Hi, Honey - I'm home

Holiday Summary: Long. Great. Pretty good. Spectacular.

1,800 miles on the clock from Cornwall to York to Sussex to Winchester, and points in between.

Expensive. Everything. Except oat cakes and Cornish Pasties - though for the most part they left a lot to be desired - and Fair Trade T-shirts from Marks and Sparks.

Highlights: The Lost Gardens of Helligan, The Eden Project, the Minack Theatre (of course, always!) and Mevagissey.

And family. All well, busy and going about their business.

Home to the usual crazy schedule with hardly a moment to breath, THEN, the copy proofs of my book arrived along with the cover.

And I LOVE it.
The colours, the slightly retro look, the fact that Tansy is not your conventional 'pretty' child and that the cover is strong enough that I hope it will appeal to both boys as well as girls.

Thanks to the verso page in the proofs I was able to determine the illustrator is Peter Ferguson, and Google did its job so I could track him down and email him right away and say thank you.
(I was also intrigued to see that top of PF's list of favourite musicians is Tom Waits - whose work I just adore. )

Leaving on a jetplane

I'm off tomorrow for a few weeks visiting family, friends and old haunts in the UK. Hampshire, Yorkshire, Cornwall, Sussex... we have quite a bit of ground to cover.

But first we have the usual three-hour wait at the airport, which we'll spend sitting on the steps above the Spirit of Haida Gwai, mentally putting all that we're leaving behind behind us, and looking only forward.

Then nine hours in a long metal tube with recycled air and food that's more a metaphor than anything very nutritional (I was once served a microwaved omlette for breakfast, one that had been made seven hours and several thousand miles before - Cordon Bleu cooks may well shudder!).

O! What adventures may await us in Heathrow's new Terminal Five!

Then a National Express bus to Winchester bus stop (close to King Alfred's statue), a hop, skip and a jump around the corner - dragging suitcases behind us - and onto the Harestock bus which should deliver us to my parents front door just in time for tea!

And wo said travel was exciting.

But that's just the beginning.

I'm most looking forward to Cornwall, and my goal of one authentic Cornish Pasty a day (not one of the Pasty Company Company's - now so prolific throughout the UK and much loved by pin-striped gents who throw one in their suitcase at Waterloo Station and eat it for lunch over their spreadsheets in the City. Their often contain stuff like Gorgonzola cheese, basil and smoked chicken, curried prawns... all the ladies of Cornwall whose names begin with Tre, Pol or Pen must be quaking under their nice granite headstones.

I plan to sample one a day from the oldest bakery in each Cornish town I visit. And perhaps even also pick up simnel cakes, saffron bread and hog's pudding at the same time.

But if there's still a Stargazy Pie to be found in the Duchy, I'll gladly pass that one by.

Writing FAQ #3 - Recycling short works

Q. Can I publish a short story, poem, or article in more than one magazine or journal?

You can try. But each periodical has different guidelines about what reprints they accept. Many stipulate that they're only interested in previouysly unpublished work.



But in most cases the rights return to you within a certain period post-publication, so you can try flogging the piece elsewhere.

You might try to resell the work to a non-competing market - a publication whose readership does not overlap geographically with the one you've just had the piece in. If the magazine is only distributed in Ottawa, you could try a regional magazine elsewhere in the country - or overseas.

Don't overlook other English-speaking countries. New Zealand, Australia, Britain, South Africa... and many countries do publish in English, even if it's not their national language.



Anthologies often include previously published work, so watch out for those putting out calls for submissions.

Your best bet is to check each individual publication's guidelines to see if they accept previously published work. And check the contract or agreements you sign with any periodical to see how soon the rights return to you.

The best writers are also good marketers. If you can get extra mileage (and $$) by reprinting you essays, articles, short stories, and poetry, you're doing well.


Check out the following websites for useful market listings.
Worldwide Freelance Writers
Jacqui Bennet Writers Bureau (UK Listings)
Writing-World guidelines and guidelines databases
Yahoo media by region

Writing FAQ #2 - Do I need an agent?

Q. My novel is almost finished and I want to start submitting it to publishers. Do I need an agent? And if so, how do I find one?

A. The answer is - maybe. Not very helpful? There are two ways to go.

One. Check out lots of similar books in your local bookstore or library, and identify four or five publishers who publish work similar to yours. Then go to their websites (99% of publishers have them - find them by Googling their name) and see what their guidelines say. Some will say they consider unagented work - meaning you can send it to them yourself. Others will say they only consider work that is submitted through an agent.

If you are pitching your own book to publishers, be sure to research how to do it well. Elizabeth Lyon's book The Sell Your Novel Toolkit is excellent; a number of other handbooks also teach you how to write a good query letter/outline/synopsis. etc. - all very important when you approach a publisher on your own behalf. Most publishers do offer very clear instructions about what they want to see when you pitch your book. So check their website, read the guidelines, AND GIVE THEM WHAT THEY ASK.

Two. You might choose to look for an agent so s/he can be selling your book while you're working on the next one. But if you want to do it this way, be aware that finding an agent to represent you takes as much time and skill as pitching your book to a publisher – and requires many of the same steps. Check out some of the resources listed here http://www.writers.net/agents.html or pick up a copy of Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents 2007: Who They Are! What They Want! How to Win Them Over!

You're more likely to need an agent if you'r pitching fiction that non ficiton, which often sells on the basis of a good query/book proposal.

