Blurred Line

I'm starting to get a little excited -- the release of Burn Rate is inching ever closer. More on that in the future, but really it's part of the reason that I haven't been writing as of late. The other part was that I just couldn't put down The Poisonwood Bible. I know I'm a little behind the boat in picking up that one, and I can see why.

Also, like any hockey fan, I had one eye on trade deadline deals for the whole day yesterday. All I can say is: Ottawa, WTF? Another unproven goalie? Oh well, at least we came out better than the Leafs. My opinion, for any Toronto fans, is that Brian Burke is on crack. Anyway, on to more important business...

The book: The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver.
The plot: The Price family goes to the Congo for missionary work. Father Price tries to convert the villagers, but fails to understand Africa. His wife and four daughters toil along side him until a tragedy sends them in their own directions.
IMO: An absolutely wonderful book. The four daughters, who tell the bulk of the story, are perfectly drawn characters, and Kingsolver does a great job with the mother as well. One of the book's shortcomings is the family's patriarch, who is so one-dimensional he's almost unbelievable -- although the book does have an explanation for his singlemindedness. Additionally, the momentum of the book flags a little near the end. Most of the book takes place over the space of two years during the family's mission work, while the final 100 pages or so tie things up over the next 25 years and become rather more politically-minded. Still, though, it's an extremely well written book and one I highly recommend if you haven't had the chance to read it yet.

This brings my totals to 6 books read for the year and 9 acquired (I couldn't help myself when I found a copy of Trainspotting over at Bookmooch).

On the Radioblog: Finally managed to get the latest CD, Cantos (and latest is probably the wrong word, since it came out in 2006, and I just discovered he's got a new one out at the end of the month) from one of my favourite artists, A.J. Croce (Jim Croce's son, in case you're wondering). I've been listening to Croce for years, from his progression from a bluesy pianist to his current pop oriented albums. So, you can imagine how pleasant a surprise it was when I found that this was his best album yet. He can still play a mean piano, and he also picks up a guitar on a number of tracks (and does a damn good job with it -- and when he's not playing, Ben Harper shows up with his guitar). Settling on a song wasn't easy, but I have to go with the kickass Paul McCartney cover "Maybe I'm Amazed. Just press ZAP on the player.

Files from the People's Committee Against Sexual Fetishism (PCASF)
Transcript of the People vs. Cavan Terrill

PCASF: Mr. Terrill, are you familiar with the term agalmatophilia?
CT: No, I was terrible at math.
PCASF: Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I submit for your perusal a photo of Mr. Terrill and an unknown male accomplice participating in a (air quotes) threesome (air quotes) with a statue. In public, no less.

(gasps from audience)
PCASF: Mr. Terrill, are you taking sexual advantage of a helpless statue in this picture?
CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err...
PCASF: Mr. Terrill, I wish to remind you that your silence will be seen as an admission of guilt.
CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err...
PCASF: Very well, let me present my next piece of evidence.
CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err...

PCASF: Perhaps you are more familiar with the term arborphilia?
CT: Absolutely, but I've never really been afraid of going outside. Actually, I prefer to be outside if I can. You see, I really quite enjoy nature--
PCASF: (interrupting) So, you admit to being sexually attracted to trees?
CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err...
PCASF: Is this or is this not a picture of you licking a tree?
CT: I was...ummm...intoxicated.
PCASF: YES! Intoxicated by your overwhelming desire to corrupt our innocent deciduous friends!
CT: It only happened once! Haven't you ever had too much to drink and woken up in a strange forest?!
PCASF: No, Mr. Terrill, and I believe I speak for the fine members of this committee as well. We, you see, are not sexual fetishists.
CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err...
PCASF: I see. Not ready to confess yet? Very well, let us move on to the final piece of evidence. (turning to the crowd) Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I urge all but the most hardened souls to turn away from this final photograph. It contains a fetish so bizarre, so utterly disturbing that no name had even been created for it yet.
(shocked gasps, a buzz of conversation emanates from the crowd)
PCASF: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you handilumbraphilia!

