the Star Trek quiz to determine which character I'm most like. I'm Deanna Troi. Does this surprise anyone? Anyone?

You are Deanna Troi

Deanna Troi 85%
Jean-Luc Picard 70%
Geordi LaForge 60%
Uhura 55%
James T. Kirk (Captain) 50%
Chekov 50%
Will Riker 50%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)50%
Spock 49%
Mr. Scott 40%
Beverly Crusher 30%
Data 27%
Worf 25%
Leonard McCoy (Bones) 15%
Mr. Sulu 5%

You are a caring and loving individual.You understand people's emotions and you are able to comfort and counsel them.

If you'd like to put off doing something you should be doing by taking the quiz, go here. It's lots of fun.

Colleen

More good news: Ami McKay

Just got word that Ami McKay has agreed to participate in an interview for this blog. She's been really busy promoting her award-winning, best-selling book, The Birth House, so the time she's taking for us is appreciated.

Ami began her own blog pre-publication. You can check it out at www.amimckay.blogspot.com .

If you have any questions for her, let me know ASAP.

Colleen

What I love about homeschooling

Since I made a flippant, but disparaging remark about homeschoolers the other day, I thought I should set the record straight about where I stand on that issue -- I love homeschooling.

A year-and-a-half ago, my son convinced me to let him be homeschooled. He had always hated school and although he had done well, I had noticed that his enthusiasm for virtually everything had waned to nothing.

Once we moved to NS, things got worse. From a social perspective, he entered middle school and had difficulty making friends, spending most of his time alone. The kids didn't understand his humour, his vocabulary or his political commentary, although he kept the teachers in stitches. From an educational perspective, we found the school system to be uneven at best and the curriculum to be behind most other places in Canada.

I realize that I may be opening myself for a lot of criticism regarding that last remark, but the facts are the facts. I've spoken with adults who had been honour students at highschool who, when they attended university outside NS, needed remedial help in maths and sciences to keep afloat. I've spoken with a university admissions director who told me that the grades of NS students applying to universities outside the province are considered to be a full grade lower than their transcripts indicate. And then there are the national tests that rate NS students at the bottom of the provincial pack.

My son hated school so much that he'd create his own study plan then beg me to let him stay home for the week. He'd always be ahead of his class when he'd return to school. I finally gave in to the idea of homeschooling, although I had no idea what that meant and was terrified that I'd now be responsible for ensuring his future failure to get into university.

Have I ever learned a lot in the past eighteen months!

Now, I can't even figure out why we stick kids in highschool. I remember very little of what I learned there and hated the authoritarian approach. (You will take these classes. They will for XXX minutes. You will go here; you will go there.) I began thinking about how I have ever learned anything and, without exception, it has been either because I was interested in it or because I had to learn it to advance. I learned by reading and by talking with others. I remember embarrassingly little that was taught me by having me sit at a desk for 70 minutes bored out of my mind.

Despite what we are led to believe, you don't need a high school diploma to get into university; there are other ways of proving you belong there including providing a portfolio and writing an entrance exam. Students can also apply as non-degree students, get a few marks under their belts, then apply for full-time learning.

Taking out the rigid notion of high school really opens the possibilities for learning, doesn't it?

We have settled on a mix of school-at-home and unschooling in our methodology. My son is going into film studies and since the arts are so accessible in NS, he has many, many opportunities to learn. As one example, he's heading off to a two-week, film academy at the end of the month, he volunteers with the Filmmakers Co-op and the Film Festival, and has opportunities to volunteer on various productions. He will also be taking Intro to Psychology, Ethics II, Weather and American Cinema through a video-on-demand, teaching website -- all subjects he chose because he thinks they look interesting.

One year ago, he wouldn't choose subjects to study. That's right, by staying home and not dealing with the artificial environment at school, he's regaining his lost enthusiasm for learning. He has told me that when he began homeschooling, he didn't understand how to identify his learning options. "Teachers always told us what we'd learn." Now he participates quite willingly in selecting what he wants to focus on. That is a totally win-win situation to my way of thinking.

These are some of the things I love about homeschooling:

1) There is no peer pressure among the teens -- none.

