“Writer Promotion in the Digital Age” – June 8th

I’m very excited to be giving a one-day workshop on writer promotion at this year’s Women’s Words in Edmonton. It’s the program’s 20th anniversary this year, and the line-up is looking stellar!

Here are just a few of the instructors/sessions:

• Caterina Edwards and Jean Crozier invite you to “Dive the family treasure trunk!”
• Shirley Serviss will be wearing her walking shoes while students “Write Downtown”
• Judy Schultz tells you to “Write what you know” as she shares her creative nonfiction techniques

And here’s the blurb for mine:

Gone are the days a writer can afford to work in isolation. Now, each author—whether with a traditional publisher or going “Indie”—faces pressure to be their own promoter, online and in real life. Learn to make the best use of precious time and money. Come away knowing: the difference between marketing and promotion; how to identify your promotional personality strengths (and challenges); the most important online tools, and one “sin” to avoid for each. You’ll select an online and “analog” tool to immediately integrate into your promotional strategies.

Hope to see you there!

Edmonton’s First Annual #Yeggies!

This past Saturday night was the first annual #Yeggies awards in Edmonton for New Media. I got to go with pal Dana DiTomaso (@danaditomaso), who gave out the first prize of the evening (her company, Kick Point, was one of the sponsors). What a great event and lovely group of people! Host Trent Wilkie (@thetrentwilkie) was hilarious (even for a semi-geek like me who doesn’t always get the Star Wars references). Oh, and I don’t know who the caterer was, but the tiramisu-in-shot-glasses was amazing!

It was particularly great to chat with the following folks:

@rickharpcbc

@bingo fuel (aka Adam Rozenhart)

@ekymson (aka Eldon Kymson)

@Paulatics (aka Paula Simons)

@KikkiPlanet (never did figure out her real name!)

And Tanis Miller, creator of Attack of the Redneck Mommy blog (and Best in Family or Parenting category winner!).

“Writing History into Your Work” at CNFC Conference

I just gave a workshop “Writing History into Your Work” at this year’s Creative Nonfiction Collective conference at the beautiful Banff Centre for the Arts!

The conference lineup this year also included:

• Keynote speaker Karen Connelly
• Sessions with Tyler Trafford, Kate Braid, Cathy Ostlere, and Lynne Bowen
• A plenary called “What the heck is going on?” featuring Don Sedgwick (Transatlantic Literary Agency), Steven Ross Smith (Banff Centre), and Allison McNeely about the current status of digital publishing
• the ever-popular CNF cabaret and Reader’s Choice Awards

Anne Gafiuk, a colleague and participant in the workshop had this to say:

“Approximately fifty delegates came together to participate in workshops, readings, a plenary session, to hear a guest speaker, do some networking, learning, experience camaraderie and enjoy good food!  Some people came all the way from Halifax and Nanaimo, plus many places in-between, including numerous writers from Alberta. At Danielle’s session, we shared what areas we were interested in and what tools we would need to accomplish our goals.  I came away with more ideas and was also able to contribute a few, too.  Before we knew it, our ninety minutes was over!  We were so engaged; we all agreed we could have continued until noon. “

As I promised to Anne and the other participants, here’s some info to help you on your historic journey – and answers to those burning questions they brainstormed! Thanks to all who came out, participated, and contributed so much energy at 9am!

Tools:  

• portable scanner
• digital camera
• digital voice recorder
• notebook and pens/pencils
• coffee/baking
• memory stick/external hard drive
• Drop Box/Cloud
• Dragonspeak
• transcription services
• empathy and a sense of humour

Online resources:

• Google and GoogleEarth
• David Rumsey Map Collection
• Twitter and Facebook
• Forums
• Subject-specific sites (like aviation, for example)

Community resources:

• Local archives or museum
• Historical and genealogical societies
• Historian laureates (kind of like writers in residence)
• Universities or colleges
• Knowledgeable individuals

 Historical Q&A’s (for the whole list about research, ethical issues, etc, please click here):

How do you work in history when you are not a historian?

I’m biased toward professional historians, because I’ve seen major differences between how historians and non-historians go about research and documentation, and between how journalists interview and historians conduct oral interviews.

