December 2010 Archives

I'm putting to bed the last blog post of the year with some good news. I'm starting my job at the Edmonton Public Library next week and I can't wait to see the diverse writing talent that the city has to offer. I remember starting off as a writer some 20 years ago. I think for the first year I was full of self-loathing for having picked writing as a career. Or at least that's how my stack of rejection letters made me feel. All the torment faded away with my first acceptance letter. I had won an essay writing contest for a university paper which was about the aftermath of my failed year as an engineering student. I guess some good came out of my failure.

Now as I look back on my career, I think about what would have happened if I gave up after the first rejection letter. Or after the 15th rejection letter. I'm glad I never quit, even in the dark days when I thought about starting over as the engineer my parents always wanted. In some ways, I owe my writing career not to any degree of talent, but to a stubbornness to forge ahead when everyone else told me to stop. I continued to write, revise and polish my manuscripts, and I kept sending them out.

Today, I still get my fair share of rejections, but I feel like writing is more like fishing. Sooner or later, someone's going to bite. And if they don't, I can always tell the story of the big one that got away.

Happy New Year.

When I was a kid, I heard people complain about products made in China as being easy to break. I didn't believe the complaints, since my parents bought many things that were made in China and they seemed to last. Still, this discriminatory comment propagated.

Years passed, and the discriminatory belief seemed to fade away. Well, thanks to Lee Valley's Christmas catalogue, the awful stereotype has made a return. The catalogue writer describes a watering bulb in these terms.

Call me overly sensitive to race, but does the catalogue writer have to add "Asian-made" to the description of fragile imitators? Is the suggestion that only Asian craftspeople are unskilled? Or can poor imitations come from other places? Or maybe as an Asian, I'm just a fragile imitation of a consumer. Do better, Lee Valley. Do better.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Ed's house


Not an MLA was stirring, not even a mouse;



The bills were recorded in the Hansard with care,


In hopes that better days soon would be there;



The Tories were nestled all snug in their beds,


While visions of MLA perks danced in their heads;



Rob Renner in his duck suit, and Ed in his cap,


Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,



When out in the leg there arose such a clatter,


Ed sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.



Away to the window he flew like a flash,


Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.



The report on the oil sands, like pee on the snow


Gave an ugly sheen to the government below,



Then, what to Ed's wondering eyes should appear,


But a renegade Tory, in full ER gear,



That hothead so manic and moribund,


Ed knew in a blink it must be Raj Sherman.



More rapid than eagles Raj's curses they came,


And he whistled, and shouted, and outed them by name;



"Now, Liepert! now, Stelmach! now, Fred Horne and Duckett!


You knuckleheads just make me want to say #%$ it!



Ed cried, get him out of the dome! Toss him off the wall!


And later claimed Sherman agreed to it all. 



The Tories, they did duck while accusations did fly,


Ed prayed for fall session to keel over and die,



But into the tailings pond a few Mallards flew,


With feathers in oil, they were bad PR too.



Worse news. In a twinkling, Ed heard on the roof


The prancing and pawing of a brand new hoof.



As he drew in his head, and was turning around,


Down the chimney Danielle Smith came with a bound.



She was dressed all in fur, from her head to her foot,


And she claimed her revolution was all grassroot;



Disgruntled Tories she had flung on her back,


And she looked like a burglar just opening her pack.



Her eyes -- how they twinkled! her dimples how merry!


Her cheeks were wild roses, her nose a bright cherry!



Her droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,


Though her party's track record was as white as the snow;



The heart of conservatives held tight in her hand,


Their resentment fueled her party's new brand;



She had a broad smile as she clutched her belly,


Her eyes on the prize like a bum in a deli.



She was clever and bright, a jolly young elf,


And Ed cringed when he saw her, in spite of himself;



A wink of her eye and a twist of her head,


Gave Ed to know he had everything to dread;



She spoke many words, and asked for more money,


But was told by the speaker, no more, dear honey,



So she laid her finger aside her nose,


And gave a nod, then up the polls she rose;



She sprang to her sleigh, to her team gave a whistle,


And charged they did like a Wildrose missile.



Ed heard her exclaim, ere she drove out of sight,


"See you in 2012, sleep on that tonight."

I'm tired today, but it's a good tired. I spent the day contacting various writing groups in Edmonton to see if they'd sign on for my crazy dream. For my Meet, Tweet and Greet on Jan. 15, I want to bring together representatives from all the writing agencies together with all the writers in residence. I'm talking about bringing together authors, poets, playwrights, etc. in the same room to see what kind of creative sparks will fly. My secret hope is that creative partnerships develop as people from different disciplines begin to collaborate.

Just for my own selfish reasons, I want to prove to myself that Edmonton does have a vibrant writing community. For the newbie writer, this is a great opportunity to see all the resources available to help a writer. Wish me luck!

Just a heads up to anyone who is following my blog. I'm starting a new job in January as the writer in residence for the Edmonton Public Library. I'm co-opting this blog as my EPL WIR war journal. I'll still blog about my usual writing experiences, but the posts may be more focussed on my writing projects as they relate to my EPL projects. I hope you'll still find the posts interesting, but I do guarantee that I'll be blogging more often.

Until January, I wish you all a very happy holiday!

I just finished my second ever Skype chat. This time, I talked to students in Illinois. I loved not having to leave the house to talk to students, but I had to remind myself to look at the camera all the time.

Anyway, the kids were awesome. Lots of great questions. I hope they enjoyed The Mystery of the Cyber Bully, and I hope they get a chance to read the other adventures of Marty, Remi and Trina.