Monique Polak

Mothra is the name of an old Japanese movie about a moth monster. I'm thinking about Mothra today because I just finished writing my story about moths for Maclean's Magazine. I got the idea because there are moths in my kitchen. Every time I think I've wiped them out, they're back -- like Mothra, who was the enemy of Godzilla.

It's July 4 and we're having a barbecuefor all our American friends living in Montreal. My husband came up with the idea because he is a dual citizen and he's really into July 4!

Other news: I taped that segment about books for CTV this week. Turns out it's going to be televised across the country on Saturday, July 12 from 8 to 10 A.M. and again on Sunday, July 13 from 7 to 9 A.M. Knowing my blog readers, you'll all be fast asleep. Will check in again next week before I leave for Winnipeg and then for San Francisco. Happy July 4!!

It's a gorgeous Canada Day here in Montreal -- and I have no special plans, except to work on my manuscript. Ahhh! I'm still  rereading and making adjustments. Today, I'm thinking what I've done so far is pretty darned good. I've been in this business long enough to know that I should savour this feeling -- there are lots of times when I'm dissatsified with what I've written, when nothing feels right.

My husband has been away in New York, visiting family, so I've had lots of time to focus on work the last few days. Hey, I don't think I told you, but I'm taping a segment for CTV tomorrow. I'm going to recommend five books for summer reading. Of course, I told them I'd like to plug one of  MY books, too. I won't have much time to do so, since the whole interview lasts about four minutes!! I don't think the segment will be broadcast for a couple of weeks yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Next week, I'm off to Winnipeg on writing-related business; then the day after I get home from there, Mike and I leave for a holiday in San Francisco. I'm toying with the idea of not working while I'm there. My friends think that's funny. I always work when I'm away. But maybe -- just maybe -- I'll surprise them (and myself). Happy Canada Day to you wherever you are.

Hope the French title won't put you off from reading today's blog entry. I'm reviewing a fun book for The Gazette -- it's called Petite Anglaise, and it's the true story of Catherine Sanderson, a young British woman living in Paris, and how she starts a really successful blog called "Petite Anglaise." Apparently, she gets 100,000 visitors a month. Let's just saythat's a few more than I get!!!!

Anyway, sometimes when your mind is working on something, life sends you a little extra material. Take this line I happened to read in Sanderson's book last night (it's in French, but I'll translate for readers who are not bilingual): "devoir reculer pour mieux sauter." It's an old French expression and it means you have to back up to jump better. See, that's exactly what I was talking about in my last blog entry! And it's exactly what I'm doing with my writing this week. Going back to the beginning, reading through what I've got, so I can take a nice long jump before I move towards the last quarter or so of the manuscript.

On another note altogether, Maclean's Magazine has bought another story idea from me -- this one's on MOTHS. So if any of you have moths in your house, flying around your pantry, or nibbling on your best sweaters -- let me know and I could interview you for my story! What I'm really looking for is moth victims from other places in Canada besides Quebec and Ontario. Okay, I'm off -- time to go backwards again!! 

I'm a person who likes moving FORWARD, but today is a day for GOING BACKWARDS. Have you ever noticed that sometimes you have to go back in order to go forward? In my case, I'm returning to the beginning of the manuscript I'm working on -- I'm making adjustments and reading out loud and generally getting ready to MOVE FORWARD!  Though I know this is an important part of the process, I do miss actually moving forward. So this is the compromise I just made with myself: I'm going to move backwards till four o'clock (another couple of hours) and then, I'm going to let myself move forward! Funny to be writing about moving backward and forward when here I am, sitting at my desk, mostly not moving at all....

Just testing to see whether I can post a picture from home without the help of Gord, my web guru. Trying to post a photo of my neighbours' poppies. There's no fence between our two houses and I must say the poppies lean quite a bit towards OUR side of the garden!! I took the photo last week... and alas, the poppies have shed their beautiful orange-red flowers. Imagine what it would be liketo be a woman and only look beautiful for four days a year!!

BY GOLLY --  IT  WORKED!!  Hey,  check out the next issue of Maclean's.  My story about teens and Internet porn is in! The new issue hits the newsstands either today (Friday) or Monday. Now I'm thinking how maybe  I should  let my research grow into another YA book....  Check out these poppies!!

Hey, blog readers out there. Today I'm writing to you from web-school -- that means Gord Fisch, my web guru (he told me to write that) is teaching me how to post a pic on this blog. Okay, here goes. Gord and I are going to try and post a pic of the book cover of What World Is Left -- my fall book. If it works, have a look at the tiny drawing on the left side of the cover. It's my grandfather's drawing -- which he turned into a necklace and which he gave to my mum for her 15th birthday in Theresienstadt, a Nazi concentration camp.

