tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53677637545271695232024-03-05T14:26:10.705-08:00Cathy OstlereWriter.
Traveller.
Lost in thought.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-227011849627447412016-09-12T20:49:00.000-07:002016-09-12T20:50:07.245-07:00<h2>
Bouldering?</h2>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrqicKPgviy8XXoUDr4WD_ofefpmncOgfSIH8MyQbpjt7DAtTkK10_KWNPy0DEmixrbrs_DYA0SUG-fBUsADfqC_QvrN-RoHHGDXbF4suL2NsvRBm0kWX7bm0JfH6BaRB4IW27yNw4l8/s1600/IMG_5051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrqicKPgviy8XXoUDr4WD_ofefpmncOgfSIH8MyQbpjt7DAtTkK10_KWNPy0DEmixrbrs_DYA0SUG-fBUsADfqC_QvrN-RoHHGDXbF4suL2NsvRBm0kWX7bm0JfH6BaRB4IW27yNw4l8/s320/IMG_5051.JPG" width="320" /></a>Yeah, huge fun.<br />
And it turns out it's good for the brain - this writer's brain, in particular.<br />
<br />
Need brute strength? Nope.<br />
Just a desire to be off balance - inside and out.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So here are the benefits:<br />
<br />
<b>Decision making.</b><br />
<i>Do I really need this character?</i><br />
<br />
<b>Visualization.</b> <i>Scenes!</i><br />
<br />
<b>Problem Solving.</b><br />
<i>All creativity is about problem solving.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Determination.</b> <i>Need this more than money.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Spatial awareness.</b> <i>Where's my coffee cup?</i><br />
<br />
<b>Planning</b>. <i>Well, not for all writers ... seat of the pants works too.</i><br />
<br />
<b>Concentration.</b> <i>Can you say headache?</i><br />
<br />
Ok, so if bouldering is a vertical problem: what to hold (<i>keep</i>), where to step (<i>let go and move forward</i>), how to balance (<i>find the right word</i>), where to rest (<i>white space</i>) - well, so is writing.<br />
<br />
And climbing competes against gravity, time, fatigue, and the mind (Myles Moser). Just like writing!<br />
<br />
Ok, enough.<br />
<br />
It's all in the photo taken at Chester Lake, Alberta. Joy, joy, joy ....<br />
<br />
<i>Cathy</i><br />
<br />
<br />Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-66294743464523364132013-06-25T14:39:00.000-07:002013-06-25T15:07:18.036-07:00The Canadian Verse Novel <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Canada Day is coming up – July 1 – so I’m celebrating
our super-talented, home-grown verse novelists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">For a writer, crafting a verse novel is a thrilling
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language and that wonderful white space – the drama of the implied thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Writing a verse novel requires huge leaps of faith to
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but verse novelists have exceptional conviction: if they’re exhilarated by
writing these narratives they believe that their readers will be too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Canadian writers have been slower to experiment with
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doing it much longer – but we have finally arrived. So, Canadian verse
novelists – take a well-deserved bow. Our list may be short but every book on
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/dp/088899561X">Ann and Seamus</a></span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: JA;">by</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> Kevin Major,<i>
2004, </i>illustrated by Kevin Blackwood<i> </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">In 1828, Ann and her
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://angelhorn.com/"><b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Audacious</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></i></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: JA;">by </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Gabrielle Prendergast,
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Sixteen-year-old
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pictures that get her into a heap of trouble. This is a wild, bold story. Kudos
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.almafullerton.com/Welcome.html">Burn</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Alma Fullerton, 2010 </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Usually, when Casey's
famous mom went on tour, Casey got to go. But since settling down with a new
husband and baby, things have changed. Casey begins building fires to send
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Counting-Back-Nine-Valerie-Sherrard/dp/1554552451">Counting
Back from Nine</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Counting-Back-Nine-Valerie-Sherrard/dp/1554552451"> </a>by Valerie
Sherrard, 2012</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Laren Olivier knows the
rules, but her attraction to a friend’s ex-boyfriend is strong.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">When
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then bam – hits you in the heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Fishtailing-Wendy-Phillips/dp/1550504118">Fishtailing</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by Wendy Phillips, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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perfect book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Ghost-Horse-Mounties-Sean-Huigin/dp/087923721X">Ghost Horse of the Mounties</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by </span><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/s?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Sean%20O%20Huigin&search-alias=books-ca"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Sean O Huigin</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">,
1991 illustrated by </span><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/s?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Barry%20Moser&search-alias=books-ca"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Barry Moser</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">In this narrative poem, a
storm overwhelms the Royal Canadian Mounties, scattering their horses in all
directions and resulting in the mysterious disappearance of one horse. I love
this book – though hard to find.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Ill-Be-Watching-Pamela-Porter/dp/1554980968/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372197644&sr=1-2">I’ll Be Watching</a></span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">by Pamela Porter, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Set in Canada during the
Great Depression, orphans, sixteen-year-old Ran, fourteen-year-old Nora,
twelve-year-old Jim and little Addie find a way to make ends meet under the
watchful eye of their dead parents. </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Told from multiple points of view, this book offers a compelling tale of
faith and courage in the face of suffering and evil.</span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.almafullerton.com/Welcome.html">In the Garage</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> Alma Fullerton, 2006<i> </i>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">A grief-stricken BJ deals
with the aftermath of her friend Alex’s death as we read Alex’s journal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Karma-Cathy-Ostlere/dp/014317472X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372197677&sr=1-1&keywords=karma+ostlere"><b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Karma</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></i></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">by <a href="http://cathy-ostlere.com/">Cathy Ostlere</a>, 2011<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">After her mother’s
suicide, 15-year-old Maya and her father travel from Canada to India for a
traditional burial. The year is 1984, and on the night of their arrival in New
Delhi, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated. The city erupts in chaos
