Not much writing going on, unfortunately, as the demands of spring start to make themselves felt. Lawns to rake, mow and perhaps even reseed, a garden to build, a shed door to repair, a driveway to fix, all call out to me every time I find myself with a spare moment.

I find myself in the interesting position of having three major writing projects on the go and it's possible that being pulled in three different directions may also be having an impact on my activity levels. I don't know for sure but I think the yard work is going to have to take precedence, at least for the next while.

We're facing yet another perigee full moon tonight, which should be nice. Here in Fredericton, the forecast is for clear skies so we should have a great view. The challenge is that the moon is closest to earth and fullest at about 12:30 a.m. tomorrow, meaning I'll have to drag myself out of bed to see/photograph it. If I don't sleep through it, I will share whatever photos I get with you soon.

I've been reading Jane Austen of late, first Pride and Prejudice and now Sense and Sensibility. I'm surprised by how much I am enjoying these books which are now two hundred years old. I find them witty and fun and, despite the fact that not much actually happens from the standpoint of action, rather engaging.

Patti and I also had the chance to visit an exhibition of photography here in Freddieville, held in the Centre Communitaire de St. Anne and featuring the work of my colleague Michelle Anne Dugay. Twenty-two photographs make up the Carnet De Voyages show and their combined impact is really quite stunning. Michelle Anne has a wonderfully creative photographic eye and an excellent sense of the structure of an image. Patti and I thoroughly enjoyed the show (which unfortunately closed last night) and came away thinking of new ways to use my own photographs (properly printed and framed, of course) in the decoration of our home.

I still have not heard back from the publisher, making it approximately six months since I provided my full Phillip Gold manuscript to them, so I'm forcing myself to accept that I need to get back on the trail of marketing that novel elsewhere. I still haven't received a "no" from them but six months of silence certainly begins to taste like a "no", doesn't it?

Today's Photo: A street scene, with scaffold, from Halifax's Historic Properties District.

Tags: Jane Austen, Michelle Anne Duguay, Carnet de voyages, Fredericton, Phillip Gold, Mystery, Writing

So that was Halifax.

I'm back from nine days in Nova Scotia's fabulous city and am pleased to report that I had a great time. I'm not so pleased to report that I didn't do half as much writing as I had hoped to do but I guess you can't have everything.

Halifax is a strange city and, on this visit, it was made even stranger by the Centennial of the Titanic Tragedy. For some reason, Halifax saw this sad occasion as a reason to party rather than mourn and it kind of left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. Even worse was the fact that the Titanic Centennial drew hundreds of people to the city from all over North America and, other than the questionable celebration events, nothing was done to make these off-season tourists feel welcome.

Most of the town's restaurants maintained winter hours, as did the stores and boutiques. It wasn't unusual to find bemused Americans wandering down Barrington at 7 p.m. asking: "Is there anything open?"

Thankfully, I wasn't there as a tourist so much as a visitor (if there's any real difference). My goal was to visit the book stores, record shops and video outlets as well as coffee shops of all shapes and sizes. And I found some nice book stores and coffee shops at least. Not to mention Taz Records, which is one of the best used record and CD shops I've ever seen.

Patti suggested that I try my hand at writing a more literary book than my usual courtroom drama or detective story so I thought I'd start a novel that examines how wealth and class play themselves out in the academic setting. To get myself prepared, I bought The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro's wonderful novel, and Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice from Trident Booksellers, one of the city's better used book stores.

To my surprise, I roared through Ishiguro's story of class and meaning as seen through the eyes of an aging English butler, starting and finishing it within the space of just 24 hours. The Austen novel is still a work in progress for me but I don't mind admitting it's provided me with any number of laugh-out-loud moments thus far.

My own novel, on the other hand, stands today at four pages in length. Four good pages, I think, but still... just four pages.

Work on The Final Curtain, my new Phillip Gold courtroom drama/thriller, went a lot better. I spent a wonderful morning sipping coffee in a nearly empty Halifax Farmers Market (with few vendors and even fewer customers) first reviewing the first 20,000 words of the book and then beginning to move the story forward. It was satisfying work and helped to remind me how comfortable I am with the characters and settings I've created over the three completed manuscripts involving the adventures of Mr. Gold.

I also managed to see The Hunger Games, the movie, and then to spend five joyous hours discussing it and all things literary with our friend Steph, who never ceases to challenge me and dent my certainty about how I feel about different films and novels.

I plan to write some thoughts on the film version of Suzanne Collins' dystopic vision soon, so keep an eye out for it. Meanwhile, I'm going to continue the juggling act of reading Austen and writing two novels at once.

Today's Photo: A creative wall mural: a statue of a woman gazes down at the street from an upper window.

Tags: The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, Taz Records, Trident books, Halifax, Barrington Street, Jane Austen, Remains of The Day

As I approach the start of a much-anticipated writing vacation in the beautiful city of Halifax, where I hope to make good progress on The Final Curtain even as I catch up on some much needed sleep, I am finally finishing up my birthday reading.

The last two books I am reading are the 1979-1980 and 1981-1982 volumes of The Complete Peanuts, the definitive collection of Charles Schulz's classic comic strip. Yes, I've left the easiest and most entertaining reading task until last. I just wish I could force myself to slow down and enjoy the art work as much as I do the conversation in these little gems.

Of course, the fact that I've moved on to Peanuts proves that I have completed, at last, my reading of The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins. With the recent release of the blockbuster film version of the first novel, Collins’ dystopian trilogy has been receiving a great deal of press of late. Not that the first book in the series needed any more promotion: The Hunger Games, the novel, was already doing very well, thank you very much, considered in many circles as the next great Young Adult success story, following the Harry Potter and Twilight series of the past decade.

Over the past year or so, I’ve had a lot of people (people whose taste and intelligence I greatly respect) recommending the Collins books to me in strong terms. One friend, who happens to be a literature professor, actually appears to prefer The Hunger Games collection to the Harry Potter series, a position that I consider completely unfathomable.

All of that being said, I recently borrowed Collins’ first novel from a colleague at work, to give myself to test the waters so to speak without having to invest any cash.

I’ve already written in this space about my response to The Hunger Games as a novel: the first two thirds of the book are absolutely riveting, some of the best, most exciting writing I’ve read in a long time. But, in my opinion (an opinion that I understand is not popular in all neighbourhoods), the last third of that book fails to live up to the quality of the first part, losing its immediacy and intensity as Collins drifts further and further away from the strengths of her writing and her chosen form.

I’ve now read the final two books in the sequence (Catching Fire and Mockingjay) and I’m sorry to report that, in my opinion at least, things only continue to deteriorate through these two tomes.

Now, I’m well aware of the many positive aspects of these novels, especially when it comes to theme and message:
• The trilogy is exceptional for featuring a strong, complex young female lead character;
• The trilogy is exceptional for its realistic presentation of the conflicted emotional life of a teenage girl;
• The trilogy offers important criticisms of the state of our world today, including societies that package the most impoverished and desperate among them for the entertainment and sport of the wealthy (see Reality Television);
• The trilogy highlights the growing disparity between rich and poor in our society, where the rich focus on their own bizarre gratification while the poor slowly starve to death;
• The trilogy brings to our attention the injustice of societies that enlist the least empowered of their citizens to fight and die to protect the comfortable lives of the select few;
• And much more.

That’s all great. But my problem is, the ideas might be worthy but the writing is not.

I get the feeling that Collins sold her publisher on the idea of publishing this trio of novels with only the first part of the first novel lovingly completed. When the publisher gave her a contract, it also gave her a series of deadlines to finish each novel in the collection, deadlines which were more about making money than about producing quality fiction.

