I've been writing

So, I haven't written here for a while, but I learned huge amounts from the course I was in this fall -- Writing the Novel: An Introduction.

The prologue for my historical novel (set in 1582) has been cut from seven pages down to one and a bit. The first chapter has been tightened up considerably, as well. Altogether the two sections dropped from 31 pages to 20 -- and it's much better now.

The last assignment was actually the hardest. We had to do a five minute report on one of the books on a list -- and the only ones on it that I'd heard of, I'd had to read in high school. Apparently, several other people in the class weren't too thrilled with the list, either.

The teacher finally gave us the opportunity to select any book we wanted. I chose Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett. I went through it and studied how he handled some of the problems I was facing in my work, like vocabulary that would be known in the period (or, in his case, place) but might be unfamiliar to the average reader.

Learned a lot from Pratchett ... now the hard part: to implement what I've learned.

More visitors

Today, we spent most of the day around Tobermory, playing in the waters of Georgian Bay, then down to Sauble Beach for a late afternoon dip in Lake Huron.

Tomorrow, we're playing black light minigolf. Should be interesting ... I've been trying to convince the junior member of the group that high score wins. No luck so far.

Stratford's offerings this year

Last week some friends were in from Ottawa and we went to see three shows at Stratford. This time, it was
- Ever Yours, Oscar
- Bartholomew Fair
- Cyrano de Bergerac

I don't recommend Ever Yours, Oscar. It was reading a series of letters to, and from, Oscar Wilde. Most of them, I had already read over the years.

I found Bartholomew Fair absolutely delightful. Fast paced and highly amusing. Unfortunately, one of my companions was confused at the beginnning and found the whole thing incomprehensible.

Cyrano de Bergerac, however, was just amazing. It was so well done that I was in the grip of the story from the very first scene. When Cyrano dies at the end, I was in tears. This is one show people should try to see if they can.

We also found a delightful little restaurant, the York Street Kitchen. Tiny, with great food and an excellent selection of wine. Unfortunately, they only accept reservations for six or more. Open 8 to 8. If you want dinner, you better be there right on the dot of 5. We went in at five past, and had trouble finding a table for three; it's that popular.

Crazy busy

I've been so busy with the writer's circle that I've not had much time for anything else. I did, however, take my eldest godson to Stratford to see The Importance of Being Earnest in June. In July, I attended his graduation at Borden. This past weekend, I went to one of the best parties I've ever been to -- the people were actually interesting and intelligent and erudite!

Today, Mike and Tom will be arriving for a visit. We'll be off to Stratford for the next couple of days.

Oh well

Well, my ex wasn't able to make it today. It was too bad because my godson had done an excellent presentation for church; it was very well received by the congregation.

Time to finish my homework for tomorrow, instead of playing on the blog. I have to make my villain more evil. That shouldn't be difficult, but it has to be consistent with his character in order to be truly believable.

Weary ...

The new course is taking a lot of time and energy, so I've had no time for the blog, but at least it's interesting. Spending all my time on the laptop leaves me disinclined to read e-mails on my desktop; so much so that I've quit several lists that I was on.

On another note, I'm getting tired of the threats -- every three months -- to haul me into court. They occurred the last week of October, January, and April -- leaving me in a foul mood every time and hating all men which, thankfully, was an attitude my ex never engendered in me. In fact, I wish I had my ex to talk to about it; he's so knowledgeable about these things and he'd be able to ease my mind about it. Oh well. Eventually this will be over ... in about sixteen more months, and getting upset four weeks out of 52 (if it happens again at the end of July), isn't too bad.

Health Issues

Well, my health was improving. Then, towards the end of March, I came down with a bug that gave me a fever and, even though I managed to break the fever a few times, it kept coming back. Then I was very tired for a while. Things are finally starting to pick up again.