So my new favourite show is The Big Bang Theory on CBS.

If you haven't seen it rush to your television sets on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. (or check listings if you don't live in Ontario).

It's a brilliantly devised sitcom, the perfect combination of ridiculousness, wild laughs and nerdy humour. You'll probably recognize the character of Leonard as the same guy who played Darlene's boyfriend in Roseanne (and she actually makes a few cameo appearances in this show). Leonard is a brilliant physicist who finds himself taken by the hot new girl who moves in across the hall (very a la Friends, but without the gen-x chic feel). Just how does a socially inept science nerd romance his good-looking neighbour? By inviting her to a 97-hour HALO-3 marathon of course.

But my favourite character is Sheldon, the ultimate super-science geek. I've never laughed so hard in my life.

As my friend and fellow Vixen Maggie Robinson has already discussed this week on her blog, April is National Poetry Month. And so I felt inspired to share with you my favourite poem.

It won’t be everyone’s favourite, for it is way too popular and overused for the critics and literary minds of our day. I doubt there’s a school-age child over the age of seven who isn’t already familiar with its rhythm and cadence as repeated in the pinched and nasal tones of Bart Simpson as he echoes “nevermore” to a growingly tormented Homer.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
‘‘Tis some visitor,’ I muttered, ‘tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.’

Whether for good or ill, with its first publication in 1845, Edgar Allan Poe created with The Raven one of the most famous American poems ever written. I think that he would have been quite happy with Bart Simpson’s rendition, and the many other interpretations of his poem over the years, because it was important to him that it be universally appreciable to all—the public and critics alike.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, ‘Lenore!’
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, ‘Lenore!’
Merely this and nothing more.

In the beginning of this dreary evening, this poor guy mourns the death of his beloved Lenore, but he doesn’t really understand death. As the poem progresses though, he starts to question both life and death. The appearance of the ugly bird reflects his inner self trying to reason out his grief, and the raven’s non-answers come from his own subconscious mind. The raven itself was used by Poe probably because of its reputation. For example, in the bible the raven was considered to be an omen of ill fortune, and in Norse mythology, Odin possessed two ravens named Hugin and Munin, representing thought and memory.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
‘Surely,’ said I, ‘surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
‘Tis the wind and nothing more!’

By miscellaneous [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I love poetry, but sometimes I’ll read something and it’s more of a chore than a joy to experience. I’m as much for symbolism as the next person, but the lengths that some poets can go to couch their prose in hidden innuendo and barely discernable meaning can be more annoying than engaging. Poe himself wrote an essay on the creation of The Raven, entitled “The Philosophy of Composition”, where he likens its composition to a mathematical problem. It starts with a question, begins with ignorance and then develops, revealing answers through discussion and inquiry until the truth can be revealed—whether or not you can accept it.

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven is for me, a most beautiful poem, based on the tragedy of sorrow which comes on the death of love. It embodies the basic dichotomy of death—the desire to forget versus the desire to remember. Of course, there’s more to it than that. The Raven raises questions about the nature of reality compared to our flawed perceptions of it, and is about the evolution of self-knowledge. It is about the relationship that exists—however morbid it may sound—between death and beauty. Poe chose the one topic that was universally understood. Death.

‘Prophet!’ said I, ‘thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?’
Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’

Poe builds the tension up higher and higher, but after the climaxing stanza he tears the whole thing back down, letting us know there is no meaning, no moral in the raven’s “nevermore”. It is just the natural, common drive of the human mind toward understanding what is not given to us to understand.

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!


So do you find yourself being drawn to poetry or not? How do you feel about Poe's The Raven? What is your favourite poem and why does it call to you?

My Interview is now up at Manic Readers.
Find it here: (J.K Coi Interview)





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The story I've been working on these last few weeks is almost finished! When it's done, it should be about 23,000 words, which is a perfect length for a novella. I'm excited for three reasons: because I love when a plot comes together, because the characters have become so dear to me, and because it means that soon I'll be going back to my Immortals to tell Alric's story.

This novella (no title still) was something I started writing on the fly just because I needed a break from the Immortals--Part of me hates to say that because I love them so much, but it's been almost two and a half years non-stop of writing their stories. So this new story was supposed to be fun and light-hearted and just long enough to jump start my creative juices again, since I'd been feeling a little overwhelmed and tired.

