But I’m getting ahead of myself again – I tend to do that when I let my mind wander – especially when I try to write some of the wanderings.  So, to go back a bit, let me introduce myself.  My name is Kate Dyson, and I am a 17-year-old fictional character; the subject of the as-yet-unwritten young adult novel, Write The Dark, by author Sue A. Maynard.  She has a couple of books out already: Carving The Light (a sort of depressing novel about a group of adult sisters who lost their parents when they were younger, and are all trying to keep secrets from one another as they gather for Thanksgiving one year), and Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads (a reimagined version of the Snow White fairytale, which features a young boy, his evil stepfather, and the female woodland spirits who help Ebon as he tries to become the Richest Of Them All).

Anyway.  Pretty sure she didn’t create me to talk about her.  I’m here to talk about me.  Sometimes I have a lot to say, and sometimes I can be pretty quiet.  I tend to do more thinking than speaking (I also love reading, writing, watching and semi-long walks on the beach – but only if I’m in a more tropical land), and I am trying to combine the two a bit with this blog.  It’s kind of perfect, you see.  If you don’t give a crap about what I say, you can stop reading and move on with your life.  But if I happen to say something that…matters…in any way, then you can read or comment or share or argue or whatever.  It can be interactive, or not.  That’s the beauty of the blogging silent agreement – the experience is whatever we make it.  It’s between you and me.  And, like, the entire internet world, but whatever.  It is as personal or as global as we are.  That’s how I see it, anyway.

And this way, at least, I get to leave my mark on the world.  My real mark – not a name engraved on anything, or people’s memories as seen through the rose-coloured glasses of time – this is the real me, more or less uncut and uncensored.  Well, as real as a person of fiction can be (how’s THAT for a PC term?!), anyway.  And while I am not sure that I have anything important or worthwhile to say, it’s still really all I have to share.  So share it I shall – all 17 years of it.  Because, if I’m being honest (and really, what would the point of lying in a relatively anonymous blog be, anyway?), it is my true desire to put an end to this pointless life of mine before I hit my 18th birthday.

Now, before you roll your eyes and move on from yet another blog filled with teenaged angst, let me just assure you of something.  While there, of course, will be some angst (I’m a teenager, for Pete’s sake), for the most part, I have a pretty stable and happy life.  My parents are both still married (to each other), I have a roof over my head, I get good grades in school, and I even have a few friends.  Besides my younger brother, I mean, but most of the time I suppose I could include him as a friend, sure.  When he’s not being an asshole.  But the point is – there is nothing wrong with my life.  No abuse or traumatic childhood experience (unless you count that time I accidentally bleat out a loud, staccato fart during a pause at ukelele practice back in Grade 7), no relentless bullying from my peers, no neglect or isolation (except that which I impose upon myself – I prefer to be alone most of the time) – no outward reason that I can point to and blame for how I feel, or why I just feel like I’m done.  I just do.  I’ve never been happy, and looking ahead to the future…while it isn’t exactly frightening to me…I just see a long long stretch of more-of-the-same; of always pretending to be happy and fine and faking it til I make it.  Because it’s just not happening.  I am not making it.  And I am tired.  I’m just tired, you know?

So I’ve decided to at least leave this little blog bite behind when I go.  I may not want to be here anymore, but that’s not to say that I want to be erased.  Of course I’d like to be remembered.  But I want it to be for ME – not whatever impression I’ve been giving all this time.  This is my way of putting myself out there – of speaking my truth to everyone and no one.

This is my way of not disappearing after I am gone.

You can stay behind, or come with.  I won’t know either way, and you won’t know if you missed anything unless you come along to bear witness.

So that’s it.  This is the beginning of us – of you and me – together and not, all at once.

Either way – whatever you choose – you can call me Kate.

This week, we’re joined by the awesome and inherently adorable Katie Boland. She happily found time to chat with us about her career, her work on Lost Girl, Sex After Kids, how much we love Netflix, awesome books, and Instagram.

We all settled into a couch in a tiny little Starbucks, so pour yourself a beverage and join us for a chat, and lots of laughs as Sue and I chat with Katie Boland.