and Maya is separated from her father. This one’s mine!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.almafullerton.com/Welcome.html"><b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Libertad</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></b></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">by Alma Fullerton, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">When Libertad's mother is
killed in an accident at the Guatemalan city dump where the family picks trash,
Libertad and his little brother make the trip to the United States to find
their father. Beautiful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Book-Life-Angel-Martine-Leavitt/dp/1250040035/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372197772&sr=1-1"><b><i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">My book of life by Angel</span></i></b><span style="color: #343434; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">by Martine Leavitt, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Sixteen-year-old Angel is
coerced into drugs and prostitution by a man she meets in a mall. You’ve never
read a verse novel like this one. Based on real events.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.jillmaclean.com/tag/nix-minus-one">Nix Minus One</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by Jill MacLean,
2012</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">When Nix's older sister,
Roxy, starts breaking the rules things spiral out of control. This is a
heartbreaking story told with grace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/The-Apprentices-Masterpiece-Story-Medieval/dp/1554511178">The
Apprentice’s Masterpiece</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/The-Apprentices-Masterpiece-Story-Medieval/dp/1554511178"> </a>by
Melanie Little, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Ramon, 15, is a
Jew forced to convert to Christianity. His family takes in Amir, born Muslim,
also forced to give up his faith, during the Spanish Inquisition. Sophisticated
and profound.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0888996950">The Crazy Man</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by Pamela Porter, 2005<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Emaline, 12, is maimed in
a freak farm accident. Her father shoots the dog and storms off and doesn't
return. Her mother, in need of help around the farm, takes in Angus, a gentle
giant from the mental hospital. A Canadian classic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.almafullerton.com/Welcome.html">Walking on Glass</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by Alma Fullerton, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">A young man's mother has
attempted suicide and is left in a coma.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.lori-weber.com/yellowmini.html">Yellow Mini</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by Lori Weber<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Mark has inherited a
yellow mini from his deceased father. Stacey, his girlfriend, Mary and
Annabelle alternate voices as they find their niches, be it concert pianist or
activist. Dramatic and perfect for teenagers.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><a href="http://www.zorgamazoo.com/">Zorgamazoo</a></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by Robert Paul Weston</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Part Roald Dahl, part Dr.
Seuss, this rhyming novel tells the story of Katrina, Morty, and the missing
Zorgles. Sheer talent.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">To
see more fabulous verse novels from all over the world check out Sarah Tregay’s
<a href="http://sarahtregay.com/novelsinverse.html">list. </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<!--EndFragment-->Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-73544839864463217192012-09-28T07:35:00.001-07:002012-09-28T07:35:41.111-07:00REVIEW: The Night Wanderer
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<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Today, I’m posting a YA book review to support
the <i><b>A More Diverse Universe Tour</b></i> to raise awareness and celebrate People of
Colour Speculative Fiction Authors. You can read more about this tour on the blog <a href="http://www.aartichapati.com/2012/09/a-more-diverse-universe-schedule.html?m=0">BookLust - Aarti’s site</a> and see a list of all participants</span>.</div>
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When my friend, Dale Lee Kwong, asked me if I
planned to participate in the blog tour I thought, ok, here’s an opportunity to
expand on my reading habits. So, because I’m Canadian, I decided to seek out a
Canadian writer who might qualify. The YA list was small but when I saw that
Canadian-Ojibway writer <b>Drew Hayden Taylor</b> wrote a teen book about a 350 year-old
aboriginal vampire, I was in!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFCLOyMyRNqdQtmVq_J5wRPZpgZbpXyMMue1nNFETq598JRF-PLMrPMJyh-ASW1tLDrHgqLUbWO4yP2ISVj1Hf0eTp9v6kbhl1ddXsNfAWU6465u7rTCxDwycuTnj0mAOwfC9bRDP87fw/s1600/night_wanderer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFCLOyMyRNqdQtmVq_J5wRPZpgZbpXyMMue1nNFETq598JRF-PLMrPMJyh-ASW1tLDrHgqLUbWO4yP2ISVj1Hf0eTp9v6kbhl1ddXsNfAWU6465u7rTCxDwycuTnj0mAOwfC9bRDP87fw/s1600/night_wanderer.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: JA;">The book is called <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Night Wanderer</i>. </b>It has a spirited and wry sixteen-year-old
character named Tiffany and a weary, soul-seeking vampire named </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Pierre L’Errant who returns from Europe to his birthplace on what is
now a First Nations reserve in Ontario.<i> </i>Three hundred and fifty </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-language: JA;">years ago he was a curious, adventurous teen who left his land and family
to cross the Atlantic with French fur traders. In France, he contracts an illness that
should have killed him but by a twist of fate he’s bitten on the neck and he
becomes a bloodthirsty vampire. But now he’s back – to save his soul, and in a
strange way, to save Tiffany too.</span></div>
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Tiffany lives with her father, Keith, and <span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Anishinabe</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> </span>grandmother, Granny
Ruth, on the reserve. Her mother has abandoned the family and lives with a
white man in another part of Canada. Tiffany has a white boyfriend, Tony, but when
they’re out shopping he takes advantage of her tax-free status card. In a
nutshell, Tiffany’s life is about as happy as a whole lot of other teenagers’ lives
in North America: she lives in a town where nothing happens; her mother has abandoned her; her father is angry all the time; she fights
with her boyfriend; she’s bullied; and she is failing History. But what Tiffany
has that most teens don’t have is a father who rents out her room to a stranger
who sleeps all day and wanders the land at night.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Tiffany was close
enough to smell the mustiness coming off the vertical green carpet. The first
thing she noticed was that there was no light coming from the room. Only
darkness. This in itself was not all that unusual, considering it was a windowless
part of the basement. Still, it was an odd darkness, like the difference
between Coke and diet Coke. It was … unusual. There was still no sound so she
decided to chance it and take that peak. Why, she didn’t know. Her hand brushed
the border of the carpeted door as she began to push it aside.” </i>page 98<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, The Night Wanderer</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Night Wanderer</i>
is expertly written in a third person voice that tells the tale with a tense yet
comic touch. Tiffany’s self-deprecating humor is a highlight that makes this
character unforgettable. The vampire is formidable and admirable in his
struggle to fight his hunger while he contemplates longingly the land of
his birth. The gothic vampire myth is served well here by the Northern Canadian
landscape. The land is dark and shadowy. There are noises in the forest.