A great example of a non-historian “doing history” is someone like Pierre Berton, who has been credited with popularizing Canadian History. He started out as a journalist and had a set of skills and experience in that field, and then moved into historical territory. There can be a lot of overlap, but I’ve spoken with professional historians who were his friends and gave him grief for his sometimes flippant attitude toward historical accuracy. It does sound like he got more and more careful as he went on (and employed many researchers, transcriptionists, and fact-checkers on his projects). I’m all for the democratization of history but I also believe in maintaining professional standards. It’s a tension I struggle with daily.

If you’re going to be a self-taught historian, I would recommend the following texts:

• Keith Jenkins: Re-thinking History
• The Craft of Research
• Oxford’s Writing History
• The Chicago Manual of Style
• Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide
• Colleen Fitzpatrick’s Forensic Genealogy
• Pierre Berton’s The Joy of Writing

And take courses, workshops or attend historical conferences whenever you can to learn new skills and hear different perspectives.

YEG Profile: S.G. Wong

Since 2010, I have co-organized a monthly mixer group in Edmonton for creative women professionals. I am constantly amazed by their expertise and experience, and thought I would do Q&A’s with them to get their stories – and tips!

SG Wong is creator of the Lola Starke series of paranormal hard-boiled detective novels set in an alternate history1930s. Die On Your Feet is out as an ebook May 27th, 2013 from Carina Press.

SG Wong attended the University of Alberta, where she earned a B.A. (Honours) in English Literature.  After that lively (mis)adventure, she lived in Japan, where she continued her studies in Japanese, occasionally taught English, and met a very intriguing man. In her spare time now, she is the mother of two school-aged children.

How are you involved in the community?

I’m currently Vice President of the Get Publishing Communications Society. I am also one of an enormous cadre of volunteers working to put on this year’s conference, Words in 3 Dimensions (wordsin3d.com), happening May 24-26, right here in Edmonton.

In the world outside of writing, I volunteer with my neighbourhood community garden. Although I don’t garden there, I help put on speakers and workshops for the entire neighbourhood. Also, I have the privilege of organizing the Staff Appreciation Lunch every year at my children’s school. It’s such a wonderful opportunity to show our teachers and support staff that we, as a parent community, are grateful for their commitment to our children.

What is the best thing about your career?

The best thing about my career is that I set my own hours and I’m a workaholic. I can slip into my office whenever I have a spare moment and jot down notes or “scribble” out a scene (on the laptop). I like the flexibility of my hours immensely. I can volunteer at my children’s school or be involved in my community garden and still write. I’m also able to take my children to and pick them up from school. The pick-up time is especially nice after a day of transcribing the noise and “busy-ness” inside my head (ie., writing).

This is my dream career; it truly is.

Where do you hope to be in a year? Two years? Five years?

I’m not big on “career projections,” but I am good at daydreaming. So, let’s see. I imagine myself travelling more to conferences across Canada and the States (expenses paid, of course!). When my children are older, I hope they travel with me to some conferences as well. It’s a fun, adventurous way to spend time with them individually, which I think is so important to our relationship.

My plans for my working life include a steady cycle of writing/editing/promoting. At any given time, I imagine I should have one book in promotions, one in editing and another in the draft writing stage. I’m not sure I can manage more than three at a time, but I guess I’ll see.

I also want to continue my volunteer activities, within the writing community, but also beyond.

How do you network? What works best for you?

So let me start with why I network. There’s the pure social aspect. As a novelist, I spend huge amounts of time in isolation. It’s wonderful to have a reason—beyond children–related events—to get out and talk to real, living people. Especially when it’s with people who share career interests or general nerdiness with me. It’s a way to recharge my batteries, so to speak. There’s the fact that I am promoting myself and—dare I say it? yes, ok, here it is—my brand. As a novelist publishing with a digital-first imprint headquartered far away, I have the lion’s share of marketing to do for myself. I network to get my name out there. Finally, there’s the fact that I look for ways to contribute to others. This is really the most important reason for me. I love being able to refer someone to someone else; to share a resource with others; to help out by being available and generous.