One of the many wonderful things about the Toronto Public Library system is their Writer In Residence program. I’d never heard of it until a friend pointed me in that direction last year, just in time to get an except of Carving The Light submitted to the woman who was the WIR that time, Elizabeth Ruth.

The idea is that, depending on what sort of manuscripts that particular author is willing to work with, budding writers can submit the first 10 pages or so of their work, and earn a conference with a published author to receive feedback and possible tips for strengthening their manuscript. There are usually several lectures, receptions, readings and such, as well, but I have yet to attend any of them due to time constraints and my work schedule. One of these days, hopefully.

Last year, unfortunately, I got my submission in so late that Elizabeth didn’t have enough conference slots to book me into before the end of her term.  However, she decided to go through and make notes for me, anyway, then delivered the whole thing to me in person so that we could go over it all at least for a few minutes!  Who does that? 

Her notes were very helpful to me, actually, and I used many of them – along with feedback from Vine Reviewers – to re-work the entire manuscript for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award when I submitted it this year.  Since Carving The Light was named as a Quarterfinalist in the contest this time around, and since the reviewer from Publisher’s Weekly who read it did not seem to abhor the entire submission, I’m thinking that all of that advice put me futher along on the right track!  My plan for CTL now is to take all of the feedback I’ve been receiving, re-work the complete manuscript once again, and then re-issue the book in paperback and e-book versions again.  I’m taking a break from it first, though, because I want to let it sit for a bit – and because I have far too many other things to focus on at the moment!

Anyway, THIS year, the Writer In Residence is children’s author Sarah Ellis.  I was deciding between sending her Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads – which is already in print – or the rather new and untitled Ellie Skye story that I wrote for NaNoWriMo last year.  I submitted pretty much right away this time, and then waited a few months before getting my conference time with Sarah booked.  Which means that, by the time I got to her office, I really had no idea which manuscript I’d decided to send her.

Luckily for moi, Sarah Ellis is a lovely person, and we had a great chat about writing and indie publishing and choosing children as a target audience before we even bothered to get down to the actual submitted piece.  I was pretty sure walking in that I’d given her the more polished Ebon piece to read, and was all ready to talk about possibly fleshing it out and making it more appropriate for young adult readers, rather than children.  So it was kind of a happy surprise to find that I’d actually given her the first chapter or so of Ellie Skye, instead!

I had to change gears, but it all came back really quickly, and we started off with the things I’d done well, before moving to the things I could work on in the next draft.  She loved Ellie as a character, and said I’d gotten her voice just right for a 12-year-old girl.  She also loved Teddy the stuffed dog as a character, because I’d infused him with all the personality that he has in Ellie’s eyes.  And some of my imagery was unique and well done, to boot, so apparently I am off to a good start.

We discussed narration, and I told her about how I’d written Ellie so quickly (50K words in 30 days) and that I’d done Ebon not long before, so I struggled with keeping Ellie’s close 3rd person voice throughout, rather than slipping into the sardonic omnicient 3rd narration of Ebon’s tale from time to time.  We also discussed the infamous show-don’t-tell rule, and she showed me examples where I’d done each one, while giving suggestions for how to show more of the things I told.  Oh!  And she said I’d created Nana’s house so concretely that she felt it was an actual house I’d known in life.  It’s not, but parts of it are based in reality, and I drew a floorplan for how I thought it would actually look before i wrote about it.  That helped a lot, but I am pleased to know that the world I was creating seemed visual and real to the reader, too!

Sarah gave me the excerpt back with her typed-out notes to take with me when we were done.  Then she sat back in her chair and said, “So…what happens next?”  I spent a good 20 minutes or so going over everything that happens in the book, after which she asked detailed questions about different character motivations, how hierarchy in the alternate world was established, what the weather is like there, how time works between the two, etc.  The funny thing is, I haven’t looked back at Ellie since I wrote its first draft in November 2011.  But as we talked about it, everything came rushing back to me, and I was answering her questions with the knowledge of the story that is in my head.  Now, whether that is all evident in the book, or not, remains to be seen.  But as I shook her hand and left, I felt pleased with and excited about the story again.  It’s back in my mind, and now I have both the bare bones of a first draft to work with, as well as the overall tips I received from my conference with Sarah to help me move through the editing and revising process.  There is something important I think I need to write first, but Ellie is definitely still in there.  Maybe now she stands a good chance of being seen in print one day soon, as well!

