A room, a book, another idea

Ta da!

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work this writer goes!

Yes, the office is back to its new norm with flooring in place, fresh paint on the walls, and too many years of collected scraps of paper sorted and saved or recycled.

In the midst of the renos, I met my deadline by wrapping up the final edits for a kid’s book on NASCAR drivers (who knew that Jimmie Johnson gets carsick when not behind the wheel of a moving car). If you say you can’t write because you don’t have the space or there’s too much distraction, you’re just not trying hard enough. Proof positive right here.

I also re-discovered a half-baked project idea buried in the depths of the storage closet. The question was what to do with those files. The idea was to explore the fine line between art and craft. I had brainstormed the project with a friend who is an artisan. She had the hands-on knowledge and I had the writing background. It seemed like the perfect partnership, but other commitments got in our way.

With this newly-found idea still percolating through the recesses of my mind, I happened to pick up the September issue of Writer’s Digest. In it was an article about blogging your way to a book. Our idea would work well as a series of blog posts.

I think I like that idea. Time to call Sus and see what she thinks!

Are you blogging about a topic that has book potential? If you stuck with it long enough to build a solid platform to support a book, would you consider traditional marketing of the idea, write an e-book, or look at self-publishing?

Before writing, think a lot.
After writing, erase a lot.”
– Carlos Herrar Alvarez

New directions in a writing career

When January flipped the calendar page, I made a resolution. Break into a new market by the end of the month. With a clear slate and no looming deadlines, it seemed dead easy. I fired off three focused queries. The ideas were sound, but the market was really looking for writers with their own travel blogs to help cross-promote. Sigh.

The next day I was offered another children’s book title. I turned it down – sort of.

Less than a week before I was at a friend’s New Year’s Eve party. Chatting with one of the party-goers, I discovered that she was stay-at-home mom very interested in writing a children’s book… about hunting. Not my niche at all, but the conversation wound around to writing for kids in general. I had some resources to share, so we exchanged email addresses.

And then I was offered the book project. The topic was… hunting. I wasn’t interested in doing it, but I knew someone who would be. The only hitch was that she had never had anything published before. I convinced the editor that I could work with the new author to make sure the manuscript met the publisher’s needs.

And so, my first foray into editing – beyond editing my own work – unfolded. I would do this again in a heartbeat. The deadline was met, the manuscript was accepted, and the budding author is over the moon. Win, win, win!

No, it wasn’t the path I had projected at the start of the month, but I’m thrilled with the new direction.

Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.
– Denis Waitley

 

October is all work – and a little play!

Where has time gone? This month has been nose to the grindstone with a big kid’s book project, a little non-fiction article for a kid’s science magazine, and a pile of queries for an upcoming travel adventure.

Panorama Ridge meadows. (Credit: B.Kopp) Last of the larch. (Credit: M.Kopp)

That being said, there’s alway time for a hike – or two! Fave of the month is Taylor Lake and the Panorama Ridge meadows. It’s a steady uphill climb, 6.4 km, from the parking lot to the lake and another 0.5 km to the start of the meadows. We strolled past the three tarns in the meadows and scrambled up a low ridge for a view over toward Lake Louise. Larches were pretty much done for the season, but this would the place to go for gold glory at the end of September – no crowds and freedom to roam.

The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water,
but to walk on the earth.” – Chinese proverb

 

The Milky Way and Other Galaxies

I love getting presents!

Latest Capstone book arrived yesterday, in a small box tucked neatly in between the screen and front door. There’s something akin to Christmas when you unpack a plain cardboard box labelled author complimentary copies – it never grows old.

Latest book! (Photo: M.Kopp)

And that’s one of my favourite things about being a freelancer in general – the work never grows old. One day I’m writing a travel piece about Italy, the next I’m working on an outdoor blog post, the following I’m off on a sea kayaking trip building up new story ideas.

Life – as a freelance writer – is pretty sweet!

“Never tell me the sky’s the limit,
When there are footprints on the moon.”
– Unknown

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

There are days as a freelancer, where it’s nothing but an uphill slog in a whiteout.

And then there are days when the snow lifts, the sun breaks free and snow-draped evergreens punctuate picture-perfect powder. Today’s one of those days – just saw the covers for two of my latest Capstone kid’s books.

I feel like a kid catching Santa before he scoots up the chimney. It didn’t matter that I knew these projects were in the works.  It didn’t help that I’ve received a paycheque already.  But when I saw the pictures of the covers, it was like the sun breaking out and everything looks beautiful – and I don’t even really like snakes.

Coming out soon!

Spring 2011 from Capstone

May the sun come out for you today – and magically turn snakes into sunshine!

Real-Life Vampires and Scary Folktales

They’re here!   My first two children’s books for Capstone Press arrived in a big white box this past week.  It felt like Christmas as I sliced through the tape on the lid, pulled aside the crumpled newsprint paper and smelled the ink of a newly pressed book.  The binding creaked as I opened “Scary Folktales.”

I itched to open “Real-Life Vampires.”

My neighbour’s little girl came over for a visit and I showed her the books.  She read the name beneath the titles and looked up at me.  “Does this mean you are a writer now?”

Four hundred articles in magazines, newspapers and online. Twelve years as a freelancer.  A room dedicated to computer, desk, writing supplies and reference books.

“Yes, sweetie, I’m a writer now.”

The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.”
– Arthur Brisbane