For live events, I prefer a casual atmosphere at nothing shorter than monthly intervals. A month gives me time to accomplish things worth sharing about. And to find new people to introduce to the group.

For online networking, I actually quite enjoy using Twitter and Facebook. It’s fun and can be creative, as well as surprising. It gives me links to many more blogs and professionals, local and otherwise, than I could scare up on my lonesome. Plus, when my kids and husband catch me on it, I can truthfully say that I’m working.

What is your proudest moment?

My proudest moment, huh? I might just have to choose the very first time I sent out my manuscript to an agent, in the Fall of 2010. I was such a newbie; hadn’t networked my way into any introductions; had nothing but a list of agencies and a whole lot of worries. In fact, I recall vividly how tempting it was for me to keep tinkering with my manuscript instead of releasing it into the wild.

But I did it. I wrote up a strong query letter and synopses of various lengths. I had a list of agents and publishers and a dream…

Ok, seriously. I was proud of myself for putting my work out there. I’ll always remember that first time.

Norman Leach on the Korean War: Canada’s Forgotten Conflict

In 1950 a war broke out on the Korean peninsula that claimed millions of lives and left the region in ruins. More than 500 of the 26,000 Canadians deployed were killed and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in Canadian history.

And yet it has been called Canada’s forgotten war despite its status as a major military action. One that included significant triumphs, such as the Battle of Kapyong.

The Military Museums Foundation is proud to host Korea: The Other War on Thursday, 4 April. Calgary historian and author Norman Leach will examine the buildup to the Korean War, and the impact of the delicate ceasefire that followed.

He will explore Canada’s role in the conflict, which was the country’s first military action of the Cold War. As a best-selling author of Canadian history, Norman will bring an historical perspective to the recent flare-up of tensions in the region, and what the situation means for Canada.

Though often overshadowed by the First and Second World Wars, The Korean War continues to shape international politics. We are reminded of its significance by the frequent threats of renewed conflict that come out of the region, and the plausibility of this scenario is subject to much speculation.

Norman Leach is an award-winning author specializing in Canadian Military history. He has written several books, including Passchendaele: Canada’s Triumph and Tragedy on the Fields of Flanders, and Canadian Peacekeepers: Ten Stories of Valour in War-Torn Countries.

#YEG Essay in Avenue Magazine

 A Central-Canadian gal learns to love Edmonton

I have a confession to make. Back in 2008, when my husband and I had just  finished our degrees and the world economy was in a downward spin, he was offered a job. Good news. Great, even. But — and it’s tough to admit — this central-Canadian girl swallowed hard when she heard it would mean moving to Edmonton. Edmonchuck. Deadmonton.

They are unfortunate nicknames that don’t fit the city I now know, love and, yes, champion (pun intended) to people around the world.

So it might be the most northerly metropolis in North America, but it’s certainly not a Siberian gulag or sleepy backwater. In fact, Edmonton combines the best of the  different places I’ve lived, creating a wonderful geographic fusion.

It’s the same size and feel as Ottawa — my childhood home — with its abundant parks, government workers, and festivals. But it’s also a little libertarian like Wyoming, where I hung my hat for two years.

There are times I swear I’m back in Dawson City, Yukon, where I spent half a winter writing in Pierre Berton’s childhood home. It’s especially strong when I’m walking my dog through the snowy back alleys of Mill Woods and smell a wood fire, or happen to catch a glimpse of the northern lights, while hanging out in a backyard hot tub.

And if I squint just right looking at Whyte Avenue, I’m back at university in Montreal. On a rainy fall afternoon, I could easily be in the Kerrisdale or Kitsilano neighbourhoods of Vancouver.

Edmonton also indulges my international tastes. Missing France? I head to Duchess Bake Shop. And I promise you won’t find better butter chicken in Leeds than at one of our great Indian restaurants.

After two years of enjoying all this city has to offer, I have a new nickname for it: Home.

Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail is the author of For the Love of Flying. She is currently working on two books, Polar Winds: A Century of Flying Canada’s North (forthcoming from Frontenac House), and a Second World War-era novel, Chasing Skies. She is a member of Avenue’s Top 40 Under 40, class of 2012.