That’s the only way I can possibly explain how incredibly good the first part of the novel is – it proves that Collins has a talent that few possess and many would envy – and how disappointing the remainder of the trilogy truly is: Collins was rushed in finishing book one and in producing books two and three and, thus, unable to give them the care and attention that she devoted to the first 170 pages of the first novel.

I may be wrong but that’s what it feels like to me.

The first novel is a simple story. Katniss Everdeen, at 16 forced to care and provide for her mother and baby sister as they struggle to survive in the most impoverished of her nation’s 12 districts, finds herself polished up, sold to an adoring public and then dropped into an Arena to fight and, if possible, kill 23 other young people from the rest of the country. We live every moment with Katniss and, for the most part, it’s a tense, stirring, surprisingly “real” experience.

The book is successful because it involves a challengingly complex main character, a brutal set of challenges and just enough information on the society from which those challenges spring to keep the reader happy.

The second book, Catching Fire, is too often a mere retelling of the first novel. The plots are similar, the thrills all too familiar and the themes a rehash of the original. The main character remains stagnant and the other characters too often devolve into mere cartoons. I have to keep reminding myself that the target audience is young adults so perhaps they won’t be able to predict how the novel will end as easily as I did. But I can’t help but believe that Collins underestimates the youth of today. The ending is badly telegraphed early in the novel, which makes the reader’s slow progress to the end practically unendurable.

The third book, Mockingjay, is worse. With Katniss now dressed in a Mockingjay costume, armed with a bow and arrow to take on the Capitol’s hoverplanes, fire bombs and machine guns, the novel deteriorates into the worst kind of super hero comicbook. This is the story of the revolution of the impoverished Districts against the all-powerful Capitol and, unfortunately, it requires Collins to provide a little too much detail about the political and social structure of this futuristic nation, detail that simply fails to cohere. Once again, the ending is telegraphed and any even moderately attentive reader will know what will happen long before the end finally comes.

And I can't help feeling greatly disappointed with the very end, the epilogue, if you will, wherein we see this complex, rebellious, fiercely independent young woman settled down into the all-too conventional life of wife and mother.

I still plan to see the film version of The Hunger Games but I doubt I'll ever read any of the three books again, nor will I recommend any but the first to friends who express an interest.

Today's Photo: The author surveys Halifax harbour from the bridge on a visit made several years ago.

Tags: The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay, Catching Fire, Halifax, Writing, Novel, Courtroom drama

Sometimes the hardest thing about writing is combining realism with pace.

When you're writing a mystery novel, or a court-room drama or anything like it, you want to make sure that the plot, the characters, the individual scenes feel real for the reader. That can mean a lot of things, from making sure your characters are well-rounded and interesting, to planning your plot so that events follow upon each other in a logical, rational way, to working in the details that make each scene real and alive.

You have to try to avoid, for example, creating a character who is too good to be true, lacking in any personal or personality flaw so that she becomes flat and uninteresting. You have to avoid making your villain too purely evil. After all, as Ricardo Montalban once said, evil characters rarely see themselves as evil: they feel they have legitimate reasons to do the evil things they do, that they are justified, even laudable, in their behaviour.

The plot must develop logically, later events developing naturally out of earlier ones. A character's behaviour must be consistent, responding to the events of the novel in a manner that makes sense with their own backstory and previous actions. You can't skip important developments in the story, unless you find some way to circle back to fill in the holes. You want the reader to flow through the plot with you, accepting every event as being a reasonable product of previous occurrences.

And each scene should be meticulously designed and written to be believable. This can be accomplished through the inclusion of small details about people and places that strike the reader as accurate and appropriate and by making sure that the physical actions you describe make sense in the setting in which you have placed them.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

The problem is, being realistic takes a lot of time. And space. If you, as a writer, get so caught up in creating realism that you lose track of the dramatic pace of the story, you're going to lose your reader.

Here's an easy example. In a real-life criminal court room, the closing statement of the prosecuting attorney can often take hours, if not days. The prosecutor carefully reviews all the evidence that has been presented to the court, lays out how that evidence cumulatively satisfies the requirements of the charge and supports a conviction, and, along the way, attempts to address any seemingly contradictory evidence that may have been presented by the defense. It is a slow and meticulous process.

But, to be absolutely honest with you, it's boring. Truly. Yawn-inducingly tedious. That's why television legal dramas cut that closing statement down to 30 pithy seconds. For one thing, it does haven't the time to present the closing argument fully and, secondly, it will lose its audience if it even tries.

Writing a novel is the same. When I have my main character witness a crime, I try to describe what he sees in vivid detail so that it becomes real, alive and hopefully riveting for the reader. But I know that, as soon as the police arrive, my character is going to be expected to describe what he saw, in intense detail, to the investigating cop. And then tell it again. And again. And maybe again. And then he'll have to review a typed copy of his statement and sign it.

In order to make my novel accurate, true to life, these tellings and re-tellings of the incident he witnessed have to take place. Because, in real life, they do.

But, in order to keep the novel moving and make in interesting, I have to find some way to be real without being repetitive and boring.

If I err, I tend to err on the side of too much detail in my writing. I'm still learning how to transition from one scene to "Later that day, after he'd given described what happened in detail for what seemed like the tenth time..."

I have to remember: reality is, quite frankly, boring. It is the job of the writer to shape reality into something more interesting and fast-paced, while still "keeping it real". No easy task, let me tell you.

Today's Photo: The lighthouse on the northern tip of Grand Manan island, New Brunswick.

Tags: Writing, Novel, Courtroom drama, Mystery, author, Publishing, book

I was a lot younger then. In 1998, I was still in my early 30s, not yet married, living on my own in a basement apartment, with a growing law practice and a long-distance relationship.

All of that meant that, when I agreed to write a text book on real estate law for a Toronto publisher, I could dedicate my evenings and weekends almost exclusively to that task. I completed the manuscript in a matter of months, submitted it ahead of deadline and received positive feedback for how clean my writing was. There was very little editing to be done and, when the text first appeared on campus book shelves across Canada in 1999, it sold very well.

My relationship with Emond Montgomery, the publisher, flourished and I was asked to co-author two further texts in 2000 and 2001, books that have also done fairly well. The real estate book, however, was the big one and I was pleased to revise it for a second edition in 2003. Sales continued to be strong and we were all very happy.

Since then, EM has continued to be good to me. I’ve written a chapter for another book and have seen them translate materials from some of my earlier texts into specialized editions for different post-secondary programs. The publisher has asked me on several occasions to revise both the real estate text and one other (which one, to be honest, escapes me) but I have unfortunately felt compelled to turn them down since I was, by the time of their requests, no longer practicing law and no longer up on the most recent developments in the practice.

That doesn’t mean, however, that EM and I are no longer friends. In fact, they recently asked me to update my biographical note on their website and, even eight years since our most recent direct collaboration, they still send me a very nice present every February: a royalty cheque.

I just got the latest little present and, although it is no longer quite so big and robust as it was in the glory days, this cheque is still a welcome financial injection.

And it is still a source of amazement for me. Think about it. I completed work on these books and chapters more than eight years ago and yet I’m still earning money from them. And not a trifling amount either.

It’s not making me rich, of course, but the cheque is worth the effort in cashing it.

The funny thing about those books is: the money wasn’t even the best part. I still cherish the joy and wonder I felt when I first opened the box and saw my name on the cover of a published volume. I am still amazed when I walk into a college or university book store or any kind of library and find one of my books on the shelves. It’s a rush, an amazing feeling, a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that I had never imagined was possible.

