Twisting in the wind

NaNoWriMo and YES, I am crazy

dorothybush — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:28:37 +0000

I can’t believe I am thinking of doing this. Does everyone know what NaNoWriMo is? National Novel Writing Month, and it’s November. Thirty days of blank looks at the husband when he asks what’s for dinner and I drag myself out of my make-believe world, unaware it’s past supper time. Thirty days of cold pizza, burnt hamburgs, pots of coffee, frantic typing and bleery-eyed morning. It’s total immersion in story, it’s writing frenzy and the growing word count. I’m not sure I can do it this year. I’m working full-time, trying to clean up an old farm-house, taking a night credit course and I like to eat daily. So does the husband. And did I mention grand-children who like to play with their Nanny? Oh, my and oh, well.

I start tomorrow. It’s in the category of women’s fiction and I will try to update occasionally.

Filed under: Life

Time winding down

dorothybush — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:02:06 +0000

Hasn’t summer been fabulous? This year has been a bit different for me, but change is good, I think. I’ve had one heck of a summer trip and stored fabulous memories that I hope will be brain-food for years to come. My son, his wife and the two grand-children are back in Ontario and it’s been a joy spending times with the grand-babies.

A friend and I spent a day exploring along the Rideau River. Thank you Shirley. I hope we do something similar next year on your vacation.

And I have finished revision one of the manuscript I’ve been working on. It now goes to beta-readers, and I have three lined up for this draft. I’ve also sent a synopsis and the first five pages to an agent and am waiting for the inevitable rejection slip. But that’s okay… it’s all part of it. It’s been rewarding getting this far.

Autumn approaches and I can feel it in the early morning hours when sleep eludes me for whatever reason. Fog lays in the gullies and there’s a hint of snap in the air. I love it… my favourite season, even though it’s a precursor of winter.

Filed under: Friends, Life, Writing Tagged: lockstation, Rideau River, time, writing

I am writing again

dorothybush — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:14:47 +0000

I know all about events happening in a person’s life that can throw them completely off track. Sometimes you can push the emotions surrounding such events down and away and get on with what you love … and sometimes you can’t. You feel flat and dead inside while you go about your daily business. Been there and bought the T-shirt. I think the best thing I’ve done for myself was my trip away. I drove off on a bright sunny morning and left everyone else to do what needed to be done at home. Ba-Bye. No calls to remind anyone of this or that and the next thing. Nope. I shrugged off the worry and concern when they niggled at my brain. Nope. Not there. Can’t do it.

I’m home and my work in progress is once more ‘a work in progress’ after being dormant for 2 years. I am writing again. Which having just said, I must go… I have plot bunnies to chase.

Filed under: Life

More on the Storefront Writing Contest

dorothybush — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:19:51 +0000

Thousand Islands Storefront Writing Contest

The Thousand Islands Writers Festival will hold their first annual Storefront Writing Contest, Saturday August 27^th, 2011 in downtownBrockville. Patterned after a similar contest inBruton,England the contest will pair individuals who write from downtown storefronts creating short stories of approximately 2,000 words in the genre of their choice.

Participants meet at the Brockville Library at 9:30 a.m., on contest morning to register. Store locations and prompts for the contest will be randomly drawn. Writers will proceed to their chosen sites to begin writing at 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Completed work will be turned in at the Grindstone Tapas Lounge with a post-contest social hour.

Entries can be produced by pen or laptop. Laptop users are asked to bring a memory device to download from. Participants are encouraged to dress in period costumes, but it is not necessary.

The entry fee is $5. The deadline for entries is Friday August 19^th, 2011. Entries should include the participants name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Drop off is at Leeds County Books, 73 King St. W., Brockville or mail to Thousand Islands Writers Festival, 13 Duke St, Brockville, Ontario K6V 3J2.

Further details may be found at www.tiwfestival.org.

