Maureen Bush's Blog, page 12

Writing Retreat

I’m in Canmore for three days, staying in a lovely condo, on my own, courtesy of a brother- and sister-in-law. This is one of the best gifts I’ve received as a writer. A writing retreat!

The drive up was gorgeous, the sky clear blue, the mountains starkly white and deep blue on the horizon. I listened to Jian Gomeshi interviewing Lynn Coady about her Giller prize win.

Before I left home, I heard (thanks, Monica Kulling, who knows all), that The Veil Weavers is on the Canada Toy Testing Councils Great Books for 2014 list. I’m thrilled! When my daughters were little I loved the Toy Council lists, as a way to find toys with great play value, as the toys are all tested by kids. It pleases me deeply to have a story chosen by kids.

Maureen

http://toy-testing.org/2013/reports-and-awards/great-books-2014/

Field of Crosses

The city has set up a field of crosses along Memorial Drive, naming Albertans killed in combat. My mom and I went, and found her uncle’s cross: Howard Blatchford, an RAF flying ace in WWII (the cross incorrectly identifies him with the RCAF). Family legend says he was the youngest pilot to get his license in Canada; he flew in the north before the war began.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Crosses+signal+coming+tributes+dead/9091439/story.html

 

 

First Snowfall

Saturday was the perfect fall day, sunny, warm, and ideal for raking.

Sunday we had dark skies, rain and then snow, and a multitude of car accidents.

Today, Monday, it’s cold and clear and dazzlingly bright, as sunlight reflects off the snow.

Tuesday the forecast is for warmth again. The snow will melt, the streets will be swamps, and we’ll all enjoy a day or two of spring fever.

I can’t imagine what this is like for visitors to the city, struggling to magically pull the right clothes out of their suddenly much too small suitcases. But for Calgarians, this is perfectly, delightfully normal.

Maureen

I Want My Brain Back

I have a cold, a rather minor annoyance, except when the fatigue and headache overwhelm. But to write, with no brain? That’s a killer. Writing for kids takes a bright, sparkly brain, and mine is dull and grey.

I work in spurts, planning for my writing class next week, editing – and then snoozing and watching netflix, huddled in blankets. I did find a new story in a funny typo. Later, when I have some spark again, I’ll work on it. So far it’s a great title in search of a story. Writing this took two days – one to type up some sad scrappy notes, and a second session to polish it into something vaguely presentable.

And that is a writer’s life, when afflicted.

Maureen

Wordfest Survivor

I have survived Wordfest  – five events in three days, a pocketful of bus and show tickets, 2 writing workshops, talks by 6 kid writers, lunch with two writer-friends, and a pair of sore feet. Wore out two pens, filled half a notebook, collected a list of things to think about in terms of writing and story ideas, and started four stories, inspired by workshops, written while I waited for halls to fill with children.

Cary Fagan’s workshop on writing for children reassured me that what I’m telling my students isn’t just blowing smoke. He sees writing like I do ­ – it was odd to see that reflected back.

I saw some really good presenting, and some really bad (and heard about more). A few basic rules: don’t go over time; don’t overshadow the other writer; don’t come on like a salesman; if you’re an illustrator or presenting a picture book, don’t hold up the book or some artwork and expect 500 people in the theatre to be able to see it. Put it on the screen. Great artwork huge on a screen is stunning – Marie Louise Gay and Barbara Reid nailed this. And be personal – really connect with the kids.

I had lunch with Monica Kulling and Rona Altrows – we talked and laughed and shuddered over problems in presentations.

There’s my week out with grownups, talking about writing. Now it’s time to take my insights and get back to the quiet, solitary work of writing.

Maureen

A Feast at Wordfest

It’s Wordfest time, Calgary’s literary festival. After being one of the authors last year, I’m looking forward to watching other writers sweat. I have tickets for three kid events, two workshops, and lunch planned with a Calgary writer-friend and a writer-friend in town for Wordfest, Monica Kulling. This lunch is a great example of why Facebook is good for writers. Monica and I are both kid writers and Facebook friends, but we’ve never met. So we’re delighted at the chance to share a meal. I’ll see her present, too, with Barbara Reid. I’ll also see Marie Louise Gay, and join a workshop with Cary Fagan, so it’s immersion in kid writers week for me. Plus teaching my class on writing for kids, and… you know.. writing. I’m not sure where that’s going to fit in. Just after the laundry, I think.

Maureen

 

 

Fall Pears

The pear tree outside my office window is radiantly orange, filling my office with a golden light that makes me want to linger at my desk. But the picture I planned to post was eclipsed by this pic of a squirrel, enjoying a pear at his dining table.

Maureen

Oh, the silence

The house next door is almost completed. The sidewalks are replaced. There’s still lots of construction in the neighbourhood, including a project we can see from our driveway, but none of it’s right here. The silence is amazing.

It’s frustrating, too – it’s quiet enough now to write in the garden, but most days it’s too cold.

I may find ways to play in the garden – hanging lights, putting up the bird feeder. I’m coveting a woodpecker feeder, with nuts held in place – that should drive the squirrels wild. Perhaps after Christmas I’ll stick the tree in the back garden, and decorate it with treats, although I know it’s the squirrels who’ll take most of them.

Anything to enjoy the garden again, after the noise, the allergens, the dirt and garbage, the damage – oh, the damage!

Next summer will be quiet, right?

Maureen

My Favourite Fall Flowers

I have two favorite fall flowers. The first is echineacea ­– purple cornflower – because it always makes me laugh, with its orange cone and pinky-red petals. It limps along in my garden, needing yearly replacement. I wish I could figure out how to help it thrive. I’d love a couple of really big bunches, loaded with blooms, loud and absurd.

My other favorite is the opposite – quiet and delicate. My Japanese Anemone took years to become established and settled enough to bloom. Now, the spring-delicate pink flowers enchant me.

Maureen

 

 

Staying In The Story

I wants stories that pull me in and hold me until the very end when I cry, “Oh, I don’t want it to be over.” So how do I write that way?

That’s an essential question for writers, and I haven’t seen it discussed much (perhaps it’s so essential it’s assumed to be the basis of all writing advice).

This is a great way to explain to young writers why editing is important. As readers, we don’t want to be pulled out of the story by writing errors. We don’t want to be aware of the writer at all. The writer needs to vanish, as the story inhabits us.

How do we become invisible as writers? Here are a few pieces of that puzzle that I’ve found: Clean, carefully edited, smooth writing. Skilled, with enough of both action and emotional involvement to keep us enthralled. Nothing awkward or bumpy or annoying or just plain wrong. Nothing that pops us out of the story. There’s enough going on around us that will, like doorbells and barking dogs, laundry and dishes and, god forbid, work and school.

Let the story pull us in and hold us until the very last word.

Maureen