Monique Polak

Today is the last day of classes at Marianopolis College. Boy, did this semester ever fly by! I've got a mountain of correcting, but I hope to be through it by the end of next week. Then I'm going to turn back into a full-time writer. Ahhhhh! (That's the sound of happy anticipation.) Okay then, gotta run to make it to school on time. Likely won't write another blog entry till next week. For those of you who are finishing term papers and writing exams, good luck -- and courage!!

I mentioned in an earlier blog entry that I went to hear an interview with Canadian author Nancy Huston during Blue Met and I thought today, I'd do a blog about some of the wise things she had to say. Her latest novel Fault Lines is narrated by several children. Asked how she was able to imagine these narrators, Huston said: "I had many childhoods." She went on to explain that mostof us tend to tell one story about our childhoods, but that really there were many. That comment has really stayed with me.

Huston, a prize-winning author who lives in Paris, also talked about what the writing process is like for her. She said that for her, the first draft is the toughest: "I'm never sure I'm going to make it." But Huston says she enjoys re-writing: "Re-writing is a pleasure to me."

I've got only an hour or so before I have to leave for school. I spent a little too much time this morning weeding in the backyard. But Huston would approve! "The wasted time," she said, "is as important as the schedule."  

So today, my friend and super-talented photographer Monique Dykstra came over to shoot some pictures for the cover of my fall book, What World Is Left. Many of you who've met me know I often wear a very special necklace -- a simple leather cord with a pendant attached. The pendant is a scene my grandfather painted and gave to my mother for her 15th birthday. It's no bigger than a postagestamp and framed under glass. At the time my mother received this gift, she and her family were living in Theresienstadt, a Nazi concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.

I describe a similar scene in the book -- and when I told my editor that the necklace really does exist, she was eager to have it photographed for use as the possible cover of the book. 

My niece Julia, who's 15, agreed to let Monique photograph her hands holding the pendant. Monique also shot some images of the necklace alone. THEY'RE GORGEOUS!!

Something I learned today about the connection between photography and writing: things take the time they need to take. Monique arrived at 12. At about 2:30, after snapping loads and loads of pictures, trying different backgrounds and lighting, and two phone meetings with the art editor at Orca, Monique said, "This is the first one I really like!" So you see, there's no rushing the creative process. Also, Monique never gave up. She never shrugged and said, "This is way too much work! The pendant is too little. We'll never get a good picture!!"

So in today's blog, I want to say a special thanks to Monique Dykstra for taking the gorgeous pics (if I could post pics, I'd let you see them -- but alas, I still haven't figured that out) and for reminding me that creative work takes lots of patience. 

Oh my goodness!! I think I JUST FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO IT -- AND IT WASN'T EVEN SO HARD!! I've just posted a pic of Wednesday's launch of my latest book, 121 Express. The lady in the middle is me -- the young people are some of my students (past and present). You can tell from the pic, how pleased I was to see them at the launch. Way to go, Monique! (If I may say so myself!!)

(Five minutes later. After checking the website from the front-end.) Rats!!! I take back that compliment I just paid to myself. It didn't work! I need a computer wizard to help me figure out how to post pics on this blog. I'm okay with words -- but technology, well, that's another matter altogether. But as soon as I'm through with the pile of correcting that's due this week, I promise to figure out how to post pics on the blog. A shame too -- since it was SUCH A LOVELY PIC!! 

The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind. Many thanks to those of you who turned up for the launch of 121 Express on Wednesday afternoon. It meant a lot to me that many of my friends and students turned up to celebrate. Now if only I could post those pictures!! (I SOLEMNLY PROMISE TO LEARN HOW -- but you'll have to wait until I get through the mountain of term papers that arrives nextweek!)

Since we last "spoke," I've worked with two more groups of students at Blue Met -- doing educational workshops. And we also launched this year's Quebec Roots: The Place Where I Live!

Yesterday morning, I worked with students from Massey-Vanier High School in Cowansville. They got up at 5 a.m. to make it to the Delta hotel in time for our workshop! Here comes a sample of a description that Julie, one of the students from Massey-Vanier, produced (and they only had about five minutes to do the exercise) -- she's describing the pleats on the tablecloth in front of her: "the pleats line up like the strokes of a contemporary painting.... More elbows, more drinks, more bleach." I know I left a bit out of what Julie wrote, but you can tell how she manages to capture that tablecloth, its pleats, not to mention the elbows it sees!