Perhaps the biggest writing rush I ever had, however, came when the first edition of the real estate text was still fresh and new, when I was still practicing law in the West End of Hamilton. I had occasion to call First Canadian Title Insurance Company in Toronto on behalf of a client and, when I spoke to the FC clerk and told her my name, I heard a sharp intake of breath.

“Are you really Mark Walma?” she asked.

I laughed, a kind of uncomfortable, uncomprehending laugh, and said, “Yes, I am.”

“The author of the text book?”

Comprehension dawned, bringing with it a rush of excitement and satisfaction. “Yes, that’s me,” I said.

“Oh my god,” she said. “I can’t believe it. Did you know that we have your text book right at our desks? Whenever we have a question on some real estate issue, we say, ‘What does Walma have to say about it’ and then flip through your book.”

The rest of the call is a blur, to be honest, because I was instantly overwhelmed by what I was hearing. My book had taken on a life beyond me. It was “Walma” and it was being turned to on a consistent basis to answer questions and resolve issues in the offices of one of the biggest title insurance companies in North America.

The memory of that telephone call still makes me happy.

If the publication of a text book can bring that much joy to my life, can you imagine how I will respond if and when my fiction, the writing that really means something to me, finally finds a publisher?

Today's Photograph: A Blue Jay nabs a peanut with his beak near Oshawa, Ontario.

Tags: Emond Montgomery, Publishing, Advanced Residential Real Estate, First Canadian Title, Royalties

Two topics today, in this first update in a long time.

First, my writing.

As many of you will know, I currently have a manuscript for a novel being considered by a publisher in Toronto. When they contacted me to ask for the full book, they told me it would take up to three months for them to make a decision. We’re now coming up on the three-month mark so I’m starting to get a little antsy.

And it’s having an effect on my work on the next novel. A number of questions keep running through my head: if they decide to publish the first book, should I consult with them on the next one, to make sure it’s in line with their plans? If they decide not to publish the first novel, should I try to make adjustments to the writing style and narrative approach, to make both novels more marketable?

Either way, should I be pushing forward with The Final Curtain while the future of The Silent Goodbye is still up in the air?

Tough questions to answer. Still, I have a couple of very positive writing sessions this week and have been working to inject even more action into the first 40 pages.

Second, Patti and I went to see a live performance of the classic musical, Fiddler on the Roof.

Now I first experienced Fiddler on the Roof in 1971, when I was still a little boy. Norman Jewison’s classic film of the stage play came to our local cinema, the Westdale Theatre in Hamilton, and I went with my family to see it.

I can’t say for a fact that Fiddler was the first film I ever saw but it might just be. Movies were simply not a regular part of our lives back then. In fact, it was still a real novelty to me when, some six years later, I got my first part-time job at Mothers Pizza, across from the Westdale, and started going to the one-dollar double features every Friday night.

So, yes, maybe Fiddler was indeed my first taste of the cinema.

I was probably more enthralled simply to be in the theatre than by the film itself. I remember, however, that Tevye’s “nightmare” scared the heck out of me and continued to haunt me for months thereafter.

Someone in my family bought the soundtrack album, with its lively drawing of Tevye dancing on the cover, a record we played so often we knew all the songs by heart. The only reason we stopped playing it was because the cover had fallen to pieces and the disc itself had become scratched and warped.

I now own Fiddler on both VHS tape and DVD and I have picked up CD copies of the soundtracks for both the original Broadway show (with Zero Mostel in the lead role) and the Jewison film (with Topol establishing himself in the public consciousness as the real Tevye).

So when an opportunity arose to see current touring production of Fiddler, starring John Preece as the iconic milkman, I was both excited and a bit skeptical. Excited, because I love the show but have never seen a professional production of it live on stage. Skeptical because, well, how could this production possibly live up to the film version I know and love so well?

The show rolled Wednesday night at the Playhouse in Fredericton before a packed house. After discussing with all of the people within five seats of us whether or not we’d be signing along out loud or not (the group decided that a quiet accompaniment was fine but no one was to attempt to out-sing the singers on stage), we settled in.

And were blown away.

No, it wasn’t a perfect performance. But it was really, really good.

First, the choreography of the bigger musical numbers (“Tradition”, “To Life”, “The Dream” and “The Bottle Dance/Wedding Dance”) was fantastic. I don’t know how they managed to fill such a small stage with so much life, so much movement, so many people flowing in, around and through each other but all four of these numbers were musical and visual feasts.

Second, the sets were lovely. Very simple, very understated but very effective and interesting. The use of silhouettes, of various shades of lights, of simple but meaningful props made the play that much more interesting.

And third, the ensemble songs were, almost without exception, wonderful. My favourite was the final song, “Anatevka”, where a group of six major characters did a lovely job of evoking the sadness and optimism of the townspeople as they prepare to scatter themselves around the world in the face of their eviction from their town. If there was a weakness, it was in the performance of the seminal song “To Life”, where the male cast struggled to stay synchronized in their singing, making the lyrics muddy and sometimes incomprehensible.

With regard to individual performances, the success of any presentation of Fiddler on the Roof begins and ends with Tevye, the central character.

John Preece inhabited this central role with a commitment and verve that rivaled that of the legendary Topol. His interpretation was different, to be sure, but still entertaining and effective. Preece was especially good with his face and had gestures, conveying meaning without needing words. His interactions with Gerri Weagraff (as his wife Golde) were warm and funny and he conveyed the character’s intense internal conflict between his love for his daughters and his commitment to his faith and its traditions in a way that was both real and immediate.

Another highlight was Sarah Sesler’s performance of “Far From the Home I Love”, for me the most emotional song in the show, which more than made up for my earlier qualms about her acting. I’d like to take Sesler’s soulful, evocative rendition of this tune and insert it into the Jewison film wholesale, replacing the original, as good as it was.

Chelsey LeBel is also especially noteworthy in the role of Hodel, the daughter who eventually breaks her father’s heart by marrying outside her faith. LeBel captures the character’s intelligent, witty defiance perfectly and manages to hit the right emotional note in each major scene she is given. She conveys a charming, almost precocious, intelligence in early scenes with her family, a nice mixture of flirtatiousness and reticence in her interactions with the Russian soldier Fyedka, and an understated desperation when she returns to her family at the end to say goodbye.

This production of Fiddler on the Roof continues to tour North America and, if it comes to your town, I heartily recommend it.

Tags: Phillip Gold, Novel, Courtroom drama, Fiddler On The Roof, John Preece, Chelsey LeBel, Gerri Weagraff, Tevye, Fredericton, Playhouse

If my memory serves, the great (and prolific) horror writer Stephen King is a staunch supporter of the just-keep-writing-and-don’t-look-back approach to writing a novel. He espoused writing the first draft in one great gush, and only when it’s complete going back to revise, rewrite and refocus.

I am a fan of Mr. King’s work but I’m afraid I can’t write that way.

Not that my approach to penning a novel is the product of conscious, rational consideration of the process. It’s nowhere close. It’s more a recognition, as I launch into writing my fourth full novel, of the tendencies and preferences I have unknowingly developed over the course of that body of work.

And my work on The Final Curtain has only served to reinforce those tendencies, confirm those preference as to how I write a novel.

Here’s what I do.