If I was so tired, you'd think I would have just turned off the computer for a few days, or a few weeks even, right? But no, I'm not really wired that way. I can't just turn it all off. Even if I'm blocked in one project, I always have three or four other things ruminating down somewhere in the dark corners of my brain, and this was a chance for me to let one of them come up into the light. And I'm so glad that I did.

What I really needed was just to change focus and take the attention away from the thing that was causing my block. I think that the mental process of working on something that was flowing more smoothly and felt good, will help me to approach Alric's book again with a fresh perspective and a little more confidence.

Now that the novella is almost finished, I really like how it turned out. It's not as light-hearted as I originally set out to write it--I don't think I can do comedy. But Sarah is a fabulously sarcastic creature and Dorian just makes you want to drool over the keyboard. I hope everyone will love these two as much as I do, and I'm glad I took the time to tell their story (I'm already thinking of a sequel, LOL).

In the meantime, please come review my Author's Page at Manic Readers (J.K Coi at ManicReaders.com), and look there soon for my interview with them.

In honour of a long-held tradition of trickery and pranks, I'm letting you in on some of the most successful April Fool's Day jokes played in past years:

The Taco Liberty Bell
In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

The Sydney Iceberg
On April 1, 1978 a barge appeared in Sydney Harbor towing a giant iceberg. Sydneysiders were expecting it. Dick Smith, a local adventurer and millionaire businessman (owner of Dick Smith's Foods), had been loudly promoting his scheme to tow an iceberg from Antarctica for quite some time. Now he had apparently succeeded. He said that he was going to carve the berg into small ice cubes, which he would sell to the public for ten cents each. These well-traveled cubes, fresh from the pure waters of Antarctica, were promised to improve the flavor of any drink they cooled. Slowly the iceberg made its way into the harbor. Local radio stations provided excited blow-by-blow coverage of the scene. Only when the berg was well into the harbor was its secret revealed. It started to rain, and the firefighting foam and shaving cream that the berg was really made of washed away, uncovering the white plastic sheets beneath.

The Left-Handed Whopper
In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

15th Annual New York City April Fool’s Day Parade
In 2000 a news release was sent to the media stating that the 15th annual New York City April Fool's Day Parade was scheduled to begin at noon on 59th Street and would proceed down to Fifth Avenue. According to the release, floats in the parade would include a "Beat 'em, Bust 'em, Book 'em" float created by the New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle police departments. This float would portray "themes of brutality, corruption and incompetence." A "Where's Mars?" float, reportedly built at a cost of $10 billion, would portray missed Mars missions. Finally, the "Atlanta Braves Baseball Tribute to Racism" float would feature John Rocker who would be "spewing racial epithets at the crowd." CNN and the Fox affiliate WNYW sent television news crews to cover the parade. They arrived at 59th Street at noon only to discover that there was no sign of a parade, at which point the reporters realized they had been hoaxed. The prank was the handiwork of Joey Skaggs, an experienced hoaxer. Skaggs had been issuing press releases advertising the nonexistent parade every April Fool's Day since 1986.

Anyone else have some interesting and funny April Fool's Day jokes to share?

*Stories found at The Museum of Hoaxes

Meet Sarah, my newest character. She came banging on the doors of my mind these last few days, demanding that I tell her story, so I've decided to give you a little peek into her world:

I thought I would be an accountant when I grew up. I could even maybe see myself doing something a little more adventurous like pushing paper at a law firm. Never once in all my childhood imaginings did I dream that I would become Buffy the daemon slayer.
Ah, yeah, that was daemon, not vampire. No vampires in my neck of the woods. Thank God, because come to think of it, if there were, I’d probably be stuck hunting them down too. Thank goodness for small favors I guess. I’ve got enough on my plate lately as it is dealing with the mangy hell beasts that come through the gateway.

And no, my name’s not really Buffy. Again, thank goodness for small favors. It’s Sarah. Plain old Sarah, who should have been a plain old accountant. But fate can be a funny thing. Okay, I’m leaning more towards lousy. Fate can be a damn lousy thing.

Take tonight for instance. It’s really not my night. Actually, night isn’t much my thing at the best of times, I tend to pass out around nine if given half the chance. Another reason why I’m really itching for that accounting software.