Today, I worked with students from Royal West Academy and Bonaventure Polyvalent -- you may remember that I visited Bonaventure Polyvalent when I was in the Gaspe last week. Quite a nice coincidence to run into those students again, as well as their teacher, Lewis Evans. More coincidences: it turns out I'm quite friendly with Mr. Evans's parents -- who just so happen to be amazing educators! Because there were only seven students today, we managed to do quite a lot of "workshopping" -- meaning the students got to hear each other's work. Like all of the students I worked with this week, these young people have LOADS of talent. My advice to them is to go out and soak up stories and WRITE! WRITE! WRITE! 

Also, I thought I'd share some of the wise things the students at St. Willibrord School had to say about writing (and taking photographs) yesterday. (They were on hand for the launch of the Quebec Roots book.) Joey says: "You have to keep working at something to accomplish it." Meagan explained how she had to go back three times to get a proper photograph of the woman in her neighbourhood who feeds the geese: "I needed to get a cleaner background," she said. That's how it goes with writing, too -- you've got to keep going back to get a sharper image, you've got to keep polishing up your work until it SHINES!

A couple of final notes. I heard celebrated writer Nancy Huston  speak at Blue Met yesterday and guess what? She said she sometimes gets ideas for her stories in the SHOWER!! (I've told you that too, right?) And today, I was having the most wonderful chat with Sarah Harvey, one of my editors at Orca, who is also an author. We were saying how there are so so many stories out there. Sarah said, "To find a story all you have to do is read one newspaper." So, if you happen to be in the mood to start writing a book today and you're looking for a story, check out today's paper! More from me next week, though I'll probably be too busy marking to write long entries. One final bits of news: my photographer friend Monique Dykstra will be shooting images for the cover of What World Is Left -- she's doing the shoot at my house on Monday. I just might have to tell you about all that in a blog entry!! 

Today is the first day of the 10th Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival! I'm doing a series of writing workshops today, tomorrow and Friday. Plus, I launch 121 Express later this afternoon; and tomorrow, we're launching Quebec Roots: The Place Where I Live (2008) -- that's the project I participated in along with photographer Monique Dykstra (that was when we workedwith students from St. Willibrord in Chateauguay and with the students up in Wemindji). So, it's an exiting few days coming up!

A neat thing happened at my workshop this morning. There were three students there who live near Blanc Sablon, which is near the Quebec-Labrador border, as well as about a dozen students from Marymount, a high school here in Montreal. Becky, one of the students from the Blanc Sablon area, told the others in the group that there are only 32 people in her town -- Middle Bay. One of the girls from Marymount, Shannon, was quite surprised to learn how few people live in Middle Bay. So Shannon called out: "Last year, there were 32 people in  MY CLASS!" Talk about two worlds colliding -- I thought it was a lovely moment and one that I had to record in today's blog. As Greg Smith, the teacher who accompanied the students from Blanc Sablon, told me afterwards: lots can happen even in a tiny town. You know, Becky, Middle Bay sounds like a great place to set your novel!!

Okay, then, time to do a little WRITING before I head back downtown for the launch. If you're visiting Montreal for Blue Metropolis, hope you have a great time in our wonderful city. Keep your eyes peeled for our magnolia trees -- they're in full most gorgeous bloom!

So the official launch of my latest book, 121 Express, is coming up tomorrow!  If you're in Montreal and looking for something to do, come join us. Here are the details:

The launch takes place at the 10th Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival, Wednesday, April 30 from 4 to 5:30 p.m., at the Delta Centre-Ville, 777 University Street. (The closest metro station isPlace Victoria).

I'll be doing several sessions this week at Blue Met, so I may not be able to do a blog entry till the weekend -- but I'll at least try to tell you how things went at the launch. I don't know about you, but I DO LOVE A PARTY!! 

 

I'm back at my own computer in Montreal, but my head's still in the Gaspe! Thought I'd tell you a little about this literary breakfast I went to on Sunday morning in New Richmond. I got to sit at a table with lots of quebecois writers and hear them interviewed for a local radio show. Of course, you know me, I had my trusty writer's notebook on hand -- and I used it to jot down someinteresting comments I heard about writing so that I can pass them on to YOU!

Poet France Cayouette (her new book is called La Lenteur au Bout de l'Aile) had this advice for writers: "There is no other way than to sit down and write." I also loved when she said that, "Things talk to me" -- meaning she finds inspiration in the world around her. No wonder she is a poet!

