Top 8 of '08, with Guest Blogger Dale McGladdery

Aside from being a WebWizard after my own heart, Dale McGladdery is also a film buff. In addition to his Group 42 Drupal Blog AND his Digital Doodle Pad blog, he is a founding (and participating) member of the crew of AFTER THE CREDITS.

No surprise, then, that he's got a few insights to share with his Top 8 Films of 2008 -- and with a writing link, too boot!

All films are written but few contain writing craft. I don't mean they're all lacking in craft! Well, some are. I mean few show details of craft only a writer can truly understand.

In no particular order, here are my top 8 movies containing references or insights only a writer can truly appreciate.

• Finding Neverland
  
  The story of how author J.M. Barrie was inspired to create Peter Pan. Not only is it a wonderful story, it captures the creative process in action.



• Adaptation
  
  A bizarre, self-referential story that had me laughing out loud many times. Only a writer can truly understand the emotions this protagonist is experiencing!



• Stranger Than Fiction
  
  A man begins hearing a voice narrating his life and discovers someone else is the author of his story. It's a cool premise, a so-so movie, and a wonderful study of what goes into a story. This is also the only Will Farrell performance I've ever liked, so don't shy away because he's in the movie.



• Starting Out in the Evening
  
  A wonderful, bittersweet movie about a dying author trying to finish his last novel. Contains many moments only a writer can appreciate as well as making one think about what goes into a good story.



• Wonder Boys
  
  Sometimes you just need to start over.



• Lady in the Water
  
  M. Night Shyamalan's story execution is ham-handed but I loved the underlying premise of solving the "real life" conflict by treating it like a story. A fun exploration of plot dissection. Check out Unbreakable for a subtler blending of "real life" and story.



• Shakespeare in Love
  
  A bit of a stretch but good fun around the topic of inspiration.



• Becoming Jane
  
  Another stretch, but somehow it belongs on this list. It also gives me a highly dubious excuse to mention The Jane Austen Book Club, a movie that wraps the study of the relevance of literature in everyday life into a series of romance stories.

I'd also like to give an honourable mention to Scribes, a documentary on storytelling set at the 2003 Surrey International Writers' Conference. Although Director Rusty Nixon didn't quite pull off his story arc, the interviews and presentation excerpts are golden! Worth the watch for anyone wanting to improve their writing craft. [Editor's note: I am actually in this movie. It is my one and only film credit in IMdB. And, sadly, I am forced to report to you that my face really DOES look fatter on camera....]

Did I miss one of your favs? Please leave a comment! I'm always looking for good movies.

Want to read more? Check out Dale's movie blog and podcasts HERE.

And I see on his Digital Doodles site that he has just put up a list of Reasons Why Christmas in Vernon Rocks. Two lists for the price of one! Check it out HERE.

Thanks for taking part, Dale!

~kc

Podcastin'

The second episode of the SiWC podcast is now up on the website, with author James McCann standing on the SiWC Soap Box this week. You can find it, along with a photo of the crazy-haired interviewer and the cheerful and calm interviewee perched on a tree branch near Lumberman's Arch in Stanley Park here.

Thanks so much to Dale McGladdery for his behind-the-mike wizardry and to James for his patience and for being a great inaugural interview subject for me.

(Here's hoping the interviewer can polish her delivery a little in upcoming episodes...)

~kc

What's Happening?

Lots, actually.

I'm working on the edits for my new book, emerging this spring, now called A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW. I got a first look at the cover this week. It needs a bit of tweaking still, but bodes well...

Dale McGladdery and I did our first SiWC podcast yesterday. I think we may need a bit of a re-do, though, for while the traffic thundering along the Kingsway in Surrey didn't prove to be a problem at all, the noisy guys at the next table were.







This is Dale, setting up the equipment at our coffee-shop podcast site.












However, we are meeting again this weekend at Summer Dream, where we plan to buttonhole a few of the other SiWC 2008 presenters for our podcast. (We're currently calling it the SiWC Soapbox, but are offering a little contest prize for anyone who comes up with a name we like better. Check out the SiWC blog here if you have an idea you'd care to share.)

After our abortive podcast attempt, Dale and I attended the July edition of the SiWC Board meeting. Here's the evidence...


This is transportation goddess Sue Goddard, travel and journalism genius Ursula Maxwell and Webwizard Dale. (You might also notice the meeting ended at 6:10 pm...)













And here the irreplaceable Carmen Merrells tells me to 'talk to the hand', while Volunteer Vixen Camille Netherton gives her opinion on Carmen.









The Board is made up of a fantastic group of very talented people -- our meetings are always fun and fruitful. Next time I'll get shots of The Missing...Estelle Bogoch Stelmach, Tara Holt, and Carrie Higgins.

After I get my edits in to Doubleday next week, I'm off to Portland for a few days to take in the Willamette Writing Conference. My first time to Portland (tho' not to Oregon) and to this conference. I'm _really_ looking forward to it and will blog all I see and do while there.