Contacts:

Doreen Barnes

Chair,Thousand IslandsWriters Festival

(613) 345-3365

Russ Disotell

Vice-Chair,Thousand IslandsWriters Festival

(613) 342-0793

Filed under: Life

Writing contest August 27, 2011

dorothybush — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 21:37:07 +0000

The Thousand Islands Writer’s Festival will be sponsoring a short story contest as part of their event line-up for the 2011 TIWF Festival. This will be the 1st Storefront Writing Contest held in Brockville Ontario, August 27th. Today, my friend Melanie and I met with Doreen Barnes at Echo Clothing, King Street, Brockville (one of the participating stores). Doreen is a freelance writer/photographer for the EMC Brockville and she was photographing us for her press release regarding the contest. What fun to be invited to a ‘photo-op’ ! Melanie and I rounded out the day with lunch at a local pub and an hour or so of writing. I swear we may be becoming a fixture at the 1000 Islands Mall food court.

http://www.tiwfestival.org/

http://www.emcstlawrence.ca/home

http://www.melanierobertson-king.com/

Filed under: Life, Writing Tagged: contest, friends, writing

A Salt Splashed Cradle by Chris Longmuir

dorothybush — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:23:38 +0000

I just posted a review on Chris' book on Goodreads.

If you like full-bodied historical tales, stories that cover a 
larger scope of time with characters that evolve, you will 
LOVE ‘A Salt Splashed Cradle’. 

Chris Longmuir writes with strength, with knowledge and with 
an attention to historical accuracy that allows you to feel 
the heat of the hearth and the icy spray of the sea. Her characters
are well-developed with both good points and failings, much like 
friends you care about but that exasperate you at times. 

Her plotting and story line is sure; as a reader we wonder 
where the story is going but she leads us along the path in 
steady steps that make it hard to put the book down. We need 
to know what Belle is going to do, or Jimmie, or various other
characters in the book... whether or not we like them. 

This is a story of life, not always happy, often sad and tragic, 
but very real (although fiction). A story well told.

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

A trailer for the book here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Chrislon1?ob=5#p/u/0/nGxQDeiVOfg

http://www.amazon.com/A-Salt-Splashed-Cradle-ebook/dp/B0052ENBFA

Filed under: Life

Interesting fact about my V-Star

dorothybush — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:35:37 +0000

So I was out for a ride the other day, and really there isn’t much to do as you are cruising along but think. And I (once again) promised myself to look up my fuel capacity for the bike. When you are motoring along alone, on pretty much deserted highways with few gas stations, this is a good fact to know. I’ve only told myself to do this for 5 years now, but I finally did it.

I fueled up in Kaladar and my fuel consumption was 265.6 km and 11.452 litres which converts to 23.19 km/ltr… or…. 65.51 mpg. My tank capacity is 17 litres which means hypothetically I can ride 394.23 kilometers or 244.96 miles before refueling.

This is good to know. The Virago only held enough fuel for 200 kms.. and then I was parked (or pushing) and there were times I was running on fumes and getting nervous..lol

Filed under: Life, motorcycles, Travel Tagged: fuel consumption, running on fumes, V-Star, Virago, Yamaha

I love a happy ending

dorothybush — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:18:01 +0000

I have recently become affiliated with an author/reader interactive website called loveahappyending. I initially heard about this NEW website through a friend who writes and reads romance, but the website is not specifically romance.. it caters to and promotes new authors in almost every genre. All of which I think is a wonderful thing. Promotion and marketing are not easy tasks, self promotion and self marketing is even tougher. And if you are a newly published writer, time promoting oneself is time not writing and/or editing. This websites partners authors with readers according to the interests of both, thereby, hypothetically, increasing network capabilities using social media. I certainly hope it works and so far it’s been great fun.