A fabulous experience, this Writer In Residence program.  I’m so happy that my friend finally showed me the way!

Carving The Light did not advance to the ABNA semifinal round this morning, but as a quarterfinalist, it did receive a short review from Publisher’s Weekly – which is pretty freaking amazing, and more than I’d hoped for when I entered. After reading other contestants’ reviews, I was worried about what mine would say. I’ve beens tressing about it for the past 6 hours, actually – once the list went up and I hadn’t made the cut, I knew the review wouldn’t exactly be glowing. And it isn’t. But it does say a few really nice things about my baby, and is more gentle overall than I’d feared, so for that, I am eternally grateful:

 
Shared family pain frames this moving and emotional — if predictable — drama about three adult sisters struggling to survive the haunting memories of their parents’ deaths while wrestling with the secrets they keep from one another. Youngest sister Samantha fears that bringing her girlfriend Sarah to the family’s Thanksgiving dinner will make eldest sister Emily reject her, while middle sister Julie balks at telling her sisters that her cancer is back. Meanwhile, family leader Emily hasn’t told her sisters that she has been following the parole hearings of the man who accidentally killed their mother and father.

These and other secrets press on the sisters and their love interests and test their loyalties to one another as autumn fades to winter. While each sister is a finely drawn and fully realized person, their secrets and conflicts are resolved in unsurprising ways. Additionally, the story is cluttered by the appearance of one character who serves to create unnecessary drama and another whose emotional arc is never fully resolved. Still, the sisters profound love for each other and playful sense of camaraderie make this simple story as gentle as one of its favorite images: the last leaf of summer drifting from the branch of a tree.

Anyway, this year would prove to be an extra interesting one, simply because we got a table to help advertise our blog/podcast, and hopefully spread a little word-of-mouth promoting for some of our other favourite projects, as well. We had some Guidestones stuff, some Dyke Master 3000 stuff (and Dyke Master herself was there on the Sunday), we had advertising for both of my books (Carving The Light and Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads), and pics from several of our interviews, including those with the cast of Lost Girl and Bomb Girls. Just a bunch of things to show what we’re all about, and help pimp the stuff we love.

Because I had purchased my ticket before we got passes for the table, however, I was determined to enjoy as much of the event as I could, while letting others man the table more often than I was. On paper, Saturday was going to be a mostly photo op-filled day, while Sunday I planned to enjoy more Q&A’s and such. The only switch-up was that Paul Wesley (Vampire Diaries) was only there on the Saturday, so I needed to basically stalk his handsome self if I was going to get a chance to see him much at all. And because we were planning to interview our fave Last Starfighter duo on Saturday, we hoped to surprise them with an official photo op on the Sunday, once we all knew one another a little better. Basically, I went into the weekend with everything all mapped out for myself, ready to go.
And yadda yadda yadda – best laid plans, and all that – cons tend to take on a life of their own once they get rolling. So really, while I SORT OF stuck to my plan – a lot of things I wanted didn’t happen (ie every single Q&A on the Sunday) and even more things I hadn’t expected DID happen (ie The Edge…good grief, more on that shortly). I’ve learned over the years to just go with the flow and see where it takes me, and this event was a whole new kind of animal, once we got our table set up and access to the con floor ahead of doors open each day.
So, let’s see. Saturday once we got settled, I noticed that I could see where Paul Wesley would be sitting from where *I* was sitting, and that alone made me kinda giddy. I tried to get an idea of where everything was before the doors opened and people started arriving for the day. I always like to know where the guests are, where the photo booth is, where the panel rooms are, etc. Oh, and what kind of food will be offered, even though I know I should be avoiding it all together – and usually do. I just like to know where the smells will be once I get hungry.
I also had to find where Phil Ortiz would be setting up to ‘Simpsonize’ people, because I really wanted to try and get that done first thing Sunday morning, if I could. I always like to take a quick walk through before the floor gets too crowded, just to get the lay of the land. I was happy to be in the North Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, too. I know the South Building is bigger, and therefore better for larger events, but my first con experience was in the North Building, and it always feels a little like home to me now, being there. There’s just somthing about riding the escalators up to the convention floor that is exciting – I had to stop and just stare for a minute the first time I went up there, and always feel that nervous/excited pounding of my heart every time I ride up and get my first glimpse of all the geeky treasures that await me that day; stretching out before me like a sea of promise and hope.
See? I’m not just a nerd – I’m a nerd who writes!
First up on the official Sue Plan docket was a couple of photo ops with my lovely Firefly boy, Sean Maher. One pic is never enough…I really should have stretched them out for both days, but still…did two shots, right in a row, which was awesome, regardless.

