WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? #004, in a series

Perusing a copy of David Crystal's As They Say in Zanzibar, it struck me that proverbs are really THEMES, and every good, professional writing has one or more theme that emerges from it. How about reversing the process--starting with a theme and working a story around it? To get you started, here are a Baker's dozen:

1. The spider does not weave its web for one fly--Slovenia

2. Heroism consists in hanging on one minute longer--Norway

3. One family builds the wall; two families enjoy it--China

4. Love and blindness are twin sisters--Ukraine

5. The nail suffers as much as the hole--Netherlands

6. When one door shuts, another opens--Scotland

7. No stone ever falls alone--Belgium

8. The person who steals once is always a thief--Spain

9. Two things make one either greater or smaller--praise and shadows--Germany

10. The story is only half told when one side tells it--Iceland

11. The one who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves--China

12. Every road has two directions--Ukraine

And a bonus:

* When two elephants tussle, it's the grass that suffers--Zanzibar

Now, how about working some proverbial wisdom into a new piece of your own?

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? #003, in a series

Remember your TEENAGE years? They're emotional times, to be sure. Here are some lines from TEEN MAGAZINES to get you started...

1. "What are friends for?"
2. Competition brings out the worst in me.
3. That's when he started behaving ... differently.
4. "Fake it until you make it," she said.
5. "I can handle this," I tell myself. "I can get through this."
6. You come out of darkness in stages.
7. "I just don't want to discuss it."
8. Girls and guys clearly have very different ideas about what's attractive.
9. I want to know who made up the rules, because the rules are lame.
10. I usually try to wear something that has a lot of pockets.
11. A bruise heals, but the way you feel about yourself takes a much longer time.
12. He said he was going to kill himself.

And a bonus: 

• I've learned that I want what I deny.

INSPIRATION...BRAND NEW STORY!

Ok, I was reading a memoir excerpt in The Walrus just after reading an unrelated sci-fi story. Suddenly, the two began to merge in my mind...and I banged out a short story over two consecutive nights--a story I love--probably the best short story I've written to date. I'm editing the heck out of it at the moment, but I KNOW I'm going to submit this one to SIWC Storyteller 2012. I'm exhausted, overworked, experiencing a great lack of sleep, and sicker than ever, but the creative mind continues to work overtime--proving that you just never know when inspiration may strike.

One thing I know for sure--when inspiration DOES come, I've learned to drop other things and GO FOR IT!

Onwards...

ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT...

Ok, AFTER I finished a YA entry for next year's SIWC contest based on the guidelines for 2011, I read the guidelines for the 2012 contest in the booklet of this year's winners...and see that for next year, THERE IS NO YA CONTEST! Arghhhh! They're down to three now. Since it's 1330 words, it's too long for a picture book, so I don't really foresee a market for it. Oh, well, I love the story ANYWAY, so this one's just for me, I guess...

INSPIRATION...TIMES 3!

Ok, so it was roughly a week after the SIWC convention, and I was STILL running on pure adrenaline from it! I decided to put some of that energy into writing, of course, and I penned two poems I'm very proud of--one of which I think is contest-worthy for next year's SIWC contest. I have a second that I edited as per Patricia Young's suggestions, so that may be my second poetry entry.

Then I looked at the criteria for the writing for young readers challenge, and saw the 1500-word limit. 6 typed pages, eh? I started thinking about the kind of story that could be told in that small space. I started with character, then created a slightly humorous, slightly macabre situation to put her into, and then came up with a twist ending that can be interpreted two different ways. The end result, after many edits and much fine-tuning? My entry into the YA category for next year's SIWC contest! SWEET!

I don't think I'll try the nonfiction category, although I have published magazine articles and personal essays in the past. That leaves the storyteller category. I'm taking my time with that one--not rushing anything. I'm planning on reading PILES of short stories between now and then, studying pacing, setting, character, imagery, symbolism, figurative language--everything AND the kitchen sink, basically (hey, I have some good kitchen sink ideas, ok?). IF I come up with something I think can win it, I'll enter. If not, I'll chalk it up to more experience and learning for my writing obsession.

