Marianne Jones's Blog, page 2
March 6, 2015
Boiler Room Suite
With so much theatre happening in Thunder Bay this weekend, it’s easy to miss a more modest production by Rob MacLeod’s Capitol Players and Occasional Arts Inc.
“The Boiler Room Suite” earned the playwright Rex Deverall the Canadian Author’s Association Award in 1978 for its depiction of two homeless people taking shelter in the boiler room of an old hotel in Saskatchewan. As the play unfolds, we learn about the two characters, their lives and dreams, and how they emotionally survive the harshness of their reality.
Aggie Rose, played by theatre veteran Jan Swanson, was a talented, beautiful actress in her youth. Sprugg, poignantly played by Steve Gothard, believes he can make things happen by the power of his imagination. Together, they invent and act out scenes of their own creation, transforming the boiler room into a hotel dining room, a welfare office and Parliament by turns.
They are interrupted by Pete, the hotel caretaker, played by Elliot Cromarty. Pete is obviously conflicted between his compassion and loneliness, and his conservative social dictates that tell him to throw Aggie and Sprugg out into the cold. He is angry and frustrated at how they have, in his view, wasted their lives and gifts. Without defending himself or Aggie, Sprugg tells him simply that Things Happen.
Directed by Jim Hobson with Assistant Director, Sheena Albanese, the performance was moving. The set was a realistic creation of Gregory Gothard and the cast and crew. Ironically, the play was performed in the basement of the old Eatons Building, where the cold concrete surroundings made it easy for the audience to enter into the atmosphere.
Friday and Saturday evenings are the last two performance of Boiler Room Suite. Tickets are $15, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the United Way.
February 26, 2015
Young Norwegian Enjoying Great-Grandma’s Gifts
Amund Hamilton’s Mom reading Great-Grandma’s Gifts to him.
February 12, 2015
More About the PACE Children’s Library in Kenya
Earlier I wrote about my friend Diane, who spent the month of January helping to create a children’s library in Kenya, with the PACE mission group. Books are such a luxury in Africa, that the children were beside themselves with excitement to be able to visit the library and read!
Diane is back now, and reports, “Mary has sent these great pictures to me and I wanted to pass them along to you. We not only have books in the library but we brought along some other items as well. Even the boys like them! Children there do not have much in terms of these kind of toys. I didn’t see any in the stores we went to in town. Also as I mentioned earlier in an email, they make their own toys out of old tires, pop bottles, sticks. There is not much money in a family for the luxury of bought toys. So this is a treat indeed for them!
Thanks to those who donated some of the stuffies and thanks to the thrift stores where I picked up a few at a great discounted price!”
Diane
https://www.facebook.com/diane.donaldson.1614/photos
February 5, 2015
Finding Focus as a Writer
When we lived in the country, with windows looking onto a lake, visitors often exclaimed over the view, saying, “How perfect for a writer! You must draw so much inspiration from this spot.”
Rather than disappoint them or disabuse them of their romantic notions about a writer’s life and work, I would just smile. The reality is that the exterior view is irrelevant to the creative process. In fact, a beautiful scene is more of a distraction than an inspiration. Writing is interior work. It is all about going inside one’s head, fighting past resistance and inertia and doing the hard work of thinking. If only it were as easy as sipping tea, admiring a lovely scene, and waiting for ideas to gently float down and settle on me!
In order to create I find it necessary to shut out the outside world completely until it ceases to exist for me. The outside and inside worlds are parallel universes. True, I am the connecting door, but I must commit to being on either one side or the other at a time.
As long as I feed on the junk food of distraction—t.v., Facebook, email, entertainment, daily tasks—I avoid the satisfying nourishment that comes as a result of focus.
Lectures by other writers about hard work and self-discipline don’t have the intended effect, any more than being nagged about diet and exercise motivate me to improve my health habits. I need to allow myself to write, not force myself to write.
So what does work?
Boredom has sometimes been a friend to me by creating an enforced stillness in the middle of my day. Some of my better poems have come from times when I was bored, held captive in a car or waiting room, with nothing to entertain me. To pass the time I was forced to take a closer look at my mundane surroundings until I began to see novel ways of looking at them. My temporary prison became a doorway into an interior world.
