August 31st, 2011

*The Big Dream* Book Launch Facebook Invitation

Because it’s not an event until it’s a until it’s a Facebook event (at least, not in this town!) Hope you can make it!

August 28th, 2011

I made a tiny movie!

I think everyone’s heard of Xtranormal now. Even if you haven’t, you’ve probably seen one of those very static movies with people bantering in robot voices–those are done on Xtranormal. It’s a very tempting site for those of us who think it would be a fun to make a movie but don’t know how, and don’t want to invest the many hours necessary to learn.

All you do on this site is choose a basic setting, some characters’ bodies (well, 1 or 2–they can’t do more than that [yet]) and feed in your dialogue. You can make pauses, and some small gestures/facial expressions, but basically, it’s people standing around talking to each other.

A major criticism of my work might be that there’s too much of people standing around talking to each other, so I thought this site would be perfect for me. Bonus, I realized when I started making my film, that stilted robot voices are perfect for rendering awkward office talk, which is a major component of the dialogue in my book. Still, it was trickier than anticipated–I am really not a playwright, and a lot of my dialogue doesn’t make sense without the surrounding narrative, or at least more detailed action than Xtranormal is really capable of (yet).

So I’m not sure how great my movie is–it’s sort of…stilted and static. I was conceiving of it as a little book trailer (23 days and counting until launch!) as you’ll be able to tell by the bits of cover bumpf I’ve put on the intertitles. But as I say, it came out oddly, so I don’t know if it’s a great marketing device.

And yet, I sort of like it–maybe you will too? It’s only 2 minutes long! Please take a look.

If you love it, hate it, are indifferent to it, or have some Xtranormal usage tips you wish to impart, please let me know. I have some leftover $$ on the site (you have to pay for things in points, which you buy in bundles of more than you need–annoying) so I could maybe make another, better video later on. In case this one isn’t already awesome, I mean.

August 8th, 2011

What’s Happening

Saturday: The Big Dream received its first review, in Publishers Weekly and it was good! I am hoping this starts a trend!

Sunday: Mark and I had our first Co-habitational Reading Challenge chat about Owen Meaney. We tried to record it for you, but it turned out the batteries in the recorder, *and* the spare batteries in the drawer were dead (???) I blame the kitten. Anyway, we’re both really loving the book this time round, which is a relief since it’s awfully long. We both love nervous, OCD Owen and his all-caps diction, and the way Irving is in such complete control of his narrative that it can swoop and dive in time and the reader never gets lost. I also have a soft spot for crotchety Grandmother Wheelwright (“it’s that boy again!”)

Monday (that’s today!): I am reading at the Toronto launch of the Fiddlehead fiction issue, tonight at the Dora Keogh on the Danforth. Mark Jarman, Leon Rooke, Kathleen Brown, and yours truly–so excited.

Thursday August 25: Jeff Bursey is launching his new novel at Type Books, and Mark and I are reading too. This will probably be my last reading before TBD launches, so I’ll probably read from *Once*–I haven’t in ages–for old time’s sakes.

What more could you ask from August? Well, actually, one of my most beloved-est friends is getting married on Sunday and I am maid-of-honouring it up, so this week may well be a write-off, writing-wise–there may be a mini-break in the blogging in order to attend rehearsal dinner, hair appointments, and sundry other fun frivolity. If someone takes a picture of me in my adorable be-crinolined purple dress and I don’t look insane, I promise to post it.

August 5th, 2011

Mentions

Just FYI, the current print editions of Quill and Quire and Fashion both have little bits about The Big Dream. They aren’t reviews, just mentions that the book is coming out in the fall–though the one in *Fashion* does call the stories “Coupland-esque,” which is rather nice. But it’s also just nice to know they know, you know?

July 11th, 2011

Hello, Canada!!

Hey guys, I’m back. I went to England for 11 days of mainly awesomeness and a little bit of rain and projectile vomiting. I’m planning a massive post on the subject (Rose-colour Reviews England) but that will take some time, so I just wanted to check in and say hi!

Also wanted to let you all know that I did a guest post at the wonderful site Canadian Bookshelf all about my new book, in case you are interested.

And I have a reading coming up on August 8 to launch the summer fiction issue of Fiddlehead (if you follow that link, you can also get a sneak peak at a few of the stories in the journal, including mine. If you don’t make it to every or any reading of mine well, that’s understandable, but I urge you to consider this one, as I’ll be reading with Mark Jarman and Leon Rooke, two of Canada’s very greatest short-story greats, and likely a couple other awesome people besides. And it’s at the Dora Keogh pub, a delightful place to be, so you can’t really go wrong.

Stay tuned for detailed descriptions about old buildings, scones, and rail service in jolly old England!

