Month: August 2008

They’re Off!

As of yesterday, I finally got all my editor/agent requests from RWA National sent off. That’s a relief. The agent requests went over a week ago, but I needed to finish a chapter for the editor request that would end on a good hook. With Youngest Son’s birthday being this week and Eldest Son moving away to university in a few days, the household has been hopping. Helping E.S. is my priority until he’s ensonced in his new home-away-from-home, so don’t expect to see much of me around here. In fact, unless something amazing happens in my writing world, I’m ducking into my Motherhood Cave until sometime next week.

Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Small Town van Gogh

The 2008 Lys Blues Music Awards are now on-line. Voting continues until September 21st. Canadian singer/songwriter Dale Boyle is amongst the nominees with his CD, Small Town van Gogh, which captured nods for Album of the Year, Composer of the Year, and Blues and Associated Styles.

Why am I encouraging you to visit the Lys Blues site and vote for Dale? Well, for one, I have, and I did. Small Town van Gogh is a wonderful CD, and independent musicians deserve our support! Also, I do admit I’m biased, but, as we all know, subjectivity plays a part in the creative arts, so there. As some of you who followed my old on-line diary, Trials & Triumphs, might remember, Dale’s CD features a song inspired by my grandfather, William “Duke” Procter, who, when he died in 2005 at the age of 106, was the last veteran in my province to have served in The Great War (a.k.a. WW I). Dale never met my grandfather, which to me makes the fact that Duke inspired the song, Over 100 Years, all that more poignant (scroll down Dale’s lyric page to read the lyrics).

You can listen to Over 100 Years in its entirety on Dale’s website. Click on the song title in the Listen to the Album widget on the right of the album cover, then click the Play icon and wait for the song to load. It does take a little while to load, so be patient.

I’m also quite partial to Send Monica Away, No One Lives Here Anymore, If I Come Back, and Idalene. Dale also does a nice rendition of the Springsteen classic, My Hometown.

Visit Dale’s CDs page to sample songs from Small Town van Gogh and In My Rearview Mirror: A Story from a Small Gaspe Town. You can buy Small Town van Gogh at several on-line retailers or directly from Dale’s website.

You Know You’re Getting Old When…

…you order an ice cream cake from the Dairy Queen, you specifically said “Cindy” would be picking it up, and when you get there, “Sydney” is scrawled in black felt pen on the plastic cover (and a smiling teenager is passing you the cake). (She’s never heard the name Cindy).

…you take in your watch to have the battery replaced, say “Cindy” will return in ten minutes, and the twenty-something clerk frowns at you and asks, “Sydney?”

…you check in on American politics and realize John McCain’s wife is named Cindy, and you’re pretty sure she’s over forty, too.

…you realize Richard Gere and Kevin Costner both divorced their Cindys years and years and a light age ago…and you remember that you liked them because they married Cindys (smart men). (at the time).

…”Sydney” to you is the name of a 60-year-old skinny balding guy with red hair and glasses, who looks an awful lot like Woody Allen or that guy who got ate by one of the dinosaurs in the original Jurassic Park movie (I think while he was going to the can?), whereas “Sydney” to your sons is a hot chick in a short skirt.

…when you sign your emails, half the time you type “Cidny” and have to backspace and correct yourself.

…you’re considering taking Sydney as a pen name if you ever write YA, so you can be cool, too.

…you decide Sidney Crosby has a girly name.

Time Flies

I can’t believe RITA and Golden Heart time has descended upon us already, if only in the form of Judging Sign-Up. 2008 was the first year I could enter RITA, and for some reason I can’t recall I signed up to join the Golden Heart. I love judging the Golden Heart, but I don’t have time to judge both contests in one year, so this year I signed up to judge the RITA for the First Time Ever. I’m looking forward to the different process and experience.

For RITA judging, I had to select a mimimum of three categories I would be willing to judge while not selecting a category I might also enter. I’m entering Novella again this year under my pen name, so I selected four categories to judge other than Novella. I could have selected more (there are 11 categories total), but I’d rather judge the categories with which I’m most familiar.

Monday night, I went to see Mamma Mia with my BFF, who was in town all summer (and just left today). I totally loved this movie! Might I be so bold as to announce that it’s one of my Favorite Movies of the Year? It’s very uplifting—just what I need right now. I laughed a ton. Yet a scene dealing with the Meryl Streep character’s 20-year-old daughter growing up too fast brought a tear to my eye, too. Next week, Youngest Son turns 18, but he’s sticking around. Eldest Son, on the other hand, will be attending an out-of-town university as of the September long weekend. I’m busy preparing for the birthday and the departure. My BFF is only 10 months younger than I am, but had her children late. Her youngest is five. I tried to explain how quickly the teen years pass for parents, far faster than the pre-teen years. And it doesn’t matter how often you try to stop and smell the roses that are your children, the teen years speed by regardless, I think because it’s a turmolic time for the parents as well as the teens! I’ve been looking forward to E.S. moving out of the house, not because I don’t love him and won’t miss him, but because that’s how young adults learn and grow. It’s a very positive experience for him, however, after watching Mamma Mia Monday night and now it’s sinking in that he has just two weeks remaining at home, my ol’ heartstrings are sobbing. Come September, I’ll pretty much be a mess. Consider this fair warning.