I have been partnered with Chris Longmuir, the author of Dead Wood, a Dundee International Book Prize winner (2009). I initially met Chris (virtually) through the same friend that introduced me to loveahappyending. I had purchased her book and enjoyed it tremendously. She’s an excellent writer and her story was nothing short of brilliant, even though it was a dark and gritty crime novel. Since then Night Watcher was released and I purchased and reviewed it. Again, a fabulous story. Chris’ latest release is A Salt Splashed Cradle, an historical saga. A different genre but just as engaging. I will be back with a review. However if you are interested, my known and unknown readers, you won’t be disappointed checking out this new website… particularly if you are an avid reader.

http://www.loveahappyending.com/

And the author for whom I am an Associate Reader: http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Filed under: Life

Back on the Road – on two wheels

dorothybush — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:24:38 +0000

It’s good to be home but at the same time I was itching to get the bike on the road. It’s been too long and there’s just something not right about an idle bike. I loaded up for an over-nighter on Thursday and headed to my daughter’s place near Stirling. It was a beautiful day for a drive and I just took my time on back roads until I neared Kingston. A bathroom post I had read in my travels was: Life is too short for heavy traffic. True. It’s also too short for freeways, but they are a necessary evil at times. I popped onto the 401 at Joyceville and off again at Belleville. It was hot with the sun radiating up from the pavement mixed with exhaust from other vehicles. Yuck! But all made worthwhile by a little 3 km. road named River Valley Road, just south of Stirling.

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The next morning I took my time loading up and to head back home. I rode all the way out to Hwy. #62 before I said to myself “Self, what are you doing? You aren’t in a hurry – why go back the same way?” And I turned north toward Madoc and home by way of the #7. I stopped at Kaladar for fuel and took a picture of the old Kaladar Hotel. I remember when it used to be open and it’s sad to see all these old places close down. I stopped at the Junction for lunch and I was due as the sun was getting hot. This is a little place on the #7 at the intersection of Hwy #38 (Sharbot Lake), and what a neat place. It is full of 50′s and 60′s memorabilia, in particular Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Lots of stuff to look at and good coffee. It was here I decided to head south then east on the Crow Lake Road and through Westport. Crow Lake Road is a nice quiet little twisty road and it felt good to be alone on the bike just leaning into the corners slow and easy, the sun shining in a clear blue sky. Turkey buzzards were soaring around overhead and every once in awhile their dark shadows would glide across the road in front of me. I’ve never cared much for these birds and the fact that they are carrion eaters and always cruising for a road-kill lunch gives me the willies. Once again I had no intention of providing dinner. Intersecting with the Bolinbroke Road I turned south and cruised along to Westport, a great touristy town although I was touristing… it was time to get home and out of the heat.

Filed under: map route, motorcycles, Nature, Travel Tagged: map, motorcycles, travel

It’s been a trip!

dorothybush — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:58:36 +0000

I’ve been lazy in posting my final day of the trip, and I think it’s because I’ve done this leg a few times and there isn’t too much exciting between Sault Ste. Marie and home. There are Central Ontario views (trees and the Canadian Shield), the Ottawa River and Valley and construction. Not sure when they do construction out west because we ran into very little, but they do it where ever you are driving in Ontario. It was a very long day with many stops. One thing I did notice though is that they could build a few more road-side stops with port-a-potty facilities (with accompanying signage). The most interesting view we had that day was a poor woman who must not have been able to wait one more second. She was a passenger on a motorcycle and she was answering the call of nature in open view right beside the road. Almost caused an accident! I had to yell at the husband to watch the road..lol (And no – no picture. She may have thrown her modesty to the wind out of necessity but I wouldn’t exploit it.)

It’s been a huge trip for me… just over 10,ooo kms and half of it alone. It has been frightening and empowering at the same time. When I left home to head west I was extremely nervous; it was a long way on many roads that I hadn’t previously traveled. I learned that it’s great to be able to get up and go as the whim hits, change route or take time for that second cup of coffee. No one complained or pushed me to hurry up. But it’s not as much fun with no one along to share the experiences with. While the countryside was still beautiful, I did miss someone to share the high spots with. But I’d still do it all over again. What a fabulous country we have.

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Filed under: Life