Gifts for Readers

After my last post about gifts for writers, I've had an abundance of people come to me in a snit asking if I'd forgotten about readers. Not at all! I'm an incurable one myself. Here is a list of gifts for the reader on your list.

Books. Duh. You probably already figured that out. But really, is there anything an avid reader likes more than books? Probably not. Not sure what to get? Take a look at his or her bookshelf to give you a starting point - fiction, non-fiction, mystery, romance, horror, adventure, fantasy - a quick browse will help you out. Still not sure? A gift card for a local bookstore would be a great gift too.

Ebook reader. You've probably figured out by now that this ebook fad is not going away any time soon. If your beloved doesn't have an ebook reader, this might be the time to get one. Do your research and find the best one for your needs.

Magazine Subscription. The gift that gives all year long.

Book Light. Really handy little gadget for travelling, or for reading at night without disturbing the person next to you. I like the Really Tiny Book Light (pictured) or the Itty Bitty Slim LED book light that clips to the book spine.

Journal. I said this for writers too. Journals are great for anyone who loves books, and you can get specialty journals especially for book readers that help you to keep track of the books you read and your thoughts about them.

Book Marks. I love book marks. I can never have enough. Even with a Kindle I still have three or four print books going at once. I use a lot of book marks. I also hang them on my Christmas tree. They make good stocking stuffers, or nice little additions to a gift basket.

Book Ends. I added this one because book ends are not something I would ever buy myself, but I would love to have. I have several stacks of books that could use something besides a fern and a shoe to wedge them in place. Most people with a large collection of books would appreciate a nice set of book ends. You can get them to fit any decor.

Book "Stuff". T-shirts with book quotes, tote bags for books, posters, note cards - there is an unending list of things you can get your reader.

Gifts for Writers

Black Friday is upon us. Yes us. For some reason Canada has adopted this post-Thanksgiving tradition, even though our Thanksgiving is long gone. If you are one of the brave or foolish who will face the hoards today, here are some tips on what to get the writer in your life.

Notebooks or Journals: I don't know a writer that wouldn't get excited over a nice notebook or journal. I have several empty journals sitting in my desk, and I still love getting them. They will never go to waste.

Pens: To go along with that empty book, how about a pen to fill it up? There are so many options. If you want special you can get something expensive and personalized, or a nice old fashioned fountain pen. My personal favourites are not so fancy - the Pilot Precise V5 and the Sharpie fine tip pen (which is a great pen if you are left handed).

Writer's Market: A handy gift for any serious writer. A copy of the current Writer's Market is the gift that keeps on giving.

Typewriter Jewelry: Pendants, rings or bracelets made from vintage typewriter keys are a fun gift, whether it's a letter or some other key (I'm partial to backspace and the question mark myself).

Note cards: I got some blank note cards as a gift a few years ago and I loved them. They had a simple black typewriter on the front and they said "write your own story". I used them for quick personal notes, and for thank yous. A very nice and practical gift.

Voice Recorder: A little on the pricey side, but a good gift. This is a handy little device to have when inspiration strikes.

Survival kit: Throw together a basket or box full of things the writer in your life might need: pens, pencils, index cards and notepads. Then you can add some other essentials like coffee and snacks. Or wine. I know I always write better after I've had a glass or two.

Good luck in your shopping and remember: keep low and move fast.

Writing at Home and Away

If you are a regular follower if this blog, you may have noticed two new page buttons just under the Calling Shotgun banner. Then again, you may not have. Who am I to judge your skills of perception? These two new mystery buttons are labeled Writing Home and Writing Away. They will take you to a page, which will take you to a link. This link will take you to a whole new page. You will then be required to answer three riddles.

I'm kidding! I'm kidding!

What you will find is that each page contains exactly what the buttons tell you - writing about home (my home that is), and writing about away (as in places other than my home). I've done a fair bit of writing about my lovely island, and I've done an equal amount of writing about being on the road, and the places I've visited. I decided, from idleness more than anything else, that these two topics needed a space of their own. Now they have one. I have a whole backlog of Away stories to finish, and hope to update them very soon.

I hope you'll join me Away. I'd also invite you to come Home with me, but that might get me into trouble. Just stop on by if you happen to be in the neighbourhood.

The Changing Landscape of Publishing?