(Published in Avenue Magazine, February 2013. The lovely illustration is by Byron Eggenschwiler )

Up for Mayor’s Arts Award!

Nominees announced for Edmonton Mayor’s Arts Awards

Edmonton Journal article by Elizabeth Withey

Me (middle) with fellow Avenue Magazine Top 40ers Christine McCourt and Joyce Labriola at City Hall during the media announcement

EDMONTON — Roots musician Corb Lund, circus performer Annie Dugan and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra are three of eight artistic “ambassadors” nominated for a new Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts award.

Their names were among dozens announced Friday morning by the Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton for the annual mayor’s arts awards, to be handed out April 29.

The new ATB Financial Ambassador of the Arts Award recognizes an individual or organization that has succeeded, on a national or international level, in enlightening audiences and promoting the Edmonton, cultural, performance or visual art scene in an extraordinary way. The winner gets $2,500.

Also on the shortlist for the new award are musicians Ben Sures and Tommy Banks, Rapid Fire Theatre, Wishbone Theatre’s Michael Peng and Chris Bullough, and Jonathan Christenson of Catalyst Theatre.

For the 2013 Edmonton Book Prize, which will be given out at the same event, fiction, poetry and a history of denim will duke it out for the $10,000 prize.

Up for the city’s book prize are Tim Bowling for his novel The Tinsmith (Brindle & Glass), Nora Gould for her debut collection of Prairie poems, I see my love more clearly from a distance (Brick Books), and Catherine Cole for Piece by Piece: The GWG Story (Goose Lane Editions), a history of the Great Western Garment Company, which started in Edmonton.

Edmonton Journal arts reporter Fish Griwkowsky is one of five nominees for the John Poole Award for Promotion of the Arts. Also on that shortlist are Edmonton philanthropist Sir Francis Price, Citadel marketing director Joyce Labriola, CBC RadioActive’s The In Crowd columnists and Ania Sleczkowska.

There are 14 nominees in the emerging artist category, including Harcourt House artist-in-residence Alexis Marie Chute, non-fiction writer Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, Edmonton Public Library writer-in-residence and rapper Omar Mouallem, and Jason Lee Norman, writer and creator of the 40 Below Project, an anthology on winter.

Citie Ballet’s Francois Chevennement, Northern Light Theatre’s Trevor Schmidt, Opera Nuova’s Kim Mattice Wanat and Theatre Yes’s Heather Inglis are all up for the Dialog Award for Excellence in Artistic Direction.

And the Edmonton International Film Festival producer Kerrie Long is in the running for the Syncrude Award for Excellence in the Arts, along with Miki Andrejevic (Festival of Ideas), Linda Huffman (ArtsHab), Tom McFall (Alberta Craft Council) and Ritchie Velthuis (sculptor).

John Mahon, the Edmonton Arts Council’s executive director, has been nominated for the Atco Gas Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement, alongside Douglas D. Barry, a visual artist, teacher and arts visionary with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Extension.

The Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts happens Monday, April 29 at the Winspear Centre. Mayor’s award categories are worth $1,000 and sponsored awards are worth $2,500. Tickets to the event range from $15 to $80 and can be purchased at winspearcentre.com.

Update: I didn’t win, but had a fabulous time with nominator Natasha Deen and my hubby! Congrats to Omar Mouallem, who took the prize in our category.

YEG Profile: Erinne Sevigny

Since 2010, I have co-organized a monthly mixer group in Edmonton for creative women professionals. I am constantly amazed by their expertise and experience, and thought I would do Q&A’s with them to get their stories – and tips!

Erinne Sevigny is an editor out of Edmonton, AB.

This spring she’s embarking on a behind-the-scenes tour of Canadian publishing that you can follow at www.thegreatcanadianpublishingtour.com (and, while she’s still not sure about the Twitter, at @TGCPT and @erinnesevigny).

 What kind of background do you have?