Tim and I went to introduce ourselves to Lance Guest and Catherine Mary Stewart, so they’d have faces to put to the names and recognize us when it came time to interview them. They were both wonderful right from the start, and we officially got even more excited to do the interview after that first quick meeting. They both really took their time with each fan – and with us – which is always very nice to see. I like when things aren’t rushed. Except sometimes when I am far back in line, of course!

I had two more duo photo ops that day – one with Paul Wesley and Torey DeVitto from Vampire Diaries (has there ever been a more aesthetically-pleasing couple, I ask you?), and one with our fave Quantum Leap pair, Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Both had huge line-ups, and passed in kind of a blur, but while Paul and Torey were friendly and beautiful, it was the Quantum Leap moment that sort of took my breath away…more after the fact than during, though. You see, I realized suddenly why I hadn’t been nervous for that one, and it was because I was standing with my arm around someone I knew very well – Dr. Sam Beckett. He’d spent years inside my livingroom, after all, and I’d gone on countless journeys with him and Al (oh, there’s Al now, on the other side of Tim!), so it felt completely natural to me, standing there. And for his part, Scott was SO open and gracious and…just…SAM – I didn’t even realize what had happened until after it was over. So crazy. In an awesome way, that is.

I didn’t get to see the whole of Paul and Torey’s Q&A, but I loved what I did see. Both of them were goofy and fun, they joked around a lot. I took a lot of blurry pictures from the back of the room, and was happy to note that the questions for each of them seemed to be pretty balanced. I hate when there are two people on the stage and only one gets asked all the questions. In a way, that little interaction made me like the show even more than I already do – I got to see the actors behind the characters, and feel somehow more connected to it all. Or something.
Our interview with Lance and Catherine went better than we could have hoped. Oh, we were interrupted a few times, and we went back and forth between them for awhile, until they were able to pull their chairs together and chat about everything together more, but all the wee hiccups made the whole thing even more fun, I think. We were laughing so much, and watching them joke around together was just delightful. You could see their genuine friendship and enjoyment of one another, and Tim and I both just kept cracking up at how fun they were. So awesome…I can’t wait to hear that podcast again once it goes up!

And then, finally, there was The Edge. Adam Copeland, known the world over as WWE superstar The Edge, and known to me as the mysterious and super-cool Dwight on Haven. I thought he was pretty good-looking with the long hair. Gave him a scruffy manly look. But holy monkeys, is he ever beautiful with short hair! As soon as I saw him, I decided a photo op with him had to happen. I didn’t care that he was only there for the day, or that his line-up was huge, or that I was one of the only people who wanted to talk to him because of his acting career, rather than his wrestling one. I was going to have that handsome creature put his arm around me and smile if it was the last thing I ever did. And so it was:

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, I later spot the dude wandering the con floor, checking things out. Tim and I were alone at the table at that point, and I told Tim that if The Edge wandered our way, we had to give him our card and tell him we were Haven fans, and tell him that we interviewed Lucas Bryant and that we’d love to talk to him even by phone sometime before season 3, too.

And by “we” in all that, I meant Tim. Clearly, because I’d apparently lost the ability to speak temporarily once the man drew closer. After he’d had his little fun, Tim finally did hail him, and he came over and shook our hands and remembered that I’d told him I loved him in Haven and he took our card, said Lucas was an idiot and that’s why they get along so well and … I don’t really remember much more than that. I know I said stuff…yeah. It’s kinda a blur. In a great way.

