Steeple Hill Writers Club

If you do have things from the old boards you want addressed, do let me know and we'll get it taken care of!

Anita Mae, Margaret responded on the old board.  To paraphrase, one line doesn't matter.

Anita Mae, I just looked at your profile to see you live in Canada!!  My dad travelled up through BC a few years ago and took some terrific pictures, I hope to get up there some day, it looks sssooooo marvelous.  He came back with this wonderful coat that I LOVE to wear, on the off occasion it dips into the 30's and below here I wear it and am so toasty warm while everyone else is freezing in their apparently not as well made coats.  Y'all know how to do winter gear up there! 

Patricia, Dream and Margaret - thanks for easing my mind. I really didn't want to change it, so I appreciate the positive response.

Ever since I read Margaret's line in A Courage to Dream, I've been trying to think up ways to change mine. In my original post, I had written that my similar line was from Book 3 - Charley's Saint. But as I've mused over the line these last few days trying to re-write it with the same impact, I've realized it was from my Book 1 in the Prairie Junction series where I first show the reader the intense history that Charley and Henry share. You just don't get the read their full story until Book 3.

I was listening to CBC radio one time when a musician was being interviewed and he mentioned plagiarism in music. He brought up the example of Gordon Lightfoot's lawsuit against Michael Masser who wrote "The Greatest Love of All" recorded by Whitney Houston in 1986. The lawsuit read:

The transitional section that begins "I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow" of the Masser song has the exact same melody as "I don't know where we went wrong but the feeling's gone" of Lightfoot's song "If You Could Read My Mind".

The lawsuit was "settled out of court while the case was being heard."

Someone on the net wrote: "I compared the scores as printed out by Cakewalk from midi files (that was one of my first computer "music" projects; just finding midis of both took the better part of the day back then some 15 months or so ago), and - even to me whose music knowledge consists of knowing the first three months of beginner's piano - the measures borrowed were obvious."

The same radio show had mentioned that anyone can copy the same 7 notes in a row because there's only so many melodies you can write but after that, you run into trouble.

Anita mae.

WOW!!!  That sounds great!  Gretzky and the Oilers, that was hockey...and I like the story about your driving instructor. 

One thing I miss about being in Michigan is getting to watch hockey on regular tv---I don't have cable right now and they rarely show a game here.  They did air the Winter Classic on New Years Day so I was glued to the screen all afternoon. 

And speaking of Canada, when I lived there, we used to always drive to Windsor to watch the Detroit fireworks, the view was better from CA, and so was the safety factor. 

I'm glad you like the quote I picked, I also think it applies to so much --- not just hockey....

Visiting American....we spent several of my young years up between Windsor and SE Michigan, I was born in TN, but we moved when I was a baby and then back up north again to MI for part of high school.  Even when we moved back to TN, my middle school history teacher here in TN was from Canada.  I remember watching Hockey Night  while I was in Michigan and we'd of course pick up Canadian channels!! 

I think it's genetic....My dad played pond hockey, my parents second date was a Red Wings game, my nephew played until he joined the US Army and had a training accident that messed up his leg too badly to play again.  If I have sons, they will play hockey (people around here like basketball, I just don't get that at all). 

I got so excited when I found out the guy in charge of internships for my department is a huge hockey fan from the days of Gordie Howe!!  I had told him I was interested in pursuing an internship and/or career with one of the hockey teams in their media/community relations departments. 

In your "Profile" it's the "signiture" part---just type in whatever you want there. 

Anita Mae, I loved Vancouver when I visited a couple of years ago. Beautiful city. I hope you can come to ACFW.

Margaret

Hi, I've read the comments here, but this is the first time I've ever written something.  Everyone seems so welcoming and helpful, so I thought I would be brave and ask a question.  How do you take a dream of becoming a writer, and actually start writing?  I have lots of stories running around in my head, but I am unsure where to begin on putting them on paper.  Does anyone have any advice? 

Hey Margaret - are you sure you meant Vancouver and not Victoria?  My dd loves Vancouver but she doesn't drive and likes everything within walking distance. I did enjoy Stanley Park but didn't get a chance to cross that long swinging bridge.

I find Vancouver crowded but I love Victoria on the island!   I've seen the beautiful Butchart Hanging Gardens, and had butterflies land on my head at Butterfly World.  And I loved walking along Pacific Rim National Park finding sand dollars. I've only been there twice and would like to experience it at least once more.

But the ACFW conf is calling me.... and Minneapolis is only 3 hrs from my mom. I hope to meet you there, too.

Anita Mae --

I was in Victoria for about a day once and fell in love with the city.  I promised myself I would go back for a longer visit.  I saw the Butchart Gardens and thought they were stunning. 

Janet

Anita Mae --

I can just picture you having 'high tea' there.  What a great dream to have.  I do think I heard that they do have a dress code -- but if you were prepared what a lovely thing to do.

