My RSS Feed

Understanding Dick Francis

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-03-09T19:30:55-04:00

I finished Odds Against yesterday and came away amazed, yet again, at Dick Francis' skill as a writer. This is a great book and the climactic scene between hero Sid Halley and the four villains is absolutely, painfully, devastatingly effective.

It occurred to me, after I had read the final pages of the novel, that in all my years of being a Francis fan I have never actually heard the man's voice nor seen video of him. So I went to Google and checked him out. First, I found his own webpage (not surprisingly, www.dickfrancis.com) which is clean, clear and filled with interesting stuff, neatly presented. There are a couple of videotaped interviews on there but, unfortunately, nothing I saw in my brief perusal involved Francis in his prime: most were recent chats involving both Dick and his son Felix.

In one interview, however, Dick refers back to his worst riding moment, aboard a horse called Devon Loch in the Grand National steeplechase race at Aintree Racecourse in 1956. So I went to Youtube and found this:

It's a brief tribute to Francis shown on British television after his death and it shows the end of that race, which is the biggest steeplechase race of season (the Daytona 500 of British steeplechase racing, so to speak). Francis, a champion jockey at the time, is riding one of the co-favourites in the race, Devon Loch, which is owned by the Queen Mother. Francis and Devon Loch come off the last jump and the final turn with a five-length lead before devastation happens. It's amazing and painful to watch.

I watched that video several times with a pain in my stomach and I realised I had gained a little bit of an insight into how Francis, a man who otherwise led a charmed life, could make the pain his heroes feel (and they all have their own private torment) so real to the reader.

Then I looked further on Youtube and found a much less clear video of the entire race from 1956, my first viewing of an actual steeplechase race. It's just amazing to watch. Thirty or so horses start out and the pace is incredibly fast. Perhaps even more incredible, the race lasts almost seven minutes! I'm so used to watching horse races that last a minute or two but apparently steeplechases are much longer.

The experience has made me appreciate both Francis' achievements as a jockey and the action he describes in his books even more. I wish I had done this kind of research long ago.

Enter Sid Halley

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-03-07T19:21:37-04:00

I'm not sure if you can plan a better Sunday evening: a great home-cooked dinner, a strong rye-and-ginger, Chantal Kreviazuk on the CD player and the Oscars on deck in about an hour. Life can be really good, even as I approach the frightening age of 45.

Chantal is belting out the tunes on her break-out disc, Under These Rocks and Stones, with it lyrical repetitions of "green apples" and "cotton candy" throughout the album. Her two early hits, "Wayne" and "Surrounded", are stirring happy memories of our recent encounter with Kreviazuk at the Fredericton Playhouse in a spectacular concert.

I can't say I've seen many (if any) of the movies that are up for Academy Awards tonight but I still love the show. A couple of years ago, Patti and I caught the broadcast with about 300 other people at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto, probably my favourite mode of Oscar watching! Tonight I'm looking forward to Steve Martin as host. Should be fun.

Meanwhile, I've moved on to Dick Francis' fourth novel, 1965's Odds Against. For Kicks was as good as advertised, featuring DF's first really cruel villain, but was a little heavy on the self-justification by protagonist Daniel Roke. Odds Against is significant because it first introduces Sid Halley, arguably Francis' most successful, most complex and most interesting hero. It also features one of the most memorable, horrifying scenes he wrote but I'll tell you more about that when I get to it. I'm still only about 70 pages in so there's lots more to come.

Halley is an ex-jockey, a champion, who had to give it up when he lost the use of one hand in a messy steeplechase accident. Scarred, both inside and out, Halley slowly works himself out of a deep depression to discover he's actually pretty good at the detection business. Maybe, just maybe, life is worth living after all, even if the life of a champion jockey is forever lost to him.

In Odds Against, Francis flexes his creative muscles while keeping the action galloping along. Halley proved so popular, meanwhile, that Francis brought him back in at least one later novel (Whip Hand), something he resisted doing with almost every other hero he created (for some reason, I think one other hero made a second appearance but I can't remember which: we'll figure it all out as I keep reading).

Catching Up With Writing Friends

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-03-04T21:38:42-04:00

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the chance to get back into contact with some old writing friends: Rickie Pattenden, Ross Pennie and John Hewson. I met all three of these talented people through writers' groups in the Hamilton area and am fortunate enough to have been able to keep in touch with them, even after I left Ontario. I miss the meetings, the support and the camaraderie of those groups so it's nice to be able to catch up with my old friends from time to time.

Rickie is a wonderful writer, whose short stories are excellent and whose major project has been writing her mother's life story. Rickie is still in Burlington and has been writing poetry of late, a great way to take advantage of the lyrical quality of her writing.

Ross, meanwhile, is busy completing the first draft of his second novel, which is expected to be published by ECW Press later this year. His first novel, Tainted, came out early in 2009 and is still selling very well. Ross tells me he's putting in two separate sessions of writing each day to try to meet his deadline for the draft. I'm looking forward to reading a new Zol Szabo mystery from start to finish, since John and I workshopped Tainted as it was being written, several years ago.

As for John, he continues to work on his wonderful novel, Corbett's Daughter. One of John's writing mentors has suggested some major revisions to this book and John has leapt right in to making those changes; I'm interested to read the revised draft since I thought the original version was pretty spectacular.

I'm trying not to let the industriousness of my friends make me feel guilty for my ever-lengthening hiatus from writing. Ideas continue to pop into my head but I'm not yet able to get myself in front of the computer for a serious stint. Luke, my next Phillip Gold novel, is on hold while plans for Abigail Massey, another young adult novel and The Way Forward, the Rowling-world sequel, are all in the offing. Distantly in the offing.

There's a play-writing contest here in Fredericton that I'm considering trying to enter but, beyond some ideas on interesting character for a play, I'm getting nowhere on a plot. I've got four more weeks before the deadline so I'll keep trying but, to be frank, I seem to be stuck right now.

I'm not complaining. Sometimes fallow times are as important as periods of great creative production.

Yeah, Mark. Keep telling yourself that.

Francis Delivers Excitement

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-03-02T06:49:17-04:00

It's now been a month since British thriller writer Dick Francis passed away at age 89. In honour of his death, I have decided to re-read his entire collection of novels (more than 40 in total) from first to last. Though I've read every one of them before, often several times, I am trying this time to read them more slowly and more thoroughly, to appreciate the writing rather than simply getting caught up in the action.

I'm now on the third novel, For Kicks, and I have to admit: I haven't been very successful on the whole slowing down bit.

Dead Cert, Francis' first novel published in 1962, blew me away. The first ten pages are practically perfect —Francis launches the book in the middle of an intense steeple chase, adds a mysterious and deadly fall, introduces evidence of nefarious deeds, then manages to leave our mild-mannered hero all on his own to sort things out — and the rest of the book gallops along unrelentingly from there.

I can't imagine a more perfect opening salvo for a thriller writer and am in awe that this was Francis' first attempt at writing a novel. Amazing. Effortless. Perfect.

His second novel, Nerve, is almost as good. With a more complicated plot, it suffers only from the fact that the main character solves the mystery early and much of the second half of the book focuses on his campaign to bring the villain to justice. Here, Francis introduces his life-long interest in the psychology of evil while continuing to set first-rate thrillers against the background of the British horse racing industry.

I read and re-read the first part of Dead Cert, just to get clear in my mind what impressed me about it, but then got caught up in the plot and raced through the rest of the book. It took me longer to get into Nerve, mainly because I had a strong recollection of the intense suffering the hero endures and simply couldn't face it, but, once I was hooked, the pages flew past.

I have now stepped into the third novel, For Kicks, and am, once again, trying to force myself to go slow. In this book, Francis introduces his first protagonist who is not actually a jockey. Daniel Roke, an Australian horse breeder, agrees to take on an investigation on behalf of the English racing authorities simply for a change of scenery, going undercover as a stable lad to look into a new kind of doping.

With For Kicks, Francis delivers his third straight "cracker" of a novel. I wonder when I'll come across a weak link in his chain of mysteries.

In Memory of Dick Francis

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-02-15T21:10:14-04:00

I was very sorry to read that one of my favourite mystery authors of all time, Dick Francis, passed away this past weekend. I have loved Francis' writing for more than 20 years now and will miss him very much.

I first encountered Francis' work in 1989 while working for a string of small newspapers in Southern Ontario. I had dropped by the local library, looking for something good to read, and ran into a colleague from a rival newspaper. We got to talking about our favourite writers. After chatting for about a half hour, we realised we'd been trying to sell each other on our own faves so we agreed to a trade: I'd read his two favourites (Francis and some early 20th-Century English comic writer) and he'd read two of mine (I think at that point it was Raymond Chandler and F. Scott Fitzgerald).

I never really found out what he thought of Chandler and Fitzgerald but his suggestions proved to be a hit and a miss with me. The hit? Dick Francis. Francis was something special. I was enthralled from the first page. I wish I could remember which novel it was that I read first but, to be honest, I can't. I tore through one, then a second, then a third. Before I knew it, I was reading them at a rate of about one every two days, gobbling them up as quickly as I could find them at the library. When I had run through the holdings of all three branches of the local library, I finally had to suck it up and go to used book stores to buy them. I still own every one of them in paperback and, a couple of years ago, I found an autographed hard-cover edition of Twice Shy in a used book store: a real treasure.

I've read each novel at least twice. They are simply wonderful mysteries.

Francis' career, itself, sounds a bit like a dream. In the first part of his life (the time immediately following the Second World War), he was a champion jump jockey, eventually riding the Queen Mother's horses in races all over England and Europe. When a significant fall knocked him out of competitive racing in the mid-1950s, he went to work for a newspaper, covering the racing scene. Success came quickly for him.

He wrote his first novel, Dead Cert, in 1962 and it was an instant hit. With the research and editing help of his wife, Francis went on to write a novel a year until the late 1990s and, if I remember correctly, he's written a total of 42 mystery novels in all.

Every one of them is a thrill ride. His heroes are average people, his stories all have some sort of a horse-racing angle to them and you always find you learn something from each book.

I can't name a favourite among the 42 but I can tell you that certain scenes and certain characters stand out strongly in my memory. And I'll never be able to hear the phrase "torpid stumblebum" without thinking of Dick Francis.

I'm planning to go back and re-read his novels from first to last, now that he's gone. It's the least I can do for a writer who has given me so many hours of enjoyment and who has earned my respect and admiration. Goodbye, Dick Francis; you will be missed.

Challenging Times

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-02-09T08:37:01-04:00

These are trying times.

And not just because it's winter. Yes, both Patti and I have been feeling under the weather recently (both literally, with New Brunswick in the grip of brutal cold combined with incessant wind, and figuratively, each of us dealing with a variety of illness as well as aches and pains) but then comes the bad news.

My brother-in-law lost his mother on the weekend, a difficult period in any one's life, made even more challenging by the fact that an ocean separates them. And I learned from a good friend and writing buddy back in Ontario that she has been diagnosed with an advanced case of cancer, that she's been told it's a battle she can't ultimately win.

I sit in awe of the grace and dignity with which both my brother-in-law and my friend are dealing with these difficult developments in their lives. I lost my mother to cancer just under a year ago and I believe I have some small idea of what each must be going through right now. I wish them both comfort and consolation as they move forward.

In the meantime, Patti has been kind enough to start a review of The Silent Goodbye, my latest completed Phillip Gold novel. She's an intense and intent reader, with amazing insight into the process of writing, and I value her comments immensely. I do find it hard, however, to sit in the same room with her while she's reading it: I find myself watching for any sort of positive response, for a nod or a smile or even an excited widening of her eyes. She's so intense, though, that I have no clue if she's loving it, hating it or bored (I was going to say "to tears" but, as I said, she's so intense she gives away nothing as she reads).

So far, she's made a number of comments that are very helpful, mostly on small points. I'm quite interested to read her comments in detail and to hear her overall assessment when she's done. I have already started considering rewrites I might make but I'll hear from Patti first and then take a close look.

To all my other trusted readers, be ready. The Silent Goodbye will be coming your way soon.

Ten Days Later

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-01-30T20:22:09-04:00

Back from a great trip to Ottawa, exhausted but happy. While in Ottawa, I not only attended a very interesting course on alternative dispute resolution, I also met some great people, got to spend time with Mike, Elizabeth, Stephen, Isabelle and Edward, met up with Rob, had meal after meal of fantastic food, went through the fabulous National Gallery and even attend the Kub Car races of my nephew's Scout Troop (and, yes, Stephen won the entire competition for the second year in a row!).

I got absolutely no writing done. Not a word. I feel like I was on a whirlwind the whole time I was there. I did read the first forty pages or so of Sue Grafton's T is for Trespass on the flight to our nation's capital but, quite frankly, it was so terrible I couldn't go on. I kept turning the page, waiting for something to happen, only to find more back story. Listen, Ms. Grafton, just about anyone who picks up T has already read A through S. We don't need to reread them all in capsule form. Get on with it.

So I put the book in my suitcase and never went back to it.

I had thought I might get the chance to work on Luke, my latest Phillip Gold novel, but I never even looked at it. That's not due to lack of interest (I'm quite looking forward to getting back to work on it); it's just that Ottawa kept me so busy!

I got back last night, enduring a rather windswept landing at Fredericton Airport along the way. After my first good night's sleep in a week, I spent some of the day today working on a Star-Trek-based workshop I'm facilitating later this week. I just love iMovie and iDVD, which make the whole task of creating multimedia so easy.

And it has occurred to me that, with February upon us, I have now left The Silent Goodbye sit on the shelf for more than a month. Pretty soon I'll be able to go back to it with a more objective eye to do the first major revision. That will be fun too!

Has It Really Been A Week?

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-01-20T17:33:01-04:00

One of the things I like about the writing process is the fact that, even if you are not actually sitting down and writing, your mind (subconscious? unconscious?) is still working on the book. That's what the past week has been: me not at the computer but my mind at the proverbial grindstone working its way through various thoughts and ideas for Luke, the new Phillip Gold novel.

I am still very excited with the idea for the book and have great confidence that the writing process will be fairly smooth. The plot is clearly established in my brain and the characters are starting to take shape. I will have to do some research in the field of psychiatry, especially child psychiatry, even beyond watching old Frasier episodes, but that's okay. Research isn't my strong point but I figure I need to get better at it someday.

I have several five-day long business trips coming up so I hope to take advantage of quiet nights in dreary hotel rooms to get some writing done. I asked Patti the other day: do you think it's reasonable to set a goal of completing the novel by the summer? The look she gave me suggested "perhaps not" but what's the sense of setting goals if their easy to meet, right?

Meanwhile, I finished re-re-re-re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the weekend. I tried to force myself to savour every word but I'm afraid some scenes were still just too exciting for me. What a great book. I always feel a slight sense of loss when I finish it, like something wonderful is coming to a close. And I always start thinking again about my own Rowling-world novel, The Way Forward, which currently rests, slightly abandoned, here on this website.

I've already had some new ideas for it so, perhaps once I've got the first draft of Luke put to bed, I'll get back to Aberforth and George for a while.

Apparation Confusion

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-01-13T18:55:57-04:00

Not much progress recently. I've kind of fallen into a bit of a lethargic state on the creative work, with my career work heating up and a number of extra projects coming my way. It's not the worst thing in the world, to be frank, but it certainly makes creating a "Writer's Blog" a little more difficult.

On the reading side of things, I'm back into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, this time trying very hard to read it slowly and thoroughly. I always find myself getting so caught up in the action that I whistle right through it so I am making a conscious effort this time to savour every word. And most of the words are worth savouring. I've noticed one significant issue, however, that I still can't figure out.

It has to do with Apparating, that process whereby a witch or wizard can transport themselves to another place simply by turning on the spot with a wand in their possession. In an earlier book, our crew takes apparating lessons. Hermione, as usual, does fine but Harry and Ron struggle. At the end of The Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore has to help Harry apparate since Harry is still not good at it and does not have his apparating license. Once Dumbledore is rendered incapable by the potion in the cave, however, Harry is forced to do the apparating for both of them and he is successful.

What I don't understand is why, in The Deathly Hallows, sometimes Ron and Harry are capable of apparating on their own and at other times they have to have Hermione's help. For example, when they move from Grimauld Place to the Ministry of Magic to put their plan into action, Rowling is quite specific that Hermione first takes Ron and then comes back for Harry. It's possible I've missed something but I can't figure out this inconsistency.

I know. Those of you who haven't read The Deathly Hallows eleven times like I have probably don't care but it still stumps me.

With regard to Luke, my new Phillip Gold novel, I hope to use some upcoming business trips to Ottawa (during which I'll have some evenings alone in a hotel room) to get back to writing. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Tentatively Titled "Luke"

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-01-06T05:58:37-04:00

Much to my surprise, I started writing the fourth Phillip Gold novel the other day. And a good start I made of it, as well, completing a full seven pages. Wow.

I haven't arrived at a title for it yet, so I'm using "Luke" as a placeholder title, as in "I am your father, Luke," from Star Wars. That's because the book is all about the eight-year-old Phillip Gold's relationship with his abusive father. Not a great placeholder but better than nothing, I guess.

I'm experimenting with this new book, obviously, since my protagonist is just eight years old. That's fun but challenging to write. I keep having to go back over the dialogue to make sure his diction isn't too adult and his thoughts are no as well developed as an older person's might be.

The first seven pages are made up entirely of dialogue: not a single word of exposition. Another experiment. The idea is to alternate between dialogue-only scenes involving young Phil and the court-appointed psychiatrist and third-person narrative scenes that take the reader into the events of the novel. If it works, it should allow an exciting mix of insight into the character and straight-out action, with details of what occurred emerging slowly and with some amount of tension.

If it works. The jury is still out on that. Still, it's fun to write so far.

Holiday Diversions

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2010-01-02T13:51:09-04:00

With snow coming down outside in one thick blanket (we're expecting up to 35 cm by the end of Saturday), today is a good day to curl up and do nothing. Not that we've been doing much for the past couple of days! Mostly reading and watching DVDs.

Patti borrowed a number of vids from the local library for the holidays and we've plowed through most of those. In honour of my commitment to reading all of Dickens, she picked up the BBC mini-series of David Copperfield (starring a very young, pre-Potter Daniel Radcliffe) as well as the recent theatrical film version of Nicholas Nickleby. We watched the first 90 minutes of the mini-series (the thing is more than 180 minutes in total) before giving it up as too depressing. Nickleby lasted only 20 minutes before we hit "Stop" and walked away. Maybe Dickens is better read than viewed.

As I was flipping among the various American college football bowl games yesterday, I noticed that Vision TV was showing all six hours of the BBC's version of Little Dorrit, the Dickens novel I am actually reading right now. Awful. Though it did seem to be a little more light-hearted than the others, it was still really bleak. I'm starting to reconsider my intention to read the whole Dickens oeuvre.

We have been watching the first season of Mad Men, the American TV show set in the 1960s, and are finding it a challenge. Yes, the racism, anti-semitism and misogyny so blatantly on display in the show are likely accurate representations of the time but they are very hard to watch. And I can't help but wonder if the decision to set the show during that time period and to focus on those kinds of behaviours (as well as smoking and drinking) isn't, itself, a form of backlash against the small progress we've made as a society towards inclusion and equity. Many have argued that the show represents a critique of such conservative, hate-filled attitudes (a la All In the Family) but I'm not so sure.

I'm happy to report, however, that the problematic aspects of the show seem to decline as the first season goes on while the plots develop in interesting ways and the characters and their relationships continue to be quite fascinating. The jury is still out but we still have six episodes of the first season to watch before drawing any conclusions.

I have enjoyed reading the two volumes of The Complete Peanuts I received for Christmas: 1971-72 and 1973-74. These two Peanuts volumes involve the introduction of both Marcie, the bespectacled little girl who calls Peppermint Patti "sir" all the time, and "Rerun", the baby brother of Lucy and Linus. As a result, I was concerned that, at this point in the comic strip's history, we might have reached the "jumping the shark" moment that plagues many a successful series (be it a TV program or a comic strip), when the writer runs out of ideas and the characters become mere caricatures of themselves.

I'm pleased to find that my fears were unfounded. In fact, I think I've laughed out loud more often with these two volumes than with any of the earlier books. And I'm finding it very interesting to see how Peanuts strips are reflective of their times. For example, in a February 1972 strip, Snoopy mentions Star Trek, the first time that iconic sci-fi show was ever mentioned in the Peanuts world. This is notable because the original series of Star Trek aired on television between 1966 and 1969 and passed unnoticed by Charles Schulz into oblivion. It was only when the show began to pick up speed in syndication that it became important enough a cultural force to make its way into Snoopy's world.

OK, so maybe I'm just pleased to see Star Trek make an appearance in Peanuts. Cool. I like to see my interests meld. Now all we need to have is Hermione refer to Spock and McCoy in the next Harry Potter film.

Happy Birthday, Lynn

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-12-29T08:12:44-04:00

I have a pretty great family. While we're not huggers of the highest order and we don't get all touchy feely every time we talk, I think we all know we can count on each other when it really matters. I'm the youngest of my mother's five children and, as I approach my 45th birthday, I can look back on a life in which every one of my four older siblings has, at one time or another, done something extraordinary to help me out.

