On Sunday I attended the Ottawa Author's Book Sale put on by "Ottawa Independent Writers". In the course of telling the owner of Baico Publishing Consultants about my book and my ideas, he invited me to submit. And mercifully, he said he doesn't bother with query letters, proposals, and all the conventional 'junk'. I can just go ahead and send him the manuscript and he will read it in its entirety! He's a spiritual fellow and says if I believe God is prompting me to write this, then I'd better follow through! Wow. So I'm getting my MS ready to send off! :) We shall see!
Steph
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Congratulations to Caroline Pignat, winner of the GG's Literary Award for 2009!
Well! I just heard that my friend and writing mentor, Caroline Pignat, has been awarded the Governer General's Literary Award for 2009! How fantastic! It's for her wonderful book, Greener Grass.
Caroline Pignat's Greener Grass: The Famine Years follows the disintegration of the Byrne family during Ireland’s Great Famine of 1847, when landlords ruled without mercy, children could be taken away to prison, and thousands were left to starve. A timeless story of courage, family loyalty and the resilience of the human spirit.
I'm so happy for her. And man, does this ever serve to spur me on to keep pushing forward towards publication of my own book!
Steph
Monday, November 16, 2009
long time no blog!
Hey,
Well I checked in to my blog only to realize that it has been almost a year since I've posted anything! What's up with that? Time flies - at the speed of light sometimes.
Anyway, this morning I wrote what I believe will be the concluding chapter of the book! I really thought I was done, but I was praying about it, and I felt there was a wee bit more to say. Well, 22 pages came hurtling (is that a word?) out of me and now it actually feels like I've FINISHED writing. I've been wondering for a long time, how does one know when it's time to end a book? When it's time to just put down the pen, close the notebook and call it a year? (or 4 years, in this case.) It's no easy feat; this baby has become 'mine' through and through, and I suspect I'm having a bit of separation anxiety. And yet, what's the point of writing a book if no one is ever to read it except the author? Especially when one feels that perhaps it is God Himself who is prompting the writing of this book. If that's the case, then it becomes, as an honest friend recently said to me, a selfish thing. The keeping of it, I mean. I guess it's the old thing of not keeping one's light under a bushel... or in this case, one's manuscript buried at the back of the filing cabinet for "safe-keeping". Or for lack of faith in the merit of the thing. Or for fear of it's not being well received. Or, because said author might not have any other books in her, so better hang onto this one, forever polishing, editing, and "working on it". Or. Or. Or.
Enough! In the words of that wise old baboon Rafiki (from the Lion King):
IT IS TIME.
Thanks for reading this far! Please do check back - I promise not to neglect this blog and to try to make it interesting, compelling and above all, hopefully, to report the play-by-play, up-to-the-minute, lead-up to publication. God Willing.
Steph
Well I checked in to my blog only to realize that it has been almost a year since I've posted anything! What's up with that? Time flies - at the speed of light sometimes.
Anyway, this morning I wrote what I believe will be the concluding chapter of the book! I really thought I was done, but I was praying about it, and I felt there was a wee bit more to say. Well, 22 pages came hurtling (is that a word?) out of me and now it actually feels like I've FINISHED writing. I've been wondering for a long time, how does one know when it's time to end a book? When it's time to just put down the pen, close the notebook and call it a year? (or 4 years, in this case.) It's no easy feat; this baby has become 'mine' through and through, and I suspect I'm having a bit of separation anxiety. And yet, what's the point of writing a book if no one is ever to read it except the author? Especially when one feels that perhaps it is God Himself who is prompting the writing of this book. If that's the case, then it becomes, as an honest friend recently said to me, a selfish thing. The keeping of it, I mean. I guess it's the old thing of not keeping one's light under a bushel... or in this case, one's manuscript buried at the back of the filing cabinet for "safe-keeping". Or for lack of faith in the merit of the thing. Or for fear of it's not being well received. Or, because said author might not have any other books in her, so better hang onto this one, forever polishing, editing, and "working on it". Or. Or. Or.