First, I spend a lot of time thinking about the plot lines I wish to explore and how they will relate to each other. As you have no doubt already realized, I am currently trying to make sure my novels have at least two central plots: one based in the courtroom and focused on a significant criminal or civil trial in which my main character serves as one of the lawyers, the other a more action-oriented plot, a mystery plot in which my main character ends up acting not only as lawyer but also as investigator for his client.

Now it’s not surprising that, as I develop the plots, I also find myself developing the new characters associated with each story line. Who are they? What do they look like? How do they act? Where do they come from? What drives them to do what they do? How do they come to know my regular characters? And how do they come to find themselves immersed in my plot?

Once I’ve got my plots (and their associated characters) fairly firmly developed in my mind, I sit down to start writing. I try to open with a challenging, interesting first line, one which intrigues the reader with many questions, which promises that there’s lots of excitement to come. For example, in The Silent Goodbye, the first line describes the way a blade slides coldly across my hero’s throat. The Final Curtain, in its current state, begins with a strong, confrontational statement from my protagonist, a statement that tells the reader that we’re in court, that my hero’s client is in trouble, and that my hero is desperate.

Then I begin writing in earnest. With the plots and characters so firmly established in my head, the writing usually goes smoothly for the first little while. I set the scene, introduce the characters and the conflicts, and try to make sure there’s a whole series of questions that the reader will want answered. That’s why he or she will keep on reading.

In between the sessions of writing, I let my mind consider what I’ve written, probe it for holes in plot or character, run it through a mental checklist to make sure I’ve included everything I had planned to include, look for ways to improve it, make it more vivid, more real, more interesting.

Each ensuing session of writing usually begins with a review and polishing of what came before, filling those holes, adding that which I missed, improving what I can. That process also makes sure everything is fresh in my mind as I start with new writing, moving the story forward. If things are going well, each session is perhaps one-third review and revision and two-thirds new writing.

For a while, the system works well.

But then, almost inevitably, I get to a point in the novel when I realize I need to change something major, or move in a different direction, or add something significant to the early part of the novel that will affect all that comes after.

Stephen King would advise me to leave it and keep writing. Come back to it when the manuscript is completed. Fix it then.

I tried that once. And almost drove myself crazy. I decided that a major early plot point had to change but, instead of going back to change it (and rewrite what followed to be consistent with the change), I decided simply to plow on and write the remainder of the novel as if I had actually made the change.

Problem was, I ended up making further changes as the writing progressed. And, again, instead of revising the earlier parts of the book, I just kept going. By the time I got to the climax of the plots, I was so confused as to what was what that I had to walk away from the manuscript for a while to figure things out. I then went back to do a complete rewrite, an outline of my final plans at my side.

It was one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever had to do.

So this time I’m going back. I have realized that a couple of significant issues have to be introduced at the start of the book and I have now returned to page one to revise the manuscript accordingly.

Is it a bit frustrating? Yes. I’d love to be making forward progress, pushing up the word count and moving further and further into my plots.

But I am reminding myself of my earlier major frustrations when I took the other approach and didn’t go back. I think… no, I know that I’d rather take a couple of days now than waste a month or more later. So I'm back at the beginning once again. I'm no King, but I'm no fool either.

Tags: Stephen King, Writing, Novel, Phillip Gold, Mystery, Courtroom drama, Publishing

An eventful week for me, both writing and reading.

First, the writing. My new year’s plan to attempt to use my lunch hour at work as a consistent window for writing has been working out very well. Since my photo blog ended with the close of 2011, I no longer have to take the camera out for a walk every lunch hour to find the day’s picture. This leaves me about 45 minutes every day to work on my novel.

I know, that doesn’t sound like a lot of time but it’s the consistency that’s important, not so much the amount of time. I find that my writing flows a lot more smoothly if I work on my project every day, if only for a couple of minutes. I start to get into a rhythm, not only with the writing itself, but also with the creative process inside my head.

When I’m working consistently, the plot and characters stay active in my imagination throughout the rest of the day. Even as I’m performing other tasks, my brain is reviewing what I’ve previously written to look for ways to improve it, considering plot developments to come and thinking about my characters and how their realities will influence the chain of events I’m planning for them.

This means that, by the time I finally sit down at the netbook at around noon every day, I end up with a very productive 45 minutes of writing. I have often planned so much in my mind that, even though I work non-stop for the entire period, with no pauses to wonder what comes next, I don’t actually get it all written in the time available.

That’s not a bad thing. I like walking away from the netbook with some things unwritten because that serves as a seed for more thinking, more planning, more creativity.

It’s January 13 and I’m already 15,000 words into The Final Curtain. I’ve introduced the major characters, killed off my main victim and launched the court-room plot. Not a bad start to the new year!

On the reading front, I finally found the back cover of Peter Robinson’s collection of short stories, Not Safe After Dark. Note, this is the expanded 2004 edition of the collection, which includes the Inspector Banks novella “Going Back”.

The book contains a series of short stories Robinson had written and published between 1990 and 2001. There is a very interesting variety to these stories, all of which offer some elements of a mystery but from different angles.

I can’t say I loved them all. In fact, and perhaps surprisingly, I found the three Inspector Banks stories to be among the weakest of the group. It’s possible Robinson, so adept at crafting full-length novels involving this protagonist, struggles to adapt him to the shorter genre.

That being said, I was particularly impressed with the stories with a historical slant, such as “Murder in Utopia”, “April In Paris”, “The Two Ladies of Rose Cottage”, and “In Flanders Fields”. Robinson has a particularly nice narrative voice that he seems to use solely for these kinds of stories, a voice that is more literary and lyrical than that used in the Banks tales.

He is also particularly good at focusing on the psychology of the situation, the philosophical and moral impacts of the decisions made by his characters. In “Murder in Utopia”, for example, the main character solves the murder but then faces the impossible choice of deciding whether the pursuit of “truth” should prevail over what is perceived to be the greater good for the entire community. The decision fractures the character and results in him making a significant, difficult decision with regard to this own life.

“Innocence” is another interesting psychological study, looking at the impact of simply being charged and tried for a heinous crime on an innocent, though socially odd man. I have to admit, Robinson’s story made me wonder at some of my own personal peculiarities and behaviour traits and how they might come to haunt me were I ever suspected of a brutal act.

I enjoyed this book because it gave me an opportunity to see a talented, successful writer experiment with other forms, genres and narrative approaches and styles. Some are successful, some are not. But I came away from this reading wishing that Robinson would spend more time on the historical, psychological stuff in the future.

Today's Photo: Spire and Wires, the tower at Gibson Memorial United Church in Fredericton's North Side is bisected by the city's ever-present electrical wires.

Tags: Peter Robinson, Not Safe After Dark, Mystery, Novel, Publishing, manuscript

With the start of a new year, I wanted to take a minute or two to reflect back on the writing I’ve done during 2011 and to consider whether or not my current sense of lingering disappointment in my own commitment to my writing is really warranted.

These last couple of months have been busy and challenging from a variety of standpoints and I’ve been feeling lately that I haven’t been devoting enough time to my writing. I certainly am feeling a measure of frustration both with myself and with my busy life as well.

But the question I asked myself was this: do I deserve the criticism I’ve been leveling at myself?

To my surprise and relief, I have found that 2011 was a much more productive and interesting year than my current mood seems willing to recognize. And, as 2012 opens in front of me, I find that things promise to be even better in the next twelve months.

One major accomplishment from the past year is my Fredericton 365 photographic blog, which drew to a close on December 31. When I decided, at the end of 2010, to launch this year-long journey, I didn’t anticipate just how much time and energy it would take. First, there was the challenge of finding and taking the photograph. Then came loading it onto my computer, editing it where necessary, then posting it to the blog. But it didn’t end there: every day for 365 days, I wrote anywhere from 100 to 500 words of text to accompany each photograph, commenting on the image and how it was taken. No easy task and one that I found increasingly wearing as the year went on.

