Author: Ev Bishop

Recommended Reads

/ Ev Bishop / 6 Comments

My latest November column for The Terrace Standard, was called ‘Tis the Season, but I wasn’t referring to Christmas–oh no. I was referring to it being the exact right time of year for books, for reading. (And of course, I admitted that really books aren’t limited to one season, they’re a year around pleasure, need, addiction, love–you get the picture.

Anyway as is becoming a November tradition for me (November Nesting, Good Reads), just in time for people’s Christmas shopping, I mentioned books that I particularly loved in 2010–or that I’m planning to read/hoping to love in 2011.

I thought it might be fun if I added to that list here a bit, and even more fun if you helped out and added to the list too. It will help us all. Readers will have that many more choices for their next picks, shoppers will have that many more options, and more importantly (hee hee), I will have recommendations that I can take with me on my next trip to the library, Misty River Books or Coles . . . .

I’ll add mine below (please forgive my sparse synopses–I really hate giving spoilers). Please load your responses with lots of titles! 🙂

For mystery or fiction enthusiasts in general:

The Likeness and Faithful Place by Tana French. I love her first novel, In the Woods, too, though some people might find the ending, well, different.

Any of Louise Penny‘s mystery novels, starring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec, though I’d read them in order if possible: The Brutal Telling, The Murder Stone (also titled A Rule Against Murder), The Cruelest Month, A Fatal Grace (also titled Dead Cold), Still Life, and Bury Your Dead.

Novels, novel, novels:

I feel safe recommending any title by Elizabeth Berg, though the ones I’ve read and loved are: The Year of Pleasures, The Art of Mending, Ordinary Life, Open House, Range of Motion, What We Keep, Durable Goods, and her book on writing, Escaping Into the Open.

And you already read Jodi Picoult right? I just finished her latest (or near to latest–she’s prolific. It’s hard to keep up!), House Rules, about a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome who’s charged with murder. As always, her characters were fascinating and easy to relate to (even when you didn’t want to), as were the issues she raised.

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden is a fictional work, inspired by a real-life WW1 Ojibwa soldier. A haunting read, it isn’t for the faint of heart or for those who can’t abide war stories. Boyden is merciless as he shows the horror and damage inflicted on a generation of young men. However, the book is not without hope and there is beauty in both the character of the protagonist and in the way Boyden explores the power of relationships to soothe and heal.

For younger readers (and for those of us who just love a good story and could care less about the “target market”):

Bitter, Sweet by Laura Best (Yes, I’ve mentioned her before), a historical YA novel set in rural Nova Scotia in the ’40s about a young girl, deserted by her father, then orphaned by the loss of her mother, who struggles to keep her family together.

Ms. Zephyr’s Notebook by kc dyer features Logan Kemp, a rugby freak who’s athletic life is interrupted when he ends up in a hospital fighting for his life, and a girl he befriends (sort of). I read this story with an ESL student (male, age 15, reluctant reader). We both really enjoyed it. Great, believable characters in situations that make you think. Dyer’s writing style in the books is unique too–it sort of feels like a mystery.

kc dyer also just had a new book come out, Facing Fire–another time-travel adventure to join it’s prequel A Walk Through the Window.

Cleavage – Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls, an anthology of short stories that are “hilarious, edgy, comforting, intense” about girls and their relationships with their mothers, their culture, themselves, edited by Deb Loughead & Jocelyn Shipley. Maybe it’s tacky to recommend a book that I have a story in (“My Mom is a Freak”), but I recently reread the collection and was hit again by how fun it is and how important a lot of the issues the stories touch on are. It’s available on Amazon, in bookstores, or, if you want a signed copy for someone’s stocking, through me: ev_bishopATSIGNyahooDOT.com

Non-fiction:

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath: explore “why some ideas thrive while others die.” (I said a bit more about this one in my column, linked to above.)

Firstlight by Sue Monk Kidd, a collection of stories and essays from her early writing life, covering all sorts of topics that never stop throwing us for loops regardless of how we age and “mature”: motherhood, childhood, marriage, spirituality (as it’s mixed into regular life–and as it sometimes transcends regular life).

