Sushi picnic
May 1st, 2010
It’s a beautiful evening in Vancouver. We had our first meal on the patio tonight, and in about ten minutes I’ll be back out there with another glass of wine and a book. Happy May Day!
Rainbow hunting
April 27th, 2010
There was a downpour this afternoon, the kind that seemed to come out of nowhere because in the kitchen, where Cass and I were playing an intense game of freeze dance, the sun was warming us through the windows and the clouds were of the white cotton ball variety. Out front, however, all was dark and ominous. And wet.
Perfect weather for rainbow hunting, right? So I rushed us both into raincoats and boots and we ran outside. Alas, no rainbows anywhere. No real ones, anyway. Cass saw lots of pretend rainbows. And we jumped in some good puddles, so it turned out all right.
We did a lot of things today. There were cupcakes and leaf rubbings and squirrels in the yard. There was freeze dancing! But when Shane came home from a day of teaching and asked Cass what we did, the thing she remembered was rainbow hunting.
Some of the best memories I have with Cassandra are the times I act on my childlike impulses, like running into a storm to look for rainbows. It makes me happy to know those are her best memories too.
These things are not what they seem
April 22nd, 2010
Recently I realized I’ve got a folder full of stories but only three are out on submission. Rather silly. So I resolved to polish all the ones with potential and send them out. I started with a novelette I intended to ruthlessly cut to short story size so as to render it an acceptable length for publication (there are very few markets that will publish 14,000 word stories).
Try as I might, the story only wanted to get bigger, not smaller. All I could see were characters that deserved more time on the page and subplots that needed developing. Really, it would be much better if expanded into a novel. So, fine. On to the next one. Same problem. It’s not so much a short story as a chapter in a novel I haven’t finished writing.
I soon realized why these are all languishing in folders. Perhaps I should stop forcing brevity on myself and admit that I prefer to write novels.
And yay! Now I have my next four novels lined up.
Motion, Light and Time
April 15th, 2010
This is the title of the last assignment for my photography class. For a change, I wanted to stay away from my customary subject — my daughter. So yesterday I went to the park and took many photos of ducks in motion.
I ended up with a few nice ones. However, organizing my 200+ duck images and trying to find five that worked for my assignment was a bit laborious. While I worked, I heard my family out in the front yard, playing with the bubble machine my daughter got for her birthday. Naturally, I had to go take more pictures.
I figure photography is a lot like writing. When your subject fascinates you, it shows in the final product. If there’s no love, that shows too. When I began writing I didn’t intend to write fantasy. But magic and oddness always crept into my stories. I stopped fighting it a long time ago. I write what excites me. I think I’ll do the same with photography.
Don’t get me wrong. I like ducks. But I just can’t get as excited about them as I do about watching this girl play with bubbles. Sorry, ducks.
…and behold, it was very good
April 12th, 2010
On the sixth day we hung freshly painted planets from our living room ceiling. And on the seventh day, we ate a lot of cupcakes.
They turned out better than I hoped. We still need to add rings to Saturn and Uranus, and you shouldn’t look too closely at Earth’s geography. But they served their purpose — to thrill this little person:
Next, I will perform the same transformative magic on my work-in-progress. Prepare to be amazed!
On reshaping odd and lumpy things
April 6th, 2010
I’m writing a blog post to avoid the above project. My daughter’s third birthday party is this weekend. She wants a space theme. So I decided to make a model of the solar system out of balloons covered in papier mache. It’s one of those ideas that seems great until you realize just how much time it has eaten up, and how misshapen and lumpy your planets are.
This is what I’ve been up to lately.
Also, revising that novel, which is coming along. If writing a novel were like a movie, I’d be at the point where there’s a montage. You know, Rocky’s training hard, Eye of the Tiger and all that. Stuff is happening, but it’s not very interesting to watch. Or read about, which is why I haven’t been boring you with the details. All is well. Soon I will be ready for the big fight.
Now, off to make my planets a little more…round.
Fun with light meters and white balance
March 22nd, 2010
I’m taking a photography class, something I’ve wanted to do ever since Shane gave me a Canon Eos Rebel XTi two Christmases ago. It’s a fantastic camera, and I’ve not been using it to its fullest potential. To be honest, until two weeks ago I’d never taken it off the automatic setting. I was just pointing and shooting — taking snapshots.
Considering 1) I love taking photographs and 2) I have some ideas for projects that combine writing and photographic images, I decided it was time to get pro with the Canon.
I have much to learn. But oh my, it is good fun.
Careful consideration
March 9th, 2010
I think I forgot to mention that One Shoe Highway was rejected by Clarkesworld. It was, and I subsequently sent it out again. I got a rejection from The Pedestal as well, but it was one of the nice kinds — they enjoyed the story, they only decided to pass after “careful consideration”, and please send more.
Vanishing acts
March 2nd, 2010
This morning I was thinking about a new short story I’m working on, and it occurred to me that I have an obsession with missing persons. People are always disappearing in my stories. I wonder why that is?
On a completely unrelated note, I came across this photo I took almost exactly one year ago. This is what PEI beaches look like in the wintertime. Desolate, no? It reminded me how much different last February was for me. Oh, how glad I am to be back on the West Coast.
Testing the limits of my willpower
February 20th, 2010
Weeks like this are a challenge: warm weather, cloudless skies, cherry trees in bloom and my city alive with wild Olympic energy. It’s extremely hard to remain disciplined, stay indoors and work. The only way I can manage it is by bribing myself with a tea latte at the Corner Cup Cafe and the promise of an afternoon walk on the beach with Cassandra.