In this article fifteen poets talk about revision—their attitudes toward it & their methods: https://tinyurl.com/y8fukzhb .
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
poets discuss the art of revision
Friday, February 23, 2018
Canadian history, mystery, & adventure in BC Interior libraries
I'm scheduled to visit some BC Interior libraries to talk about Canadian history, mystery, and adventure. Please share this news with folks who may be interested, especially those living in Ashcroft, Clinton, Cache Creek, and Savona. Thanks.
A mystery woman visits Ashcroft on her walk to the top of the world. The braying of camels echoes through Cache Creek, Clinton, Kamloops, and other points in the BC Interior. Newfoundlanders grapple with a ten-armed monster. A woman and her stepchildren rescue the crew of a ship wrecked in the stormy waters of Lake Erie. A Saskatchewan farmer builds an ocean-going ship far from any ocean.
Join Elma Schemenauer in exploring these and other stories from her book YesterCanada: Historical Tales of Mystery and Adventure. Ponder the puzzles. Thrill to the adventures. Let the colourful events and characters of Canada's past inspire you with a new appreciation of our heritage.
On Saturday March 17, Elma will speak at the Clinton Library at 10:30, and at the Ashcroft Library at 1:30. On Saturday March 24, she'll speak at the Cache Creek Library at 10:30, and at the Savona Library at 1:00. Everyone is welcome at these free events.
Elma (Martens) Schemenauer is a first-generation child of Mennonite immigrants from Russia. She loves Canada and its history. Elma grew up in Saskatchewan, taught in Nova Scotia, and worked in publishing in Toronto for many years. Since 2006 she and her husband have lived on a sagebrush-dotted hillside in Kamloops. Elma is the author of 77 published books, many of them about history and community life.
Published by Borealis Press of Ottawa, YesterCanada: Historical Tales of Mystery and Adventure presents 30 historical tales spanning this great land and the centuries from the 1200s to the 1900s. YesterCanada is a 248-page paperback including 30 illustrations and a bibliography, ISBN 978-0-88887-650-8, $19.95. For more information, please visit http://elmams.wix.com/elma .
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
FW: Rocky Mountain Railroad – Discovery Channel - Monday March 5 TV series 8 episodes in 8 weeks
From: Victoria Weller [mailto:vweller@tnrd.ca]
Sent: February-20-18 9:00 AM
Subject: Rocky Mountain Railroad – Discovery Channel - Monday March 5 TV series 8 episodes in 8 weeks
Good Morning
The Discovery Channel announced that their 8-part television series, "Rocky Mountain Railroad," will air across Canada starting Monday, March 5th on the Discovery Channel.
The series will continue every Monday night for a total run of eight weeks.
More information and a preview is available here: https://www.discovery.ca/Shows/Rocky-Mountain-Railroad.
Canadian Pacific employees have always known there is a "cool factor" to what they do for a living. Still, it's nice when others take notice.
For two months last year, CP played host to film crews from the Discovery Channel in our Pacific, Prairie and Central corridors as they documented how CP works to move the commerce of the nation in some of the most challenging and scenic railroad territory in the world.
CP President and CEO Keith Creel called the production, "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase our network, our operations, our key customers and most importantly, our people."
The film crews embedded with track maintenance crews, rode trains across mountain passes, and spent time with mechanical employees in car and locomotive shops. The film crew also documented an emergency change-out of a locked axle on CP's main line, and spent time with customers at locations where railcars are loaded and unloaded.
The series will be promoted on social media using the hashtag, #RockyMountainRailroad.
Thank you to TNRD Director Ronaye Elliott for sharing this information.
Please share.
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| Victoria (Vicci) Weller Film Commissioner, Thompson-Nicola Film Commission Thompson-Nicola Regional District 300 - 465 Victoria Street | Kamloops, BC |V2C 2A9 Office 250 377-8673 | Direct 250 377-7058 | Fax 250 372-5048 | |
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Saturday, February 17, 2018
what happens to Frank after the novel CONSIDER THE SUNFLOWERS ends
In my novel CONSIDER THE SUNFLOWERS, the charming troubled Frank Warkentin can't commit himself to his wife or to their Mennonite faith. What happens after the story ends? Here's Frank in the novel I'm writing now. He's officiating at a wedding and the bride is late.