Sunday didn’t go at all as planned, either, but I did manage to get myself Simpsonized, and Dyke Master arrived to attract attention in her sparkly gold shorts, so that was a ridiculous amount of fun. The Phil Ortiz line took up the first couple of hours of my day, but totally worth it:

Besides, we were all kept entertained by the presence of Toronto Batman, who had a booth right next door.
Watching Dyke Master work the room was really more fun than should be allowed. She pulled attention to her like moths to a flaming rainbow unicorn, and I loved every moment I got to spend watching. You really have to check out her comic/blog/Twitter/Etsy store, etc. She’s awesome, she skated through her first con experience like a champ, and I am very proud and honoured to know her.

I skipped every Q&A I’d planned on seeing on Sunday, but I spent a lot more time at the Mind Reels table, and had a great time getting pics taken with Lance and Catherine when they had a few minutes to spare.

First of all, you have to understand how much this pair meant to us when we watched Last Starfighter growing up. Catherine Mary Stewart was this really beautiful girl who seemed like such a natural, genuine sweetheart – and she is. Not only is she a delight to be around, but she’s actually more beautiful now than ever. Lance Guest was this really good-looking, sweet guy, who always seemed to be an incredibly intelligent, grounded, well-spoken dude – and he is. His eyes are somehow bluer than I remembered them, he’s taller than I anticipated, and the fact that we didn’t seem to annoy him with our…us-ness…was one of the happiest surprises I think I’ve ever had! The two of them together pretty much made our whole weekend, really. DEFINITELY a highlight!
So yeah, going back to their table the day after our interview and getting to giggle with them through a few casual shots for the podcast, and then having the official group shot taken as my last trip through the Wizard World photo booth for the weekend – all of that was like icing on an already amazing cake.

While we’re on the subject of photos, actually, I want to issue a quick shout-out to the folks working the photo booth this weekend. They were fun yet professional, and had even the largest lines running smoothly and quickly all weekend long. That ability to not only capture a person’s convention experience, but to also enhance it, is often overlooked, and I will always take a moment to thank the photographers, etc who I feel have done a good job for me in the brief time we’ve had together. It was my first experience with Celeb Photo Ops, but I truly hope it won’t be my last. They really were great!
What else? The Blue Jays won, Tim and I got awesome hot dogs and such from the street meat carts outside, and because Sunday was a slower day, we were able to pack up and leave a little bit earlier than initially planned – so we hit Silver Snail for a few more comics before heading home.
What can I say? We’re nerds – it’s how we roll.

Our mornings started with a quick chat and beverage with our fellow con -goers and exhibitors. That is an awesome and eclectic experience because you just don’t know who you’re going to bump into.

Sue and I settled into our table, getting set up, and ready for the two days ahead of us. Sue and I were giddy with excitement over what we were going to see and do this weekend., and who we would be talking to, and all the new people we would meet.

First thing Saturday morning we wandered over to the Last Starfighter table to say hello to Lance Guest and Catherine Mary Stewart, as we were lucky enough to have a mutual friend who had arranged an interview for us.

Then we settled in, after our photo-op tickets had been purchased to chat with all those people who visited out table… and some of them looked very familiar…

It was also an odd experience to be working our table, and be approached to a couple of people I hadn’t seen in years and who were stunned to find me here touting our successful blog and podcast.

At out table, we were not only promoting our own site, we also chatted about Sue’s books Carving The Light, and Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads, as well as talking about the awesome webseries Guidestones and the new comic book series by our friend Kate Carlsen – Dyke Master 3000. We had a great bunch of people come over and chat about our podcast and blogs (welcome to our site if you came here because of Comic Con).

People were friendly, interested, and were more than happy to engage in conversation with us about all the things we cover here on the blog.

Kate skated around in front of our table (in character) and chatted with everyone! She had a great time, it was her first con experience ever, and I think she really enjoyed herself.

Sue got to say hi and have her photo taken with the Vampire Diaries guests, and then was completely gob-smacked by The Edge, like a giddy school-girl . I should make clear right now, that neither Sue nor I are wrestling fans, but we are huge Haven fans, and he seemed absolutely delighted that we were interested in that and his acting career.

We had a brief chat with him at our table and hopefully laid some groundwork for a future chat with him. He’s on his way back to Nova Scotia to join the cast for Season 3.

So while Sue was being all giddy about that, I got stunned to my core twice on the weekend.