Decluttering my universe helps. By “my universe” I mean both my commitments and my thoughts. Overcommitting to activities, even hobbies, is a time-honoured method of avoidance and procrastination. By keeping myself overly busy, I can look virtuous while evading the effort of thinking and creating—much in the same way I once avoided studying for an exam by vacuuming the car. I am learning to pare away busywork in its various forms to honour my chosen vocation of writing; and it is a liberating experience.
My inner universe can be another bramble bush that discourages me from forging ahead. False guilt about what I “should” be doing, envy of other writers, discouragement, ambition, self-doubt—all form a daunting barrier to the clarity and peace I need in order to focus. Whether through journaling these thoughts, self-talk, or thought-stopping, I need to remove the burrs one by one to give myself permission to write freely.
Finding locations and situations that are conducive to writing can make a difference. I have a standing weekly writing date with a friend every Friday morning. We meet at a coffee shop, catch up with each other for a few minutes, then get to work. We both find the silent companionship helps us get into the “zone.” It removes the isolation factor of writing that can be debilitating at times. (And if we occasionally break the rules and do more talking than writing, who’s to know?)
Having an “artist’s date” (a concept I learned from Julia Cameron) can also fill up my creative well and stimulate me when I’m foundering. Recently, attending a workshop on Spoken Word poetry inspired me to try a whole new approach to writing poems. A weekend workshop at an art gallery by a fabric artist moved me to write one of my strongest poems yet. The cross-pollination of other artists stretches and excites me to experiment in new directions. At minimum, it feeds me when I’m empty and renews my enthusiasm and energy.
What helps you to focus?
January 27, 2015
Poem wins Honourable Mention
So, after devoting the last year to promoting my children’s book and cozy mystery, I’m sending out poems again. And I was pleased to learn that my poem, “Here, on the Ground,” won an honourable mention in the Open Hearts 9 Poetry Contest of the Ontario Poetry Society. It will appear in an upcoming anthology. It’s also the title poem from my collection of poems by the same name. Here is the poem:
Here, on the Ground
No, I never really got over the loss of you
though to everyone’s relief I’m finally behaving myself.
I make tentative impressions on my days now,
like a child fingerpainting, and am pleased
to see I still have prints, can make a mark with my thumb and fingers.
Life is still sweet and there are new blooms
in my garden with Latin names to learn
and I am noticing again
how the poplar branches undulate in a tango with the wind
while the leaves twirl and make soft sounds
like castanets.
I hear things again:
the sluggish bee sullenly preoccupied with my delphinium;
the waves, pushed by motorboats, reluctantly
slapping the shore;
the sounds of choir singing spirituals on my tape player;
the snarl of a power saw biting down a tree.
But as you fly ever higher and farther from me
like a kite marking the sky with your brave colours
I stand, ant-like below, knowing
only this slender string connects us
and every tug
wrenches.
From Here, on the Ground http://www.amazon.com/Here-Ground-Mar...
January 21, 2015
I’m interviewed on Candyraves!
Interviews
Your novels, Great-Grandma’s Gifts and The Serenity Stone Murder are for younger readers. Why do you choose to write in the Children’s and Middle Grade genres?
Actually, The Serenity Stone Murder is a humorous cozy mystery for adults. I also have written a poetry collection titled Here, on the Ground, written and directed several plays, and done journalism. It must be my A.D.D.! I enjoy so many different forms of writing.
The synopsis for Great-Grandma’s Gifts reads that this story “is designed to help children see a different side of the elders in their lives.” This is a very touching sentiment. What’s the story behind the inspiration for this book?
The story is a tribute to my mother, who never had much money, but used her time, love, talent, and fabric scraps to create clothes, dolls, toys, stuffed animals and quilts for her family. As she was growing older, I wanted to honour her while she was still with us. At the same time, I knew she wouldn’t be around to watch my grandchildren grow up. I wanted them to know what their great-grandmother was all about.
What about Serenity Stone? Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or is it purely based on imagination?
My sister had been urging me to write a murder mystery set in Thunder Bay, our home town. One day she described to me a hilarious experience she had attending a women’s conference with a friend. As she told me about it, the characters of Margaret and Louise came into my mind, and I got inspired. The character of Louise’s dog Vince is based on my mother’s lhasa apso Charlie. Apart from that, and many of the locations mentioned, the rest of the story is pure fiction.
What is the message you’d like readers to take away from The Serenity Stone Murder story?
I’m not sure there is a message. It’s about middle-aged church ladies, laughter, and the crazy things we get dragged into for our friends.