I enrolled in the Professional Writing program at MacEwan after I decided late that storm chasing probably wasn’t going to work out. I wasn’t passionate about writing, but I was good at it. In PROW I was prompted to join a local literary journal where I volunteered, first as secretary then as president and managing editor, for about seven years. This is where my passion for story, editing, and publishing bloomed. I learned by doing (and by making a ton of mistakes). Now, I’m looking forward to being a student again for a short period of time in Humber’s Creative Book Publishing Program.

What’s the best thing about your job?
Helping people. Whether it’s providing them with their first publishing credits, workshopping a story with them, connecting them to the right person or opportunity at the right time, publishing a story that I know will have a positive effect on its readers, I’m stoked if at the end of the day I’ve made someone feel good.

Also, a lot of the opportunities I receive involve working with youth, and I am very fortunate for this. There is nothing more inspiring, nothing that feeds the creative soul more, than interacting with young writers. They are talented. They are intelligent. They are kind. They are inspiring. Nothing fuels me more.

What’s a challenge you’ve overcome? How did you do it?
A challenge that I am attempting to overcome right now is monkey brain. This is when you have so much going on in your head that you can’t even finish a thought before being interrupted by another. If I let it get out of control, this paralyzes me. The best solution so far has been to write very detailed lists that I can tackle one task at time. It’s not: manuscript evaluation. It’s: read MS, outline eval, write eval, email eval. The important thing is to get everything down on paper, because monkey brain is a result of worrying that you’ll forget about something. Counter to this is if the list gets too long, it can be overwhelming and I’m back to being paralyzed. This is where family and friends come in.

How do you network? What works best for you?
I haven’t really had a strategy in networking. I was turned off to it by a bad experience at a conference when I was 20. A woman cut me off mid-phrase, abruptly turning around after deciding that I wasn’t going to be a useful connection to her. At another event, I stood at a table and exchanged business cards with folks who seemed to be on a timer. No matter where the conversation was heading, somewhere between 4 and 7 minutes they found a reason to excuse themselves and move to another table. The idea of “networking” has since seemed robotic and disingenuous to me. I like the word connect better, and I do that by putting myself in as many places as possible, by getting involved in any way I can in a variety of industries where my skills might be useful.

This twitter thing… those who know me know I’ve never been a fan and remain skeptical. But I’m trying and learning and it’s becoming easier with every tweet. I just really wish it had started with a lexicon that didn’t seem so ridiculous. I don’t find the ‘ee’ sound very appealing.

How do you prioritize your work and life commitments?
I find it interesting that work isn’t simply part of life when talking about commitments. For me there are just commitments and if one begins to feel like a “work” commitment, I know that something is off balance and I need to adjust it.

One of the earliest conversations I can remember is one with my father who was explaining the importance of balance between schoolwork and socializing. I am a huge advocate for balance, recognizing that it doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone.

That said, I easily fall into a mode where all I do is tackle tasks from my lists. It helps to have a dog. He’s my canary. When he starts acting up, I know I need to take a break (and take him out for a walk).

Alberta Aviation Museum Celebrates Women March 10th

Women and girls get in FREE to the Alberta Aviation Museum on Sunday, March 10th as part of Women in Aviation week. Doors open at 10 a.m.

• Katherine Stinson: aerobatic demonstrations in 1916
• Eileen Vollick: First Canadian woman pilot
• Vi Milstead: First woman bush pilot
• Rosella Bjornson: First female jet captain in Canada and first female pilot hired by a Canadian airline
•  Beyond the cockpit, women have been maintenance engineers, aircraft builders and servicers and held key high technology positions since the Second World War.

Media contact:

Jean Lauzon (780-451-1175)

Assistant Executive Director

AlbertaAviationMuseum

CBC Canada Writes CNF Tip!

When we read personal stories, it’s because we want to inhabit that writer’s life for awhile in all its complexity – all its messy humanity. This includes wrestling with the big ideas and “isms” like racism, sexism, and colonialism that unfortunately often come with being human. With memoirs, biographies, and other forms of creative nonfiction, we get the opportunity to artfully explore these things through dialogue and details. We can give life to theories and philosophical questions by attaching a name, face and story. We can express the universal through the personal.