People, Places and Things

Want more Valerie?

This month you'll find Valerie at WomenBloom!, Mississippi Crow, and in WCDR's Word Weaver. You can also read her work at Bread 'n' Molasses, and NYC Midnight.

Day Jobs for Authors

In my daily job search online, I discoverd Quill & Quire's job board. This morning, I spent some time reading the blog ... and found a thread about Day Jobs for Authors.

Here's what I wrote.

I’m a technical writer by trade who works on contract only. This way, I can earn enough money to take time off between each contract. It’s the only way I can get any creative writing done. I make notes, jot ideas, and consider aspects of stories, poems, and other pieces, but it’s not until I have downtime in large chunks that I can actually put it together.

I’ve tried part-time gigs; one at a talent agency was particularly helpful because of the creativity of the clients, but the one as a meat-wrapper at a local chain grocery store was awful.

For me, the time between contracts is what makes slogging in a corporate environment less painful.

Maybe John Tomasi [writer who posted] is right. Maybe we have to steal time from jobs we hate to make time for our work.

If that’s the case … on to the next unfulfilling gig!

Amazing Artists

In a December blog posting, I briefly mentioned talented artist Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli. Shortly afterward that posting, I commissioned her to illustrate two children's limericks I'd written years ago (and recently rewritten for a writing class.)

If you're interested in art and would like to view Jacqueline's beautiful renditions, check out her blog: http://www.chubbybroccoli.com/.

Writers-in-Residence

In May 2004, poet Harold Rhenisch agreed to an email conversation about the challenges writers-in-residence face during the exchange between seasoned writer and emerging writer. Rhenisch advises writers on what to do when participating in a professional critique, how to  submit your best work, alongside works-in-progress, in order to gain the most from the opportunity of working with an established writer. Download QandA_Rhenisch.pdf

Download QandA_Rhenisch.pdf

Ontario Writers Conference

REMINDER: This weekend May 2-3, 2008 the Writers Circle of Durham Region is hosting the Ontario Writers Conference. To learn more about this two-day event at the Delta Toronto East Hotel, go to www.ontariowritersconference.com.

Whatcha Reading?

I was asked recently if I read technical magazines to keep up on technology trends. From my post the other day, you know I do not.

And you might as well know, that I have not kept my promise to buy only Canadian magazines, but this month just one of six magazines I purchased not "Canadian."

Here's this month's inventory:

• Psychology Today
• The Writer (excuse: research for writing course)
• Best Health
• Toronto Life
• Reader's Digest
• More magazine

Oh, and

• Shameless
• Domino
• Canadian Geographic
• Our Canada
• Fashion

Of course, a few books caught my attention, too. This month I read:

• A Mother's Story by Gloria Vanderbilt
• White Rapids by award-winning Quebecois cartoonist Pascal Blanchet
• Property by Valerie Martin
• Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now and A New Earth {I wanted to know what all the fuss is about.}

As of yesterday, I returned to Consolation this year's pick for Keep Toronto Reading One Book Campaign. I got sidetracked.

Every Paycheque is a Bonus

Today, I'm feeling a little cow-handed about this whole resume updating thing.

Even though I regularly update my resume -- that is, after each writing gig -- last month I decided to revamp my CV.

When I opened a Word doc containing my entire work history, I enjoyed a meandering detour along memory lane and couldn't help but laugh out loud at some of my work experience.

There was my solitary retail experience in women's clothing - Ricki's, circa 1984, my summer fling with waitressing, rather I had a carhop gig at A&W carhop in 1981; and there was a horrific summer job in 1977 working for my aunt's husband.

Although the thought of these jobs made me chuckle, in part because they were far from the worst jobs I've held, I was reminded of a recent survey that claimed a large percentage of individuals would work entertainment industry, if possible. I've worked in the film/tv industry; it's not all it's cracked up to be. To those folks, I'd say, keep hold of that job you've got. If it pays the bills, you're already ahead of the game.

As for me, I'm packing it in.

In 1996, in a Nobel lecture, poet Wislawa Szymborska said, "Most of the Earth's inhabitants work to get by. They work because they have to." Most of us, she assured her audience, do not choose our jobs out of passion, but from the circumstances of our lives.

In the March 2008 issue of "O" The Oprah Magazine, Oprah wrote "If you can get paid for doing what you love, every paycheck is a bonus."

I agree. I like to derive a sense of satisfaction, of accomplishment, of a job well-done from my 9-5 just as I do from my freelance and volunteer work.

What about you? Wislawa, or Oprah? Which type of job do you have?

During a recent job interview, I was asked about how I keep up on technology and the truth is, I don't. Not really. (If you do, and are reading this, you are probably familiar with Laurence Cutler's blog Technically Speaking. If you do not, I suggest you check out the blog later.)

For anyone with the title "technical writer" on his/her business card, lack of interest can be perilous, if not downright detrimental, to said career.

Not long ago, I came across a good article on this very topic.