I’m proud of the final product – 365 days of text, with close to 400 photographs to accompany it – but I’m also not afraid to admit that I’m relieved to see it come to an end. I’ve had several people contact me to express their disappointment that I am not making in an ongoing daily blog and I appreciate their interest and support. But I want to be able to devote the time and energy that I put into that blog last year into other writing projects this coming year.

So, while I might create a new photo blog that will, from time to time, offer new pictures I have taken, I have no intention of continuing to make it a daily task.

A second major accomplishment of the past year is the submission of two packages of fiction to Canadian publishers: a novel and a collection of short stories for young people. Anyone who has prepared such a package will know just how much work goes into it, starting with the actual polishing of the written work to be submitted and including such challenging additional tasks as writing a cover letter, a synopsis, a CV and a marketing plan for each package.

I’m pleased to be able to say that the novel submission has attracted at least preliminary interest from the publisher: they are currently considering the complete novel manuscript for publication and should get back to me sometime in the next month or so with their decision. To be frank, I’m trying to put the whole thing out of my mind so that the anticipation, excitement and dread don’t overwhelm me. Just the fact that the publisher saw fit to invite me to submit my manuscript after reading my submission package is already a source of welcomed confidence for me and my writing; a publishing contract would be a dream come true.

With regard to the short story package, I haven’t heard anything. I have a feeling that I sent it along too late for the publisher’s fall “slush pile” review (the novel package went to the same publisher but about a month earlier) so I might not hear anything about it until later in the spring of 2012.

Over the past year, I have also been active in writing this blog, a monthly blog for my work (which is not publically available), a sports blog as well as a blog on Harry Potter. So I’ve actually produced an awful lot of writing but… Is it possible I’ve been spreading myself a little bit thin?

With the photo blog now completed, I plan to make the completion of my next Phillip Gold courtroom drama/suspense novel my priority for 2012. I’ve already gone a long way in the planning and plotting of this book so now it comes down to the writing. I hope to spend time on it every day from here on out, the only real approach that I know of that guarantees steady, consistent and high-quality progress.

Sound ambitious? Maybe. But I devoted almost every lunch hour during my work week to finding and taking the photos last year so I shouldn’t find it too difficult to use that time, instead, for writing.

Today's Photograph: The United Church Cathedral at the entrance to Fredericton, at night.

Tags: Phillip Gold, Writing, Novel, Publishing, slush pile

Access Copyright, through its Payback Program, has made my day. My month, really. Maybe even my year.

They have elevated me to the status of a god. Look at that photograph. See the letter? It's from Access Copyright, the controversial group that purports to collect royalties on behalf of writers as compensation for certain uses of their published materials. I registered my several legal texts with AC some time ago and have been receiving a cheque every year ever since. Not a huge amount. But worth while.

Now AC is embroiled in some big controversy over the conflict between what it argues are the rights of the authors it represents and various organisations that make use of the published works, like university libraries. I have to admit, I haven't paid as much attention to the issue as perhaps I should.

But this letter endears me to my "people" at Access Copyright. For some reason, they have appointed me their god and creator. I'm having a hard time not reading this letter as a prayer... to me. "Dear Creator..."

Not that I've done much to deserve such adulation. And not that I don't feel it's a bit inappropriate to be so elevated, considering the intensity of many people's belief in their creator and god.

But it did strike me as funny when I opened the envelope and found myself addressed in this way. I wonder what my subjects desire of me. I wonder what I can do to make their puny lives more bearable.

I wonder how much money they sent me.

Tags: Access Copyright, Writing, Publishing, Royalties, Texts, Emond Montgomery

Finally. Finally I was able to find the time to sit down at the netbook and begin to write the revised courtroom plot for The Final Curtain. I feel like it's been weeks since I started to make progress on developing this plot but life kept getting in the way of my actually writing it.

I'm at my best as a writer when I work regularly, usually for an hour or two every day. That allows me to create a flow, to pick up the threads of the novel without having to think about it, to make consistent progress with consistent tone and rhythm to the writing. I have to get myself back to that pace soon.

That being said, I was pleased with the way things went yesterday. I wrote about 2,000 words, starting in the courtroom with an interesting scene. I think I have found ways to provide background information without including too much exposition and to introduce new characters through their actions and words rather than through my descriptions of them.

As important, I found the words came easily and smoothly to me. I didn't struggle over particular sections or get caught up in a small phrase here and a single word there. To me, that easy flow in the writing tells me I've developed my understanding of the plot and characters to a useful degree, that I'm not having to consider each description, each phrase as I go.

But I've also not developed things so far that I am inhibited in the creativity of the writing process. I know where I want to go; I know who the characters are. But I don't know them so well that I can't take advantage of sudden inspirations, interesting ideas that occur to me even as I'm writing.

This a nice place to be.

I doubt I'll meet my self-imposed deadline of having a draft completed before Christmas but I should make good progress by then.

Today's Photo: Reflections of New Brunswick's past, in the windows of Queen Street.

Tags: Writing, Novel, Phillip Gold, The Final Curtain, Mystery, Courtroom drama, Publishing, netbook

I am a trained lawyer with some courtroom experience. My sister is a trained lawyer with a great deal of courtroom experience. My brother-in-law is a trained lawyer and now a judge with a great deal of courtroom experience. So when, on a recent visit to Ontario, I had a chance to sit down to chat with them, I couldn’t stop myself from asking for their thoughts on my planned courtroom plot for The Final Curtain, my next Phillip Gold novel.

I outlined for them the events that I have devised to lead to the trial that will be the basis for that courtroom drama. I then asked them: based on these events, with what criminal offences would Gold’s clients be charged and what interesting legal issues might arise.

The result was a fascinating conversation, one which convinced me that my courtroom plot will be a doozie. It became clear as my sister and brother-in-law batted the situation around between them that there are plenty of issues that will arise and plenty of strategic decisions that will have to be made by both the Crown and the defense as the matter moves forward.

In simple terms, the courtroom plot will be based on a situation where Gold’s client breaks into another person’s home and accidentally causes a fire, which then gets out of control and results in the death of the home owner’s young child.

According to my family discussion of these events (with a great deal more detail provided, to be honest, on both Gold’s client and the situation), it looks like the client will be charged with first degree murder, manslaughter (either separately or as an included offense), criminal negligence causing death, robbery, break and enter, arson and perhaps criminal harassment and several other minor offences.

There might be issues of whether or not Gold wants the matter to be tried in front of a Jury or by Judge alone (if he wants to go by Judge alone, he has to obtain the Crown’s consent), whether or not he wishes to waive the Preliminary Hearing and whether he wishes to apply for a change of venue for the trial.

Once the matter gets to trial, there appear to be no end to the legal issues that will arise and the tricks and turns that could occur as the matter proceeds.

This conversation has convinced me that I’ve got a good courtroom plot cooking, maybe even too good. My challenge as a writer is to present it vividly, realistically and convincingly, while ensuring that it is complex enough to maintain interest yet simple enough for the non-lawyer to follow.

Such fun! I can’t wait to get writing.

Today's Photo: Night time in North Head, Grand Manan.

