Saturday, October 29, 2016

Finding Balance in an Unbalanced World (Or why my horse is no longer so fat).

Finding Balance in an Unbalanced World. 




(Photo taken back when we were both a little "round")



I've always loved writing. So when I first decided to take the leap and become an author I threw myself into the process with a single minded focus reserved for Olympic athletes and new religious converts. 

There was writing, revising, editing, marketing, networking, writer's group, and social media to keep up with. There were classes to improve my craft,  and (because I'm not independently wealthy) there was the full time job and the farm to take care of.  I was determined to set myself up to eventually be able to support myself as an author. 

There are only so many hours of daylight at a person's disposal. I got up early to write. I wrote before bed. I wrote on my lunch break and finally, by some sort of miracle (not really, it was mostly hard work), I published my first novel.

I gave myself a week off to recover and then I started on the second one. Never mind that the dishes were piling up, my other half was eating a diet of fast-food, the dog took to looking at me reproachfully  and my horse saw me only at feeding time. Never mind that my waist line was expanding as I sat in front of the computer all day. I was doing what I loved and that's all that mattered.

The turning point came when the vet gave our family some bad news. My sweet old horse, a guy I'd had since he was a bratty four year old, had developed Cushings; a degenerative condition with a variety of unpleasant symptoms. It could be managed but not cured. He'd need medication, a special diet and and a strict exercise regime. Most of all he needed to lose a ton of weight.

"I know you're busy. Maybe you could find a teenager to take him on," the vet said, "someone who loves to ride and has the time to care for him."

That was my eye-opening moment. I loved my horse. My dream for the future was to be able to support myself with writing so I could spend more time doing what I loved, and that included spending time with him. I'd been so focused on the end goal that I'd stopped taking the time to savor and enjoy my day to day life. 

After that, I made a writing commitment of just 1000 words a day. My marketing and social media updates were limited to just a half an hour daily.  I made sure to book lots of quality time with my family, with friends, and with my pets, and I'm proud to say that I now own a slim and healthy horse whose condition is well managed (and my waist line benefited from all the extra activity too). 

What I lost in productivity I gained in quality of life. My writing became all the better for the change too. I had more time to appreciate the subtle nuances in the world around me, to observe people and animals and nature without worrying about deadlines. 

In the end, finding my balance made me a better person and a better writer. My dream of being a best-selling author is still strong; it might just take me a little longer. But in the meantime I'm going to enjoy the ride. 

















Friday, October 28, 2016

Cara's trilogy is done!

This month I finished the third book in Cara's trilogy. (Yes!) It was a fun series to write; I love Cara's feisty personality and stubbornness. People have asked if she's anything like me and, besides the occasional lapse in my bite inhibition, I have to say no; she is her own unique individual!! Cara's character jumped on the page fully formed right from day one. Actually, the Wayfarer's End appeared first, closely followed by Cara and then the rest of the cast fell into place one by one. I just loved the idea of having a hotel only for musicians and the undead. It just seemed like a natural progression from there. I have toyed with the idea of someday writing a fourth book set in Cara's future when she's finally in culinary school. I'll have to let that idea simmer for a while and see what happens. I love connecting with readers so send your questions and comments and I'll do my best to incorporate them into a future blog. If you enjoyed the books please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com or Goodreads. Every bit helps. Stay tuned for my new series... coming soon to a retailer near you! And guess what? It involves horses! I know, big surprise ha ha If you haven't read Cara's series then follow the links below and get yourself a copy of the first book, The Opposite of Living. Happy Reading! Gen

Thinking about Diversity

This fall I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Surrey International Writer's Conference. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to sit in on so many interesting lectures. I came away full of inspiration and thought-provoking new ideas.

One of my favourite lectures was entitled "Writing the Other" and it was presented by Daniel Jose Older. I really enjoyed this workshop. Older is an engaging and passionate speaker who clearly loves his subject matter. He is both an author and an activist and he has obviously made it his mission to make sure there is diversity in literature – as in life!

Authors are often advised to “write what you know” but they’re also advised to have culturally diverse books that reflect their audience. But what if ‘what you know’ is just middle class white people who are your age and share similar values and similar abilities? How are you supposed to reflect cultures you know nothing about?