"Are You a Good Technical Writer?" reminded me of the importance of technical writers to enjoy technology.

The article also brought to mind a comment a colleague made to me during our work on a bank project. It hit close to home. After a brief discussion about my findings during the discovery process, a the fellow contractor, to whom I reported, said to me "You're not a technical writer, you're a business analyst."

Oops.

Indeed, after a decade of doing so, the realization that I was no longer interested in pursuing technical writing as a profession came as sort of a surprise to me. And as I thought about the former colleague's comment, which she'd meant as a compliment, I discovered that I missed my former career more than I previously admitted. So, I decided to return to my administrative roots.

After a 10-year hiatus I'm glad to be back.

Writers-in-Residence: It’s About the Work (XXL) 3/3

...continued

Choosing what to send, I learned, also takes proper evaluation through scrutiny. Writers and editors tell me that it can be frustrating to receive what is obviously a first draft, instead of a polished piece.

Continuing this process has taught me to look more critically at my own work, to distance myself from the work and read with an objective, editorial eye before I send it out as well as afterwards.

One of the tricks I use is to make-believe I am being graded on the work. In aiming for an A+ my lazy writer proofreads with care while the editor in me thinks about the structure and overall flow. I now use this same trick when submitting poems and fiction work for publication.

In receiving feedback, I prefer written responses. Since written evaluations have a longer life span, than the verbal variety, I can revisit the piece when I run into stumbling blocks during revisions.

Usually, I read the feedback then put the pages away. I think about the feedback, make notes, and after a week or more, I retrieve the pages and re-read the analysis. Then I repeat the process. Only then am I ready to make revisions.

From this vantage point, I’ve been able to find a new way of dealing with weaknesses, which tend to fall away, leaving the best work standing. Following this process time after time has made my writing stronger and me a stronger writer.

These experiences have also been satisfying for a few other reasons: the one-on-one nature of the relationship, the explicit aspects of written feedback, and the forethought of which pieces to send, and the analyzing required beforehand (which usually results in rewriting before I submit work.)

Through their own graciousness, the writers and editors I’ve worked with have shown me how to respond to the work of others. Should that happen, I hope that I live up to the standard they set.

Writers-in-Residence: It’s About the Work (XXL) 2/3

...continued

From Claire, I learned a lot about rapport and synergy. Those attributes aren't found by typing keywords and following search results.

First, Claire sent me to her website. If I liked this representation of her work and her approach to editing, we’d continue. I did. Next, she led me through a Q&A to determine the level of my editorial needs. Then we settled on an hourly rate and schedule for remitting work and receiving feedback.

From our initial information sessions, I was able to get a good sense of her professional approach and sensibility toward editing and to the writer. The experience was nothing less than exceptional.

In the beginning, though, I did what every emerging writer does. I expected validation rather than honest feedback. Early on, I even hoarded my better work and sent stuff I was not emotionally attached to. Sure, that’s a great way to remain invulnerable to criticism -- and while most editors are sensitive to the self-doubt of emerging writers and consequently tend to be moderate with criticism -- it must have been difficult trying to find positive things to say about work that was not up to scratch.

On the other hand, as I received gentle and encouraging guidance I submitted better work. Soon it became what it should be – more about the work and less about acceptance of my writer self. I began to focus on the positive comments, to concentrate on what worked, rather than focus on what didn’t. It took time before I stopped sending of what I considered my “best” work – which I had defined as favourite – and started sending my most polished work.

more ...

Writers-in-Residence: It’s About the Work (XXL) 1/3

Like many emerging writers, family and work-related responsibilities consume much of my free time, so when I’m looking for professional feedback on personal writing projects, classroom settings don’t always work for me. I need the flexibility and convenience that a written critique allows.

The first experience I had with an editor underscored the intrinsic value on soliciting feedback from professionals. I found a freelance writer-editor to work for a non-fiction manuscript I was self-publishing. Not only was the price right, but his view of self-publishing was refreshingly positive. The collaborative experience was so rewarding that I decided to look for editors to work with on other writing projects.

In the past several years, I’ve been lucky to work with WCDR writers-in-residence Stuart Ross, Bernice Lever, and Marjorie Ludlow Green, but I’ve also pursued feedback from writers-in-residence through public library and universities, which is where I found Betty Jane Wylie and poet NorbeSe Philip.

Established poets Harold Rhenisch, Anne Simpson, and Colin Morton, were listed on-line at the LCP website. And last year, I found Claire Robson through the EAC.

To be continued ...

Lessons Learned

Post-project implementation, it's common practice to review a project's success, to review what was done well and as the corporate heads say, "what we could have done better."

Today, I discovered that the website designed for me - based on the business card I designed - was usurped. Now I look like a putz because my site is identical in all but colour and a couple of elements to another's website. I think that the duplication cheapens my work, not his, because it looks as if mine is copied, not vice versa, so I've laid some ground rules for redesign.

Caveat #1. Don't take advice from online classmates.

