Author: Ev Bishop

One of those days . . .

/ Ev Bishop / Leave a comment

So I had a very bad day at work yesterday–or, correction, a very sad day that turned into a bad day–a furious day.

A coworker had a family emergency so we were short-staffed (not good) and it’s been very busy lately (usually good). Customers piled in (as is typical) just after my other coworker who was at work went for lunch. And person after person coming through my station had terrible, heart rending things going on in their lives.

A friendly, kind man who’s come in month after month to pay his bills just found out his wife has cancer and was waiting to get news of when she could get into a specialist in Vancouver. A woman who brought in fresh bouquets of garden flowers for our office to enjoy all summer just lost her father. A couple who was separating: the woman crying intermittently between trying to help her soon-to-be ex with their sweet kids and re-organize what had been joint finances–that horrible awkward crying where you’re trying not to because you’re in public, but your body betrays you and you can’t hold it in. Him: tender and sad too, trying to console her. (I wanted to yell: stay together. It’s worth it. Things will get better. Please.)

And then after all these sad, bruised people comes a total ASS. You know the kind who lives just to make other people wish they didn’t–

Anyway, where am I going with all this? I’m not spilling just to share the sadness, I promise . . . And I won’t bother giving the jerk the privilege of my my choice words. It just occurred to me when I got home that I was/AM so lucky that I get to write. What do people do who don’t have writing as their outlet/refuge/therapy?

My night ended (late), but when I finally went to bed I was feeling soothed by, yes, my words, but also my family, the warm fire blazing in the woodstove, and hot chocolate and a feeling of gratitude. And it occurred to me: that’s why my characters have such bad days. Because they exist. And it’s strange how seeing them suffer and endure helps me makes sense of the world. A bit.

Happy, comforting (or cathartic, anyway) writing to you all.

~Ev

Bitter, Sweet by Laura Best

/ Ev Bishop / 2 Comments

Okay, I really am going to stop posting new posts today–but after just one more happy blurt.

My friend and fellow writer (who I admit I only know online, through her great blog, but she lives in the province second only to mine–and yours if you’re a fellow Canadian, lol), Laura Best just had her novel Bitter, Sweet make it onto the CBC Canada Reads list. See what the reviewer had to say about Bitter, Sweet here. (And omigoodness, Laura, you must’ve been so excited. What a great, deserved compliment!)

Bitter, Sweet also shortlisted for the Geoffrey Bilson Award For Historical Fiction For Young People. If you’re buying books for Christmas presents (and of course you are), you should seriously consider adding this to the pile. 🙂

Is it tacky to promote your friend’s books? Absolutely not. How else do you figure out what a next read should be? 😉

Congratulations again, Laura. Though I didn’t comment on your blog, I was really thrilled by your news!

Get Thee to a Conference!

/ Ev Bishop / 7 Comments

I can’t believe that this time last week I was at SiWC sitting in a workshop called Polish and Shine led by Elizabeth Engstrom (fantastic class!). This Saturday is decidedly less glamorous and thrilling.

All this past week I rode the post conference high, but now the fuzzy glow is fading just a bit (or being blocked from my immediate view!) in the face of the dishes stacking up, the floors being in serious need of a sweep and mop (oh, my dogs–gotta love’em; wish I could shave’em!), the laundry and meals that never cease to need doing/making, and the bathroom, argh, the bathroom! Let’s just not talk about it. . . However, all grumbling and moping aside, my newly reaffirmed goals remain clear and focussed. My inspiration is freshly topped. And when I think of all I want to do, plan to do, need to do . . . Yes, I feel a bit intimidated, but even more, I feel stoked: being surrounded by 600+ writers for four days is seriously motivating.

Almost every year I hesitate before I hit submit to register for SiWC (my annual conference ;-)). Then I recall what it does for me: refuels me for another twelve months, reminds me that yes, writing is a solitary pursuit, but that I am not alone. Literally hundreds upon hundreds of other people identify with and embrace a similar madness!

Meeting with like minds (or at least similarly bent ones), being surrounded by a crowd of folks who really “get” this strange obsession you have with stories and words, and having the chance to learn from others in different places in the writing path than you–well, corny as it sounds, it’s priceless.

Not cost-free though. I’m already starting to put money away for next year, and I think you should do the same.