But three new pieces that I'm proud of? In a week? I LOVE SIWC! It's the energy drink for writers...

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? #002, in a series

Let's say you're working on a piece of creative writing and you want to shake things up for a particular character. Where can you go? To something that's in almost every newspaper out there...

HOROSCOPES!

Horoscopes can add twists to your plot. All you have to do is think of your character, and then read ALL of the horoscopes for the day, and choose one that presents interesting possibilities. OR what if the exact OPPOSITE happened? Here are a Baker's dozen (thirteen) horoscopes, pulled from a variety of newspapers, to get you brainstorming about what fate may hold in store for those voices in your head:

1. Impulsive actions will be your demise.
2. Make plans to socialize and put a little romance in your life.
3. Attending a reunion or simply contacting someone you used to know through a social network will open a door that you should probably have never let close.
4. Don't let someone entice you into an encounter that will leave you making an uncomfortable explanation.
5. An old friend will surprise you.
6. Refuse to let someone pull you into a dispute that can cause an emotional problem with a friend, relative, or neighbor.
7. Problems at home will develop if you overspend on things you cannot really afford.
8. Plan to have some fun and to experiment with activities that interest you.
9. You will gain respect, support and help if you initiate the first move.
10. Saying too much will lead to an embarrassing blunder.
11. You show your emotions and are a master at the art of persuasion.
12. You have a vivid imagination and are a visionary with the potential to turn ideas into reality. You have a deep desire to explore.

And here's a bonus: 

There will be hidden factors that you need to flush out before you make an irreversible decision.

Now, give it a try and soon, you'll have your characters heading in directions even YOU didn't know they'd be going. Happy exploring!

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? #001, in a series

I'm often asked where my ideas come from. It's not unusual for me to be working on multiple projects (while working hard to finish off one that's almost complete), and I never seem to run out of ideas. While it's easy to say, "Read widely," or "Read in areas you don't normally read," or something like that, I decided it's easier to show what I mean...

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM #001: THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC????

Don't knock it until you've tried it. The National Geographic is filled with exploration, precarious situations, dangerous creatures that are all too real. Overall, though, it is about people from different pockets of our planet. Here are a Baker's dozen (thirteen) lines ripped from various issues, to get your creative juices flowing:

1. It was white-knuckle time.
2. We ask about that story and are met with a stony silence.
3. The vehicles reminded me of a wolf pack, sniffing the wind for prey.
4. It all came too quickly, many say.
5. "We owe them something."
6. "This is my chance not to feel helpless," he says.
7. "No one knows why," I say. It's the only answer I can give them right now.
8. "I've been doing these things since I was 14."
9. "People love to watch this," she says. "But not many want to do it."
10. It disappeared into the thick brush on the right.
11. They come in the night.
12. "Brace yourself."

And an extra:  "The day I drove away, I peered through the dusty window of my Jeep and saw them waving."

NOW: Take action! Choose your favorite prompt from above and do some freewriting with it. See where it takes you...don't wait--do it NOW!

BAD LUCK that turned GOOD?

I had a tremendous bit of bad luck today. That's right--BAD LUCK that was good for me. While I was lining up  to get appointments with agents today, the names of two of the ones I wanted to get appointments with were rubbed off the board. I was about to turn tail when another YA writer told me about an agent who didn't have YA in her bio description, but who had agented many YA books to publication. I decided to give her a try.

As the volunteer organizers started walking down the line to see who each person was hoping to get an appointment with, I was fourth from the front. Thank goodness none of the three in front of me wanted to see her, because she had one spot left and it was going to happen in about 5 minutes, so they pushed me to the front of the line. I met with her and pitched not one, but two of my YA novels.

The result? She asked me to send the first 100 pages of each to her! I also showed her a sample of the writing itself, and she said she liked my writing style--it was appropriate to the audience. What made me feel best of all was that she GOT my books...she even seemed excited to find out about them.

It felt...right.

I like her AND her energy, and I would do backflips through flaming hoops

 to have her represent me and my work.  I won't name names yet, but I am REALLY hoping this works out. We had a real connection and I think we'd work well together, so I can't wait to get her reaction to those 200 pages! Onwards!