Regina -- isn't that the place that has the historic bootleg tunnels?  I'd like to see them sometime -- I go to Montana fairly frequently and have an aunt in Havre so it's not too far from me when I'm in those stomping grounds.

Janet

Welcome, Amy Michele. I'm so glad you are delurking (sounds like a Star Trek story). Janet and Dream have great advice. Love Inspired Suspense is also looking for new authors, too. Several have been bought lately. Also you might want to connect with other writers in your area and American Christian Fiction Writers is a national organization that is online. Also Romance Writers of America is a national organization with a lot of local chapters. Both are a wonderful support system and a great place to get help and advice (along with these boards). So if you have questions, ask away and we will try to help.

Margaret

Janet - you're pretty close. The tunnels are actually a 45 min drive west of Regina in Moose Jaw, which makes them just 2 hrs from our farm.

We've been in the tunnels and they are so steeped in history. Actors dressed in period costume guide you through the tunnels where Al Capone was rumoured to have hidden out at some point. My ds#2 got scared when the 'gangster' whipped out his tommygun at us, but the rest of us enjoyed the performance. So realistic. The animatronic characters were hard to differentiate from real people if you just glanced at them working.

Hopefully  this summer we can go back and tour the other tunnels where the Chinese migrant workers lived. All I know about them is the title - Passage to Fortune.

For history buffs intent on a great background, it's hard to beat the tunnels. You can read more if you check the website for: tunnels of moose jaw dot com (all one word and symbol for at)

So I guess you're going back to Montana to check out Dry Creek, eh?

I'm there too! Oh, I'd love to do that.

Amy Michele,

Welcome. You've gotten some good advice about what to do with those stories running around in your head. Best wishes for your writing.

Merrillee 

Hi AmyMichelle!

I love reading all of the posts about Canada! I'm a born and raised Alberta girl but I hate hockey. Hockey and golf are the 2 sports that I just don't get. I'm definately in the minority up here! I'm desperately hoping that my little boy doesn't fall in love with it.

Anita Mae - I'm jelous that you've seen the tunnels. I've been trying to convince dh we need to go see them for the last few years. He's not a real history buff I'm working on him!

Tamelia --

You'll want to use the actual computer word count.

Janet 

Word count (55,000-60,000).

I usually have around a certain number of pages to get that many words. 260-280 pages for me but with someone else it will be different. Over a course of several books you get a feel for what you need pagewise.

Margaret

Hey Beckie,

For the new comment, I used to write in MS Word then cut and paste, or in a new window, but now that I've updated to Explorer 7, I just open a new tab. One is for the comments I'm reading, and the tab beside it is for the new one I'm writing.

BTW - how's your weather? Buses weren't running yesterday as the temp was -51c/-56.8F.  Are you sending another chinook our way soon?

Anita Mae - I just tried and my computer won't let me do two pages that are different for this site. Oh well, I guess it's not the worst thing.

Chinook - we'd have to have one! We've warmed up to -35C! The wind chill is brutal though. I walked 4 blocks on Tuesday and frost bit my face. We've been boosting our cars, etc. You know the drill You know the weather is bad when schools in Edmonton are closed! Did you get any snow? We got quite a bit and the wind keeps redistributing it so I get to keep shovelling the same stuff! All in all I am kind of enjoying the blizzard. It's been so long since we've had such a good one!

Take care and keep warm!

Beckie

Beckie --

I grew up in Montana so I have some idea of what you speak -- It's been close to 20 below there for a while recently (my sister and parents are still there).  But 35 below -- now that's getting cold cold!!! I like that kind of weather, too, if I can stay inside by the fire

Janet

The cold isn't too bad after about the 3rd day. You just kind of get used to it. Besides, there is nothing better in the world than coming in feeling frozen solid and having hot cocoa with marshmallows!

I might get dh to take a picture of me in my outside winter gear and post it for my profile.

I don't like the cold either! But I'm thankful to have a nice warm house!

We used to raise goats and I remember 2 yrs ago, it went down to -50 and the mamas were dropping their kids all over. We'd do a barn check every couple hrs and bring in a couple frozen ones. If you'd come to my house that Jan, I had 2 playpens set up in my foyer/dining room area with a total of 11 babies. And they all needed to be bottle fed! Once they got stronger, we'd take them to the barn. I remember midnight, -40, walking down to the barn with an armful of babies wrapped in towels. After trying to get them to suck off their mamas - at least the mamas that were accepting their babies - I'd bring them back to the house. Finally get to bed around 2:30 or so and then have to go back out to check for more babies. We don't have goats anymore.

Merilee --

Yes, the Dakotas are the 'king of cold' for the states, i believe.  I don't think I've ever been in 50 below.  Maybe close, but that's coooold.

The funny thing with me and winter though is that. even though I moved to So Cal to escape the winters, my Montana sister pointed out to me after about 8 published books that I had set every one of them in the winter time in Montana. LOL  I don't know if it was therapy or nostalgia or just not being able to move away completely.  

Janet