2) The homeschooling kids I've met are open to various forms of dress, points-of-view and interests.

3) Kids have no fear of learning. This is so important. When asked: what if you need XXX to write an SAT? They shrug nonchalantly and say: That's okay. I'll learn it. And they do/will.

4) They have confidence in themselves. While studies show that girls loose their sense of self during four years of high school, this doesn't seem to be the case among homeschoolers.

5) My son is de-stressing (it took a whole year for this to happen) and learning to enjoy learning again.

So, flippancy aside, I'm glad we're a homeschooling family. I wish I had agreed to it earlier.

Colleen

River John Literary Festival

Patrick and I went to River John yesterday to check out the literary festival. It was worth driving in the downpour -- easy for me to say since I wasn't doing the driving -- we both had a great time.

We arrived at two, just in time for the main event, the book readings. I had not expected the turn-out that greeted us. River John is a tiny village teetering at the edge of the north coast. I pictured perhaps a couple of dozen book aficionados in the audience. Instead, there was a packed venue. The readings had been moved into the auditorium of the elementary school because of rain and there were, easily, 300 people there. I am a poor judge of these things, but Pat figures there could have been as many as 400 people in that room. We saw licence plates from Virginia, Maine, Illinois and Ontario. What a terrific turn out to honour writers and their works.

Don Hannah was first up. Don is a playwright and his first novel, The Wise and Foolish Virgins (doncha love that title?) won the Thomas Raddell Award for Fiction. He read from his latest work, Ragged Islands, "a moving, witty and tender portrait of a woman whose life has been shaped equally by family secrets and by the turbulent history of the twentieth century." (Random House) The protagonist is 85-year-old Susan Ann who escapes her children and a Toronto hospital to embarks on a search for answers to her life's mysteries before dying. His reading made me want to gobble this book up.

You can find out about Ragged Islands here.

You can buy it here.

Next to read was Ami McKay from her award-winning and best-selling novel, The Birth House. (She has recently sold the movie rights to her book.) I have already discussed The Birth House on this blog. Ami actually read little from her book, but talked at length about its inception -- moving from Illinois to Nova Scotia and buying a house that she later discovered had been the community birth house. As she gathered stories from the local women, she knew she had a story to tell and began some really in-depth research to begin the book. It was very interesting.

You can find out more about Dora Rare and The Birth House here.

You can buy the book here.

After a break, during which the most delectable sweets were available for purchase (we had almond squares), Freeman Patterson read from his book of inspiration and photography, The Garden. Freeman is a pretty spiritual guy. Besides being a wonderful photographer and writer, he is a theologian and avid gardener. The Garden combines all these things into a simply beautiful book. Now, I'll confess, this isn't wouldn't be my first choice for something to read -- just give me a good novel -- but there is something entirely appealing about learning stillness and living in the moment.

Read about The Garden here.

You can buy it here.

Sadly, the local Fire Chief made an announcement that cars parked next to the station would be towed as a wedding was scheduled for 4:30. A number of people left at that point and missed the last reader, Joan Clark, who read from An Audience of Chairs. Joan told us that it had taken her thirty years to muster the courage to write this book, she had made attempts at various times in her life before succeeding in 2005. An Audience of Chairs tells the story of Moranna, a woman dealing with mental illness whose husband has deserted her and taken her children from her. She has learned to deal, more or less, with her illness and has come to terms with living alone and then she meets Bun, the man who becomes her lover. It is this encounter that Joan chose to read. "Through a series of flashbacks, we learn more about the devastating effects of Moranna’s mental illness on her life and that of her family. But An Audience of Chairs also gives us a glimpse into the mind of a true iconoclast and wild spirit, who has managed despite overwhelming odds to keep hope alive." Random House.

You can read about the book here.

You can buy it here.

Patrick and I were too late to buy tickets for the dinner -- smoked pork chop or veggie lasagna -- so grabbed a bratwurst at a chip stand and headed over for the open-mic portion of the festival. Unpublished authors were given a chance to gt up their courage and read from their works. I froze when I was approached to read. I wasn't ready. I wanted to see what one of these things were like before I jumped in. I declined and then lived in fear that I may be called if there weren't enough volunteers to read. Fortunately, for me, the rain started again and Pat thought we should leave before dark.

