A weekend in Ottawa for Can*con was time well spent. Caught up with old friends (breakfast with Sheila Williams, coffee with Sam Morgan, partying with Mark Leslie), met new people, sat on some panels, launched Strangers Among Us (and sold out every copy there, thanks to Bundoran Press, who allowed us to put our books on their table), saw a light show at the Parliament Buildings, toured the National Gallery, saw a boat make its way through the locks on the Rideau canal…and more! Thanks to Derek Kunsken and Marie Bilodeau for organizing!
Whitefish Retreat
Four writers, six days, no responsibilities: this is the third year I have been invited by good friend and writer, Mike Gillett, to his Whitefish cabin for a Labour Day long weekend of silence and keyboard tapping. This year, I managed to write an entire novelette (okay, I had written 3 scenes before coming) AND plan book 2 of the Prayer Stones Saga. Other than type, sleep and eat a couple of meals, we had many writerly conversations over dinner, and we did a bit of reading aloud of our weekend work on the last night there.
It was AWESOME!!
Started a new story
I plotted this one a while back, but have been so busy this is the first time I’ve had to sit down and write it. It’s laid out in 10 scenes (using Daniel Abraham’s method) and I wrote a long scene 1 (2000 words) today. Oh, well. First draft, right?
Planning for fall teaching
The Alexandra Centre has confirmed my teaching gig this fall: a ten week course on “The first three chapters.” The registration is full with a waitlist, so I will have ten students. I’m really looking forward to the class–it’s one I haven’t taught before, so I did some preliminary preparation this week.
The curriculum is only described very briefly: ten weeks, ten words (plot, setting, character…) and there will be no, or very little, critiquing (because the opening of a novel is a delicate thing–it can be destroyed so easily), so I added a few items of my own. For instance, I think I’d like to take the students through quilting, pantsing, and planning; we’ll have a brief look at the end at the audience–things like that. I also have a great new reference for them to explore: “Wired for Story.”
World con is, again, fantastic
Not only did the SFWA Board get a ton of work done at its Board meeting and have a great turnout for its Business meeting, but I got to touch base with lots of old friends and make new ones. Also, I taught the Writers’ Workshop again, which is always fun. But the weekend has gone by in a blink and I head home tomorrow. Where does the time go?