PATRICIA YOUNG...THANK YOU!

Today, I finally had a chance to attend a workshop given by poet Patricia Young. She's a poet who has published 10 books so far, and she has won basically every poetry award there is in Canada: the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, the Dorothy Livesay Award, the Bliss Carmen Award, the National Magazine Award, the League of Canadian Poets' National Poetry Competition, and Arc's Poem of the Year contest.

 But here's an even bigger rush: she and her writer husband sat with me at lunch today, and she looked at 7 or 8 of my poems at the same time, and told me she enjoyed them. She encouraged me to publish more poetry, did a bit of blue pencil work for me, and then she took out a copy of one of her own poetry books, An Auto-Erotic History of Swings,

 autographed a copy of it and GAVE it to me. What a sweet gift! Here's the message, at least until I scan the one from the book:

For Ace--with admiration. All the best with your poems. Patricia

I.........won? ... I won............... I WON!

Ok, so when winners for the SIWC poetry contest were SUPPOSED to be e-mailed by the 15th, and the 17th rolled around and I STILL had no e-mail, I had gone through basically all 7 stages of grief and (sort of) moved on. THEN, I got THE e-mail. The one that said, NOT that I had won an honourable mention, but that my poem, "Silver Anniversary," had WON THE CONTEST! $1000 and publication. It accomplished two of my writing goals in one shot:

1. To win a major writing contest.
2. To be paid $1000 for a single sheet of paper.

But what I learned that was even better was:

1. Being acknowledged in front of 800 or so other writers--what a rush!
2. Having people ask me to sign their anthologies who told me how much they enjoyed my words while I was autographing their book. I mean, poets being asked for autographs? How cool is that? Tricia and Dana, you made my weekend!

THE GOOD NEWS...THE BAD NEWS...THE GOOD NEWS...

Ok, so the good news is that SIWC 2011 is finally here! The bad news is that I was so fired up about it that I woke up at 2:45 a.m. The good news is that means I have a quiet house at the moment and more time to write today. The bad news is that by the time the evening meal and awards banquet roll around, I would have been up for, oh, 16 or 17 hours? I'm not sure I'll make it to the night owl session...

I'm really excited about pitching to Kaylan Adair today. She's an editor with Candlewick Press, and they handle every kind of writing I do--picture books, chapter books, and YA novels. So the good news is, this is exactly who I need to pitch my work to; the bad news is that I only have 10 minutes, which is about enough to pitch, oh, one of my six books. I'm hoping she'll agree to see me outside of the pitch times so that I can show her all that I've been working on in the past year : Joanie Ark: Dragon Slayer, and If Volcanoes Spewed Tomatoes (picture books); The Abracadabra Amulet and Galaxy Girls: Fire and Water DO Mix! (chapter books); and One-Way Ticket and Arietta: Summer of Blades (young adult novels).

WE'RE ALMOST THERE AT SIWC...AND I'M SUPER EXCITED!

Ok, in two days, the yearly SIWC event will be GAME ON in Surrey again! I'm hyped about it for several reasons (one of which I'll blog about AFTER the first day of the conference), but I'm thrilled to have so many works I'm proud of to pitch to agents and editors: two picture books, two chapter books, and two novels. I hope I can get appointments to see the agents and editors I want to see...

I am the most prepared I've ever been for this conference this year, so I know it'll be a busy time and it will FLY by in no time. I'm hoping that agents and editors will request partial and full manuscripts and that I take that next step to seeing my books in print! I know I'm getting close...I have a few small publishers who have expressed interest in two of my earlier works, although I still don't have any contracts in hand. I'm hoping 2011 / 2012 will be my breakthrough year and I'm going to do all in my power to make that happen!

JAZZED about SIWC...

Ace Baker

ALWAYS THE BRIDESMAID...

Ok, so the 15th has come and gone, and I've not had an e-mail from SIWC, so that means even though my poetry was shortlisted for their contest for the SECOND time, I've come away again with no prize.