The novices who had more guts than I were at various stages of publication readiness, but there were those who were there. I am constantly amazed at the talent I run into everywhere. I wish I could remember names of people because there are a couple of people there who I would have liked to be able to tell you to watch for. If I can track them down, I'll let you know.

(And I know I'm a complete disgrace for not reading.)

Colleen

3-Day Novel Contest

So, how about it? Think you can write a novel in three days?

I'm giving serious thought to entering Vancouver's 3-Day Novel Contest. Sounds like the sort of gruelling exercise I'd be up for. The writing takes place over the Labour Day Weekend and is open to writers around the world. Outlining and research can be done ahead of time, if desired, but actual writing can't begin until midnight. September 1. If you're interested, let me know. We can encourage each other during the writing period.

All the info is here.

Colleen

Read by the Sea Literary Festival

On Saturday I'll be heading to Read by the Sea, the eighth annual installment of what sounds like a really fun literary festival.

Authors Gary Blackwood, Don Hannah, Joan Clark. Pamela Hickman, Ami McKay, Freeman Patterson and Mark Oakley will read from their recent works then participate in brief interviews.


There is even an open mic event in the evening to give writers an opportunity to read their work aloud. It makes me sick just to think of doing so, but maybe I'll gather up my internal fortitude and throw my name into the ring. There are only eight spots available. I'll let you know.

The icing on the cake is that Linda Little has invited me to drop by and introduce myself. How could I resist? Linda is one of the founders of the event and the award winning author of Strong Hollows and Scotch River.


An interview with Linda and will be posted on July 30/31. She has some really worthwhile advice for us new writers. Very practical and encouraging.

Have a great weekend!

Colleen

The Onion: John Edwards Vows To End All Bad Things By 2011

AMES, IA—In an effort to jump-start a presidential campaign that still has not broken into the top Democratic tier, former Sen. John Edwards made his most ambitious policy announcement yet at a campaign event in Iowa Monday: a promise to eliminate all unpleasant, disagreeable, or otherwise bad things from all aspects of American life by the end of his second year in office...

"Racism will soon be a thing of the past," Edwards said. "Same goes for being picked last for playground athletics, AIDS, robbery, not having enough spending money, and murder. Because these things are bad and not good, I promise they will be eliminated."

Other bad things the 2004 vice-presidential nominee vowed to end include the housing crisis, skinned knees, frowns, steep staircases, jailbreaks, water that is too cold to swim in, pain, traffic, being tired in the morning, sprained ankles, hunger, not having enough energy at night, teen pregnancy, cases of the blahs, thunder, the high cost of admission to events, type 2 diabetes, games of tic-tac-toe with no clear winner, the lack of parking in urban areas, forgetting birthdays, child prostitution, and confusion.

Read full article here.

Enjoy!
Colleen

The Onion: Longtime Married Couple Subjected To Excruciating 'Romantic Weekend Getaway'

This had me laughing so hard, I cried. Thanks again to Becca who is the fastest worker I know thus allowing her the time to find this stuff.

Longtime Married Couple Subjected To Excruciating 'Romantic Weekend Getaway'
The Onion/August 10, 2005 Issue 41•32


Edna and Duane Schumacher prepare to leave home for their agonizing weekend at FantasyLand (inset).

KENOSHA, WI—Sources report that longtime married couple Duane and Edna Schumacher's weekend stay at Chicago's FantasyLand Suites was a grueling ordeal of unwelcome interruptions to their long-established marital routine.

"Oh, for Jiminy Cricket," Edna, 52, said Monday after returning from the trip, a 30th anniversary gift from her daughters. "Why the girls thought either one of us would find such an experience enjoyable is beyond me."

Read the rest here.

Colleen

The Blogger Reflection Award

Stephen Parrish has tagged me, among others, to receive this reflection award. He refers to me as the best activist and provocateur.

I've never been called either -- at least to my face and I love it! So, thank you Stephen.