Once when Sue and I had our photo op with Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell… Anyone who read my post on Quantum Leap KNOWS how much that show means to me.

So moments into the picture-taking process, after shaking Dean and Scott’s hand telling him what a huge pleasure it was to meet him, I had to just stop talking, or I was going to break down right then and there. You can almost see it in my eyes in our photo. I’m holding on but barely.

I stumbled out of the photo-op, and Sue was very sympathetic, knowing what an emotional experience I had just been through.

With The Mind Reels we’ve met and interviewed some amazing people, and at previous cons and expos I’ve chatted with some major names… But Scott and Dean together about knocked me down completely.

But I had to outdo myself on day two. In a moment when there weren’t a lot of people in his line, I stepped away from our table, which Kate was manning, and raced through his line-up, chatting with his minders and telling them no, no I don’t need a photo-op or an autograph, I just want to say hi.

Then it was my turn.

I almost froze.

I introduced myself, shook his hand, he was very gracious. And I explained about our blog and podcast, and pulled out a hard copy of the one I had written about Leap a couple of weeks ago. I told him, that I just wanted to say thank you…

And then I couldn’t talk anymore. I just about lost it.

I told him he could throw it out as soon as I stepped away, but I just had to give it to him, and say thank you. On that second thank you, my throat locked and I couldn’t say anything at all.

Scott was polite, friendly and thanked me for those words, and for coming to see him. I couldn’t do anything else but wave at him as my eyes and throat began to burn.

I just about broke down right there in the middle of the con, and barely stumbled back to our table.

I don’t know if he’ll ever read that post, but I know I gave it to him, I know it’s out there forever, so maybe someday… somehow… someone will get it into his hands. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll actually be able to talk to him.

Sue found a mo to step away to have herself Simpson-ized by original Simpsons artist, Phil Ortiz, it looks fantastic!

Sadly while Sue was away…

I was attacked…

Somehow, I survived.

It was touch and go there for a moment, since there were no stormtroopers, jedi or superheros around to save me.

I also made sure I ran over to introduce myself to Sean Maher, because if it wasn’t for our shared love of Firefly, Sue and I may never have met.

He was a little stunned at first that that was why I had come up to his table, but was more than happy to shake my hand over it, and accept my thanks.

The highlight of the entire weekend, and we told them this when we saw them, in our professional photo shoot, was spending time with Catherine Mary Stewart and Lance Guest.

They found time for us, each and every time we went to see them. We chatted back and forth, and the podcast should be just bril when it goes up next weekend.

It just blew us away, that these people, who we grew up thinking were cool, and still are, thought we were cool as well, and happily accepted us.

Both of them said very kind things, and were just amazing, they made us laugh, and by the end of the weekend made us feel that we were more than just another interview.

Like I said in yesterday’s post, meeting your heroes isn’t always disappointing, sometimes they exceed your expectations of them…

For me, Scott, Catherine and Lance (who is so much taller than you think he is) are those exceptions.

Thank you for all that you’ve done and continue to do.

And Catherine and Lance, thank you for being so damned cool and friendly!

I call the Toronto Wizard World Comic Con a wonderful success!!

See you next year!

I’m still sort of in shock, and struggling to figure out what I want to say, let alone how to say it, but I promised myself that I would do my best to get some thoughts down tonight, on the eve of this very crazy day.

Carving The Light was announced as one of the 250 General Fiction novels to advance to the Quarterfinal round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.  I can’t believe it!  I checked the list, saw my name, and was in the processing of refreshing the page (I was certain that I was still looking at the 2nd round list instead of the quarterfinalist list) when I got the first congratulatory note on my Facebook profile page.  It was true – it was real.  I’m a quarterfinalist for the first time ever!

Before I talk about my reviews this year, let me first talk about last year.  It was my first time entering the contest, and I met a lot of wonderful people (many of whom I’m still in touch with), and learned SO much about the contest and the process of finding a publisher and/or agent for my work.  I got help from the awesome folks on the Pitch Thread, and they helped me craft a pitch that was good enough to get me through the first round.  After that, it was a matter of waiting for the excerpts to be reviewed by two different Vine reviewers to see who would advance to the Quarterfinals from there.