"Pity party of one, Mr. Baker? We have a seat ready for you...it's an electric chair."

So...just a little more self-pity before I move on. My picture book, Joanie Ark: Dragon Slayer scores a 97% at PNWA this year, and still doesn't make finals. I've been shortlisted for poetry at the Vancouver Readers and Writers Festival...and won nothing. I've been shortlisted at SIWC twice now...and won nothing. It's a wee bit frustrating to come so close and still walk away empty-handed.

A small publisher has told me they're interested in my chapter book series for the end of 2012, but I still don't have any contract in hand for The Abracadabra Amulet.

A query I sent out last week to a small publisher for my contemporary YA mystery/thriller, One-Way Ticket, came back the very next day with requests from two of their editors for a full manuscript, which I promptly sent. I'm hoping for a little good news...from somewhere? For some piece of writing I've done?

That's why I'm gearing up for SIWC. I'll be pitching two novels, two chapter book series, and two picture books. I also have two new writing deadlines for novellas I'm working on for novella contests in November and December of this year. So I'm going to turn that self-pity into determination--into making sure that my writings are so compelling that they're irresistible to all who read them.

If you need me, I'll be in Dreamland for the next few months...after all, I'm back to writing! ;-)

SIWC 2011 POETRY CONTEST: I MADE THE SHORTLIST!

Ok, it's been a while since I've added to this blog, but I just received news that my poem, "Silver Anniversary," has been shortlisted in the Surrey International Writers Conference contest! Top prize is $1000 and there are also honourable mention prizes of $150. The trouble is, I have to wait until the 15th to find out if I won or placed. I try not to get myself too excited over these things (I was shortlisted in this contest once before for poetry and ended up winning nada), but it's tough. I really believe my poetry is breaking through to new levels, so it's quite hard pretending that I don't care what happens--I WANT TO WIN! Ahem, ahem. In the meantime, I'll continue what I do to earn my regular paycheck...inspire young minds...but I want to win. :-)

Surprise...from Carmen!

My first day back at school I had a nice surprise...Carmen Ang came to visit me after her first official day at university and she brought me an autographed copy of her Chicken Soup for the Soul book! This weekend, the local newspaper wrote a story about her too, so it's nice to see her getting some attention for her writing. I'm always happy to see my students succeed...definitely a great way to start the school year!

Keeping the WOOLF at the door!

I recently read how VIRGINIA WOOLF managed to deal with depression and the rejection that ultimately comes with being a writer. It all comes down to one word...CONSISTENCY! No matter what she felt like, no matter whether she wanted to put the words down or not, even if she was writing page after page of garbage--she kept going! She trusted in the power of consistency. If you're writing garbage, you'll soon write yourself out of it. Keep going!

I've been in SINGAPORE for the last month to visit family and enjoy a family vacation, but while I was there, I made sure to get up early and get down pages of writing before mostly anyone else was awake (Pop, my father-in-law tends to be the first at 5:15 most days!).

But the results of my consistent writing during a vacation surprised even me. First of all, I took ideas I'd sketched out for a new chapter book series for girls and wrote the entire first book of that series--6000 words, roughly 24 typed pages! Even more amazing, I worked on my latest novel, and pumped out 27000 words for it--more than 100 pages! I even started a new thriller that I more or less mapped out and wrote the prologue and first chapter for! I jotted down ideas for my tutoring business, created new business ideas that involve writing as well, played with a bit of poetry, read a few great novels by writers I love--all within the first 24 days of my vacation.

And I still got to do snorkeling, fishing, zip-lining, downhill lugeing, roller coaster rides, a tour of a cultural village during a four-day side trip to Sabah, and a full exploration of Universal Studios Singapore with my family. Looking back at my journal, I see that there were many days I felt exhausted, when I didn't want to wake up and get those pages down...but out of 24 days, there were only three where I absolutely could not. I felt a little guilty about those three, but I usually came back the next day with a renewed vigor and pumped out enough pages to make up for it. My average page count while on vacation? 5 and a half pages (1375 words). My goal at the beginning? 3 pages per day or 750 words. After all of that, there's only one thing left to say...