Oddly, it often revolves around motor vehicles. For example, three of my four siblings have lent me a car for extended periods of time (months, years even) at one point or another in my lifetime. Just as law school came to an end, Janice gave me her old Toyota Celica. Just handed me the keys and said, "Here you go."

Then, when I was just starting up my law practice and the Celica had given up the ghost, Klaas basically parked his second car, a Volvo sedan, in the driveway of our law firm and left the keys with me. He or his wife would "borrow" it from time to time but, for the most part, it was at my beck and call. And this went on for months on end.

And Michael, well, he's lent me both his Chevy Nova and, later, his Honda Civic for extended periods of time while he travelled (or was posted) overseas.

Many of us have lent money back and forth, offered each other short- and long-term places to stay and provided friendship and support in the tough times. Amazing.

As many of you know, this past year has been the toughest of times for me and my family. After a very long battle with lupus, our beloved mother passed away in April. It was a time when many families can get pulled apart. But we managed to tough it through. And stand by each other. And honour our Mom.

At the centre of all that was my sister Lynn. Just 15 months older than me, Lynn has been a rock for all of us for many years. And, in the toughest of times, she continued to be a wonderful support even as she dealt with her own loss.

I am grateful to Lynn for many things in my life (IKEA cots in bachelor apartments, pizza and the Y&R, 30 boxes of Shreddies with Star Trek toys in them, introducing me to U2, Go Gos parodies on cassette tape, the dip at the back of my head, posters, photos, giving me my first introduction to the internet, Spencer licking milk out of my cereal bowl, taking Desi when no one else would, Oregon, the Big Slice, visits to New Brunswick, Tetris in the bathroom, driving lessons on the 427 at 100 miles an hour and much more) but this past year has been especially important.

I don't need to write the details of it here. I will content myself, instead, with wishing Lynn a heartfelt and grateful Happy Birthday today. Happy Birthday, Lynn. I hope you have a wonderful day.

A Christmas Break

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-12-28T14:49:37-04:00

December 28. Still off work, with Christmas itself now fading slowly into the past, become more happy memory than happy times.

It's odd not to have a writing project on the go. I am forcing myself not to pick up the printed copy of the draft of The Silent Goodbye but just to let it sit for a while. Reviewing it now would be largely a waste of time since I haven't gotten enough distance from it to be objective. Still, it's hard not to do so.

I have thought about starting the next novel, thought about working on an Abigail Massey short story, thought about getting around to the Star Trek presentation I have slated for February but I don't seem to have the energy to tackle any one of them.

So I read, watch movies (looking forward to seeing the first season of Madmen, one of my Christmas gifts) and putter around. Not a bad life, really, but not overly creative nor productive.

Meanwhile, I did the editing work on a new Marlee video, this one with her enjoying the snow and nice weather on Christmas day. I'll paste it onto the video page of this site for everyone to enjoy.

Hope you are all having a great holiday.

Mission Accomplished

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-12-22T11:47:29-04:00

The Silent Goodbye is finished.

Well, draft one of The Silent Goodbye is finished but that wouldn't make a very dramatic opening, would it?

I am sitting here in a surprisingly emotional state, having just typed the last sentence of my third (unpublished) Phillip Gold novel. I'm a bit of a softie in that I always like to include a denouement that tidies things up and gives my character a moment to reflect back on what's happened. That's what I finished writing this morning, in between doing some of our Christmas grocery shopping and cleaning the downstairs bathroom in preparation for the arrival of our guest tonight.

Funny thing is, I find the final passages as emotional as my character does. But it's nice to know I've left him sitting there in his office, his injuries healing, most of his friends safe and his enemies vanquished, contemplating the meaning of life and everything it encompasses.

My plan is to leave the draft for a bit (perhaps as much as a month or so) to get some objectivity and distance, then go back and do a rewrite before sending it to my readers for their input.

In the meantime, life offers plenty of creative challenges: preparing a Star-Trek based presentation for work, completing the character and setting summaries for the Gold world, perhaps writing an Abigail Massey Christmas story and finally starting work on the next Phillip Gold novel.

Yes, that's right, published or not, I'm moving on to number four. This time, it's the prequel of all prequels: Gold at eight, dealing with the violence his father brings raining down on his family. No easy task, for him or for me.

The End is Near

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-12-19T20:28:33-04:00

After a productive Saturday afternoon (following on the heels of several productive evenings this week), I now have the distinct and very satisfying feeling that the novel is finally nearing completion.

I've been working on The Silent Goodbye for more than a year now. It started as the second in a projected series of short stories featuring Phillip Gold that I hoped to market to mystery magazines in the States but, when I started to spin the plot out, it grew into a full-length novel. And, I think, a pretty good one.

I decided today that, before I sit down to write the climax and denouement, I would re-read the entire draft from the beginning. The impetus to do so was my own faulty memory: I could not, for the life of me, remember if I had killed off a particular character already. If she still lived, I figured she should have a fairly major role in the final scenes; if she's dead, however, I'd have to change my plans.

That's what I get for writing the novel in fits and spurts, with a terrible memory to boot. I do know that, at one point several months ago, I seriously considered killing her off. I just wasn't sure if I had put that thought into action.

The re-read not only confirmed that the character is still alive; it also allowed me to address some inconsistencies, to smooth out the tone and narrative style and to reinforce some themes and ideas that had become more important as the novel progressed.

It's a kind of fun exercise, to be honest. I re-read, for example, early sections of the novel that I had written months and months ago, which allowed me to review them with an almost objective eye. I also got a chance to experience the story as a whole rather than in discrete little chunks, written with long breaks between. I was amazed to see how much action I had packed into the book and how much character development as well.

I have about 25 to 30 more pages to write and then it's done. I'm amazed and pleased to find myself so close to the end, with a draft novel that pleases me. It's a nice feeling. Perhaps tomorrow I'll start writing the climax.

Wow. Feels good.

Brutal Weather Makes Writing Happen

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-12-17T14:54:40-04:00

The weather these days in Fredericton is brutal. B-R-U-T-A-L. It's now coming up on 3 p.m. and the temperature outside is still hovering at about minus 15 Centrigrade. Add in an unrelenting wind from the west at 50 km/h and you've got absolutely disgusting weather. Wind chill factor of minus 30 or lower.

I've taken Marlee Marie out for two walks today. Both times I've been dressed in a t-shirt, sweatshirt, snowboarder's coat complete with hood, knit hat, heavy gloves and winter boots to my knees and I'm still cold! Even Marlee, with her natural protection, doesn't want to go outside except with good reason. Usually, we have a hard time getting her to come in.

Still, brutality like this gives me good reason to stay inside and write. And that's exactly what I've been doing.

I've written almost 20 pages in the last two days. The Silent Goodbye, first draft, is rapidly reaching its climax. It's very exciting for me, quite frankly. This will be my third completed Phillip Gold novel and by far the longest and most complex. It may never sell but it has made me proud.

My plan at this point is to finish the draft, then put it aside for a while. Maybe use that time to complete the Phillip Gold concordance, a compilation of descriptions of recurring characters and settings so that I can make sure I'm consistent throughout the entire collection of Gold stories and novels.

That will lead to a review and revision of each piece to correct inconsistencies, a process that will also allow me to address some of the other failings of the earlier works. It will be a big job but I hope to have it done by next summer.

I will, of course, try to find a publisher once again but, failing that, I think I will try to find a way to create readable hard copies for myself, my family and friends. Not quite self-publishing but close. I think the stories are pretty good, perhaps not publishable quality but not bad. I'd like to be able to look over at my bookshelf and see them, sitting neatly beside my text books, short stories and poems. Sounds like a nice idea to me.

In the meantime, I've inserted into this blog a photograph of yours truly from when I was maybe one year old or so. My sister digitised it and sent it to me. I have always thought of this photo as my seminal baby picture. I'm glad to have it to share with you.

Talking about Talking

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-12-15T08:05:56-04:00

On holidays now, so that means I have a little time every day for writing. I have a number of other tasks I want to get to but my year-end deadline is looming; I'm trying to make The Silent Goodbye a focus so that the first draft is completed by December 31.

I spent about 90 minutes at the computer just after lunch yesterday. That seems to be a pretty good time to write: after Patti's gone back to work, Marlee has just been walked and food is not on my mind. It felt good and went well: I went over the passage I wrote the other day, where Gold recounts his childhood trauma to Constable McLean, then did a first draft of what I've called the "Discovery Scene". This is the scene where Gold discovers the key piece of evidence that will set his client free.

It was a fun scene to write. Breathless action (well, dialogue, really, but I love writing back-and-forth dialogue that includes mostly three-word comments back and forth) and interesting developments. You want to write what's happening, of course, but you also want to make sure you allow your characters' reactions to what's happening peek through as well.

Dialogue is an interesting thing. I'm reading Dickens right now, as I think I mentioned, and he wrote some amazing dialogue of the "monologue-to-monologue" type. You know, one characters speaks for several paragraphs, with long flowing sentences and lots of metaphors, then the other character launches into her own extended monologue on the subject? It's witty and fun but also not even close to realistic (well, maybe they did in fact talk like that in the 19th Century!).

Me, I like the more natural dialogue. Like a game of ping pong. Short comments, often part sentences. Interruptions. Laughs. Physical responses rather than verbal ones. A single page ends up having maybe seventy words on it. Something like this:

"Phil?"

"Yeah."

"You awake?"

"No... yeah."

"I got something."

He sat up, rubbed his eyes. "What?"

"It's important, Phil. Game changing."

"What?"

"Go to your computer."

"Yvonne, it's three o'clock in the..."

"Just go, Phil. I mean it."

"Okay, okay." He rubbed his eyes again, dragged himself out of bed.

"You there?"

"Hold on a minute." He reached the computer, touched a button. "Okay..."

"Go to Youtube."

"Youtube? You got me looking at..."

"It'll be worth it, I promise."

"Okay. I'm there."

I love that kind of stuff. Things just motor along and it's fun to write. I hope it's fun to read too. Needless to say, that little snippet (which I just made up now so it's not polished and it's not taken from the draft novel) is just an example. I like the pace, the punch. Passages like that make the pages turn and the action roll.

I enjoy writing dialogue so much that I've often considered writing plays. Maybe someday. Hard to do, though, writing plays. I'll have to keep considering it.

Snow Throwing Not Word Crafting

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-12-11T08:11:09-04:00

I finally got the chance to use our new snow thrower! How much fun is that? With the 15 centimeters of snow Fredericton and area received the other night, I woke up Wednesday morning with a tough task ahead of me: set up the snow thrower, learn how to use it, and clear our driveway, all before going to work.

It took about 45 minutes, all told, but probably 35 of that was the set-up part and 10 the actually snow throwing. Man that thing is powerful! I didn't realise I had it in the highest forward gear when I first engaged the engine and it nearly dragged me down the drive, throwing snow as merrily as you please in front of it. So I disengaged, moved the shift lever to low, angled the snow chute to throw the stuff onto the lawn and started again. Much better.

It's big and it's heavy but it certainly can plow through the snow. But with that round of heavy lifting and my new commitment to taking the dog for a jog in the morning, I get home in the evening exhausted and ready for bed. Not conducive to writing.

Fortunately, there's no more snow in the forecast until the middle of next week so, with any luck, I'll plow ahead with Phillip Gold instead this weekend.

Telling a Story (Within a Story)

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-12-09T08:05:13-04:00

The hardest part about writing seems to be making yourself sit down at the computer and write. Once I'm in that chair and focused, things go pretty smoothly. It's just the job of putting aside all the other things I could be doing in my life and making writing a priority.

I'm going to have to do it better throughout the rest of the December if I'm going to hit my deadline: a first draft of The Silent Goodbye completed by the end of the year.

The other night I made myself sit down and work. First step was to review the fight scene I had written the previous week, the one I thought might be pretty terrible. Actually, with a week's worth of distance, it wasn't too bad. In fact, I was quite happy with it.

That left me with an exhausted Phillip Gold being helped back to his apartment by Stacey McLean, the lovely police officer for whom my hero has a bit of a thing. What followed is a scene that presented its own challenges to me, the writer. How do you have a character in your story tell another character in your story a story and not make it boring?

And how often do you write a "reaction shot" from the listening character? I mean, you can only write so many "Her eyes widened" or "She gasped" or "'Holy s--t,' she whispered"s?

As I think I have already mentioned in this space, I have decided to revise Gold's backstory somewhat and this scene was intended to allow him to share it with McLean, as they both sat there, physically and emotionally drained, sipping rye-and-gingers after an evening filled with excitement.

As I said, a new challenge for me. I'll know how I did when I convince myself to sit down again to review, revise and carry on writing.

Frost/Nixon is Rivetting

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-12-07T06:03:43-04:00

What an idyllic way to spend an evening. A blanket of snow has fallen on New Brunswick, making my evening walk with Marlee Marie a wonderful stroll through the quiet streets, with the Christmas lights twinkling and bouncing off the surface of the snow and the sweet-smelling smoke from a dozen wood fires drifting in and among the falling flakes.

Not to mention the crunch of our feet on the snow!

The snow came before I had the chance (okay, got off my lazy bottom) to get gas for our monster new snowthrower so I had to use the shovel again. Fortunately, it was only five centimeters or so, meaning I probably wouldn't have used the monster anyway.

No writing to speak of recently (sorry) but we have been watching movies. I slept through most of Seven Pounds (no shot at Will Smith, I'd simply had an exhausting week) but enjoyed Frost/Nixon immensely the following night. It's a rivetting film by director Ron Howard, which is kind of amazing considering the main story line involves a series of interviews between the foppish British talk-show host and the disgraced President. Great stuff and well worth watching, for the entertainment as well as for the history. The fact that there are strong parallels between some of what Nixon did (and was forced to resign for) and what George Bush did more recently (with no negative consequences) is strongly brought out in the film as well.

Writing will happen soon, I promise. I've got my December 31 deadline for a first draft of The Silent Goodbye clear in my head. I intend to get it done.

What the Dickens!

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-11-30T18:30:03-04:00

Last week, I turned on the TV to find nothing of note on but a PBS presentation of what I thought to be a fairly bizarre musical version of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. It wasn't a musical like Oliver! but more a filming of a staged version of an English-language opera. I found it awful yet strangely compelling.

It also convinced me that I should go back and read the original novel, which I had not read since my undergraduate days in Hamilton. Figuring that Patti and I own about five million books (the residue of five university degrees in English literature and one in law), I was pretty confident we'd have a copy of A Tale of Two Cities somewhere in the house.

Sure enough, with a little bit of looking, I located one. A very small one. Our Macmillan's Pocket Classics edition of Dickens' classic (published in 1921) measures four and a half inches wide by five and three quarters inches high. In modern terms, it's about the size of an iPhone.

And the printing? Well, let me see. It's this big! For 402 tiny pages!

A challenge to read, if I do say so myself. I can't say I'm gobbling it up the way I do a Harry Potter book or a Dick Francis mystery but I'm really enjoying it. Dickens wrote in an era where time was taken to describe the scene and the people in it fully, to make broad philosophical points and to ponder the great mysteries of life. Dickens, in other words, got paid by the word.

So that's where I am right now. Reading Dickens and enjoying the rambling prose. And not doing any writing of my own.

A Little Progress

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-11-28T09:10:57-04:00

I found a brief period one evening last week to sit down and do some writing on The Silent Goodbye. It felt good, sure, but it made me realise just how long it had been since I had worked on the novel. It's kind of frightening, really.

The story took on a life of its own as I was writing and I ended up with a very interesting confrontation between Gold and his nemesis, Pim. It was at that point, of course, that I came to the realisation that I don't write fight scenes very well. Never having been much of a fighter myself (I once got jumped from behind by a kid from my school and, instead of trying to fight him, I just carried him on my back for a block or two until he gave up and ran away), I don't have a good grasp of the physical movements that make up a fight, nor how to describe them.

I told myself to be satisfied just to get the basics down and then schedule some time to work it through, step by step, movement by movement. I think it's a good scene and it adds some physical oomph to a part of the novel that has been getting caught up in all the talking at the criminal trial. It also allows me to put Gold and Pim face to face for a moment, to make that threat real again both for the reader and for Gold.

I'm pleased to report that Gold holds his own in the battle, though, of course, he enjoys the advantage of surprise and the battle is brief. Still, good on you, Phil!

Work and life are so busy right now that I may not get back to it for a little while. I still hope to take a couple of weeks off leading up to Christmas to be a homebody and rest so maybe I'll be able to focus on it then.

In the meantime, now that I've finished all the Peanuts books I have (including the two new volumes Patti gave me as an early Christmas present), I've moved on to reading Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and Winston Churchill's series of books on the Second World War. Light reading, to be sure!

And Me Without My Camera

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-11-21T20:36:44-04:00

So there we are out on our favourite peninsula of land, just across from the Mactaquac Marina, playing ball with Marlee Marie, the Punkin of the Century, when all of a sudden the flock of geese bobbing on the water start squawking.

"I wonder what's up with them?" Patti says, tossing a ball for our panting pup.

I look around and see it, massive, dark and majestic. A bald eagle in all his glory, swooping down to the surface of the lake to look for fish.

Stunned, we stopped everything to watch. Marlee didn't like that. She wanted more balls to chase but we weren't going to miss a good three or four minutes of watching this amazing bird of prey at work. Swoop, glide, flap and rise. Swoop, glide, flap and rise. Beautiful.

It would have been nice if he had caught a fish but no such luck (for him or for us). When he finally decided to rest in a tree across the lake from us, another male eagle settled in near him in the same tree.

By that time, of course, Marlee had had enough waiting so we went back to our ball throwing. But not before we said a note of thanks for being so privileged as to having seen the eagle out fishing and a curse for not having our camera with us.

Great Canadian Voices

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-11-19T19:31:47-04:00

One of the fantastic things about living in a city like Fredericton (which is quite small yet the provincial capital) is that you get a nice combination of high quality attractions with small-town convenience. We got a taste of this Saturday night when we went to see the play Marion Bridge at the local University's theatre.

We got a full serving this past Wednesday night when, at the last minute, we picked up tickets to see Canadian songstress Chantal Kreviazuk at the city's 800-seat gem, The Playhouse. Now, Kreviazuk has been a big fave of mine since I saw the video for "Wayne", her first big single, and then bought that first album, under these rocks and stones, in 1996. This was my first chance to see her live and Patti and I were delighted at our good fortune to find two seats still available in row E, at the right-centre aisle.

The drive from our house to the Playhouse is maybe two minutes and, with only 800 seats and lots of street parking around the venue, we had no problems finding a spot. Talk about a great way to spend an evening out.

Perhaps surprisingly, though we went specifically to see Kreviazuk and thoroughly enjoyed her two-hour plus set, it's the music of her opening act, Meaghan Smith from London, Ontario, that we walked away with in our heads. Of course, we also picked up a copy of Smith's exceptional debut CD so that's helped with our ability to recall her tunes.

Smith is a revelation. She and her husband, to whom she refers as simply "my band" or "Mingo" (his last name), walk on stage and, after a quick hello, launch into it a 30-minute set of her own original songs, an interesting mix of '40s-style swing, old-time country and Feist-esque pop. Interspersed among the songs, Smith tells brief, funny stories about the background to each tune while Mingo shuffles various instruments in and out of her reach.

She's a talented song writer but what marks Smith as special is her voice. Wow. We could have listened to her rich, velvety voice all night: in fact, we practically listened to it all day today by playing and replaying the CD. We're fans of Canadian female performers like Feist, Melissa Stylianou and Holly Cole and I'd put Meaghan Smith along side any of them in their early careers.

After a much too long intermission (probably extended to allow the appreciative crowd time to swarm Smith's table and buy up her CDs, t-shirts and paintings), Kreviazuk then hit the stage. Accompanied by three musicians (one a percussionist, the second primarily on the violin along with guitar and piano and the third on the cello and guitar), the now-veteran (and it makes me feel old to write that) vocalist proved up to the standard Smith had set in the opening set and then some.

I have to admit, I'm not big on Kreviazuk's often long and self-indulgent monologues between songs and her tendency toward crudeness, but I have no argument with her voice, her piano playing or her songs. She's a special talent.

The show really hit its stride when drummer took a break, allowing Kreviazuk and her piano to stand out on their own. Kreviazuk is a passionate singer and her voice is what we came to hear. Her renditions of "Surrounded" (a personal favourite of mine from that first album), "Jet Plane" and the title song of her latest album (Plain Jane) were particularly fantastic.

As much as I struggled with the monologues, they did produce some interesting moments. When Kreviazuk brought a cell phone on-stage to telephone her three young sons in British Columbia as part of her introduction to one song, the audience practically curled up in her lap to enjoy the moment. Later, as Kreviazuk launched into the wonderful new song "Plain Jane", someone in the audience rattled some kind of pill or candy container. The sudden noise in the quiet room startled the performer, so much so that she stopped playing. She was clearly thrown off and seemed to have trouble getting past it, quizzing the audience about the incident. Though an awkward moment, it also showed to all of us just how invested Kreviazuk is in her live performances, how much of her soul she pours into the show.