Caveat #2. If the term "quick and dirty" is bandied about frequently when discussing design, know that the result will be just that.

Caveat #3. Get it in writing. Don't presume that just because a colleague, friend, or acquaintance vouches for someone that you don't need to get terms in writing. This includes the right to an original design.

Caveat #4. Take one last look before you cut the cheque.

Caveat #5. An individual who is involved in a lawsuit, for whatever reason, is not an individual with whom you want to do business.

To be sure, you get what you pay for.

So, we're gonna go with "sick" are we?

When I recently commented to a group of online classmates that I don't know if the "kids still say 'rock' as in "You Rock!" when I used the term to describe a handful of those who have been helpful in my ongoing writing experiences.

One of my online classmates reminded me that one the most common slang term used today is "sick"

I like to spell it syck.

Imagine things went from being "cool" to "hot" to "sick". In the meantime, things were "wicked" and "choice" and "awesome" and "rad."

Personally, I wished I been around when things were copacetic, far-out, and groovy.

Thoughts on Returning to On-site Work

Commuting: Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

Quotations I Like

The balance between corporate work and writing work is precarious and if you loose your footing, you are going to break a hip.

What's in a Word? National Identity?

An editorial in the Editors' Association of Canada's publication Active Voice addresses the misuse of Canadian spelling. The newsletter's audience is primarily editors and writers, so it's unlikely that these facts are new to its readership - it's likely they've been correcting American spelling in documents for Canadian audiences for years.

The line that partricularly struck me: "Many teachers do not even realize there is such a thing as Canadian English spelling."

Sigh. It's true. It's not just business folks I work with who forget to set their spellchecker's to Canadian language. In fact, a few years ago, irritated by a school assignment, I ranted to anyone who'd listen - coworkers, friends, relatives - about the misuse of Canadian spelling, then wrote about it: Download bad_languagecanconlong_version.pdf .

The abridged version was published in 2004 on CanadianContent.ca as "Bad Language in the Workplace (or Why Bill Gates Sux)*.

*I apologize for and regret using Bill Gates' name as a stand-in for the software industry.

Rock, Poem, Photo

If you love rocks, poems, or photos, you will not be disappointed by visiting this blog. It holds some of the most beautiful and compelling images I've seen.

http://skinny.typepad.com/rockpoemphoto/

A wish list of sorts | part a/z

in 2008, i resolve to ...

listen to leonard cohen recite his poem "fingerprints" while we drink red needles in the arizona dusk.

chat with margaret atwood (i will call her "peggy") over lunch about her creative writing process.

get interview tips from barbara walters.

discuss my past lives with shirley maclaine.

share a pitcher of margarita's with jimmy buffet.

write an article titled "in conversation with fran lebowitz".

Online Conversations with a Writer

To those who asked for more ... Download letters_to_a_writer.pdf

An Extended Thought About Plagiarism

I had one of the stubbedmytoegettingoutofbed mornings, though I didn't actually jam my foot into anything, except a slipper in which one of my orthotics was missing. Our puppy Tucker came into my bedroom three times - once to bark, once to lick my face, and as I later discovered, once to remove an orthotic and high-tail it downstairs with his new, $600 chew toy.

By 9:03 a.m. my mood had lightened considerably. I'd returned half a dozen emails, created a hockey fundraising spreadsheet, and received an email from the editor of Bread 'n' Molasses. One of the online magazine's readers commented on a recent article of mine. My mood elevated to above normal. The editor knew I'd appreciate hearing from a reader who enjoyed something I'd written. Editors/writers understand how much a little encouragement means.

In using Google to find the source of the comment, I came across Susan J. Douglas's article at In These Times. I found the article remarkably interesting as copyright infringement is of great concern to all creators of intellectual and artistic material.

More than a few years ago, I read Simple Abundance and could not believe the number of similarities between the Daybook of Comfort and Joy and The Artist's Way.

In 2000, Download bean_SBB_cancon.pdf I wrote about it. Then, regretted writing about it and asked to have the article pulled. In a letter to the author Julia Cameron I mentioned the similarities. Then I regretted mentioning it. guested on Oprah to hawk her book, which to my mind was based on "morning pages" she'd written. (Since the concept of writing three pages long-hand everyday are not Cameron's invention, what was I on about?).

Julia, herself, remarks briefly on the similarities in her 2002 book Walking in This World, though she does it with more generosity and grace than I offered. In retrospect, I was more irritated that the author

Yesterday, I wrote about Francine Kopun's Toronto Star article and concerned myself over how to properly attribute the line "Aeriol Nicols, an agent for Keller Williams, uses GetFriday to keep her real estate blog updated."

All this reminded me of something that happened in the workplace a decade ago, when I had a job at a tech support desk. A clueless coworker, with the help of another colleague, searched through my computer files for a document I'd written. She pilfered its content and turned in the work as her own. When I called her on it, she said I "should be flattered" that she deemed my work worth copying. I stared at her, speechless, then fired off an email to our boss.