And less you’re not convinced you or your writing are worth the extravagance of a first conference (or a third, a tenth, a twentieth!), what am I doing right now? Sitting down to write while the house is empty and clear, dirty and in need of a clean as it is–and that’s the whole point, isn’t it? We want to be writers, so we write. We don’t need conferences to give us permission or to remind us–but they do help us remember it. If you have the chance to take part in a writer’s conference, big or small, nearby or far, I really recommend it. It makes all the time we spend in solitary sweet.

And the winners are . .

/ Ev Bishop / 2 Comments

In the whirlwind of having the contest end and flying out to SiWC, I just realized that I forgot to say who won. (At least I remembered to notify them!) The happy book winners are:

Deniz Bevan of Montreal, Quebec – one signed copy of Facing Fire by kc dyer.

Laura Best of Springfield Annapolis County, Nova Scotia – a copy of both Facing Fire and A Walk Through the Window by kc dyer.

Congratulations, Deniz and Laura! And thank you for playing, everyone else. 🙂 I might do something else like this in the nearish future . . .

From the Heart –

/ Ev Bishop / 6 Comments

I’m always excited whenever I receive a new book or magazine that has something I’ve written in it–and receiving this wonderful anthology was no different. When I unwrapped the package of copies that arrived in the post today I actually gasped a little bit — From the Heart – A Collection of Stories and Poems from the Front Lines of Parenting is a simply beautiful book and photos of its cover don’t do it justice.

More important than the cover, of course, is the content. It’s packed full of short essays, poems, and personal vignettes about people’s personal parenting experiences–and from what I’ve read so far, I’m excited to read more. Its editor, Beth N. Davis, did a great job . . . . So yes, a very fun day for me. I’m looking forward to adding From the Heart to my rainy-stormy-crazy-weather to-read pile (Bring it on, Northcoast October, bring it on!).

The piece I have in From the Heart is “Simple Things” — a short essay about, if you can believe it, cud. Yes, you read that correctly: cud, “the stuff, like grass and stuff, that a cow chews and swallows and then regurgitates–that’s barfs up–and chews again for a long, long time . . .” Of course it might not just be about cud. You’ll have to die curious or buy the book! 😉

If you’d like to read more about the anthology, its authors, or the great cause its profits go to support, click on the cover picture within this post and explore the From the Heart website. There’s a buy-it-now link should you be interested in adding the collection to your collection.

Happy writing and reading, everyone.

Cheers,
Ev

p.s. I’ll be drawing for kc dyer’s books, FACING FIRE and THROUGH THE WINDOW on Friday, October 15, so if you haven’t already, comment in the post just prior to this one and get entered in the draw!

Facing Fire by kc dyer – Win a free book!

/ Ev Bishop / 25 Comments

Dear All,

It’s an exciting day for me — and a bit of a different type of blog post from me to you. Several years ago now, I had the pleasure of meeting this crazy-fun, spontaneous author, kc dyer, in Surrey at SiWC.

kc dyer’s books include The Eagle Glen Trilogy (Seeds of Time, Secret of Light, Shades of Red), Ms. Zephyr’s Notebook, and A Walk Through the Window – the first novel in a new series. Its sequel, Facing Firing, was just released this week and her main character Darby is gallivanting about the Internet, doing guest blogs to stoke flames of interest for this latest tale.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s Darby on Facing Fire and how journal writing can spark a great story.

p.s. Please comment so I can enter you name in a draw for a free copy of Facing Fire!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Hi Guys!
 
My name is Darby Christopher, and I’m here because Ev kindly offered to share her special writing space for a day. I’m on a wicked blog tour celebrating the launch of my new book. I’m heading all over the place but this is definitely the farthest north I’ve been since – well, since I had a bit of an odd encounter with a polar bear last summer–
 
While we’re on the subject of polar bears, I’d better start by telling you something about myself. I don’t generally pursue polar bears in my spare time, but after the past year or so it’s become pretty apparent that I do have a weird talent for . . . time travel. This month, as you know, I’m celebrating the release of my new book, FACING FIRE, and it’s got me to thinking. 
 
The story tells what happened after the magical summer that you may have read about in A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW. But before I got to the walking-through-windows and slip-sliding-through-time bits, I had to do a little writing.
 
In the first story, my teacher gave us the dreaded summer journal assignment. At first I was hugely upset –- I wanted to spend my summer skateboarding down Yonge Street in Toronto, not writing my deepest, inner-most thoughts into a lame coil notebook. But you know, after the summer I had . . . well, let’s just say I was pretty glad to have kept a record.
 
