News, process, promo and obsession

What’s up in Zoë-land? I’m stick-handling on a number of writing fronts.

Last week was the launch of Orchard Heart Elegies at the Pender Library. It was lovely to share it with my friend Kate Braid, who has a new chapbook of poetry out, Elemental. We each read and afterward answered some very astute questions from the audience, then hung out for a bit and chatted. In person events, ohh, I’m happy.

I’m a fan of Kate’s writing and there’s something relaxed and collegial about doing a launch with a friend. There was a wonderful turn-out; it’s always a pleasure to see more chairs getting put out. This was the first in-person event our library has staged since COVID, so it was even more special than usual. It also marks the first time I’ve not worn a mask in that library in three years!

Photo credit: Cherie Thiessen

If you haven’t yet read Orchid Heart Elegies, here’s the first elegy to whet your appetite. Please note this free download link will expire on February 28.

The question I enjoyed the most was, “How has writing this book changed your relationship with grief?”

“The grief is still there,” I told the young man who asked. “But writing the book enabled me to dance with it.”

I tried to put up a Universal Book Link so readers anywhere in the world can easily purchase an e-copy of Orchid Heart Elegies, but there’s a technical issue that McGill-Queen’s Press will have to resolve first.

On a separate front, I continue to wrestle with my first publishers, who after 45 years, asserted they owned the e-book rights to Harvest of Salmon (there weren’t any e-books back then) and continue to claim they will put out a new paperback edition of the book without my input or consent. I’m being assisted by The Writers’ Union of Canada in this dispute, which all started because I asked for my rights back, as per the contract. I’ve found the whole business very upsetting. Getting bullying emails makes my stomach clench.

The very first fishboat my ex and I owned, 32-foot Frankie B., in front of Savary Island wharf.

However, despite the upset with the early publisher, I’m moving forward on the e-book front with a new edition of that first book now titled Sea Dragon: A Fisher’s Adventures on the BC Coast which I’ll produce myself. That I’ve done before. And, in preparation for putting out an audio book, I’m taking a course in creating your own audiobooks. I’m planning to start with Sea Dragon and move on to my other books. The course has been a bit of a technical challenge so far, but my lovely computer guy has solved the latest snafu so I can move forward in my lessons. I’m excited about this. It’s fun to be involved in a new project. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it will be smoother from here on.

This business of being a writer is interesting. Yes, I love the time I spend actually creating. It’s a delight like no other and I feel very fortunate to have the focus of writing. The amount of behind-the-scenes promo stuff that goes hand in glove with it, however, can be daunting. Like most writers, doing publicity for my own work doesn’t come naturally to me. I felt most of January was spent filling out a promotional questionnaire for Iannna Publications at York University. I have a new book of poetry coming out from them in September or December. The book is called Sigrene’s Bargain with Odin. To Ianna’s credit, they asked me questions that were specific enough I could answer, though it took a ton of research.

For those of you who may have read my magic novel, Jorrie and the Skyhorse, the Winter Queen in that book is actually the lead character Sigrene’s Bargain with Odin at a much younger age. The poems came first. However different my poetry, creative nonfiction and fiction may appear to readers, for me, themes and characters that walk from book to book. There’s magic, there is Norse mythology, and the BC coast always has a starring role. It occurs to me now there are usually animal-guardians too. Hah, that’s the first time I’ve twigged to that pattern—what do I know, I just write this stuff.

Here's a glimpse into my process with Sigrene’s Bargain With Odin. I started this book because of an image that kept occurring to me: a girl maybe four years old, raggedly dressed, clutching the muzzle of a grey horse, who had his head lowered to her. I thought, who is this person? What’s she doing?

The book took over six years to write and went through at least ten drafts. The Norse poems, as I called them, became an obsession. It was liking peering through a knothole into one of those old Viking halls that were built like upside boats. I’d look and go, They’re doing what? Really? The poems take place in the world of Norse mythology, which I grew up with, but I re-entered and reread the sagas. I even got a research grant and went to Iceland, which was very helpful.

The poems started to tell a story. My hero, the girl, kept getting herself into one impossible situation after another. The horse, who turned out to be Odin’s horse, Sleipnir, was key to the story. At some point I realized I was dealing with an epic novel in verse and I thought, Oh great, can I make my audience for poems even smaller? But I went with it. I acknowledged writing the book was something I was madly enjoying and if it never went anywhere, I’d have to live with it. Fortunately I have a professional screenwriter and novelist buddy, Joy Llewellyn (I’m a fan of her work too), who said, “Look, anything that doesn’t advance the narrative isn’t serving the book.” This made me go through and take out at least twenty-five poems I was very fond of because they didn’t move the story forward. I also cut the poem titles because they slowed down the story. After that dramatic pace-speeding revision, Ianna, bless their hearts, accepted the book for publication.

Sigrene’s Bargain with Odin produced a different kind of book than I’d initially envisioned, but it felt important to let the obsessive inspiration, however weird, ramp on. Have you had that persistent urge to create or do something that really didn’t seem all that practical, aka somewhat suicidal, in terms of your career? What did you do?