nalo's blog

Thanks to coaching and encouragement from D, I wrote a draft of the final two scenes of that short story yesterday.  It's like having made the muslin before sewing the actual garment.  I've never had the patience to do so when I'm sewing, but when I'm writing, it's an inevitable part of the process.  Now let the real cutting and stitching begin!

Still about one scene away from finishing my story to submit to the editors of the new Bordertown anthology.  Still punishing for the mental stamina to just sit down and go at it.

Just got copy edits back on my short story "Emily Breakfast," which will be in an upcoming Canadian anthology (they've asked me not to say yet which one).  The copy editor had some great suggestions and asked some good questions.  They pointed to the differences in reading protocols between mimetic fiction and genre fantasy.  She also pointed me to this utterly hilarious and apparently true tale of dogs in an elk.

A few days ago, I heard that I'll be getting a writing grant through the Writers' Reserve programme of the Ontario Arts Council.  Thank you so much to the Diaspora Dialogues jury that recommended me.  When that money comes, it'll make whatever month it arrives in about a third more liveable.  It means a lot.

How, without info dump, to explain to non-Caribbean readers that Granny wine isn't an alcoholic beverage.

I'm reading in Toronto tonight at ORAL; Adventures in Erotica.  Details here.

"A gorgeous, complex, layered work."

I dreamt I sat on Michael Jackson's knee.  Weird.

I can dredge up from memory the information that Finnish is part of the Finno-Ugric language group, but I can't remember where I put my socks last night.  When would I even have learned the word "Ugric"?

Ouch. World o' pain this morning. Fibromyalgia? Anaemia? Who knows?

Great post by literary agent Rachelle Gardner on what makes a story sing.