So, in a way, I guess you can call me a writer. And if I thought things were weird in the first book? Well, they got a whole heckuva lot weirder in FACING FIRE. Not to mention this little problem at school . . .
 
I’d better not say any more, I think. Let me just tell you – if you write a journal, I think it’s a GREAT idea. And if you want to learn more, I think you’ll just have to read my book. You can find out more about it at www.kcdyer.com
 
Or better still, how ’bout winning a copy as a prize? If you comment on this post, Ev will put your name into a draw to win a free copy of the new book – FACING FIRE. And if you link to this post somewhere else (like in another blog, or on Facebook post or even a tweet) we’ll put your name in for the draw for BOTH of my books. So comment away!
 
By the way, if you’re into looking for prizes, check out my blog HERE at Darby Speaks. I have an AMAZING contest going with some totally fantastic prizes. If you like Twitter, you can follow all the latest on the contest and the blog tour and launches @DarbySpeaks.
 
See you there!
 
And hey, Ev? Thanks for having me. I think you should start, y’know. Tell us all about what goes in YOUR writing journal!
 
~Darby

Tag, you’re it!

/ Ev Bishop / 10 Comments

Apparently there’s a game of virtual tag going on and (in a way sadly reminiscent of “real” tag games when I was a kid) I was tagged “It” before I even knew what we were supposed to be playing. At least this version of tag, however, is fun!

Jennifer Neri (whose blog is wonderful, by the way) got me and the game is simple: now I have to answer the eight questions below and tag five other bloggers. Read my answers, if you’re interested, and at very least scroll down to see if I ran fast enough to catch you. 🙂

1. If you could have any superpower, what would you have? Why?

Oh, this one would be hard except, fortunately, it’s something I have spent a lot of time thinking about as my husband, kids and I discuss it often. Occasionally I’m tempted to change answers–but no, I definitely, resolutely stand by desire to be a shape shifter (able to take on both living and inorganic forms). It’s the perfect power. Not only would it be absolutely fascinating and intriguing in every way to get to experience life as you whatever you can imagine, it would be almost invincible protection. Can you name a power that could ultimately thwart it? Hah–I thought not! 😉

2. Who is your style icon?

I’ve read this question answered by others and it usually comes down to clothes . . . Thankfully, Jennifer, my butcher, connected it to writing style, so I feel free to do the same. My style icon is . . . uh, I have no idea. I admire too many authors to list and have never consciously tried to emulate anyone’s specific style. If you’ve read my work and would like to weigh in with a comment as to who you think my writing style is similar to, I’d be fascinated to hear your thoughts. 🙂


3. What is your favorite quote?

For today? Well, it comes from my friend Angela Dorsey (who I’ve tagged below). When asked to comment on her feelings toward the old adage “Write what you know,” she said the following:

“I’m a big believer in write what you want, and even more, I think the “know” is actually irrelevant, except with surface stuff that can be researched. To further explain I actually don’t think we can feel inspired to write anything that we don’t know and understand at least to some extent. If you look deeply enough into your story’s heart, you’ll find the stuff you know, the stuff that makes it a truly effective story, and even sometimes the stuff you want to make more consciously known to yourself through the act of writing the story. But I believe there has to be some understanding, some knowing, of those deeper issues to even be inspired to begin with.”

And I said, “Wow, I really like/agree/am inspired by that,” then posted it here. 🙂

4. What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?

Hmmmmm . . . My Grade 4 teacher told me I was a truly horrible writer and since I was aspiring to write horror at that tender age, I was thrilled.


5. What playlist/cd is in your CD player/iPod right now?

(Embarrassed to say) I’ve been on a steady diet of Akon, BoB, and Eminem lately. I have a 14 year old son; what can I say besides, expletive, expletive, expletive? 😀 (No, seriously, I understand why he likes the music—super talented artists—and we’ve had some thoughtful talks about aspects of the genre or specific songs I have trouble with (and happily, he agrees/takes similar issue with).

6. Are you a night owl or a morning person?

Neither. I like sleeping. 🙂


7. Do you prefer dogs or cats?

Cats. Please don’t tell my sweet dogs though.

