Very cool to be asked by the Alexandra Centre to present their one-day Horror workshop. A bit tricky to plan for, though–I had to plan the full day without knowing who my students were, or their needs. Predictably, though, they were a wide-ranging group. So, in one session I needed to meet the needs of a person there for fun who plays with writing, to a person who has written and published lots! Really kept me on my toes! However, the evaluations at the end were good, so I think the session was positive for most of them.
A Ski Week
So, last week my husband had off work, so we skied in Golden and Rossland, B.C. Had some awesome conditions with lots of fresh powder and steep slopes. One adventure in Rossland looked as though it was going to lead us over a cliff, but we were able to ski off to the side and get back onto a regular run. Untracked powder through the trees–pretty tempting!
John Carter of Mars–fun movie!
My dad grew up reading Edgar Rice Burroughs in the thirties, so as an adult he checked out the second-hand bookstores for his favourites and brought them home for my brother to read. That’s how I first got hooked on science fiction. So when I saw A Princess of Mars had been made into a movie, I knew it would be the perfect film for IFWA members to see as a group. We all went tonight, and it was great. Action and CGI. I read several in the Tarzan series, of course (my favourite was Tarzan the Terrible), one in the Pellucidar series and Thuvia, A Maid of Mars, but never A Princess of Mars. However, Gary tells me the movie follows the book fairly faithfully. Had fun!
Reconnected with Kensington Writers
Had a great meeting tonight with my Kensington Writers’ Group–critiqued two chapters from the beginning of a novel and caught up with the amazing things the group is up to. Naomi Lewis has a collection coming out this summer, for which she has already won an award by the publisher! Governor-General’s Finalist, Shenaaz Nanji has finished the first draft of her next novel, but says she wants to do another pass before she lets us read it for critique–sounds like a fascinating premise, and I can hardly wait to read it.
Wrote another short story!
Finished the rough draft today. The idea came to me just as I was waking up, Tuesday, and the whole thing is done! Well, still have to revise and edit, of course. And, it is under 3000 words, which is great. I have a hard time writing at that length, and I like to have a few short pieces–there are so many markets for shorter stories.
Feels good 🙂