I was not one of them.  My reviewers both pretty much hated my excerpt.  They didn’t like the characters, they felt the plot was slow to nonexistent…there wasn’t much good to say about it at all.  And I was heartbroken.  More than that, I’d already lost all faith in myself, before I even wrote the book.  But this was somehow more personal.  I’d had faith in the characters – in the story – and now it seemed I’d been mistaken in that, too.

So I pouted a good long while, and then wrote the first draft of a whole different story to enter this year.  A couple of months before ABNA submissions began, however, I slowly began to realize that Carving The Light and I weren’t done with one another yet.  There were still revisions to be made, and it still needed to make another run at this whole contest-entering process.

I started trying to come up with ways to change the manuscript and make it stronger.  I went through all of the criticisms that had been brought up in conversation over the years, and the two reviews I received  in the second round last year.  I even tried to come up with ways to make it flow a little more logically for my own mind.

I focused on the beginning; on making the excerpt strong.  I wanted to make it move faster, and have the tension build for the reader as much as it was building for the Collins girls as the weekend grew closer.  I made the time between the death of their parents and the present events, so everyone is younger.  This benefits Trick the dog especially well.  I was also told to focus on the present more in the beginning, so i moved some flashbacks either further back in the story, or took them out all together.  I tried to lose most of the adverbs in the excerpt (though I suspect they are still plentiful in the rest of the manuscript).  I tried to make Sarah stronger and less willing to just accept all of Sam’s crap all the time.  I think there were other things, but I am too distracted to remember now.  Suffice it to say, I tried to create a stronger beginning, and am now wishing I’d spent more time on the rest of the manuscript, since now it’s all going to be read from start to finish, and by Publisher’s Weekly, of all things!  Egad.

Additionally, there were some small but wonderful changes in the ABNA process this year.  One is that the Vine reviewers were also given a copy of the pitch to read with the excerpt, which would give them a chance to see where the story was going once the beginning pages had been read.  Another was that the reviewers were able to list their preferred genres to read, which means there was at least a minor chance that our manuscripts would end up in the hands of readers who wouldn’t hate them from the opening lines.

Based on my experience from last year, all of this made me hopeful that my reviews would be a little better this time around.  I used the same pitch to get through the first round again, and then basically just prayed quietly that my literary baby wouldn’t be quite as chewed up this year.

NONE of that made me think I’d make it through this round to the quarterfinals, though!  I mean, I didn’t even talk about it!  I didn’t tell anyone how nervous i suddenly was this morning, waiting for the lists to go up.  I couldn’t mention how many times I checked the boards to commisserate with my fellow 2nd round authors as we all waited together.  And even when I actually saw my name on the list, it wasn’t until after I’d received my first congratulations (Fielder, that was all you, so you know) that I verbalized the impossible.  Somehow, Carving The Light had made it through, and had become an ABNA Quarterfinalist at last!

I hadn’t even bothered to look ahead to what this round would entail.  I had to go back and read the rules to find out what’s supposed to happen now.  And, admittedly, part of me want to check AGAIN to be sure that I made it through before I even post this.  However, I have received my two Vine reviews, and I will post both of them below.  Also, once everything has been set up, you’ll be able to read everyone’s excerpts and reviews and leave comments of your own here.

I’ve read the reviews through a couple of times, and I am still having trouble sorting out my thoughts.  I am grateful, I am relieved, I am eager to make even more changes (though I will wait for Publisher’s Weekly to give their two cents first), and I am suddenly a bit panicked at the idea that I may have to revise and re-issue Carving The Light in softcover and e-book versions a third time to keep everything consistent.  Sigh.

But that is for another time.  For now, please feel free to read and comment on the reviews I received below, and once the Amazon links are up, I highly encourage everyone to go through and read some of the other excerpts that made it through this year.  You can even read mine, since I don’t think I let anyone read what I actually submitted to ABNA, now that I think about it! 

There are a lot of wonderful indie authors out there, and not all of them made it through to this round.  I am honoured to be among them all, however, because just entering takes an enormous amount of courage and determination, and as peers and friends, I don’t think I could ask for any better.  I am a very lucky Sue, indeed.