I first discovered Kidd through her novels, The Mermaid Chair and The Secret Life of Bees. They are amazing, completely engrossing and wonderful–read them first, actually, then when you’re a fan, pick up Firstlight.

The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30) by Mark Bauerlein. I confess I’m only recommending this book, because my 23-year-old brother loved it so much. I found it preachy, poorly written and, well, completely unconvincing. Bauerlien’s problem is not with the intellect of today’s young people (he admits, in fact, that they’re just as intelligent, if not more intelligent, than youth from days gone by), it’s with their failure to be where he feels they should be (in terms of success, motivation in the workplace, interest in politics, etc)—

GAH! I will break off here, before I start a full on rant, but not before I say I guess I do recommend the book on my own behalf. It’s good to argue, to have to think through what you really believe, to confront attitudes you feel are at best, illogically founded, at worst, detrimental to society. Let me know if you read it–especially if you agree with it. I’d love to argue about it. 😉

Okay, that’s it for now. I will be back when I have more time–to see what you all say to put on the shelf and to add more titles myself.

December already!

/ Ev Bishop / 4 Comments

It’s December already—unbelievable, but fun. Deck the halls—falalalala!

I’m a bit afraid, however, because every month I play the “this is the month where everything will slow down and I’ll finally be able to write a little bit more” game—and every month, well, you play the game too, you know what happens: life doesn’t slow down; it only speeds up. Schedules don’t free up; they shuffle so we can fit more in.

But December? I don’t even try to fool myself. Lovely, full month that it is, I know my writing time will only shrink. But that’s okay this year—in fact, I’m looking forward to it. I managed to clear all recent “must write” goals (well, except for the ones I botched—cough, cough, Nano 2010), and with the exception of a few Ev’s Writing Services jobs, I am going to write for the pure fun of it this month.

You read that right. Pure fun. No goals other than to write at least twenty days this month (any subject, form, genre, no minimum word count), plus one tiny structured one. I’m going to enter Jen Brubacher’s very fun sounding contest.

The whole take-it-easy and play theme for December 2010 is a much-needed Christmas present to myself.

How about you? Do you write more or less during December? Do you give yourself a break or do you use the month as one last push to meet your goals before the year turns? Whatever you end up doing writing-wise, I hope you pour yourself some eggnog and really enjoy it.

p.s. It’s not that my writing isn’t fun all year—it’s just that usually it’s goal-orientated, stories I want to submit, a novel I want to pitch, etc. What will be fun about this month is that I have no prior intentions . . . . 😉

A Call for Romantic Short Stories . . .

/ Ev Bishop / Leave a comment

Dear All,

A fellow writer/editor, Jennifer Feddersen just e-mailed with an urgent call for submissions. If you have romance short stories steaming up your drawers ( er — not meant suggestively, of course ;-)), you should consider sending something in:

I’m looking for a holiday-themed (Christmas) short romance story to use as a holiday promotion for AudioLark Audio Books. Here are the details:

AudioLark is looking for 5 – 10,000 word Christmas-themed romance short stories:

What: Your 5 – 10,000 word holiday-themed (Christmas) short story should be original, unpublished, romantic, fun, sexy but mainstream with a happily-ever-after (or at least for now with the feeling it will be ever-after) ending. This short story will be used in a promotion and should be appropriate for a wide, mainstream audience.

When: Deadline is Nov. 15. We will be working very quickly on this. Expect contract and payment to go out Nov. 16 and the book produced as an audio book before December 1st.

How much: Payment is a one-time payment of $100 for audio rights. We would like this story to be an AudioLark exclusive for this holiday season. If you want to publish it in print/epublish/self-publish after January 1, 2011, that’s fine.

What else: Book and author will receive heavy promotion, a write-up on the AudioLark blog and website, and an opportunity to post links to their author website.

Any questions? Please ask!

Send submissions or questions to jenniferATSIGN@audiolarkDOTcom

Good luck! Let me know if you submit anything.

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).