(shrieking, thuds as people hit the ground after fainting)
PCASF: That's right, Mr. Terrill is an unapologetic fetishist with our most intimate possessions at the center of his filthy desires -- our umbrella handles! Yes, good people, he may indeed have licked YOUR umbrella. It may have been resting in a closet, blissfully unsullied, one moment, and the next forever contaminated by the sexual urges of the man who sits before you today!
CT: (tears running down his face) Yes! I admit it! I have a fetish for all of these things!
PCASF: Aha! You admit to it!
CT: (hysterical) I'm guilty! I'm guilty!
PCASF: (pushing a paper and pen at the accused) Then sign this confession! Admit your guilt to all!
CT: (tears suddenly stopped, cradling and softly stroking pen)
PCASF: (long pause) Mr. Terrill?
CT: (suddenly flushed, staring at pen) Is this a titanium pen?
PCASF: (aside) Could it be true, another titaniupinnaphile?
CT: (looking up with longing)
PCASF: (whispering) Meet me for drinks later?

(Written for Kay's Seven Deadly Sins meme. Today's topic: lust! I'm not actually an agalmatophile. Or an arborphile. Or a handilumbraphile. I tried out titaniupinnaphilia once, but the pen got lodged somewhere and I had to go to the hospital.)

Something's been up with the blog the past couple of days -- for reasons entirely unbeknown to me, it would only pull from the old Blurred Line Blog, which died a quiet death amidst Blogger instabilities back in 2006. Anyway, I've managed to fix it now, and since I haven't blogged for a number of days, I've got a few things I wanted to share:

March! Holy crap! Already! If you want indisputable proof of climate change, consider that if felt to me like there were only two really frigid weeks this year (OK, well, maybe I'm lacking on the scientific evidence). But still, winter felt like nothing this year. Of course, it's Canada so we've still got another three to four weeks to go, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.
Drysol! I'm a sweaty dude. Really, anytime I do anything physical, I sweat. It's not that I'm out of shape (I mean, I am out of shape, but that's not the cause), it's just something that's always happened. So, I bought some Drysol, which is basically like rubbing a bunch of aluminum all over your underarms. It itches like hell and I had to rub it off after a couple of hours, but for the next week, pretty much zero sweat. Seriously, I'm so excited to go out for anxiety-free walks this summer it's not even funny.
Sens! I went out and watched the Sens lose on Thursday night, and came to the following realization: professional sports aren't worth the ticket price (exception: playoffs). I paid $80 for a ticket to watch a really boring game. Next weekend, tickets are $5 to watch the Canadian University basketball championships, and I can pretty much guarantee that it'd be a kickass time.
Writing! Or lack thereof! I've done nothing of note recently, though I'm going to try to sit down today and get at least a few pages done.

Keyword of the Day: For some reason, over the past two weeks there's been a massive uptick in people searching for various bits and pieces of information about Romper Stomper. Made way back in 1992, it was one of Russel Crowe's first starring roles, and had him playing a neo-Nazi.

My latest submission (this time I was sending out "Between Eternities" as reprint material) just came back for a rewrite request. The editor wasn't happy with the ending, for good reason -- I've never been happy about the ending myself. In fact, at one point I was submitting the story minus the final scene. I'm not going to write a new ending, largely because it's already been published elsewhere, but I thought I'd take a few minutes here to write about rewrite requests.

Mostly, if an editor requests a rewrite, do it. Believe you me, if "Between Eternities" was an unpublished piece, I'd be working on a new ending right now -- even if I was in love with it. If an editor requests a rewrite, they're already hooked, and that's most of the battle right there. I understand that some people get very attached to their stories, but the fact of the matter is, given insight from another perspective, almost everyone's writing can be improved.

As an editor, I've only requested a handful of rewrites, and I was kind of surprised when none of the authors resubmitted. And it's important to keep in mind that I never tell someone what I think they should have written. Instead, I focus on what I felt didn't quite work. Apparently, none of the writers felt it was worth their time re-work anything. What's up with that?

A rewrite request, in my opinion, is an opportunity, not a dismissal. I'm curious, though...maybe it's not looked upon kindly by most people. Opinions?