Thank you, VIRGINIA!

GRASSHOPPER: Where the Student(s) Become the Teacher!

Ok, so in the past few posts, I've let you know about  a few of my students who have had works published that had some kind of connection with works I've published. But today, let me tell you about two other writers I was lucky enough to teach this year--and they've done something I haven't been able to do...

The Vancouver Readers and Writers Festival is HUGE--plenty of big name authors converge on Granville Island each year, and for a week, the place is filled with readers and writers. Their writing contests are also prestigious and highly competitive. While I was shortlisted in the poetry category for adults two years ago, I have never won. But this year, two of my students won their age groups. Grade 11 student, ROBIN GEORGE, won for her story, "A Child's World," and Grade 12 student, SALLY ARANG, won for her story, "The Boa Bandit."  Sally also won the overall youth award. Three first prizes, in one class--I was proud and jealous at the same time. In any case, here's a photo of them and the younger winners. Sally is on the extreme right, and Robin is next to her, wearing the purplish pink checked coat:

The author they're with is Sarah Leavitt, a writer they got to spend a day with in a workshop, working with their own writing, as part of the prize. I'd call them lucky, but I KNOW the hard work that went into the pieces that won it for them...! Here's a link to the page:

YOUTHWRITES WINNERS

THE VALUE OF SPINOFFS

Ok, yesterday, you learned how a headline led to hundreds of articles and article ideas, thousands of dollars, and even mystical connections with writing from one of my success story students. But that article did much more for me than that--it also gave me my first bit of fan mail, which appeared in a December 2004 issue of Writer's Digest, and it caught the eye of the editor of a sister publication of theirs whose editor offered to reprint my article in Writer's Guide to Creativity...also put out by Writer's Digest. It was my first experience with reprint rights (second rights), but pleasurable nonetheless. Those two articles caught the eye of the editor of a book called Writer Profits: How I Got the Gig, and I was paid to write a 5000-word chapter for that book. You just never know where a few words (like a headline) might take you!

WRITER'S DIGEST SUCCESS STORY

Ok, the previous Chicken Soup for the Soul post made me think of one of LAST year's student success stories--also tied to me in a strange way. Way back in September, 2004, I published a nonfiction article in Writer's Digest called "GET A GIMMICK." It talked about how a single headline from a previous issue a year earlier, "Get Started! Get Involved! Get Inspired!" twigged my imagination just enough to give me an idea. I would become the GET guy! Sure enough, I landed a column, GET GOD, with a religious publication, featuring articles I wrote with catchy titles like "Get a Faith Lift!" and "Get an Amazing Offer!" I followed up with GET WRITING and GET POETIC columns for a few other publications, GET HEALTHY columns for an online magazine, GET MORE BUSINESS for a California magazine...and so on and so on. Basically, that one idea led to thousands of dollars in my account--and hundreds of articles including one in WRITER'S DIGEST.

Ok, in a totally UNRELATED activity, our class took on one of the Writer's Digest writing contests as a class activity. JESSICA KRUGER, a grade twelve student won even though her work was up against more than 600 other writers, most of whom were adults! Her FICTIONAL story, "Conquered Fear," was published in the February 2010 issue. Now, if you look at the cover of that magazine, guess what the biggest headline on the top of the front cover says? "GET Creative!" These things have a way of connecting in strange ways... (Ok, I realize that the student cover is smaller again, but it's the ONLY one I could find on an image search...you just try and find a bigger one!)

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL SUCCESS!

Ok, today I need to mention a bit of my role as a Writing Coach. Each year, I get to teach a small group (twenty-some, usually) of mostly sixteen and seventeen-year-old high school students, in a course called Writing 12. That allows me to talk about and introduce them to magazine articles, personal essays, picture books, chapter books, novels, scripts and screenplays--almost every kind of writing they won't find in an English class. It's refreshing...and rewarding, to see them succeed and see their poetry and prose get into print. It gives me great pleasure to see my work and their work published, and sometimes, we connect in unexpected ways.

