Word On The Street 2011

Yesterday was Word On The Street, 2011 edition, and I had a blast! And it all started with a cookie.

Perhaps I should explain that possibly cryptic statement. My Word On The Street Sunday started the same as they have the last few years, with me running late. My original plan has always been to be there by 11AM, and it has gone awry every single year. But at least I'm learning. If I want to get there I need to be up and out the door earlier. Also, taking the train from Burlington works a heck of a lot better than driving all the way into Toronto. (I learned that the first year to my dismay.)

So, yes, cookie. I arrived at the Burlington Go station too late for the 10:10 train, so I had to take the 11:10. While I was waiting a lovely young lady, who's name was Leann, I think (we exchanged names but I might be misremembering it or misheard it) offered me a cookie from a box she'd picked up at a bakery with her friend earlier that day or weekend.

Thus started my day, being offered a tasty treat from a lovely lady. So instead of spending the trip up to Toronto with my nose buried in the newspaper I'd just purchased I ended up chatting with Leann the whole time. Now, I know for most people this doesn't sound so special, but for me it was. I've always been a shy person, with a very thick shell. The fact that I was able to come out of it long enough to have an extended conversation with someone, never-mind that it was an attractive woman, is a minor victory for myself.

And it only got better as the day went on. So, after a pleasant trip up to Toronto I made my way to Queen's Park and wandered around. I had the good fortune to find Karen Dales and Violette Malan, two very sweet persons and outstanding authors. (Okay, so far I've only read Violette's work but every time I run into Karen she tries to get me to buy a book, in a no pressure friendly way, so I'm sure I'll submit and buy one eventually.)

Again I had a chance to chat, and again it was nice how easy it was to carry on an extended conversation. Honestly, fantasy and sci-fi authors have to be the nicest people on Earth. I mean, I've run into these ladies only a few times each yet I feel completely comfortable around them. As we talked I even mentioned that I was looking to apply to the Clarion Writers Workshop and they were both very encouraging and wished me success in getting in. Really, really nice people.

After I finished my wandering I ducked into the Wordshop tent. I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but it's put on every year I've been to Word On The Street by the Humber College of Writing. There are some interesting lectures, but the highlight of the day is when they read out first pages submitted by the audience throughout the day, give feedback, and state whether they'd continue reading past the first page. One of the hardest things to do is to get an editor to read past the first page. And my page got read! And they said they'd read past the first page!

Validation is nice and all, but what really helped was the feedback Kim Moritsugu, a teacher at Humber, provided. This is all done anonymously, so no one knew it was from me, so the comments Kim and her fellow panelist Jack David made were without bias and honest.

All things considered, Word On The Street 2011 was a great day for me. I got some cool books, chatted with some cool people, and got a healthy ego boost (don't worry, my head hasn't gotten so big it won't fit through the door). I can't wait for next year.

Everything At Once

It amazes me sometimes how everything seems to come up at once. So many things seem to want my attention at the same time.

For example, let's look at last week. Tuesday and Wednesday I was at Showcase Ontario, an IT conference/show for the Ontario government. So right there are two days of walking and standing around, and they were long days as well. Showcase took place in Toronto and I live in St. Catharines, and it was determined that we were within "commute" distance, so no hotels paid for by the government; we had to drive in each day. This meant leaving at six in the morning and not getting home till after six at night, with at least 4 hours spent driving each way. At least I didn't have to drive and was able to catch a ride, but still, being stuck in a car for the equivalent of half a normal workday is far from pleasant. So Wednesday night I was exhausted.

And did I get a chance to veg out and rest? Of course not!

Saturday was a kendo tournament in London, Ont., and Wednesday night was the final class before the tournament so I had to head to class as soon as I got home from Showcase and get all my equipment squared away so that there was no delay on Saturday, and Wednesday was the only chance I'd have. So, exhausted beyond belief I dragged myself to class and got that dealt with.

So fast forward to Saturday, and I'm up at 5AM to get ready to leave at 6 and drive over 2 hours to London. Thankfully I'd had a chance to rest a bit the previous two days, but I was so tempted to roll over and go back to sleep instead of going to work. But, I made it in to work and wasn't completely wasted for Saturday.

It was my first kendo tournament. I just started kendo about 4 months ago, so I wasn't about to get all dressed up in armor and start swinging. I was there to compete in the basic skills over 16 years old competition. It went well. I thought I could have been better, but I did end up in third place and took a metal home. The other guys did well, with our senior sensei taking second place in the masters over 50 section. But in the end, I got home exhausted from a long week.

So what about Sunday? Couldn't I just spend the day lounging around and recovering? Sadly no.

Sunday was Word on The Street in Toronto. Now, I could have skipped it this year, but I really wanted to go to the writing workshop tent and browse the vendors to see if I could find any really great deals. Well, I did end up sleeping in and didn't get there till nearly 2PM. Still, that gave me enough time to browse and catch a couple workshops. Really didn't find any deals that struck my fancy, which is the exact opposite of last year where I could have dropped a few hundred easily.

So the next few weeks are going to be nice and quiet, right? Nope. Next weekend I'm off to Montreal for Con*Cept. This should be interesting. I had a blast at AdAstra this year, and I'm hoping the experience in Montreal is the same.