But since I came into this fateful occupation just a month ago, I’ve been forced to assume perma night owl status. I spend my time from dusk to dawn prowling the darkest corners of Toronto, not in search of the next happening club, which is what I should be doing at twenty-three years old, but on the hunt for daemons.

I feel no bitterness about that. Really.

It sounds ridiculous. Unbelievable. I know, because that’s exactly what I thought myself when I was attacked by one of these things on my way home from school last month and ended up stuck with the job of killing them.


*Art by Amanda Prue www.amandaprue.com

The release date for My Immortal looms closer and closer, and so starts the necessary rounds of promotional "appearances". At least I don't have to leave my computer, and neither do you!!

Join me at Romance At Heart Magazine and read my very first interview. J.K.Coi Interview

Let me know how you like it, and I'm happy to answer more questions, just post them here for me!

Isn't it purty?!



Please come and visit my website at jkcoi.com for more information about Book Two in the Immortals Series, coming July 15, 2008 from Linden Bay Romance!

So, I haven't a clue what I'm doing when it comes to things like web design, and online promotions and marketing. I barely knew what it meant to blog until recently. (I never really considered my odd and far between posts here as blogging, more like pointless ranting into cyperspace because nobody else really reads this, LOL)

I really just want to write.

But the flurry of activity around me recently has succeeded in wearing me down and I now have a MySpace page (J.K.Coi) (oh the horrors). And I'm on Facebook (not as bad). Hopefully, you've already seen the website (A thing of beauty-Thank you so much Snorfus)

Okay, then. Friend me please!!

Everyone please join me at the Pleasure Garden Tuesday, February 19, 2008 for my own first post. We'll be chatting about e-books and e-publishing, and I hope for a lively discussion!!

Vauxhall Vixens

Join me at my new group blog-The Vauxhall Vixens!!



Vauxhall Gardens-often called the Pleasure Gardens-was once the place to go for people from all walks and stations of life for entertainment. Vauxhall's amusements boasted a delicious variety, from music and wafer-thin ham, to risque plays and stolen kisses along the Dark Walk. Vauxhall and its entertainments are front and center in many historical novels. And now, some new history is being made!

The Vauxhall Vixens want to create for you a pleasure garden of their own, where all may come and share their unique voices. A group of writers specializing in all genres, determined to have a little fun along the path toward publication, we invite you to join in the journey and enjoy our entertainments.

We're still getting dressed backstage, but we'd love to have you stop by and say hello! http://vauxhallvixens.blogspot.com

It sure does feel official now!



Please come and visit my website at jkcoi.com for more information about Book One in the Immortals Series, coming May 15, 2008 from Linden Bay Romance!

How does being an author affect the way in which I view and interact with the world, the way in which the world looks at me? I’ve been thinking about this for a little while because of the happy-daunting-exciting-terrifying circumstances in which I find myself.

What kind of creature is an author in the eyes of the world? I’ve heard many compare an author to his or her work. I mean, wouldn’t you be surprised to find that your favourite writer of sweet inspirational romances is a whiskey swilling, black leather, motorcycle mama with a tattoo that promises that White Snake is forever? But our own minds can trick us. An author is never so simply a reflection of their work. Their work is but a part of the whole—which includes experiences that aren’t reflected in the book, a wife or husband, children, a nagging mother-in-law, perhaps another job that pays those pesky bills, an unholy passion for shoes, or a troublesome habit they’ve been trying to kick.

When I have ‘met’ other authors—whether it is because they are on tv and Oprah is making them supremely famous in the span of a 10 minute segment, in a book store signing copies of their latest release, or more likely, as an online presence promoting their work—my experience has often been very good. These are fabulous people. Charismatic and friendly and relaxed. I had to wonder how they do it. I can easily imagine how hard it is.

How do you go from working day in and day out at a job that is unarguably one of the most solitary endeavours known to man, and then magically become a social butterfly when called upon? Whether you are writing for publication or not, the act of writing is a very private thing that comes from deep inside, and those words are hard to share in any other way than on the white page. I’ve known many authors who have said that their writing is their social expression, and they find it hard to communicate as effectively in person—they are tongue-tied in public, shy, withdrawn.

But in the world of publication, an author cannot avoid the task of marketing if they want their books to sell. And so he or she must venture out of that safety zone. Out of the place that they know—their own mind, LOL. There are of course, many authors that don’t have this problem and I wish they would write a book on that. But for the others—those who sometimes have difficulty going to a public venue where they may have to stand and say something to a group, or who find themselves meeting more and more people online as they try and promote their work—overcoming the anxiety becomes a task just as daunting as completing that first novel, or waiting expectantly for that first rejection letter.