June 11th, 2011

What I’m Doing Tomorrow

Just a reminder that I’ll be reading in St. Catherine’s tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon at 3pm, in the fine fine company of short-story-ist Carolyn Black and poet Jacob McArthur Mooney. This reading is part of 31 days of reading in June in the Niagara reading, as part of the Niagara Literary Arts Festival, a very very cool endeavour.

If you can join us tomorrow, please follow the link and scroll down to June 12 for more details. If you can’t make it tomorrow, click the link and scroll through the many options of awesomeness to see what else you might enjoy. There’s tonnes of good stuff!

May 24th, 2011

New York Was Great…

is a song by the The Raveonettes that you should really listen to–it’s great!

My own experiences in the big city weren’t quite great, but were certainly very good, although by the time we were taxiing down the runway I had worked myself to such a state of anxiety that any scenario in which I did not actually die would have qualified as passable.

Despite the title of this blog, I can be a little pessimistic sometimes.

But really, when I am in such a state of terror over presenting my book to a giant group of strangers, it is helpful to be reminded that I am so lucky to have support and encouragement from my publisher to do it, and indeed, a book at all to present.

And of course, the strangers were perfectly lovely, warm and open and very excited about books–an excellent group of people to spend an evening with. Also, whoever had catered the event made these little chocolate-chip cookie/brownie hybrids that I hope someday to marry.

I did have some other obstacles that were harder to look in the brightside of, but I did try. Like when I got prescribed the wrong medication and had a reaction in the form of a hideous empurpling rash over my entire body right before the event, I was…somewhat dismayed. Also itchy. But I can be grateful that the rash mysteriously disappeared from my face within 24 hours, though it lingered itchily on the rest of me.

And when I had to abandon my lovely, expensive dress that I’d specially purchased for the occasion, in favour of something that covered every inch of my now-hideous body (including a man’s shirt with cuffs that covered my hands) it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because New York was way colder than Toronto, and I wouldn’t have wanted to be out in that sleeveless dress, anyway.

And when my hotel failed to give me my 3:45 am wakeup call, it turned out I really enjoyed that extra 15 minutes of sleep until my backup alarm went off, and would’ve just been bored at the airport during that extra time anyway.

Of course, the best part of the event was all the other wonderful writers who presented their work, and gave me so much to think about (and read!) What’s really lucky about my life is how much time I get to spend with fascinating people, talking about books.

Or maybe the best thing was being greeted at the airport at home with flowers and party hats to celebrate my birthday.

In all events, I’m a lucky person.

AND as you can see in this last shot, the rash is nearly gone from my arms now (but don’t look at my ankles–blech).

I hope you had a really great holiday weekend too!

May 19th, 2011

Upcomings

I use this post title a lot, but everything that is not now is upcoming, so the upcoming occurs a lot. Sorry, that’s an awful sentence; I’ve been ill. Hopefully to be better soon. Here’s what’s going on!

Ok, this one actually is from now, but also upcoming–I answered question 5 of The Devil’s Engine on Thirsty blog, and have a few more answers in the pipeline. This is a discussion of Biblioasis’s short-story authors about stories and their writing, so if interested, please read and stay tuned.

I’m reading at the Niagara Literary Arts Festival on June 12 (scroll down to that date to see the listing), in the fine company of Carolyn Black and Jacob McArthur Mooney. If you should be in St. Catherines that afternoon, please check us out.

My story, “Dream Inc.”, is forthcoming in The Fiddlehead‘s summer fiction issue. Rest assured, I’ll let you know when it’s available!

April 25th, 2011

Just wanted to mention

…that my article on advice columns (one of my favourite things) is in the April Issue of Aggregation Magazine.

Also, thanks to all who voted on my author photo–much appreciated! If you haven’t yet but still want to, please view the photos and post your favourite in the comments on that post by noonish tomorrow, at which point I hope to wrap things up. Interestingly: *all* of the photos have a reasonable number of votes.

Ok, that’s it for now!

April 21st, 2011

Rebecca’s author photo–you can vote!

So sometimes being a writer in my own little way is pretty much the best thing on earth, because it gives me license to do strange projects in the name of art, and to enlist others. Last weekend, I got to do my dream photo-shoot, which was me on a bus, being semi-serious, semi-goofball. Thanks–so much–to Dave Kemp for humouring me in this endeavour. It was as fun as I thought it would be–maybe more.

Here (below) are the links to my top 5 pictures (selected with J and the photographer’s help). What is your favourite? I can actually keep two, to use in different situations if I want, so it’s ok if you declare a tie:

Selection 1
Selection 2
Selection 3
Selection 4
Selection 5