Franciscan Chapter

Just a little envious of my husband right now.  He's attending a meeting of the TSSF chapter, at Little Portion Friary, in New York.

New Look

What do you think of the new look of this blog?  I thought I'd try it out.  Please do leave comments!

October update

It's a busy life that I lead--or so it seems to me.  First and foremost, I need to update the news about my novel, Angels in the Flames:  I did send it to Dundurn, and notified Coteau that I had done so.  I guess my gmail isn't as quick as it should be, because I should have received the notification that the manuscript was in the mail, rejected.  However, Nik Burton kindly emailed me back and said that the decision had been made before they had been told about the simultaneous submission.  So, as it stands, the novel is only with Dundurn although they've been told it's a sim-sub.  I'm planning to send it to another publisher as soon as I can.
Meanwhile, I've been in touch with the artistic director at Christ Church Cathedral, and she has agreed to look at my play, The Wolf and the Saint: The Life of Saint Francis of Assisi as Told by the Wolf of Gubbio.  All I have to do is put it together in an email and send it off to her.  Odd how such a "simple" task can grow into a big job.

what to do?

Angels in the Flames has been with Coteau Books for a year now, and still no word except responses to my enquiries concerning status.  Not yet read, I think.  Oh dear!  The slush pile?  Well, I have a list of half a dozen more Canadian publishers, and I could send it off to them.  Coteau said it's okay to sim.sub as long as I let them know.  I'll do that, of course.  However, I'm thinking of trying an agent again.  No luck last time (a few years ago, but I think that was for a different project, and I know it wasn't with the agent I have in mind). 
So, I have to prepare the manuscript once again for another journey.  Meanwhile, I keep hoping and writing, and so on.  Writing the book is only a fraction of the work that getting getting it published is.  Still, it's worth pursuing, I suppose.  If only for the experience.  Can't quit now.  I'm in too deep.

1st half of August 2011

I can't believe that it's been almost two months since I posted in this blog!  I was reading some old emails, clearing out my inbox, and came across one from someone who said he was an "avid reader" of my blog.  Poor soul!  How bored he must be to see the same thing every time he looks in.  He probably isn't so "avid" a reader now.
If, however, you are one who just pops in once in a while to see if I've added anything, then you won't be too disappointed--I hope.
The fact is that I've been busy working on a novel that I started a long time ago.  I first started it when I entered the "24 hour novel" challenge several years ago.  I booked into a motel and wrote for hours and hours and came up with something that vaguely resembled a novel.  I entered it, but of course never heard anything because people who enter that challenge regularly know how to write a novel in 24 hours.  I guess. 
So, in 2009 when I embarked on the NANOWRIMO challenge, I used the same characters and setting for that.  And in 30 days I had written 50,000 words that also resembled a novel--considerably better than the first, but still needing a lot of work before it could really be anything worth reading. 
Now, I've changed the main character and fiddled around with the other characters, and am slowly but surely developing what I hope will be a decent young adult murder mystery. 
So that's why you haven't seen anything new in this blog.  I'll try to keep you updated on how the mystery comes along. 

Trinity Sunday

Yesterday was Trinity Sunday.  It was interesting to listen to the clergy, in the children's talk and in the sermon, try to clarify the theology of the Trinity.  There was reference to St. Patrick's famous example of the shamrock, which has three parts but is one leaf.  There was a dance where three people stand in a "circle" facing outwards with hands joined, and turn around--three dancers but unity in the dance.  There was a quote (from where, I don't know) that said in the heart of the Trinity, God laughed and gave birth to Jesus; in the heart of the Trinity, Jesus laughed and gave birth to the Holy Spirit; in the heart of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit laughed and gave birth to us all.  I'm not sure how that defines the Trinity.  I have two other attempts that I like:  The first is the egg.  The shell (Jesus) is broken to reveal the white (Holy Spirit) and the yolk (Creator God).  The shell is visible.  The white nourishes.  The yolk is the source of life.  Three parts of the egg, but only one egg.  My second attempt at defining the Trinitarian understanding of God is the human being.  God created "man" in his own likeness (male and female); if you watch a dying person in an emergency ward (on TV, if you like) you'll see the doctors first try to revive the person with CPR--heart massage and blowing air into the lungs.  But when a flat line appears on the monitor and shows the person is brain dead, it is all over.  When I cross myself, I am reminded of these three necessities of life: touch my head, ("God the father"), touch my heart ("God's body, Jesus, his son"), touch my shoulders--or better my breast above my lungs ("God the Holy Spirit")--yet I am one person, just as God is one God.

retreat

Each year in May, my husband and I go on retreat to Rivendell Christian Retreat Centre on Bowen Island, a one hour journey from our home, by car and ferry.  It is a Franciscan duty to go on retreat at least once a year.  We choose this time of year because it honours the memory of our grandson who drowned on May 22, 2005.  Part of the time,we spend in silence, but it is usually not a "silent retreat".  Rivendell is a lovely place, on an island with mountains and tall evergreen trees.  The building has several places to sit and be quiet.  No TV.  No phones (although I confess to bringing my iPhone and checking email once a day).  However, I also use my iPhone to take pictures, and I have them here now.  They are of Hawthorne Room, which houses the tiny library.  Guests are invited to light a fire and read in the room or take a book to another room to read.  I found Hawthorne a comfortable place to write my journal, or read or knit in the peaceful hours of the early morning.