It was also a nice touch that Kreviazuk made sure the other musicians got the chance to show off as well. Not only did she invite Smith on stage to perform background vocals for "God Made Me", she also allowed each of her accompanying musicians an opportunity either to feature prominently in one of her tunes (the drummer) or to perform one of their own. The violinist did a nice little folk number while the cello player wowed the crowd with an exceptional version of Joni Mitchell's "I Wish I had a River" (or whatever it's called).

The current tour continues in Ontario and the prairies into December, then does some makeup dates in Southwestern Ontario in February as well. If you can, catch the show, as much for the new talents you'll discover as for Chantal Kreviazuk, a true Canadian gem.

An Experience in the Theatre

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-11-15T08:09:57-04:00

After more than a week of sunshine, New Brunswick is getting pounded with rain this morning. Rainfall warnings and everything: 50 to 60 mm expected; 75 mm or more possible. Sounds to me like a day to stay inside and write. Of course, I'll probably watch or listen to football instead.

My Hamilton Tiger Cats play their first playoff game in years this afternoon, taking on the BC Lions in the Eastern Conference Semi-Final. I know: how does a team from Vancouver get into the "Eastern" conference semi-final? Don't ask. We don't get the TV network that's showing the game so I may have to listen to the radio broadcast from Hamilton on the internet. Gotta love the internet!

Last night, instead of writing, I went with Patti and some friends to see a play at the local University. The play, Marion Bridge, was written by maritime playwright Daniel MacIvor and performed by something called the "Nasty Shadows Theatre Company". Having never heard of MacIvor, the Nasty Shadows group nor any of the actors, I didn't go in with high expectations.

I was pleasantly surprised.

The story of three very different sisters coming together as their mother sinks slowly into death, Marion Bridge inspires both laughter and tears. Two of the sisters, Agnes and Theresa, have responded to their family-of-origin issues by swinging their personal pendulums as far apart as they can. It is through the process of their mother's passing that the pendulums start to come together again and they discover, or re-discover, that which connects them as family.

Director Scott Shannon (who also voices soap opera character Justin, filtering into the action from off stage) does an excellent job of keeping up a brisk pace while providing visual interest by moving his actors deftly around the very simple, single set.

Julie MacDonald plays Agnes, a demoralised actor who returns to Cape Breton in an alcohol-induced daze, filled with anger and resentment toward a mother who forced her to give up a baby early in her life. MacDonald handles the part well, taking great care to let her character's deep-seated issues ooze slowly out while providing the interpersonal fireworks that drive much of the first act of the play.

Elizabeth Goodyear is terrific as "Sister" Theresa, the self-sacrificing middle sister who chose to become a Nun as her way of dealing with the family-of-origin stuff. Tightly wound and usually self-contained, Theresa breaks down in an extended diatribe aimed at Agnes in the second act. It's a difficult scene for any actor, with MacIvor's dialogue spiralling towards over-wrought emotion and silly melodrama, but Goodyear manages to maintain a perfect balance to her delivery, filling the words with emotion while avoiding going too far.

Rebekah Chasse plays Louise, the youngest sister, who apparently never left home. In perhaps the most difficult part in the play, Chasse must convey a wide range of the character's personal issues (her loneliness, her resentment at being treated as "different", her uncertain sexuality, her simple but complicated relationships with her mother and her two elder sisters), all the while constrained by the character's limited mental capacity. Chasse is not perfect in the role (struggling from time to time with her lines, failing to sell her character's emotional reactions to her childhood, her mother and her mother's death as effectively as her co-stars) but her performance is strong enough to contribute to the overall effectiveness of the play.

The only real negative on the night was the behaviour of several members of the audience. At various points throughout this poignant and emotional experience, the following took place among the spectators: two audience members in the front row got into some sort of whispered discussion that lasted for at least 45 seconds; one spectator allowed his cell phone to go off, very loudly, and ring four times, then instead of turning it off entirely he set it to vibrate so that those sitting anywhere near him could still hear the buzz of the vibrating phone; and another audience member first dropped a full can of pop heavily to the floor and, in trying to pick it up, rolled it noisily back and forth under his seat and then, during a particularly quiet scene, decided to crack the can open and take a swig. It's a credit to the actors on stage that they managed to ignore this rude behaviour and keep the play moving; it's a credit to the other people in the audience that they didn't turn on these inconsiderate cretins and forcibly remove them from the theatre.

All of that aside, it was an enjoyable theatre experience. Playwright Daniel MacIvor is new to me but, on the basis of this complex and interesting work, I will look out for more from him. And from Nasty Shadows.

Lions for Peanuts on a Star Trek

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-11-13T08:00:30-04:00

My writing slump has gotten so bad people are now calling me on the telephone to see if I'm okay. "You haven't blogged in days," they say. "We thought something was wrong!"

Well, many things are wrong but none of them terminal. I haven't been able to sit myself down at the computer and write. That's the long and short of it. I actually built a fire the other night, got it going good and strong, then promptly fell asleep on the floor in front of the fireplace.

My mind is working on the next scene (a conversation between Gold and Stacey McLean) but I just haven't started writing it yet. It's getting quite frustrating. And the fact that my Rapidweaver program has now decided it doesn't want to insert Em Dashes any more I'm really upset.

So instead I've been spending my time reading The Complete Peanuts, watching movies (Lions for Lambs, starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Tom Cruise, for example) and taking advantage of the surprisingly warm New Brunswick November to go golfing rather than working on the novel. My end-of-December deadline for a finished draft is still in play but I think it's getting more challenging with each passing day.

Meanwhile, Star Trek (2009) has finally come out on DVD. Of course, they have to make it complicated by releasing both a single disc version (which I take it just has the movie and not many special features) at about $20 and the two-disc steel box set that costs around $10 more. I have to admit, I'm less excited about this DVD release than I was about the last Harry Potter but I think, if I'm going to break down and buy it, I'll have to get the two-disc set, at least to see what kind of extras they include.

Lions for Lambs, by the way, was surprisingly good for a film that Rotten Tomatoes rated at about 18%. Structured more like a stage play than a major movie, it was a lot of talk but interesting talk and we thought the scenes involving Streep, as a cynical reporter, dueling with Cruise, a powerful Senator, were exceptionally good. Redford does a better job of directing this one than he does acting in it: I find the older he gets, the flatter his performances. The film's worth seeing, however. At least we think so.

Revising and Re-Visioning

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-11-05T21:11:17-04:00

Still writing in fits and starts. Today, I had to force myself to sit down at the computer and work. Instead of writing anything new, however, I performed the very necessary task of conducting a hard, thorough edit of the entire third section (the Trial) of the novel. It's a worthwhile endeavour for two reasons: first, it gives me a chance to focus on shoring up the tone of the book and, second, it allows me to make progress on the novel even though I'm not ready to write new material.

I like the trial scene. I think it flows well, has decent levels of tension and drama, and feels right. That's all good.

Now comes the challenge of writing the turn: when Gold makes a key discovery and uses it to turn the case around. I'm not sure it will be easy to write. I'll try to take a crack at it this weekend.

Not helping me is the fact that I have started rewriting Gold's entire personal history in the back of my mind. It wasn't a conscious decision on my part; it just started happening out of the blue the other day. And now I think there might be a new novel in the revised backstory, an interesting tale featuring a eight-year-old Phillip Gold as the protagonist. Its development, however, means I will have to go back through all the Gold stories I've written so far and adjust them to match the character's new personal history. Ugh.

Not fun. But necessary. And a lot more work for me.

Missing Mom

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-11-02T22:05:02-04:00

November 3, 2009 would have been my Mom's 74th birthday. I miss her.

On Points of View

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-11-02T07:10:52-04:00

A weekend of work around the house and catching the odd play, sports-wise, left room at the end for some writing. So Sunday night I sat down at the old computer (as opposed to this new one) and started to re-work the scene on the courthouse steps.

I'm writing in third-person limited point of view, which places my narrator outside my main character but "on his shoulder" so to speak. I usually write my Phillip Gold stories in the first person: Gold himself tells you the story as it plays itself out. Many of my favourite mystery writers use this point of view to tell their stories because it creates an immediacy to the action and ensures that the reader pieces together the puzzle at the same time the detective does. I find it also helps the reader to identify with the main character, since we are part of his or her thoughts.

That being said, the first-person approach does not allow the author to create dramatic irony, where the reader knows something the character does not. It also requires that the reader will know the resolution to the mystery as soon as the character works it out, meaning it can be difficult to build as much tension at the climax of the story. Once the mystery is worked out, the source of tension often becomes the question of whether or not the main character will be able to catch the evil-doer, not who the evil-doer is.

Unless of course the author resorts to a one of several hackneyed tricks to hide information from the reader. But I hate that approach.

Third-person limited allows a certain distance between the narrative voice and the main character, so that the narrator can comment on the action or on other characters without implicating the main character in those opinions. It also allows the narrator to criticise the main character, to see or notice things the character fails to see, and to provide a broader view of the action than the character might have.

The style is "limited" because the narrator stays close to the main character, knows and understands the thoughts of the main character and of no other character. As a result, if the narrator is describing a conversation between the main character and his client, the narrator would be able to tell you what the character is thinking but would not be able to "go into the mind" of the client to know what she is thinking.

An omniscient narrator could do just that. Such a narrator can enter the mind of any character in the book to see her thoughts, understand her behaviour. In some books, the narrator moves from character to character within a single scene.

Okay, it's early morning and I'm running off at the fingers.

All of that is to say that I am finding it a challenge to write the bigger scenes from the third-person limited point of view. With so much going on around Phillip Gold, I often find myself either being too focused on him or allowing my narrator to see and know too much.

It's hard to get the balance right.

But, as always, I enjoy the challenge.

Next up in The Silent Goodbye: the great discovery that turns the trial around for Gold and his client. So exciting!

Detectives, Trekkies and Young Girls Gone Old

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-10-31T11:12:23-03:00

One of the great things about writing is the rush of ideas that comes after you've written a substantial section. On Wednesday, I wrote a significant bit involving a confrontation between my hero, Phillip Gold, and the Alderman on the courthouse steps, then Gold's dinner with the attractive law student at one of Hamilton's best Italian restaurants. It's a good section and I like it.

But the two days since have been filled with ideas bursting into my mind about how to improve the scenes, how to heighten the tension, how to lay the ground work for what is to come. It's an amazing process. Literally, you write knowing that, once all the conscious and subconscious work has been done, you'll have to rewrite. Often significantly. You need to have written something in order to be able to do the imaginative work to write something.

So now I'm planning to go back and do a massive rewrite of the section I just wrote, deepening the conflict, involving other characters and setting up for the next step in the plot. Two steps forward, then back again to take the same two steps forward.

That's the writing process that I love.

In the meantime, Lynn and Gavin have headed back to Ontario, making the entire 14-hour drive in a single day. They left here at 7:30 a.m. and likely made most of the drive in daylight, an amazing feat at this time of the year. They're great guests to have, interesting and creative, self-sufficient and self-motivated, and not demanding at all. In fact, I think they did as much cooking over the seven days they were here as we did. And now I have a series of tasks set for myself with regard to this website that will make it really cool, I hope.

Of course, anyone who is willing to sit through an entire screening of the movie Trekkies without complaint is alright by me!

Also on the movie front, Patti and I wanted to watch something fun last night so we slipped 13 Going On 30 into the DVD player. We inherited this little Jennifer Garner/Mark Ruffalo vehicle from my Mom but had never watched it. For the first 30 minutes, we weren't sure we were going to be able to get through it all. A blatant rip-off of the Tom Hanks' classic Big, this movie seems silly and flimsy by comparison. Then, suddenly, it takes flight. Garner, who seemed awkward and gawky in the first half-hour, takes on new life and, amazing for a Hollywood leading female, shows a willingness to be wacky and weird. The Thriller dance sequence is especially funny and she sells it well. We were also pleased to find a film that finally gives the likable Ruffalo a believable role that suits him.

It's no classic but it was a good choice for a cold Friday night.

Great Ideas Come to Town

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-10-27T19:38:02-03:00

It's been an interesting couple of days. First, my sister, Lynn, and her partner, Gavin came to town from Toronto for a visit. We've been having a great time. And, as an added bonus, they are both extremely computer and internet savvy, so I've been picking up a lot of tips for my website.

For example, I've added a new page to the website entitled "Video". This page allows me to embed the videos I've posted on Youtube so that people can simply access them from this webpage rather than having to find them on Youtube itself. It's pretty cool. I don't know if any of you will take advantage but I like the idea.

Second, and arising out of that first item, Lynn and Gavin have also suggested that I think about videotaping myself reading sections from my creative writing. I can post the videos on Youtube, then add a link to them on this website. That way, you can read my writing or let me read it to you. Sounds like fun. Of course, it will take a lot of planning since I'll have to make sure everything looks and sounds good. I'm also now feeling some self-inflicted pressure to revise the earlier Phillip Gold books before I do the reading. Or is that just a delaying tactic?

I'm quite interested in trying it with The Way Forward, my in-progress Rowling-world novel featuring Minerva McGonagall, Aberforth Dumbledore and the surviving Weasley twin. I wonder if I'll have the guts to do voice characterizations for each.

Third, Gavin showed me how I can put more photos on my website without making the computer file too big. It seems Rapidweaver saves each picture in its original size, even though what you see on the website itself is a much smaller version. By the press of a button, however, I can tell the program to shed the massive versions of the photos and just keep the smaller ones. So the size of the website dropped from about 15 MB to just two and a bit, without any loss of quality on the web. Cool. It means I can get back to putting more photos on the site and not worry about overloading my computer.

Best of all, I actually broke out of my slump, at least for the day, and wrote an entire scene for The Silent Goodbye. I'm pleased about that since it had been a while since I had been able to get myself to sit down and write. As so often happens when you start writing after a long absence, I had to leave a gap between where I left off in the plot and where I started up again; that way I can simply write the bridge section later, rather than having, say, two versions of the same scene to reconcile.

I wish I had a better memory, though. I have already forgotten some character names and many of the physical descriptions. That's really bad. That's why I've had to create the character and setting outlines: so that I can maintain consistency throughout the Phillip Gold collection, in spite of my bad memory.

A good day all around, thanks to Lynn and Gavin.

New Determination

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-10-24T21:20:02-03:00

This dry spell has got to end. It's now been almost three weeks since I've written a single word of the Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. I'm not sure what's causing this extended interruption in my writing but I've got to break out of it.

It's not like I'm spending my evenings doing exceptionally valuable things: watching TV, reading Peanuts comic strips, sleeping. No big deal there.

Of course, this week Patti and I are enjoying a visit from my sister, Lynn, and her partner, Gavin, up from Toronto. They're easy guests, enjoying sitting by the fire and chatting as much as we do. And they cook and help us with computer problems and do dishes and all kinds of great things. It's nice to have them here.

The hand-knit miracle socks, talking Star Trek bobble-head dolls and massive posters also contribute to how welcome they are in our home.

But their visit means I'm still not able to devote time to Phillip Gold. Once again, the problem seems to me that I've set up a barrier between me and continuing to write the novel: in this case, it's the compilation of my summary sheets for each recurring character and setting. I've done the raw work, reading through all the stories and novels and copying all the descriptions into compilation files, but now I have to sit down, review it all, and address inconsistencies over the various works.

I'm afraid that seems like a long and arduous task to me and I am a little fearful of starting it. If I don't start it, I can't finish it and I can't get back to writing the novel.

Next week. I promise. I'll take care of the barrier, then get back to the novel. I'm too close not to meet my goal of finishing before the end of the year.

Time Out Continues

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-10-12T20:30:13-03:00

My extended break from writing continues. I don't know what's behind it but I also don't seem to be too interested in fighting it. As a result, I'm getting nothing done.

I've taken up reading the Peanuts comic strips from start to finish. I have the first eight volumes of The Complete Peanuts in my book collection so I have finally taken it upon myself to read them through. I've always been a big Charlie Brown fan so this is a very nice way to appreciate the art and wit of Charles Schulz in a more concerted, comprehensive way. I'm only on the second volume right now but it's fun to watch as the now familiar characters take shape across the pages.

Phillip Gold remains on the back burner but much in my mind while Abigail Massey lingers as well. About the only writing I have been doing lately is an almost daily blog on sporting topics on the Fannation website associated with Sports Illustrated online. It's interesting to post a brief splash, say, on US college football and then watch as 10 or more people read it in the first half hour. Not that things continue at that pace for long: my most popular post has been read by all of 85 people. But it's kind of fun.

I have also added a temporary special section to this website. It's a page called "Buttons" (see top left) which offers a photo gallery of all kinds of different accessible door buttons and elevator buttons from around my place of work. We're planning a campaign to stop people from using these assistive devices if they don't need them; the more they're used, the sooner they wear out, the more often the accessibility of a particular building or room is compromised.

I like the photos, though, for some reason. So I thought I'd post them here for a while. Their presence on the web also gives our poster designers access to them without resorting to massive e-mails.

I will, I trust, be back in the courtroom with Philip soon; I'll let you know when that happens.

Fabulous Fall

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-10-05T22:13:45-03:00

Fall has certainly arrived in New Brunswick and, with it, some of the most spectacular colours I've ever seen. This morning, I took my usual drive down Highway 7 between Fredericton and Saint John and found myself driving through an amazing landscape, almost other worldly in its vivid hues.

Highway 7 rolls over hills and through valleys as it heads south and offers some pretty impressive vistas. Sometimes, it's a hillside in the distance, awash in reds, oranges, yellows and golds, all mixed with a spectrum of greens. At other times, the forest comes right to the side of the road and the individuals trees leap out at you as you flash by, on fire with colour.

My mom would have loved this, the most impressive autumn I've ever witnessed. She would have wanted to drive and drive and drive, ohhing and ahhhing at the trees. She would have loved the trip Patti, Marlee and I took after work tonight, first along Highway 7 to the valley town of Welsford, about 40 km from Saint John, then for a bite to eat at Georgette's Diner, and finally the return trip home, along the back roads through Fredericton Junction. Almost every foot of the trip offered something amazing to see (including a flock of deer in a roadside field, which sent my heart into my throat!).

We videotaped the drive down Highway 7, then took some still photos in Welsford itself, including several of that magnificent tree you see in the photo at right. If you want to see the video (or at least some highlights of it), wait a couple of days, then check it out on Youtube by searching "markwwnb". It'll be there soon, along with numerous videos of Marlee Marie frolicking at some of New Brunswick's neatest spots.

Ahh, Fall. Nobody does it better than New Brunswick!

Merry Christmas and 27 Dresses

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-10-04T22:54:23-03:00

I'm in something of a writing short circuit right now, with no energy for the task. Phillip Gold hovers mid-trial and Abigail Massey is stuck in a rut.

So I'm watching TV shows and films instead. The other night, we watched a whole series of Mad About You episodes, and we've just enjoyed 11 episodes of Frasier in the last 24 hours. Tonight I watched the opening episode of CBC's wacky new reality show, Battle of the Blades, a live competition involving a retired male professional hockey players figure-skating with retired female figure skaters. The show's a bit stiff but the skating is fun to watch and these hockey players make their skating partners look absolutely tiny. I may just watch more.

What is it about the CBC anyway? Suddenly, they're offering a bunch of shows worth watching: Being Erica, Little Mosque, The Tudors, Heartland, Ron James and now this skating thing. If they're not careful, CBC may actually start selling some ads!

But I digress. I was planning to write about a couple of films we've seen recently: Merry Christmas and 27 Dresses.

Merry Christmas is a joint French, German and British production telling the fictionalised tale of soldiers from both sides of the battle in World War One putting down their weapons for Christmas in 1914 and meeting up in no-man's-land between the trenches for a brief break. It's a very effective, often frightening film that deals, among other things, with the idea that nations must train their citizens to see the enemy as something less than human in order to make them willing to kill in a war. The "fraternisation" that takes place among the foot soldiers undermines that effort and must, in the eyes of the commanders on both sides, be punished. It's an uplifting but chilling film, starring a series of European actors I don't recognise and directed by Christian Carion, that is very much worth your time to find and watch. And, if you get the two-disc version, be sure to watch the extra features. They're great too.

27 Dresses is not such a great film but it does showcase Katherine Heigl, of Grey's Anatomy and, I think, Knocked Up fame. Heigl is a revelation in this film and she truly lifts it out of the muck and mire of a bad script, poor direction and a mediocre supporting cast. Her performance in this uninspired version of the modern romantic comedy deserves better.

Bye Bye Facebook

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-09-30T17:46:26-03:00

So I closed my Facebook account today. Well, at least as far as the people at Facebook will allow you to do so.

Have you ever tried to close a Facebook page? It's not easy.

First, they move you to a page upon which they've posted photos of some of your "friends" with the caption, "X will miss you", under each one.

Then, if you insist on continuing, they force you to answer a questionnaire, justifying why you want to close your page.

If your reason is good enough, they require you to decipher some funky-shaped letters and identify them, on the grounds that you are proving you're not faking the whole thing. But, while I've done that funky-shaped letter thing before (when posting a comment on another person's website, for example), this is the first time the letters are so funky-shaped that it's practically impossible to tell what they are. It took me four tries to get it right and, if I hadn't, Facebook would have refused to close my page.

I even wrote into my questionnaire a specific request that they erase all of my data and information from their database. Did they do it? No. Moments later, I got an e-mail from Facebook telling me (surprise surprise) that I had closed my page and assuring me that, if at any point in the future I come to my senses, I can simply e-mail them and they'll relaunch it exactly as it is today. In other words, they're going to keep it in their memory banks.