Here's one. I was THRILLED when I got the acceptance from the editor of Chicken Soup for the Soul : MY RESOLUTION when a personal essay I wrote, "The Write Way: Write Away," was selected for that anthology. It wasn't the money or the free books or the millions of copies they sell, it was that the essay I wrote was a special piece that explained a bit about why I became a writer and a writing teacher despite a nightmarish beginning in university. I had a writing prof who completely humiliated students (myself included) for works he considered unpublishable. I decided then and there that I would never treat my own students that way once I was a teacher.

Flash forward to July 26th, 2011--yesterday. That's the day one of my grade twelve students had a personal essay of HERS published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: JUST FOR TEENAGERS. The student, CARMEN ANG, will now receive a few hundred dollars, ten free copies of the book, and some attention for her writing--but I know her story is important to her as well--it's a piece she wrote for Writing 12! (Ok the size of the image of my book is bigger, I realize, now that I uploaded the pics, but it's not intentional, really--those were the first two images I grabbed from a Google search...really!)

THE ABRACADABRA AMULET--GREAT NEWS!

Ok, I might be jumping the gun with this, but a publisher that specializes in literature for children--from picture books to young adult novels, has said YES to publishing the first book in my chapter book series, The Arkymalarky Adventures of Ackamarackus Artleby. I don't have a contract in hand yet, but they said that they were interested in publishing it near the end of 2012. The head editor also said that she liked the concept of the series, so I think if the first book does well for them, the others I have planned may have found a home too.

In any case, the first book, THE ABRACADABRA AMULET, is set in ROME, ITALY. The second book, THE BURIED BOOMERANG, is set in Australia. The third, THE CAIRO CAT, is set in Egypt...the twenty-sixth, THE ZOO ZOMBIE, is set in the Night Safari of Singapore!

You can see why finding a publisher for this could be BIG NEWS for me! Once I have a contract in hand, I'll write more of the details here, but for now, I'm on cloud nine--with an eye to even higher heavens...

PNWA RESULTS--OUTSTANDING!

This year, I submitted a children's picture book, JOANIE ARK: DRAGON SLAYER, and three of my poems to PNWA's writing contests. Each work comes back with critiques...and that's got me excited:

Here are some of the judges' comments about JOANIE ARK: DRAGON SLAYER:

• "The character is a tough little girl with a wonderful imagination--I totally fell in love with her."
• "There is an easy flow, a natural buildup of suspense, and the conclusion is wonderful."
• "Magical and imaginative!"
• "A charming story about a little girl who doesn't want to be a princess."

Now here's the kicker: one of the judges scored it 97%. The tougher marker gave me 89%, which resulted in it not making the shortlist--sigh--but many of the comments given showed me that this is PUBLISHABLE NOW! I fully expect to see this picture book in print in the not-too-distant future.

As for the POETRY, here are some of the judges' comments:

• "The vocabulary of these poems is simple but effective. The author combines words to form unique phrases and images, as in "a marriage of two soles" and "words waking between us."
• "Best lines: "In the daylight, winter wills me to you. I follow" and "startles strangers who wade / into a world where even the weave of seaweed / can't wall us away."
• "Strong images in 'Boys of Summer' deftly place the reader at the center of the action. The reader is invited to experience the poem rather than just observe it."
• "The author has an excellent grasp of form. The two interlocking poems in 'Silver Anniversary' are a great example of this deftness. Similarly, in 'The Swing of Things,' the subtle repetition of the first stanza as the final line of each consecutive stanza is brilliant."
• "The last lines of 'Boys of Summer' appropriately mimic the vanishing footprints that the speaker describes." 
• "Nothing in these poems feels contrived, and nearly every line strikes just the right tone."
• "The spare, energetic imagery of these poems does a great job of showing emotion, rather than telling the reader how to feel. A great example of this is the speaker staring at the fading footprints at the end of 'Boys of Summer.' We are not told directly that the speaker is upset, wistful....We are simply left with an image."
• "The speaker's tone is even-handed and appropriate to the subject matter. 'Silver Anniversary' is tender but not sentimental.
• "The author is adept at both simple, direct lines and more experimental devices. The jumbled lines at the end of 'Boys of Summer' are an enormous risk to take in a poem of such direct imagery, but they end up working very well to slow the reader's eye, catching us in that final image."
• "All in all, these are some truly professional poems."