Also: Two new blogs worth a read -- Perhaps We Learned Something... and Words, etc.

As promised, here's my ripoff of this post from The Swivet. I think any list like this is going to be relatively similar from person to person, whether its an agent getting genre queries, a small press getting lit fic queries, or whatever. Still, it's probably instructive to drive a few of these points home. These are queries sent to Apodis Publishing that I've already responded to, from a stretch back in September and October.

#1 - Fantasy query. Well structured query, but it's not interested in those, as per my submission guidelines.
#2 - SF query. Well structured but fails to grab my interest.
#3 - SF query. Well structured but badly written.
#4 - High concept SF query. Novel described in one brief paragraph, and only two of the sentences in it actually talk about the plot. Lots of details on author's background.
#5 - Lit fic/mystery query. Long paragraph about book -- not much on the plot, though. Mostly on themes and style. Brief description of author's background. Liked the sample pages. Full manuscript requested.
#6 - "No idea what genre this is" query. Novel description full of praise (note: do not, under any circumstances, effusively praise your own novel).
#7 - Lit fic query. Only one sentence about novel. Writing sample is quite good. Full manuscript requested. (A good example that a solid writing sample is waaaay more important than the structure or content of the query letter itself.)
#8 - YA/SF query. Good description of novel with a large number of blurbs from various people who have read it. Writing sample is decent. Full manuscript requested.
#9 - Lit fic query. Good description of novel, but author opens by downplaying their own abilites (note: do not, under any circumstances, saying anything bad about your own novel).
#10 - Lit fic/bizarro query. Short description of novel, but writing sample is too out there for me.
#11 - Lit fic/SF query. Well structured query and writing sample is decent, but not something I can see myself publishing.
#12 - Lit fic query. Nice, short description, but writing sample is just blah.
#13 - Lit fic query. Decent query, but writing sample is just blah.
#14 - Lit fic collection query. Good description and some impressive publishing experience. Writing sample was quite good. Full manuscript requested.
#15 - Lit fic query. Blah query and blah writing sample.

Also, finished another book yesterday. Earlier this year I pledged to read more books than I added to my collection. So, here's where I'm at:

Books read: 5
Books acquired: 8

The book: Veronica, by Mary Gaitskill.
The plot: Alison's middle aged body is falling apart. She's got a bad shoulder. She's got hepatitis. Allison goes for a walk. Remembers her life during her late teens and twenties, when she was a model. Memories of debauchery, unhappiness and most importantly, of Veronica, an obnoxious, middle aged friend who dies of AIDS.
IMO: Another highly regarded book (this one was a National Book Award finalist and on a bunch of best of lists the year it came out) that I just couldn't connect to. A lot of the time, the writing was purposefully abstract. If characters in the novel are going to have realizations of some sort...well, let's just say it's a lot easier to write about it in a stylized, abstract manner. It's a lot more powerful when you can show it definitively on the page and that's something that Gaitskill rarely does. Unfortunately, I've got to hand out another thumbs down.


