Rosemary and Time now The Unwritten Girl

And Jeff Szpirglas has won the right to a free, autographed copy of the book when it comes out, I think. The title was his idea.

As Barry Jowett (my editor) was considering the titles we came up with, I sent over a bundle suggested by you readers. The people at the office were already leaning towards “The Written Girl” over “Stranger in Fiction”, but the addition of two simple letters kicked the former firmly into “yes!” territory. Strange how an “un” will do that.

Rose— (ahem) The Unwritten Girl is now in formal editing. Barry sent me his revisions, and there weren’t all that many. Mostly some word changes and some additional descriptions near the beginning of the novel.

Copyediting is scheduled to begin mid-November, so I have about three weeks to do these revisions. Which shouldn’t be a problem; Barry really went easy on me. Although he and I do disagree on one point:

She scowled at him. Then her mouth quirked. She snorted and broke out into a grin.

(James: “quirk” is not a verb — it’s a noun. Not sure what word you’re looking for here… “quivered”? “twitched”?)

Actually, “quirk” is a verb, dating back to the 16th century. The intransitive is defined as: “(of a person’s mouth or eyebrow) move or twist suddenly, especially to express surprise or amusement.”

The other changes I agree with, but this one I may stick out. I don’t think “twitched” works in this instance.


Erin’s Writing Developments

Earlier this week, Erin had quite a coup. Her two books of poetry, Ghost Maps and Seal up the Thunder were reviewed in the latest issue of the large circulation Catholic (primarily Jesuit) weekly magazine America. There’s even an online version of the review:

Seal up the Thunder shows us how to probe the Scriptures, how to prayerfully and imaginatively steep our own experience and our own milieu in the inspired text so as to get our own proper sense from the sense of Scripture.

As Erin says: high praise from the Jesuits!


Why 40% of Canadians Don’t Vote

Consider the case of David Dingwall. The former head of the Canadian Mint (and a Liberal partisan appointee) resigned under a cloud a few weeks ago as a result of the furor over his $700,000 in tax-paid expenses on his account.

The Conservatives, having become quite adept at this song and dance, called for his head, and then milked the understandable anger and frustration over Dingwall’s audacity to request a severance payment.

Well, according to non-partisan Andrew Spicer, the case against Dingwall, as shouted by the Conservatives, has come apart. A further audit shows that most of these expenses were legitimate for Mint business.

So, just like the Grewal affair, the Conservatives come out of what should have been an easy two points looking like idiots, slavering so madly over the merest sniff of corruption that they leap to conclusions before they are sure of their facts, and incidentally giving the Liberals a pass when a real scandal comes along.

But take a moment to consider these words from Dingwall’s mouth when questioned on why he should receive his severance by Ed Broadbent:

“I’m entitled to my entitlements.”

Indeed, if the overwhelming majority of Dingwall’s $700K expense list is actually legit, then why did he resign in the first place?

According to Dan, who is a committed Liberal, he’d heard that Dingwall resigned because he thought he’d get a good severance.

And that, folks, is the epitome of the Liberal arrogance that drives Canadians mad — all the madder because the Conservatives are played for fools alongside them.

The only thing worse than a jerk is a jerk who is in the right.

(See also M.K. Braaten’s analysis)


Nominations Open for 2005 Canadian Blogging Awards

Robert McLelland has opened the floor to nominations for his second annual Canadian Blogging Awards. Robert’s 2004 Blogging Awards was a fun and hotly contested affair, and it looks like this year will be no different.

I’m pleased that Robert has tweaked his awards this year, adding in a number of non-political categories for the Canadian blogosphere to compete for:

Best Blog
Best Liberal Blog: for blogs that are politically left.
Best Conservative Blog: for blogs that are politically right.
Best New Blog: for blogs that started in 2005.
Best Group Blog
Best Humour Blog
Best Photo Blog
Best Culture Blog: for blogs about art, literature, movies, music, etc.
Best Personal Blog
Best Media Blog: for blogs by professionals in the media.
Best Business Blog
Best Religious Blog
Best Sports Blog
Best Blog Post: For an individual post by a blogger.
Best Blog Post Series: For a series of posts that relate to each other.

Nominations are open until November 20th, so click on over and offer up your suggestions. And may the best bloggers win!

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