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

The story line, the writing, the characters, the situations each girl finds herself in, all are strong and firm aspects of this excerpt. The book seems to be headed in a good and definite direction. The plot is interesting and held my attention. The characters are people a reader would care about and want to travel on their journey with them.

What aspect needs the most work?

Honestly, no weak points were evident to this reader.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

This reader would love to read this book. This excerpt had my rapt attention and I was sorry when it ended. I wanted more — !!!

This would be a great book club read. This is definitely a book for women. Each character has a story to share that most women can relate to.

There is a strong sense of family and love, which just adds sweetness to the pot. However, this book has depth and isn’t some sunshine and lollipop read.

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

Three sisters, each harboring secrets from the others, are preparing to meet for Thanksgiving. Good start on a story with infinite possibilities. Thanksgiving is always a hotbed of family intrigue, and this one promises to have more than most.

What aspect needs the most work?

It’s a quirk of mine, but I like knowing where events are taking place. Reference is made to plane travel, to weather issues, but I’d like a little more specificity with regard to locations.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

Three sisters who have had to be unusually close due to the sudden death of their parents 15 years earlier, plan their Thanksgiving reunion. Each is harboring secrets of their own, worrying about whether truths will be revealed. Each is so self absorbed that she doesn’t realize the other two are holding their own earth shaking revelations. The reader is teased about what the final outcome will be, and since the younger two have secrets of exceeding relevance, it pricks interest in the outcome. The writing is smooth, and the excerpt ended with me wanting more.

I’m very lucky that she finds time to do all the things we do for The Mind Reels.

We’ve done conventions (see left where we’re hanging with the awesome John Astin!), so many posts, tossed around story ideas, movie after movie, dinners, book signings, and of course, I am so thankful to have her at my side when we do our interviews. Between the two of us we tend to make our guests comfortable, and we have a lot of fun. But if you ever wanted to take a look at some of the awesome things she has on the go, check this out!

Hooray Sue!

Donna Brown, and her collection of authors who’ve signed up are hoping to make it a GREAT November by bringing us Adopt-An-Indie.

In short it’s a brilliant effort to bring together independent authors and reviewers, bloggers, and the world in general, in a move to do away with the stigmata one associates with self-publishing.

Both Sue and I have published books this way, one of Sue’s is still up for adoption for the month. It’s called Carving The Light, and it’s a heartfelt tale of three sisters who all keep secrets from one another that slowly unravel over a Canadian Thanksgiving. Her second one, Ebon Black & The Seven Dryads is a twist on the classic Snow White tale, and is an enchanting fairytale adventure.

My own effort, Cherubs, is a take on the haunted house story, with an adorable hearing impaired girl, her mother, and new puppy at it’s center.

When the chance for us to be involved with Adopt An Indie presented itself, we jumped at the chance, and I have adopted the novel Guardian Cats & The Lost Books of Alexandria by Rahma Krambo, and so far, now that I’ve settled into it, is very enjoyable. Stay tuned for more on that!

Through the course of the month, there will be updates on the official site, so please follow it, and have a look at some of the books that are out there.

So visit the site…

http://adoptanindie.bookbagsandcatnaps.com/

and read something will ya?

Episode 2.

[Edit] – We’ve started moving our podcasts to YouTube to save on space over at Podomatic. Now you can watch it there, by finding our channel, TheMindReelsCanada, or listen to it below!

]]> http://themindreels.com/2011/10/12/episode-1/ Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:46:56 +0000 TD Rideout http://themindreels.com/2011/10/12/episode-1/ Episode 1.

Join us, Sue Maynard and Timothy D Rideout as we sit down with our first guest, photographer Elizabeth Beard at the Metro Toronto Zoo to introduce ourselves and talk about what we want to do with the blog and the podcast.

It’s a short introductory episode to get our feet wet. Let us know what you think below by leaving us a comment, and tell us what you like, what you don’t and what you would like to hear in the future.

Thanks!

And we have submitted our podcast to iTunes, so hopefully it’ll be up soon and you can subscribe to us there or here! Talk about convenience!!

UPDATE!!!

We are now available on iTunes. You should be able to search for us there in the next day or two, or just copy and paste this handy link to take you there now!!

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-mind-reels-podcast/id472662316