A look inside Arthur's brain...
>Isn't it funny the things an author gets excited about?
This is what the dump bins (that is the bins that are used to sell books in book stores) will look like in Australia. Very cool! It's like Modo is going to leap out at you if you don't buy the book. Finally, he's in 3D. I am disappointed that no one is going for my idea of a steam-powered, mechanical giant that picks up the customers, shakes out all their money and slides a book into their pocket. Apparently it's tooooo expensive!
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It’s day 12 of being the facilitator of the "writing for young adults" lab at Sage Hill Writing Experience. Yep, it's over. It's done! 12 Days (11 for the students) of time to write, critique, laugh, listen to my mind numbing lectures, eat amazing food, write, rewrite, and play frisbee. To my calculations there were 2 broken arms, 2 broken legs, 1 slashed arm and six dead (Uh, I'm talking about characters in books, not students btw).
I'm blogging from home (must use treadmill desk to lose the weight I gained). It already seems like a dream...
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It’s day x of being the facilitator of the "writing for young adults" lab at Sage Hill Writing Experience. Okay, I'm losing track. I think it's day nine right now, but I'm going to write about day seven which was the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Sage Hill. Yeah, Sage Hill is officially out of the teen years. The event, like all good events, started with a bit of banjo/drums/violin and singing. Just a typical day at Sage Hill.
Next we moved into the church to listen to Richard Ford's keynote address. It was about "becoming a writer" with the preambled warning that he was a writer so it would be hard to tell truth from fiction. His gloriously southern-accented voice took us for a stroll through his childhood in Mississippi, his relationship with his parents, and his first publications. The talk was well received and well attended despite the fact the Saskatchewan Roughriders were playing at the same time (they lost--stupid Roughriders).
We then went outside to the 
tent. There was free champagne. Yes, you read that right. These galas are decadent aren't they! And a wonderful jazz trio from Saskatoon. And there were speeches that made me salivate. Well, they were excellent speeches, but I was salivating because I could smell the hamburgers. There's nothing like hamburgers and champagne. Oh, and cake, too. Mmm cake (this is getting kind of stream of consciousness, isn't it?). I'm just trying to explain that this event had everything.
Even famous science fiction writer 
Robert Sawyer. Notice how I'm attempting to steal his spotlight. There were paparazzi everywhere taking his picture and I made sure I was in every snap. Did I mention there was free champagne?
Oh, there were classes that day, too. And that was the day I told them the secret to being published and making millions of dollars. I would share that with you, too, but the FBI are watching so I can't.
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Day six. Must put fingers to keyboard. Must report to outside world. Must write about the "writing for young adults" lab at Sage Hill Writing Experience. Well today was individual meetings. All sorts of interesting discussions. Which character should I kill? Did I kill enough? Kill your darlings. Kill your not so darlings. A very murderous day.
Oh, the picture is of one of the "meditative structures" on St. Michael's land.
Later, Richard Ford spoke to us very eloquently about writing. It was a Q&A session. A few points that my tiny brain remembers--
creative writing classes are a victimless crime, no one gets hurt by bad writing that never sees the light of day.
Get over the existential dread of writing the first sentence of a book. The second sentence won't have quite as much dread.
Listen for the rhythm of each sentence.
How much time do we actually spend writing? We talk about what we've written, we think about what we will write, but when do we actually write? That's why we're here. Pedal to the metal. Hammer down. End stop.
I'm abbreviating an hour long session. I think that'll be my next t-shirt--Pedal to the metal.
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What Day is this? Oh yeah, it's day five of being the facilitator of the "writing for young adults" lab at Sage Hill Writing Experience. What fun we are having. We are really "labbing" it, I tell you what. Why today we discussed "triage" rewriting. That is picking the parts of your novel that need the most attention first and fixing them, then moving on to the next most "traumatic" section. Also we did that whole 3rd person critiquing, where as a group you critique a fellow writer's work but pretend that they are not in the room. "Well I think the author did this because..." or "she has a lovely way of describing petunias." The author can't say a word and only takes notes. It's an interesting way to do it because after awhile you do forget that the person is actually in the room. They can finally talk once we invite them back into the conversation. No fisticuffs today, either!
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A little bit more steampunky madness from the cover concept for The Dark Deeps (The Hunchback Assignments II)...