I've been becoming increasingly uncomfortable with taking part in the whole Facebook phenomena (the lack of privacy, the fact that Facebook plays all kinds of games with your data) so my decision to quit should come as no surprise. I'm just grateful that I never really put much up there in the first place.

I doubt I'll miss it.

On the writing front, my fab sister Janice has gotten back to me with her comments on the first draft of the trial scene. Great comments! Really useful inside information on what goes on at a criminal trial. She even indulged herself in writing some fiction herself, which was a lot of fun to read too. Janice, you really should give writing a shot. Your prose is fun and entertaining.

I'm not much in the mood to write of late, however, so I'll probably hold off on continuing for a couple of days yet. But it is coming. And with help from Janice (and no more Facebook drivel) I can look forward to making more progress soon.

Second and Last Chances

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-09-25T09:02:33-03:00

It's been an interesting week. New Brunswick has tumbled headlong into fall, with temperatures dropping sharply and rain alternating with sunshine on a day-to-day basis. Most importantly, however, almost every night brings a warning of frost, that enemy of all things vegetable.

Since I planted most things late, as in at the end of May, my veggie plants are only at about the three-quarters stage of growth as autumn falls. While we've had a pretty good crop of beans (both string and runner), the tomatoes are still small and green, the cucumbers are just pickles, the carrots really want to be fully grown but aren't and the brussels sprouts, well, the poor brussels sprout plants. They just can't seem to generate enough oomph to put out a sprout or two.

And now comes frost. Tonight's forecast doesn't say "Frost Warning" it says "Frost". I guess it's time I accept that my lateness in planting is going to mean no vegetables whatsoever after tonight. So sad.

On the writing front, however, things are definitely more productive. I went back last night and did a full revision of the scene involving Shannon Olivier's appearance in court. I expanded it quite a bit and made some small adjustments and additions to the existing sections. Again, I think it reads pretty well. In fact, I'm quite proud of it.

I hope I can keep up the momentum. Time is such a challenge, though, with work hyping up and fall house chores arising and life just keeping on trucking.

And, of course, there are the other writing projects that keep calling out to me too. I had a really interesting conversation with a colleague in Saint John, who has read the Abigail Massey stories and seems to agree that a longer work (maybe a novel) that takes Abigail and her pals to Saint John in 1943 would be a good idea. So my colleague has been feeding me nifty tidbits about Saint John history, lots of ideas upon which I could base the book.

Abigail, it seems, is getting restless. She's bored just hanging around the McAdam Station and Hotel and craves another adventure.

One Step Forward

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-09-23T09:19:16-03:00

A good session of writing last night produced a draft of the appearance in the witness box of the complainant, Shannon Olivier. I'm pleased to say I think it's a pretty good first effort. Thanks to some sound advice from my sister Janice, a former Crown Attorney, I think the cross-examination section is especially effective.

I have sent the draft to Janice for her review.

Even still, however, I have now spent the last 12 hours ruminating over the draft and thinking up ways to improve it. While I think what I've done is good, I've also realised there are some key issues and key points that I have left out, both in the direct examination of the witness by Sharon Kyle and in Gold's cross-examination. So I have to go back again, hopefully tonight, to revise and add.

I'm finding this an interesting process. It involves a great deal more rethinking and revision than the usual prose because the criminal trial is such a specialised business. I'm also learning new respect for the lawyers on both sides of the bar who have to get it right the first time. They can't go home at night, realise what they've missed, then go back the next day and take another crack.

It's slow work for me as a writer but I'm very much enjoying it.

And Finally, Progress

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-09-15T20:15:08-03:00

Just getting up from 90 minutes of solid writing. Another editing pass at the start of the trial scene, then the complete examination and cross of the first witness. Good, I hope.

What a feeling! Those kinds of blocks are really hard because they build upon themselves until they seem insurmountable. Scary, even. And you don't even really know what's causing the block.

I hope now I'm past it. I am hopeful that tomorrow night I'll be able to sit down and work some more on it, start to build a rhythm again.

I realise, even now, that I have probably had the Crown start with the wrong witness but that's okay. I can go back and insert the proper first witness (the victim) tomorrow. At least I got down to work and accomplished something.

Writing is hard work. In many cases, generating the ideas and working out the plot and character points is, actually, the easy part. Sitting down and writing each and every word, painting every scene, imagining the tiny moments and the little details of the larger scene, that's where the real work often comes in. Decision after decision, challenge after challenge.

An amazing process, really. In one simple scene, the writer makes a million decisions from how much description of the setting or a character to include, to whether or not there is a bench or two chairs, to how the character speaks, to whether or not she would light a cigarette before she gets angry or because she gets angry, to whether or not she gets angry in the first place. Millions of decisions.

Amazing. Exciting. Difficult.

New Barriers

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-09-13T09:44:32-03:00

More excuses. That's all I've got. More excuses.

This time, golf is getting in the way of the writing. I was bound and determined last week to get back to The Silent Goodbye and then my favourite local golf course sent around a flyer saying, "If you pay 50% down on a membership for next year, you can play the rest of this year for free". How could I pass that up, especially since I didn't get a membership this year but planned to rejoin next summer?

So I paid the money and have now played five rounds of golf in the past week. And it is glorious! It gets in the way of finding time to write but it feels so good.

To add further distraction, today (Sunday) offers a sports-watcher's nirvana, with the first week of NFL football on several channels, the men's semi-finals and women's finals of the rain-delayed US Open Tennis Championships and the final round of the BMW Championship, the penultimate playoff golf tournament in the PGA's FedEd Cup competition, all playing gloriously across the TV this afternoon and evening.

Absolute heaven.

So I played 15 holes of golf yesterday, nine more first thing this morning and now I'm ready to settle in. Oh, I have a work-related meeting later this afternoon but I'll get through that and then settle in.

But I promise I'll be writing again this coming week. The goal, to have a draft of the entire trial finished by the middle of October. And, once that's done, the climax and conclusion is all that's left.

I may actually meet my self-imposed deadline of finishing the first draft by the end of 2009.

So all is not lost. Just delayed. Proof of how important it is to get on track when writing and stay the course (in non-golf terms, of course).

Hard Reality

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-09-08T19:30:37-03:00

I have to accept it. It's a hard reality but it is reality: I'm blocked.

I've been making excuses on this blog for some time now but it's time I faced the fact that I am now facing a pretty nasty case of writer's block with regard to The Silent Goodbye. Even as I type that, my mind is coming up with all kinds of excuses: I'm too busy, work is overwhelming, too much to do at home, I'm working on other projects, etc. But the fact is, I'm blocked.

That's hard. And it's even harder because I know exactly what I should be writing. I just can't force myself to sit down and write it. That's sad. I am still working on the Phillip Gold Concordance and I'm still reading through the Harry Potter series again (I'm actually savouring book seven once again, forcing myself to read it slowly and deeply). That's fine. But I should be writing.

I'll get there. I set as my goal to complete a draft of the novel by the end of the year and that is still extremely do-able. I just wish I could get going again.

Maybe tonight.

A Brief Update

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-09-04T23:05:59-03:00

It's late and I'm tired so this entry will likely be very short. I've just finished amassing the raw material for the Phillip Gold Concordance and now have to take all that stuff and synthesize it down to a workable document so that I'm not constantly making mistakes in the future.

In the meantime, life has gotten very busy, both at work and at home. That makes things somewhat stressful and leaves less time for writing and other interesting stuff. I'm pleased with the progress I've made on the Concordance but it does mean that I have not written any more of the novel itself, The Silent Goodbye. So much for the good rhythm I had gotten into some time ago.

That's okay though. I had been making excellent progress so maybe breather was necessary.

This entry also gives me a chance to show off two photos I took of a Great Blue Heron during a recent trip to Alma, NB. I'm pretty happy with the photos and with the massive bird that let me get that close before flying away!

Rounding Things Up

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-08-30T20:34:30-03:00

I am still proceeding very slowly in writing the courtroom scenes for my new Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. Lots of research, lots of consideration and reflection, lots of care in the selection of each word and phrase. So slow going.

I have also decided that it is time for me to start addressing some of the inconsistencies that have sprung up in my Gold collection. Okay, okay, that's a grandiose way of saying: my memory stinks and I'm not going to get away with changing characters names (eye colours, hair colours, height, weights, vocal patterns, etc.) in mid-novel any more. I honestly write a character's name, then forget it two pages later.

It's really quite sad.

So, just as I am in the process of preparing a Harry Potter concordance, so I have decided I need to create a Phillip Gold concordance to ensure that characters and locations are consistent from book to book, page to page. It should also help me create signature descriptions for each recurring character, recognisable behaviour patterns, even pet words and phrases. I have always been impressed with how J.K. Rowling was able to create, very quickly, speech patterns that allowed me to recognise characters immediately from what they say: Dolores Umbridge's "Hem Hem" and Ron Weasley's "Are you mental?" to name but two.

I started the process on Saturday and spent four hours working on it. It was then that I realised both that I have written a lot of fiction involving Phillip Gold and also that I have created a pretty impressive collection of people and places that populate his world.

Here is a list of the Phillip Gold fiction I've written to date:
A Fleck of Gold, a full-length novel;
All That Glisters, a full-length novel;
The Gold Figure, the first chapter of a novel;
The Prequel, the first 60 pages of a so-far untitled novel;
"The Rare Book", a short story;
"Violet and Gold", a short story; and
The Silent Goodbye, a three-quarters complete novel.

That's a lot of writing. And it also represents a great number of characters and settings, both ones that are specific to a particular work and ones that recur throughout the collection.

My job now is to identify those characters and settings that do or might recur, locate every section of each story in which I have provided useful details about them, and copy those details into a encyclopedic entry. Once that's done (and, including today's three hours, I'm up to seven full hours of work on this task), I will review and revise each collection of entries so as to create a useful summary of each person or place.

I will also have to make some decisions between conflicting descriptions of a particular person or place. For example, Stacey McLean's eyes have been described as blue, green and hazel in different stories. I'm going to have to decide what colour they are, then go back and correct the descriptions throughout the various novels and stories.

The process also gives me a chance to flesh out the back stories for some of the major characters, especially Phillip Gold himself. This will allow me to ensure that his reactions to current situations are true and appropriate according to his life history. It will also, I trust, make him a more interesting, well-rounded character.

Of course, it will be a lot of work. But I'm finding it interesting. And kind of fun to think I've written enough about Gold and his world that this is necessary and possible.

The final product should also help me remember the names of characters from page to page as I continue to write The Silent Goodbye.

Toe Dipping

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-08-28T19:47:43-03:00

I dipped a toe in the water of my trial scene. I'm very proud of myself. The thing had been intimidating the heck out of me so I thought I'd take two steps to get myself re-started: first, I went on the web to see if I could find sample Crown openings for jury trials (I could); second, I decided to proceed very slowly, very carefully while trying to be cognizant of what each character would be thinking, doing, aiming for with every word.

So I wrote about 300 words of Sharon Kyle's opening to the jury. I spent some time not only on what she would say but also thinking about how she would act and what impact her words and actions would have on Phillip Gold. And there's a lot going on there.

The last time Gold saw Kyle in action in a court room, he was on the witness stand and she was tearing him to pieces. So he's feeling a little bit vulnerable and embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Gold is not very confident as a trial lawyer while Kyle is the consummate professional. He wants to watch her closely so as to learn from her as much as he can.

And Kyle is drop-dead gorgeous, a fact that is not lost on Gold (nor on any one else in the court room).

This gives me lots to think about and lots to write about.

Going slowly seems to be working. I just hope my sister will be ready to receive a draft when I'm done. I'm thinking I should probably send her it piece by piece as I go along, rather than in one big chunk. That would give her a chance to review in brief spurts, focusing on each individual aspect of the trial (are you reading this, Janice?).

On the other side of the process, I think I mentioned that I have been re-reading the Harry Potter series (surprise, surprise!) from the beginning. I have just completed the fourth and fifth books (The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix, the first two longer novels) and was surprised to find that I have only read each of them once or, at most, twice. As a result, the movie versions were more prominent in my mind. I was delighted to rediscover how really excellent these books are, how much detail Rowling puts into them and how complex and layered the plots are.

It brought home to me, again, the deficiencies in the films. I guess I'm going to have to work hard to ensure that it is Rowling's originals, rather than the film derivations, that stay uppermost in my mind.

Anyway, back to work on Phil and Sharon, Gold and Kyle.

Not Quite So Fast

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-08-23T21:02:50-03:00

After my brash statements in my last post about being "back at it" and all that, I am ashamed to admit that I haven't been working on The Silent Goodbye as diligently as I should be. I can come up with all kinds of excuses but the simple fact is I am intimidated at the thought of writing the trial scenes, even with my sister's expert help, and therefore am stalling.

A terrible thing to have to admit, to be sure, but it's true. I revised the section including Gold's opening address to the jury immediately prior to my last post (and, hence, my optimism therein) but wrote what I think is a terrible opening statement by the Crown. It is so flat and uncreative, lacking in drama and pizzazz, that I'm quite embarrassed by it. It must be rewritten.

That being said, I'm a little scared at the thought of trying to rewrite it. I guess I have to force myself simply to sit down and hammer something out, then revise revise revise, get input, and revise some more.

It occurred to me that I am trying to write in one sitting an oral presentation that the Crown, herself, would probably spend a long time preparing. And she has all kinds of experience doing this kind of stuff. Maybe I just have to accept that I have to put in the same kind of work in preparation for writing the trial scenes that the various lawyers would put in to prepare for the actual trial.

Seems obvious, once I've written it out like that. It's kind of arrogant for me to have allowed myself to think for a minute that I could just sit down and, in a couple of hours, hammer out an effective, dramatic, realistic opening statement to a jury.

So it's back to work for me. And work it will be.

Back to It

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-08-19T20:51:41-03:00

After a break of about a week to work on other projects, survive a heat wave and deal with some weird family issues, I'm getting back to Phillip Gold and The Silent Goodbye. Finally.

Much of the credit for the return has to go to my sister, Janice, whose enthusiastic response to some questions I posed to her over e-mail has led to a rekindling of my own enthusiasm and a genuine belief that, with her help, I might just be able to write an entertaining, convincing trial. Janice, you see, was until recently a Crown Attorney extraordinaire and her insights into how a criminal trial would be run have been most helpful.

Janice has offered guidance on the mundane details of criminal procedure, such as who speaks first and what would the judge do in certain situations, but she has also been kind enough to share her insights into the more exciting stuff, like how the Crown would design her case, how the defence attorney could attack that case, legal and psychological gambits each might employ with the jury and such like.

The conversations themselves have been fascinating and she's been kind enough to agree to read the first draft once I've finished it and offer more guidance, more insights and more insider info. I'm quite excited at the thought.

The only problem is, I have to keep reminding her that my character, Phillip Gold, is not supposed to be a very good lawyer: I think Janice has a hard time playing down to his level, so to speak.

It is still challenging for me to sit down and work through the narrative on my own since every sentence seems to bring up another question but Janice's help does make me feel like, when all is said and done, the trial will be a realistic, exciting part of the book.

At the same time, I found out that a local library has a pretty sweet collection of films on DVD, including classic stuff and international films as well. One of the first DVDs that jumped out at me was the film version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard's excellent play. The movie version, also written and directed by Stoppard, stars Tim Roth and Gary Oldman as the title characters and is a fabulous piece of cinema.

I won't try to write a review here but will offer this: if you haven't read the play or seen the play or film, do so immediately. Well, do so after you've re-read Hamlet, Shakespeare's play from which Stoppard's work spins.

What I love about Rosencrantz and Guildernstern Are Dead, apart from the sheer cleverness and entertainment value of it, is the fact that Stoppard created two different versions of the same idea, each designed to take best advantage of the medium in which it will be delivered. Stated simply, he rewrote his own highly successful play to create a screenplay that is filmic, rather than just a filmed version of the stage play. He made some major changes in writing the movie to take advantage of film as a medium, while still remaining true to the soul of the original.

It's genius. And the DVD I borrowed from the library is a two-disc set, the second disc offering indepth interviews with Stoppard himself, as well as the two main actors in the film. I'm halfway through the interview with Stoppard and it's excellent. Great insights into the play, film and the creative process itself.

I have been a huge fan of Stoppard for some time and this DVD gives me all the more reason to admire him.

There's a personal connection for me too. While working at a hotel in Toronto in the early 1990s, I had occasion to meet and actually chat with Derek Goldby, the man who directed R&D Are D in its first professional production in London in the late 1960s. He was in town directing another Stoppard play, Rough Crossing, for one of Toronto's professional theatre companies. A very exciting opportunity for me and it was neat to hear Stoppard himself talk about Goldby in the interview on the DVD.

I'm looking forward to watching the film again and to seeing the rest of the interviews. It helps that Gary Oldman, who plays Rosencrantz, also plays Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films.

Film Work Rules

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-08-16T20:12:51-03:00

New Brunswick is sweating through its first real heat wave in two years with day-time temperatures climbing into the 30s and the humidity closing in on 100%. Fortunately, our basement stays pretty cool so we spend a lot of time down there and, today, we went for a drive through the Fundy National Park to Alma, New Brunswick, an interesting little tourist town with massive tidal variations to the water levels in its little part of the Bay of Fundy.

We got there just at the right time to enjoy low tide, meaning a great shelf of often-submerged ocean floor is walkable. How neat to pick your way through drying seaweed, pools of water, barnacle-encrusted rocks as well as sand, mud and sea shells. Unfortunately, we got fooled by the optics: we decided to walk to the water's edge, thinking it would take maybe ten to fifteen minutes; instead, we spent almost 90 minutes on the trek. We were exhausted and sun-stroked by the time we got back to the car. Poor Marlee was at her puppy-wits' end.

Of course, the temperature at the Bay of Fundy is about 10 degrees cooler than in Freddie, so that was something. We drove back via the Hopewell Rocks (we didn't pay to go in; we were just too tired) and then Moncton. A nice way to spend a hot day. Too bad we had to come back to the oven that is Fredericton.

With regard to writing, I've completed the draft of The Silent Goodbye up to the start of the trial. I'm actually quite stunned by my progress to date. I am currently on a little break from writing both to collect myself before diving into the trial itself and to spend some time doing video editing work in preparation for a training program I have to put on at my work in about 10 days.

My plan is to use scenes from popular movies and TV shows to show the participants examples of harassment, discrimination and other such issues. I have, therefore, been hard at work at this computer arranging the editing the scenes I want into usable shape. It's fun but frustrating since video files are so big. Even this very new iMac dual core I'm working on takes a long time to manipulate video files. I am, for example moving a one-hour TV show into iMovie and it is going to take more than an hour do so.

I'm training myself to set the computer to work, then go off and do other things. I should really be using that time to write but there's so much else to do. And some nasty heat to get through.

Harry Potter and the Second Chance

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-08-10T17:20:35-03:00

I just needed a little distance.

The first time I went to see the newish movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I was very disappointed. You can read my disappointment in my blog of 21/07/09. In anticipation of seeing the movie, I had re-read the book and, with Rowling's powerful prose fresh in my mind, I went to the cinema with high expectations.

It turns out, I approached the movie with the wrong mind-set. I went in looking for the ways in which the movie version stayed faithful to the book and the ways in which it diverged. Though Half-Blood Prince is likely my least favourite of Rowling's seven, I still respected it for its consistency of tone, its psychological and emotional depth and the new directions in which it took the characters. I also knew it would be tough to make this deeply introspective, tone-poem book into a successful movie.

This time, I went to the cinema on the spur of the moment Sunday afternoon, now three weeks separated from reading the book, intent on judging the film on its own merits. Well, my opinion of it has improved significantly. Yes, I still think it is a pale, shallow, hollow imitation of the book but, as a film, it works. (Now that's a back-handed compliment if I ever wrote one!).

I will never like what Steve Kloves did to the book in making it into a film script. I will never like the liberties he took not only with Rowling's scenes and story but also with her characters and their motiviations.

I do, however, have a strong appreciation for the look, tone and atmosphere of the film. David Yates and his crew have done exceptional work at creating an artistic film, filled with beautiful images and interesting visual constructions. Yates is especially creative in finding visual ways to show Draco Malfoy's despair as he languishes in his efforts to fulfill the Dark Lord's orders to him. Rowling used the literary device of having another character (Moaning Myrtle) tell the reader (and Harry et al) about Malfoy's torment; Yates isolates Malfoy in the corners of frames, pans from scenes of youthful frivolity to images of Malfoy alone and lonely, pens him physically in the architecture of the school.

Yates also does a very nice job with the "Wizards in the Muggle world" scenes, particularly when the sisters visit Severus Snape in Spinners End. The image of Peter Pettigrew seen through the fogged glass of the home's front door is stunning and Snape seems right at home in the dusty library.

I would (and no doubt will) watch this movie again, not simply because it is an adaptation of one of Rowling's books but also because it is so beautifully filmed and beautifully acted, at least by the veteran back-up cast. I can't say any of the three leads particularly impressed me with their acting skills but they do have a nice chemistry and the film's emphasis of the growing friendship between Harry and Hermione (a steadfast, unquestioning, rest-of-their-lives friendship) is a nice touch in preparation for the final films.