8. What is the meaning behind your blog name

Write Here, Write Now – I think it was my way of expressing my desire to work toward my writing goals and my unwillingness to put my writing dreams off to the side–and my hope to challenge other aspiring writers: Come on, let’s go. Write here, write now. 😉

And that’s it from me on these–Ayyyaaagah-trip-grunt-ugh–you’re it! I just caught:

Jen Brubacher

Angela Dorsey

Vello Sork

Shannon Mayer

Holli Moncrieff

Thanks for reading and for playing! (Don’t feel bad if you need to holler “Home free” and pass).

Where I Write . . .

/ Ev Bishop / 13 Comments

My officeTwo blogs that I love to frequent – Murderati and scribo ergo sum – recently had posts about writing spaces: Murderati over a period of weeks as its multiple authors take turns describing and sharing pictures (you’ll just have to visit the site and scroll back through recent weeks for all the lovely inspiring nooks and crannies) and Jen Brubacher here sharing her own unique view of her own little niche in London.

It got me thinking and dreaming a little about where I write. I always wanted to be one of those coffee shop writers who wear cool clothes, smoke endless cigarettes (Whoops, that’s politically incorrect now, isn’t it? — That was my 80s’ daydream. Smoking wasn’t as bad then!), and write reams and reams of brilliant prose inspired by, yet simultaneously oblivious to, the streams of humanity walking past the window, fighting at the table beside them, flirting with or harassing the barista . . .

I wanted to be Hemingwayesque, writing in some Cuban bar that would eventually name a drink after me . . .

I wanted to be ferreted away in some ancient ivy-ridden library–a serious academic with thick, non chic glasses (so non chic that they were chic!). I wanted to have my work space be the turret in an old Victorian styled house overlooking the ocean . . . I wanted to write in . . .

Truth be told, none of those venues suit me. I like absolute quiet or the white noise of my family crashing about the house, doing their thing around me. I can’t be in too interesting a place or all I do is people watch or explore.

I write in an odd little space in the heart of my home — literally the walk through point to get to any part of the house — at a little corner desk designed and handcrafted for me by my husband. The walls have an ever changing assortment of post it notes, quotes, cartoons, postcards, to do lists and random artwork. The shelf contains bottles, sea glass, old spoons, sea shells, rocks, pine cones, fishing net, a tea set, lots of dust and well, other curiosities and pretties that caught my imagination during a walk or explore.

My alter-ego Bobblehead Ev (or Mev, a.k.a. Mini Ev, actually) and her mini Bert sidekick (who, of course, matches my Bert sidekick) keep me company. I stash a lot of pens plus junk in my first “big girl” mug–a yellow smiley orb that’s totally awesome.

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love that it doesn’t have windows. When I stare ahead all I see is the world inside my head. But I also love that I’ve layered it with lots of doodads to distract inspire me.

It’s always immaculately tidy or a huge jumbled mess. There’s no middle ground. And hands down, it’s where I think and dream best.

How about you? Where do you write? In a specific spot or nest or on the fly where ever the muse takes you?

p.s. I’m definitely not the only writer/reader interested in writers’ workplaces. Google “writers’ spaces” and have fun!

Because I love words* . . .

/ Ev Bishop / 11 Comments

Anyone who values language, strives for just the right word and believes that having a whaphappening vocabulary is crucial to communication will adore this informational link.

Dictionary

You’re welcome.

🙂 Ev

*Alternate title: I want my own dictionary

p.s. Is anything better than Strongbad and Homestarrunner except, possibly, Teen Girl Squad? No, nothing is. It’s true. Every so often I forget–and then I remember and then . . . . I lose hours! The creators are sawesome–and zawesome, actually. Freaks–I love them.

A Call for Northern BC Women Writers

/ Ev Bishop / Leave a comment

Anthology of Northern BC Women Writers

Submissions of five to ten pages of previously un-published poetry, literary fiction and creative non-fiction are invited for possible inclusion in a new anthology from Caitlin Press of writing by women from Northern and North-Central BC. Work by both new and established women writers is welcomed. The collection is being co-edited by local award-winning writers Laisha Rosnau, author of Lousy Explorers and Notes on Leaving, and Debbie Keahey, author of Making it Home and waking blood and co-editor of The Madwoman in the Academy anthology.

To be considered, please send two printed copies of your submission, including a one paragraph bio, contact info and your email address, to:

D. Keahey
265 King Dr.
Prince George, BC
V2M 5R1

If you want your submission to be returned, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage. Submissions without an SASE will be recycled. Do not send originals.

Questions? Email pgwomenwriters@hotmail.com