So today, I promised I'd tell you a little about an upcoming book called Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls. It's a collection of short stories about girls, their bodies, and their relationships with their mums -- and it's edited by two of my friends, Deb Loughead and Jocelyn Shipley. I caught up with Deb and Jocelyn when I was in Toronto on the weekend, and they told me a littleabout what it was like to "play" editor, instead of their usual role as authors.  Both agreed they learned a lot by editing other writers' work. Jocelyn stressed the importance of submitting work that is fresh and original: "I thought, 'Oh my God, some of the stuff I've sent must've been so 'done' -- so old and tired.'" This is the advice Deb offered to young (and not so young!!) writers: "You have to take a fresh approach and read a lot to find out how people are doing it and then find a way to do it differently," she said. We also talked a little about the tendency some writers have to rely heavily on their own experience. Jocelyn said that although autobiography is a good place to start, "let it grow and become fiction." 

One of the nice things about interviewing authors is they express themselves so darned well. So thanks to Deb and Jocelyn -- and keep your eyes open for Cleavage!! It's going to be published by Sumach Press and is due out this fall.

Hey, I haven't told you some bits of exciting news: Maclean's is using my teens and Internet porn story as their cover story this week. And three of my books, All In, Finding Elmo, and Scarred were listed on the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Our Choice List for 2008. And one more fun thing -- I've been asked to go to Winnipeg, Manitoba in July to be part of a jury for the Manitoba Arts Council. Not bad for a curly-haired lady who spends most of her days drinking tea and typing away!!! 

Well hello again. I'm back from Book Expo in Toronto and fortunately for you, I've got loads of stories about other writers and I've asked them for writing tips I could share on this blog. I figure I have enough cool stuff to tell you to last all week and maybe into next week, too!

The first author I want to tell you about is Bilaal Rajan -- the amazing thing about him is thathe's just a kid!! His first book, Making Change: Tips from an Underage Overachiever is coming out this fall with Orca Book Publishers.

Bilaal has been involved in fundraising since he was in elementary school. He's raised funds for groups likes AIDS orphans and tsunami survivors. Bilaal credits his Garde Six teacher Allison Bartlett for suggesting he write a book. "I wanted to spread my message that kids can fundraise and achieve success in whatever they do," Bilaal told me when we chatted at Book Expo. Bilaal says it wasn't that hard to write his book. When I asked whether his parents helped him, he said, "My dad helped with grammar."

Pretty amazing, no? I think we can expect many more books from Bilaal. I'm looking forward to all of them. If you want to check out Bilaal's website, it's www.handsforhelp.org

I'll be back tomorrow with a blog entry about two authors, Jocelyn Shipley and Deb Loughead, who are the editors of an upcoming collection of short stories called Cleavage. Now isn't that a title that makes you want to read the book?

I spent most of the day in end-of-term meetings at school. Not that the meetings were uninteresting -- they weren't -- but they did leave me feeling kind of drained and not especially creative. So when I got home, I could have taken a nap or vegged on the couch, but no, not me... instead I started working on a book review I have to do for the Montreal Gazette. It's about this book called NovelAbout My Wife by New Zealand author Emily Perkins. It's a disturbing, but extremely well written book. One of the things I like best about it is that Perkins writes from the male point of view and her narrator really sounds like a guy. He's even a bit of a male chauvinist!! Anyway, the best thing about writing that review is it got me back into writing mode. Tomorrow is a wide open writing day. YIPPEE! FICTION, HERE I COME!!

Opa is the Dutch word for grandfather. Though my opa died in 1977, I think about him almost every day. More than anyone else I knew when I was growing up, my opa was my role model. He was a painter who worked out of his house in Plandome, New York. In my mind, Opa was the ultimate artist. He even wore a cap that was a little like an artist's beret. (He also drove a yellow Stingray Corvette, but that is another story altogether.) Opa worked very hard. After breakfast every morning, he headed up to his studio. Sometimes, if I didn't bother him or try to engage him in conversation, he let me watch him while he worked. What fun it was to see him turn little lines into people and animals and places. Opa made being an artist seem romantic. In my mind, he was like a magician, only he used pen and ink and water colours instead of rabbits and top hats.

These days, I work in my own little office upstairs in my house, but I can't help thinking that my creative life isn't especially romantic. I do try to get myself to the computer early in the day -- though I exercise first, which Opa didn't (he might have lived longer if he had!) -- but then I just sit here and work and work, even when I don't really feel like it. Also, this summer, I am aiming to write a minimum of 500 words daily (1,000 is even better) and I suppose that is also not a very romantic way to go about doing something creative. But, oh well, it seems to work for me. And one thing I do remember about Opa is that in order to get one drawing, he often did many drawings -- some landed in his garbage can, he painted others over with white paint and re-did them many times, breathing heavily as he worked. So maybe despite his beret, Opa was just a plain hard worker, too.

Once, when I told Opa I wanted to be a writer, he gave me this advice: "It's not enough to have talent. You also have to have drive. The drive is as important as the talent." So, Opa, if you happen to be watching from heaven today, know that your granddaughter Monique continues to be inspired by your memory.