In the end, it didn't matter, really. The young woman who once asked a caller to spell "reboot" took a short-term leave of absence not long afterward and was spotted by other employees at social functions looking, well, healthy enough to be at work.

That was then. Now, I have only one question for In These Times. Who owns the uncredited photo of that "thieving wench" Ann Coulter?

*donkey courtesy of: http://www.cornwalls.co.uk/photos/data/media/3/donkey.jpg

Call for Submissions

By coinicdence, I've been working on a piece about outsourcing and one appeared in the Toronto Star this morning. The article, "From offshore to off chore" by Francine Kopun, is about the burgeoning business of personal assistants - remote personal assistants.

I've been mulling around the idea for a while now and I've actually invited writers I know to guest blog here with me, though not one of them has taken me up on the offer.

The primary benefit for me is obvious: I get a break from blogging. But, I also get the opportunity to edit, which is not as commonplace as one might expect in technical writing contracts, or blog writing. What's more, I'll gain a deep satisfaction from helping out a peer. For the guest host, the blogging experience can be worthwhile, not to mention he/she ends up with an online article, with byline, to add to his/her writing portfolio.

Maybe Aeriol Nicols, an agent for Keller Williams, who the Star reports "uses GetFriday to keep her real estate blog updated" is on to something.

Maybe I'll outsource the entire blog. That way, I'll have more free time to pursue paid work.

Strong Canadian Dollar, Strong US Magazine Prices

Like you, I sometimes like to read glossy magazines in front of the television having already read the morning newspaper and not yet ready to retire to a novel waiting for me bedside.

While, I know it's been a couple of months since US magazines scrubbed their US prices from Canadian magazine covers (read CBC coverage here, or Quill & Quire's article), it bothered me enough to reconsider future purchases.

I wanted to see the price differentials, so I checked subscription prices at a few magazine websites.

• Vanity Fair: 12 issues for $15 USD; 12 issues for $38 CAD
• MS Living: 12 issues for $24 USD; 12 issues for $38 CAD
• Ms.: one-year subscription for $25 USD; one-year subscription for $42 CAD

The best is this:

• "O" The Oprah Magazine: 12 issues for $18 USD; 12 issues for $18 CAD, plus $22 CAD for shipping.

It's laughable.

I have enough reading material around the house to stop buying magazines at the newsstand price and rely on subscriptions to a few favourites:

• Canadian Geographic: 6 issues for $28.52 CAD
• Canadian Living: one-year subscription for $25.18 CAD (ON) [$27.10 CAD (MB, QC, NB, NS, and NFLD).]
• More magazine: one-year subscription for $20.00 CAD
• Our Canada: one-year subscription for $14.97 CAD

Still, I wonder why it costs, on average $10 in shipping and handling to go to the US, but double that for deliveries to Canada?

Who's profiting? a) The publishers?  b) The booksellers/magazine vendors?  c) The Canadian government through duties and taxes?  d) All of the above?

In the end, I suppose, I doesn't really matter to me; I'm not buying any of it.

Good things on the Internet

Like many good things on the Internet, we tend to stumble across them. I've discovered and bookmarked dozens of webpages and useful blogs over the years and return to a handful of them regularly. This morning, I found a blog on Playback's career page and a subsequent link that now resides in my favourites folder.

The blog, Career Media Management, is written by Ron Rogers of Media Intelligence.ca Inc.

Just the other day, Kate posted a comment on this blog asking for tips for new grads trying to break into the magazine writing field, (though, maybe she was referring to journalism).

So, Kate, here's a place to start. Check out the blog, write your goal statements, and let me know how it goes.

I'd post more about this, but I am busy writing 12 Goal Statements to find a theme.

What do you call a room filled with writers?

When I started writing this blog last April, I planned to write more about the local and regional goings-on in terms of writers' events and writer profiles and such, but I have not. One of my NYR's is to get out from behind this desk and meet other writers. This morning I did just that.

I headed to Whiby to WCDR's breakfast meeting, primarily to listen to Cobourg's Richard Scrimger speak, but also to meet former DRMG blogger and WCDR volunteer extraordinare Janet Boccone and the delightful Katherine Hobbs, a freelance and fiction writer from Ottawa who was in town visiting friends.

Admittedly, it's been a while since I attended a morning breakfast; I'd forgotten how much fun they can be.

You'd think a room filled with writers might be, well ... (it is if you're at an STC meeting. Seriously.) Not this group. This group is a dynamic bunch.

The Humber School for Writers' Antanas Silieka is the guest speaker at next month's breakfast meeting. I've already booked my spot.

What's with the fake job postings?

Freelance and contract writers have much to deal with - late payments, crazy deadlines, unreasonable project managers (enforcing aforementioned crazy deadlines). But lately, I've noticed a trend and I'm not sure if I'm ahead of the trend, or behind it.