This topic is nothing new. It's been it all over the Internet since the dawn of Kindle. The new face of publishing: ebooks. Digital publishing, especially self-publishing, has turned the whole industry on it's head. The end of print has been predicted (not likely). The dawn of a new age of self-published authors has been foreseen (very likely).

So what's a big publishing house to do? Reevaluate their publishing process? Find new ways to adapt to the market? Sure. Or they could just exploit those eager young authors for fun and profit.

Penguin's online genre fiction community, Book Country, has launched a self-publishing service. For only $549, Book Country will edit, format, and publish your book in both print and ebook form. If you plan to edit and format the book yourself, or hire your own professionals (which is wise, since Book Country is way overcharging here) you can still purchase tips for formatting and marketing for $299. Book Country will do the rest, which means they will print and upload your book. These formatting and marketing tips, by the way, can be found all over the Internet. For free.

Want the cheapest option? $99 will buy you an ebook upload. Never mind that it's the easiest part of the whole process, and on sites like Createspace and Smashwords you can do it youself. Quick, easy, and free.

After you've paid to have your book published, Book Country will then take 30% of your earnings (50% for a print book). This is after you have paid to have it polished and uploaded. What are they doing to earn this 30%? Your guess is as good as mine.

Is this how the big publishers plan to adapt to the turning tide of the industry? This reminds me of the Harlequin Horizons fiasco of '09. Penguin is telling you that although your book isn't good enough to publish under its flag, it's good enough for them to take your money so that you don't self-publish.

I'm not falling for it. You shouldn't either.

Canadian Blog Awards 2011

Well, yesterday was an interesting day. I was updating my blog, minding my own business, when I noticed that there was a lot of traffic arriving from the Canadian Blog Awards site. You might recall that my blog, then called Brain Droppings, took first place in the Culture and Literature category last year. I've been getting traffic from the site pretty steadily since then, but it really took a spike in the last couple of days. So I took my flashlight and decided to go check it out.

Turns out that Calling Shotgun has been nominated in two categories this year - Culture and Literature and Best Blog Post for In Defense of Coolth. Voting takes place between now and December 24, so if you don't have anything better to do, why not swing by toss a vote my way? You should also have a look at some of the other categories and blogs. I found some great new haunts and met a few new friends through the site last year.

And speaking of friends, my good pal Cathy Webster is nominated for Best Personal Blog. You really should stop by to see her, and I bet you'll decide she's worth a vote too.

Later in the day I discovered, via Twitter, that Calling Shotgun was nominated for a Canadian Weblog Award, which is apparently a whole different thing. This award is chosen by a jury, so I'm not holding my breath for that one, but it sure is swell to be nominated.

(I just used blog traffic, Twitter, and swell in one post. Nerd alert!)

To the person who keeps nominating me for these, thank you. I am deeply flattered (and also a little creeped out). And thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit and vote. High fives all around.

My Neighbour Hates Me

I'm a nice person. Ask anyone. They'll say this: "She's nice". Or maybe: "She's really nice".

I give cookies to the bus driver, I pick up after my dog, I don't make noise after 10:00 pm. I'm friendly with the neighbours.

Most of the neighbours.

It started a few years ago. Well, it really started when I first moved here, but I only found out about it a few years ago. A new family moved in next door, and I asked how they were settling in.

"Just great", the husband told me. "We've met the Ryans and the Lindstroms. Yesterday we met the Hawcos down the street."

"Curt has been introducing us around, of course. He's like a department store greeter," The wife said.

Curt?

"Yes, you know. Lives across the street in the yellow house. So friendly."

Yes, I knew Curt. I just didn't get it. I'd been living on the street for eight years and he had never spoken more than two words to me. His wife Peggy was very friendly, and always stopped for a chat when we met. His kids played with my kids. I just thought he wasn't a people person.

I asked my husband about it.

"Curt? Yeah, he's friendly enough. I run into him at the store or the mailboxes and we shoot the breeze."

That's when I started watching him. I watched him stop on the street to talk to the neighbours. I watched him help the Johnstons shovel their walk. I watched him knock on the Lindstrom's door and chat for fifteen minutes. I passed him on the sidewalk three times that week. Nothing. No smile, no nod. He didn't even make eye contact.

I watched him on the days he brought his kids to the bus. He talked with the other parents, but when I entered the conversation he talked around me, never to me. No one else seemed to notice. On the days we were there alone he wouldn't speak. I wondered if I should try to talk to him, show him I was friendly. Show him I was nice. Making eye contact was difficult. He turned his back to me.