Legendary quebecois songwriter Raymond Levesque  was also there. Asked whether he thinks there is hope for the world, Levesque said he believed in "l'inconnu," which is French for "the unknown." 

I also met Louise Portal, who was the "porte parole" for Livres en Fete, the Gaspe Book Fest. Portal is an actress and author. She starred in Denis Arcand's famous movies The Decline of the American Empire and The Barbarian Invasions. Over breakfast, Portal told me how her new book is based on a one-page story a neighbour in the Eastern Townships left one day in her mailbox -- it was a kind of resume of his life. Portal's neighbour is HIV positive. She took that sheet and turned it into a novel. When she addressed the audience, Portal said, "Real beauty is truth." She also said how much she and her husband, author Jacques Hebert, enjoyed taking part in Livres en Fete: "We appreciated the chance to bring the love of reading from one community to another."

Portal's words sum up my experience, too. So to all my new friends in Bonaventure, New Carlisle, Escuminac and New Richmond -- thanks for showing me a wonderful time and for letting me share my books with you!  

 

 

Hello again! Today I'm writing to you from New Richmond High School. I just fished my last talk and I thought I'd write another blog entry to fill you in on my adventures. It snowed up here eysterday morning, but it's bright and sunny today, so the Gaspe looks even more beautiful!

Yesterday, I spoke at New Carlisle High School.There were also students there from Shigawake PortDaniel School. One student I met was named Chancy. I thought that'd be a cool name to use in a book some day. This is what Chancy's dad told her about how she got her name: "One chance without protection!" You know how I'm obsessed with body language? Well, yesterday, I met a boy named Mike who was doing something interesting with his wood beaded choker -- he ws pulling it up over his chin until the choker wouldn't budge. After my talk, Mike kindly offered me his choker. He told me he got it last year at a school auction for 50 cents. I wouldn't take it -- but I thought it was very sweet of him to offer it to me!!

Today, I started my day at Escuminac Intermediate School. I met a girl named Audrey who writes stories on a website called fanfiction. You can look for hers under the section called Avatar: The Last Air Bender. Go to M and look for Pasts Die Hard. An intersting thing I noticed about Audrey is that she wears two colours of nail polish: blue and red. I also met a girl named Courtney, who took notes for the rest of the group using a pen with purple feathers on it. Then I visited Mr. Roussy's class. One of the students there, Kaitlyn, told me she'd read my book Scarred -- even though she is only 11 years old. A guy named Cody has a very cool Mohawk haircut. His cousin Gabrielle helped him style his hair this morning on the bus -- on their way to school.

I finished up here at New Richmond School. The students had prepared questions for me -- and they even made me a Welcome poster which I packed up and will hang on the wall of my office at home. A girl named Sierra told me something really interesting about herself: "I wear my underwear inside-out for good luck!!" Also a boy named Jordan asked me a very intesting question: "What do you like better -- reading or writing?" I had to admit that I didn't know the answer. I love both of those things. And for me, they're deeply related. When I read, I think about the kinds of choices the writer made: who's the narrator? why start the book where he or she started it? So even when I read, I'm thinking about writing. Okay, gotta go -- I've got the rest of the afternoon off. Guess what I'm going to do? Read and write!!!

My, my, it`s been quite an exciting day. First news: I flew here on a FOUR-seater plane and the PILOT WAS A WOMAN. Her name is Karen Stone, she is 32 and has two small daughters. The co-pilot was a guy named Marian Musil. He told me, ``I am the captain`s slave and secretary!``

I did three talks today at Bonaventure Polyvalent, where I met many young Gaspesians. I thought I`d tell you a littleabout them in today`s blog entry. Agnes McRae told me she loves to read. That`s good news for writers like me, Agnes! Colleen Major told me her nickname is ``Major Pain in the Butt.`` Even her brother Victor calls her `Major Pain`` when he passes her in the hallway at school. I didn`t think Colleen was a pain at all. In fact, I was most impressed when she told me is writing a book about her grandmother, who died when Colleen was 11. Kaneesha Smith showed me a poem she wrote called ``Walking Through Woods.`` I asked for her permission to let me quote my favourite line: ``picturing who she was and who she`s going to be.``

Tomorrow, I`m going to New Carlisle School. New Carlisle is the home of former Quebec premier Rene Levesque. It`s on the Baie des Chaleurs. I ran along the bay this afternoon. It`s gorgeous -- and huge! Will try to report in again later this week.