dim sum diaries

Maybe I'm too superstitious, but yesterday karma paid me back for the good deed I did on Tuesday. Buried under a bunch of files, I found a long synopsis for A Close Shave that I must have written months ago. I had forgotten about it, but it saved me about 2 hours of work. I punched up the document and sent it off to my agent, which cleared the rest of the day to pitch CBC radio ideas. I just heard from the producer this morning that he received them and was going to take a couple of days to think them over (for those of you familiar with the business, that means he doesn't like the pitches and is trying to find the nice way of saying no). However, I'm happy to get the rejection next week, so that I have enough time to brainstorm other radio play ideas.

Today is my first presentation at the teachers' convention, but tomorrow is the big day... a keynote in the morning! I'm mostly ready for the keynote, but I wanted to do another pass on the script to make sure I'm not repeating myself. I really should have prepared some slides or something, but I guess that would defeat the purpose of the keynote, which is that stories matter. I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I started flashing cool images to hold the audience's attention.

Okay, got to prep today's session.

Posted by marty at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Not the best title for a blog entry I admit, but it's how I feel right now. The pressure is on and I'm not sure how to pull the rabbit out of my hat... or in this case, the script out of my brain. I've just had two people ask about where my pitches are. I'm supposed to have pitches for CBC Radio and a manuscript synopsis for my agent. Plus, I'm in the middle of prepping for teacher convention presentations and I have a Journal article due shortly. So I'm feeling ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!

Looks like it's going to be a late night tonight. I'm off to a meeting, which I hope will be short, and then I'm locking myself in the basement to finish at least the pitches to CBC or the synopsis. If I can finish both, I'd be so relieved.

Posted by marty at 02:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Spent the evening with a local school that launched a family literacy night for parents of students. I was amazed at the turnout for a first-time event. There seemed to be a lot of immigrant parents in the presentation, and I couldn't help but think about my parents when they first came to Edmonton and how tough it must have been for them. The school was going to pay for my time, but I figured this was time to pay back some karma for all the good that people have done for me this year. Part of me was moved by the fact that even though some of the people in the presentation had little money to spend, they still picked up a copy of my book for their kids. I figured the least I could do is give the school a break so that maybe it will be passed down to the students.

Posted by marty at 09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To all the students who sent comments to my blog, thanks for all the kind words. Glad most of you enjoyed the pizza, and I hope you all get a chance to read the new book, which is just hitting the bookstores now. Are you enjoying the warm weather? I can't wait until all the snow melts and I can start riding my bike.

Posted by marty at 05:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wow! Looks like 2008 is finally starting to look up. I have my new book, The Mystery of the Mad Science Teacher. But even cooler than that, I just opened up a box of The Mystery of the Frozen Brains. Yay! The new cover is finally in.

And the best news of all is that a Canadian publisher wants to commission me work on a non-fiction series. I have to look at the previous books in the series to see if I like the series and if I can write for it. Looks like I might get a new book out in 2009 if I'm lucky. Of course, I do have to figure out how to find the time to write the book... ah well, who needs sleep?

Posted by marty at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lesson learned yesterday. I was at a young authors conference conducting a few writing workshops with about 20 other writers, illustrators and storytellers. Part of the event included a book fair where students could buy copies of the presenters' books.

I dragged out all three titles, and I expected a lot of the Mystery of the Mad Science Teacher to sell because it's the brand new book. However, I was still stunned at how few copies of The Mystery of the Frozen Brains sold. The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul outsold the book by nearly 3 times, even though most students have bought the book (I should know... I personally sold those books at a lot of the schools). The first title has the weakest cover and I believe that first impression means everything. I can't wait until I get the new cover of the first book. Then I'll see how well the book sells. I hope I'm right about this, because my publisher sunk extra dollars to commission an illustrator to redo the cover. Plus, they had to fork over the money to redo the graphic design.

Anyway, all this blog is about is to remind myself that if I'm going to self-publish the picture book, I'd better test drive the cover with students and make sure that it grabs people's attention.

Posted by marty at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Perfect timing. The spring-like temperatures in the city coincided with the publishing of my spring cleaning article.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but I am noticing how much my hair is thinning. Nothing like semi-regular photos to chart my aging process.

The great news is that I pitched another article to my editor. It's all about waiting to get on planes and getting stuck on standby while other flyers go off to happy destinations. She liked the idea, so I have to get cracking on the article this weekend. No rest for the wicked... well, there would be rest if I stopped coming up with ideas.