The first step, according to Older, is just recognizing that the real world is made up of thousands of different shades, colours, backgrounds, identities, cultures and abilities. People eat differently, smell differently, go to different churches, grocery stores, play different board games, tell different bedtime stories, listen to different music. Etc and they’re all part of the human experience. How do you make sure your book includes this rich tapestry? How do you make sure your readers are seeing themselves reflected in your book? And why should you care?



That last question has two easy answers: 1. Diversity in your books makes them better, richer, more complex and dynamic. A city street full of the same type of person is boring. A city street bustling with colour, variety and culture is interesting. 2. If you do it right, for the right reasons, with sensitivity and compassion you’ll have a larger fan-base and sell more novels (He didn’t actually say this last bit ha ha.. but he probably should have since that’s what it comes down to for many authors.)




 So how do you incorporate different cultures in your novels? Older says that research is a good beginning. But it’s not quite enough. “Writing about people who have a different experience or identity from our own is not a simple narrative challenge, and it doesn’t have a simple solution. Plenty of writers who are “experts” on a given culture still create miserable trite stereotypes when it comes to fashioning that expertise into actual characters.”


 One of the most powerful stories he told was of growing up as a Latino boy in Brooklyn with a love of reading but never being able to find a book where there were any characters with his background reflected. And if they were reflected then they were monsters or the bad guys; they were never the hero. He said it took him a long time to get over that experience and he never forgets that right now there are other little kids out there reading his books; he has an obligation to always be conscious of what sort of characters he puts on paper.

 He asked all the authors to “write better books that don’t hurt people.” Because oftentimes an author will insert a person of colour or a gay person or a person in a wheel chair into a story just to kill them off or use them as a comic sidekick or depict them as stupid without even thinking about it. His goal is to make writers more aware of how powerful their words are when they publish a novel. It doesn’t just go out in the universe and disappear. It has the power to make or break someone in some cases.


 “We can’t keep raising generations of kids of color on the notion that there’s only room for them to be bad guys or doomed sidekicks or another generation of white kids thinking they’re closer to God because of how they look. We can’t keep promoting hetero/cis-normative sexist and racist ideas in our literature. That is the default setting. If you aren’t consciously working against it, you are working for it. Neutrality is not an option, and the luxury of thinking it is has to go.”


 Older says that when you first start enriching the culture in your novels you’re probably going to suck at it. And that’s okay. You might offend some people when you start. "Just fix it and move on. You’ll get better." “This doesn’t mean don’t do it. It means challenge yourself to do it better and better every time, to learn from your mistakes instead of letting them cower you into a defensive crouch. The net result is you become a better writer.”


 “To write, we must listen. To listen, we must shut up. And this isn’t the simple kind of listening, where you’re waiting for them to finish what they can say so you can jump in real quick with your point. Really, have a seat, take a deep breath, and listen to what people around you are saying. Listen to yourself, your quiet self. To your doubts and fears, the things you don’t want to admit. Listen to the things folks say that make you uncomfortable. Sit with that discomfort. Understand you suck. Then try to suck less and move forward.”


 This was a very thought provoking lecture that definitely led to some heated discussions around the dinner table later. I think people still feel uncomfortable discussing race and culture, and sexual orientation even in the context of literature. Nobody wants to hurt anyone’s feelings or be a racist, sexist, asshole. But they want to be able to discuss stuff openly without feeling judged. It’s a hard line to walk but it’s important to keep talking even through the discomfort.


 When I got home from the conference I downloaded a copy of Older’s YA Fantasy novel, Shadowshaper, onto my Kindle. It’s really well written and has a feisty, street-smart protagonist growing up in a Latino neighbourhood in Brooklyn. The characters and setting are completely new to me but they are very relatable. Here’s the thing though; half-way through the book I realized there were hardly any white characters… and those who were white were either bad or not particularly nice. And I’m thinking, “Hey, that’s not fair. Most white people aren’t like that at all… those are just a few stereo… oh, wait a second. I get it!! That’s what it’s like for every single person of colour who sees themselves reflected stereotypically in most of the books they read.

 It was an eye opening experience. It’s one thing to understand it intellectually and another thing to experience it first-hand. So in the end it comes down to;

1. Awareness. Read diversely, have the hard discussions, be uncomfortable.

2. Research. But know that what you’re reading might have been written by people who are exactly like you. To get a different perspective; find research actually written by the culture you’re exploring. Figure out the time period it was written in and what sort of power struggles, cultural norms and prejudices might be behind the body of work you’re studying. Reach out in a sensitive way to cultural organizations in your area.