Now, because I am a total nerd, I had to look into the origin of the award and here it is... the irony that a group of (relatively) left wingers, and (at least mostly) non-Christian group of bloggers has been given this award is hilarious. (Yes, I do have a weird sense of humour, but you've gotta read why this award was created.)

The Blogger Reflection Award was created by a 16-year-old homeschooler (of course, it would be a homeschooler, but don't get me started) named Jocelyn because The Thinking Blogger Award was hosted by a site that posted "secular" and "ungodly" ideas. (Why is it that Christians are so afraid of thought? Don't answer that; it's rhetorical. But I digress.)

In Jocelyn's own words here's her blurb on her award: "As for my award, it is called The Blogger Reflection Award. Why? The reason for the title is because this award should make you reflect on five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Five Bloggers who when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy... of knowing them and being blessed by them."

However, I will not let this dampen my appreciation at receiving this award in the spirit (not Spirit) it was intended! So, here I tag five blogs that give me cause for reflection.

1) Stephen Parrish: Back at you Steve! Since there are no rules that say I can't pass the torch back to you, I do so. I love that you are fearless and have a healthy desire to stir things up.

2) Anne Mini: Who gives so much good advice to all us new writers, helping us navigate a system that we'd never otherwise manage.

3) Gail Lethbridge: Who makes me laugh whenever I check her blog. She's funny, irreverent, and she didn't trash Toronto when she visited.

4) John Kauffman: Who shares his life and his concern over U.S. policies with such heartfelt angst that I learn humility and compassion from him.

5) Becca: This is an honorary blogger award because she doesn't operate her blog anymore. (However, she does participate in the blogger community -- I'm sure her boss is delighted!)Becca is the single-most supportive person I've ever come across. She is a wonderful best friend helping me though the dark days of writing, relationships and parenting. I only hope I do the same for her.

Thanks to all of you who make my days better ones -- even though you may not know it.

Colleen

P.S. For my honorees, I neglected to mention that your task, should you accept, is to tag five others with the award. Remember these have to be blogs that make you reflect.

P.P.S. If anyone knows how I can get rid of strange spacing problems every time I post a photo or link, please let me know.

The Donna Morrissey Interview

Browbeaten by a Jungian analyst into believing she was a writer, Donna Morrissey began her literary career at the age of 32 after working a variety of jobs including: waitressing, working as a cook at an oil rig camp, bartending and providing respite care.

Today, she is the award-winning author of three works of literary fiction: Kit's Law, Downhill Chance, and Sylvanus Now — as well as Clothesline Patch, which garnered her a Gemini Award.

Donna has agreed to take time away from her fourth novel to answer some questions about her life and her road to publication.

The Interview

You’ve been very open about flunking out of high school and leading a very non-conventional working life – earning a living by cooking for an oil rig camp, bartending, working at a fish plant and rescuing hookers, among other jobs. What was it that school didn’t offer you and what were the twists of fate that led you to various jobs?

It’s not that school had nothing to offer me, I had nothing to offer it. Simply wanted to be outside, roaming the countryside, and having fun. Which I did. Work was something I picked up along the way to pay for the next train trip or bus ride - I can’t remember a job I wasn’t fired from... oops, should I have said that???

I gotta ask: how did you rescue hookers?

Ahem, that’s a bit of a overstatement. There were ‘two’ young women that were friends of friends that needed help. I offered them a place to live, free rent for awhile, get away from abusive relationships. That was the extent of that career....

When you were misdiagnosed as having fatal tetanus, your world changed. How and what happened next?

Well, I suffered post traumatic shock syndrome, went into hell for awhile, and decided to go to university, study psychology and see if there was a cure for this terrible, terrible thing. Which was amazing because even during the healthiest of times I didn’t have the courage or confidence to return to school. I always say fear is my greatest motivator. I didn’t find a cure for PSS, but I sure found lots of company....plus, having a label helped...up to that point I didn’t have a clue what I was dealing with....

You returned to school earning a degree in social work and there discovered the source of that earlier, wrong diagnosis – generalized anxiety. Has this illness had an effect on your writing? Have you been able to overcome it?