Posted by marty at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The students at Bishop Savaryn school were amazing today. I had a fantastic time talking to the kids, and some of them were pretty bright. A couple of the students beat me to the punchline of my stories, which made me feel great, because it meant they were paying attention.

And my most memorable moment was when a few parents of kids snuck into the reading to watch. I'll be back at your school in a week or so to drop off the copies of books that students have ordered. Remember to put your name on the order form so that I can autograph the books to each student.

Hope everyone enjoyed the presentation.

Posted by marty at 07:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The students at Westbrook rock! Wow! I did four sessions at the school for grades 2 up to 6, and all the students were great. So eager to listen and so quick to laugh. I had an awesome time talking to the students, and I hope they all enjoyed the sessions. My next book, The Mystery of the Mad Science Teacher, will hit the stores next week, and there will be an official book launch on April 12. I'll send an invitation to the librarian so she can pass it on to everyone. Hope you can come out to the launch!

Posted by marty at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Paid a visit to two great schools today. The students at John Paul I were an awesome audience. I spoke to grade 2 to 6 students, and they were all such attentive listeners and great laughers. I'm so glad that most of them read The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul, and I hope they look for The Mystery of the Mad Science Teacher.

My afternoon at Malcolm Tweddle was amazing. I conducted a 2 hour writing workshop with the grade 4, 5 and 6 students. Lots of great ideas and energy. My volunteers were all great, and I hope the kids got something out the sessions. I especially hope they start using that cheat code in their own writing.

Anyway, this was a great start to a short week. I hope I get a chance to visit both schools next year!

Posted by marty at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, some of these names will mean nothing to most folks, unless they are children of the 80s. This weekend, I rubbed shoulders with Bruce Allen, the manager of Bruce Adams and Loverboy and the man who helped pull together the Northern Lights "Tears Are Not Enough" team. I also hung out with Dan Fraser, the manager of Sarah McLachlan, Avril Lavigne, Dido and Sum 41. Well, I didn't actually hang out with these two guys, but I was within spitting distance and I did eke out a "nice to meet you."

My favourite name-dropping moment is meeting Ignatius Jones, who earned a platinum album for his work on the soundtrack to Strictly Ballroom. Okay, now that I've dropped the names, I better clean them off the blog floor.

Where did I meet these folks? The secret project which just wrapped up today. Can't say anything more, but my part of the project is done.

Posted by marty at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Apologies for not blogging. Life's been a little more hectic than usual. I had a few meetings for Forbidden Phoenix, some school visits, and I had to get ready for a secret mission in Vancouver. Can't say why I'm here because I signed a confidentiality agreement, but let's just say it's a very cool project.

Anyway, it's raining in Vancouver right now and I'm feeling like a wet puppy. It's supposed to be dry tomorrow, but I'm not complaining. For the first time all winter I can walk around without wearing a fleece under my heavy winter jacket.

No news to report, but I think I just might have my next Edmonton Journal article. It's all about being put on standby and watching other people get on a plane that I should be on. I'm going to try to pitch the editor when I get back to Edmonton.

Posted by marty at 06:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm staring at the cover of my brand new book right now. The author copies arrived this afternoon. Yay! It's Christmas and my birthday rolled into one super day. I had to be very careful opening the box because I didn't want the moment of discovery to go by too quickly.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to have my new book, and I can't wait until the rest of my books arrive. Now I have to make room on my bookcase for the new addition to the Mystery of series... and I guess I'd better start working on the 4rth novel. Wow! I can't believe I have three books under my belt. Okay, have to hop off cloud nine long enough to get ready for a Forbidden Phoenix meeting later today. Sigh. How short-lived my joy was. A good reminder to myself that I'm only as good as my next project, so I'd better get cracking on the next thing right away.

Posted by marty at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wish all my school visits were like the one this morning. I spoke to the grade 4, 5 and 6 students at Ecole Frere Antoine, and boy were they a great bunch. Lots of laughs and great questions. I even survived a sound glitch. One of the teachers kindly offered me a microphone when the kids couldn't hear me, and the batteries died, not once, but twice, during the presentation.

Still, the kids were an excellent audience and the staff were so friendly. Thanks so much for making my start of the week an awesome one!

Posted by marty at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My hands are shaking and my eyes are burning. I've been at the computer since early this morning hammering out the revisions to the second act of The Forbidden Phoenix... but it's done! I have something that is flowing really well. I'm going to take the rest of the day off and then take a good hard look at the revisions tomorrow to make sure I have the general shape of the story. It's pretty heart-rending now. I'm feeling pretty drained from the conflict between Laosan and Malau. Father-son stuff. I think the play is there. I just need to figure out there's a place to adjust dialogue into songs, but I leave that task for tomorrow when my brain is working a bit better.