I know one agent who offers workshops about WHY you don't need an agent - so there's no good answer as to who needs one to sell what type of book.

It may depend on what you are writing, your background/publishing record and if you have good negotiating skills and insights into what makes a good contract.

A quick aside: those who write poetry, short stories, or articles rarely use agents. And there are fewer agents for children’s writers than there are for those writing for adults. The advice coming from agents who do represent children's work is to get one or two books published first, then find an agent.

Learning about what goes on at an agency from the inside out can help you refine your approach, and determine whether this is the route you want to go. A few agent blogs I find useful include:

• BookEnds, LLC - a literary agency (Note - they represent authors who write adult ficiton and nonfiction)
• Nathan Bransford - a Literary Agent ( adult and YA books)
• The Rejector - blog of a literary agent's assistant. Useful insights from someone who is the 'first line of defense' for her boss. i.e. she reads your query before it event gets to the agent's desk.

This little piggie...

Is this a strange life, or wot!

So, I'm 'researching' a new picture book story idea... (the most I'll tell you right now is that to date it's called Monsieur le Porc and it features five pigs called Napolean).

And in the process I come across a website call Porcopilis - Considering the pig — a single–minded bestiary. And I'm hooked. I never knew there was so much to know, and people out there determined to know even more - about pigs.

A gazillion years ago, my friend Bab's dad kept a few. One week-end when her parents came and took us both away from boarding school for the weekend (known there and in those times as an Exeat), we went to visit them. And they attacked my shoes as soon as I edged one foot inside the fence.

I was traumatized, and retreated to the relative safety of the nearest caff where Babs' dad Ernest (I probably called him Mr. Tipson in those days) treated me to a knickerbocker glory.

Which looks like this, in case you've never encountered one.

So now I associate pigs with ice cream. Something that may well find its way into M. Le Porc - or some other story.

As I say. It's a strange world I inhabit these days. One in which memory, fnastasy, and wishful thinking collide.

Writing FAQ#1 - Stealing ideas

Q. How to I make sure other writers and editors don’t steal my ideas?

A. Some newer writers spend a disproportionate amount of time worrying about this.

It happens very rarely; most writers have enough ideas to keep them busy and don’t need yours. And the word would soon get out about editors who stole from writers submitting their work to them.

Occasionally you might receive a rejection to an article or query, then later notice a similar piece in the same publication. These coincidences do happen, but the publication has probably had that piece in the works long before you sent in your idea.

Few ideas are truly original (and ideas can’t be copyrighted). And if another writer ‘steals’ your idea, the end result will probably hardly resemble what you had in mind.

You’ll get more by sharing your ideas with other writers, then by hoarding them. By talking about current projects, there's a good chance others will offer leads, contacts and other information that will support your efforts rather than threaten them.

Related exercise
Read an issue or two of your favourite magazine, and brainstorm three to five articles based on the topics included in the issues you've just reviewed, but with a different focus/take on each of the various subjects.

You'll find even more writing exercises in my book 101 - and more - Writing Exercises to get You Started & Keep You Going. Check it out here.

A change of heart - Canada Council grant awarded

Yesterday I heard that I have been awarded a Canada Council grant to write the companion book/sequel to Meeting Miss 405 (which is scheduled for publication by Orca in October 2008). May blessings fall upon all Canadian taxpayers!

I am, understandably pleased (thrilled, honoured, excited, right gobsmacked!).

I was turned down last year when I applied to for a grant to write an adult novel. So instead I wrote one for children, completed in June and in November accepted for publication by Orca Book Publishers.

In October I submitted my application to Canada Council for a grant to write another book about Tansy, this time focusing on the disappearance of the mysterious 'Piggy Boy' while Tansy is spending the summer at her grandfather's house on BC's Sunshine Coast.

I was not surprised when I heard earlier this month that I had not been awarded a grant (despite my project having been 'highly recommended'). Writers far better than I also received rejections this year.

Then yesterday more mail from the CC - this time saying that program budgets have been revised and my application was successful.

I may have done just a little shrieking with excitement!

It's not just the money. It's the fact that this grant gives me a little credibility with the arts establishment, and recognizes that children's writing is worth supporting.


So now of all the projects I have on the go, I will be working on the Piggy Boy until the end of the year, now that I am, in effect, working for the Canadian taxpayers!

I gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada.

So this the Third Age?

Although I'm still on their books for another month (vacation leave), I had my last day working for Surrey Public Library on Friday, and a lovely send-off party hosted and planned by my collegues at Library Administration - Beth Barlow (front) , Melanie Houlden (far rt.), Namrit Uppal (left), Linda Bradley (2nd from left), Michael Ho, Jim Walsh, Dorothy Birak, Mary Murphy and Barbara Fialkowski.

It was a lovely relaxed evening with good food, wine, laughs, and remnsicences. (No tears... but I came close on a couple of occasions. My 'library life' will be a hard act to follow.)

In the week leading up to my last day I received some touching notes, calls, and gifts from many of the people I've worked with for the past 30 years.

But you know what they say. Plus ca change.... with nary a moment to catch my breath, the next day I was in class teaching an editing workshop.

But today is Sunday. And like the rest of the world I'm going to hang out, head out for a walk, visit a friend in hospital, and drop into the to mall to pickup a couple of things.

And prepare for work tomorrow - knowing that as I enter the Third Age, I may be 'on the pension', but I still have a part-time job to go to, AND four days a week to call my own.

Ah! The easy life! Don't I look relaxed?