I’m sure attending university opened many windows for me, and eventually, doors, I suppose. It started me on a learning curve that’s still moving up. We may be able to control what happens to us, but we can control how we deal with it. Our fate lies in there...how we respond to those curve balls life throws at us. I also discovered many different ways to deal with anxiety, post traumatic shock issues....Cognitive thinking, physical health, plus, SSRI’s are a wonder drug for people suffering this kind of condition.

During all of this, you had two children. Did they travel with you or were you back in Newfoundland before they were born? Have either of them chosen writing as a career?

My son travelled the country with me when he was a toddler....he was great. I was more settled when my daughter arrived. Neither of them write, although they both have that energy that flows through the pen. Maybe someday ??

You began your writing career by writing a letter a day at the insistence of a Jungian analyst who called you by name: writer. How did these letters translate into short stories and then into plays?

I started by doing free association, just writing the first thing that popped into my mind, and never ending the writing session until an hour was up. Eventually I started with a family member, and poured out my heart onto the paper, and then one day I hit upon a metaphor and I was astounded. I’ve never stopped writing....that was the moment I felt the ‘awe’ thing with writing. I then wrote two short stories, two screen plays, and then the novels. Every day I am surprised that I am still able to do this sort of thing. It’s a very insecure world....never know if ‘its’ gonna be there today.

I have thought that the Irish love-of-story has had a profound effect on the unique culture of Newfoundland. Do you agree with this and do you credit being a Newfoundlander with your ability to tell a tale?

I don’t know about that. I’m sure there are more story tellers out there than Newfoundlanders... what a dull world if that were the case. As wonderful as the island is, and its story tellers, I love equally reading about other cultures and places. And a story is unique to an individual, not a place. Place is where we cradle our stories, and most certainly place inspires writing for me, but - if George Eliott hadn’t lived in England, I believe she still would’ve had that amazing ability (she’s my hero).

How did you hone your craft? Did you have mentors or participate in writers’ groups, or such?I had no groups or writing friends.

I simply sat and wrote. Every day. For as much time as I could afford. It probably would’ve been great having a writing group, people to inspire and encourage and teach. Lots of things I learned by trial and error....but yet, I think the most learning comes from the practise.

When did you know you were good?

You’re very generous. I ponder that question with every sentence I write.

Some writers write to a strict daily schedule of so many hours or so many words. Others write intensely for short periods of time. Do you have a writing schedule?

I am very strict. I start writing every day around seven. I never leave it - except to pace and moan - til noon. And then, perhaps another couple of hours later in the afternoon. If I’m not writing, then I’m reading. It is my work day.

When you begin a new story, do you plan it out ahead of time or do you write it as it comes? How do you begin a new book? Would you describe your writing process?

There is no process. I don’t plan it out. I have a vague idea. I write from intuition. It is difficult, I never know where I am, where I’m going, if what I’m writing today will work. I simply choose a place relating to the ‘bit’ of a story that’s circling my mind, and start. My pattern, as I look back, is that I write this huge opening sentence. And then my story precedes it. I always have to be going back in time from the opening sentence. Two years down the road and I have two hundred pages preceding that opening sentence. It’s the darndest thing....

Once you have a first draft, what comes next? Does it simmer for a bit before you look it over? Do you do a lot of editing?

My first draft is usually the finished draft, aside from a few touch ups or scene changes. I edit as I go...I hate my editing hand, it creates a lot of angst for me because I can’t move ahead quickly. Everything has to be perfect in order for me to move ahead. Which is very time consuming, given that most everything I write, I re write fifty times....

Would you describe your path to publication?

I was very naive. After I finished Kit’s Law, I bundled up thirty pages of the story, wrote the greatest, most creative letter of introductory anybody (so they say) has ever read, and sent the package off to six or seven publishers. My plan was to aim for the biggest and settle for what I could get. I got replies from nearly all of them. They said after it was the letter of intro that got my ms read by so many editors. So, a good letter of intro....thirty pages from your ms....and lotsa luck. Lotsa lotsa luck, and remembering that no never means no....

What are the realities of life for a Canadian author? (For example: Is it difficult to get published/to get an agent? Can a Canadian writer make a living at it? Is the writing community welcoming to new writers?)