Profile Editor. Writer. 9-5er. Lord of the Dance. Blurredline.com Apodis Publishing Fusion Fragment cterrill(at)blurredline.com Buy Goodbye, Darwin Amazon.com Amazon.ca Chapters.ca Barnes&Noble.com Read it free in PDF Format Buy Blurred Line Amazon.com Amazon.ca Chapters.ca Barnes&Noble.com Read it free in PDF Format The Short Stuff "Learning Magic From Mint" - published May 2007 in Atomjack "Between Eternities" - published October 2005 at Speculative.ca "Smoke and Mirrors" - published June 2005 in Byzarium Submissions Log Total Subs: 25 Acceptances: 3 Rejections: 17 Withdrawals: 3 Subs Out: 2 Quality Blogs Scalzi's Whatever Dave's Blogography Bookslut The Struggling Writer SF Signal the0phrastus Paperback Writer Scribe's Writing Desk Nathan Bransford Lyons Literary LLC The World in the Satin Bag Book In The Oven The Word Perhaps We Learned Something... Words, etc. Archives March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 Et Cetera Cavan @ Last.fm Cavan @ LibraryThing Feeds Atom Feed RSS Feed	Thursday, March 05, 2009 - Excuses; Brian Burke on crack; The Poisonwood Bible; A kickass Paul McCartney cover I'm starting to get a little excited -- the release of Burn Rate is inching ever closer. More on that in the future, but really it's part of the reason that I haven't been writing as of late. The other part was that I just couldn't put down The Poisonwood Bible. I know I'm a little behind the boat in picking up that one, and I can see why. Also, like any hockey fan, I had one eye on trade deadline deals for the whole day yesterday. All I can say is: Ottawa, WTF? Another unproven goalie? Oh well, at least we came out better than the Leafs. My opinion, for any Toronto fans, is that Brian Burke is on crack. Anyway, on to more important business... The book: The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver. The plot: The Price family goes to the Congo for missionary work. Father Price tries to convert the villagers, but fails to understand Africa. His wife and four daughters toil along side him until a tragedy sends them in their own directions. IMO: An absolutely wonderful book. The four daughters, who tell the bulk of the story, are perfectly drawn characters, and Kingsolver does a great job with the mother as well. One of the book's shortcomings is the family's patriarch, who is so one-dimensional he's almost unbelievable -- although the book does have an explanation for his singlemindedness. Additionally, the momentum of the book flags a little near the end. Most of the book takes place over the space of two years during the family's mission work, while the final 100 pages or so tie things up over the next 25 years and become rather more politically-minded. Still, though, it's an extremely well written book and one I highly recommend if you haven't had the chance to read it yet. This brings my totals to 6 books read for the year and 9 acquired (I couldn't help myself when I found a copy of Trainspotting over at Bookmooch). On the Radioblog: Finally managed to get the latest CD, Cantos (and latest is probably the wrong word, since it came out in 2006, and I just discovered he's got a new one out at the end of the month) from one of my favourite artists, A.J. Croce (Jim Croce's son, in case you're wondering). I've been listening to Croce for years, from his progression from a bluesy pianist to his current pop oriented albums. So, you can imagine how pleasant a surprise it was when I found that this was his best album yet. He can still play a mean piano, and he also picks up a guitar on a number of tracks (and does a damn good job with it -- and when he's not playing, Ben Harper shows up with his guitar). Settling on a song wasn't easy, but I have to go with the kickass Paul McCartney cover "Maybe I'm Amazed. Just press ZAP on the player. Cavan blogged at 6:04 PM \| 0 comments Monday, March 02, 2009 - Lust for statues; Lust for trees; Lust for things so disturbing there aren't even Latin root words Files from the People's Committee Against Sexual Fetishism (PCASF) Transcript of the People vs. Cavan Terrill PCASF: Mr. Terrill, are you familiar with the term agalmatophilia? CT: No, I was terrible at math. PCASF: Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I submit for your perusal a photo of Mr. Terrill and an unknown male accomplice participating in a (air quotes) threesome (air quotes) with a statue. In public, no less. (gasps from audience) PCASF: Mr. Terrill, are you taking sexual advantage of a helpless statue in this picture? CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err... PCASF: Mr. Terrill, I wish to remind you that your silence will be seen as an admission of guilt. CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err... PCASF: Very well, let me present my next piece of evidence. CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err... PCASF: Perhaps you are more familiar with the term arborphilia? CT: Absolutely, but I've never really been afraid of going outside. Actually, I prefer to be outside if I can. You see, I really quite enjoy