Besides living there, why did you pick Thunder Bay as the setting for Serenity Stone?
Thunder Bay is Canada’s best-kept secret! It has all the amenities of a big city with the conveniences of a small town. We have a world-class symphony, numerous theatre companies, fine restaurants, a university doing cutting edge DNA research, a state-of-the-art Health Sciences Centre with some of the best cancer care in the country, a College with an internationally successful film program, and a Law School. All this, right in the middle of spectacular natural scenery and countless freshwater lakes. I thought it was time we started making the rest of the country aware of what a jewel we have.
Your bio on Amazon says there are three of your poems “in permanent installation at Prince Arthur’s Landing.” Tell us a bit about the poems and the story of them being inducted there.
Several years ago, the city decided to develop our beautiful, but mostly underutilized waterfront on Lake Superior. They hired an architectural firm known for their work with city waterfront locations, which resulted in a breathtaking stretch of harbourfront with a huge concert area, a Tai Chi Park, an arts building, a skateboard park, a Spirit Garden for aboriginal events, a sailing marina, restaurant and condominiums. The plan was to include a showcase for the arts, so the call went out across the country to artists to submit their proposals to a jury for selection. At the same time, writers were invited to submit poems and short readings for blind judging. As it turned out, three of my poems were selected, which was quite a surprise and a thrill for me. The poems have been sandblasted onto granite benches placed at different locations throughout the park. This fall I got an email from a runner in Florida, who had been here participating in a marathon. She noticed one of my poems on a bench, and liked it so much, she googled me to tell me she was going to share it with her fellow runners at home. That was quite a delightful surprise.
If you had to choose, which author would you consider a mentor and why?
I’m not sure I can narrow it down to one. C.S.Lewis shaped much of my thinking in my teens. He has a disarmingly simple style of writing that is the hallmark of brilliance. Jesus taught that way, too—telling simple stories that packed a huge punch. I admire the great writers who can say a lot in a few words. I think that has influenced my own writing style, which tends toward economy of words. I can’t promise brilliance, though!
What were the challenges you faced in bringing each of your books to life?
With The Serenity Stone Murder battling my own doubts about my ability to sustain a credible and entertaining novel-length story was my biggest challenge. I wrestled with the “editor on my shoulder” constantly telling me that I couldn’t pull it off. But I persisted and proved her wrong. The other two books came more easily to me. The poems in Here, on the Ground, were collected over a period of many years. Many had been previously published in literary journals, and some had won poetry competitions. That gave me the confidence to believe in the collection. It was just a question of selecting the best ones. Great-Grandma’s Gifts was originally a Mother’s Day gift for my Mom. On a whim, I showed it to Stacey Voss, publisher at Split Tree Publishing. She fell in love with it and asked if she could publish it. She didn’t have to twist my arm too hard! I’m finding it resonating with a lot of people, which would have made my mother very proud.
Tell us a little about the artwork in Great-Grandma’s Gifts and the cover art for Serenity Stone. Who designed it? Why did you go with those particular images?
When I came up with the idea of writing Great-Grandma’s Gifts, I asked my sister, who is a watercolour artist, if she would do the illustrations. She captured the gentle, childlike feel of the story perfectly. Some of the illustrations are from her imagination, but some are actual dolls and toys Mom made that our daughters still have. Toward the end of the book, she has painted Mom’s apartment, with her Bible on the table and her artwork on the walls. On the last page she depicts Mom as we often saw her, sitting on the dock at her cottage, gazing across the lake. With Serenity Stone, much of the story concerns a church garden that the neighbouring casino wants to purchase for parking space. The publisher and I agreed that we wanted to emphasize the “cozy” nature of the mystery. This is not a graphic or violent murder mystery, but a gentler, humorous one appealing to women. Tracy Barr’s lovely picture of the entrance to the garden was a perfect fit.
What can we expect from you in the future? This spring Split Tree will be launching a sequel to Great-Grandma’s Gifts. It is called Where is Peachy Keen?
Currently I am ghostwriting a memoir about a woman who survived horrific abuse, a murder attempt, 50 suicide attempts, and life on the streets. She is now happily married, the mother of two, and a frequent speaker on mental health issues. She has been a guest on 100 Huntley Street, and won the 2007 Courage to Come Back award from the Canadian Mental Health Association. When that is done, I want to resume work on a literary novel I’ve started and a sequel to Serenity Stone. I also plan to keep writing children’s stories for my granddaughters, and another collection of poems.