The bad news? You guessed it--my poems, despite the glowing comments--did not make finals. Arghhh! 

Still, the comments given are food for my poetic soul. I KNOW my poetry is breaking into new levels--reaching places it just WASN'T in years past. I fully expect to see some of my poetry win contests and get published within the coming year. Yes, I do feel that good about it--even with the possibility of having egg on my face and a foot in my mouth a year from now...!

NINE MONTHS OF BUILDING MY WRITING...MY BABY!

Here's what I've managed to keep track of in the past nine months...good chance of missing something, but I'll do my best not to:

• Completed the 50000-word version of my YA mystery / thriller, ONE WAY TICKET
• Joined several writing organizations--SCBWI, CAA, FEDBCW, and PNWA. Have learned a lot from them already.
• Wrote a "dissection" nonfiction book about the writing technique found in the prologue of Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting.
• Wrote a novella called DATESASTERS that I'm aiming at Orca Books hi-lo market.
• Wrote two picture books--one that I changed to a prose form instead of its original verse form, IF VOLCANOES SPEWED TOMATOES, and the other, an updated fairy tale: JOANIE ARK: DRAGON SLAYER.
• Completed NINE new poems and several original mashups of older work.
• Completed major research and the first hundred pages or so of my new novel, a medieval fantasy, ARIETTA: SUMMER OF BLADES.
• Wrote a short story, "Black and White Negatives," and completed four different versions of it--3500+ words, under 3000 words, under 2500 words, and under 2000 words--to ensure it qualified for entry into different contests. An excellent exercise in culling, to be sure.
• Did research in a way I've never before attempted for a new novel I'm planning and have banged out about 10 000 words of: GANGSTER GIRLFRIEND.
• Did research in a way I've never before attempted for a new novel I'm planning and have banged out about the first 10 000 words for... STACK THE DECK: NEW DIRECTIONS.
• Did research in a--well, you get it by now--for another new novel I've been playing with: THE PRIMORPHIANS: MILLA'S STORY.
• Completed a 10000-word chapter book, THE ABRACADABRA AMULET, which is to be the first of a series entitled The Arkymalarky Adventures of Ackamarackus Artleby (Acker, for short!).
• Planned out a girl's chapter book series which I'm calling THE GALAXY GIRLS. First book planned, and in the process of being written now. 
• Wrote a cascade poem--a new form for me--and LOVED the result!
• Created two chapbooks of poetry to enter into contests: KALEIDOSCOPE: Bright Lives Broken, and ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN.
• Took Food Network's Spice Goddess  Bal Arneson's rough notes and story and rewrote it into a compelling memoir, VILLAGE GIRL. 
• Started submitting my work more seriously--my goal in 2011 was to enter at least 12 writing contests, at a rate of one per month. By the end of July now, I've entered 14! 
• Started submitting my poetry to higher level literary journals as of June 29th. I started with four different sets of poems to four different journals I love: Fiddlehead, Event, Capilano Review, and Antigonish Review. I feel it's at a level now where it belongs...maybe those rejections won't be so automatic...maybe some published works may result from it--we'll see...
• Oh, and I have one VERY exciting piece of news, although I'm not sure if it's too early yet to tell it...

SO WHERE IS THIS GOING, EXACTLY?

Ok, so I started my "heavy" journaling about my writing and my writing life in November of 2010. I decided it was time to get serious and really throw myself into my writing fully. Well, hundreds of journal pages (and a few filled books) later, I've decided to try it online. I can post links here--really hard to do in a pen and paper book--and keep notes and whatnot in one place, where I can access it anywhere from any computer, so I think it's a good idea, overall.

I AM quite proud of my results within that time, though. Nine months--it's like giving birth to a writing career (although there have been YEARS of hard work leading up to it, really). In any case, in the next post, I'm going to list (I'll check out the bullet feature on the blog) what I've accomplished in that time frame...