Enough! In the words of that wise old baboon Rafiki (from the Lion King):
IT IS TIME.
Thanks for reading this far! Please do check back - I promise not to neglect this blog and to try to make it interesting, compelling and above all, hopefully, to report the play-by-play, up-to-the-minute, lead-up to publication. God Willing.
Steph
Monday, December 1, 2008
Delicious... and Terrifying
Hello again!
Well I think I've finally decided that the bulk of the actual writing of the book is DONE. The next leg of this odyssey seems to be the preparation of the manuscript for editing. I will readily admit that I have resisted this part for many months now, though not exactly sure why. And in the end it doesn't actually matter 'why'. I just need to be about the business of doing the tasks and taking the steps that will keep (or get) things moving.
About a month ago, my dear soul-friend Margie suggested I come over once a week and read the numerous handwritten chapters aloud while she types. Something in me just leaped with joy when she offered this gift. She who knows too well the paralyzing effect that 'shifting gears' can have on me. I get going at a good clip once I get in a groove, but with the writing groove drawn to a close, I was at a loss. So I think Margie just mercifully said 'enough. Let's get this thing done'. So for the last 4 Thursday mornings, we have been getting this thing done. Each time I'm driving out to the farm where she lives with her family just south of Ottawa, I get this overwhelming urge to turn the car around and take off in the other direction. I don't. And that's beyond me. I just get my body there, doing my best to quiet my mind and trembling heart. I feel it now, as I write. To borrow a fantastic phrase, coined by Margie, it's deliciously terrifying! Delicious - in its unknowns, its possibilities, and the enormous energy and courage it calls forth on so many levels. And Terrifying - for all of the same reasons.
I went to a wonderful book launch yesterday for the new book, Remembering Mother Teresa, by local author (and friend) JoAnne Christie. It's a collection of 58 different peoples' accounts of having met or been somehow touched by Mother Teresa. It's a compelling book, and it brought me tears, smiles and blessings as I devoured it at home last night. So many different people, stories, circumstances, timeframes. But it seems they were left with that same flavour and impression that so many have spoken about: that Mother Teresa was frail and small in stature and at the same time full of life, energy and holy presence. Again and again, the writers told how they felt they had Mother's undivided attention. That her loving, gentle eyes somehow imparted a peace that passed understanding. That her knowing smile wordlessly communicated her great love for each person. And that having had even the briefest of encounters with her, each one felt that they had been forever changed. I can relate. The stirring inside is palpable as I recall my chats with Mother - now almost 13 years later. I often have this eerie yet peaceful feeling that she is here, now... looking over my shoulder as I write. May I do her justice! :) Of course, she would be the first one to defer to Christ. Don't look so much to me, she might say. It is not I who lives, but He who lives in me. I am, she once said, but a pencil in His Holy hand. So here I sit, day after day, praying to be a little keyboard, utterly controlled by the Master's Hands.
Peace. And Happy Advent!
Well I think I've finally decided that the bulk of the actual writing of the book is DONE. The next leg of this odyssey seems to be the preparation of the manuscript for editing. I will readily admit that I have resisted this part for many months now, though not exactly sure why. And in the end it doesn't actually matter 'why'. I just need to be about the business of doing the tasks and taking the steps that will keep (or get) things moving.
About a month ago, my dear soul-friend Margie suggested I come over once a week and read the numerous handwritten chapters aloud while she types. Something in me just leaped with joy when she offered this gift. She who knows too well the paralyzing effect that 'shifting gears' can have on me. I get going at a good clip once I get in a groove, but with the writing groove drawn to a close, I was at a loss. So I think Margie just mercifully said 'enough. Let's get this thing done'. So for the last 4 Thursday mornings, we have been getting this thing done. Each time I'm driving out to the farm where she lives with her family just south of Ottawa, I get this overwhelming urge to turn the car around and take off in the other direction. I don't. And that's beyond me. I just get my body there, doing my best to quiet my mind and trembling heart. I feel it now, as I write. To borrow a fantastic phrase, coined by Margie, it's deliciously terrifying! Delicious - in its unknowns, its possibilities, and the enormous energy and courage it calls forth on so many levels. And Terrifying - for all of the same reasons.