Bean There, Done That

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-08-05T17:45:09-03:00

Beans! About a pound of them. Fresh, green, crisp and delicious, straight from our garden to the table. What an amazing feeling of accomplishment it is to find the garden you dug and planted is now turning out fabulous-tasting morsels of freshness.

Even more exciting, the pound we picked the other day represents just a portion of the beans that were hanging on the plants. I had been worried that we'd have to pick some of the smaller, younger ones to round out the meal but I was pleasantly surprised to find there were quite enough full-sized beans to satisfy our hunger. And they were so good. Much better than the pathetic, thin-skinned things you find at the grocery store.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, I have also been making excellent progress again on The Silent Goodbye. I wrote an entire section the other day, as much as 3,500 words in one sitting. I have further developed and deepened the relationship between Gold and Constable McLean and I think I have done a decent job of providing some of the backstory from previous (unpublished) novels without dragging things out.

So far, so good. I have one more major scene to write before Gold starts the trial. That's going to be fun to write. I'm calling on my sister and brother-in-law, both legal professionals, to help me make sure I get points of procedure right.

I know, stop writing about writing it and get back to writing it.

A Slow-Down and an Enjoyable Play

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-08-02T17:09:32-03:00

A surprise long weekend. Monday is, apparently, New Brunswick Day. I didn't know it was coming up but, fortunately, I didn't plan any meetings so I have a nice three-day weekend.

Patti has gone back to Ontario for the weekend so it's very quiet here. Marlee and I are spending quality time together, going for walks, lying on the couch watching movies, sleeping. Perhaps not surprisingly, though, this means I'm not doing much writing. I'm not too concerned about it, though. I am doing a lot of thinking about the next patch so it's not all wasted time.

I have been amazed at how much this last part of the novel expanded and how important it became. It was supposed to be simply a bridge passage between one major plot development and the next and, instead, it has taken on a life of its own. I think it's quite good and there is both some good suspense and some strong character development, so that too is exciting.

Friday night, some friends and I went down to Saint John to catch the opening of a new theatre group dedicated to reviving Irish Theatre in the port city. Headed up by a colleague of Patti's from work, Patrick Toner, the theatre company —"An Amharclann" — put on a performance of Brian Friel's Faith Healer. Now, I personally like Brian Friel's work very much, having read and attended a performance of his lovely piece, Dancing at Lughnasa, in Toronto some years ago. As a result, I was interested to see what this fledgling company would do with Faith Healer, a fairly challenging play.

I have to admit, I attended more to support a colleague than with the expectation of quality theatre but was pleased to find myself impressed with the performance. Faith Healer consists of four monologues by three different characters, all telling their own recollections of their lives together. It's funny in parts, heartbreakingly sad in others and it is in the inconsistencies of the different versions of the stories that we learn the most about the characters.

I felt David Cook was excellent in the title role, Frank, the Faith Healer. He was both natural and entertaining, sympathetic despite the often horrific portrait that is painted of his character, often unintentionally, by the others. Mr. Cook could have projected better into the balcony, where we were sitting, but I associate the Irish with quiet, lilting voices so the fact that I missed the occasional word or phrase seemed appropriate.

Willow Edwards also delivered with her performance as Grace, Frank's companion (lover, mistress, wife, care-giver, etc.). Edwards, in my opinion, faced the toughest task, taming an often over-the-top emotional monologue to make it sympathetic, effective. She did a nice job, capturing the audience's attention and working us nicely through a very sad set of stories.

The weak link in the chain was Bob Vienneau, in the role of Teddy, Frank's manager. One hallmark of Teddy's character is that he is Cockney, as opposed to the other two, Irish characters. Unfortunately, Vienneau's struggle to produce a Cockney accent often undermined his presentation of the character and, perhaps more importantly, his version of the story. As one of my companions suggested, the company would have been better off to adjust the play's script slightly to rescue Vienneau from the accent. With a little tweaking, it might have been fun to allow him simply to be a French Canadian.

As I said above, I was impressed with the play. This is an excellent start for the new company with another play to come for St. Patrick's Day next year. I will look forward to that.

In the meantime, to my amazement my tiny little cucumber vines have suddenly popped out bright yellow flowers. These six-inch plants are actually going to try to grow cucumbers — heavy veggies that will outweigh the plants themselves long before they reach full size. I wish I could convince them to wait!

Fruitful Pursuits

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-28T20:42:14-03:00

Beans! Beans! Actual, real life, edible beans, popping out all over the place in our garden. We already have enough to serve ourselves for a single dinner. Twenty beans or more! Hooray.

And everything else seems to be coming up very well too. The tomato plants are about six inches high, the cucumbers are starting to come along and I'm honestly starting to think I may have to pull some carrots soon. Parsley, arugula, thyme also becoming available for eating. I'm so impressed.

And Patti's experiment with planting nasturtiums along the carport in my recently moved sod has actually produced flowers. Amazing. All the books told us they'd be killed by the grass. Very exciting, to say the least.

In the meantime, work continues to go well on The Silent Goodbye. I am again in a rhythm and things are moving along very nicely. I think I'm going to have some rewriting to do to even out the tone and style but that's okay. I like the flow and I think it's working out well.

I'm not sure what to do about the sexual tension between Gold and the lovely constable Stacey McLean. So far, she's kept him at a distance but...

Of course, some of my hesitation might be because I'm not sure I can write the romantic stuff. We'll see.

In the meantime, the writing is flowing and the veggie garden is producing. What more could a guy want?

Update on all the Stuff in My Life

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-26T10:56:19-03:00

I have to come clean: I haven't written any Phillip Gold in three days. Okay, there, I said it. I admitted my fault. Work has been extremely busy and so has life in general. Add that the constant rain of the past few weeks has finally broken out into glorious sunshine (and the resulting golf game) and you'll see why I haven't been able to get back to The Silent Goodbye.

My subconscious has been working on it (or is that my unconscious?) and I expect to be able to get rolling again when I next sit down. Too many things have gotten in the way.

By way of update on other things, however, I still have not heard from the publisher about my Abigail Massey submission. I have also given up trying to figure out what that means: they don't review new submissions very often so they simply haven't taken a look at it; they have looked at it and rejected it but figure bad news can wait; they like it but it has to go through the channels for approvals before they contact me again.

I"ve heard all the possibilities and have no clue which is true. I don't want to give up but I'd feel a lot better if I had heard one way or another.

My vegetable garden is coming along surprisingly well. Although we have little critters that seem to go after certain plants, the whole garden plot (so brown and barren two months ago) is alive with varying shades of green. I even had to go out and do some heartless thinning to most of the rows of veggies but learned from the way the remaining plants suddenly exploded in growth thereafter that thinning is a good and kind thing for plants. No actual, edible vegetables yet but we're getting there.

With regard to backyard birds, I made the mistake of buying the really cheap seed and ended up, perhaps not surprisingly, with a yard filled with grackles, crows, doves and pigeons. I'm surprised the neighbours didn't come to complain. So I took the main feeder down and put it in the shed. Within two days, most of the undesirables had disappeared and, for the last two days, we've enjoyed the company of gold and purple finches as well as chipping sparrows and chicadees at our finch feeder. Much better. Lesson learned.

In the area of reading, well, I've gotten myself caught up in Harry Potter again. In preparation for the disappointing film that came out a couple of weeks ago, I re-read The Half-Blood Prince, then followed the natural course of things and read The Deathly Hallows. Now I'm whipping through the first three books, reading the novel and watching the movie in rapid succession to see the changes. I can't believe I never realised how different the ending of the first book was from that of the first movie: in the book, Harry's battle with Quirrell/Voldemort is killing both of them when Dumbledore intervenes to save Harry; in the movie, Harry is victorious over Quirrell but knocked out by Voldemort's escaping spirit and wakes in the Infirmary. Very different.

And, still on the video front, I am now watching the third season of Star Trek: The Original Series again. You can feel the change in quality from the opening moment. For one thing, Kirk and the rest have been allowed to grow their hair out from the military cuts of the first two seasons to hippie styles of the sixties. It just looks bad.

Anyway, that's the update. Off to the golf course now!

The Work Continues

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-22T08:20:28-03:00

I continue to make consistent progress on The Silent Goodbye. This is somewhat remarkable considering how much has been going on in my life of late but, if you can commit time and energy every day to writing, you can actually create some momentum.

The story continues to unfold according to my plan, with some interesting and unexpected twists arising during the process of writing. I always find it very exciting when, as I write a scene, the characters themselves start to take charge and direct the action. In this case, the scene I was writing involved Gold, his favourite cop and an attractive assassin sitting down to compare notes. Through the course of their conversation, an entirely new possibility for the story announced itself, an exciting interlude that will increase tension and create another opportunity for action.

I had not planned it to happen but suddenly the assassin started talking and out came this marvellous new idea. It was natural to the character, to the conversation and to the situation. So I went with it.

Of course, this new idea requires me now to go back and do a little bit of revision of the earlier parts of the scene but that's okay. And, as I do the rewrite, I have to do some hard thinking about how these three characters would put this particular plan into action.

That's the fun part of the job: the mental work of taking a good idea and making it work, for the characters and for the novel.

Some Kid and the Half-Blood Prince

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-21T17:05:37-03:00

I have been wrestling with myself over how to write my review of the recent David Yates movie, entitled Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, since I saw the film on Sunday. My major issue seems to be that, after seeing the movie, I'm feeling, well, despondent.

I am a huge fan of Rowling's seven Harry Potter books. I have also been favourably impressed with the movie adaptations of those books, even when they slowly devolved into mere "highlight reels" of the books, showing only the action sequences and little of the character development or plot complexity. Even then, the movies stayed true to the original and gave us a "Coles Notes" type review of Rowling's books.

Watching the film versions of Rowling's fourth and fifth books (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) was, to me, like watching the highlights of a fantastic baseball game on the eleven o'clock news: you see the big hits, a defensive gem or two, just enough to get the general idea of what happened.

When a game finishes 1-0 with both pitchers in top form and little in the way of hitting, the TV highlights end up shorter, with more focus on the pitchers. But what do the film makers do when the author pitches a no hitter?

That's what Rowling has handed them in her sixth novel. A gem of a book for literary purists. The book focuses on how Dumbledore sets about preparing Harry Potter for the task of defeating, fully and finally, Lord Voldemort in the seventh book. It is filled with interesting scenes and great writing, some fun character development as the three main figures reach and react to their new-found interest in romance, and very little action.

In fact, in Rowling's book, there are only two real action scenes and they come, one hard upon the other, at the end of the book. The other six hundred or so pages represent well-written back-story and character development.

It truly is the equivalent of a no hitter. If you want action, you'll hate it. If you like to see the craft of writing at its best, to read interesting character development and fascinating scenes, then you'll love it.

Director Yates, screen-writer Steve Kloves and their movie studio apparently hate well-pitched games. So they took Rowling's sixth book and said, "Yikes," then basically chucked it out the window.

Oh, they start in the same place: the wizarding world has finally accepted that Voldemort is back and at full strength. And they end in relatively the same place, with a major character dead and a war breaking out.

But everything inbetween they make up on their own. Honestly. Everything.

They invent scenes (including the first two and one already controversial one in which Bellatrix Lestrange burns down the Burrow, screaming "I killed Sirius Black", an echo of the previous movie). They revise scenes that Rowling wrote so as to completely change the motivations, tensions and long-term impacts of those scenes. They change things that do not need to be changed to translate the book into film.

It's like they're the sports editors for the eleven o'clock news and, when presented with a no-hitter, they decide to insert a couple of home runs from other games, just to make the highlights more exciting.

I might have ruined the movie for myself by seething through scene after scene that is neither based on Rowling's writing nor true to the tone, themes and characters she has worked so hard to create.

I am despondent because this movie is NOT Harry Potter. If I had not expected it to be Harry Potter, I probably would be writing right now that it was a lot of fun, filled with action and romance, great gags and some fantastically beautiful images. I would probably be writing about the pacing of the story, the camera work and framing of the action. Because all of that was exceptionally good.

But it's simply not Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It's Some Kid's Big Adventure.

If you are a Harry Potter fan and don't mind a few spoilers, I'm interested in your thoughts on the following points:

In the book, Harry hides his potions text in the Room of Requirement very carefully, so that he can find it back. He places it under a bust upon which he sets a strange tiara-like thing as a way to remind himself where he left it. This becomes very important in the seventh book because the tiara-like thing turns out to be the lost diadem of Ravenclaw and one of Voldemort's horcruxes. Harry finds it because, once he knows what the diadem looks like, he remembers seeing it. In the movie, however, it is made very clear that Harry does not want to find the book back, takes no steps to mark its place and, in fact, closes his eyes while Ginny hides it so that he won't be tempted to find it back. He never sees nor handles the tiara-like thing that turns out to be the diadem. So how will he find it in the seventh (or eighth) movie?

In the book, after they arrive at the top of the Astronomy Tower, Dumbledore takes a moment to immobilise Harry before Draco Malfoy bursts onto the scene. That decision by Dumbledore keeps Harry out of the picture as Dumbledore faces his fate but also allows Malfoy to disarm Dumbledore in his first act upon arrival at the top of the tower. Harry feels guilty later that Dumbledore chose to protect Harry rather than himself but this is part of the pattern that Harry (and later Voldemort) focus on: so many people have sacrificed themselves for Harry. In the movie, however, Dumbledore simply orders Harry to hide and not intervene. What does this do to Harry's level of guilt (now he could have acted but chose not to) and our perception of Dumbledore's character (he attempts to draw his wand later in the confrontation, in a much more aggressive move)?

And it is a key point in the six and seventh books that Dumbledore told Harry to involve Ron and Hermione in the Horcrux search, putting the three of them in a strong moral position to resist the interference of others. The filmmakers clearly make a conscious decision to leave Dumbledore's instruction to Harry out, making Ron and Hermione's participation in the Horcrux quest a voluntary matter. How will this impact the seventh movie?

There are many many more such issues but those are three that stand out for me. What do you think?

Another Challenge Faced

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-17T07:10:56-03:00

My pattern for success has been to write, if possible, during my lunch hour at work and then to come home and spend between 30 and 90 minutes each evening at the computer. It's worked well and I've managed to build up that much-sought-after rhythm in the writing.

So what happens when the pattern falls apart, when barriers arise in the form of other demands on my time? I guess I shouldn't be surprised that work will often get so busy I don't really take a lunch break and that part of the pattern unravels. It's when work is busy and things come up in the evening that the whole enterprise is threatened.

Yesterday provided an example of the perfect storm. Work began early and kept moving at rapid pace until the end of the day. I had a meeting over lunch so I figured it would be rude to try to write during that. So I got home with not a word written.

Then came life. First, since I haven't been sleeping well, I fell asleep almost as soon as I got home and stayed asleep for three hours. Dinner, then I had realised that one of the reasons I wasn't sleeping well was because Marlee Marie was interrupting my sleep with demands for play. Why was she doing that? Because I hadn't been spending my usual half hour playing with her recently.

So I committed myself to play with her for a while. That was a great idea. She's just been groomed and she's in a very happy mood and we had a lot of fun. At that point it's nine o'clock and ABC has a special on TV about "A Day In the Life of JK Rowling". So I watched that. Great show.

Now it's 10 p.m. and, guess what? A whole day has passed and I haven't written a word. Not good. Rhythm shaken. Progress threatened.

So I plopped myself down at the computer for about 20 minutes and worked. I wrote maybe six paragraphs. But it was a full scene, an important transition scene that shows Gold, on a bus to London, ruminating over what had just happened on the streets of Toronto.

Sure, it's not a lot. But it's something. It's a brief but important scene and it represents continued progress. I felt very good about myself as I lay my head on my pillow: despite a very busy and challenging day, despite the possibility that I would just let it overwhelm me and not write at all, I hung tough. I kept my focus and at least accomplished something.

Sometimes, on the busy days, "something" is a success story.

Impressive Progress

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-16T03:18:41-03:00

Almost a week into the new plan and things continue to go well. I have made good progress on The Silent Goodbye, with what I think is some reasonably good writing along the way.

The key is consistency. Write at least a little bit every day. A second key is setting reasonable goals for each day's writing: I'm finding that I try to start and finish at least one scene every day. Some people say you should leave off in mid-scene, even in mid-sentence, so that you can relaunch fairly easily the next day. That doesn't work for me. I'd prefer to write a scene, then spend the intervening period allowing my mind to work through the next scene or two before I sit down to write again.

Although I do the bulk of the writing in the evening (I set aside between 30 and 90 minutes a night to write — again, I'm setting reasonable goals for myself), I also try to do at least a little bit of writing on my lunch hour at work. This creates a bridge period between the major blocks of writing, a chance to work through the transitions from scene to scene, that kind of stuff.

Once I've done maybe 20 to 30 minutes of writing at work, I block and copy whatever I produce into an e-mail and send it to myself. The first step for the evening session is then to open the e-mail, block and copy the passage into my working file for the novel and, then, as I go through to correct formatting errors caused by the movement from Word file to e-mail file and back to Word file, I also revise the passage. This kick starts the evening's writing session and off I go.

Of course, when my work is as busy as it has been for the past couple of days, I can't always get to the writing. Some days are just train wrecks of meetings, drop ins, counselling sessions, and e-mail correspondence. It can be overwhelming.

Even on those kinds of days, however, it's good to get at least some writing done, if only in the evening. It keeps me sane and it keeps the rhythm going. Writing seems to feed on itself: once you get going, you keep going. If you grind to a halt, it's hard to get started again.

So Phillip Gold is moving along well. Abigail Massey, on the other hand, is still sitting in the Ladies Waiting Room, hoping to hear from a publisher. Soon, we hope.

On the down side, my commitment to my writing has had at least one negative impact: less time to play with the dog. I kind of got that message when Marlee Marie marched into our bedroom this morning at 2 a.m. and dropped a ball noisily at the end of the bed, then let out a big sigh and collapsed dramatically to the floor. Message received, Marlee.

One Good Shot Deserves Another

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-13T17:36:57-03:00

I have received some really positive responses to my photo of the bald eagle, which I published both in this blog and on my Facebook page. Lots of people said they liked it, several made very kind comments, and several responded with some of their recent wildlife photos.

My friend Thanna sent along a beautiful photograph of a Great Blue Heron that she took while canoeing with her family in the Princess Point/Cootes Paradise area in Hamilton. She said they had seen numerous such herons that day.

Another friend, my brother-in-law Gavin, sent along an amazing close-up photo of a fox that he took while he and my sister Lynn had a brief break near Lakefield, Ontario. I am reproducing these photos here without their permission so please don't copy and use them. If you want info on the owners of these photos, e-mail me at mark.walma@gmail.com and I'll facilitate the communication.

And there's good news from the writing front. I have been able to maintain my discipline and work on The Silent Goodbye every day. I got the chance to write four pages on my lunch hour at work today and plan to spend more time tonight. So things are progressing. And, if I do say so myself, progressing quite well.

I also completed my re-watching of the second season of Star Trek (The Original Series), which was easily the best, most consistent of the three seasons. Now I'm on to season three, the worst of the three, which gets off to an inauspicious beginning with an episode entitled "Spock's Brain". This episode is so bad I don't know where to begin. Even the actors seem to recognise it's awful and play down to the material.

And finally I'm in the middle of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a final re-read before the movie opens here in Canada on Wednesday. This is easily my least favourite book of the series but I'm interested to see what they do with it on film. To be honest, the advance glimpses I've had suggest the film-makers have taken a great number of liberties with the source material. In this case, that might not be a bad thing.

Where Eagles Dare

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-10T21:14:28-03:00

A second entry for the day to tell the world that Patti and I not only saw a Bald Eagle very close up today as we kayaked down the Saint John River toward Fredericton, we also got several amazing photographs of the majestic bird.

It was standing in a tree near the water's edge and didn't seem to mind when we paddled up quietly. I just floated and held the camera as steadily as I could and click click click. Amazing.

Such a beautiful bird. Look at the powerful beak on it. Wow.

We also saw a family of mergansers in the same area. Pictures of the eagle and the mergansers are also available on the Feathers in Fredericton page of this site.

Great day for birding. I'm heading out to the Potato Research Farm tomorrow in hopes of getting a nice shot of a Bobolink.

Wish me luck. And yes, I will be writing too.

The First Real Challenge

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-10T15:50:28-03:00

Day three and I have run into the first real challenge for my plan: a busy day combined with a stalled narrative.

Even when you have the entire plot planned out very carefully, sometimes it is not so easy to figure out how you are going to move your characters from one major event to the next, plausibly and in an interesting way. I've got Phillip in Toronto to hide for a week before the trial, I've got him set up in an interesting place and I've even provided an interesting woman to distract him. But how do I use the three days he has left in an interesting way that still advances the plot?

That's the problem I'm facing and, since I don't know how I'm going to resolve it, I'm having trouble diving back in. And life isn't helping since it's given me an incredibly busy day: today is our fifth wedding anniversary and we're planning an evening of kayaking/canoeing with friends. So I have to cram all the after-work stuff into a much shorter time, which may mean the writing gets sacrificed.

I've taken ten minutes to write this but, as I look at the clock on the computer, I realise my time's up. Marlee is fast asleep at my feet but I'll have to wake her in order to be there in time to pick Patti up and get us both to the boat launch!

