Lucky me, I got to go out and about as an author this weekend as I attended the SCBWI Canada East Agents’ Day in Ottawa, Ontario. Okay, so I wasn’t merely attending. I was part of the organizing group for this event. But that aside, I always find so much benefit to mingling with others writers and with illustrators. We all work alone, so it’s always helpful to connect with others who face the same issues.
We heard from speakers Kendra Marcus of BookStop Literary and Rebecca Sherman of Writers House. Both did a fantastic job of explaining what an agent does, why you would want one, and how best to go about acquiring one. The panel session of first pages, where anonymous manuscript first pages were read aloud and the agents had to comment on their reactions to the pieces, was truly educational. If you’ve never attended a session like that then I highly recommend you find one.
So I returned home tired, inspired, and newly determined to polish my work only to face a mountain of laundry and a birthday cake that needed baking. It’s good to remain grounded, no?
There are so many great spots to see spectular scenery around here. This is in Huntsvile, Ontario. Those are sumac trees that you can see on the lower left.Then a couple days later, as I was going on a grocery run, the view made me stop for a minute to just enjoy the colour. The trees fairly glow if the sun is out. We have had rain most of this past week but so far it hasn’t knocked off too many of the leaves. Fortunately we’re not at the raking stage yet.
Colour, colour everywhere! You’d think I’d get tired of looking at leaves.
Not yet!
See earlier editions of this year’s foliage starting here.
I was listening to a keynote address sometime last fall, and the speaker used a particular word several times. It was an unusual word, a nice word, and it made me wonder why she’d chosen to use that word over any number of others that would have expressed a similar sentiment. Somehow that word must have resonated for her. Somehow now that word resonates of her for me.
That word? Astonishing.
Now whenever I come across that word I think of this particular speaker. Astonishing how you can use even a single word to conjur up an image or a perception or a memory of someone.
May your characters resonate with their own astonishing words!
The leaves are shaping up nicely here this year. What a difference a week makes! Even driving around doing errands is a great excuse to view some beautiful scenery.
The weather has been dry, with warm days and cool nights. After a rainy summer this is a most welcome change!
Still lots of green left to go, so stay tuned for more colour. I love the fall!
Still lots of green left to go, so stay tuned for more colour. I love the fall!