In another editorial note, I'd like to offer a warm BC welcome to Barry Jowett, my editor at Dundurn, who has just announced he'll be leaving the company and moving west. Invermere will gain what Toronto has lost -- Barry is a wonderful editor, and when he gets set up in his new life, I'll make sure to link to his new office here.

~kc

Surrey International Writers' Conference Blog goes LIVE

This is Lee Edward Fodi. Nice hat, eh?

Lee is one of the amazing presenters who will be attending SiWC 2008 this year. He is a writer-illustrator, and wears a very cool wizard's hat (tho' not all the time, I'm sorry to say...)

Speaking of wizards, I'm feeling pretty excited today, thanks to the wizardry of webmaster Dale McGladdery, as the blog for SiWC has just gone live. This means the email newsletter that goes out to the listserv every few weeks will now be supplemented by a daily blog, outlining all that is new and fresh for the conference -- and both are on RSS feeds.

Now, I've talked about this here before, but RSS feeds truly rule, and they make reading blogs WAY more fun, and WAY less of a chore.

SiWC's Wizardly Webmaster Dale McGladdery found this amazing video to explain the process. I LOVE it -- a fantastically simple and clear (and SHORT!) explanation of the whys and hows behind RSS feeds. Now, Dale is very cleverly going to post this on the SiWC upload page -- tomorrow, I think.

Not one to miss a scoop, I am going to post it here first. (The video is displayed under the specifications of its Creative Commons license.) It's by Lee LeFever, with CommonCraft, and is definitely worth a peek.





How great is that? A big tip o' the hat to Dale for finding this! (If you couldn't see the video, you can follow this link to find it on YouTube.)

But that's not all...

In addition to the newsletter and the blog, Dale is also setting up a 'What's New' section on the SiWC website home page. This will link you to all the changes and happenings within the conference and on the website itself. It should be up and running in the next few days.

So, if you haven't done it yet, hie yourself on over to the Surrey International Writers' Conference website and sign up for the newsletter and the blog feeds.

~kc

Surrey International Writers' Conference

...Newsletter went live today.

I may have mentioned before in this space that one of the things I do when I am not writing is coordinate the above-named conference. This job, while being a joy and a privilege, also eats my head upon occasion. And right now is a particularly busy time.

The remarkable Dale McGladdery, webmaster extraordinaire, has been working like a madman to update the SiWC site. Things are looking good, and if you want a sneak peek at some of the names of presenters, you can look here.

But it is nowhere near complete, so keep checking back. Dale is adding new content every day, including the names of a whole whack of other presenters. (I use the term collectively, of course.)

The BEST way of keeping track of all that is going on with SiWC is to grab the RSS feed that we will be running from both the newsletters and the new blog. But wait! It's not set up yet. Will be soon, though. So grab it then. When? I'll tell you.

So really, you are likely to hear it here first.





To finish, a gratuitous photo of my new canine nephew Ronan. My sister assures me he is not really this angelic when awake...




~kc

Typing Between Coughs...

The other night I was invited to speak with The Novel Knickers, a book club at Christianne's Lyceum of Literature and Art in Kitsilano.

I was there to speak about my novel Ms. Zephyr's Notebook -- and I must say I had a fabulous time.

The group was made up of 11 or 12 avid readers and their parents, and they all ensured I had a wonderful time, sharing thoughts, observations and questions about my book. The treats were splendid (I even got to take home Purdy's chocolate!), the conversation sublime. Many thanks to Christianne Hayward and her marvellous staff for hosting such a wonderful evening. And thanks to all for putting up with my alternatingly squeaky and gravelly voice.


Posts are flying fast and furious over at Linda Gerber's blog, in celebration of her new book DEATH BY BIKINI. You can check out my guest post here -- and if you leave a comment, your name goes in a draw not only for a personalized copy of MS. ZEPHYR'S NOTEBOOK, but for a bunch of other prizes, too.

I noticed that one of the early winners was sister writer, photography nut and blogger extraordinaire A Novel Woman -- who also, I recall, seems to have remarkable luck when it comes to winning things.

Not much else going on around here. I am currently stricken with some dreadful plague, the details of which I will spare you. Am trying to work with the SiWC's amazing webmaster (and Drupal genius) Dale McGladdery to help get our new site up and running, and pull together the 2008 brochure to deliver into the hands of designer and web genius Laurel Hickey...but mostly I am coughing, napping and reading PG Wodehouse.

I have to send out a huge thank you to sister scribe Meg Tilly for stepping in to take on a big speech off my germ-laden hands. Thank you, Meg!



And to finish, here is one of my favourite recent pictures of my own little mermaid, doing one of the things she does best -- the backstroke.

Just last weekend, she got her triple A (provincial standard) time in 100m Back, a feat which has made us all very proud.




~kc