Well, it has been a while, hasn't it?

This fall has been ridiculously busy and has had heartbreaking moments aplenty. The latter I'm not going to discuss except to say that the history of challenges around life with my daughter continue. I wrote a blog about it one day that stayed up for about three hours before I took it down. Somethings really are to personal to be shared. And then, of course, there is the issue of respecting her privacy.

On the busy front, I have begun my work with Amnesty International and spoke briefly about my role at the regional conference on Saturday. I'll post more on that at on my other blog.

I've found a job teaching public relations at a local college. It's an exciting, but scary prospect. Yesterday, I was provided with the books and curriculum and spent the evening feeling rather overwhelmed. Today is a better day. I begin on Nov. 12.

Then there is organizing homeschool activities for a teen group, being involved in my son's educational activities, helping to organize my mother's 80th birthday party, planning for Christmas, and just regular life.

I'm also writing content for an IT website which I had better get to right now.

I'll be glad when things settle a bit and I can get back to some writing. Real writing.

I wish you all the best in whatever endeavours are consuming you today!
Colleen

Doris Lessing Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Breaking News AlertThe New York TimesThursday, October 11, 2007 -- 7:14 AM ET-----

Doris Lessing Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

The Swedish Academy said that the 87-year-old British author"has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny" with"skepticism, fire and visionary power."

Read More:http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na

Interview with Brian Tucker

Vagrant Press has just released Brian Tucker’s first book, Big White Knuckles, a story of an artistic boy growing up in a coal-mining town in Cape Breton.

Here’s the publisher’s description: “Dagan Cadden knows that one day he will grow up to be a hard man like his Da. But the older he gets, the more he sees himself away from the coalmine and perhaps away from Cape Breton itself. If he follows his dreams of becoming an artist, Dagan will have to break some of the rock-hard traditions of his family, and make his way toward a future that is much less certain.

“Funny and poignant, captivating and raw, Big White Knuckles is a novel about what it takes to become the person you want to be while staying loyal to the things that made you what you are.”

Leo McKay Jr., author of Like This and Twenty-six says: “Out of the rough-hewn lumber of the working-class male vernacular, Brian Tucker has crafted a tender portrait of a young man simultaneously at odds with and in love with his community.”

This is what struck me most about the book. Books that deal with blue-collar communities sometimes focus single-mindedly on the negative aspects of such a place, but this one does not. As a matter of fact, even the most gruesome physicality is described in a way that allows the reader to, at times, find a degree of sympathy with the perpetrators. This is quite a feat because I cringe at even the mildest violence and often skip over these types of passages in other books.

Brian’s portrayal of Da is another work of subtlety. The man with the big, white knuckles is no one-dimensional brute, but a man who lives by a code of honour he tries to pass along to his son.

I enjoyed Brian’s work immensely and encourage you to pick it up.

Link to Chapters.

Link to Amazon.

Link to Vagrant Press.

Interview

Brian, I’ve just finished your book, Big White Knuckles, and have to ask: how biographical is it?

I get that question a lot. I would say that half of the book is based on some true event. I’ve highly fictionalized a lot of those true events but there are some I hardly touched at all. I think people will be surprised as to what is true and what is not.

Your characters aren’t always portrayed in a positive light. Are they based upon real people and, if so, do the people they’re based upon see themselves in your pages? How do they feel about being in your book?

There are a few characters based on real people. Some are composites. The character of Styx for example is based on a friend I had in Cape Breton and a good friend here in New Brunswick. I haven’t heard anything yet but I’m expecting some shit to come my way over certain depictions.

You studied art at NSCAD University. What drew you away from art and towards writing? Are you still involved in art? Do you find the two complementary, or does one inspire the other?

I haven’t painted anything since I started writing BWK. I don’t know why. It used to be different. When I wasn’t painting I was writing and when I wasn’t writing I’d start pushing some paint around. I used to love painting but now all I want to do is write.


How long did it take you to write your book?

I read in a writers guide that all publishers were looking for were 30 pages of a manuscript, a SASE and a query letter. I wrote the 30 pages over a weekend and sent it out figuring by the time I heard back I’d have most of the book completed. In my query letter I said that the book was finished and that it was 48,000 words, which was a complete lie. Three months went by and a get a call from Sandra McIntyre from Vagrant Press looking for the rest so I did what most writers would do in that situation, I lied again. I told her that the book was written out in long hand and I would need some time to type it out. I still only had 30 pages. I wrote the entire book in a month and sent it out. She liked what I sent and asked if I could double it in three months. I told her I could even though I was working two jobs at the time. I had to wake up at 6:30 am write until I went to work, come home at 10pm, write until 2am and do the same thing all over again the next day for three months.

When you write, do you edit as you go, or write full drafts and edit after each?

I write entire drafts in long hand and then type it out later. I edit during the typing stage.

Will there be a next book? If so, have you given any thought to it yet?

I’m about four chapters into my second novel. The working title is Somethin Fierce.

Do you have any advice for writers who are looking to be published?

Not really. I’m new to this game, just stumbling around hoping to end up in a good place. The only advice I could give at this point is find the right publisher for your work. Vagrant Press has been very good to me. I think I ended up in a good place.

Many thanks for taking the time to speak with me. I wish you all the best on your book.

Colleen