nature-- PCASF: (interrupting) So, you admit to being sexually attracted to trees? CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err... PCASF: Is this or is this not a picture of you licking a tree? CT: I was...ummm...intoxicated. PCASF: YES! Intoxicated by your overwhelming desire to corrupt our innocent deciduous friends! CT: It only happened once! Haven't you ever had too much to drink and woken up in a strange forest?! PCASF: No, Mr. Terrill, and I believe I speak for the fine members of this committee as well. We, you see, are not sexual fetishists. CT: (shifting uncomfortably) Err... PCASF: I see. Not ready to confess yet? Very well, let us move on to the final piece of evidence. (turning to the crowd) Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I urge all but the most hardened souls to turn away from this final photograph. It contains a fetish so bizarre, so utterly disturbing that no name had even been created for it yet. (shocked gasps, a buzz of conversation emanates from the crowd) PCASF: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you handilumbraphilia! (shrieking, thuds as people hit the ground after fainting) PCASF: That's right, Mr. Terrill is an unapologetic fetishist with our most intimate possessions at the center of his filthy desires -- our umbrella handles! Yes, good people, he may indeed have licked YOUR umbrella. It may have been resting in a closet, blissfully unsullied, one moment, and the next forever contaminated by the sexual urges of the man who sits before you today! CT: (tears running down his face) Yes! I admit it! I have a fetish for all of these things! PCASF: Aha! You admit to it! CT: (hysterical) I'm guilty! I'm guilty! PCASF: (pushing a paper and pen at the accused) Then sign this confession! Admit your guilt to all! CT: (tears suddenly stopped, cradling and softly stroking pen) PCASF: (long pause) Mr. Terrill? CT: (suddenly flushed, staring at pen) Is this a titanium pen? PCASF: (aside) Could it be true, another titaniupinnaphile? CT: (looking up with longing) PCASF: (whispering) Meet me for drinks later? (Written for Kay's Seven Deadly Sins meme. Today's topic: lust! I'm not actually an agalmatophile. Or an arborphile. Or a handilumbraphile. I tried out titaniupinnaphilia once, but the pen got lodged somewhere and I had to go to the hospital.) Cavan blogged at 7:09 PM \| 2 comments Sunday, March 01, 2009 - Evidence for climate change; Sweat, or lack thereof; Entertainment in pro sports, or lack thereof; Writing, or lack thereof; Romper Stomper Something's been up with the blog the past couple of days -- for reasons entirely unbeknown to me, it would only pull from the old Blurred Line Blog, which died a quiet death amidst Blogger instabilities back in 2006. Anyway, I've managed to fix it now, and since I haven't blogged for a number of days, I've got a few things I wanted to share: March! Holy crap! Already! If you want indisputable proof of climate change, consider that if felt to me like there were only two really frigid weeks this year (OK, well, maybe I'm lacking on the scientific evidence). But still, winter felt like nothing this year. Of course, it's Canada so we've still got another three to four weeks to go, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Drysol! I'm a sweaty dude. Really, anytime I do anything physical, I sweat. It's not that I'm out of shape (I mean, I am out of shape, but that's not the cause), it's just something that's always happened. So, I bought some Drysol, which is basically like rubbing a bunch of aluminum all over your underarms. It itches like hell and I had to rub it off after a couple of hours, but for the next week, pretty much zero sweat. Seriously, I'm so excited to go out for anxiety-free walks this summer it's not even funny. Sens! I went out and watched the Sens lose on Thursday night, and came to the following realization: professional sports aren't worth the ticket price (exception: playoffs). I paid $80 for a ticket to watch a really boring game. Next weekend, tickets are $5 to watch the Canadian University basketball championships, and I can pretty much guarantee that it'd be a kickass time. Writing! Or lack thereof! I've done nothing of note recently, though I'm going to try to sit down today and get at least a few pages done. Keyword of the Day: For some reason, over the past two weeks there's been a massive uptick in people searching for various bits and pieces of information about Romper Stomper. Made way back in 1992, it was one of Russel Crowe's first starring roles, and had him playing a neo-Nazi. Cavan blogged at 10:25 AM \| 0 comments Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - Rewrite requests My latest submission (this time I was sending out "Between Eternities" as reprint material) just came back for a rewrite request. The editor wasn't happy with the ending, for good reason -- I've never been happy about the ending myself. In fact, at one point I was submitting the story minus the final scene. I'm not going to write a new ending, largely because it's already