Still no word on Abigail either!

Two Days, Not Bad

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-09T20:57:26-03:00

I am now two days into the grand plan and things are working pretty well. I have written two new sections of The Silent Goodbye and, even better, I am finding that the story, characters and plot are settling again into my subconscious and percolating away in there.

That's a good sign. And it makes the writing so much easier.

On the fun side, Phillip Gold has fled to Toronto to "disappear" for a couple of days in preparation for the trial. That's given me a chance to take him back to some of my old haunts — the University of Toronto law school, the Villager Suite Hotel, the Big Slice — and spend a little time there as well. It's sort of a break for him and a fun moment for me. The trick will be to make sure I keep it interesting enough as a bridge section that readers won't put the book down and never go back to it.

Of course, I will follow the old hard-boiled axiom: every time you wonder what should happen next, have someone come into the room with a gun.

I'm going down now to write some more. It feels so good when the words are flowing. Of course, I'm also still waiting for word on the Abigail Massey submission.

The First Step

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-07T17:44:25-03:00

I start the new regimen today.

Moments ago, I e-mailed off my query letter for the Abigail Massey at McAdam Station episodic novel to a Canadian publisher, leaving me free to start focusing on one project: The Silent Goodbye.

I am going to attempt to find at least an hour every day to work on this novel, with a view to completing the first draft by the end of 2009. Patti is on board and supportive and I am committed (or at least I should be). I have set up my laptop computer as my principal place of writing and, at some point in the not too distant future, I will take steps to establish my own office in what we call the "Green Room" of our home.

This time, it's SERIOUS.

I have completed the extended (and action-packed) set up of the novel and, from here on out, I will be weaving together the two major plots: Phillip Gold's duel with Alexander Pim, the professional killer, and the sexual assault trial of gang member Billy Watson, Gold's latest client.

The idea is to have one add tension to the other with the two finally coming together in an exciting climax. We'll see. I have the plot carefully planned and more ideas started coming to me while I was showering this morning (I do seem to do some of my best thinking with the water flowing!). My hope is that, by breaking down the remaining writing into bite-sized chunks, I might just be successful at getting the writing done.

Sounds funny, doesn't it? Writers are supposed to enjoy the process of writing, to love sitting at the keyboard and creating a fictional world. I'm not so sure it works that way. The part I love is the thinking and planning, the mental process of imagining the plot, developing the characters, working through the challenges and problems that present themselves. The writing is, to me, a much more mechanical process. Taking those wonderful ideas and manufacturing them with words.

That actually sounds like a pretty negative characterization of the actual writing. Maybe it explains why I have so many ideas for projects but such problems completing them.

While I am committed to completing The Silent Goodbye in good order, I won't be too upset if my work is interrupted by one particular distraction: a call from a publisher asking me to focus on rounding Abigail Massey into shape for publication!

Selling Abigail

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-06T23:20:16-03:00

And so it begins: the process of attempting to find a publisher for the Abigail Massey stories. I've drafted a query letter and will add to it my own resume and a sample chapter. I'm quite hopeful I'll be able to place it but, as always, getting published is no easy task.

Despite what I wrote in my last post, I do intend to attempt to focus my efforts on one project at a time. First, once the Abigail query letter is gone, I will settle in to work on The Silent Goodbye in hopes of getting a draft done by the end of the year. That should be do-able if I am successful in carving out at least an hour each day to write. Quite often the hardest part about writing is getting back into a rhythm once you've lost it. If you can start to set a bit of a pace, however, things tend to snowball and you find yourself writing more quickly, more consistently and more effectively.

That's my goal at this point. Focus on one project, create a rhythm, get it done. Set it aside at that point, work on something else for a while to create distance, then go back with a more objective eye for review and rewrites.

I can promise myself I'll do all that. I'm just not so sure I'll live up to my own promise.

And next Wednesday brings Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, film version. Hoorraaayyy!!!

A New Project

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-07-02T19:17:52-03:00

The other day I had a chat with my friend Ross, author of the highly successful novel Tainted. This book, his first medical thriller, has apparently sold out its first printing and is now under order for a second printing. Cool.

During this conversation, Ross told me he simply could not deal with the number of projects I currently have underway: he'd prefer to focus on one completely, get it done, then move on. Considering he's now published and in the "highly successful" category, I had to admit that his approach is probably better than my scattershot, multiple project approach.

So what did I do? I immediately went out and started a new project. To add to all the others. In case you've forgotten, here's what I'm working on from a writing standpoint: 1) Phillip Gold, The Silent Goodbye, a novel; 2) Abigail Massey at McAdam Station, a collection of short stories for young readers (ages 9 to 12 or so); 3) the Harry Potter Concordance; 4) The Way Forward, a Rowling-world novel; and 5) this blog.

I'm going to keep the new project something of a secret for now, considering the ones I do talk about never seem to get done. Suffice it to say, it is inspired by how much I enjoy writing the Abigail Massey stories and it will feature a protagonist who is named after two of my favourite people: her name will be Emily St. Clare. That's not to say that my character will in any way resemble Emily or Clare but I like the names and I like the way they come together.

With regard to a status update on the projects, here goes:

The Silent Goodbye: I have written more than 50,000 words of it and recently completed a fairly detailed plot plan for the remainder of the novel. I have dabbled with writing the remainder and will make this a focus for the remainder of the year;

Abigail Massey at McAdam Station: I have written 12 of these stories which, when counted together, total approximately 45,000 words. I am in the process of drafting query letters to several Canadian publishers of children and young people's fiction with the hopes of finding someone to take the project on. I also dream of the stories one day forming the basis for a family television comic drama, in the style of Road to Avonlea and Anne of Green Gables;

Harry Potter Concordance: this is a personal pet project that I'm doing simply for my own enjoyment. I'm part way through The Goblet of Fire and having a great time with it. But it is slow work;

The Way Forward: Despite a very impressive burst of energy when I started it, this project has lost some steam. I will likely get back to it at some point but it is strictly back-burner for now.

This blog: as long as I enjoy writing it, which I do, I'll keep doing it.

In the meantime, I have started posting simple videos on Youtube under the user name "markwwnb": so far, two short, silent vids of Marlee Marie, our puppy.

So I've got a lot on the go, creatively. That's on top of life, the universe and everything.

And I've come to accept that, even with a clear picture in front of me of a brown and white bird with streaks and speckles, I am incapable of identifying it using bird books like Peterson's. I'm hopeless.

Revving It Up

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-06-28T20:58:05-03:00

So it seems I'm revving up again to do some writing. I have again been reading over what I've written for The Silent Goodbye and doing some small adjustments. This is in preparation for actually doing some more writing.

I'm feeling quite distracted with regard to my writing right now. I think I have too many projects on the go and I don't feel confident that any of them are going to lead to that great Holy Grail: being published.

We'll see. I guess I'll keep plugging away and hope something good comes of it.

Not much of an entry, I know, but they can't all be gems.

I Actually Wrote Something

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-06-23T19:33:41-03:00

Read that title again. Yes, it's true. I actually wrote something. Honest.

With the plot plan for The Silent Goodbye now complete, I took it upon myself to write the first page (yes, all of a single page, perhaps 250 words) of the next section. Not much but it is something. Gold begins his long walk through the humid darkness back to his apartment.

It felt good. Really good. It took a while and I have already identified several revisions that I have to do to that single page but it felt sooo good to be writing again.

It also felt very good to re-read the court-room opening argument scene I had written several months ago and to find myself really enjoying it. It's a good scene. It's effective and dramatic and not so very far from what actually happens in criminal court that I have to be embarrassed by it. Opening arguments in criminal trials can go on for hours, even days, which makes it hard to make them both dramatic and realistic. Gold's opening is extremely short but I think it hits the right mark from a suspense and tension standpoint.

I'm pretty pleased with it.

So we start to work again. Slowly. Carefully. For now. Speed and stamina will come with time.

And another hummingbird appeared in our yard today. I saw him sitting on our clothesline and managed to snap all of two pictures, from long distance and through a dirty window, before he flew away. So check out the Backyard Birds page on this site for a grainy picture of the little humdinger (as my mother used to call them).

The photo is nowhere near the quality my friend Madeleine takes in her backyard back in Ontario but it will do for now.

Sexist Star Trek Note: In the episode "The Trouble With Tribbles", Captain Koloth complains to Kirk that Klingon vessels don't carry "non-essentials", meaning women. He even waves his hands in what appears to be a description of feminine curves as he says it. Yikes!

Miscellaney

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-06-21T08:35:18-03:00

It has been an interesting week. A very good conference at my home institution has taken up a lot of my and Patti's time, filling it with interesting new people, much-missed old friends and fascinating discussions.

And the birds have been active too. We had a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird come to one of our new creeping vines and an American Redstart at the feeder. Too bad on both occasions the camera was not within reach.

And I actually sat down a couple of times at the laptop to work on the Harry Potter Concordance. I'm near the beginning of The Goblet of Fire right now, which means Harry and his friends are at the Quidditch World Cup. Lots and lots of characters flit on and off stage here, many of whom never reappear but, for thoroughness' sake, I have to catalogue them all. I spent an hour and completed only four pages of the novel.

Whenever I'm conducting a mundane task (like cooking or doing dishes), I set up my portable DVD player and watch an episode of The Original Series (TOS) of Star Trek. I've watched the entire first season and eight episodes of the second so far. It's interesting to see the arc of different television series and how long it takes them to hit their stride. I think the latter half of the first and early part of the second seasons are by far the best of TOS: with the characters established and most of the technology settled, the stories are stronger and deeper.

I have also been watching out for quotes I can use in my "Star Trek on Women" film-clip montage and there is no shortage of stuff (note, these are paraphrases, not direct quotes):

1) "Brain and brain, what is brain!" from "Spock's Brain";
2) Kirk despairing about how his good female officers all leave the service once they find husbands in "Who Mourns for Adonais?";
3) The highly respected, very successful Federation peace envoy who finally admits that her life is empty without the love of a good man in "Metamorphosis"; and
4) Spock telling a visiting computer that Uhura is a woman, which explains why the computer finds her erratic and emotional.

I have to admit, when I start to line up the evidence like that, I wonder how I could possibly watch the show at all. And it was considered advanced in the 1960s.

Meanwhile, we have rain in the forecast for the next week so I may find myself with more indoor time to write or work on other creative projects. The lawn is going crazy but the garden is, for the most part, looking great.

And, of course, the US Men's Open Golf Tournament is on this weekend. Watching golf always makes me miss my Mom even more. We'd watch golf together and marvel at the greatness that is Tiger Woods or take shots at Phil Mickelson or just wonder at the beautiful weather. This is my first US Men's Open without her, the first of many other such firsts I'll have to endure.

Overwhelmed by Life

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-06-17T20:19:27-03:00

Life is impressively busy these days. Work keeps throwing me tough situations which seem to be taking up a lot of time. Then there is this huge conference in which I am taking part. And, of course, there's the garden, the bird houses and feeders, the lawn, the house, the laundry, cooking, cleaning, doing dishes.

What you have just read is a series of excuses, my way of explaining why I have done no writing whatsoever in the past week. I did take some small steps (like researching Canadian publishers of young adult fiction and talking to a publishing rep at this conference) but, as for actual writing, nothing.

In some ways it's quite depressing. But every time I find myself with an idle moment recently, I just close my eyes or flip on a silly TV show or watch another episode of Star Trek, the original series. I think I'm brain dead.

I still have every intention of getting back to it. I hope to start to package the Abigail Massey stories for an attempt to get them published. I also hope to get back to Phillip Gold according to the plot plan I created and maybe even do some work on The Way Forward.

I even sat down at my laptop with the expectation of at least doing a little work on the Harry Potter Concordance but my mind just wouldn't let me go there.

Things have gotten so bad I'm not even writing this blog very regularly and, when I do, it's about how I'm not writing.

I need to shake this up and get going!

The Dark Knight

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-06-13T18:12:06-03:00

We finally got around to watching The Dark Knight this weekend. Well, actually, we watched about a third of it before agreeing it was one of the worst movies we've seen in a long time. So we turned it off. Then I went back yesterday to watch the rest, thinking it must get better.

Nope.

Terrible throughout. In fact, it got worse. Convoluted plot, terrible acting, characters you just don't care about and the introduction of a ridiculous moral tone by the end that makes you just want to vomit. Awful awful awful awful. Worse than that.

And what is it about the Oscar-winning performance of the late and lamented Heath Ledger as the Joker that reminded me so much of "Deal or No Deal" star Howie Mandel as a very young comedian ("what? what?")?

This film should have ended at the 90-minute mark (if it had to be made in the first place) when they had the Joker in jail. But no, they have to go on for another hour with the most violent, silly plot I've ever seen. And the amazing thing is, dozens of people die and no one seems to notice. Cops in helicopters. Cops in cars, trucks and buses. And the hospital that the Joker blew up there in the middle? Gotham General, I think? Didn't it look a little too much like a parking garage as it blew into bits?

What a piece of garbage movie!

We had watched Woody Allen's quirky latest, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the week before. Now that was a good movie. Worth every minute. Fun and weird and interesting. Great performances. Interesting characters. Well written and witty.

Kind of makes me wonder why we bother getting these high-price action flicks at all!

Oh, and by the way, check out the "Feathers In Fredericton" page of this website for a nifty new addition.

Plot Plan

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-06-12T19:39:40-03:00

For some reason, my imagination kicked into gear again yesterday and I found myself working through the rest of the plot for The Silent Goodbye. I think it started with the simple idea that the next section of the novel will begin with Gold being dumped off at the motel in the middle of the night and deciding to take a long, hot walk back to his apartment.

I started wondering what he would be thinking about as he made that journey and, even more interesting, I started to visualise the setting through which he would be walking. The motel is located in the west end of the city (Hamilton) and his apartment sits just east of the downtown core. So that makes it an hour-long walk, first down the hill along Main West, then through strip-mall heaven, past the University, across the bridge over the highway, then up the steep hill to Queen Street. Down hill once again past city hall and finally through the dangerous downtown area and into the residential neighbourhoods beyond.

I know. Nothing really special. But I like it as a backdrop. And I like being able to make the city much more a part of the story.

So that's the next part I'll write. I'll have him thinking about the two major challenges that face him: the trial of his client on a sexual assault charge and his own looming duel with the assassin.

I've got the timing down too. The first scene of Gold's journey back to his apartment takes place late on a Sunday night. Since the duel starts on the Wednesday, Gold has to sweat through two full days of fear and preparation. What follows is a full five days of tension, fight or flight, and near misses before the trial finally gets underway the following Monday. With the opening of the trial, the suspense builds as Gold defends his client in the courtroom while trying to defend himself everywhere else.

I had the structure of the plots, several scenes and even some snippets of dialogue wafting through my brain throughout the day, an amazing feeling. Not wanting to forget any of it, I sat down and did a plot plan for the remainder of the novel. Two separate plots which come together at the climax of the book.

It was a fairly large creative effort. Nothing like coming out of the blocks fast!

Film Projects

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-06-08T22:10:41-03:00

So now I've gotten into movie making. With iMovie on our new iMac, our digital camera and other stuff, I'm starting to enjoy working with moving pictures and sound, creating interesting effects.

The only problem is, it's really time consuming. A file of my writing takes a second or so to save or print or travel by e-mail. A movie file (especially one that's in reasonable quality with sound) takes forever to do anything. Just moving a two-minute movie from our camera to iMovie takes several minutes. E-mailing it takes even longer. I'll have to learn patience, I guess.

I've even created a Youtube Channel for my creations: I'm "markwwnb" and I hope soon to be uploading little bits of film for people to enjoy. I am planning to make a trip down to McAdam soon to film a tour of the station and hotel there, for example, and I'm also thinking of creating some fun short films using clips from existing movies and TV shows.

For example, I was watching the Star Trek episode, "Who Mourns for Adonais?", and I realised it might be fun to package up all the ridiculously sexist things characters on the original series say about women. In that particular episode, Kirk bemoans losing useful female officers when they decide to get married and (of course) leave Star Fleet to take care of their husbands and babies. Later, the god Apollo says a female lieutenant is very intelligent "for a woman". And then there's "Turnabout Intruder", an interesting episode that centres on Janice Lester's frustration at being denied a starship command on the basis of her sex: a seemingly pro-woman plot is undermined by the insulting portrayal of Kirk's body as inhabited by Lester's soul.

The problem is, this new fascination with film-making is taking time away from my writing. And then there's gardening and birding.

So much to do with so little time!

Busy Times

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-06-06T09:13:06-03:00

Life is hotting up again. Work is very busy and, with all the beautiful weather we've been enjoying, I've got so many yard chores to do it's amazing.

So not much writing is getting done. My brother is in town for a couple of days of rest and recreation and we've been having a really nice visit. Yesterday, Mike and I went to see Star Trek (2009) again and then we went with Patti and Marlee Marie down to McAdam to introduce Mike to the magnificent station and hotel.

It was good to get back to McAdam, now that I've written all of those Abigail Massey stories. As I learned during our visit yesterday, my own fictional image of the station and hotel has actually replaced in my mind the real thing. In writing my stories, I have made several major errors in describing the design of the building and in setting the action in it.

For example, I wrote the stories on the assumption that there were sets of stairs at either end of the building that connect all three floors. Wrong. The stairs from the first to the second floors (from the station and eating areas to the hotel rooms) rise from a space almost a third of the way along the building from the western end, between the ladies sitting room and the formal dining room. The stairs located at the ends of the station connect only the second floor with the third-floor staff quarters.

I also realised that the hotel does not stretch the entire length of the building. It fills only the western two-thirds of the second floor. Another error on my part. Also, the girls' living area has a large kitchen room (where they probably ate) as well as a large shared bath, both located at the top of the stairs. I had the stairs opening directly into the sleeping area and the girls eating at a table in the sleeping area. Interesting. I'll have to do some re-writing to correct my errors.

Patti and I have also discovered the joys of iMovie. We work on Mac computers. We also have a fairly advanced digital camera that, with our memory card, can take up to an hour of good quality moving pictures (with sound, if we wish). That's led us to put the two together and figure out that, with iMovie, we can do some amazing things with the movies we take. I probably won't incorporate those movies into this website but I'll have to see about taking a more active part on Youtube. For example, as I sit here now I realise I should have done a film of our visit to McAdam yesterday. That probably would have become very popular on Youtube.

We'll have to go back.

And I'll have to get back to my writing. After, of course, I mow and edge the lawn, tend to my garden, clear out the dead, dying and unwanted tree bits in the back of the yard and tidy up our growing pile of refuse branches, sticks and trees.

Don't worry. I'll get there.

Again With the Baby Steps

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-06-01T20:15:00-03:00

Progress sure is slow. But it is progress, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Today on my lunch hour I wrote precisely one page of the Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye. Since I didn't have my working draft with me and am, frankly, not sure where I am in the novel, I decided to write a scene that I know is coming. Facing the terrifying reality of being hunted by a professional killer, Gold gets himself piss-tank drunk on rye and ends up wandering, bleary-eyed, to the cemetery where he passes out on the graves of his mother and his sister.

Symbolism, methinks. Soon I shall join you and that kind of stuff.

It was slow going, which isn't a bad thing, with each word requiring hard work to emerge onto the page (or the screen, to be honest).

I haven't read it over again but I was quite pleased with it as it came out.

Having re-read most of the material on this website (well, The Way Forward and the Abigail Massey stories) I find myself being pulled in several directions. I was surprised by how pleased I am with the Rowling-world novel and I continue to be charmed by the McAdam Station stories. The Gold novel is well underway and, I think, pretty good, so I'm not sure where to turn my attentions first.

It will likely be Phillip Gold, since the book is so far along. I may also return to working on the Harry Potter Concordance, since that is a task in which I found a great deal of joy. Nothing like a close reading of a great writer to keep one inspired.

Don't forget to check out the new page on this site: Feathers In Fredericton. It shows often poor photos of wildlife we've encountered on our walks in and around this beautiful city.

Home Again

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-30T08:20:33-03:00

I'm back home again after what turned out to be an excellent conference in Halifax. A lot of good people from across the country and some excellent presentations.

I didn't get any writing done, however. Too much to do at the conference, too much to do in Halifax.

So I've come home exhausted and looking forward to a quiet (apparently rainy) weekend to recover in time to get back to the office on Monday.

I am still trying to think of ideas for an Abigail Massey novel. My visit to Halifax prompted me to wonder if perhaps that's the direction I should go: have Abigail and her pals go to 1943 Halifax for some reason, perhaps to greet a war brides ship or a hospital ship. I'd like to get them into Pier 21 since my mother's family arrived there about 10 years later and I find it an interesting and quite dramatic place.

As usual, I'm worried about the research but there does seem to be a massive amount of information on Halifax available so I hope it would not be too hard.

While in Halifax, I had the chance to see and hear both Lawrence Hill, highly respected author whose most recent novel, The Book of Negroes, was recently named winner of the Canada Reads competition for 2009, and Halifax poet and singer Shauntay Grant, a performance artist whose poem "Up Home" is now a highly successful children's book by the same title.