How can readers discover more about you and your work?
Website: https://www.mariannejones.ca
Blog: https://www.mariannejones.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarianneJonesAuthor
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/MarianneJones@Mariann36863659
Lnkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/mariannejones
January 17, 2015
The Joy of Reading in Africa
While libraries in North America are busy reinventing themselves to lure people in, and teachers struggle to get kids interested in reading, most communities in Africa have a different challenge. They are suffering from an extreme shortage of books, as well as libraries to house them. Diane Donaldson, a friend of mine from Guelph, is spending the month of January at a school in Kenya to help with that challenge. She and her friend, Mary Starr, raised funds to travel with PACE ministries to help build a children’s library and house it with books. According to her friend Mary’s report, getting the children interested in reading has not proved difficult!
“PACE Children’s Library is open for business! With 10 brightly colored, vinyl covered couch cushions, an 8 by 10 foot rug, some benches and…BOOKS we had a marvelous afternoon. Fearing pandemonium when the door was opened, Diane and I strategized and schemed and planned how we would channel their enthusiasm to enjoy the library, without ending up like play time in ‘Toy Story 2′. No worries. From the get-go we had very able helpers. Kait and Milcah showed up while we were getting ready, requesting to help us arrange the books. They had obtained permission from headmaster Mr Kinyanjui, and set to shelving the books with great studiousness. As children came to the door, Kait very seriously explained to them, in Kiswahili, rules for handwashing and drying, foot wiping, and removal of shoes before going onto the carpet. If anyone got a little too excited, she would give them the librarian look and shush them quite sternly and loudly. Before long, a good collection of children were sprawled out, cuddled up, sitting on benches, enjoying book after book with such eagerness that it was touching.They were quiet, orderly and very responsive to all of our reminders and instructions for respecting the books and the facility. Diane and I sat back and watched with satisfaction. Our biggest difficulty of the day was getting them to leave when it was time to go.
We had been over the past week talking to some of Teacher Jillian’s art students from last summer, to be thinking of ideas for a mural for inside the library. Before supper we rounded up 16 plus students, to offer up their ideas for the mural. Again, they were quiet and studious, and produced many lovely drawings. As the time before the supper bell began to wind down, many of the art students trickled out, and others came to admire their handiwork and spend some more time with the books. When they had left for supper, we began to put the library to bed, but within a short time, a good sized group of girls had returned, to hang out enjoy the library. They taught us some handshakes and Kiswahili phrases (I have been taught before and will need it again), examined our skin and vaccination scars and showed us theirs, on the forearm instead of the shoulder, chatted happily, and when we were ready to close up and go home for supper, they carried our bags and accompanied us to the gate. The end of an amazing day.”
If you wish to help us reach our library goal ( we are in need of $300 more), please click on this link:
http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=2662905&langPref=en-CA
January 7, 2015
Winter Poem
We can’t do much about the cold, so I thought I would share this poem I wrote about January. I guess its beauty is the one compensation!
January
The grudging January light
uncovers balsams and snow
in black and white:
a winter monochrome,
elegant and cold,
in a gallery of ice.
December 18, 2014
Advent Poem
I wrote this poem last Christmas one night when I couldn’t sleep:
Advent Vigil
Houses exhale frozen clouds into the December air.
Snow dusts onto rooftops, streets, balsams, solid creek beds.
It thickens, shaping park benches into Henry Moore sculptures.
To my myopic eyes the Christmas lights are starbursts, winter flowers.
What keeps me awake in the dark, early hours of winter?
Is it my mother’s diminishing days, or my own?
Trees, black spears, strain, but cannot pierce the milky sky.
The coffeemaker grumbles as my husband sleeps.
On such a night You joined us, slipped into our dreaming world quietly,
As though You had always been here, sharing our air, our sounds, our bread.
December 2, 2014
Peachies Make a Movie!
There is nothing those intrepid Peachies won’t do to promote their favourite children’s book, “Great-Grandma’s Gifts”!http://splittreepublishing.com/products/great-grandma-s-gifts
To prove it, they are starring in their own movie, “Peachies on Parade”. Thanks to director/producer/filmmaker Kirst Reinikka for this. To see this movie, click on below.
http://mariannejones.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Peachies-on-Parade-small.m4v