Pastor Warkentin stood broad-shouldered in a charcoal suit, his hair silver above his swarthy face. He smiled at me and admitted he had been late for his own wedding thirty years earlier.
I'd heard the story before; it was one of Adeline's favourites. Several people in the congregation chuckled, evidently recalling the event.
The pastor continued. "My wife, Tina, was a believer when we got married. But I was a doubter, sorry to say. I didn't come to the Lord until years later." The pastor's brown eyes searched my face and then Simon's. "However, I believe you two share that life-giving faith." He paused, waiting for a response.
Simon and I glanced at each other and nodded.
The pastor turned, his gaze sweeping the congregation. "Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is a priceless gift." His rumbling voice filled the church.
I'd rarely heard anyone sound so sure of anything.
Monday, February 12, 2018
getting a book published
Have you written a book? How can you get it published? There are 3 main ways:
1 Self-Publishing. Author pays expenses & controls all aspects of publishing & marketing. Also called Indie [independent] or DIY [do it yourself].
2 Assisted Self-Publishing. A company helps the author self-publish. Such companies vary in what they do, how well they do it, & how much they charge. Investigate carefully before committing yourself.
3 Traditional Publishing. Publisher pays expenses & controls process in consultation with author.
Here are some lists of publishers:
Canadian traditional publishers: http://www.track0.com/ogwc/resources/canpublishers.html
Canadian traditional publishers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Book_publishing_companies_of_Canada
British Columbia traditional publishers: http://books.bc.ca/who-we-are/member-directory/
Some Canadian self-publishing companies: Friesen Press, Tellwell, First Choice, Vancouver Desktop Publishing Center
Some American self-publishing companies: https://thejohnfox.com/2017/09/30-best-small-indie-literary-publishers/
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
alternative ways of writing dialog
Suppose an author wants to write dialog without using dialog tags such as he said/she said and without using quote marks. How could he/she do that? An online writing acquaintance of mine, Bill Bartlett, answered the question this way:
Hemingway had a dozen lines of dialog or more without any dialog tags or beats to show who was saying what, but he used quote marks. This was in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, as I recall. I've seen at least one writer use the character name followed by a colon. Johann David Wyss used that technique in Swiss Family Robinson. I've slept since I've read it, though, and I can't recall if quote marks were used or not.
Example:
Bill: What's up?
Pamelyn: Same ol' same old.
A beat or an action tag is good.
Example:
Bill wiped his brow. I'm not sure about this.
Pamelyn stomped her foot. You said you knew how to do it.
That being said, I seem to recall that the writer only needs to identify a speaker about once every three lines of dialog or so.
Example:
Bill wiped his brow. I'm not sure about this.
You said you knew how to do it.
Well, yeah, but that was a long time ago and I haven't even tried for dozens of years.
Pamelyn narrowed her eyes. This is important.
You're sure? If you're absolutely positive, I can try again, but you have to be certain.
What do you think? Can you imagine in your wildest dreams me asking you?
No. Bill looked at his feet. Not really.
Another way is to use the characters. One could use a name and make their dialog unique enough to identify who is saying what. This could be done with a dialect, too, where one character has a pronounced accent and the other doesn't. That's a little tricky to pull off, though. Too much dialect can irritate the reader and too little won't achieve the desired effect.
Thursday, February 1, 2018
This may interest writers of prose poetry
From: Elma [mailto:elmams@shaw.ca]
Sent: February-01-18 8:31 AM
Subject: This may interest writers of prose poetry
Discussion of prose poetry http://www.portyonderpress.com/the-prose-poem.html
Info on free-to-enter prose poetry contest: http://www.portyonderpress.com/the-christine-prose-poetry-award.html