Animals scurrying. Twigs and branches breaking. Long roads and a deep lake. The
reserve is a mysterious but not menacing place as it is home for both Tiffany
and Pierre – two native Canadians who are struggling for clarity and expression
of their true selves.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Taylor explores many themes in his 200 page novel: coming-of-age, prejudice,
bullying, family, education, history, aboriginal language, and suicide. This
isn’t a book for readers who expect a more traditional vampire tale with
sexual overtones. Instead Hayden writes a smart tale about a smart teenage
girl, an aging vampire, and what happens when they meet in the middle of a dark Canadian forest.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Drew Hayden Taylor</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> is a well-known </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Canadian</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">-Ojibway </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playwright"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">playwright</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">author</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalist"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">journalist</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">, filmmaker, and stand-up comedian from the Curve Lake
First Nations in Ontario. He is a writer who’s committed to educating the world
about issues that impact the lives of Canada’s First Nations. </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Night Wanderer</i>, Taylor’s first teen
novel, was published by Annick Press in 2007. <a href="http://site.annickpress.com/catalog/catalog.aspx?Title=Night+Wanderer,+The">Read more here</a>. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBc9ASsAuPagQb12ih_IR4uKW6RppyqUtqijsbiT4amTcNoAw9hS3tUyekOjBfw6766fJnvtp8fQ40ET76hHfQQmH1YbXbG3k1QMBr0nbknkv6SdAZFuR8mx9LcdtdnG-ksCZ41jfGB4/s1600/283093526546875583_pqLrRn0y_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBc9ASsAuPagQb12ih_IR4uKW6RppyqUtqijsbiT4amTcNoAw9hS3tUyekOjBfw6766fJnvtp8fQ40ET76hHfQQmH1YbXbG3k1QMBr0nbknkv6SdAZFuR8mx9LcdtdnG-ksCZ41jfGB4/s1600/283093526546875583_pqLrRn0y_b.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
A little more ... here's an image of Edvard Munch's The Night Wanderer: </div>
<!--EndFragment-->Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-32696992594828846702012-06-23T12:43:00.000-07:002012-06-23T12:43:56.452-07:00Quinoa Chocolate CakeFriends are often asking me for this recipe so I thought it would be easier just to put it <span id="goog_1671891616"></span><span id="goog_1671891617"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>up on my blog. It's from the book "Quinoa" by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming (Whitecap) which I highly recommend for people who are gluten-intolerant.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-18442" height="201" src="http://mamasoncall.com/mama/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Chocolate-Quinoa-300x201.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; display: inline; float: left; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 600px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Chocolate-Quinoa" width="300" /></span><br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">2/3 cup white or golden quinoa</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px;"></span><br />
<div class="hentry post post-1 odd author-admin category-mamas-love post_tag-healthy-chocolate-cake post_tag-quinoa-nutrition" id="post-18439" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; clear: both; height: 1402px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div class="entry-content entry" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1 1/3 cup water</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1/3 cup milk</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">4 large eggs</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1 tsp. pure vanilla extract</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1 1/2 cups sugar</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1 cup cocoa powder</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1 1/2 tsp. baking powder</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1/2 tsp. baking soda</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">1/2 tsp. salt</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and allow the quinoa to cool.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round or square cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a blender or food processor. Add 2 cups cooked quinoa and the butter and continue to blend until smooth.*</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add the contents of the blender and mix well. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake on the center oven rack for 40 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan before serving. Frost if desired. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. Serves 8-16.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br /></span><br />
*<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">I would recommend food processor over blender as I could not get it smooth enough in the blender. Finished with hand mixer on high and turned out great!</span></div>
</div>
</div>Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-88167573673088806882012-06-14T09:54:00.001-07:002012-06-14T09:54:59.369-07:00The 22 Rules of Storytelling<h2>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-size: large;"><i>from</i> <a href="http://io9.com/5916970/the-22-rules-of-storytelling-according-to-pixar">Pixar Storyboard Artist <i>Emma Coats</i> </a>:</span></h2>
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#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.</div>
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#2: You gotta keep in mind what's interesting to you as an audience, not what's fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.</div>
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#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won't see what the story is actually about til you're at the end of it. Now rewrite.</div>
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#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.</div>
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#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You'll feel like you're losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.</div>
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#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?</div>
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#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.</div>
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#8: Finish your story, let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.</div>
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#9: When you're stuck, make a list of what WOULDN'T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.</div>
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#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you've got to recognize it before you can use it.</div>
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#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you'll never share it with anyone.</div>
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#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.</div>
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#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it's poison to the audience.</div>
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#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What's the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That's the heart of it.</div>
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#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don't succeed? Stack the odds against.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
#17: No work is ever wasted. If it's not working, let go and move on - it'll come back around to be useful later.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d'you rearrange them into what you DO like?</div>
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#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can't just write ‘cool'. What would make YOU act that way?</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
#22: What's the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.</div>
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<br /></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Liberation Serif', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span>Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-68155580741516609392012-06-07T10:07:00.000-07:002012-06-07T10:07:12.593-07:00The Heart is a Muse<h3>
<b>Nine things My Last Book Taught Me</b></h3>
<br />
I wrote this article last April for <i>Hunger Mountain</i>, the Vermont College of Fine Arts Journal of the Arts.<br />
<br />
An excerpt:<br />
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"I see writers as caretakers: We hold
complete worlds (real or imagined) in our palms. What fear! What joy! What
mystery! And what responsibility. By writing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Karma</i> I learned something that my memoir, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lost, </i>could not teach me. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lost</i>
pulled me into the muscle of my body where memories had to be re-experienced
and grief needed to be faced. Even though loss is a universal experience, my
story was personal. But writing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Karma</i>
took me directly into the heart—and not just my heart, but the heart of a
people, a culture, a nation, and the larger heart of humanity. Acts of murder
targeted at religious or cultural groups are acts of violence against every
human being. When writers choose to speak about injustice, whether it is
genocide or bullying, they lift the world from their hands and heave it onto
their shoulders."</div>
<br />
To read the entire essay:<br />
<a href="http://www.hungermtn.org/the-heart-is-a-muse/">http://www.hungermtn.org/the-heart-is-a-muse/</a>Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-62545660364024054292012-04-13T08:11:00.022-07:002012-04-13T08:27:13.617-07:002012 Alberta Literary Award Shortlist<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsZzdMrbBy5WVXvU5JJ0WLevdnQSP5BSJhkNEAli8X5inU0fXzqbdrLHww5IxPmxbxfXS2jJd6hFuvB1jMmqQtoQASz9Ier9OSOYgXxv8JbRkTgPjd_Ggzj2kUGSg7GmSlT8SOPnSOY8/s1600/karma_tpb_catalog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 136px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsZzdMrbBy5WVXvU5JJ0WLevdnQSP5BSJhkNEAli8X5inU0fXzqbdrLHww5IxPmxbxfXS2jJd6hFuvB1jMmqQtoQASz9Ier9OSOYgXxv8JbRkTgPjd_Ggzj2kUGSg7GmSlT8SOPnSOY8/s200/karma_tpb_catalog.jpg" 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font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:JA;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-fareast-language: JA;font-size:100%;color:#333333;">The Writers Guild of Alberta (WGA) has announced the finalists for the 2012 Alberta Literary Awards! The Alberta Literary Awards recognize and celebrate the highest standards of literary excellence from Alberta authors.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-fareast-language: JA;font-size:100%;color:#333333;">Awards jurors have deliberated 195 submissions to select 23 finalists in eight categories. Finalists represent extraordinary literary work written by Alberta authors and published in 2011.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-fareast-language: JA;font-size:100%;color:#333333;">See the full list here:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-fareast-language: JA;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><a href="http://www.writersguild.ab.ca/pdf/2012AlbertaLiteraryAwardsShortlist.pdf"><b>2012 Alberta Literary Awards Shortlist</b></a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-mso-fareast-language: JA;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">Winners will be announced and awards presented at the Alberta Book Awards Gala on Saturday June 9, 2012 in conjunction with Book Publishers Association of Alberta’s (BPAA) Alberta Book Publishing Awards. The celebration will take place in Calgary alongside the <a href="http://www.writersguild.ab.ca/AGM.asp">WGA’s 2012 Writers Conference</a>.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:7;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">I am thrilled to announce that KARMA has been shortlisted for the R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">The two other books nominated are Jacqueline Guest's "Ghost Messages" and Barb Howard's "The Dewpoint Show". You can read more about these wonderful Alberta writers at their sites:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Barb Howard http://www.barbhoward.ca/</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Jacqueline Guest http://www.jacquelineguest.com/</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-36988574135570833702012-04-05T12:05:00.003-07:002012-04-05T12:10:12.053-07:00The Verse Memoir<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi871zu90lFuvGjw60FY2jwkhvLVgVKc5Y49UNgDyIPaeoj-4RZba6mkHzVb1czXROu5ScEenVDQ13NPWHje8AdcMX4md23j-QLDzndMMviVf9njhaxh-HjbJYk7W-828NNwAGySV8tx0o/s1600/learning.jpg" onblur="try 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<w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:JA;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">I have just finished reading the exquisite memoir titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Learning to Swim</i> by Ann Turner.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>First published in 2000 this small book is an excellent example of the power of the verse narrative to tell a sensitive, emotional, and redemptive story.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ms. Turner bravely recounts being abused by an older boy when she is at her family’s summer home.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In spare, lyrical prose we experience the wonder of a young girl’s world – a tree hanging over a pond where she is trying to learn to swim, a net of cobwebs covering a blueberry bush, her baby brother’s hair where she whispers her terrible secret.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We also see her confusion as to what is happening to her and her silent pleading for a grownup to notice.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Learning to Swim</i> is a sobering even terrifying experience.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And it is a testament to the need for abuse survivors to tell the truth. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If the story was told in traditional prose, I think the writer may have required a more detailed story; instead Miss Turner focuses on relating the experience from the perspective of a young girl, and this is a powerful voice.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <!--EndFragment-->Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-90663488003565170202012-03-27T19:21:00.005-07:002012-04-05T12:11:19.791-07:00New to the Verse Novel?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrFIgHLnAjgZJqgw10SGbQsnwyH2sr4KipDOz_gcn7nUoT_jL3-HaZQf7lMRhD3jldNpvcqPspc8SqhRsrkMIBGsIhfoGCR3T0jwYSeAZ6aWMgN2tptvTqndAZRuBzBb_4BZb4n7NDfU/s1600/love-that-dog-2hdnkg8.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 187px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrFIgHLnAjgZJqgw10SGbQsnwyH2sr4KipDOz_gcn7nUoT_jL3-HaZQf7lMRhD3jldNpvcqPspc8SqhRsrkMIBGsIhfoGCR3T0jwYSeAZ6aWMgN2tptvTqndAZRuBzBb_4BZb4n7NDfU/s320/love-that-dog-2hdnkg8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727996315643554706" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Love That Dog</i> by Sharon Creech</p><p class="MsoNormal">Here's a book that the moment you finish it (under 30 minutes!) you'll want to begin again.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It's also a book that you'll want to give away – but not your own copy – so call your local bookstore and have them order five or maybe ten copies so you can give them to your friends.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Love That Dog</i> is about a dog, sort of.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s also about a boy named Jack.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And his teacher, Miss Stretchberry.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But best of all, it’s about poetry:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> l</span>earning to love to read it and learning to love to write it.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Love That Dog</i> opens with the straight-talking voice of our young narrator:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">I don’t want to<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">because boys<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">don’t write poetry.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Girls do.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But as the school year goes on Jack endearingly changes his mind. Through the encouragement of his teacher, poems and poets start to come alive. My favourite stanza:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">I think Mr. Robert Frost<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">has a little <o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">too<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">much<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">time<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">on his<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0cm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">hands.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">By the end of the book Jack has finally found a way to talk about his beloved dog, Sky, by using verse.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If the verse novel is new to your reading experiencing<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">, Love that Dog</i> is the perfect place to begin.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Published by HarperTrophy Books.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Definitely all ages.<o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-28106265598935447722011-10-25T06:15:00.000-07:002011-10-25T06:27:18.841-07:00Diwali -- Festival of Lights<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">October 26-30, 2011</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tomorrow is the start of the five-day Indian festival – <i>Diwali</i><span style="font-style:normal"> – the Festival of Lights, a time to rejoice in the Inner Light, the uplifting out of spiritual darkness, and the triumph of good over evil. Homes are decorated with lights; sweets and gifts are distributed between family members and friends; fireworks often light up the sky. </span><i>Deepavali</i><span style="font-style:normal"> is an official holiday in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore, and Fiji. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For a list of Canadian celebrations:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.deepavali.net/canada.php">http://www.deepavali.net/canada.php</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For a list of American celebrations:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.deepavali.net/usa.php">http://www.deepavali.net/usa.php</a><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Cathy Ostlerehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12795808090847105348noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-59542031294767986652011-10-20T10:34:00.000-07:002011-10-20T10:57:38.535-07:00Wordfest - Calgary Oct 11-16, 2011In the last two days I've spoken to three wonderful groups of high school students about <i>Karma</i>. Many thanks to W.G. Murdoch High School, Strathmore High SChool, and Lord Beaverbrook High school for being such amazing audiences. Students were attentive, engaged, and from what I can tell, didn't move a muscle while I spoke!<br />
<br />
What I read to the students: Pages 146 - 158 of <i>Karma</i>.<br />
<br />
Funniest question I was asked by a student: Do you have a tattoo?<br />
Me: No. Should I?<br />
Student: Yes. Lots.<br />
Me: What should I have a tattoo of?<br />
Student: The word <i>Karma</i>.<br />
<br />
Thanks to the girls from W.G. Murdoch who didn't think I was nervous!<br />
<br />
Thanks to Ella at Lord Beaverbrook who conducted a great interview afterward.<br />
<br />
Thanks to Wordfest, Jodi Green, Anne Logan, Patti Pon, Dale Wallace, Kevin Peterson and Sheila O'Brien.<br />
<br />
Check out this wonderful Calgary based book blog: <a href="http://kevinfromcanada.wordpress.com/">Kevin from Canada</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-75004048982635952692011-08-12T09:16:00.000-07:002011-08-12T09:38:12.907-07:00First Novels Club: The Verse Novel Experiment<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">One of the best things about writing Karma has been the steady stream of mail from readers who say Karma has made them verse-novel lovers! From the first moment I read "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse, I think I knew that one day I would try my hand at this unique genre. Here's a review below of Karma from <a href="http://www.firstnovelsclub.com/2011/08/verse-novel-experiment-karma-cathy.html">First Novels Club</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">- Cathy</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><b>From First Novels Club:</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://www.firstnovelsclub.com/2011/08/verse-novel-experiment-karma-cathy.html"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-size: large;">The verse novel experiment: KARMA (Cathy Ostlere) and IDENTICAL (Ellen Hopkins)</span></b></a></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Guys, I've been converted.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Somewhere along the way in my YA readership experience, I decided that I "didn't like" verse novels. To be fair, that may have been in high school, after I was assigned to read a really depressing, slow-moving, and semi-boring verse novel, and I decided that ALL verse novels must be depressing, slow-moving, and semi-boring.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>Forgive my ignorance.</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Way back in April, the delightful Cathy Ostlere wrote</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> an excellent <a href="http://www.firstnovelsclub.com/2011/04/demystifying-novels-in-verse-guest-post.html">guest post</a> on writing novels in verse</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">, and I read an excerpt from her novel, KARMA ... and loved it.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The imagery! The lyricism! The emotion! The gorgeous, gorgeous details!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I knew I had to break my verse novel embargo.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>And when I do something, I do it right. </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">So I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>doubled up on the verse novel awesomesauce </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">with an audiobook of Ellen Hopkins' IDENTICAL.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I loved them both for very different reasons and highly recommend them.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Without further ado...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Karma-Cathy-Ostlere/dp/1595143386" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: medium;">KARMA by Cathy Ostlere</span></a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">KARMA just didn't let me go. I was unfamiliar with the backstory -- 1984 India, and the riots and political instability after Indira Gandhi's assassination -- but what drew me in were the characters and the writing.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-top: 4px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYVYW-CEqne5ojiWR6hyphenhyphen50xZCX0lgdAKjug8mmkXs9rIdVTg_Qf7rymwMfxfPx67VZmIN3SvsGx2gAVEhjRtiD6cetrzk2LCUmZn9qlPCjiTMuvxok2fUZo3NO0SqT0DQhHxAcIaO8hPj/s1600/611LAaqwwlL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #299557; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYVYW-CEqne5ojiWR6hyphenhyphen50xZCX0lgdAKjug8mmkXs9rIdVTg_Qf7rymwMfxfPx67VZmIN3SvsGx2gAVEhjRtiD6cetrzk2LCUmZn9qlPCjiTMuvxok2fUZo3NO0SqT0DQhHxAcIaO8hPj/s200/611LAaqwwlL.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; position: relative;" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">One of my all-time<br />
favorite covers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Ostlere's words just flow along the page, and free verse was the perfect choice to highlight the urgency of the story. It's by no means a short book, but I flew through the pages, mesmerized by Maya's journey.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I love Maya. She's multicultural -- of Indian heritage, born and raised in Canada, half-Hindu and half-Sikh -- but she's a multidimensional, fully realized 15-year-old girl whose multiculturalism is just a part of who she is. She has crushes on boys, she's betrayed by her best friend, she wrestles with her parents' expectations, and she struggles to discover who she is in a ridiculously confusing and contradictory world. I connected with her immediately.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Her mother commits suicide, and she must bring her ashes to India with her grieving father. And then riots break out, and she's separated from her father in a foreign, dangerous place. Her traumas have only just begun.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Then we meet Sandeep, the other narrator, who speaks when Maya can't. I love Sandeep. He's impulsive and funny, charming, loyal, and desperate to prove himself. His family dynamics leap off the page, and his parts of the dual narration expose another layer of Indian culture and tradition, giving the reader a nuanced view of life in India during such a bloody, complicated, and divided time in its history.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Ostlere paints a vivid portrait of Maya and Sandeep's struggle to reunite Maya with her father and the development of their tentative love for one another in the midst of turmoil.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Do yourself a favor, and read this gorgeous, epic novel.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">To read the review of Ellen Hopkins' IDENTICAL please visit <a href="http://www.firstnovelsclub.com/2011/08/verse-novel-experiment-karma-cathy.html">First Novels Club</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-56303960749261664552011-07-07T13:01:00.000-07:002011-07-07T13:01:00.389-07:00YA Books Make Great Reads for Adults<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">In the last decade, booksellers and readers have delighted in the crossover book: either the adult book that teenagers find on their parent’s bedside table or the YA novel that daughters and mothers are fighting over for the first read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great examples of this are: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book Thief</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time</i>, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry Potter</i> books, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twilight </i>series, and more recently <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hunger Games</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Last week, the NPR (<a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/06/30/137456199/hooray-for-ya-teen-novels-for-readers-of-all-ages">National Public Radio</a>) website featured <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Karma</i> as one of five new YA books that have great appeal for<a href="" name="_GoBack"></a> adult readers.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The writer of the article, <a href="http://www.juliannabaggott.com/">Julianna Baggott</a>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>says this about teen novels:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</span><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">A good novel doesn't just transcend the boundaries of its target market — it knows nothing about target markets. Young readers have always reached above their reading level to get to meatier stories, and lately we've seen adult readers reaching into the world of teen fiction in search of the same thing — no-holds-barred storytelling. But the attraction isn't just related to the fact that young adult novels tend to have faster-paced narratives. Many of these crossover "teen" novels are satisfying to adult readers because they tap into ageless themes, namely the sense that each of us longs to know who we really are in a strange, confusing and sometimes otherworldly world. As it turns out, the search for self is a lifelong one.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqo4AQ38JEnX4OxrExrr1_NCqXGNsLKVHm_wnuii5iwHcWt5WOf9s3kRO3eAcOY3XLE4xR6NOUWWYEpUROA8UZkSo36qyLeSrpp5gPpQoQT7_C-VfB5lcOm4L9waE26JZT5bla4jYDStrH/s1600/karmabookcover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqo4AQ38JEnX4OxrExrr1_NCqXGNsLKVHm_wnuii5iwHcWt5WOf9s3kRO3eAcOY3XLE4xR6NOUWWYEpUROA8UZkSo36qyLeSrpp5gPpQoQT7_C-VfB5lcOm4L9waE26JZT5bla4jYDStrH/s320/karmabookcover.png" width="211" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">About <i>Karma</i> she writes:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“</span><i><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Karma </span></i><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">is a rich historical novel by Cathy Ostlere that's wild and unpredictable. Set in 1984, it begins with the poetic diary entries of 15-year-old Maya, whose more-or-less typical high school life in Canada is shattered when her mother commits suicide. Maya, who is half-Hindu and half-Sikh, flies to India with her father and her mother's ashes. Caught up in the violent aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination, the two are separated, and Maya is cast into the streets alone. Sandeep — an ebullient, charming, fiery young man — shares the narration. Epic and almost surreal in scope, a love story emerges. Ostlere divulges secret after secret. Depicted as a "novel-in-verse," the language is beautiful, the pages turn quickly and the story becomes a fast-paced whirlwind of startling images, action and heartfelt emotion.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Check out the other four books featured: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Flip</span></i><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: JA;"> by <a href="http://martynbedford.com/">Martyn Bedford</a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Delirium</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> by <a href="http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/">Lauren Oliver</a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ten Miles Past Normal</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> by<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <a href="http://www.francesdowell.com/">Frances O'Roark</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Trapped</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> by <a href="http://michaelnorthrop.net/">Michael Northrop</a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-80540519473443066462011-06-23T22:37:00.000-07:002011-06-23T22:37:58.268-07:00MakeShift Bookmark Reviews Karma: "SO FULL OF WIN"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Since Karma was released in late March I have been fortunate enough to receive a steady flow of positive reviews, and a lot of them have been from bloggers. When announcing a new review on </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/CathyOstlere"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Facebook</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have stated a couple of times </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">that "this is the best review yet!" And here I am happy to announce (again) that this one too is the best review yet!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jen of </span><a href="http://www.makeshiftbookmark.com/2011/06/review-karma-by-cathy-ostlere.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">MakeShift Bookmark</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #500050;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">has written a wonderful post about how Karma has turned her into a reader who now loves historical fiction as well as verse. I am always delighted to hear how reluctant readers of verse novels are made into fans of the genre by Maya and Sandeep's touching story. With quotes like </span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"This book blew my freaking mind." it is hard not to brand it as the best review yet!</span></span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #500050;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span> </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"This book is perfectly written, evocative, emotional, and will totally make a historical fiction fan out of those of us who typically couldn't care less. Cathy Ostlere has made a fan out of me. And this will DEFINITELY not be my last book told in verse."</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">BIG thanks to Jen, to read her full review please visit </span><a href="http://www.makeshiftbookmark.com/2011/06/review-karma-by-cathy-ostlere.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">MakeShift Bookmak</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-77562206168720519312011-06-09T21:27:00.000-07:002011-06-09T21:29:48.455-07:00So Many Exciting Announcements!<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Vancouver journalist Gurpreet Singh writes about Karma in the Georgia Straight</span></b></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">From June 3-6, Sikhs around the world commemorated those who died in the 1984 violence due to Indira Gandhi's Operation Bluestar and her subsequent assassination.</span> Although fiction, <a href="http://cathy-ostlere.com/Karma/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Karma</span></a> is set historically accurate in the middle of these political and tragic events. Reader's comments at the end of the article illustrate that 27 years later, the demand for justice remains passionate. Read the article here: <a href="http://www.straight.com/article-396520/vancouver/gurpreet-singh-canadian-author-focuses-sikh-issue-warranting-international-attention"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Georgia Straight</span></a>.</span></span></span></span></b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>FFWD The Best of Calgary</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;">I was voted Best Local Poet or Author by Fast Forward Weekly readers in the 2011 Best of Calgary reader's poll. Thank you Calgary!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<br />
<b>The Play's The Thing! I am <i>finally</i> happy to announce that yes, Lost: A Memoir will be travelling!</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Lost: A Memoir is travelling with Jan Alexandra Smith</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Halifax -- <a href="http://www.neptunetheatre.com/Playbill/?show=45">Neptune Theatre</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">October 18 - Nov. 6, 2011</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Winnipeg -- <a href="http://www.pte.mb.ca/plays/current/plays39.htm?season=">Praire Theatre Exchange</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">January 19 - February 5, 2011</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><b>Lost will also be featured at the Indianapolis Repertory Theatre's Going Solo3</b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i>A Festival of Intimate Stories Brought to Life</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Indianapolis -- <a href="http://www.irtlive.com/shows_and_tickets/season_preview/">Indianapolis Repertory Theatre</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.irtlive.com/shows_and_tickets/season_preview/"></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Starring Constance Macy</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">September 22 - October 23</span><br />
<br />
<br />
- Cathy OstlereUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-86941111085188262572011-05-09T20:54:00.000-07:002011-05-10T14:11:55.243-07:00How Travelling Through India Shaped Karma On October 31, 1984 the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, was shot 32 times by her trusted Sikh bodyguards. The city of Delhi as well as other parts of the country erupted in chaos as gangs of marauding men stalked and killed Sikh families, burning homes and businesses. The final number of murdered victims is still debated. I believe that 3,000 is generally accepted as an estimate.<br />
<br />
I was not in India during the riots but I was in the neighboring country of Nepal. While I sat in a coffee shop on Freak Street, travellers crossing the border brought stories of what was happening in India. This was during a time when there was no internet so much of our news came from English newspapers and real life accounts. <br />
<br />
The stories of brutality were shocking and frightening. I was filled with fear and resisted going back to India. But a week later, I crossed the border, and ran into no difficulties for the next six weeks of travelling. When I returned to Canada I wrote long passages about some of my experiences. Over the years, I added to the file and eventually had about 30,000 words of what can only be called – freefall writing. There was no punctuation, no capitals, and no paragraph breaks. There was also no narrative line but there were the beginnings of two characters: a girl and a boy who were falling in love; she was from Canada and he was Indian.<br />
<br />
It was out of this very raw material that the story of Karma had its seeds. Because it was initially written with no intention of being anything more than drivel – random thoughts and memories in a computer file – the language was free-flowing, the descriptions were over the top, and the emotions between the two characters were raw, passionate, romantic. Looking back, I think this is a great way to create material for a novel. Diaries are good because they often record details and facts but freefall writing allows all parts of the brain to become engaged: truth and fiction merge, a single image becomes dominant for a page or two, and even our own personal longings are allowed complete unedited freedom. Of course, I also think it’s a good idea to put away such writing so when it comes out again, it’s a surprise, a gift from one’s younger self. My Indian freefall writing lay dormant for over twenty years and when I uncovered it, it practically flew off the page screaming what took you so long to write this story?<br />
<br />
Karma is very much my love story to India. But it’s also my love story to a younger not-yet-writer who in a flurry of writing, put her impressions down and allowed herself to be wild.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-75691696582317582922011-04-23T18:41:00.001-07:002011-04-23T18:41:45.071-07:00The search for mementos <br />
The man spies something<br />
Gripped in the giant steel claw<br />
Waves his arms and points<br />
They scramble the wreckage for<br />
What remains -- a son’s backpack.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-51607971913600828922011-04-23T18:40:00.001-07:002011-04-23T18:40:41.331-07:00April 22 TankaThe widening circle<br />
<br />
Earthquake, tsunami,<br />
Ionized radiation<br />
Silent decorum<br />
Inspires the compassion<br />
Butterflies fluttering wingsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-11520941136742079132011-04-15T00:08:00.001-07:002011-04-15T00:08:26.522-07:00The remembering monthApril 11th<br />
Time 2:46 p.m.<br />
The sirens wailed out<br />
Survivors wept their sorrow<br />
Again. The spawned tsunami.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-51700740827147897922011-04-15T00:07:00.001-07:002011-04-15T00:07:20.987-07:00In the hamlet of Aneyoshi <br />
Six hundred years old<br />
The markers dot the coastline<br />
Ancient stone tablets:<br />
“High dwellings are the peace and<br />
harmony of our people.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-17155733310706260472011-04-09T01:56:00.001-07:002011-04-09T01:56:23.125-07:00Matsuko Ito/7.1<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: ArialMT;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 14pt;">The world feels strange now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 14pt;">Even the way the clouds move.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 14pt;">Something has changed, is not right.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 14pt;">There's no getting used to it:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.6px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: ArialMT; font-size: 14pt;">awakened by the shaking.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-53097757694433977752011-04-09T01:55:00.001-07:002011-04-09T01:55:51.429-07:00Car owners search in huge 'graveyards'<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">His car, black Nissan</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Couldn’t outrun the tsunami</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Abandoned, with keys</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Parking ticket and wallet</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Dangling Shinto good luck charm</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-70246087780930015442011-04-04T18:07:00.001-07:002011-04-04T18:07:37.798-07:00Coast Guard rescueA little brown dog<br />
Trots on a half-submerged house<br />
Afloat for three weeks<br />
Emptied of heart, voice, and child<br />
The sea is a rocking hand.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-53378726413716069932011-04-03T17:01:00.000-07:002011-04-03T17:01:36.276-07:00Cool fan made KARMA video!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Love the idea of "Where will you take KARMA?" </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Pass the book on! KARMA is meant to be shared!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">- Cathy</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5367763754527169523.post-6137228298362851832011-04-02T01:49:00.001-07:002011-04-02T01:49:00.958-07:00Libraries after the Japan quake and tsunami (emmdeeaych in reply to CH)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">A lost library</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">is a heartbreaking end too</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">of what is nearly</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">a temple to man’s highest</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">quality -- understanding.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0