It takes a lot of work to go against something so ingrained, and you’ve really got to hand it to the authors in this business today. Internet has made things so very different than it used to be—an online presence is almost a physical thing, much more so than the odd book signing. In many ways it’s more intimidating and scary—a blog interview can reach thousands and thousands of people in the blink of an eye across the entire world. But at the same time promotion online can also be so much easier. You can technically keep your writing hat on since it is still only your words that people are seeing (and maybe a very nice back cover photograph that has been digitally shopped to get rid of that pesky pimple that showed up just in time for the photo shoot).

So what has gotten me started thinking of all of this? Well, my happy news is that my Immortals series has been picked up by Linden Bay Romance and the first book, My Immortal will be available in May, 2008!!

Come along for the ride with me!

I need all of your support in this brand new journey. I need your help to venture from my world of bold, tormented Immortals, brave, feisty women and evil demons, for long enough to tell you all about them!

J.K. Coi
Immortals to die for

I DID IT!! I DID IT!! I DID IT!!




As of November 29, 2007 at 12:00 a.m. in the freakin' morning...
I have written 50,215 amazing, beautiful words!

Thanks everyone for your tremendous support and encouragement and interest. I feel like I should be holding a really heavy gold-plated award while I write this (I did NaNoWriMo and all I got was this stupid t-shirt), but it's true that I couldn't have done it without all of you, my family and friends...

Especially my husband and my son, who have been amazingly understanding of my need to do this even though it meant they haven't seen me in weeks, and even though I've gotten crankier and crankier as the words got harder and harder to write. During this last week, my son had gotten fond of saying: "Mommy it's okay, you keep working. I'll see you next year." (he's only five and he thinks tomorrow is next year, but it didn't make it any easier to hear!)

And my poor husband has had it the hardest during my absence this month, having to pick up all the slack with the house, flooding basements, an acre's worth of leaves to rake in the yard, birds in the chimney, running all the errands, taking the kid to hockey and swimming and doing homework and tons more...and I love him so much!!!!

To everyone who has had to listen to me ramble on and on and on about this character or that one, or the holes in my manuscript that kept driving me crazy...thankyou--and I'm so sorry. I'll call in a day or two (after I get some sleep) and I won't mention the book at all, I promise. Okay, maybe just to--No, I won't. Not at all. Unless you want to hear about it, but then only if you ask...or I ask you and you say it's okay. :)

I want to also say thankyou to my friends the Vanettes--a group of fabulous, talented writers who have taken me under their wing so to speak in this last year, and who have all shown me so much support and encouragement in the constant development of my writing. Without them, I don't think I would have ever tried this in the first place.

My coworkers have been really supportive too--at least those who know what the hell I was doing this last month. It's kind of funny really (although I may not think so when this new rep of mine is still hangin' round my neck in another year), but since I'm pretty new in the office, not many people know me, or know what I do 'on the side'--so after this month they are all positive that I'm a crazy anti-social madwoman who's probably been playing Halo3 on that laptop in the mornings before work and at lunchtime. :)

Anyway, celebrate with me. I'll be on cloud nine...starting tomorrow. Right now I'm going to bed. :)

You may have noticed that I've been pretty busy, and if you've read this blog before, if you've been unlucky enough to talk to me on the phone, or via email or in a post somewhere else online--basically if you've spoken two words to me in any format at all within the last six weeks--then you already know the reason.

I'm in NaNoWriMo mode. And my god has it been hard!!

When I started this I thought--how bad can this really be? I write every day as it is, so this will just be a few more hundred words on my daily count, right? *snort*

Okay, I was wrong. And it wasn't the first time believe it or not.

The difference is in how you write for Nano. The challenge is not only to get the required wordcount by the end of the month, but also to have a completed novel by then. Which means you have to "keep moving forward" (I'm stealing from Walt Disney here folks).

There's no editing in Nano. There's no going back to fix. There's no layering. There's only crappy, incohesive, incomprehensible writing.