Tags: Courtroom drama, Phillip Gold, The Final Curtain, Novel, Mystery, Writing

There is nothing like the combination of a busy work schedule, a busy social schedule and a persistent illness to keep a person from making progress on his novel. The next step for me in the writing of The Final Curtain is to sit down and start to write. A week ago, I managed to work out a good idea for the courtroom plot and to begin the process of planning out the major events in the novel's two plots.

Since then, however, time has gotten away from me. I find it frustrating, to be honest, even though I try to convince myself that my subconscious mind is still working on the novel even if I'm not sitting in front of the keyboard. That does happen, you know: you spend some time away from the manuscript and, when you return to it, you find that your brain has been busy even when your fingers haven't.

In this case, my mind seems to be working on the opening of the courtroom plot, most particularly at what stage in the case should the novel open. I tend to like to write the courtroom plot from opening statements in the trial and on through but I think I could gain a great deal of drama from using a particularly pointed question to a witness by my protagonist, Phillip Gold, as the opening line of the book.

The original draft, which featured a courtroom plot that I have now decided doesn't suit the novel, begins, in fact, with the line "Silence in the courtroom". It's a neat opening. "Why is it silent?" you hope the reader asks. "What just happened? What's the trial about? Who's been charged? With what?"

In fact, as I write this I wonder if I can use it for this novel anyway. Hmmm.... I'll have to consider that. If I can find the time to do some writing soon, I'll see how it goes.

Today's Photo: Snow in October. Can you believe it?

Tags: Phillip Gold, The Final Curtain, The Silent Goodbye, Mystery, Writing, Novel, Publishing, Courtroom drama

This is not easy work. Coming up with a courtroom plot that will provide excitement and tension, that can feature interesting twists and turns and that will offer a brilliant ending? Not easy at all.

And not just because I don't want to continually fall back on the big crimes you see every night on TV dramas -- the murders, rapes, kidnappings -- but also because I want the characters to be interesting and I want there to be a genuine question of guilt or innocence in the situation. If I can introduce a fascinating moral or legal question, all the better.

I know, I'm not asking much of myself, am I? All of that being said, however, I think I've come up with one that may provide all those elements. It's taken some time and I don't have it completely worked out but so far it's looking good. And it should go well with the action plot that will intertwine with it as the book progresses.

What is this fabulous courtroom plot I've worked out? Well, that's for the reading, isn't it?

I've got some final points to iron out, then the wonderful task of sitting down to the writing. I'm delighted with my action plot and, if this courtroom plot is as good as I think it might be, I'm going to have a pretty fantastic follow up to The Silent Goodbye in this new novel, The Final Curtain.

Today's Photo: Spectacular rhododendrons at the Fredericton Potato Research Farm reach higher than even the tallest human.

Tags: Phillip Gold, Mystery, The Final Curtain, The Silent Goodbye, Publishing, Writing

I've taken some time to re-read the sections of The Final Curtain that I wrote last fall. I was surprised, first, by how much I had written and then by how much I enjoyed it. It's not bad stuff.

And I think the next step I have to take as I get back to writing this novel is to do a plot plan, setting out almost scene by scene how each of the book's two major plots will develop. This will allow me both to understand each plot better so as to write it with more authority and effect and to start to plan how the two will fit together and where I can find cross-resonances between them.

I have convinced myself, however, that I have to change the court-room plot entirely, to come up with a new case for Gold to argue in the court-room scenes. In the current draft, I used a plot I had developed in an early Phillip Gold manuscript but I'm realising now that this earlier plot is much better suited to be the action plot of another novel, not the court-room plot in this one.

And so I'm casting about for an interesting legal situation to address, one that can be worked into a suspenseful story that can play out inside a courtroom, preferably with a particularly topical legal question and the possibility of a gripping twist in the trial. It's not as easy as it sounds. Or does it sound hard? Yeah, maybe I should say, "it's as difficult as it sounds".

I've got a couple of ideas I'm developing but none of them is up and dancing yet. I'll keep you posted.

Today's photo: Moon over football field. Last winter, the full moon peers down through the goalposts.

Tags: Phillip Gold, The Final Curtain, Novel, Writing, Mystery, Courtroom drama

I am not sure how long it's been seen I've actually sat down to write fiction. For the past several months, I've been working on building up my blogs, on preparing submission packages for my The Silent Goodbye and the Abigail Massey collection, and on much-needed chores around the house. Now it's time to get back to writing and my first task, I think, will be to complete a draft of the new Phillip Gold novel, tentatively titled The Final Curtain.

If you've been following this blog, especially the old version that has since been archived, last summer my two teenage nieces came to visit with their mom and dad. One day at dinner, we were chatting about writing and the process of planning a novel. The girls started tossing out ideas ("You should name a character XXXX", "She could be a teen movie star", "She could be murdered during filming", "Maybe her little sister could be the main suspect") and we spent a happy hour or so planning out the book.

It was fun for me and it was about as excited as we saw our nieces about anything we did during that visit. Okay, maybe whale watching on the Bay of Fundy was pretty exciting too; oh, and the tour of the Ganong Chocolate Factory and Museum (with all the free samples) caught their attention; and bowling was a good time. So, let's just say the girls really got into the process as well.

I started to write the novel after they went home. It was going pretty well too but then I hit a bump, lost my focus and it kind of drifted from my radar. I think it's now time to get back to it. If I focus and am lucky, I may be able to get a draft complete in time to get it to them for Christmas!

Today's Photo: In the eye of the dog. Lily gazes longingly up at the ball-thrower in the hands of the photographer. Look for the shadow of the thrower to the top right of the photo and for the reflection of the photographer in Lily's eye.

Tags: Phillip Gold, Writing, Novel, Mystery, Courtroom drama

Celebration day as I finally sent my Abigail Massey submission package to the publisher in Toronto. What a great feeling that is. It's a lot of work to prepare the package so it's pretty terrific when you finally slide it into the envelope, add the stamps and drop it in the mailbox.

And it's a pretty hefty package of paper, once it's all printed and compiled. There's a cover letter, a brief CV for yours truly, a one-page synopsis, a marketing plan and three sample stories in there, so it gets pretty thick.

I feel good about sending it and am honestly wondering what my chances are. I think the stories are great and I think I did a really good job on the various elements of the submission package themselves but the odds of any book being published are always pretty long. Some pretty great writing has been rejected on more than one occasion and I have to accept that it will be a huge stroke of luck combined with hard work (and, I hope, a little bit of talent) if I end up having my manuscript accepted.

The silly thing for me is that I'm actually excited about the prospect of putting my marketing plan into effect. There's a lot of fun and interesting stuff in there and I'm anxious to see how successful it would be. Maybe John Grisham or J.K. Rowling can simply put out a book and watch it sell but I know I certainly can't. I've got to get out there and work hard to sell both the book and myself.

Sounds like fun!

Today's Photo: The orange brilliance of autumn in New Brunswick.

Tags: Writing, Short stories, Abigail Massey, Publishing, Submission, Marketing plan

I've been working on the Marketing Plan for the collection of short stories I'm submitting to a publisher this month. You remember, the tales set in New Brunswick during the Second World War that follow the adventures of a group of young women who work at the McAdam Station and Hotel?

When I first read that the publisher wanted such a plan included in the submission package, I thought, "Oh no, how am I going to do that? I'm a writer, not a marketing genius!"

The amazing thing is, I found the process of creating this plan not only fun but inspirational.

I started by doing a lot of research. I scoured the web for sample plans, for advice on promoting a book, for examples of creative ways other writers have found to market their works. I then spoke with several friends of mine who have either had books published or who have worked in publishing. I asked them not only what worked but what didn't.