3. Explore diversity in your own neighbourhood. My excuse so far has been ‘I live in the rural countryside surrounded by white people… I’m off the hook.’ But as I’ve been thinking about this I’m realizing that there are over fifty different First Nations in my area; each with a different culture, language, history and cultural experience, There are also different religions, people with physical or mental disabilities, gay people and seniors and hippies, rich and poor, young and old. What sort of richness are we missing out on by narrowly focusing only on the familiar and the comfortable?

Saturday, July 25, 2015

An Aching in the Bone is live!! :)

After much waiting I'm proud to say that my second novel, An Aching in the Bone has finally been published. The second book in the Carolina Brown series, An Aching in the Bone follows the adventures of the quirky inhabitants at the Wayfarer's Inn. Please enjoy! Gen http://amzn.com/B012B0XH3I

Friday, March 27, 2015

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Opposite of Living by Genevieve Mckay

The Opposite of Living

by Genevieve Mckay

Giveaway ends April 15, 2015.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Saturday, March 14, 2015


Meet my Character, Carolina Brown.

The Character Blog Hop is run by the Speculative Fiction Showcase, designed to introduce readers to a diverse group of speculative fiction authors. 

Visit the Speculative Fiction Showcase for links to more incredible authors!
http://indiespecfic.blogspot.de/


The author ahead of me is Cora Buhlert. Cora was born and bred in Bremen, North Germany, where she still lives today - after time spent in London, Singapore, Rotterdam and Mississippi. Cora holds an MA degree in English from the University of Bremen and is currently working towards her PhD. Cora has been writing, since she was a teenager, and has published stories, articles and poetry in various international magazines. When she is not writing, she works as a translator and teacher. Visit her on the web at www.corabuhlert.com and read her interview with her character Richard Blakemore here.




Now…. On to our interview! 


 What is your name?

My name is Carolina Brown and I'm told I'm a fictional character. I don't know anything about my past so I'm guessing my age to be somewhere around fourteen. People have all sorts of crazy theories about where I came from but I don't listen to what other people believe. I prefer to make up my own mind and be in charge of my own destiny. No matter what my author might think.

 What is the title of your novel?

The first book written about my adventures is called The Opposite of Living and is available in print or as an e book. It was published this past November and is my authors’ first novel. The second and third books in the series are in the works. My first edition paperbacks just arrived in the mail yesterday!



When, and where, is your story set?

 I live at a bed and breakfast called The Wayfarer's Inn which is owned by my supposed aunt and uncle. It's located near Nanaimo which is a small city on Vancouver Island in western Canada. I don't go outside much but, from what I can see, it's a very lush, green place. Sometimes the wind brings the salty smells from the ocean right through my bedroom window. Before I moved to the Inn, I was a ward of the institution (known for its brutally limited menu and substandard security) but this year strange things started happening and I had to leave.

Is there anything special we should know about you?

One thing you should know is that I can't talk; so don't waste time trying to encourage me to communicate. Okay, maybe if Gordon Ramsay, my all-time favorite chef, asked me to speak I'd make more of an effort.

 Do you have any conflicts in your life?

 I wouldn't have any conflicts if people would stop telling me what to do all the time. I'm perfectly happy when I'm left alone. Before I moved to the Inn it never bothered me much whether people liked me or not. But everyone here is so nice and interesting that it's hard to stay isolated all the time, especially with all these mysteries surrounding me.

 What is your personal goal? 

If I do end up surviving to adulthood I would love to be a famous chef. Cooking is the only thing that makes me happy.

Where can we find out more about you?

To pick up a copy of my book and to watch for future books visit my page on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Genevieve-Mckay
The next author on the Character Blog Hop is S.A. Hunter. Sandra attended school in Victoria, B.C. and later graduated from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in English Literature. After her daughter came along, she chose to work close to home and indulge her love of animals by working for an amiable, if thrifty, veterinarian. She believes in promoting the right of all creatures to live the existence that Nature intended. This value is strongly evoked in her writing. Her publications include Dark Fantasy short stories in pro magazines and she is currently working on a sequel to Elanraigh: The Vow.
Follow S.A. Hunter on her blog or visit her novel Elanraigh; The Vow on Amazon.