I went to a wonderful book launch yesterday for the new book, Remembering Mother Teresa, by local author (and friend) JoAnne Christie. It's a collection of 58 different peoples' accounts of having met or been somehow touched by Mother Teresa. It's a compelling book, and it brought me tears, smiles and blessings as I devoured it at home last night. So many different people, stories, circumstances, timeframes. But it seems they were left with that same flavour and impression that so many have spoken about: that Mother Teresa was frail and small in stature and at the same time full of life, energy and holy presence. Again and again, the writers told how they felt they had Mother's undivided attention. That her loving, gentle eyes somehow imparted a peace that passed understanding. That her knowing smile wordlessly communicated her great love for each person. And that having had even the briefest of encounters with her, each one felt that they had been forever changed. I can relate. The stirring inside is palpable as I recall my chats with Mother - now almost 13 years later. I often have this eerie yet peaceful feeling that she is here, now... looking over my shoulder as I write. May I do her justice! :) Of course, she would be the first one to defer to Christ. Don't look so much to me, she might say. It is not I who lives, but He who lives in me. I am, she once said, but a pencil in His Holy hand. So here I sit, day after day, praying to be a little keyboard, utterly controlled by the Master's Hands.
Peace. And Happy Advent!
Monday, November 17, 2008
one bite at a time...
I've come to accept that for now, the only way this book is going to get closer to completion is by taking baby steps. I never seem to have big blocks of time where I can sit and ponder and write and edit and pace around and scratch my head and do all the things I assumed writers have to do in order to eventually produce something worth reading. But I do have little windows of time throughout the week, and if I can use them when they present themselves, so much the better. It can't be the 'all or nothing' I'm usually about, else this project will never see the light of day! :) It's little bits of the 'some', scooped up and seized and valued. Lately I've been progressing by leaps and bounds using just an hour here, a half hour there, a new idea scratched roughly on a napkin while out for breakfast with a friend. And it's all good! Each part is a small but significant piece that contributes to the whole. Reminds me of my life... if I look at the things I need to do and the changes I want to make and all the hopes and dreams and ideas and pathologies in my head, man! I'll never get anything done! I'll be sitting in a corner somewhere, rocking, muttering to myself, 'there's no place like home' or something equally unsettling... lol. I heard someone say once there's only one way to eat an elephant, and that is one bite at a time. And so it is with this book, this life, these moving boxes still piled in the corner, taunting me. Well enough. Maybe one paragraph, one box, one bite of the elephant really can be enough. It seems so to me today, and that's good enough.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Back in the Saddle....
... after a bit of a bumpy ride. After a very long hiatus I'm back to blogging. The book and its concept are taking new shape and I've had to take time to see where its all heading. I'm excited, cause I think I'm nearing the end of the actual writing of it, and closing in on editing and piecing the thing all together in a coherent way. Time will tell! Looks like I have an editor who is willing to have a look and help me connect all the dots... So the plot thickens... I hope. :)
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Anyway
Hi there,
I'm excited to let you know that I've just added an e-mail subscription feature where you can sign up to receive a message every time I post something new. To check it out, scroll down a bit and you'll find it below my profile, on the left of this page.
I want to share a poem I've been fond of for years, and until recently didn't know who had written it. Well, imagine my surprise when I discovered that the author was Mother Teresa! I especially love the last line... Enjoy.
Steph
~~~~~~~~
ANYWAY
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
~ Blessed Mother Teresa of the Poor ~ 1912 - 1997
I'm excited to let you know that I've just added an e-mail subscription feature where you can sign up to receive a message every time I post something new. To check it out, scroll down a bit and you'll find it below my profile, on the left of this page.
I want to share a poem I've been fond of for years, and until recently didn't know who had written it. Well, imagine my surprise when I discovered that the author was Mother Teresa! I especially love the last line... Enjoy.
Steph
~~~~~~~~
ANYWAY
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
~ Blessed Mother Teresa of the Poor ~ 1912 - 1997
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