been published elsewhere, but I thought I'd take a few minutes here to write about rewrite requests. Mostly, if an editor requests a rewrite, do it. Believe you me, if "Between Eternities" was an unpublished piece, I'd be working on a new ending right now -- even if I was in love with it. If an editor requests a rewrite, they're already hooked, and that's most of the battle right there. I understand that some people get very attached to their stories, but the fact of the matter is, given insight from another perspective, almost everyone's writing can be improved. As an editor, I've only requested a handful of rewrites, and I was kind of surprised when none of the authors resubmitted. And it's important to keep in mind that I never tell someone what I think they should have written. Instead, I focus on what I felt didn't quite work. Apparently, none of the writers felt it was worth their time re-work anything. What's up with that? A rewrite request, in my opinion, is an opportunity, not a dismissal. I'm curious, though...maybe it's not looked upon kindly by most people. Opinions? Also: Two new blogs worth a read -- Perhaps We Learned Something... and Words, etc. Cavan blogged at 6:05 PM \| 0 comments Sunday, February 22, 2009 - Apodis queries; Veronica As promised, here's my ripoff of this post from The Swivet. I think any list like this is going to be relatively similar from person to person, whether its an agent getting genre queries, a small press getting lit fic queries, or whatever. Still, it's probably instructive to drive a few of these points home. These are queries sent to Apodis Publishing that I've already responded to, from a stretch back in September and October. #1 - Fantasy query. Well structured query, but it's not interested in those, as per my submission guidelines. #2 - SF query. Well structured but fails to grab my interest. #3 - SF query. Well structured but badly written. #4 - High concept SF query. Novel described in one brief paragraph, and only two of the sentences in it actually talk about the plot. Lots of details on author's background. #5 - Lit fic/mystery query. Long paragraph about book -- not much on the plot, though. Mostly on themes and style. Brief description of author's background. Liked the sample pages. Full manuscript requested. #6 - "No idea what genre this is" query. Novel description full of praise (note: do not, under any circumstances, effusively praise your own novel). #7 - Lit fic query. Only one sentence about novel. Writing sample is quite good. Full manuscript requested. (A good example that a solid writing sample is waaaay more important than the structure or content of the query letter itself.) #8 - YA/SF query. Good description of novel with a large number of blurbs from various people who have read it. Writing sample is decent. Full manuscript requested. #9 - Lit fic query. Good description of novel, but author opens by downplaying their own abilites (note: do not, under any circumstances, saying anything bad about your own novel). #10 - Lit fic/bizarro query. Short description of novel, but writing sample is too out there for me. #11 - Lit fic/SF query. Well structured query and writing sample is decent, but not something I can see myself publishing. #12 - Lit fic query. Nice, short description, but writing sample is just blah. #13 - Lit fic query. Decent query, but writing sample is just blah. #14 - Lit fic collection query. Good description and some impressive publishing experience. Writing sample was quite good. Full manuscript requested. #15 - Lit fic query. Blah query and blah writing sample. Also, finished another book yesterday. Earlier this year I pledged to read more books than I added to my collection. So, here's where I'm at: Books read: 5 Books acquired: 8 The book: Veronica, by Mary Gaitskill. The plot: Alison's middle aged body is falling apart. She's got a bad shoulder. She's got hepatitis. Allison goes for a walk. Remembers her life during her late teens and twenties, when she was a model. Memories of debauchery, unhappiness and most importantly, of Veronica, an obnoxious, middle aged friend who dies of AIDS. IMO: Another highly regarded book (this one was a National Book Award finalist and on a bunch of best of lists the year it came out) that I just couldn't connect to. A lot of the time, the writing was purposefully abstract. If characters in the novel are going to have realizations of some sort...well, let's just say it's a lot easier to write about it in a stylized, abstract manner. It's a lot more powerful when you can show it definitively on the page and that's something that Gaitskill rarely does. Unfortunately, I've got to hand out another thumbs down. Cavan blogged at 9:45 AM \| 0 comments	Progress Zilch! 0/0 Listening A.J. Croce - "Maybe I'm Amazed" My Music Reading Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney My Library Watching Black Book: B Sweet and Lowdown: C Breakfast on Pluto: B Wishlist Bridge of Sighs - Richard Russo Rachael Yamagata - Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart