Kevin Craig

365 Days = 100 Books – Yeah, Right!

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:50:21 +0000

So, I gave myself an impossible goal for 2012. Read 100 books. I am the world’s SLOWEST reader. I’m not really sure how to get that validated, but I know it has to be a fact. I still recall my then 12 year-old son surpassing me in reading speed…and feeling the frustration. He’s not even very much of a reader! I have so many books on my TBR list…and I just keep adding to it. BUT it takes me forever to read a book. It’s SO frustrating! This year, I committed myself to reading 100 titles. I figure, this way I will try harder (I hate failing)…so I may even get 30 or 40 read. We’ll see. I’m going to be updating this post along the way with titles. I’m off to an okay start. It’s January 12th and I have 2 books under my belt! Yes…this is me TRYING.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer (P)
Taking Lessons from Ernest – Trish Stewart (P)
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak (e)
The Fault in Our Stars – John Green (e)
The Sense of an Ending – Julian Barnes (e)
Men in My Town – Keith Smith (e)

P = Print

e = eBook

A = Audio

(When I review a book that I’ve read, I will link to the review in the book’s title.)

AUTHORS FIGHT ALZHEIMER’S!

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:02:36 +0000

I will be on hand at the NORTH YORK CENTRAL LIBRARY AUDITORIUM on Monday January 30th to sign copies of SUMMER ON FIRE. I, together with a ‘tough’ group of authors, will be joining in on the fight against Alzheimer’s! My reason for being there will be in support of my grandmother, who was taken by Alzheimer’s several years ago. My very first published piece was in the GLOBE & MAIL Facts & Arguments column…and it was about my grandmother and Alzheimer’s. It was later featured on the Canadian Alzheimer’s Association’s website.

Please come out to support this event. It is near and dear to me. I’m hoping for a great turn out. There will be a lot of authors there…your purchases will help make it successful!

Thanks in advance…and see you there!

Authors Fight Alzheimer’s

Book Signing Fundraiser

Monday January 30^th, 2012, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.

North York Central Library Auditorium

5120 Yonge Street, Toronto

Please Attend…

The Authors Fight Alzheimer’s book signing fundraiser, the first of its kind, is an event put together by Canadian authors and publishers in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Society. Authors of various genres will be present to sign their books with the proceeds going to fight Alzheimer’s disease. The theme Read…Think…Remember is to promote keeping the mind active through reading, an important defense against the disease.

Author Attendees (as of December 18th):

MuseItUp Publishing – Joanne Elder, Sandra Clarke, Kevin Craig, Nancy Bell, Helene Prevost

Double Dragon Publishing – Deron Douglas, Anne Grobbo

Chizine Publishing – Doug Smith (two-time Aurora Award winner), Caitlin Sweet

Dragon Moon Press – Erik Buchanan, Jessica Frey

Dark Dragon Publishing – Karen Dales

Crime Writers of Canada – Melodie Campbell, Rick Blechta, Joan Boswell, Alison Bruce, Sheila Dalton, Alex Markman

The Writers Community of York Region – Malcolm Watts, Heather Lambert

And – I.J. Schecter, Peter Dennis, Mark Pezzelato.

Guest Speaker – Dr. Sandra Black, Director, LC Campbell Cognitive Neurology Research Unit, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Professor, department of medicine (neurology), University of Toronto

Thanks to Deron Douglas for publishing a commemorative book for this event.

Authors interested in participating in the event or for more information

please contact the Event Organizer:

Joanne Elder jelder1@rogers.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

THANKS TO OUR CORPORATE SPONSORS:

Borden, Ladner, Gervais LLP

MuseItUp Publishing, Sunrise of Aurora, Edward Street Bistro

BE HERE NOW – “There is a crack in everything…that’s how the light gets in.”

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:51:44 +0000

I actually made more than one resolution this year. The first will be as hard to carry out as the second.

#1 – Read 100 novels in 2012 – I will keep you posted on this one. So far, I’m still on my first one. Looks like I might have inadvertently picked a big one. Oops. I’m getting there, though.

#2 – Live in the moment. Or, as Baba Ram Dass says, BE HERE NOW. I spent a lot of last year living in the past. It was out of necessity, but it was tiring. So, 2012 is going to be a year of living in the moment…and maybe even a bit in the future.

But before I start chasing my second resolution, I wanted to share a bit about my upcoming novel, SEBASTIAN’S POET. A bit about the novel and a bit about the journey to and away from it. (-;

Sebastian was the result of my very first MUSKOKA NOVEL MARATHON, which was in 2007. I’m very proud to say that it was awarded the 2007 Muskoka Novel Marathon BEST ADULT NOVEL award. I wrote it in 48 hours…48 hours in which I did not sleep. It was the one and only marathon I participated in where I actually didn’t sleep. I wrote like crazy. When I arrived, I still had no story to tell…but once I sat down and started writing, I was 100% compelled to get the story out in full before the weekend was over. And I actually did it. I couldn’t believe it!

The real story was in the awakening I seemed to have through the experience of NOT sleeping. At first I was just exhausted. But eventually I hit this wall where I was invincible…or, rather, my fingers were invincible. And they were connected to a subconscious part of me that I had never tapped into before. It was exhilarating.

I take no credit for SEBASTIAN’S POET. It was one of those experiences where I was plugged in. It just ‘happened’. I know it sounds crazy when people say that…but that is exactly how I feel about this novel. Please don’t cringe when I say that I was only the conduit on this one. It is also, though, the novel I am most proud of. I’m thrilled that MUSA PUBLISHING picked it up (It will be published in April, 2012)!

Anyway, before I travel into the now and the future, I want to leave you with a poem I wrote after I travelled from MUSKOKA to HALIBURTON immediately after finishing the 48 hours marathon. Please keep in mind that I just got up from writing a novel in 2 days. My head was wool and I was open to the universe. I was listening NON-STOP to LEONARD COHEN during the marathon and during the drive from Muskoka to Haliburton. He was forever entwined in the SEBASTIAN’S POET story. So much so, that I later asked for and received permission to use a line as an epigraph to the novel. The line is the one I used in the title of this post. The line is from the song ANTHEM…an amazing and beautiful song that was a huge part of the marathon weekend.

So, this poem was written just before I passed out. On the journey from Muskoka to Haliburton I had deer jump into the road in front of me in Muskoka and I had bears surround my car on the road that snakes along beside Elephant Lake in Haliburton.

Needless to say, the whole weekend—from the first word of my novel, to turning off the engine of the car at the cottage in Haliburton—was something of a religious experience. Not God and higher being religious experience…but a TOTALLY TAPPED IN TO THE UNIVERSE religious experience. It was phenomenal. If you ever get a chance to take part in a novel writing marathon…I suggest you do it.

So, now that I babbled on and on, here is the poem:

After the Marathon

As winter whips its winds to frenzy
I am reminded of that time-
forty thousand words in my head
screaming white freedom
inside my withering mind.

And after the marathon,
the tears of no more words,
my insolent venting of could have-
might have beens. And the exhaustion,
like melting ice on pregnant lips,
a scream inside an empty car
with nobody else to hear.

When I thought the oddity over-
passing from Muskoka to Haliburton
with Cohen on my lips-
two deer arrive,
linger long enough to catch my eye,
to stop my hurling car,
to say, “I see you. You are real.”
And tears again. To find yourself
when you are lost; a figment
behind an endless stream of words.

After the deer, when Hallelujah
has played and the light of day declines,
I pray, one hundred-thirty pages
strewn like wild wind across the cluttered dash,
and here am I… stopped again-
a wild bear on hind legs,
pawing the slowly gloaming air.

Stopped, I wonder the wonder,
breathe to say, “I’ve been here too.”
And in the rear-view… three more,
mother, babies dawdling behind the car.
And the bear, as if he knows my head
and where it’s at, he paws again,
lifts his massive claws to night and speaks.

These are the things that I have left,
the shaking memories of a whirlwind journey took.
And forty thousand words inside my lonely head
was not enough. A bear to stand and scream
is what it took to leave it all behind,
the vent, the Cohen din inside the tremulous mind,
and most of all, the words that could have been.

So that’s it. You will notice that I tried to write it from a future place…from the winter after the marathon. I felt that I needed distance to get the experience right…even if it was a fake distance…a tacked on distance of words.

So, now…I will turn my back on the past for awhile and start 2012 with my feet firmly planted in the HERE AND NOW. Enjoy this year now.

“You’re standing on a bridge, watching yourself go by.” ~ Ram Dass

Winter Solstice Summer on Fire!

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:34:55 +0000

I wish I could take the credit for the catchy title. (-: But G. Donald Cribbs came up with it.

Get yourself over to his blog NOVELS BY G. DONALD CRIBBS to enter in his GIVEAWAY #4: WINTER SOLSTICE SUMMER ON FIRE You’ll never guess what he’s giving away! (Okay, maybe you will…) A signed print copy of my 2011 debut young adult novel, SUMMER ON FIRE.

While you’re there, stay awhile and read his blog. Some great books being talked about!

Here’s Donald’s 5-star review of SUMMER ON FIRE.
All you have to do to enter the contest is comment on his giveaway post.

GOOD LUCK!

Summer on Fire can be purchased in either ebook or print format at the following locations:

AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE CHAPTERS/INDIGO

Check out the reviews for SUMMER ON FIRE on the READER RESPONSE page of this blog. (-:

Books, Books, Books! My 2011 Book of Nods…

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I think I want to talk about books. Not mine. (-: I want to talk about the books I read and loved this year…and books that are releasing in the New Year that I am waiting on.

First, a little about the drastic changes in my reading habits. There are at least 2 factors that I can point to as the reasons for these changes.

Factor #1 – Twitter: Yes, Twitter. It is the reader’s paradise. Every day there are book parties for new releases and talk of what’s hot. One can barely click the ONE-CLICK INSTANT DELIVERY button on one’s Android Kindle App fast enough. Twitter has become my BIGGEST influence when it comes to either buying or borrowing books these days.

Factor #2 – Android Reading Apps: Yes, I have REALLY taken to reading on my phone. I have the Kobo app and the Kindle app. I prefer the Kindle. The medium sized font with the sepia background rocks my world! I’m reading more and I’m reading faster. I’m a terribly slow reader, but with my phone I seem to be able to read faster for some reason. It’s not the amount of time I read, it’s the quickness of reading one page view. Something about the speed of which I can turn the pages makes me somehow faster. I can’t explain it, but for someone who reads a lot and has a huge TBR pile because he reads so damn slow…this has been a blessing!

FAVOURITE BOOK(S) OF THE YEAR:

Until yesterday, I had a definite favourite book of 2011. Then, yesterday, I finished reading Hannah Moskowitz’s new title ZOMBIE TAG. Now, I have a 1^st place tie for FAVOURITE BOOK OF 2011. It doesn’t detract from my fav…it only means more goodness. (-;

My 1st choice for FAV BOOK OF 2011

Victoria Schwab is a master. Beautifully lyrical prose and a gothic tone that is so nostalgic. Just loved this book. It’s a must read!

My 2nd Choice for FAV BOOK OF 2011

Hannah Moskowitz can write about brothers like NOBODY ELSE. She captures the brother-brother relationship, and all it entails, perfectly every time! Zombie Tag is no exception. A near perfect book. It’s being tagged MIDDLE GRADE, but trust me–this book is for everyone!

You can click on the book covers above to be taken to each one’s Amazon page.

Other 2011 favourites include; INVINCIBLE SUMMER by Hannah Moskowitz & HUNTED by Cheryl Rainfield.

I recently discovered a 2010 title I absolutely love! This discovery also happened via TWITTER. A book blogger posted a review, and I knew right away that I had to read it. That book is:

: FAV 2010 TITLE READ IN 2011!

Avasti wrote an incredible, and incredibly real, story of violent abuse in a family setting. Such a great read!

You can visit my book review site for reviews on these, and other, titles:

TRY THIS BOOK ON FOR SIZE

THE BOOK I AM MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2012—

REAL JOHN GREEN!

To learn more about my book, SUMMER ON FIRE, you can go to the READER RESPONSE page here. Thank you!

Have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year! May you enjoy your holidays with family and friends!

Another 10-Minute Play – MAID OF HONOUR

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 22:43:52 +0000

As I’ve been so busy with life these past few days, I thought I would share one of my Trafalgar24 plays as a blog post. There’s already one of my 10-minute Trafalgar plays on this blog somewhere. You can search THE SPEECH to find it. This one, MAID OF HONOUR, is from Trafalgar24 2010. If you are unfamiliar with this event–playwrights get locked into Trafalgar Castle in Whitby, Ontario overnight. They each write a play and then leave the castle when the sun comes up. At that time, actors and directors enter the castle and rehearse all the plays for 8 hours. That evening, there is a gala event where approximately 300 audience members move throughout the castle seeing the plays performed in various rooms. It’s a phenomenal event. I’ve participating in the 2009, 2010 & 2011 Trafalgar24s. If you get a chance to attend, don’t miss out!

Here’s the play I wrote for 2010. I was given the Piano Room in which to write my play. I had to use only the props found in that room and I had to set the play in that room. (Somewhere on this blog are pictures of that room, in a previous Trafalgar24 post…but I’m not sure where it is right now. I’m on my way out the door to enjoy an evening of Italian food, family and friends! ETA: found it! Trafalgar pictures ) I hope you enjoy MAID OF HONOUR…

(as usual, if someone stumbles upon this post while googling 10 minute plays, etc, and wishes to use this play…please feel free to do so. ALL that I ask is that you email me for permission so that I know it is being performed. Thank you!)

TITLE: MAID OF HONOUR

GENRE: COMEDY

SYNOPSIS: Can a bride’s rocky relationship with her Maid of Honour survive a last-minute confession that she’s in love with the groom?

CHARACTERS:

MELANIE : Overly dramatic and self-centred.

PENELOPE: The Bride to be. Down to earth. The victim.

DESCRIPTION: On the night before Penelope’s wedding, her Maid of Honour makes a confession. Is Melanie’s secret severe enough to finally break up these struggling BFFs? Or will Penelope find it in her heart to forgive her egotistical, self-centred Maid of Honour one final time in order to save her day?

SETTING

MELANIE’S house.

MELANIE [Sitting at the piano with the swivel chair]: It’s hopeless! [Hits a low key on the piano.] It’s tragic. [Hits the same low key again.] It’s irrevocably ruined. [Hits the key one last time.]

PENELOPE [Sitting at the opposite piano, facing MELANIE’S back.] [annoyed]: What is? What’s hopeless, Mel? Tell me. How bad could it be?

MELANIE [Sighs. Swivels in her chair to face Penelope]: Remember that time your hair caught fire in the back of that limo? How mad you were? How you blamed me for ruining your prom?

PENELOPE: Nothing is that bad, Mel. Nothing could even come close to that disastrous moment—

MELANIE: I’m in love with Brad.

PENELOPE [Stands. Pats her hair, as though putting out flames]: What!

MELANIE: It’s true. I can’t pretend any long—

PENELOPE: What!

MELANIE [Stands]: We already covered that, sweetie. I’m opening up here. Please pay attention.

PENELOPE: I’m marrying Brad tomorrow.

MELANIE: Which is another reason you should hush and let me speak.

PENELOPE [Rushes Melanie]: What do you mean? Him too. You’re stealing him too.

MELANIE [Backs up.]: I believe the proper nomenclature is ‘also’. Let’s not jump to conclusions.

PENELOPE: You’re my Maid of Honour. My best friend.

MELANIE: But if you keep things in perspective, I’m also the one who torched your hair. I’m the reason you spent prom in the E.R.

PENELOPE: Not related. Does Brad know how you feel?

MELANIE: They are related, sweetie. You should pay closer attention to the woman who lit your head on fire. I’m flawed, Pen. Deeply flawed.

PENELOPE: I know, Mel, but back up. What’s going on? I’m supposed to be getting married tomorrow.

MELANIE: Pay attention. I’m trying to tell you. Hopeless. Tragic. Ruined. Remember?

PENELOPE: What?

MELANIE: Don’t go down that road again, Pen. You go down the ‘what’ road far too often. It’s a sign you don’t really pay attention when people speak. [Sits and swivels to face the keys.]

PENELOPE: Don’t turn your back on me. We have to discuss this. What about Brad?

MELANIE [Hits a low key]: Hopeless.

PENELOPE [Swings Melanie around to face her]: Enough with the theatrics. What’s going on? Have you stolen another fiancé from me?

MELANIE [With tragic look on her face]: I try to be a good friend, Pen. I really do. [Gets up and walks over to mirror. Casually studies herself] Do my eyebrows look even to you? [Turns to face PENELOPE, with back to mantel.]

PENELOPE: This is my life you’re playing with! I don’t care about your—

MELANIE: You don’t have to get so sensitive.

PENELOPE: Brad.

MELANIE: Yes, yes. The man you’re going to marry.

PENELOPE: Have the two of you been conspiring behind my back? Did you call me here to ruin my life again?

MELANIE [Walks away from mantel, towards PENELOPE.]: Honestly. You think so little of me.

PENELOPE: History has a way of dictating these things.

MELANIE: I said it was tragic, didn’t I? Would I think it tragic if Brad left you to run off with me? Give your head a shake. Why, I’d be elated. [Continues to piano and hits a low key.] I certainly wouldn’t be hitting the doom and gloom keys.

PENELOPE: Shirley. Gwynn. Or maybe Gloria. Oh, I know! Susan! It’ll be Susan.

MELANIE: I’m opening my spleen here. Why do you insist on rhyming off the guest list?

PENELOPE: Like hell I am! I’m trying to come up with a replacement.

MELANIE: Replacement? Replacement for what?

PENELOPE: You don’t honestly think I’d allow you to be my Maid of Honour now! Honestly, sometimes I think you’re so far up your own—

MELANIE: Words. Careful. No need to get nasty and trashy.

PENELOPE: It’s true. It must be awfully dark up there in the underbelly of Mel’s Great Universe. Why do I allow you to constantly wreak havoc with my life?

MELANIE: I’m good for you.

PENELOPE: If you mean like in the same way amoebic dysentery is good for a diet, well, yes. I’ll agree.

MELANIE: Oh, sweetie. Must you? Could we please be more civil?

PENELOPE: You were actually the twelfth person on my list the night I chose my Maid of Honour. Twelfth choice, Mel! And yet. Here we are.

MELANIE: Number one with a bullet!

PENELOPE: Oh, for a bullet. My kingdom for a bullet.

MELANIE: Listen. I only wanted you to know. Big deal. It’s my tragedy. Not yours. Surely you could overlook this tiny detail.

PENELOPE: Tiny detail? Tiny detail! You’re in love with the man I’m going to marry. That’s not a tiny detail.

MELANIE: In the grand scheme of things [Hits another low key.] it is a small thing. You’ll still marry him. I’ll want to slit my wrists when the vows are being spoken, but…but only on the inside, sweetie. I’ll be a champ on the outside.

PENELOPE: I can NOT have you standing with me on my wedding day. Being in love with the groom is the deal breaker, Mel. I just can’t.

MELANIE: But I love him. I need to be there. You can’t keep me away. I want to be—

PENELOPE: Why weren’t the skin graphs enough for me? What is it going to take to finally wash you out of my life?

MELANIE: Don’t dramatize. It was a perfectly respectable accident. I’m not the first one to light candles in a limo. It was Mark’s birthday. The prom was overshadowing his big day.

PENELOPE: Don’t bring him up. Please, God…let’s leave that one buried. I’m feeling stupid enough as it is. I’m always forgiving you.

MELANIE: Mark was a yit. You were better off without him. Good riddance to good trash.

PENELOPE: Bad rubbish.

MELANIE [Returns to mirror and begins preening.]: What now? What’s that about rubbish?

PENELOPE [Sighs.]: Bad rubbish. It’s bad rubbish. It’s good riddance to bad rubbish?

MELANIE: Like I said. At least we can agree on that. In Mark’s case, I was doing you a favour.

PENELOPE: You put me in the E.R. to make your move on him. That does not a favour make!

MELANIE[Leaves mirror and returns to PENELOPE.]: That’s not true. We were together long before the flaming hair incident, and you know it.

PENELOPE: It’s over, Mel. I’m glad you called me here tonight. I’ve finally come to my senses.

MELANIE: Please. Penelope. Don’t be rash. I already said this was tragic…don’t make it unbearable too.

PENELOPE: Does Brad know about this?

MELANIE: I love him, sweetie, but he’s as useless as bark on a donkey. Seriously, he wouldn’t know it if I wrote it on his face and pointed him at a mirror.

PENELOPE: Oh yes. That sounds like love.

MELANIE: Love is knowing the flaws and limitations of those on which you shower it.

PENELOPE [Sighs, defeated]: Love is a battlefield. I’m going to have to let you go.

MELANIE: It’s too late to fill my shoes. I just wanted to share my feelings. You can understand that, can’t you? He’s just so dreamy…for an intellectual stump.

PENELOPE: You told me. Now I’m telling you. You’re out. Susan’s in.

MELANIE: Susan? Ha. What time is the wedding? One-thirty? You’ll be lucky if Susan can walk a straight line by then. Do you really want her attempting the aisle in front of all those guests?

PENELOPE: Why are you torturing me? Couldn’t you keep this to yourself until after the wedding?

MELANIE [Moves to the mantel, fondles the lovers sculpture. Sighs.]: Brad. Oh, Brad. This could be us!

PENELOPE: Stop it. Stop it! I asked you a question.

MELANIE [Continues to fondle sculpture.][Distracted.]: Brad, Brad, Brad. [Irritated] What question?

PENELOPE: I asked why you insist on destroying me.

MELANIE [Turns away from the sculpture]: You! What about me? You’re marrying the man I love.

PENELOPE: You’re so infuriating.

MELANIE: Look. I just wanted to let you know how hard this is going to be for me. But I’ll do it. And I’ll do the best damn job ever. I’ll Maid of Honour like nobody’s business. I just needed to tell you it’s gonna break my heart, is all.

PENELOPE: You can’t tell me something like this and expect me not to react. You just can’t.

MELANIE: Understand where I’m coming from, Pen.

PENELOPE: Where’s that? The third circle of hell?

MELANIE: Clever. No, Hon. I’m here for you. I’ll hide the pain. I just needed you to be aware it was there. That’s all. [Smiles.]

PENELOPE [Shows signs of giving in, wavering.]: Argh. Can I trust you not to ruin everything? How do I know you won’t—

MELANIE [Brightens.]: I’ll be a bastion of maidenly honour. As God is my wit—

PENELOPE: Don’t do that! I’ve seen people struck down for less. Don’t make any promises you can’t keep.

MELANIE: Please, honey. Let me come. I won’t even look at Brad.

PENELOPE: I love him. Got it? Nothing can ruin our day. I can hardly look at you.

MELANIE: I don’t believe you. I’m irresistible! [Holds arms out in a Ta-da! gesture.] You’re crazy about me, Pen. We’ll pretend I’m not madly in love with him, shall we? I’ve been doing it this long…you can do it for one measly day.

PENELOPE: One day. That’s it. And only because Susan can’t hold her liquor. After your Oscar worthy performance, we’re splitzville. Understand?

MELANIE: Absolutely.

PENELOPE: You really leave me no alternative. But it’ll be duh-duh duh-duh-duh-duh-duh (< then bye-bye, Mel.

MELANIE: You got it. I won’t even bleed. All the wrist slashing will happen up here [Taps temple and smiles.].

PENELOPE: I hate myself for allowing this charade.

MELANIE: You find me irresistible. That’s why we’ve lasted so long.

PENELOPE: I think it has more to do with self-loathing. What time is it? I have to go. Tomorrow’s a big day.

MELANIE: The day my love gets married. [Sighs. Hits a low key.] Tragic.

PENELOPE: I’m going to ignore that little dig. Get to sleep. I’m trusting you to do this one last thing for me, before we part ways. Be well rested.

MELANIE: I’ll be flawless. [Gets up and opens door.] You won’t even know I’m dying on the inside.

PENELOPE [Crosses to door.]: Goodnight, Satan.

MELANIE: Until tomorrow.

PENELOPE[Turns back to face MELANIE.]: Please don’t let me down.

[PENELOPE leaves.]

MELANIE [Closes door, sits down at the piano and strikes a long low note.]: Tragic. [Puts head down—in hands.]

END PLAY

Writing Really Good Dialogue

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:11:36 +0000

(When I was first asked to write an article on this topic, I was blown away. This meant that somebody out there in the world must think that I write good dialogue. Somebody is asking me for advice on writing ‘really good dialogue’. I was over the moon. Then, as I began to analyze my methods, I realized I didn’t have any methods. I came to the conclusion while writing the article below that I may just be a savant. But, then, I feel that may be giving myself too much credit. Maybe I just get lucky? Maybe it was an accident that I ever wrote good dialogue? Maybe, they just wanted me to feel good? Maybe the author they originally had booked to write the article was crushed in an ugly double-decker bus accident? Maybe…

Writing Really Good Dialogue

(This article originally appeared in the Sept/Oct issue of the WCDR Word Weaver. Past issues can be found here. Most recent issues are available to WCDR members only.)

I was flattered to be asked to address the topic of writing great dialogue. Then I tried to tackle it. How does one write dialogue? It’s the one aspect of writing I feel I’m good at. My confidence level as a writer is low, but I feel confident with the dialogue I create. But to explain how to write great dialogue seemed way too daunting a task!

So I Googled it. None of the online articles had anything to do with my approach. They said, writing good dialogue is hard work; a great read is a hard write; it’s incredibly difficult to write good dialogue; you must know your characters before you can create great dialogue.

Bullsh*t, I say. For me, I must stop thinking before I can write great dialogue. Just write. Thinking gets in the way of dialogue. After I read a few articles and realized I couldn’t relate, I almost gave up. I don’t know my characters. Sometimes I can’t even remember their names after writing an entire novel with them. But I do know this: what I know about my characters I did not find out before I wrote their dialogue. To me, that notion is just ludicrous. I discover my characters as the dialogue comes out of them. The dialogue forms the character, not the other way around. Their words give me a true picture of who they are.

To write great dialogue, you can’t write what you hear on the street. People are staccato in conversation. They prattle on and change topics and say so much that does not pertain to the task at hand. In fiction you can’t do this. Every word must count. Dialogue has to be written MUCH better than real life conversation. It has to focus on the story and stay within its parameters. Great dialogue would probably NOT happen in real life, but done right and the reader will swear it sounds like real-life conversation. Like the rest of the fictional landscape, dialogue has to be larger than life. It’s a conundrum, really. Write dialogue too authentic and you’ve blown it, write it too stilted and unauthentic and you’ve blown it.

A writer needs to create individual personalities through dialogue and keep their characters on task while doing so. Characters will shape themselves and the story through their words. But knowing what they need to say to keep the story moving is only half the work. How they say things is important to the reader’s ear. This is why I read all my dialogue out loud by itself. I remove tags and the surrounding prose and then I have a conversation with myself to listen to HOW my characters are saying what they’re saying. And I speak the dialogue fast, so I can see where contractions would come into it in real life conversation. We’re a lazy bunch, us talkers. The use of contractions alone will go a long way in making your dialogue appear authentic.

As I sat down to write this, I discovered I might be a bit of an automaton when it comes to writing dialogue. Then I realized you NEED to be an automaton, to just write dialogue without thinking about it. Most people these days just open their mouths and speak. I’m not saying this is right, but it is the way it’s done. So when you’re in the grip of story, become your characters. Get inside their heads and spit out the first words that come into their mouths. That’s probably what they would say, and that’s also what would make them each unique. Stop thinking and start speaking.

Yours, Mine… Ours (a project/experiment in co-writing)

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:40:19 +0000

I can’t remember when Trish Stewart and I came up with the idea, but I know it came from a mutual admiration for craft. Somewhere along the line we discovered that we had certain similarities and passions. We were both poets. We wrote similar themes when it came to both poetry and fiction. We GOT each other.

So we started a novel and we posted it to the internet, in the form of a blog. Trish wrote the first chapter, I wrote the second chapter, Trish wrote the third chapter…and so on. We had one rule– NO DISCUSSING ANYTHING! She sent me the first chapter, I read it and then she posted it to the blog. Then I wrote the second chapter, sent it to her to read and then I posted it to the blog. We decided from the beginning that we would not influence each other by discussing what we thought would happen next. We would just allow the other one to take the story forward another chapter, in whatever direction they felt it would go.

It worked incredibly. I would read it and think, ‘If I didn’t know who wrote what chapter, I wouldn’t be able to tell the writing apart.’ This was a difficult thing for me to admit, since I hated my writing and I loved Trish’s. Therefore, I was giving myself credit by making that statement.

We said we were going to finish it in a certain number of months. If memory serves, we had grandiose plans to complete it in three months. We whipped through the first few chapters, but what Trish didn’t know was that she was working with me. I have the attention span of a dead gnat. We got as far as 11 chapters and it fizzled out–because of me.

It wasn’t a lack of passion in the project that caused me to drop it. I just have all these plans. I take on too many balls and when I try to juggle them all at once it’s not one ball that falls—it’s ALL the balls.

Anyway, to make a long story short (too late), we decided recently to kill the blog. We took it down–all 11 chapters–and now it is no longer available to be read online.

BUT that is not to say that this is the end. I am currently writing chapter 12. We are still going to do this. Reading it has given us both a newfound passion in the project. Dare I say it? It’s good! I really like it. I NEED to find out what happens. The only way to do that is to keep writing every other chapter. Trish and I—both published authors now—have decided that we want to see it through. We might even try to get this story published, once we get to the end and do edits on it. I am confident that it’s a story worth reading. Well, at least the odd numbered chapters! She’s good. She’s REALLY good!

I don’t think we ever gave the work a title, so I can’t tell you what we’re calling it, but I thought I would drop in a few lines from the work here:

AN EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE (Trish Stewart):

Rhonda used to hang her head out the window, lay back against the sill, sprawled across the seat with her legs across my lap and her back against Mickey, reclining across the front seat. She looked perfect like that. I followed the line of her from ankles, to hips, to her neck, curved and vulnerable. She peaked at the ivory white chin pointing skyward. I would rest my hand on her denim shin as I drove.

The last time she did it Mickey slid his hand across her belly; he was awed by seeing her that way – her midsection bared with the stretch of her body -and right in front of him for the touching.

She giggled. “Stop distracting me. I’m busy. I have to concentrate.”

“You’re looking at telephone poles,” I said. A question hung in my voice before it got doused in dashboard lights and extinguished by Robert Plant’s voice over the radio.

But she heard the unuttered question anyway. “I’m hanging wishes and memories on every one of them,” she said. “I’m decorating them like we always decorate the trees you bring.” She tugged her shirt back into place then wrapped her arms around her middle.

“I think I want go away for a while,” she said, after a long silence.

Mickey looked to me, and I to him and we both said, “Where?”

“Anywhere. Everywhere. I want to see the world.”

AN EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER TWO (Kevin Craig):

Waking up to our first Christmas without Rhonda was even harder than I had imagined it would be. With the bitter taste of our confrontation with Cal still burning a hole in my throat, I was in no mood to greet the morning without her.

As I sat up in bed, I remembered-and instantly regretted-the damage I had done to the rest of that bottle of whiskey after we left Roni’s graveside with our heads down and our tails between our legs.

We loved Roni like crazy. Bringing her a Christmas tree every year was just the tip of our Rhonda Eastwood obsession iceberg. Rhonda had come to define Mickey and me; form the people we had become. It was hard to be around such a free spirit as hers without having just a bit of that magic rub off on you, whether you wanted it to or not.

I should have gone with my gut when Roni voiced her desire to flee this shit-town, though. My gut told me I belonged in the small, in the forgotten, in the never going anywhere. But as I drove on, with Roni’s feet in my lap and her dreams in the air around us, something overtook my reason. Her desire to be anywhere, everywhere… it suddenly spoke to me. It bit me like a bear you can’t bite back but have to chase anyway, just to prove your courage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now we have to fast forward a couple of years. We left those first 11 chapters stagnating on our blog–because of me and my inability to focus. But writing this post today is my way of saying THIS WILL HAPPEN. This is evidence that I am newly dedicated to seeing this novel through. It deserves it. Trish worked very hard on this…and so did I. It’s a good story so far. We will write it the same way…no input whatsoever from one another. We will just send each other the next chapter and jump off from there to write the next. I’m anxious to see what happens. We had quite a following as a blog, too…many readers enjoyed tuning in to the next chapter to find out where the story went. Those readers are not going to be able to see the progression this time. It’ll be done through email…and then we will get down to the editing to polish it up. Who knows…maybe one day they can buy a published completed copy of the story. We shall see!

Click on the link below to be taken to AMAZON to check out Trish’s new novel, the INCREDIBLE Taking Lessons from Ernest!

Trish Stewart's Newly Published TAKING LESSONS FROM ERNEST

2012 Ontario Writers’ Conference – A World of Possibilities!

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:50:20 +0000

Tears are a good indication that, as a team, you are doing something right. When I first saw one of the 2010 Ontario Writers’ Conference registrants coming up from her Blue Pencil Mentor Session with a pool of un-fallen tears collecting in the corners of her eyes, I was a bit hesitant to ask her what was wrong. And then her face bloomed into one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. When she tried to speak, her breath caught in her throat. She was too happy to form an intelligent sentence.

When she was finally able to communicate to me what was on her mind, I felt another pang of justification for the long hours of planning we put into the conference every year. Her session was with an agent and the agent had asked her to send her manuscript in when it was completed!

And in 2011, I caught a moment of sheer exhilaration as Wayson Choy’s lecture let out. The crowd was silly with childish glee. And there were butterflies everywhere. When Wayson does something, he does it big! I couldn’t count the butterflies and I couldn’t count the smiles. Origami had taken over at the 2011 Ontario Writers’ Conference. (-: It was a sight to behold. And I beamed…because I pictured all those writers going home to their keyboards, setting their origami butterflies in a place of honour…and typing away with a newfound exuberance for the words they create.

That’s what we do this for…to hear success stories from writers who brave the nervous uncertainty of surrounding themselves with industry professionals for the opportunity to make positive changes in their paths to publication. To see the creativity of writers blossom into something bigger than it was when they arrived at the doors in the morning, eager to begin their day.

Every year as we committee members are running around making sure everything is moving as smoothly as possible, we come into contact with writers in the midst of a joyous moment…of discovery, truth, solidarity, success, enlightenment or recognition. Doesn’t matter what it is. If we see that glint on a passing face, the pool of tears collecting in wide-open unblinking eyes…well, we know. We know that the whole year of planning was worth the effort. That’s why we do what we do…as volunteers for a not-for-profit organization, our payback is in knowing that what we gathered together on the conference day has touched the life of a writer.

If you see one of the conference organizers walking around on the day of the conference with a beaming glow on their face, you’ll know they just stumbled across a registrant in the midst of an aha moment of bliss. Their success is our success! We’ll never get tired of seeing the fruits of our labour!

Wayson Choy - Honorary Patron of the Ontario Writers' Conference

So when you come to the 2012 conference on May 5^th, come with an open heart and mind. Come with bubbling potential. Come with hope and nervous wonder and a willingness to believe in the miraculous. We know we’re not going to change the world in any major way…but we certainly hope to bring a little change to your world.

…word by word

Visit the ONTARIO WRITERS’ CONFERENCE YouTube Station - We have a large selection of previous speakers to view at our dedication YouTube channel.

Visit the Ontario Writers’ Conference website to find out about the 2012 conference! We hope to see you there!

The 2012 Ontario Writers’ Conference takes place on Saturday May 5th at Deer Creek Golf & Banquet Facility in Ajax, Ontario…just minutes from downtown Toronto. All registrants receive FREE entry to the Friday evening FESTIVAL OF AUTHORS. If you cannot make it to the conference, you can still come out Friday evening to the Festival of Authors (Tickets- $20).

Fat Superhero, NaNo, Whispered Words, GoodReads, etc…

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:27:40 +0000

As November draws to a close, I have several things to mention all at once.

The first is NaNoWriMo. I went off the rails on this one, but I do have the beginning of a novel that I am REALLY excited about. Fat Superhero, a young adult novel about an overweight loser who lives a second life in his head-the life of a superhero–started off with a bang. But with things in my life right now being what they are, I am finding that I don’t have the concentration needed to write. So NaNo kind of fizzled out. BUT I know that I will be able to continue on with this story. It’s percolating, and I’m feeling good about it. So I don’t worry about it’s death. The Fat Superhero will rise again. Soon.

Looking for a cool writing contest? Whispered Words, the WCDR Prose Contest, gives feedback to every entry. And the top entries make it to an anthology. It’s really worth it. The 1st Place prize is $1,000.00 too! All the information you need to know can be found here: WCDR WHISPERED WORDS PROSE and COVER ART CONTEST

Speaking of the WCDR, one of my favourite CANADIAN authors is the guest speaker for the Saturday December 10th WCDR Breakfast Meeting! The incomparable WAYSON CHOY will be speaking at the December brekkie! (Click the link in his name to discover more about him) Registration for the event will be open soon. It takes place at the Ajax Convention Centre, which is about 10 minutes east of Toronto…worth the drive!

GoodReads – There’s currently a Goodreads Giveaway for 2 copies of my contemporary young adult novel SUMMER ON FIRE. It runs until December 1st and there are 2 copies up for grabs. Open to USA and CANADA only. You can enter to win here: SUMMER ON FIRE GIVEAWAY!

Back Cover Blurb: Zach Carson is a loyal friend. But is loyalty enough to keep best friends together when one of them sets fire to the rural barn they use as the local hangout? Zach, Jeff Barsell and Arnie Wilson struggle to pick up the pieces when news spreads that a body was discovered in the burnt out shell of the neighbouring home. When the word murder is used by the local police, the stakes grow even higher. When the police start searching for their most likely suspect-none other than Jeff’s older brother, and nemesis, Marty Barsell-the boys decide to join forces and come up with a way to prove his innocence. But just how innocent is Marty Barsell? When Marty admits to being at the scene of the crime, the three friends enlist the help of Zach’s annoying sister, Sherry, as well as the sympathetic town eccentric, Ms. Halverton. But can they keep it together long enough to save Marty, and themselves, from imminent catastrophe? Summer on Fire is the story of friendships, and the lines we are asked to cross in order to keep them.

What’s up with some of my other titles:

Sebastian’s Poet – I can’t wait to start edits on this one. It’s my favourite novel of all the ones I have in the hopper. It’s release date is April, 2012…through Musa Publishing. Can’t wait to see what comes of it after all the edits are done. This one won the Best Adult Novel Award in the 2007 Muskoka Novel Award Contest.

Half Dead & Fully Broken – I thought this one was my best work. It’s with my agent right now, but hasn’t had the success I’ve been hoping for as of yet. I really thought I nailed the YA voice with this one. I’ll have to wait and see if I’m right. I still have hope! This one won the Best Young Adult Novel Award in the 2010 Muskoka Novel Marathon Contest.

That’s Me in the Corner – This is still half a novel. It won this year’s Best Young Adult Novel Award in the Muskoka Novel Marathon Contest…but I still haven’t gotten around to finishing it. I’ve received some great feedback, though. So as soon as my dryspell is over, I will be tackling this one along with Fat Superhero. I like writing more than one novel at once. Something about switching from one world to the next keeps it interesting for me.

The Reasons – I am in the process of making this one bigger. I noticed some places where I could have gone into greater detail but didn’t. I want to eventually submit it to Summer On Fire’s publisher, MuseItUp Publishing. It won Best Adult Novel Award in the 2008 Muskoka Novel Marathon Contest. It’s a family drama with two POVs, that of the son and that of the mother. I feel it can go somewhere if I can just get the word count up.