Now, I've learned in the last few days that I can be okay with that. But at about the halfway mark when I saw what was coming out of my brain onto the screen I wanted to cry and scream and go back and erase the whole lot of it. How can I work like this, I thought. I'm very methodical usually, and it was killing me to see all of the glaring holes and problems with the storyline and not have the time to fiddle with it and fix it.

But I realize that after Nano is done, the fixing will come later. That's the whole idea isn't it? To at least get a first draft of something down. To prove that you can take an idea from start to finish (no matter how terrible it is). The fixing can come later, after the rush and exhileration of having actually met that goal fades and you get back to real life.

For anyone who's interested, you're very welcome to visit my page at the NaNoWriMo website to track my progress. So far I'm not doing to badly, but I could use all the support I can get.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/208090

See you at the finish line!

It's almost that time my friends, NaNoWriMo will begin in just three more weeks. :)

What is NaNoWriMo? You mean besides a really awkward word to have to spell?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. That's right. There's a month set aside for everything now.

November is the month. Writing is the goal. A Novel. In 30 DAYS!

Actually, the goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. Technically, in publishing terms, this would be more of a novella than a full length novel, but it doesn't make it any less daunting or intimidating, at least to me, since I've never done this before.

But I've been expanding my horizons these days. No longer do I simply write within the cozy comfortable confines of my own home, to remain secure and safe in ignorance of the real writing world.

I have torn that gauzy veil from my face and sent out query letters and partials of my work to agents and publishers. I have joined a formal writer's group that meets every month, taken a bunch of writing workshops to hone my skills, and I have gotten myself a critique partner who is fabulous, not only as a writer and editor of my work, but as a new friend.

NaNoWriMo is just another of these daring adventures. Because of the short time frame alloted, I'm thankful that the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity.

Quality be damned.

At the same time, this will force me to lower my usually high expectations, to take risks that I wouldn't normally, and write without editing. Honestly, that's going to be the hardest part. I'm that person. The one who will write a page and go over it. Write another page, go over it.

I think I'll be writing a lot of crap.

I'm getting nervous already. Just thinking about it!

I don't even have a story mapped out yet!

There's a niggly little idea floating around in my head, though and I think I'll use the rest of October to flesh it out so that I can draw up a bit of an outline.

It is very intimidating to think that I will commit myself to this challenge. I had to make sure to ask my family first if they were going to be okay with it, since my husband won't have a wife, and my son won't have a mother, for a month. I won't be watching House or Bones or CSI. I won't be going shopping, or attending family functions. I won't be helping to rake all of the leaves that are starting to litter my yard (oh darn!).

I love my family so much. They completely understand and still want me to go for it. I can't believe how supportive they always are.

I will draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other writers will be going through the same thing. The same trials and challenges as they work to write the "Great Frantic Novel" (in the words of the NaNo moderators). There will be support groups for me, people to meet from my area who are taking the challenge as well, and a big celebration at the end.

In 2006, there were apparently over 79,000 participants, with almost 13,000 of them crossing the 50k finish line by the deadline. This year, I plan to be one of them.

Wish me luck!!

Most of the time I’m a million miles away from wherever I am supposed to be, which can become dangerous to my career when I’m on a deadline (just kidding, I can focus when I have to...really) and dangerous to my health if my mother’s been trying to reach me.

Well today I wanted to explain a little bit about why that is. About my passion. Of course, you probably think that passion is chocolate or shopping. Sexy Italian men who do dishes? Writing you say?

Well it’s not. Funny huh?

Don’t get me wrong, I love writing, and the process satisfies me about as much as that bar of chocolate or something else that my sexy Italian man does for me other than the dishes :)

But while my passion comes as part and parcel with the writing process, the real draw is not the formal practise of putting words to paper, but the visceral impact of those words on my life, and the lives of others.

My passion is in the act of creating something that has a voice, a vision, something that will leave a lasting impression.

In exploring this craving, I started long ago by studying a more traditional and obvious medium, and so took paint and brush to canvas, attempting to turn the ultimate intimidating blank white page into something more, something real and alive with feeling and energy. I studied the great masters (whew those coffee table books get heavy), and painted for a lot of years. I do still enjoy pulling out those art supplies on a lazy Saturday afternoon when the house happens to be empty and I have the time and quiet that I need to focus my efforts on it. But painting was something that got less and less practical as my life started to get more and more complex, and while my passion still lived inside of me, raging for a release, I found it less and less satisfying because the process had become very frustrating.