Yesterday, I tested a theory I have about postings on "community" job boards. I submitted my resume based on a job ad, which looked suspicious to start - as if it was a fake website with a pseudo posting - and waited. Nothing.

(I'd meant to send it under a pseudonym and attached the wrong one. Ugh.)

My theory is that there are individuals posing as employers in order to get their hands on legitimate resumes, though I haven't figured out why; it could be that they are creating resumes for others and don't have the talent to write the content, or they are using the information to pad their own resumes, or that of their clients. Or, perhaps they are outright falsifying documents.

I'm not sold on this whole community job board thing as I've only ever had one assignment and well, I'm still awaiting payment for the 1,000-word article I submitted.

For example, check out this: http://officetempsolutions.com/Technical_Writer/Technical_Writer_Job.html.

Hopefully, employers run resume checks by searching the Internet because they’ll soon find that the applicant isn’t who s/he says they are and/or that their résumé content has pilfered content from a legitimate source.

Editor's note: You're a little late to the party, Val. Check out these articles:

• http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/02/28/monster.theft.ap/index.html
• http://www.skatingforums.com/archive/index.php/t-6815.html
• http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2003/02/57852

New York City Madness 2

To all my writerly friends who tell me that they are too old:

In a post-win interview, last year's winner Jacqueline Brown of NYC Madness 2008 Short Story Contest had this to say on the "plight of the older writer": Write. Enter contests. Thrive. There’s room and time enough for everyone."

Letters to Another Artist: Email Excerpts

I can't help it. I just finished reading Letters to a Young Artist by Julia Cameron.

Dear Kate,

Great to see you as a member. I was just writing a short article that I will submit for the newsletter. They pay a small stipend, but it's good to have something else published, if for no other reason than it gets me thinking about other pieces.

You found my blog? Oh, right. I'm listed on the site.

Wasn't that a great letter? I contacted the editors and asked for permission. It was just such a nice way to let everyone down easy. I see what's doing. That makes sense. Her stories are inspiration for where/what you will research in the future. Makes sense.

Have you seen Atanarjuat|The Fast Runner? Watch it. I promise that you'll be inspired.

What a tremendous concept for your novel I love the idea of the remote territory (A movie I like called The Big White took place in Alaska, I think, (but looks like it was filmed in Winnipeg) and presented the concept of loneliness and dissatisfaction and how living there can play with the soundness of mind.) Maybe your local library has that, too.

I'm currently working on a novella that I'd like to workshop; it's a real skill to be able to participate properly, I find. I should be ready to share after this next draft.

Not sure who, yet. I may do the editor thing through EAC. I enjoyed two previous experiences -- one with Stuart Ross who was later a writer-on-residence at WCDR and encouraged me to create a chapbook of poetry for a competition, and one with Claire Robson who was just so encouraging and everything she responded to in my writing was right on.

I hope that you, too, find individuals like that with your work. It can make such as difference.

New Artist Alert

I also love meeting up with other writers and artists, especially online. It's always a pleasure to click through an artist's website and look at their work.

Most recently, I found Nic Vandergugten's website via (Toronto) Craigslist (a site I visit regularly as entertainment. So many advertisers want writers to write for them for free. It's as amusing as it is maddening. )

After visiting Nic's site, I asked him a few questions about what inspires him, where he studied, and what he envisions for his career.

As is often the case, illustration - even of words - is best left to the artist:

On inspiration

I suppose life and people around me inspire my artwork. Often I'll be attracted to a subject for unknown reasons and only after I've done the drawings will I understand what it was that brought me to draw them. Hopefully this sense of intrigue finds its was back out when people see my work.

About studying

I haven't studied at any art schools, thought I have had some amazing teachers, as far back as high school I always seemed to be aligned with great mentors that encouraged me at the right times. My parents were always very supportive, and my father is an artist as well and gave me the best lessons a kid could have by putting a pencil in my hand and not saying anything.

Career goals

Well, only recently have I started to see art as a career. Art was always something that I did for myself and to amuse my friends and family. Once I started getting into doing illustrations, I realized how much I love working with other people on projects. My only goal right now is to keep working on interesting projects wherever they appear. Ultimately I would like to have the space and income to work on a larger scale than is possible for me now. Toronto is still new to me and its a very big city filled with amazing artists, I'm still finding my place in it.

To find Nic's place online, click here: Nicholas Vandergugten.

New York City Madness

The NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge completed round one at midnight last night. I'm not sure why any writer would subject herself to a rigourous writing schedule (one week to complete 2,500 short story) in a genre she may, or may not be familiar with, on a subject unknown until provided by the organizers.

It's challenging, daunting, unnerving. Actually, it sounds kinda fun.

The Loveliest of Rejections

Now here's a rejection letter to hang on the wall. I found the email so lovely in its rejection of my manuscript that I had to reprint it here. [The boldface, bullet points, and some paragraph breaks are mine.] The editors employed a common teaching tool: focus on the good and the bad stuff falls away.