I have been very blessed. According to my agent my path wasn’t a normal path for an emerging writer. My first novel was an instant best seller that gave me a privileged place with Penguin publishing. I have friends who are writers who cannot live off their sales. And they’re darn good writers. A very low number of writers make a living from their sales. It’s probably the poorest industry out there....the saying in the business is that it has very few assholes because you gotta be in for love not money....I would say the greatest perk is meeting so many people. Having people tell you they love your writing. Can there be anything greater than that??? Oh, yes, buying the book. That’s a great thing too....

As you know, writing can be an isolating experience and many writers have little support or encouragement to keep at it. Can you offer any advice for writers just starting out?

Stick with it. Create a place and simply do it. If you got nothing on paper, you got nothing to work with. You gotta put words to paper. You’ve got to be disciplined. It’s the only way. And it’s hard. But, sooo gratifying when you ‘hit that metaphor’ for the day, or mine that gorgeous thought you didn’t know you had....and too, read. Read everything. Gotta put something in your head for something to come out.

You are working on your next book. Any chance you’ll share the storyline with us?

Naw. It’s boring. I’m all mixed up with it. You’ll steal my storyline and beat me to the printing presses....

When’s it due out.

Probably this coming spring. Or September. Man, am I in trouble....second piece of advice...never sign contracts you don’t have a prayer in hell of keepin....

Is there anything you’d like to add?

That you flatter me with this attention. And you honour me. Thank you. Thank you very very much.

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I know you’re working on a deadline and time is precious. I’ll be watching for the new book to hit the shelves.

If you want more, here's a link to Writer's Cafe for audio interviews with Donna about two of her books, Downhill Chance and Sylvanus Now. They are well worth the listen.

Hope you've enjoyed this!
Colleen

Tall ships and the best musicians!

The Tall Ships are in town so I battled the crowds to take a look. I'm no photographer and am learning how to deal with bright sun, but have a look.

Here's a shot of The Bounty, the ship built in Lunenburg for the Movie: Mutiny on The Bounty. It models the original with an additional 30% of space to accommodate cameras. You've probably also see her in two of the three Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Sadly, there was a private party aboard, so I wasn't able to get a shot from the wharf.

The Providence was another impressive ship.

But the highlight of the day, for me, was listening to these women play. They huddled together in a corner, grubby and shy, sitting on their sleeping bags and speaking softly among themselves as they pulled instruments out of filthy, much-mended cases. They had travelled far and hard.

They played ancient bluegrass. I could hear the strains of the old ballads from Scotland, Ireland and England like I was there hundreds of years ago.

I could have listened for hours and hours. I wanted to bundle them up and take them home to offer showers and laundry facilities and a meal and somewhere to sleep. I wrote them a note indicating such, then realized the people I live with would be less-than-thrilled that I had made the offer without family consultation. So, I put the note back in my bag and, with regret, headed to my car.

I hope Halifax treats them well.

Colleen

Canadianisms

A new book has come out on Canadianisms. I admit that I didn't know many of these were uniquely Canadian.

Here are a few for your reading pleasure...

• "all-dressed" potato chips or pizza


• bargoon (a bargain)


• back bacon (round, lean bacon cut from the eye of a pork loin)


• Cheezies (cheese-flavoured snack food made in Belleville, Ont.)


• date squares or matrimonial cake


• flipper pie (Newfoundland dish made of seal flippers)


• Gravol (outside of Canada, the drug is known by the brand name Dramamine)


• hanging up your skates (giving up or quitting)


• humidex (humidity index, a term invented by the Toronto weather office in 1965)


• joe job (a menial or monotonous task)


• kick at the can (an opportunity to achieve something)


• Nanaimo bar (dessert consisting of a crust of chocolate and cookie crumbs, a vanilla buttercream filling and chocolate glaze)


• Montreal bagel


• panzerotto (baked, pizza-like turnover)


• poutine


• rhyming off


• triactor (a bet on the first three finishers in a horse race, specifying their order of finish)

Colleen

Horns on my head

When you see me, you won't instantly notice the horns sprouting from my head or the tail I keep hidden in my pants, but they're there. They must be -- I'm from Ontario. To make matters worse, I'm from Toronto.