I started writing when I found that I had made one too many excuses not to pull out my paintbrushes. The supplies were either too difficult to clean up afterward, the paint took too long to dry for me to get any quality work done in the time I had allotted per week, or my workspace was too small and dismal, having been stashed away in a corner of the basement. Whatever it was, and I don’t really want to analyze my disenchantment with something that I did once love wholeheartedly, I still needed an outlet for the swirling vortex that was growing and churning inside of my brain.

It turned out that I could take those eddies of colour and crazy dreams and twist them into some semblance of coherent thought (at least I think so, those of you who have read my work may disagree  ).

So whether I’m dreaming in coloured splotches of oil paint, or black printer toner on laser paper, the end result is thankfully the same...for me at least. My reviewers may actually prefer paintings of poppy fields to gripping tales of altered universes.

It's been a super crazy kind of summer, with everything from emergency trips to the hospital for stitches in obscure areas of the body (You don't really want to know, and my husband would kill me, since he's the one with the stitches), to camping trips, weddings, showers, birthdays and BBQs.

Whew.

I have always associated Fall with new beginnings. I know, it sounds pretty backwards when you consider that Springtime is when the long winter gives way to fresh flowers, refreshing rains, and new births throughout all of the animal kingdom. But maybe it has something to do with my childhood, and that first day of school that always brought with it new clothes and a great backpack, a new classroom and the meeting of future great friends.

It has of course been a R E A L L Y long time since I've been a student, even though I like to think that I'm constantly learning and upgrading my skills, but this year I still feel the same, that feeling of newness that September brings. Part of it is because my husband is a teacher, and so he's always going back to school every September after kicking back for the summer. My son is also back at school. This is his second year now, and he's going to Senior Kindergarten--it's way too cute to watch him set aside his clothes the night before, and put his things in his Spiderman backpack.

But also this year, I have a new beginning--no I didn't go back to school. I started a new job. That comes with all of those things that you usually associate with beginnings and change--uncertainty, expectation, and a great big hunk of nerves crystallizing in your belly.

I think the job is going to be good. Training is a bitch, being as it is held at head office, which is a good two hours drive for me, but when I get back to my own office afterward and start to get settled in, I think that I'll enjoy the opportunities that come with a new office, new people, and a different challenge.

So for now, I'm off. I have training to do, and people to meet. Talk soon.

Okay, so Canada didn't do so well in the U20 World Cup this year, but that last game against the Congo was a good one. Even though Canada lost in the end, I think that if the team had played that well against Chile and Austria, they would definitely have won at least one of those games, and bettered their overall chances.

Hubby and I went with some friends to the U.S./Uruguay game on Wednesday this week. Seven of us bundled into a minivan to head into Toronto, and though I'm way past the age where that kind of trip would be comfortable, the convenience of inter-car televisions is definitely a blessing, especially in rush hour traffic on the 401.

This was a great game! You have to visualize the scene. It was our first time at the new National Soccer Stadium in Toronto, the weather was cool but clear, and the energy all around us was palpable. The stadium was sold out, and the stands were packed with fans, not only for U.S.A. and Uruguay, but fans decked out in colours representing all teams: Brazil, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, and even for teams not represented in these games like Germany, Italy and others, all served to create a cultural rainbow of excitement. Fans all around us stomped their feet and yelled for their favourite players, and the huge big screen was great for watching replays, but it wasn't really necessary, since every seat in the house was a great seat, which allowed everyone to watch all the action.

After the U.S.'s win in overtime, we swarmed out of the stadium with thousands of others, everyone happy and friendly and enjoying the adrenaline from the soccer high. One of our own bore his Brazilian colours proudly and we took pictures with another group of fans decked out in the distinctive colours of yellow and green, then carried our Canadian, Brazilian and Romanian flags down the streets of Toronto to an energetic bar for drinks.

All in all, it was a great night of soccer, laughter and comraderie with friends, and I admit I was way too tired the next day. I should have taken Thursday off of work to stay home and sleep!!

Wow, getting logged on here took up about twenty minutes of my time, and I'd only given myself ten minutes for blogging to begin with!! Oh, the joys of the electronic age :)

Well, now that my nerves are completely shot, I'm not even sure what it is I wanted to say anymore.