Dear Valerie:

Thank you, once again, for submitting "Theory of Illumination" to the 2007 Caketrain Chapbook Competition. The quality of manuscripts this year was very high and the decision was harder than ever. Were the resources at hand, we could happily have published the top ten manuscripts or more—but for now, this distinction can go to only one. With this in mind, we have chosen to publicly recognize not only Claudia Rankine’s selections for Winner and Runner-Up but three “Also Notable” manuscripts which we the editors herald for their daring originality and prowess. The list is as follows:

• Winner:  "afterpastures," by Claire Hero
• Runner-Up: "scenic fences | houses innumerable," by Aby Kaupang
• Also Notable: "Dear Sound of Footstep," by Jane Ashley; "Terrible Person," by Rebecca Gopoian; and "Lot 16," by Christof Scheele

Claire Hero’s "afterpastures" will see publication in May 2008 as the third title in Caketrain’s ongoing chapbook series, where it follows Tom Whalen’s Dolls (2007) and Elizabeth Skurnick’s Check-In (2005).

With our deepest thanks to all who entered this competition and entrusted us with their fine work, and in the hope that the new year finds your creativity ever-unbound, we remain

Yours Sincerely,

Amanda Raczkowski & Joseph Reed Caketrain Journal and Press

A list of potential blogs; all items double-scratched

Since returning to work after the holiday season, I made notes for possible blogs, briefly they are:

• I was hired by a bank as a technical writer not to write, but to wait. Sans paycheque.
• Our puppy, loves to lasagna. Or at least, when he (somehow) knows I am not looking, he likes to put his paws on the countertop and run his tongue all over my lasagna lunch.
• I have the distinction of being the 400th Facebook friend of a fellow poet.
• My neighbours are great neighbours. Most recently evidenced by a drive-by pick up of my runaway pooch who escaped our backyard through an open gate, presumably thrown open by strong winds during heavy rain.
• Maud Newton is likely the coolest Facebook friend I have.

My old friend Andrea Harms is still as crazy and beautiful as I remember.

Homecoming i/ii and ii/ii

For many of us, family moves front and center this time of year, so I thought I'd share something I recently rewrote for a writing course assignment.

The concept of home has changed for me over the years. It used to be a snapshot – a time and place left behind in 1986, when I packed my belongings into a white, 1985 Firebird in the dullness of a Northwestern Ontario winter and drove the Trans-Canada Highway up and around Lake Superior through rocky landscape and past forests of the Canadian Shield. Driving south from Sudbury toward the bright lights and action of a metropolis lay in the distance, I could see home.

      

I left Thunder Bay to become a writer and didn’t want to return until I was settled into the profession. In absences that stretched over 20 years, I had grown homesick for the elbow room countryside allows and the way in which days seems drawn out in a small town.

When I returned in 2003 with my seven-year-old son, the city had blossomed into a larger version of itself, but our neighbourhood, a rural pocket inside two amalgamated cities, was close to the way I’d left it.

...continued

Download homecoming_contd.pdf

Rose, Not Mary

She looked to Hera for answers, but the goddess was busy tending to the marital bliss of others.

Rose, not Mary opens the cupboard door. She pushes past sympathetic spices – cinnamon, ginger, cardamom – past the memory of delicate powders held soft in her mother’s hand and reaches for a jar of rosemary. Rosemary: all nettles, inflexible, thorny.

Outside, a Purple Finch his perching feet hold tight a rose bush bundled in winter coat; burlap beneath a warbling song. He, too, is on watch.

Rose bends forward to catch a better glimpse, her glasses adjusted just so. The bird is not purple at all, but dipped in raspberry. Rose turns away. The birdsong is almost too much to bear in its sweetness. This, mother Mary’s favourite sparrow with its reddish-brown cheeks and fluid call, hops to the ground and walks sideways a short distance. The clatter of dishes has stopped. Rose’s hands rest against the sink’s edge, where water drips from her fingertips into the soapy water below. Standing there, Rose looks out at the back garden and sees what her mother’s eyes would have witnessed every autumn. Rose imagines a daughter. She smiles at the imaginary child who waves back and motions for her mother to watch her twirl until she falls to the ground surrounded by giggles.

It is the bird that brings Rose back. Here. As he takes flight, she imagines that his notes, rich in regret, might shake the hinged wooden frames above Mary’s garden that now belongs to Rose. She imagines this ballad making its way to the room above her mother’s kitchen where Rose replaces Mary.

Credits: Purple Finch copyright thebirdguide.com.

Places for Writers

One of my favourite places to visit, is the website Places for Writers. Instead of sending unsolicited material for publication, check for calls for submissions.

If you love beautiful artwork

If you love beautiful art, check out Jacqueline Hudon's website at http://www.jacquelinehudon.com/.

Horoscope

Over the years, I've discovered that reading my daily horoscope is a great pick-me-up when a writing contract is going south, or an assignment is a particularly hairy one.

