Good morning, Readers.

Well.  Here I am.  Posting on a Friday.  Again.  Don't get used to it.  I realised that I haven't yet put up my schedule for Can-Con this year.  Just in case you're coming and fiercely interested, this is where you can find me and when:

Friday 30 Oct:

5:00 - 7:00: The dealers room.
I shall be at my table, freaking out over the pitches I'm supposed to give this weekend.  Drop by and take my mind off things.  Please!

7:00 - 8:00: Salon D 
Panel - Backstories and the development of Villains.  This is going to be a fantastic discussion.

Saturday 31 Oct:

I will be away all morning.

2:30 - 3:00: Dealers Room.
Pitching immediately after.  If I look slightly green, that's why.

3:00 - 3:15 Mezzanine.
This is my first pitch.  I won't be available!

3:30 - 7:00: Dealers Room
Ignore the red puffy eyes.  I wasn't crying...

7:00 - 8:00: Salon D
Panel: Fantasy Readers discussion.  I am really excited about this one.  I get to geek out over my favourite fantasy authors!

8:00 - 9:00: Salon A
Paper Airplane contest!  So much fun.  You must come!

9:00 Until I'm too exhausted to continue: Con Suite
Can Con Hallowe'en party! Come in costume. Or else.

Sunday 01 Nov:

10:00 - 12:00: Dealers Room
One more pitch to go! I might still be a bit green around the gills.

12:00 - 1:00: Salon B
Reading from Human.  Nicole Lavigne will be reading immediately after me, and you don't want to miss her stuff either!

1:00 - 2:00: Salon A
Panel - Transport and armament in the ancient and medieval world.  I'm moderating.  Please be kind!

2:00 - 2:15: In hiding.
I have a pitch to prepare for!

2:15 - 2:30: Mezzanine
I'll be pitching again and unavailable... but wave if you see me.  Please don't be made if I don't wave back.  I'm probably very distracted by nerves and whatnot.

2:30 - Close: Dealers Room
Drop by for any last minute signings/purchases you want to make.

And now I must go to the convention!  Love you all  Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I was browsing Facebook this morning while trying to figure out what to blog about, and I came across this image:

This is a fantastic sculpture and it really resonated with me.

Woman on a pedestal.

To me it looks like she's struggling, pushing up against the weight of expectations and ideals, her image melting away the more the viewer becomes familiar with her; becomes acquainted with the truth that was there all along - she's only human after all.  That might be my experience talking, but this beautiful piece of art seems quite sad to me.

I have observed that a not very small number of men have a tendency to put all women up on a pedestal.  All women are relegated to the roles and behaviours that fit on this pedestal - soft, kind, generous, giving (often to her own detriment), care-taker, virginal, mother, angel.

Should any woman deviate from the roles and behaviours upon that pedestal, if they stand up and demand to be counted as human beings rather than mythical winged creatures from God, they're met with unfathomable rage.

Expectations were not met, and it is easier to rage than it is to adjust the perception of women.

The fact of the matter is, women are only human.  We are subject to all the same base emotions, at mercy of our own troubled histories, and even at the mercy of perfectly normal human body issues.  Bowel movements.  We have them too.

I have had long, serious discussion with men about this phenomena, this putting of women onto pedestals, creating images of them; facsimiles of people who aren't quite allowed to just be people.  I have read about women who refrain from going to the wash room at all in their own homes in an effort to avoid offending their spouses (really? Really?!).  Yes.  Really.

The pressure to conform to those beautiful winged creatures of hazy mythology is killing women - either they destroy their own bodies, or their dreams, trying to contort themselves into the inhuman image of that woman on the pedestal, or their enraged lovers do it for them.

This is a genuine problem.

It's time that we see women for what women are - human beings; as messy and twisted, hard and soft, frail and powerful as the rest of humanity.  Get rid of the pedestals.  They're not good for anyone.

And on that note,  today is the last day to pre-register for CanCon.  Do so here.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Here I am, twiddling my thumbs, much too stressed to be able to concentrate on anything.

Why am I stressed?  Oh, no reason.

I'M JUST PITCHING THIS WEEKEND AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!

But no real reason.

Ahem.

Seriously, though.  The pitching process terrifies me.  I've actually never done a pitch face to face with anyone before.  It's so much easier sending an email or package or submission form to some faceless entity.  Actually trying to sell my book to a person, while look at that person, brings on the nervous sweats.

I'm not that good around strangers.

It's different if I know you and am comfortable around you.  I'm my goofy self.  Around strangers, I seize. My tongue gets heavy, my heart stutters and my brain gets fuzzy.  I freak out, essentially.