My friend Ross Pennie, author of three published books so far (The Unforgiving Tides, a Memoir, Tainted, a Zol Szabo medical mystery, and this year's Tampered, also featuring Zol Szabo), is one of the most active, most engaging authors I've seen. He's always out there, speaking with groups about writing, about his books, about the medicine that is at their core, using his own charming personality to convince people to give his books a look. He's told me that it's as much about selling yourself as seeling the book and I think he's right. He's been very successful so far so I've taken his advice to heart.

My plan is, therefore, heavy on personal appearances but not just to sign copies of the book: I'm hoping to talk about the craft with other writers and aspiring writers, to discuss the history involved in the stories with historians and history buffs, to bring the stories to schools and kids groups, to meet with veterans to chat about their experiences and stories that relate to the book, and to talk to New Brunswickers about how the stories celebrate a time in their province's history when the little town of McAdam became an important gateway to the East for Canada's war effort.

I was also very interested in the opportunities for promotion offered by the internet and the various social networking sites. I'm already an active blogger and I've posted a number of videos to Youtube but there's so much more that can be done online to excite interest in a book, its characters and its settings. A great part of my plan involves taking advantage of such outlets in what I hope are new and effective ways.

And, of course, I haven't forgotten the more traditional routes of promotion: the mainstream media, posters, bookmarks and the like. It's all there in my plan.

As I said at the top, the most fantastic thing about this is that, instead of being a daunting chore, the creation of this plan has really gotten me excited about the possibility of promoting this collection of stories. I think they're really good, of course, but I also am excited at the thought of getting out there, meeting people and getting them interested in the collection as well.

It's a really nice feeling. I just hope I get the chance to put the plan into action.

Today's Photograph: Sunshine and fog in the morning in Fredericton.

Tags: Writing, Publishing, Short stories, Abigail Massey, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Ross Pennie, Tainted, Tampered

How do you choose? You've got twelve short stories featuring the same characters and you're proud of every one of the dozen. You have to choose three from among them to include in your submission package to a publisher and you're not sure which. How do you decide?

The first choice was quite easy, actually: the first story. It introduces the characters, establishes the setting (in both time and space) and creates the initial sets of central relationships. So the first story will be included. But after that, which?

My temptation is to go with two stories that I personally like more than the others. It sounds weird to say that, I know, since as the author I tend to like them all. But, for example, one story stands out for me because my mom called immediately after reading it to tell me that she loved it and that it made her cry. I like another because I think it adds an extra dimension to one of the minor characters, a dimension I'd like to develop further in later stories. I like a third because I got the idea for it from a hilarious conversation with a friend and the story reminds me both of the conversation and the friend.

Then there are the stories that introduce new features to the collection: like the ones that make the historical context more real and vivid, or the ones that feature famous historical figures, or the ones that introduce danger and mystery. Or the stories with a particularly interesting guest character. Hmmm.... it's not an easy choice.

Putting my temptation aside, I'm considering choosing one story that directly involves the historical setting (either by way of a famous personage from that era or by addressing an issue that is specific to that time and place) and a second story that appeals to the emotions. I'm attempting to convince the publisher to take on this collection on the basis that these are historically accurate, well written tales that will appeal to a certain age group of kids, providing them with realistic and emotionally complex stories that will both challenge them and engage their imaginations.

I think my approach is not a bad one: send the publisher the first story, as well as a particularly historical story and another that touches on the emotions very strongly. It's just that I've got several stories that fit into each of the latter two categories. I guess I've got some thinking, and some reading, to do.

Today's Photograph: Marlee Marie, our beloved Golden Doodle, in a classic, "I'm pooped" pose.

Tags: Writing, Publishing, Abigail Massey, McAdam Station, Mystery, New Brunswick

Okay, so now on to the next submission package. My first one, sent last week, attempted to convince a publisher to give my courtroom-drama novel a chance. This one, which I hope to send soon, will attempt to find a publisher for a collection of historical short stories I've written for the younger set.

The stories, written in a naive style reminiscent of the old Nancy Drew mysteries, follows the adventures of four 16-year-old girls who find work at a New Brunswick train station/hotel in 1941. Historically accurate and, I hope, entertaining, the 12 tales follow these girls through an important period in Canada's history, as the nation proves itself in the battle for Europe and the McAdam Station and Hotel serves the gateway for troop and supply trains flooding into Halifax from parts west.

They are odd little stories, to be sure, but I think the combination of the period and the particular characters makes them quite charming. Certainly, my friends and family members who have read them seem to enjoy them very much.

I can imagine them one day serving as the basis for a CBC television series, in the vein of Anne of Green Gables or The Road to Avonlea. If I can get this first collection published, I certainly plan to write more stories and I'm even toying with the idea of a full-length novel featuring Abigail Massey and her friends.

The funny thing about these stories is that I found writing them so easy. The characters became real very quickly for me and the plots just seem to present themselves to me fully formed. I'm something of a history buff so I very much enjoyed the research required to ensure realism and to introduce several historical figures into the tales and the fact that I can actually go and visit the Station and Hotel in McAdam, still preserved in its 1950s state, makes it all the more enjoyable an experience.

I hope to get the submission package ready by the end of this week. It's an interesting feeling submitting your work to a publisher. Exciting, scary, but interesting.

Today's Photograph: The McAdam Station and Hotel in McAdam, New Brunswick, as seen from the rear, with tracks and artificial lake in foreground.

Tags: Abigail Massey, McAdam Station, New Brunswick, Writing, Publishing, World War Two, Submission

I've spent the past week (much of it, at least) preparing a submission package for a publisher in Toronto. Is it strange that I actually quite enjoy the process?

There's an excitement to it, as you work very hard to create the perfect cover letter, the most scintillating synopsis, the most effective CV to convey your qualities and abilities and experiences. A feeling that, hey, this might be the one: my novel fits well with this publisher's list; they like books set in Canadian cities; they've shown a willingness to work with unpublished authors.

One of the big challenges about this particular publisher is that it requires a one-page synopsis. Imagine trying to distill all the exciting events, all the interesting characters, all the beautifully described settings in your novel down to a single page!

Another challenge is that the publisher requires a marketing plan. How will I, the author, work to help sell the novels once they're published?

The synopsis took me a while but I finally came up with something with which I am quite happy.

The marketing plan, well, I just loved doing that. I surveyed my friends and colleagues, I researched what successful writers have done, I scoured the web. And I think I came up with a pretty good plan, one which combines both the old and the new, traditional marketing approaches with the opportunities created by the information age.

And how logical is it that the author, especially a first-time author, should be at the forefront of creating interest in his or her novel? As one friend of mine, whose second novel recently hit the book stores and who is currently writing his third, told me: "What sells your books is you. Get out there and get people interested in you and what you have to say."

I had a great time coming up with my marketing plan and, yesterday, I mailed the package away to the publishing house. It should get there by early next week, in time (I hope) for their fall review of fiction submissions. I think my novel is good enough to be published and I believe that it is really right for this particular publisher.

So excitement is high. But I also have to keep reminding myself that the first Harry Potter novel was rejected by several publishers before finding a home (and astonishing popularity) and John Grisham had to self-publish his own first novel (and then sell it out of the back of his battered old car) before getting signed with a real publisher and becoming a huge success.

So many different factors come into play when it comes to whether or not a particular publisher will take on a particular book, no matter how good the novel is. I believe that my book is good. I just hope that, this time, things fall into place and the rest of the world will get the chance to tell me if I'm right or not.

Today's Photograph: Sunrise on the St. John River.

Tags: Novel, Mystery, Courtroom drama, Writing, Publishing, Marketing plan, synopsis

I am currently faced with the interesting challenge of drafting a promotion plan for a novel I wish to submit to a publisher for consideration. I have promoted many things in my life (both professional and personal) but this is a new challenge. How do you convince people (and, preferably, a lot of people) to purchase a print version of your novel?

I've convinced people to take courses, to attend workshops, to rethink their approach to problem solving, to consider a new career. But that's different, I think, from convincing them to shell out their dollars to buy my book.

I mean, I think my book is pretty good. I think it's well written and interesting; it has a strong plot and compelling characters; it will surprise you and hold you in suspense. But that's easy for me to say: how do I convince you to choose my book as your next source of entertainment and diversion?

The question came into even sharper focus recently when my elder sister found herself wandering around an outlet of one of the massive bookstore chains, looking in vain for help in finding the book she wanted to purchase. During her fruitless search, she came across a table set up in a small clearing among the shelves at which sat a pretty despondent and lonely looking person with a stack of books in front of her. This was an author, a Canadian author who obviously figured that setting up a table in Chapters would be a good way to sell some books.

And, apparently, after working very hard to convince the manager of the local store to allow her to do this, she had discovered to her immense sadness that she had been wrong: this was not a good way to sell some books. It was really just a good way to throw away four hours of your life that you'll never get a chance to live over again.

So my sister took pity and actually bought the book. My sister, by the way, is like that. She'll buy a book from a lonely author, give money to a freezing street person, tip a university student waiting tables at an East Side Marios a hundred bucks on a twenty-dollar lunch just because she knows what that tired but still friendly kid is going through.

And then she read the book. And she passed the book on to my other sister for her to read (which, of course, somewhat undermines the nice gesture of buying the book since she should have convinced my other sister to buy a copy of her own. But why pick nits?).

And my other sister Skyped me and said: "Hey, I just read this novel. It was published by this publishing house in Toronto and I kept thinking, as I read it, this publishing house should publish Mark's book. This one's really good but Mark's is even better. And they're somewhat similar so clearly this publisher would consider Mark's book."

My sister's idea is a really good one. I have reviewed this publisher's book list and my work would fit right in. So I'm going to submit it. But they require a promotion plan as part of that application so I have to think of ways to promote the book and convince people to buy it.

And I think we've already established that setting up a tale in a bookstore somewhere is really not an efficient way to sell your novel. Unless you think selling one book every four hours to a kindly sympathetic shopper who only found you because she couldn't find a salesperson to be efficient.

Which leads to a question: when you buy a novel, how do you decide which one to buy? And another question: the last time you purchased a novel by a writer you had never heard of, what convinced you to buy it?

Please send your ideas to me at mark.walma@gmail.com. I'd very much appreciate the help. I've already got some ideas of my own that I think are pretty good but I'd still appreciate your blockbuster thoughts as well.

Today's Photograph: The skyline (if you can call that a skyline) of downtown Fredericton (if you can call... whatever) taken from the north shore of the mighty St. John River at water level. Now that's a river!

Tags: Writing, Novel, Publishing, Mystery, chapters book store, skype

I have spent much of my life writing.

In grade eight, I wrote a poem about the end of the world and was thrilled when the teacher copied it in huge letters on one of those flip chart pages and had it posted on the wall in the school library.

In eleventh grade, I wrote a short story. It was about a young kid living in Nazi Germany during the Second World War who smuggles information about V2 rockets out of the country and into Allied hands. My grade-eleven teacher gave me a perfect twenty out of twenty and wrote at the end of my story, "This is worthy of publication".

Those two events sparked a lifelong interest in writing. I studied English Literature in University, earning a BA and an MA. I wrote for the school newspaper but I also continued to write creatively, publishing stories and poems in local publications. After graduation, I went into print journalism as my first career.

Since then, I've worked as a lawyer, a human rights officer and now a policy analyst for the provincial government but I have never stopped writing. I authored a legal text on real-estate transactions that went to a second edition almost 10 years ago and continues to sell well. I co-authored legal texts on corporate law and on police powers and procedures. I designed and taught courses in creative writing at two universities and in business writing for several corporations.

I have had articles published in several magazines, a short story of mine took second prize in a strange, national contest and I am currently writing three regular blogs as well as this one (which is not so regular, as you can see).

What I really want to do, however, is publish my creative work for a wider audience, with a professional publisher. So far, that goal has eluded me. Not that I haven't been close but I never seem to be able to get to that final, here's-your-novel-in-a-bookstore step.

In some ways, the pursuit, the effort, the long-term dream has been as exciting, perhaps even more exciting, than the reality itself might be. I love writing the original manuscript, I love getting feedback from trusted colleagues and friends, I love doing revisions based on comments and suggestions from real live publishers.

I hope that all of this work, all of these close calls, all of this anticipation will make that moment when I finally get a novel or collection of short stories published that much more exciting, that much more fulfilling.

Despite the several setbacks, for some reason, I truly believe that someday I will get my creative work published professionally.

I know that only a very small percentage of manuscripts written by unpublished authors actually do see the light of day but for some reason I feel confident that I will, one day, get published.

So I'll keep working, thinking, writing. And some day...

Tags: Writing, Novel, Mystery, author, Publishing, poetry, Canadian literature

A while ago, I dismantled my Writer's Blog page. I had been writing an almost daily commentary on my writing activities for I think more than two years but, after recent setbacks and challenges in my life, I made a decision to discontinue the practice. I replaced the original blog with something I called "Nothin About Writing" but even I didn't find that interesting at all. I wrote a total of seven entries over three months.

I started another blog, in another space, which focused instead on photography. That blog, titled Fredericton 365: A Year-Long Photographic Journey in New Brunswick, features a new photograph (or sometimes two) every day, taken as part of my life here in New Brunswick. I've been pleased with it. I've enjoyed the challenges it presents and the fact that it forces me to be thoughtful and creative about taking pictures. And I've been happy to see that people from around the world have visited to see what's there.

Today, I've made the decision to re-initiate my Writer's Blog. It will look at my writing endeavours, certainly, but it will also offer my thoughts and considerations on anything else that wanders into my field of interest. It will be a blog by a writer, not merely a blog about writing.

I think I have the right to call myself a Writer and mean no disrespect to those who make their living or reputations at the keyboard by taking, for myself, that title. I can't say I've been a massive public success with my writing but I do have a number of publications to my credit, including two editions of a fairly successful real estate law text, a co-authorship credit on two other legal texts, plus a variety of chapters and articles published in books, magazines and newspapers over the years.

I have even had poetry and short fiction published. Nowhere big and without great fanfare but still...

I may throw the odd photo on this page. I may even put up samples of my writing. We'll see.

At this moment, I am slowly getting back to my writing. I have a surprising amount of work on the go: three novels at various stages of completion (I know, that sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Well, it's true), a series of short stories for kids that I'm polishing, a comic novella that needs attention and two ideas for television shows that always take up space at the back of my mind.

I would dearly love to see some of my creative work get published professionally. Over the thirty years I've been writing seriously, I've had some small successes in this area but I've also learned just how tough a business publishing is to crack as a writer. I've also come to recognise just how good your work has to be to be considered at all, let along get within spitting distance of a publishing contract.

It seems to me to be a matter of quality of writing, sexiness of subject matter and simple timing that gets you published. I think I'm getting there on the first, starting to understand the second and remain quite hopeful on the third.

We'll just have to see where it all ends up.

Tags: Mark Walma, Writing, Novel, Mystery, Phillip Gold, Publishing