Usually there's a positive spin to the moon or sun being in whatever house and it helps me to cope with colleagues and crazy project deadlines and/or crazy colleagues and pressing project deadlines.

Here is my horoscope from the Toronto Star today. I love it.

With what you've been through, you could seriously entertain taking up a career as a novelist. Your talents as a raconteur or even a stand-up comic could earn you a decent living.

Do you regularly read your horoscope?

a Mixed Bag of Bones (WoRK v/v)

For all those who asked for a PDF that prints like the chapbook "a Mixed Bag of Bones" is supposed to be, here: Download mixed_bag_of_bones_vol_1_booklet_final.pdf 

Now, back to Maude.

a Mixed Bag of Bones (WoRK iv/v)

Download MixedBagofBones_Vol1.pdf

Banks to Diversify Business to Temp Agencies

I had a great idea at 4:00 a.m., after the puppy had awakened me to let him outside.

As I waited for Tucker, I tried to outline today's blog posting in my head, but my thoughts kept turning to my new writing contract.

Although I am working for the same bank for which I worked for eight months in 2006, I was hired through an employment agency for this assignment.

Now, the bank pays the agency $ per hour over and above my rate. My estimate on this current one is a whopping 47.7%. But in my previous assignment, I had a contract with them directly, which means I got to keep all the revenue for the time billed.

Why wouldn't they retain my resume and share it with other areas of the bank? Why wouldn't they want to invest in a database for contractors' info for future assignments? Why wouldn't they want to cut out the middle man?

So that was my great 4:00 a.m. idea: Banks should expand their business to include employment agenices.

That way, a portion of the $ hourly rate they pay contractors would go right back into their bulging pockets.

And I wouldn't be so irritated by a firm making almost 50% of my hourly wage for every hour I work.

Local writer Aprille Janes a Creative Light

I really like Aprille Janes.

Of course, I don't know Aprille Janes. We've never met, but I like what she does. Maybe we''ll meet at the next WCDR breakfast.

She sends me lovely HTML notes to inspire my writing. she'll sedn them to you, too, if you go to her webiste and sign up for her newsletters Creative Light and Power.

Where there's the smell of cigarette smoke, there's been a cigarette smoker

Two years ago I purchased an IBM laptop just as Lenovo was taking over that line of IBM's business. After spilling tea + water one month and one day after the warranty expired, I tried to have it repaired. No one would repair it. Every techie I asked said the same thing, "It's cheaper to buy a new one." I tried again, recently ... still a no-go.

A new writing contract required me to have a laptop, so I purchased a new one. Unfortunately, I chose Lenovo again.

Their customer service was far superior the second time around, but the laptop? It's looks cheap -- like a kid's plastic toy (which makes me wonder about the lead content) and the keyboard is hideous with it's difficult to reach keys, plus the tension is off.

What's worse is that the packaging - inside and outside the box, the paperwork all reeks like cigarette smoke!!

So, it's ugly AND stinky.

I guess I'm just attached to my "old" one.

WoRK: Freelance Income iii/v

As I enter a new writing assignment, I can look back at previous contracts and see that I've enjoyed each successive assignment.

Most writers I know like to document things in their personal lives, too. It's not just their resumes they enjoy updating. One keeps a list of people she's worked with and won't work with again, another keeps track of things she's done to overcome/combat her latest fear. I keep an historical account of my income on an Excel spreadsheet.

Check it out. The first two dips (circled in red) in revenue are the result of slipping off the greasy rungs of the corproate ladder, and landing at more creatively satisfying (and poorly paid) work in the talent industry.

The big dip is maternity leave. The subsequent spikes designate writing revenue. The ups are corporate contracts, the downs are creativly satisfying (and poorly paid) gigs.

As I head into another spike, this blog is likely to be filled with boring stories of life at work. The good news -- I mean, the better news is that my blogs will be considerably shorter for the next three months.

Here's part iii/iii of Crazy Chick at Work series Download crazychick3vbean.pdf

WoRK: Temporary Workers Not the Only Ones ii/v

This most recent experience with an employment agency that wants to retain one week's worth of wages for the length of my four-month contract got me thinking about the regulation of temporary employment amd permanent placement agencies.

In my former incarnation, I regularly hired temps for the crazy-busy RSP season, but I was on the good side then -- I was the paying client. I wish companies understood what it's like for the temp/contractor on the other end. I often wonder at what rate per hour I'm being billed at.

At my last assignment (with a different agency), I saw a request on my manager's desk for an increase in pay for the technical writer (me). So, the agency requested a higher rate. I don't know what came of the request becuase I never saw an increase. In fact, the agency never even contacted me until the end of the contract.

I now understand the sometimes poor attitude "temps" displayed as they were likely justified, but unanswered concerns or complaints, or outright beefs they had with their employment agency.

Do you work as a temporary employee? Do you contract through agencies?