Yesterday, I was paying for my purchases at a grocery story when my son called to remind me we were completely out of sugar. I decided to return to the baking section and pick some up as I know how much he likes sugar in his tea.

As I selected my checkout lane to pay for my single item, an older woman with a cart swooped in ahead of me. I was rather taken aback, but thought that maybe she didn't realize why I was standing there.

I asked her very nicely if I might go ahead of her, me and my single item.

"Oh, sure," she said.

I proceeded with what I hoped was a winning smile and said: "Thank you."

"You'd never get ahead if you were in Ontario," she offered. "No, there you could have one thing and there be a whole line up ahead of you and they'd never think to let you in. No, sir. Not in Ontario. I tell you, I've been there and they wouldn't look at you."

My smile slipped. Do I tell her?

I decided not to. Neither did I point out that she had -- in effect -- cut me off, or that she didn't offer to let me in ahead of her, I had asked.

I wish I could say that this was a unique encounter, but, since moving here, I have had to listen to this sort of thing frequently.

It seems Ontario -- but which most Nova Scotians mean Toronto -- is modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah.

Two years ago, I found myself having to watch a video from the United Way showing a man down on his luck, living on the streets. I knew right away it would be a Bluenoser who had moved to (da da da dah) Toronto. I was right. As we all know, that could never happen to someone here.

When NS branded itself, it was all done in comparison to Ontario. How do I know this? I was at the meetings. "It doesn't take two hours to drive to work here." Neither does it anywhere in Ontario except Toronto. I had to listen to hours of negativity about Ontario.

Two summers ago, I ran into a couple of teens from Ontario who had landed a job selling magazines door-to-door. The bigotry they faced was something we wouldn't want our kids to have to handle. Taunts like: "Whats the matter? Can't your rich parents pay for your eduction?"
C'mon people.

First of all, Ontario is huge. One congested city does not a province make.

Are there wealthy people there? Sure there are. But Ontario also has two large areas (the entire north -- look at a map, it's big -- and the eastern area) that are economically depressed.

Will people talk to you there? Yes. Even in Toronto. I know, I've actually been there unlike many people who slag Torontonians from zero personal experience. It is a city. They do rush. But if you ask somebody something, they'll stop and take the time to help.

Crime? Halifax has the highest violent crime rate in Canada.

Beauty? Both provinces have beautiful vistas. Different, most definitely, but beautiful nonetheless.

Usually, when someone starts yammering away about Ontario, I try to hold back from rolling my eyes and attempt to enter a civil dialogue.

Yesterday, I just didn't have the heart.

It's times like these that I wish I'd never left home.

Colleen

Have you ever met Donna Morrissey?

"There's a sense in Donna Morrissey's writing that William Faulkner has met Annie Proulx." Atlantic Books Today, number 26, Fall 1999.

I haven't, at least in any way other than via email. But I have fallen in love with her first book and am starting on her second. What I'm really excited about is that Donna has agreed to be interviewed for this blog.

After Maureen Hull so graciously accepted my invitation to visit here, I got up the nerve to ask Donna. When she replied calling me missy, I had to laugh. It's a term I use all the time.

Her bio on the Houghton Mifflin website is posted as follows:

Donna Morrissey was born in The Beaches, a small village on the northwest coast of Newfoundland that had neither roads nor electricity until the 1960s a place not unlike Haire’s Hollow, which she depicts in Kit’s Law. When she was sixteen, Morrissey left The Beaches and struck out across Canada, working odd jobs from bartending to cooking in oil rig camps to processing fish in fish plants. She went on to earn a degree in social work at Memorial University in St. Johns. It was not until she was in her late thirties that Morrissey began writing short stories, at the urging of a friend, a Jungian analyst, who insisted she was a writer. Eventually she adapted her first two stories into screenplays, which both went on to win the Atlantic Film Festival Award; one aired recently on CBC. Kit’s Law is Morrissey’s first novel, the winner of the Canadian Booksellers Association First-Time Author of the Year Award and shortlisted for many prizes, including the Atlantic Fiction Award and the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award. Morrissey lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

That's all well and fine, but a little out of date.

