Blog Entries for Monique Polak

Mothra!!

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 d [...]

Happy Canada Day!

Monique Polak

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 famil [...]

Devoir reculer...

Monique Polak

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 [...]

Going Back in Order to Move Forward

Monique Polak

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' [...]

Testing!

Monique Polak

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 WO [...]

Learning to Post a Pic

Monique Polak

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 [...]

Cleavage

Monique Polak

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. &nbs [...]

Back From Book Expo -- With Lots of Stories!

Monique Polak

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 ou [...]

Meeting-ed Out

Monique Polak

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 wri [...]

Thinking of My Opa

Monique Polak

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 head [...]

Ups and Downs of the Writing Life

Monique Polak

I have a confession to make: one day this week, I was working on my new manuscript and thinking, "Gee, this isn't very good. It's not at all the way I wanted it to come out." I ended my writing day at around four that afternoon, feeling kind of crabby with myself. The next morning, I returned to my desk and plunged back into the story. And guess what? By the end of the day, I was thinking, "Gee, this reads well. I think I like it!" I'm telling you this so you u [...]

Author Marsha Skrypuch Pays Another Visit

Monique Polak

So my friend, author Marsha Skrypuch was back in Montreal last weekend. She was here to launch her latest book, Daughter of War (Fitzhenry & Whiteside), which I am looking forward to reading. I find that sometimes, it takes another author to understand what goes on inside my head.

Over lunch in Old Montreal on Saturday, I told Marsha my writing plans for this summer -- to finish the first draft of the novel I am working on, and to start ANOTHER ONE before I go back to school in Aug [...]

Writing Snarky!!

Monique Polak

That's writing snarky -- as opposed to feeling snarky. Actually, I'm in my usual mental state, which is generally friendly and mostly kind. But I'm WRITING SNARKY!! That's because when Sarah Harvey, my editor at Orca, and I had our phone "meeting" this week, she suggested that Noah, the protagonist in my latest book project could be a little snarkier. Now that's funfor a person like me to do -- since I'm usually so darned un-snarky. Maybe I'm a secret sna [...]

Stories Calling!!!

Monique Polak

I just got off the phone with Sarah Harvey, my editor at Orca -- and besides discussing my latest book project, we compared notes about the writing life. I told Sarah how my favourite part is coming up with the next story idea. There's so much possibility at that stage and so much energy and excitement.

Sarah told me that though she has begun work on a new novel (I've already mentionedon this blog that Sarah is the author of a terrific YA book called Bull's Eye which I had [...]

Writing and Running

Monique Polak

I woke up one morning this week with a really sore knee. Uh oh, I thought, this could have a seriously negative impact on my life. First, if I ever had to stop running (and after a certain age, many runners do), it would curtail my cookie-eating habit. I am, if I may say so myself, a very good cookie maker and a frequent cookie consumer. Also, running helps me manage stress and it helps me WRITE.

Luckily, something in my knee made a weird cracking sound later that same day and the myst [...]

Precious Time to Write

Monique Polak

Good morning! So, except for some odds and ends at school, I'm pretty much into full-time writing mode. Ahhhh with five h's!! The only complication is I'm feeling like I kind of have to fight to preserve chunks of writing time. If not, the days'll go by and I won't get done what I so want to do. A phone call here, a chitchat there, and next thing I know -- the morning (or afternoon) has disappeared. I was talking about my feelings about time with my husband this morning -- an [...]

On the Cusp of a Long Weekend

Monique Polak

I've had a little technical trouble this week -- I had trouble saving yesterday's blog entry, which is why it appears today. (It's the one that has the five h's in "Ahhhhh!") I don't have much to tell you this afternoon. Actually, I feel a little boring. But -- this is a bit difficult to explain -- it's because I'm writing away. I'm getting lost in my newproject, so the rest of my life feels pretty quiet. And GUESS WHAT? I'M HEARING VOICES! [...]

Ahhhhh!

Monique Polak

That Ahhhhh! (with five h's) is because I'm done correcting. Except for a few days of meetings at school, I'm pretty much done -- which means I can make the switch to full-time writing.

Ahhhhh! In the past, I've sometimes needed a little transition time between school and writing, but I'm trying to get right back into the writing so I can make the most of my long freedays. One of the things I'm finding is that I need to say NO more. I'm glad to have severa [...]

Monday Hello!

Monique Polak

I'm still marking away like a fiend, but I'll take a short break to write this blog entry. One of my students, Anastasia S., dropped by during office hours today and we discussed how much her writing has improved over the semester. "The thing I really learned," she told me, "is that I have to keep writing and re-writing. And sometimes I need to take a break and then go backto it." Hearing that made me feel like my work in the classroom is not in vain!!

On ano [...]

Quick Hello!

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!!