Check out this website: Workers Action Centre. Click links to read the Toronto Star article "MPPs target 'temp' boom" by Rita Daly, December 8, 2006.

Part ii/iii in Crazy Chick at Work Series Download crazychick2vbean.pdf

WoRK: Employment and Placement Agencies i/v

A recent experience with an employment agency reminded me of experiences I've had with other agencies in the past. 

I was just beginning my technical writing career, switching from almost a decade of corporate ladder climbing -- and this was one of the gigs I had after being laid-off. It was supposed to be an "editorial" position. It was data entry. And I was not the only overqualified person working there.

This company, a specialized publishing firm where the agency placed me was a sweat shop with computers instead of sewing machines.

The experience begat a series of emails to my friend Heather to whom I complained about the rules the company imposed on its workers -- no talking at your desk, bathroom breaks during scheduled coffee breaks that were timed and strictly enforced.

I decided to turn the emails into a fake news story to make Heather laugh and to remind myself that I was lucky. I could quit and move on to better paying gigs.

Heather referred to my emails as "Crazy Chick at Work" stories, so that's what I eventually titled them.

Here's the first one.

It's about seven years-old* now and as I've been told (by a "mentor" at the UofT with much to learn about the art of mentoring) the form's been done better elsewhere.

Download crazychick1vbean.pdf

[*It's erroneously dated 2002 on purpose.]

Favourite Blogs

In the past six months, I've posted links to websites and/or blogs that I like. On Monday, i start a new technical writing contract (after a blissful two month break), and will be looking for websites to surf when at the office.

I know for sure that I'll be visiting New York City Daily Photo to escape the drearydom of my workday.

Do you have a favourite blog?

Missing London, Counting on Lux

I recently turned down a contract that required me to travel to the UK for three weeks in two weeks' time. As much as I would love to be able to visit family in England and enjoy the sites on weekends and in evenings, I had to take a pass this time.

So, here, to remind me, I've changed my desktop image to this ... a view from the area where my grandmother (who will turn 104-years-old next month) and her family lived in the early 1900s before emigrating to Canada. One of my sisters who is currently living in England took the photo.

The next trip is to Luxembourg. Cool. Count me in on that one.

New York City Daily Photo

Check out New York City Daily Photo.

More Saucy Words

More about HOT-SAUCED WORDS ... Thursday, October 25, 2007 features Durham Region writer Sue Reynolds along with Neil Muscott.

As always, admission is free. Location is It's Not a deli 986 Queen West (near Ossington).

Check out Creative James webiste for details.

An Actor's First Right of Refusal

Working for a talent agency can be a strange and wonderful thing. Actors are funny, goofy, entertaining, and at times insecure, neurotic and almost always, warm human beings. Agents are not. But if the downside of the biz is cranky, acrid agents, the upside is attractive, flirtatious actors.

Once, back in the day of Canadian productions "Counterstrike" and "Katts and Dog"), a client wished me happy birthday, then sealed it with a prolonged French kiss. I was embarrassed, but only because I’d been mooning over his headshot.

This was a talent agency – not your average office environment; this place was leggings and Doc Martens casual – with clients dropping by to pick up script "sides" and drop off demo reels. As I pulled and assembled headshots and resumes – an actor’s job application, for casting directors, I was often treated to performers humming show tunes, reciting Shakespearean lines, or rehearsing monologues.

One of the 8x10 glossy photographs our senior agent submitted frequently was a dark-featured actor in a brooding, bad-boy pose specific for film/tv roles, was also one of my favourites. I was new to the business then, but I’d learned rather quickly that performers seldom look like their photographs; hair, makeup, and lighting can really work wonders. So, when this guy walked in the office for the first time I was surprised how closely he resembled his photo.

As the year moved on, if I wasn’t at the reception area when he swaggered in, I immediately recognized the clomping of his boots, which he usually wore with jeans and a well-worn black leather jacket with buckles. And oh, on that day, he was a living version of his headshot.

This was no peck-on-the-cheek. It was a long, passionate kiss. Then again, he was an actor. He was practised at faking it. I wasn’t. I was breathless, speechless, but busied myself with invented paperwork.

Imagine then my horror, when, weeks later, he stood on my doorstep with a pizza box in hand. I knew that he worked at his parent’s Leaside restaurant not far from my apartment, because long before cell phones and Blackberries, actors needed several contact phone numbers for auditions. It was my then live-in boyfriend’s favourite delivery and take-out pizza joint and we ordered from it often.

I answered the doorbell wearing my best couch potato outfit: sweat pants and bangs pulled into a fountain of greasy hair. I stared at the good-looking Greek staring back at me from the stoop of my rented flat. Despite his profession, clearly, he was unable to mask disbelief.

I pretended not to recognize him when he questioned my identity. He probably said, "Val?" but I heard "yikes!" and in one, swift motion, I grabbed the pizza and stuffed a bunch of bills into his palm, then pushed the door close.

After witnessing the real thing, there were no forthcoming birthday wishes –