One day I spotted him at the mail boxes. This was it. There was no way he could avoid me. I said good morning in my friendliest tone.

"Hello, Dear," he said, and walked away. No warmth. No smile.

Since then he has gone out of his way to ignore me. He crosses the street when he sees me coming.

Everyone likes me. Everyone thinks I'm nice. So I really need to know.

What has he figured out?

For The Fallen

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old

Age shall not weary them, not the years condemn

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning

We shall remember them

- Laurence Binyon

Giller Winner - Esi Edugyan

Well, it's a good thing I am not a betting woman, because I would be a few bucks poorer today. The winner of the 2011 Giller Prize is author Esi Edugyan, who's novel Half-Blood Blues has made her a few bucks richer - $50,000 in fact.

It would have been a bad bet on my part, anyway, since I have not read Half-Blood Blues. I am very much looking forward to reading it, based on what the book jury said:

"Imagine Mozart were a black German trumpet player and Salieri a bassist, and 18th century Vienna were WWII Paris; that's Esi Edugyan's joyful lament, Half-Blood Blues. It's conventional to liken the prose in novels about jazz to the music itself, as though there could be no higher praise. In this case, say rather that any jazz musician would be happy to play the way Edugyan writes. Her style is deceptively conversational and easy, but with the simultaneous exuberance and discipline of a true prodigy. Put this book next to Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" – these two works of art belong together." 

Edugyan is also the author of internationally acclaimed novel The Second Life of Samuel Tyne.

The Giller Prize 2011

The winner of the 2011 Giller Prize will be announced tomorrow evening at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. Are you excited? I know you are. I bet you're already planning your wardrobe for the literary event of the season.

And who will take home the $50,000 prize? Let's take a look at the shortlist.

The Free World by David Bezmozgis

The Antagonist by Lynn Coady

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuzsi Gartner

The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje


If I were a betting woman, I would put my money on The Sisters Brothers. But I'd like to see an Atlantic Canadian take the prize, and that would be Lynn Coady.

You can read excerpts from the shortlisted books here.

Do you have a favourite to take the prize?

Advice about Writing Advice

Nanowrimo is underway, and while I won't be taking part this year, I will use the time to get some of my half-finished, almost abandoned work done. I already have Writer's Back. You know, that ache that squeezes in between your shoulder blades while you are hunched over your keyboard or notebook.

One thing I have found, even at this early stage, is that there is a ton of advice being pushed out on how to get the most word count for your time. These are just a few of the things I've seen over the past few days.

* Keep writing until you can't write any more.

The best piece of writing advice I ever got was from Ernest Hemingway (via Anthony Venutolo). He said the best time to stop writing is when you're still in the groove. That way you are never stuck. If you keep writing until you can't write anymore, it's so much harder to get back at it. You don't know what comes next.

If you come to a stumbling block, write through it. Write anything. Don't stop until there is a clear path in front of you again and you know what comes next.

* Prepare an outline and stick to it.

Preparing an outline is a good idea, but if your characters are anything like mine, they take on a life of their own. Once you start getting into the guts of the story, you never know what might happen. Now don't get me wrong, having an outline is a great idea, and knowing how your story will start and finish is half the battle. But don't follow your outline to the letter if your story points you toward something new. Explore it. The story is the boss.

* Be creative with your word choice

Now I love a good word as much as the next nerd (perhaps a new tip: avoid words that rhyme). And I love a creatively placed, seldom used word if it's done correctly. But for the love of Webster, put away the thesaurus. If you are talking about a flower, don't say blossom, bud, floret, or blooming vegetation. Say flower. It's much easier, and it sounds better.

Also:

Do be careful where you get your advice

I stumbled across a blog this week, a "for writers by a writer" sort of thing. There were over two thousand followers. There were lots of tips and hints, and the author waxed poetic about being a writer. Sounds pretty good, except for the glaring spelling and grammar errors in every post. I like blogs about writing, but if I'm going to read one, I'd like it to be authored by someone who knows how to use an apostrophe.

Here are some good sites for resources:

Writer's Digest
Ask Allison
Grammar Girl
Chicago Manual of Style

And when in doubt, ask Strunk & White.

In closing, you should forget the advice and find what works for you. That's my advice.