There's been so much happening lately that I can't even begin to start. School's almost done now that summer is fast approaching and hubby is busy trying to get exams ready. Our son is starting to wonder why this is "the last week of school". He says he doesn't know everything yet, and it can't be finished. How to tell a 4-year old that he'll go back in a few months, that's going to seem like years to him.

I don't think I mentioned yet that...

I WON!!

My book took first place in the Get the Lead Out 2007 literary competition up in North Bay this past May! It was a lovely weekend conference, full of great advice from guest authors, and wonderful people to meet who are all in the same boat as me--writing, writing, writing.

I've just completed final edits for the book, and it has now been sent out to be reviewed by an agent. So now we play the waiting game and see what happens.

But, enough about history, let's talk about what's really important: SOCCER!!

We enter the time of the year that our family loves best, summertime. The time when the weather is warm, the trees are green, and the soccer is exciting.

This year Canada is hosting the FIFA U20 World Cup Soccer finals in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Burnaby, and Victoria. This is a big deal for players under the age of 20 who will from countries all over the world to compete, and since we're a big soccer family (having 2 out of 3 members playing all summer long), we'll not only be watching the games on TV, but will be lucky enough to get to see a semi-finals game in Toronto in July.

Traditionally, we have been a solid fan of the Italian teams, but alas, Italy will not be represented in these games, and that makes life so much simpler for us this summer, because we will be cheering guilt-free for our homeland, Canada.

The new home to Canada's national teams is the National Soccer Stadium at Exhibition Place, which hosted its first official international on Friday, May 11, and the FIFA U-20 World Cup hosts were only just edged out 2-1 in the dying seconds by Argentina in a pulse-pounding friendly.

This season's crop of Canadian players look tough to break down. Strong players with lots of experience and a strong coach, Canada could surprise many of the more traditional powers with the aid of familiar fields and what are bound to be energetic and boisterous crowds.

So, who else is following the tournament in Canada this year? It doesn't necessarily have the prestige of a Euro Cup or the World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010, but for us, the benefit of games being held here in Canada is a great draw, and we'll gladly follow them to the very end.

Vive le Canada!!

Here in Canada, the first big sign that summer is almost here comes with the Victoria Day long weekend. Traditionally, it signifies a country-wide sigh of relief that the days of snow to your waist, biting winds and scraping ice of the car windows is past, at least for a few precious months. It is also like a big housewarming party to summer, full of BBQ chicken, sipping beer on the deck and watching the kids splashing in the sprinkler.

This year, I will spend it in at the annual Get the Lead Out Writers Conference. It's my very first writers conference, and while it is bittersweet because I will be away from my family and friends, and without any BBQ at all, I am still very excited.

I've spent the last year working on my first book, tapping away at the computer endlessly to get it done, then editing and polishing it up, working on the synopsis, and finally submitting it to two major literary award competitions, one of them being this Get the Lead Out competition--all in preparation for the real challenge-publishing. It's been a lot of work, so much more than I originally expected, and yet so satisfying at the same time.

I'm not the first to experience the cathartic release of pouring your heart out onto the page, but it really was just that. The experience was also a good part frustration of the tear-your-hair-out-by-the-roots kind, and part learning experience--a very big part. Writing is an art, a craft, a profession, and it takes dedication, perseverance and training.

I think I've got the dedication and perseverance down pat--anyone who can continue to write in between working full time at a busy litigation law firm, raising a four year old, and trying to get in quality time with the hunkiest husband alive, is definitely dedicated.

Ah, but the training, the experience, that's something that doesn't come naturally. Sure, anyone can have the Idea, but for someone like me, without any background, getting the Idea to become reality was the real hard part. I did a lot of reading and research, and then just had to sit down and do it--which I did. The final product was far from perfect, but I went through it again, and again, tweaking it and refining it, adding and taking away, until I was satisfied that it was the best story that I could write.

Having been named a finalist in this competition now feels great, feels like it was all worth it, but the best part is that the people judging my work will be authors themselves, as well as editors, publishers, agents, all in the industry, and all with years of experience that far surpasses my own.

Even if I don't come back home with any awards, I'll take a lot from this experience, most importantly--FEEDBACK. Yes, the judges reading my manuscript will be sending back their own critiques, giving me ideas on how to improve what I've written, and letting me know what they liked. To me, this is going to be an award in itself, the most valuable kind.

So let the long weekend begin. I'm ready--for more than just summer.