But, if publishing were easy, everyone would do it.

While I'm freaking out, this is also a huge opportunity for me to grow (a pair).  This is an opportunity to prove myself that I CAN do this.

I might crash and burn, but even then, it will be a learning experience.  One day, I will master the pitch, and it will be one more tool in my belt on this quest to support myself with my writing.

And on that note, I have to go back to researching the perfect pitch.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

With the weekend all done and the launch behind me, it's time to look forward to the next weekend.  This weekend will be a busy one.  If you've forgotten, it's CanCon!

I adore this convention and I'm really excited.

Unfortunately, I will be away from the convention Saturday morning, as that is the time of the memorial mass being held for my step mother.  I will be there Saturday afternoon, however, probably around 2:30 in the afternoon.

Good friends Jen and Eric from JenEric Designs have offered to cover my table while I'm gone, so do please still drop by if you like.  They're lovely people and they'll be selling really cool not necessarily book related stuff.  Try the coffee.

There really isn't much else to say at present.  I have a tonne of work to do before CanCon hits... like figuring out how to write and present a good book pitch.  If you meet me and I'm bald, it's because I've been tearing my hair down over this whole book pitch thing.

Le sigh.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

This weekend was the multi-author launch party in which Renaissance Press and I teamed up to deliver a party celebrating books.  It was a wonderful time!

I was, as always, stressed out of my mind leading up to the launch.  Stressed my reading was too long, not long enough, too boring, giving away too much, that I didn't have anything appropriate to wear, that I wouldn't sell, that people would hate me, that I'd be humiliated... You know, the usual.

So stressed was I that I neglected to eat until I arrived at the venue, resulting in my drinking on an empty stomach.  This is never a good idea... but I was responsible.  I only had two ciders the whole event.  And I did eat... a lot... once I got there.  Mmmmm.... food!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out and listened to my attempt at a reading (the other readers were wonderful, by the by).  You made the day lovely.  Photos of the event are forthcoming, and will likely appear on my Facebook page or the Facebook event itself.

If you were one of the attendees, and you have photos of the event, feel free to post them on either place.  I will share them around.

The next thing to look forward to is Can Con.  That is happening this weekend.  If you haven't yet registered for the fantastic convention, you really need to.  Click here to register.  Do iiiiit!  Do iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!  It really is the best convention for writers and readers.

Also, don't forget that there are copies of Human still to be one.  Click here for details!

Now I must go and stress out over my pitch, which I will be attempting at Can Con.
​
​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Okay, so I don't normally post on a Friday, I swear.  But this is important....

That this weekend, guy!  THIS WEEKEND!  I'm so excited and super nervous.  I hope it goes well.

Anywho, if you have some time, drop by The Royal Oak on Laurier on Sunday between the hours of 1pm and 4pm for a drink, some food, and great company and possibly catch a reading.

I'll be there, nervously running around hoping people like my stuff.

And now I will go about my day.  Hopefully see you on Sunday!

​Sonia.

Good morning, Readers!

So, you know the song I shared with you yesterday? (This one, for those who didn't read yesterday's blog or didn't play the song I shared).  Yeah... I listened to it non-stop yesterday.  I will probably will again.  Almost all of this particular composer's music does that to me.

For those of you who don't know, I'm talking about Two Steps From Hell, an incredible duo of composers who create some of the most epic, beautiful and moving music I've ever had the pleasure to listen to.

​I've a long history of repeating music over and over to the exacerbation of those around me.  I distinctly remember playing a Martin Lass CD over and over (Martin Lass was a semi-famous violinist).  I'm not sure what that says about my brain.

Music has always moved me; far more than films ever did, and almost as much as books.  In fact, if there wasn't a book that I felt I wanted to read, I would turn to music if I had a bad day.  I would just lie in bed and listen, doing nothing else but listening and letting my mind wander.

Those notes; the melodies, the rhythms, the counter melodies... in all these things were hidden dragons and brave knights, powerful matriarchs, slender-fingered assassins.  There were remote landscapes of craggy mountains and snow, broad meadows filled with spring blossoms, ancient forests deep and dark.

Music would take me away from everything that hurt and showed me such magic I believed anything was possible.

That magic remains.  Every time I hear good music, it captures all of me.  I stop what I'm doing to listen.  I dissolve into the song.  For the four odd minutes the music lasts, I do not exist.

It's such a difficult thing to describe, what music does to me.  But good music, it is the best kind of drug.  I love it so much.

I could live without seeing another sunrise.  I would die if I could never hear music again.

What about you?  What is it that makes you forget yourself and the world.

Let me know.

Ciao.