Since Kit's Law, Donna has gone on to write two more award-winning novels. Downhill Chance winner of the 2003 Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize; and Sylvanus Now, winner of the 2006 Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize, of the Bookseller's Choice Award, and shortlisted for The Commonwealth Award.

Click here to read an excerpt of Kit's Law.

For an excerpt of Downhill Chance click here.

And for Sylvanus Now, click here.

Now, we don't have a lot of time. Donna is squirreled away working on her next book - and is a wee bit behind on deadline, but has agreed to ponder some questions. So, if there is anything you'd like to ask her, fire away. I'll be sending the questions to her this weekend.

Colleen

Sentence sensibility

Imagine trying to find love via an ad when you suffer from sentence sensibility. Here's Jaimie Epstein's funny piece from the NY Times. That her name was spelled incorrectly only adds to the fun.

Be nice to tourists

Last night, I met up with some of the women I used to work with and saw a cruise ship -- looking more like an apartment complex than something that could stay afloat -- pull away from Pier 21. Today, I had lunch with a transplanted American friend downtown (Happy July 4th) and saw hundreds of tourists wandering along the harbour boardwalk. It brought to mind an incident at my bank last year and how infuriatingly dense we can be to tourists.

A woman and her husband were standing at the teller beside me. I assume they were from New York or New Jersey (I've never been great identifying accents.)

The lady says to the teller: "I wanna dollah.

The teller says: "I can give you a loony."

"I just wanna dollah."

"I can give you a loony.

"What's the mattah with her?" the woman asks her husband. "I just wanna dollah." She turns her attention back to the teller. "I wanna papah dollah."

"I've got loonies."

At this point I want to smack the teller into last week.

I lean over and say to the woman and her husband who are, at this point, probably wondering what brand of idiot we have working at our banks and regretting their decision to spend their vacation money in Nova Scotia, and say: "I'm sorry. We no longer have paper one or two dollar bills. We call our one-dollar coins loonies because there's a loon on them and our two-dollar coins toonies because it rhymes with loony. She can give you one- or two-dollar coins."

"Well, would ya gimme coins then? I just want change for a five."

C'mon people. We WANT tourists to have a good time here so they come back and so they tell their friends how great it is here. Tourism is one of our few growth markets.

Don't expect people to know our little colloquialisms. Offer assistance. Be friendly.

That's all I'm sayin'.

Colleen

Happy 4th of July!

Greeting card link.

Hope it's a good one!

Get this man a writer

Here's another gem from the Office of the Prime Minister -- the Canada Day news release.

PRIME MINISTER HARPER CELEBRATES CANADA’S 140TH BIRTHDAY ON PARLIAMENT HILL

“Canada’s potential is as limitless as our boundless Arctic”

Need I say more?

Colleen

Happy Birthday, Canada!

Can you pass a mini-citizenship quiz?

Check out Canada: A People's History.

History of Canada.

Have a great day!
Colleen

Scotch River

I have an other Atlantic Book Award winner to share with you, Scotch River by Linda Little.

Her prose is dark and breathtaking.

One of the things I enjoy about this book is the entrance of Cass Hutt, rodeo cowboy, into the small fishing village of Scotch River NS. Placing someone so obviously from away into the lives of an extraordinarily dysfunctional family allows the author to show that sometimes the things that make us different are, indeed, that things that unite us.

Illiterate and nearly amnesiac Cass, with only a deed to an unknown bit of land to guide him, walks from Alberta to Nova Scotia searching for his identity and something to ground him after his rodeo partner dies.

He finds a cast of characters so unable to communicate with each other, they wrap themselves in pain and solitude, brandishing each as badges of honour. If Cass is to find himself, he has to be able to make sense of these people and discover his connection to them.

Here are the opening words:

"Cass Hutt could not feel the land beneath his feet. Stone-cold sober and reeling around on nothing as though his flesh speckled out into air, as though ghost legs propped him up. He pulled off his boots at night and ran his hands down his calves, feeling skin on skin, seeking to reassure himself..."

Read the first chapter and buy the book through Penguin Canada.

Or you can buy it here.

I hope you enjoy Linda's book as much as I did.

Colleen