As any of you who have read this blog in the past will know, I was not overly impressed with one of Hill's earlier efforts — Some Great Thing. My review of that book appears in an earlier post. Hill in person, however, is exceptional. A warm and welcoming man, his presentation proved a wonderful kick off to the conference. And he read an abbreviated version of the first chapter of The Book of Negroes during that presentation, prompting me to go out and buy the novel. I've just started reading it and am very impressed.

Grant, on the other hand, closed the conference with an energetic, passionate performance of several of her poems, including "Up Home", a memoir of her childhood in North Preston, one of several Black communities in and around Halifax. Grant's performance was entrancing and her poetry has a lovely quality to it that I find hard to put into words. I don't know if the book, Up Home, is available widely across the country but it is worth looking for. It's published by Nimbus Publishing in Halifax and includes some truly spectacular artwork by Halifax artist Susan Tooke, much of which was on exhibition at the Nova Scotia Art Gallery when we were there.

Meanwhile, my garden is showing very healthy rows of green now, all of which popped up while I was away. Exciting times!

A Week Away

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-24T22:11:10-03:00

After a very pleasant weekend which mixed pleasure — a whisky tasting club Friday evening and an afternoon at the driving range on Saturday — with work around the house (including mowing and edging our rather large, uneven yard), I am now preparing for a five-day conference in Halifax, leaving on Monday.

I like Halifax a lot and am really looking forward to seeing the city. I hate to admit but I'm a little bit ambivalent about the conference itself: don't tell any of my colleagues that!

It was really good to have re-read the Abigail Massey stories the other day. The process of reviewing them has served to bring the characters and setting all vividly back into my mind. As I said in my previous post, I should start looking for a way to publish the stories.

To that end, I am starting to wonder about trying to write a longer story — a novel or at least a novella — to serve as a core piece for a published book. I'm a bit nervous about the prospect of doing enough research into 1940s New Brunswick to do it effectively but I think that central group of girls (Abigail, Martha, Jenny and Alice) provides an interesting set of characters who could carry a longer work.

I'll continue to give this idea some thought as I visit Halifax this week. I will also be bringing with me my working copy of The Silent Goodbye so perhaps, while I wile away the evening hours in my hotel room, I will find the time and energy to move that novel forward. I might also find the energy to look up the word "wile" to see if I've spelt it correctly in that previous sentence!

Or maybe I'll just wander around beautiful downtown Halifax! Either way, you won't be hearing from me until next weekend.

Baby Steps

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-23T10:20:51-03:00

This is a very slow process. I am trying very hard to give myself the time I apparently need to recover from my mother's death last month and get back to my writing. Step one occurred last week, when I started to read through and perform some minor editing on my Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye.

Step two is upon me. I have just taken several hours to read through the many Abigail Massey stories posted on this website and perform the same sort of polishing work on them. I fixed up some typos, dealt with a couple of consistency issues and changed the ages of the four major characters from 18 to 16, to bring them more in line with their attitudes and behaviour. I think the stories work better this way.

Once again, however, I find that I truly and honestly enjoy my own writing. And that's not a good thing. First, I get so caught up in the story I am not actually able to spot the errors and stop to fix them. Second, I don't have the kind of objective eye I need to see what is not working on a more macro level and make the stories better. I find myself simply reading for enjoyment.

I like these stories. I like the characters and find them both well-crafted and, by the end of 12 stories, fairly well established. Abigail and Martha have a nice relationship and I quite like Jenny and, to a lesser extent, Alice, who is the least developed of the four. Miss Pierce has emerged very nicely as a person of several levels and I think I've succeeded in portraying her as a stern manager who, because she is dealing with stuff in own life, cannot often show "her girls" how she really feels about them.

Both Mr. Fitzpatrick and Gilles LeClerc are also, I think, reasonably charming and nicely developed. I am even quite happy with how the budding romance between Gilles and Martha is coming along.

Like I said, I'm not the most objective reader.

I'm not sure if I'll write any more of these stories, at least not soon, but I do think I should start making a plan to market them. I'd like to believe they're good enough for public consumption beyond this webpage! Maybe as a collection of stories or even as the basis for one of those sweet Canadian period dramas for the CBC!

Cardinal Sin

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-18T13:16:50-03:00

I've committed the cardinal sin of writing: I've fallen in love with my own work. I finally took the brave step this morning of starting to re-read the first 60 or so pages of The Silent Goodbye with the intention of dong some hard rewrites and adding some character stuff on Phillip Gold (you know, some physical habits, habitual phrases, etc.). Instead, I ended up just reading and enjoying.

I think it's really good.

Which means, of course, that I'm in trouble. If I like it too much, I can't edit it. I can't see the holes, the problems, the weak spots.

I made some small changes here and there — mostly word choice issues or tightening up descriptions — but nothing really major. I like this book.

So now I'm writing again, which is a great step, but I'm too uncritical of my own work, which is not so great. I think I need a writer's group. Where are you, Ross and John?

On the bird front, I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that, not only does the Princess-Point area of Hamilton now boast a bald-eagle's nest, it has also played host to a small flock of pelicans (of all things!). Amazing stuff. I feel so sad that my Mom is no longer around to see it. She would have loved both the eagles and the great white pelicans.

This morning, Patti and I took our puppy out for a walk in the UNB Woodlot and had the great good fortune of seeing a yellow-bellied sap sucker, up close. I had finally managed to bring my binoculars on one of these walks and, this time, they weren't needed. There he was, plain as day, about 10 feet above us on a tree trunk. Beautiful. Yellow on his belly (surprise surprise) and nice patches of red on his head. Too bad I didn't have my camera!

Any way, I'm at least toe-deep in my writing and will push on from here!

Birds Birds Birds

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-17T13:39:17-03:00

I'm still working my way back toward writing but haven't gotten there yet. The garden is calling me but we're expecting frost in the next few days so I can't get to the planting yet either. So, for the past little while, it's all been birds birds birds. A lovely subject, to be sure.

Patti had our camera so unfortunately I couldn't get pictures of the three lovely newcomers to our backyard feeders: a yellow-rumped warbler, a purple finch and a savannah sparrow. It was great to see them, though. And on our walks through the various parklands around Fredericton we've seen many other new species but I'm just not good enough yet to identify them!

Gavin and Lynn, meanwhile, report that they've been inundated with orioles and hummingbirds in their backyard. Gavin has suggested the possibility of setting up a webcam to show the backyard feeders all day, which I think would be a great idea. He's got a webcam showing Lake Ontario from their house (for the surfers!) so he'd have no problems setting another camera up in his backyard. Gavin's website is here: http://gavinf.no-ip.com/~Gavin/surf/Blog/Blog.html.

Meanwhile, my friend Madeleine from Hamilton and I have finally linked up as Facebook friends and her backyard birds photos are part of her FB page. Amazing! I don't know how she gets such amazing birds to her feeders! I don't know how she gets such amazing photos of the birds! Her collection is really impressive. The latest is a chestnut-sided warbler. In the past she's had brown creepers, purple finches, three kinds of woodpeckers, inidigo buntings, orioles, scarlet tanagers, eastern towhees, redbreasted nuthatches, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and many more. It's a little overwhelming.

What I really can't get over is how great the photographs are. Very beautiful, all in focus and quite close up. Wow.

So now I'm envious. And determined. I'm going to improve both my menu of winged visitors and the quality of my photos. The gauntlet has been thrown down!

Star Trek Hangover

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-13T20:51:58-03:00

Star Trek conversations abound in my life, even on my Facebook page. Why didn't the Vulcans attack the drilling platform themselves? Why did Kirk let the red-shirt carry the explosive charges? Is the new version of Chekov really just a Wesley Crusher clone?

A colleague down in Saint John supports the Spock/Uhura romantic entanglement on two fronts: first, Uhura sang a love song to a grinning Spock in "Charlie X", an early TOS episode, and second a lot of the fan fiction involves the science and communications officers getting it on. Interesting.

Trekkies coming out of the wood work all over the place.

So far I've rewatched the first nine of TOS episodes in the order they aired. I've been watching them on my seven-inch portable DVD player to better simulate what it must have been like with a small 1960s-era TV set. Interesting to see them again. A lot of sexuality. A lot of helpless women being taken care of by strong strong men. So maybe the new movie has it right!

Still not feeling well, though. Marlee seems to be getting better but not so much me. Soon, I hope.

And I saw my first real live purple finch. Wow. Bright red head, with the colouring bleeding strongly down onto the body. Now that I've seen a real one, I'll never mistake a house finch for a purple finch again. The house finch, while still pretty, is nowhere near as spectacular.

Tough Month

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-12T08:45:14-03:00

Yesterday's blog entry set a record for one-day traffic to my website. I mentioned on my Facebook page that I was opining on the new Star Trek movie and 28 people came to visit in one day. That's a record for me and my site. Gavin enjoys reminding me that his site gets hundreds of visitors a day, especially on windy ones, but I think 28 is pretty good. So thank you, everyone.

That being said, my run of tough luck continues. We won't go all the way back to the sad events of April. We need only look at May. First, I put a great big gash in my finger. Then I crunched my thumb with a hammer. Now I have some fairly nasty flu-like symptoms that are keeping me home and unhappy. And that's just my own health. Did I mention that Marlee Marie is also experiencing "flu-like symptoms" and then, to top it all off, ran into a skunk yesterday?

Helpful that Patti left for Ontario last night for six days. Great timing. Actually, she's heading back to celebrate both her god son's confirmation and her sister's graduation from a graduate program in education so I guess those are pretty good reasons to leave her two sick loved ones behind.

Underneath all of my suffering, however, I am starting to feel some energy return. I hope to get back to working on Phillip Gold soon and I am starting to contemplate writing an Abigail Massey novel, either by stitching together some of the existing short stories or with a fresh new plot. I may also revisit the original stories to do rewrites; I dashed them all out pretty quickly so I have no doubt some polishing could be done.

And, of course, as a result of the Star Trek movie and the conversations I have been having since, I have started watching all of the episodes of the original series in order again. Just to get back into it.

What about the Harry Potter Concordance and The Way Forward, as it appears on this website? Well, we'll see what the future brings.

Star Trek Lives

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-10T18:27:33-03:00

My thoughts on Star Trek (2009), the new re-booting of the Star Trek franchise, directed by J.J. Abrams.

Executive Summary
While I was watching and immediately thereafter, I loved the movie. Every minute of it. It was exhilarating, interesting, fun, neat, cool, wowee. I came out of the theatre breathless. Since then, however, little things have started to bother me. Thoughts have occurred, concerns have been raised, worries have arisen.

Disclaimers
I am a Trekkie. Or a Trekker. Or a nut, a geek, a weirdo. I am committed to Star Trek (The Original Series that is, hereinafter referred to as “TOS” to differentiate it from later TV iterations) and the films that flowed from TOS. The Kirk/Spock/McCoy stories.

I have watched the 79 TOS episodes enough times that I am pretty confident in my knowledge and understanding of them. I can answer most trivia questions, as long as they are not too inane or petty (I can’t name the planets visited in each individual episode, for example). I could probably recite a pretty close approximation of the dialogue from most of TOS movies, especially II, III, IV and VI, to the point where I annoy the heck out of my partner and any one else who might watch one of the movies with me.

I don’t particularly like Star Chat: The Next Conversation, Star Trek: Deep Sleep Nine or Enterprise. Voyager had its moments. I believe that Brannon Braga and Rick Berman destroyed Star Trek by straying immediately and significantly from Gene Roddenberry’s original vision as soon as he died and I do not support their contention that TOS’s optimism would not play to a 80s or 90s audience. I think it was their commitment to making Star Trek “real” by making it dark and pessimistic that drove audiences away.

Star Trek (2009) as a Movie
This movie has it all and is well-deserving of the praise being heaped on it by professional and amateur reviewers across North America. It moves, from the first frame to the last. It features well drawn characters and surprisingly good acting performances across the board.

People who are new or fairly new to Star Trek will have no problem following the very simple plot: bad guy attacks, new recruits get called into action on an understaffed ship to repel the bad guy, people die. Lots of action, lots of funny bits, not too heavy on the message.

People who know Star Trek, once they get over their initial aversion to the new actors in well-loved roles, will like it because, while it truly re-starts the whole Kirk/Spock/McCoy story on a new track, the characters and their relationships are, for the most part, true to the original.

And it’s a darn good, entertaining story.

Actors and Roles
Simon Pegg’s Montgomery Scott is the only real miss among the re-casting of the roles. It may not be Pegg’s fault. It may just be the writing. But I can find nothing in the Montgomery Scott of the original series that suggests the laugh-a-minute character Pegg portrays.

In the cases of all the other roles, the re-casting and reformulating work for me. I like Spock as a passionate young man, caught between the two worlds. This is a Spock who still struggles with the decision to join Star Fleet and upon whom the dire events of this movie have the most significant impact. In light of his new reality, it should not surprise us that this Spock shows more fire. And Zachary Quinto is more than up to the task of this new, fiery Spock.

I very much liked how Spock's relationship with his father is consistent with the series — Sarek's absolute disdain for Spock's decision to forsake the Vulcan Science Academy for Starfleet comes through beautifully in early scenes — yet is affected in a realistic and believable manner first by the death of Amanda, Spock's human mother, and second by the destruction of the planet Vulcan and about six billion of its inhabitants: in this case, the relationship between father and son is appropriately strengthened, the anger over Spock's decision quickly vanishes, and Sarek allows his own emotional side to show much much earlier in this new reality than in the original series.

Chris Pine as Kirk works well too. Pine has that youthful arrogance, that brash confidence that Shatner’s Kirk seemed to lament losing in the movies. I can see Pine as the younger version and I think he captures the essence of James T. Kirk well.

Karl Urban is, in my opinion, slightly less effective as Leonard McCoy. His first appearance on screen comes across a bit “over the top” but he settles in nicely into the role of the folksy doctor, not entirely comfortable with technology nor with military power structures, who pledges his loyalty early to Kirk and the gang.

Zoe Saldana is a revelation as Uhura. I always liked Nichelle Nichols and her portrayal of the efficient communications officer but Saladna is given more to work with and she works it well. She’s like the uber-Uhura: smarter, more capable, more confident, sexier even. Too bad they reduce her to the trophy by the end of the movie.

John Cho does a heck of a job with the part of Sulu, another of my faves from TOS. George Takei was amazing in the role and Cho carries the torch well. As Takei did way back when, Cho plays his scenes with the big boys as an equal and he compares favourably with them. More Sulu, please.

The final regular role picked up from TOS is Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov. Well, to be honest, it really is Anton Yelchin as a Chekov/Wesley Crusher blend. I don’t mind Yelchin in the part but I just don’t like the part. Leave Wesley out of it, please. We don’t need a smart-alecky teenager on the bridge!

Star Trek (2009) as Star Trek
This section is not for the faint of heart nor, probably, for non-Trekkers.

First, Star Trek (2009) is Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan re-done with new actors, better effects and a brighter ship. It’s that simple. Same basic plot, similar gang of rookies, same outcome.

Second, while I accept fully (and actually embrace) that the arrival of the villain from the 24th Century on the date of Kirk’s birth in the 23rd Century changes the timeline irrevocably from that date onward, I cannot understand how the script writers could completely and totally erase Kirk’s older brother, George Samuel (see TOS episode “Operation: Annihilate”) who would have been born before the time line changed. As a result, he would exist in the movie world and should at least have been dealt with somehow (how’s that for Trekkie pickiness?).

Third, I like very much that the writers incorporated so many references and homages to TOS episodes and movies. It helps the new movie feel right. From the explanation for McCoy’s nickname to the original Spock greeting the new Kirk with “I have been and ever shall be your friend” to “I’m a doctor not a…” to Scotty crooning about coaxing more power out of the engines, there is a lot there that the Trekkie could love but that would slip right past the casual viewer. There is even a scene between Kirk and Spock that, in goal, tone and flavour, is lifted right out of TOS episode “This Side of Paradise”. And the last look we have of Christopher Pike has the great captain in a wheelchair, an interesting foreshadowing of his future fate. All good stuff.

Fourth, I agree with several critics who complained that the Enterprise is almost invisible as a character in this movie. The ship looks great but the audience is rarely treated to a full shot of this beautiful spacecraft. I am willing to admit to a certain feeling of awe as the new-look Enterprise rose majestically from the rings of Saturn halfway through the movie but that was about it for wow shots of the ship.

Fifth (and final, I promise), I like the fact that the villain, Nero, is just your average Romulan (well, just your average Romulan whose appearance resembles the villain from Star Trek: Nemesis, who wasn’t even Romulan, rather than any real Romulan we’ve ever seen). Nero is the run-of-the-mill commander of a run-of-the-mill drilling ship. In the 24th Century, he’s really a nobody. When he accidentally finds himself in the 23rd Century, however, suddenly he’s in command of the most modern ship around. It’s the technology that makes him scary, not any particular trait of his own. In fact, he’s quite banal as a person and the filmmakers don’t try to make him anything more. A refreshing change and I think a reference back to such TOS episodes as "Charlie X", "The Squire of Gothos", and even "Devil in the Dark", where the villain is just an average, flawed being trying to cope with the life he, she or it has been presented.

One Last Issue
It bothers me that Star Trek (2009) is completely lacking in strong female roles. We counted a grand total of five speaking roles for women in the entire movie: Kirk’s mom, Spock’s mom, the green woman, the Starfleet officer on the shuttle early in the movie, and Uhura.

Kirk’s mom gives birth, then disappears both from Kirk’s life and from the movie. Spock’s mom emotes, then disappears as well. The green woman is portrayed as a dim-witted sex-pot; the officer on the shuttle puts McCoy in his place and then disappears.

Even Uhura, who gets a distinct bump up in her role and expertise over TOS, ends up being little more than a prize in the on-going competition between Kirk and Spock.

It’s scary. I wondered for a while whether this seemingly deliberate choice was intended to be ironic – a send up of the lack of representation of women in leadership roles in TOS and even in TNG and the other series. I wish I could believe it. The fact of the matter is, Star Trek (2009) is a very male film. Male in flavour, male in attitude, male in on-screen representation. It’s sad, really.

Stunning Success (If I Do Say So Myself)

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-09T20:26:52-03:00

Another Saturday of hard work paid off today with a finished garden that, I must say, looks great. Ready for seeding once we're beyond the possibility of frost.

First step was a bit more raking, then lining the edges (using a thumb-hungry hammer, mind you) with some of the stones I pulled out of the plot. Next I used more of the stones I dug up, plus a number of nice red bricks from our front garden, to create three "walk ways" or, perhaps better, "weed ways" that sectioned the area off into four separate beds. Finally, off to Kent to get bags of "Black Earth", which were on sale at 50% off, to fill up the sunken beds.

I followed my sister's advice and used more stones to section off the herb bed into four parts again, thus creating what I think is an interesting visual impact for the garden as a whole. With the Black Earth in, the lighter coloured stones stand out better and the whole garden looks very nice. I'm pleased with the outcome, even if my thumb is still throbbing!

Sore muscles, weary bones, but a pretty good result, I think. I'll be seeding before the end of May, I think, and we'll see what grows.

And maybe I'll start writing again too.

In the meantime, got my first picture of a cardinal (a lovely female in the tree above the feeders) the other day; it's proudly displayed on the Backyard Birds section of this website. Be sure to have a look. And we picked up a couple of other plants for the backyard that are supposed to attract different kinds of birds, including hummingbirds, so we'll hope for results from that too.

Star Trek tomorrow. Quite the buzz around it. I'll give you my thoughts once I've fully digested it.

Eagles Nesting

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-08T07:43:41-03:00

The Hamilton Spectator carries an article in its on-line edition today that says there is now a Bald Eagle nest at Princess Point. Wow. Fabulous news. They don't know if the birds are actually planning on laying eggs or if they are just "playing house" but, either way, it's an amazing sign.

Princess Point was one of Mom's favourite places to walk and see the birds. I don't think either of us ever dreamt we'd see Bald Eagles there. It took a whale-watching adventure on the Bay of Fundy last summer to allow me to see my first Bald Eagle and now I find out that there's a nest back in the old stomping grounds. So amazing. And then, of course, the Peregrine Falcons are back at it at the Hamilton Sheraton Hotel, this time with four eggs in the nest.

How is that a Steel City, an industrial town, can become home to such amazing bird activity?

So naturally I read the article on-line today about the Eagles and I think, neat, I should call Mom and make sure she's seen this. And then, of course, it hits me again that she won't be there to answer. A harsh reality in the shadow of Mother's Day, just four weeks after Mom drew her last breath.

Meanwhile, back in NB, the rain continues unabated: good news for the sod I moved and replanted, not so good for my wish to get back to the garden. My finger is healing, however, and I've decided to postpone beginning the grad program so life is improving somewhat. Work on Phillip Gold is still going on but only inside the chambers of my brain so far.

I know I'll get back to it but I seem still to be dealing with stuff. My sister reports she spends most of her evenings slumped in front of the TV knitting a blanket so I guess I'm not alone in my sluggishness.

Doesn't make for the most exciting web reading, though, does it?

Challenges

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-06T07:26:47-03:00

A nasty cut on my finger, a rainy forecast and a new on-line graduate course are combining to make life challenging for me and my plans.

The garden is on hold for at least a couple of days due to the rain and the injury. I did get some more raking and stone removal done yesterday before the knife leapt out and bit my finger. There are still more stones than I can count but I will soon move on to the edging and top soil. Once the weather and the ouchie improve.

