November 2009

Harlequin Enterprises, one of the ten largest international publishers in the world, a subsidiary of Torstar, has launched a new subsidy publisher under the name Harlequin Horizons. This is horrible news for current Harlequin authors, since it devalues the publisher's brand, and worse news for the naive writers who will be taken in by the association of the Harlequin name with a business that exists to exploit naive authors. In case you're not sure what a subsidy publisher is, here's a definition:

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And the Word of the Year for 2009 from the New Oxford American Dictionary is....(drumroll, please)... unfriend.  A slightly mangled form of a word that has not been commonly used as a verb since ye olden days of Shakespeare and the like, but which has been made hugely popular by social media sites such as Facebook.  "Unfriend" wasn't the only new communication term to be nominated, with hashtag (a way of monitoring specific topics on Twitter) and sexting (a sexually explicit conversation via mobile phone texts) both being considered.

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I have been called opinionated in my time, although I would strongly argue the point.  Wait, on second thoughts, perhaps the label is more fitting than I'd like to admit.  And yet having  and expressing a strong opinion isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially for writers.  Having a firm idea on where you stand on certain issues can give you a clear, strong voice that appeals to readers.  So having fully justified the existence of my soap box, let me drag it out for a second in order to rant about one of my pet peeves: irresponsible journalism.

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This week's writer shout outs are all about interviews.  I love interviews.  When I am meeting new people for the first time, and feel a little awkward,  I often pretend that they are just another subject that I am interviewing for a piece, and it never takes long before I find a topic that I am genuinely interested in talking about more in depth with them.   People just fascinate me.  How we are all made up of the same core wants and needs, and yet choose to live such different lives.  I studied psychology for four years at University and the one thing I learned is that while studies and statistics can give you the broad strokes of human behaviour, it is only by talking to people about their hopes, dreams and regrets that you can truly understand what makes them who they are.

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I love my iPhone.  I have always been a bit of gadget head, and the introduction of smart phones has had a real impact on my life.  I can check my emails, Tweet, follow my top blogs and take notes for articles, all without having to lug around my laptop. Two years ago my trusty Samsung R60 seemed portable, but now feels not just clunky but downright unfashionable. 

The iPhone is just so much more subtle. It hides politely in my purse or pocket, ready at a moment's notice, while my laptop demanded space, a flat surface, a power supply... and an ability to ignore the stares of others around me who always seemed look disapproving, as if trying to figure out if I was doing genuine work or just being pretentious.

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Image by WolliballaRecently I have become a bad writer.  I blow off deadlines, or push it till the very last minute when I am forced to hand in mediocre work.  I feel terrible about this.  And yet I keep repeating the pattern.  And it isn't just my writing habits that have changed.  I am staying up late, partying like I was twenty something instead of ahem, well let's leave that unsaid shall we? God help me, I have even started smoking again. 

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