What a relief this is. The workshop is about a month away, but I needed to know that I had something that was workable. I'm feeling good. There's still more work to do, but when the general structure is intact, it's way easier to revise scenes and add layers to characters than it is to have to rebuild a structure from scratch. The problem with the previous draft was that the focus shifted too much from Malau to Laosan. It was like two different plays competing with each other. Now the second act is cut down from 7 scenes to 4 and that's a good sign. Less complicated and more direct is what the play needed. Yay! Now I can celebrate Chinese New Years without a guilty conscience. I'm gorging on egg tarts and marinated squid tonight and then it's a family feast tomorrow. Phew! Signing off to celebrate.

Posted by marty at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hopefully, this article will get me out of the doghouse for writing about my wife's snoring habits.

Posted by marty at 05:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, I'm thinking long and hard about going the route of self-publishing for my picture book about my two cats. My agent took a pass on the manuscript because the marketplace is pretty much saturated. Even if I could get a publisher, I probably couldn't get anything out until 2010, and I don't want to wait that long. Time to explore options. I spoke to an illustrator who I really like about working on the book. She's keen to talk. I'm going to send her the manuscript next week and we'll start talking. I now need to do some research on self-publishing. The prospect scares me, but this might be the kind of challenge I need to recharge myself. It's a big risk, but I think I'm up for it.

Posted by marty at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm going to pretend that all the time I didn't work on the play was a gestation period for fertile ideas. Today, I blasted through the revisions to the first act, and I'm pretty happy with the work. The dots connect much better and there's more opportunity to reveal Malau's character. I see his cunning throughout as well as his integrity. I also dialed back the Dowager so she has room to grow into an evil entity. Horne might be missing a character beat, so I'll have to look for an opportunity to deepen him. I might have the chance to do that in the second act, but I'd like to build something more to him in the first act if i could.

I'm so happy to finally get traction on this play again. I'm going to be taking tomorrow away from the play to do some other work but come Friday, I'm back on the Phoenix and I will have the play revised by the end of the weekend. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. Phew.

Posted by marty at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi, all! My thanks to the students at John Barnett School for reading The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul. I hope you enjoyed the pizza party, and I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the book. If you have any comments about the book or suggestions for my next book, you can post your comments to this entry. Have a great week!

Marty

Posted by marty at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

My agent just forwarded a rejection note from one of the publishers who looked at A Close Shave. This was a great rejection note. It drove home a point that I often tell beginning writers. Just because someone rejects your work, doesn't mean your work is bad. It just means that your work isn't the right fit for the company, and you have to keep looking until you find the right company. The one caveat to all this is if everyone says no, then you might have to think about revisiting your manuscript.

Anyway, here's the note from the publisher:

"I was drawn into the plot, and I very much enjoyed the characters—particularly Barnabus. I’m sorry to have to say, then, that I don’t see a place for this project here. I just didn’t find myself as emotionally engaged in the story as I’d hoped. It’s heaps of fun, but a bit too plot-driven for my particular list."

Now I know that when I develop a more character-driven story, I will send it to this publisher, because I have foot in the door, and I know better how to tailor the next manuscript. Just like notes, if you treat a rejection as an opportunity, you'll find a way to make things happen.

Posted by marty at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm sitting in front of the TV and watching a biography on J.K. Rowling. It's very interesting to see the many links between the Harry Potter books and Rowling's real life. In one scene, she reveals a name of a childhood friend is used for a not so pleasant character. In another moment, there's a reveal that the dementors were spawn from her depression after a failed marriage.

I'm glad to hear about her insecurities. Even with all her success, she's a typical writer who is happy with her writing, but anxious about what the rest of the world will think. She's very human, even though her success is extraordinary. The one thing that is surreal is the scene where her publishers talk about expecting 2,000 kids to the book launch and how J.K. Rowling has agreed to sign for eight hours. I'm lucky if I can sell 2,000 books in 8 months. But when she talks about the intense scrutiny, I'm happy to make all my mistakes in utter obscurity.

Posted by marty at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yay! I just heard from my publisher that the book is about to shipped to stores. I have to put in my order of books right away. The official launch will be April 12, but the books will be in the stores in the next few weeks. I can't wait to see the book. It's like Christmas all over again.

Posted by marty at 05:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)