As for writing, the finger also has an impact. It's quite sad to see myself trying to type this. So slow. So inaccurate. Lots and lots of mistakes that have to be corrected. The left hand still fully functional but the right reduced to thumb and index finger to protect the damaged third digit.

And the on-line course. Wow. What a nightmare. 90 students, 20 per cent of the mark for participation in on-line discussions. 480 messages to read and respond to in just four days. Interesting topic, sure, but this could soak up hours and hours and hours. If it were an in-person class, you'd have three hours per week plus reading and studying. Workable. But this...

It doesn't help that I'm old and not technologically inclined. So I have to learn the on-line learning environment as well. It took me, for example, an hour on the website just to find the first assignment. I can only trust that things will get better as I grow used to the format.

Gold is still in my mind, though. I'll get back to him. I just don't know when.

Flickers of Life

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-05T07:14:39-03:00

My mind is slowly making its way back to my writing. It's not a conscious thing: I'm not sitting around forcing myself to think about Phillip Gold or Abigail Massey or the Rowling world and what should happen next to poor George. Instead, as I go about my business, my mind is starting to go there on its own, mostly to Gold and The Silent Goodbye.

I have been thinking about the character himself: Phillip Gold, the lone wolf, the lawyer turned investigator who does more for his clients than simply representing them in court. I like this character very much. Physically, he's based on my former law partner, Derek Fazakas, as handsome a man as you're going to find in the legal profession. Emotionally, he's more the Marlowe or Spade, a loner with his own sense of what's right and what's wrong, of justice and fairness and all that could be good in the world.

The idea for Gold sprang out of a thought I had about 15 years ago as I pondered Marlowe and Spade and the fact that it was so important to their success that they were alone in the world. I wondered to myself: has anyone ever written the story of how the loner found himself without friends, without family? As a result of that line of thinking, I sketched out a story, which eventually found the light of day as A Fleck of Gold, of how my newly minted character loses his last surviving family member, his mother, as a result of one of his own cases.

What has occurred to me recently is that I haven't done much to sketch out Phillip's current character, his interests and habits. He's not a whole person at this point, a rounded character in whom the reader can take a personal interest, can identify. I'm not asking myself to indulge in long-winded expositions on the man and his mind; I just feel I need to add a nugget of info here and there, a personal philosophy, a couple of habits, that kind of thing.

What does he do when he's nervous, for example? Does he tap his fingers, lick his lips, blink maybe? I'm not sure but my mind, at least, is working on it.

In the meantime, sore from the gardening work, I've taken time out to watch a couple of recent movies. Slumdog Millionaire first, then Marley and Me. I found Slumdog rivetting, with an interesting narrative structure based around the questions in the game show. Truly entertaining, with the opening of a suspense thriller and the finale of a romantic comedy. Neat. Marley, well, we're still trying to get through it. Owen Wilson is definitely a turnoff and the movie doesn't focus enough on the dog. We had it in the DVD player last night and have now taken two extended breaks (the second still on-going) in the middle. Clearly, we're either not that interested or we're in the wrong mood for this movie. Too bad, I was looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, my partner is helping to build the excitement around the opening of the new Star Trek movie this weekend. My brother-in-law and two nieces got the chance to see it at a sneak preview and loved it. The early reviews are all not just positive but absolutely glowing. I'm looking forward to seeing it this weekend.

Stony Ground

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-03T22:01:33-03:00

I finished the digging this morning. What an amazing feeling of accomplishment to stand back and look at that big, rectangular patch of dirt. Odd, really, considering it is just a big, rectangular patch of dirt. But I made it. Me. No one else. Feels good.

Next step was to get a garden rake and go at it, breaking the earth up, preparing it for the top soil. My cheap little garden rake turned out to be a real trooper. It turns out there's more stone than dirt in there. Big huge pieces of rock, some flat, some like cannon balls. The little rake finds them and then, with a little muscle from yours truly, yanks them out.

My neighbours tell me it is possible that my garden is going in exactly where an old stone wall used to stand. Part of the farmer's fields about 100 years ago when this was still farmland. Just my luck. New Brunswick is already the rockiest place in Canada and I have to put my garden in on top of an old stone wall!

At least now I have plenty of nice stones with which to line the edges of the garden as well as a selection of nice flat rocks to serve as paths between the beds. I also have aching muscles up and down my back, shoulders and arms (not to mention my legs). I gave in after raking about two-thirds of the bed. I'll do the rest tomorrow.

Next stop, top soil and seeding. Oh my!

Oh yeah, before I forget, I've put photos of two new birds on the "Backyard Birds" page. I'm not sure what either of them are because they're both small brown, speckled birds. If you can help me, please e-mail!

Digging Life

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-03T07:46:00-03:00

I spent a long, cool day outside yesterday, doing something I have never done before: digging a garden. A vegetable and herb garden. Our backyard is set up such that the fence that keeps the dog in is located about eight feet inside our property line, leaving a nice strip of land outside the fence that is available for gardening.

So I spent about six hours de-sodding a six-foot by 12-foot strip of land, preparing it for our new garden. I have the other half left to do today to make what now seems like a massive six-by-24 foot plot.

It was very slow work. I cut out each 8-inch by 1-foot patch of sod individually, using a long-handled shovel. I then moved and placed each chunk carefully on top of an extraneous section of gravel driveway to see if I can accomplish two things with one task: create a garden and re-sod the wasted driveway space.

The garden is going very well, if slowly. The driveway, well, we'll see.

Emotionally and psychologically, it was a very satisfying day. Slow, hard, repetitive work, with the results visible instantly. Most muscles involved somehow but my mind free to wander where-ever it wished to go. And it didn't stray far. Mostly I thought about how nice the breeze was, how good it will be to harvest arugula and chives, peppers and basil, all of that kind of stuff.

It would appear that I need these kinds of days. Marlee, our dog, was content to sit out in the yard, watching me from behind the fence. Friends came over with their long ladder to help me clear our eaves and replace a couple of light bulbs that hang high in our car port. We had coffee, then it was back to work on the garden.

I'll finish digging it today. Then we will line the edges with stones, create a couple of brick paths at intervals for weeding and tending purposes, then finally refill the area slightly with top soil or some such mixture. Finally, it will be planting time.

Challenging physically but mentally a holiday. Something I guess I need.

We'll see what grows from this weekend in all kinds of ways.

Bird Season

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-05-01T16:18:49-03:00

Okay, so I'm not really writing much. But I am alive to the excitement of spring and the return of a wide variety of birds to our yard. If you go to the Backyard Birds page of this site, you'll see two new photos. The first is a Chipping Sparrow, a fairly common bird but so clean and beautiful that I just had to take a picture. The second is unknown, although I think I'm just being too chicken to call it a White-Throat like last year's version. I love the little bits of yellow on its head.

We're also getting lots of gold finches, robins, chicadees and juncos to make the world a happy place. So nice to see them back.

Of course, the excitement at the feeders means I am constantly checking for new arrivals. Makes it hard to focus on anything else.

No Enthusiasm

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-04-30T18:24:38-03:00

I guess I should give myself a bit of a break. I'm beating myself up for not being able to sit down and write anything and I am starting to wonder if perhaps I'm being too hard on myself. (Parenthetically, I'm also wondering if I've used the words "I'm" and "myself" too much in this post already). (Of course, I then wonder if I've used forms of "wonder" too often and then whether "I'm" should be considered one word or two).

This morning was the three-week anniversary of my mother's death and I'm still finding myself haunted by it. I catch myself thinking about calling her, only to remember that she won't be there to answer. That makes me very sad.

The whole melancholy that has settled on my soul is making it very hard for me to sit down and try to write. Writing requires energy, maybe even joy, and I have little of either right now.

Should I beat myself up about it? Probably not. Should I give in to it? No. Maybe I just need to let myself wander to whatever tasks or vocations attract me in a particular moment and not worry too much about it.

That sounds about right.

Back In Town

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-04-25T23:24:19-03:00

It's now been exactly three weeks since I last posted a blog entry on this site. Sorry to everyone who has been coming to check from time to time only to find nothing new. I've been away in Ontario, with family, dealing with the death of my beloved mother. Not an easy time for me, nor for all of the members of my family. Mom was special and we're all going to miss her terribly.

Not surprisingly, I have done no creative writing whatsoever during this period. The only thing I did write during this time was the Obituary I wrote for my Mom on the day she died. I am very grateful to my siblings for agreeing to print the Obituary in the newspaper, substantially unchanged from its original form. It is honestly the most important, most personal item I have ever written. We received many compliments on it and I am grateful for those as well, even though many people simply assumed my sister Lynn wrote it! I guess that's something of a compliment to me, however, since Lynn's creative efforts are unfailingly spectacular so, if people thought she wrote it, it must have been okay.

Here it is as it appeared in the Hamilton newspaper:

It is with overwhelming sadness mixed with relief that we announce the passing of our dear mother, Janny Walma (nee Muys), early on Thursday,
April 9, 2009 at her home at Yorkville Place in Dundas. Mom fought a pitched battle with unrelenting lupus for the past eight years; when cancer came for her in the end, she had no strength left to fight it.

We will remember our mother as a strong person, a passionate role model, a loving and devoted mother and grandmother and a good friend. We will miss her every day of our lives.

Mom gave life and life-long love and support to her five children – Klaas, Janice, Michael, Lynn and Mark – whom she loved with a gentle fierceness. She welcomed into her family and loved with that same ferocity her children’s spouses and partners: Catherine, Harry, Gavin, Elizabeth and Patti. She was proud of the fine people she helped us to become and grateful that we found such exceptional people with whom to share our lives.

To her grandchildren – Peter, Tim, Nicholas, Stephen, Isabelle and Edward – Mom gave her heart and soul, savouring every moment she could spend with them, whether in person, on the telephone or via e-mail. We know that one of her only regrets is not to be able to watch them grow into the wonderful people they will become.

Over the years, Mom missed her siblings who predeceased her – Dick, Julie, Corrie, and Heidi – but was grateful for the continuing love and support of those who survive her: Phil, Joanne, Ben and Louise. She welcomed the love and kindness of their spouses and partners: Ed, Marilyn, Gerrit, Gerry, Freddie, Brian, Sara and John.

Mom leaves behind her dear friend Eva and the many good people who made her last year wonderful at Yorkville Place. She loved her friends as family; their kindness and support helped ease the challenges she faced throughout her lifetime.

Our Mom never gave up, no matter what kind of battles she faced in her life. It is a lesson we all take to our hearts.

If you wish to make a donation in memory of Janny Walma, we think the Victorian Order of Nurses, (who provided such wonderful support in her final days) might be a good choice. But, in keeping with our Mom’s devotion to the people she loved, you would be as well served to spend the money on someone you love, with Mom in your hearts as you do so.

Rest in peace, Mom; no one deserves rest more.

Tainted

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-04-04T21:33:14-03:00

I don't feel it would be appropriate for me to write a formal review of the novel Tainted, by Ross Pennie, which I have just finished reading. Ross is a friend and I was lucky enough to have had the chance to have some minor influence on this novel as it was in its early draft stages. I'm afraid, therefore, that any review I could attempt to write would be hopelessly biased.

Let's just say I liked the book. Very much. And I was impressed with how much work Ross evidently put into it after it had passed through the hands of our writers' group. Ross has made significant changes since then and the book is the better for it. If I read Ross' Acknowledgment's correctly, Edna Barker was his editor at ECW and she has done a heck of a job, helping him make an already solid novel even better.

Instead of a review, I offer some of the very positive comments about Tainted that others, more influential than I, have made about it:

Best-selling author of medical thrillers Tess Gerritsen calls it "[f]ascinating and fast-paced" and adds later, "Ross Pennie knows how to weave real science with crackling suspense."

Publishers Weekly writes: "Pennie's mystery debut introduces a winning protagonist" in Dr. Zol Szabo.

And finally, the reviewer for the American Library Association says: "Pennie's novel is a taut and timely work of suspense." The same reviewer adds, "Pennie builds tension perfectly, grabbing readers from the first page and keeping them entranced," and calls Tainted "[M]ust reading for fans of Robin Cook and Peter Clement."

With those kinds of raves from the professional reviewers, who needs more kind words from writing hopefuls like myself? But I add my endorsement to their kind words: Tainted is an exciting read; I can't wait for the next Zol Szabo mystery to find its way into my waiting hands.

Spot Writing

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-04-03T20:14:17-03:00

It's amazing how much writing you can do when you can finally focus and when you know what you wish to write. As many of you know, the past two weeks have been extremely difficult ones for me and my family and the challenges we have been facing have pushed just about everything else out of my mind.

Now that things seem to be getting a little more settled (and now that I'm about 1500 km away from the scene), I am finding myself a little better able to focus on my writing. And that means, of course, Phillip Gold, The Silent Goodbye.

As per a friend's suggestion, I have been working on adding a subplot to the book, one that not only complements the main story line but also brings Gold's legal skills into the picture. I was surprised at how easy it was to slip the beginnings of this subplot into the first fifty pages I had already completed and then it was just a matter of working out the details of this legal subplot and figuring out how it will dovetail with the main plot at the end.

As so often happens, it was in the shower that my mind started putting things together. So now I've got a clear picture of where I'm going with the subplot (with both plots, actually) and I have a very good idea of how the climactic scene will play out. That has allowed me to start doing some "spot writing" — writing scenes from here and there in the novel, scenes of import, scenes that are already worked out in my mind, scenes that will have an impact on how the rest of the book is written.

The first such bit of spot writing I did was blasting out Gold's opening statement in the criminal trial in which he takes part. The legal subplot, not surprisingly, will involve a trial and Gold will show off his courtroom prowess along the way. So I took my lunch hour to write a draft of his opening statement to the jury. It was a fun piece to write but I think I'll have my sister (who was a trial lawyer) and my brother-in-law (who is a judge) read it over to make sure it's at least reasonably authentic.

The next scene I think I'll write will be the action-packed climax. It's clear in my mind what will happen and, once I have it in good shape, the climax will guide how the rest of the story is written.

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to keep up this newfound momentum.

A Pennie for Your Thoughts

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-03-30T18:01:33-03:00

Last Thursday night, I had the happy privilege of meeting up with my old writing pal, Ross Pennie, at a coffee shop in West Hamilton. Ross, John Hewson and I spent three happy years meeting every two or three weeks to share our drafts, swap tall tales and challenge each other to get better as writers. Both Ross and John are medical doctors by training and wonderfully skillful writers by talent and hard work. They are also exceptional human beings.

Ross published his medical memoir, The Unforgiving Tides, a couple of years ago with a small publisher in the Hamilton area and then worked his own tail off to make it sell. And sell it did. He then decided he wanted to try fiction on for size, specifically medical mysteries, and John and I had the honour of being involved on the ground floor of that venture.

As I've mentioned before on this blog, Ross's first medical mystery novel, Tainted, has recently been published by ECW Press in Toronto. The early drafts were very good. The published novel is even better. I'm still reading the beginning stages but I'm impressed with how good it is: how much credit for that John and I can claim I'm not sure, of course.

But I'm not writing this entry to talk about Tainted. More on that book later, once I've savoured every word. I'm more interested in writing about what a nifty evening it was to chat with Ross now that he's a published purveyor of fiction.

In preparation for our meeting, I had wandered over to a place called Bryan Prince Booksellers, just up the street from the coffee shop, to see if they had Ross' book on the shelves yet. In keeping with Prince's commitment to local authors, they not only had it in stock, it was beautifully displayed both in the big picture window at the front of the store and on a table inside. For good measure, a stack of Tainted sat right by the cash register, with the other "must buy" books. This is just a small sign of the fantastic support Bryan Prince gives to writers from the Hamilton area.

I met up with Ross in the line for coffee. He had a copy of the book in hand for me and I was admiring its cover while we waited to order. The barista looked up, saw the novel, and cooed, "Oh, that looks good. What is it?": one of the nicest unsolicited compliments I've ever heard. Ross beamed while I opened the cover and held the author photo on the dust jacket up next to Ross's smiling face. The barista was duly impressed.

Ross and I took our coffees and sat down to share our news. We talked family, we talked writing, we talked publishing. Ross told me he's already about a quarter of the way through the next "Zol Szabo Medical Mystery" and filled me in on the basic plot. I gave him a little update on Phillip Gold and we compared notes.

Ross was good enough to sign my copy of Tainted for me and I'm even mentioned, alongside John, in the Acknowledgments at the back. A nice compliment for both of us. After our coffee, Ross and I walked back to Bryan Prince to look at his book in the window. What a great experience, to stand with a first-time novelist and share in his joy at seeing his beautifully published book in a bookshop window!

Other than the very pleasant chance to catch up with an old friend and a respected colleague, I also gained some excellent tips from Ross on how to improve my Gold book. I'll be looking to work up a strong subplot, something in a legal, courtroom line to compliment the main mystery plot. I'll also be working to add some convincing personal habits for my main character.

No, Ross didn't suggest that one directly. But he does it so well in Tainted that I figure I'll steal the idea from him.

Some Great Thing? Not So Much

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-03-29T08:10:36-03:00

I'm back. A very difficult week away leaves me tired and emotionally drained. Not the best circumstances under which to try to do any writing but at least I've been reading. I've just started Ross Pennie's new medical mystery Tainted, which is great so far, much better than my previous reading expedition: Lawrence Hill's Some Great Thing.

I have read and admired Hill's writing for some time, especially his non-fiction work on race relations (for want of a better term this early on a Sunday morning) in Canada. I have used an essay he wrote for Maclean's Magazine in training programs at work and am very much looking forward to obtaining a copy of his recent work, The Book of Negroes.

Published in 1992, Some Great Thing was probably Hill's first or second novel. I received it as a gift recently and, frankly, had never heard of it. Having read it now, I can see why.

This is no great book. In fact, the writing in it is surprisingly poor, in my opinion. The story of a young journalist of south asian background who returns to his hometown, Winnipeg, to take a job with the local daily newspaper and get reacquainted with his race-proud dad, Some Great Thing flounders around for a coherent story line from start to finish and, after failing to find one for 240 pages, simply stops. The characters are stereotypes of the worst kind and Hill literally tells us what to think rather than allowing us to develop our own understanding of the people and events of the book.

It's an early effort, no doubt, but Some Great Thing provides for me more evidence to prove my theory that often the writing itself does not matter in the decision of what gets published. If the subject matter is something the publishers feel will sell, they figure the reader won't know how bad the book is until after he has paid his money and taken the book home to read.

New Beginning, Long Break

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-03-20T12:41:59-03:00

Just when I launch a new beginning of this blog, I post an announcement that I, along with Phillip Gold, Abigail Massey, George Weasley, Aberforth Dumbledore and all the other characters I enjoy to write about, will be taking a brief break.

I am about to board a plane back to Ontario for a week's visit. I'm hoping to see friends and family, visit the fabulously renewed Art Gallery of Ontario and just mope around Toronto and Hamilton for a while.

Since I can't take my RapidWeaver with me (well, I could but it would be a huge production) I'm afraid I won't be able to post anything during my vacation. Marlee Marie will probably put up a post or two of her Dog's Blog while I'm away so check out her action!

See you soon.

A New Beginning

walma@mcmaster.ca — 2009-03-19T04:41:22-03:00

This is a new beginning. My web-design program, RapidWeaver, for some reason converted the original files of this blog into "php" files, rather than "html" files, rendering them unreadable for many (if not all) people. Worse still, all my efforts to correct the problem have failed completely. It's one of the things I hate about computers (yes, I am that old): things can go wrong in some quiet little corner of program code and you have no chance of figuring out what or why or of correcting the problem.

So, I start a new page for the blog. This one seems to be working. Of course, if I want to have the 70 plus earlier posts available from this new page, I'll have to block and copy the text for each one into the new page. Right now, I'm not seeing that as being worth doing. Sorry. The text is still saved on my computer but, for now at least, won't be available on-line. No great loss, perhaps, but frustrating for me nonetheless.

Now, on to the last post.

I have some rewriting to do on the last section of Phillip Gold, more because I hammered out a difficult scene than because the writing is particularly bad. Sometimes I do that: I plow through a scene that I know is going to be complex and challenging, with several layers of meaning, numerous characters and a great deal of thematic and tonal importance just to get the basic elements and structure down. Then, I let it sit for a couple of days to get some distance from it. Finally, I go back to it fresh and start an intense rewrite, highlighting stuff I wanted to highlight, adding in elements I might have left out, etc.

It's a variation on the way Stephen King apparently writes. From what he says in On Writing, he hammers out the entire novel in rapid fashion, then goes back and expands on stuff he's given short shrift, identifies and heightens themes and images that have emerged in the writing and fine-tunes the writing itself.

I do that more on a scene-by-scene basis, especially with complex scenes. So I'll try to do some revising this evening.

On a public announcement note, my friend Ross Pennie has informed me that his new novel, Tainted, is now available in stores and through on-line book sellers (like Amazon). It's published by ECW Press from Toronto and it looks like they've done a great job of it. I had the honour of workshopping Tainted as Ross wrote it in and around 2007 so I know it's great. I'm interested to see the changes the professional editors asked him to do and excited to see it in its true, hard-cover form!