Got tons done during my 2-day retreat in Banff with my SAW writing group. I had some old material to revise — quite a bit — and then I got a new scene done as well, which I wasn’t expecting. There were 9 of us sharing a 10-person loft condo in the mountains with a hot-tub. Various people volunteered to make breakfasts and lunches, and we went out to local restaurants for dinner. People wrote from after breakfast well into the evening hours, although after that we did play “Mexican Train” one evening. It was dead quiet, with only the sounds of keys tapping (we didn’t even look up when the maid came in to change the towels). Randy outlined a novella and wrote 13,000 words — our biggest word count for the weekend. We read aloud Sunday evening and the quality of the work read aloud was awesome — makes me feel very lucky to be a part of this group!
Exhilarating to draft
Sometimes first draft writing can be scary and depressing and confusing. But today I am writing stuff I have thought about, taken notes on and planned for weeks. What a ride!
I’m a grandma!
Callum Alexander Forest Osborne was born very early this morning: 12:45 AM. He was 8 lbs, 6 oz and 22 inches long – very healthy. He and his mom are still in the hospital, as her blood pressure is a little high and they want to see it stabilize before they send her home – perhaps tomorrow morning.
Not much writing done this weekend (okay, none so far . . .)
Hit the Two-Thirds Mark!
. . . on my current novel. Everything is set up and in place for the climax. Today I begin that final piece. Can’t wait!
More on Aurora Eligibility
Thanks to Ron Friedman of my Imaginative Fiction Writers’ Association for compiling this partial list of eligible works for the Auroras — with the slant that all these writers are from Calgary (or were from Calgary or are good friends of Calgarians). Some to consider, at least:
Long-Form Works ================ Sawyer, Robert J. IDENTITY THEFT AND OTHER STORIES (collection). Red Deer Press, May 2008 Trenholm, Hayden. DEFINING DIANA. Bundoran Press
Novelettes ======== McCharles, Randy. “Ringing the Changes in Okotoks, Alberta.” Tesseracts Twelve, edited by Claude Lalumiere
Short Stories ========== Forest, Susan J. “Back.” Analog Science Fiction and Fact, June 2008
Sawyer, Robert J. “Apple Will Own Margaret Atwood,” The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine, January 2008 (reprinted as “E-Mails from the Future” in Sawyer’s collection Identity Theft and Other Stories).
Trenholm, Hayden. “Love In its Season” On Spec #73, Summer 2008
===================== Other Non-CanadaSF eligible:
McCharles, Randy (fan achievement) for chairing World fantasy convention. Jeff Campbell – for editing Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes