Vol 32:2 ISSN 1929-6193

IN THIS ISSUE

President's Message – Dr. Qais Ghanem Many of you already know that the new board was elected at our AGM, on September 9, 2014. There was a relatively good attendance, which always makes ... More ... Canadian Authors Association 2015 Literary Awards Entries are now being accepted for CAA's 2015 Literary Awards. Entering its 40th year, the CAA Literary Awards program honours writing... More … 26th CAA-NCR Writing Contest 2013 – 1st Place Poetry

Old Among Strangers – By Sylvia Adams Always the clamour of quiet from the house where you were born; syllables of memory throbbing with fears, recriminations, .... More .... 27th CAA-NCR Writing Contest 2014 – First Place – Short Story Category Life Expos-ed – by Arlene Smith Hot dog buns make excellent pillows. I learned that lesson from , the , and my daughter.... More ... What You Missed: Screenwriters's Workshop and CAA-NCR's Octoberber Meeting – Library & Archives – A resource for writers – by Debbie Rose The Screenwriter’s Toolbox workshop was a great success. Local screenwriter Jennifer Mulligan took participants through ... More .... 28th CAA-NCR Writing Contest - Guidelines for 2015 NCWC - By Sherrill Wark Open to members of CAA–NCR and/or residents of the National Capital Region ... More... There's GOTTA Be a Better Word Than GOT! – Emily-Jane Hills Orford Once you start to get a few things published you might be able to apply for various types of writing grants. Grants are available through... More ... CAA-NCR Program Information – 2014–2015 2014 Winter Social ... January Meeting "Writing Biographies and History" … April Workshop "Writing as a Spiritual Practice" More ... Critiquing on Steroids – a Barbara Kyle Master's Class – by Sharyn Heagle 2014 Winter Social ... January Meeting "Writing Biographies and History" ...April Workshop "Writing as a Spiritual Practice" More ...

Byline November-December 2014 Page 1 President's Message Many of you already know that the new board was elected at our AGM, on September 9, 2014. There was a relatively good attendance, which always makes the executive feel that what they are doing is worthwhile. Since then, we have persuaded a couple of members to join our team to do all the work that needs to be done. The following now make up the team:

Qais Ghanem (President) Sharyn Heagle (Past-past President) Arlene Smith (Treasurer) Jim Morin (VP - Membership) Gill Foss (Chapter Historian) Nerys Parry (VP - Youth Programs) Debbie Rose (VP - Programs) Catina Noble (Writing Circles Coord) Carol Stephen (Communication) Sherrill Wark (NCWC coordinator)

However, we welcome the participation of volunteers, as well as any of their ideas to improve the function of this chapter. During that same AGM, we listened to Kevin Johns and Catherine Brunelle talking about their new initiative, Ottawa Writes. That was at our new meeting place, The McNabb Recreation Centre, 180 Percy, Ottawa K1R 6E5, Tel: (613) 564-1070. This was chosen because it is so central, and thus reachable by bus, and it has excellent parking space. I have not been able to personally attend the first two meetings of the chapter, because I was in Spain for the first one, and had to be at a Senate event for the second. But the October meeting was a presentation by Megan Butcher, Reference Librarian, Library & Archives Canada, while the November one was about making your book an e-book, by Tudor Robins. I was invited, as president of CAA-NCR, to attend the Ottawa Book Awards ceremony at the Shenkman Centre. This is an annual event which began in 1986 by City Hall. It took place on November 12, and was attended by about 100 people, including Mayor Watson who handed out the awards with his accustomed enthusiasm. The first prize was the Archibald Lampman Award for poetry. Three poets were in the short list. The winner was David O-Meara. The next category was English fiction, which included works of fiction, novels, short stories, children’s literature and poetry – quite a wide range. Again the winner was David O’Meara! I don’t know whether this has happened before, but I thought it was quite remarkable. For French fiction, there were three candidates, and the winner was Philippe Bernier Arcand.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 2 The final, perhaps most exciting competition, was for English non-fiction. This was won by Paul West for his book “The Longer I’m Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006 –“ Another exciting development taking place as I write is launching a Face Book Group for CAA-NCR. This will be spearheaded by Carol Stephen. We will announce it ASAP, and hope that you will visit and “like” it, and post your thoughts. I’d like to acknowledge the work done for many years by Dorothee Komangapik, in mailing out timely notices of literary events, meticulously put together by another hard working volunteer, Carol Stephen. This part of the work will now be done using modern technology! You will be receiving regular messages from Mail Chimp. This system allows you to “opt out”, if you no longer wish to receive the notices. For the system to work properly, we need the first and family name of each recipient. After you receive the first announcement, please make sure that we have your full name. On a personal note, I am happy to announce that I will be receiving the Order of Ottawa Medal from Mayor Watson on 20 November, in recognition for my community work in the fields of peace, human rights, gender equality and diversity. I am proud that the citation published by the Mayor’s office mentions, among my achievements, being president of CAA-NCR! Finally, my wife and I will be hosting our CAA-NCR 2014 pot-luck Christmas party on 9 December from 5 to 9 pm. We hope that many members and non- members will join us. Those who confirm their attendance to the e-mail below, will receive our address and how to get there. Please feel free to contact me if you have any ideas or comments: [email protected]

Dr. Qais Ghanem Back to top

NOTICE TO THE READER Byline is looking for people to review CAA-NCR meetings and workshops, and write brief articles for publication in the magazine. If you plan to attend one of our upcoming workshops or meetings, and would like to see your name in print, contact the Byline editor, Sharyn Heagle, and let her know the event that interests you. Also, if you're very excited about a particular book you've read, and would like to review it for publication in Byline, let us know.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 3 Canadian Authors Association 2015 Literary Awards

Canadian Authors Association

2015 Literary Awards

Entries are now being accepted for CAA's 2015 Literary Awards. Entering its 40th year, the CAA Literary Awards program honours writing that achieves excellence without sacrificing popular appeal.

Past winners have included Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findley, Leonard Cohen, Micheal Ondaatje, Carol Shields, Patrick DeWitt, Nino Ricci, Michael S. Cross, Don McKay, Charlotte Gray, Joseph Boyden and countless other literary stars - some relatively unknown at the time they received the award.

Criteria and submission details are available online at www.canadianauthors.org.

Complete the CAA 2015 Awards entry form online, print it and send it to us along with your submission and entry fee.

The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2015.

For more information about past winners, shortlisted authors, and awards events, visit our awards page at: http://canadianauthors.org/national/caa-literary-awards/

Back to top

Byline November-December 2014 Page 4 26th CAA-NCR National Capital Writing Contest 2013 FIRST PLACE – Poetry Category Old Among Strangers - By Sylvia Adams

"It became my habit to visit troubled places to renew my sense of insecurity." Graham Greene, Ways of Escape

Always the clamour of quiet from the house where you were born; syllables of memory throbbing with fears, recriminations, and the poem bleating softly, still learning the language. A maiden aunt of a house, dispensing poke-bonnet love, pale and earnest as a cold nipple. Here you grew in the darkness of questions you dared not ask. A house in your blood after all these years, sad rubber chicken of chronic childhood tucked away in a whatever-happened-to drawer with Doris Day, the Sons of the Pioneers, cool hands on the forehead, lavender sachets among the linens, lilacs beside the porch. In all your escapes into other worlds, the house hangs on, trying to hold its world in; antimacassars cling to the sofa, ivy scribbles the windows; the piano rhapsodizes dim-eyed photographs; tartan and paisley too old to quarrel slump on the sofa in loose-tongued truce; and nightly upstairs and down, your father's ghostly slippers whisper across the carpet; your mother's loneliness tugs at your sleeve as soon as you turn the doorknob. Nineteen years since he died and the house went silent. Longer still since you left, the questions never answered. White-haired, in her armchair, your mother without the lamp on, the cat in her lap in soundless soporifics, your father's Sunday hat on its hook above her coat

Byline November-December 2014 Page 5 until the house escapes her, gives up its dusty spoils and she loses herself in overheated halls her wheels’ whisper matching the sighs of slippers while she suffocates in wool shawls, tissue-rustling coughs; watches brisk hands trade wilted summer stalks for pots of seasonless plastic. Your mother, old among strangers, like a child in a house that airs an unvoiced language, while you, citified and clichéd, still struggle in unmilked dreams, turn away from the mirror,

try to recall the comfort of dark, inarticulate ghosts.

Back to top

CAA-NCR 2014 Winter Social Join us for a special time of celebration as we head into winter. If you have seasonal or other stories or poetry to share, bring them to read! DATE: Tuesday, December 9, 2014 TIME: 5:00 – 9:00 LOCATION: The home of CAA-NCR Branch President, Qais Ghanem.

(To confirm attendance, and for the address contact Qais at

Byline November-December 2014 Page 6 27th CAA-NCR National Capital Writing Contest 2014 First Place – Short Story Category Life Expos-ed – by Arlene Smith

— April, 2016 — Hot dog buns make excellent pillows. I learned that lesson from Shea Stadium, the Montreal Expos, and my daughter. She had that kind of miraculous magic, my daughter; she taught people lessons they never expected to learn. We certainly didn’t plan it this way, but my daughter was born during the first international game of . No, we didn’t plan it, but looking back now, I know she had to be born on that day, in that place. The stars dictated it. They sparkled over her on April 8, 1969 and said, “This—yes— this is a diamond girl.” Her opening day coincided with that of the 1969 Miracle Mets and the fledgling Montreal Expos franchise. It was an opening day in other ways, too. It was opening day for me, ruptured apart and exposed to motherhood in frantic feral fashion. It was opening day for my mother, whose heart burst with so much love she didn’t even mind missing the Expos’ first ever home . And it was an eye- opening day for the hot dog boy. Our yellow New York City cab pulled up to Shea two hours before game time. My mother bounced out and hurried toward the stadium while I paid the driver and heaved swollen ankles and eight months of pregnant belly out the door. I always had to play catch-up with my mother. “I don’t know why we have to be here so early,” I called after her. “Those wooden seats are going to kill me as it is. An extra two hours is torture.” “I have to see the Expos warm-up. You learn about players from the warm-up.” Massive coliseum walls towered behind her. She gazed with reverence at the giant letters S-H-E-A on her baseball Promised Land. When I waddled up beside her, I studied the building, too. She saw Promised Land; I saw minimum-security penal institution. Jailhouse-grey walls rose from the stone-grey sidewalk; prison-like bars lined the limestone-grey ramps; a smattering of blue and orange panels failed to cheer the penitentiary appearance of Shea. “So. The Beatles played here, huh?” I said. My mother blinked. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I got seats along the first baseline,” she said, as we handed over our tickets. “The best view of second base.” We walked and climbed past the 200 level. With every step the baby pressed on my pelvic bone. I could have kissed the escalators that carried us to the mezzanine level. We walked and climbed some more. “I don’t think that we’ll see the diamond from up here,” I said, “let alone the ball.” We passed a sign for upper level box 701. “I need to rest for a second,” I said. I wobbled over to a hot dog concession.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 7 “Can I help you?” The hot dog boy shone with first-day-on-the-job enthusiasm. His spotless white apron had creases in it. “No, thanks. I just need to rest a minute.” I tried to find a comfortable position. I turned my back to the concession, placed my elbows on the counter, arched my back and shoved by belly out. “Oh, Jackie. For God’s sake,” Mom said. “Have some dignity.” I tried resting on one elbow, but my back muscles twisted and ached. Finally, I faced the counter, put both hands out straight, leaned over and let my pregnant belly hang. “Are . . . are you sure you’re okay?” Hot Dog Boy said. “Yeah, don’t worry.” I reassured him. “I’m only eight months. This baby isn’t coming yet.” My mother paced. “If that baby’s coming, he’d better wait until after the ninth inning.” I rolled my eyes at Hot Dog Boy. “On second thought, I will have a couple hot dogs and a Coke.” Mom checked her watch. “Come on. They’re probably already into batting practice.” My mother, Bobbie “Bombshell” Sterling, did not want to miss any of the action. She earned her nickname playing second base for the South Bend Blue Sox in the All-American Girls League. She was one of the few Canadian girls playing for American teams in American cities. From 1943 to 1945, Bombshell Sterling turned plays with explosive throws that made the hand of the girl at first base sting. When not on the field, my mother starred in promotional events, blowing kisses at male fans who vied for her attention and then fumbled for words like bombshell casualties. She always wanted me to play baseball, too. She even named me after . But bombshells and colour-barrier-breakers were tough acts to follow, and I never lived up to those expectations. Baseballs trickled past my glove, between my ten-year-old legs and rolled to the outfield. Pop flies plopped onto the grass behind me. I got lots of “Good try” but never, “That’s my girl! I’m proud of you.” I chased after my mother’s dreams, but I never caught up. Bombshell Sterling and I entered the stadium and made the final laborious climb to our seats. I collapsed into mine. Mom watched the diamond and provided commentary. “Gary Sutherland is playing second. He’s fast—could steal.” I started in on the first hot dog. “I’m not sure I like the uniforms. Baby blue isn’t a power colour.” I chewed and nodded. “Jackie, look,” she said. “Rusty Staub. He’s a big hitter.” I looked and sipped my Coke. She craned her neck toward the Mets’ bullpen. She frowned. “They’re facing Tom Seaver today. His fastball could sear your eyeballs.” My mother sat on the edge of her seat. To her, time ran by in a blurry sprint and dissipated into vapour so fast it robbed her of savoury moments of baseball appreciation. To me, time sauntered and dawdled and dilly-dallied and meandered and stopped to smell the roses and made chains out of dandelion stems and had a nap. It inflicted patience-testing, buttocks- squirming, backache-inducing eons upon me. Finally, the opening strains of “O Canada” filled the stadium. It was the first time an anthem other than the American one played at a major league game. A tear rolled down my mother’s face. She mouthed the Byline November-December 2014 Page 8 words but no sound came out. My throat constricted, too. Something inside me cracked open, and the true north strong and free rolled over the heads of a New York crowd and seeped into a glowing corner of my heart I didn’t even know was there. I blinked tears out of the corners of my eyes. When I sat down, the muscles in my lower abdomen contracted. “I need to go to the bathroom,” I said. And I did, all of a sudden, urgently. I guided my belly down the steps, hoping I would make it. I reached the bathroom just in time for my body to adopt a scorched earth policy in preparation for a hostile takeover. No food resources withstood this bodily crusade to liquidate all assets. When my body defeated all perceived enemy forces, I collapsed and brushed strands of vomit-clumped hair off my face. I trembled all over. The next contraction tightened my abdomen and squeezed inward with gasping intensity. I wanted to lie there. I did not want to move, but I knew I had to get back to my mother. I pulled myself up and took shaky steps. Heads turned as I stumbled up the stairs with pasty skin, clumpy hair, and the lingering aroma of vomit. My mother’s attention was on , who a double to drive in the Expos’ first major league runs. When he settled in at third base after a throwing error, she finally noticed me. “Oh, no,” she said. “Not now.” I flopped down on the step beside her and smiled weakly at a man in a Mets cap. His wide eyes told me he had no experience with childbirth. “It’s only the first inning,” my mother said. “You’ll be okay for a while. I was in labour for twenty-seven hours for you.” “I don’t know, Mom. The contractions are coming fast. I think we should go.” “But . . .” she looked at me, then at the field, than back at me. “But we came so far, and you’re only eight months, and it’s only the first inning.” I panted in rhythm with “Go team, Go” on the scoreboard. Another contraction pressed in as the organ struck up “Happy Days Are Here Again.” Strangled anguish gurgled out of my throat. “Oh no.” Reality finally caught up with my mother and gave her an open-handed slap. “Oh no.” “I . . . think . . . we . . . should . . . go,” I said. “I think you should go,” the man in the Mets cap said. His wide eyes told me he had no interest in gaining experience in childbirth. Mom wrapped her arms around me and said, “Let’s go.” We reached the bottom of the stairs before the next contraction hit. I slid down the wall and hugged my stomach. “You’ve got to get up. We’ve got to get to a taxi.” I struggled to my feet and tried walking again. The pain was too much. I sat back down on the floor and rocked back and forth. A stream of people passed us to buy drinks or visit the washroom during the inning break. I rested and waited until the crowd trickled to a stop, then I made it to section 701 and the hot dog concession. “Can . . . I . . . help you?” Hot Dog Boy said.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 9 I leaned against the counter. “I think I need to push,” I said. He developed the same wide eyes as Mets-cap-man. “What?” he said. “What?” my mother said. “I said . . . I think I need to push.” “You can’t be serious.” The baby pressed deeper into the birth canal. “This baby’s coming,” I said. “For God’s sake, you can’t have a baby here,” my mother said. “Come on. We’ll get a taxi.” “I can’t walk. And the baby’s coming. Right now,” All blood left the face of poor Hot Dog Boy. I thought he might pass out. My mother looked up and down the corridor, as if hoping a doctor with a black bag would stroll around the corner and say, “What’s this? A birth? No problem.” But the corridors did not deliver a doctor. My mother took a deep breath. “Oh, Lord. We’ll just have to do this.” The Hot Dog Boy croaked. He rubbed his hands up and down his legs then grabbed the hem of his apron and scrunched it into a ball. I thought he might throw up and then pass out. “Oh. My God,” he said. “OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod.” A murmur rose from the crowd in the stadium and the organ played “Can-Can.” Another contraction gripped me and I pushed, I couldn’t help it. “I feel the baby’s head,” I said. “I’ve got to take off my underwear.” “OOOOOOOOOOOHmyGod,” Hot Dog Boy said. “We need something for you to lie on,” my mother said. The only thing available was Hot Dog Boy’s apron. “That will do,” she said, pointing to it. The boy looked down at his apron then up at my mother. With trembling hands he passed the loop over his head. “I just got it today,” he said. “It’s new.” She ignored him, spread the apron out and helped me down just as my physical body hijacked me in an onslaught of creative expansion and contraction and heaved my mind, my emotions and my spirit brusquely to the side. I heard the keening howl of a beast and, with a shock, realized the beast was me. I split open in the unnatural natural way of childbirth. The organ struck up “I’m Looking over a Four-Leaf Clover” and more people flowed into the corridor. Some took one look at me and headed the other direction. Others stopped and stared. A silver-haired man took off his Expos jacket, covered his eyes and walked sideways toward us. He held the jacket at arm’s length and said, “Cover her up.” “I need something soft,” I said. “Anything. This cement is killing my back.” Hot Dog Boy became my midwife hero. He cushioned me with the softest thing around—packages of hot dog buns. They felt better than the softest feather pillows. I fell back into them and pushed. “Keep pushing,” my mother cried. “That’s my girl! I’m proud of you.” On the next contraction my mother guided the head and shoulders out, and my baby slid home onto Hot Dog Boy’s apron. “It’s a girl,” my mother said.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 10 “It’s a girl,” Hot Dog Boy yelled to the crowd, as if they needed a translator. “It’s a girl,” he said to the silver-haired gentleman. “It’s a girl,” he said, quietly to himself. Mom wrapped my daughter in the Expos jacket—it was already rather messy—and handed her to me. A baby version of my mother’s blue eyes peeked at me from between Expos logos. “What do you want to call her?” she asked. “Maggie.” Hot Dog Boy’s face lit up. “Hey, that’s my dog’s name.” I gave him a scornful look, so he backed off and mumbled, “Sorry.” “At least it’s a girl’s name” I said. My mother paused. “Yes, it is.” She reached out and ran her hand along my daughter’s cheek. “Maggie Shea.” “Maggie Shea,” I repeated. “It has rhythm.” “I like that,” Hot Dog Boy said, brave once again. “I like it, too,” said the gentleman who had donated his jacket. It did seem it was meant to be. When first aid attendants arrived, they wrapped Maggie in a real blanket and laid the Expos jacket on the floor. “You can keep that,” the silver-haired gentleman said. My mother helped me to my feet and wrapped me in a real blanket, too. We looked down on our delivery room of mashed hot dog buns and an apron with afterbirth soaking its opening day creases. “You can keep that,” Hot Dog Boy said. We listened as Coco Laboy of the Expos knocked out a three-run homer to clinch the first major league win by a Canadian team. In 1969, I shared opening day in a baseball Promised Land with the Mets, the Expos, Hot Dog Boy, my mother and my daughter. The stars sparkled over her that day and said, “This—yes—this is a diamond girl.” She had to be born on that day, in that place. Where else would the entrepreneur who brought back the Montreal Expos be born? Today, 47 years later, I went to opening day of the Montreal Expos re-born. I ordered a couple of hot dogs and a Coke. I gave each bun a gentle squeeze. Hot dog buns are more than food; they are comfort to ease rites of passage. Yes, indeed. Hot dog buns make excellent pillows.

Bio: Arlene is a freelance scriptwriter who creates original video scripts for local production companies. She also writes short stories and is working on a novel involving hot dogs, dead women, and the Montreal Expos. You can read her inspirational insights into life, science and spirituality on her Science and Story blog: www.scienceandstory.com

Byline November-December 2014 Page 11 MEMBER NEWS CAA-NCR member Sanjeev Sivarulrasa has launched his own art gallery and studio in Almonte, about a half-hour west of Ottawa. Sivarulrasa Studio & Gallery (Thoburn Mill, 83 Little Bridge Street, Unit 102, Almonte) held its Grand Opening on Saturday November 22nd, 2014. Sanjeev describes Almonte as a hip town with energized people who are very artist/writer-friendly. They are also eager to preserve and re-purpose old buildings, like the woollen mill that now houses his gallery & studio. By Spring, in addition to his own studio work and work on his next book, Sanjeev will begin curating a series of special exhibition by collaborating with other artists. Space is available to the public for book readings and launches etc. Contact Sanjeev for details. Special rates offered to CAA-NCR members.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 12 What You Missed - by Debbie Rose, CAA-NCR VP of Programs

WORKSHOP – TOPIC: The Screenwriter's Toolbox October 18, Algonquin College

The Screenwriter’s Toolbox workshop was a great success. Local screenwriter Jennifer Mulligan took participants through the screenwriting process using scripts from well-know movies, such as Jaws, American Beauty, Jerry Maguire, As Good As It Gets, and showed us clips from those movies to highlight the points she was discussing. Jennifer also led the participants through the process of how to create a script, and how dialogue works to move the story forward. It was an exciting and informative session with active participation and in-depth questions by the attendees.

* * * * *

GENERAL MEETING – TOPIC: Library & Archives – A resource for writers Tuesday, October 21, 2015 – McNabb Community Centre Our presenter for the evening was Megan Butcher from Library and Archives Canada. She explained the difference between the areas of responsibility of the Library versus those of Archives, and outlined the types of holdings that the public can access. She also gave us a tour of the Library and Archives website, showed us how to research using the Library and Archives online system, AMICUS, and how to contact archivists for help. A big takeaway was to plan, plan and plan again, well in advance of ordering holdings.

* * * * *

GENERAL MEETING – TOPIC: Make your Book an e-Book Tuesday, November 11, 2015 – McNabb Community Centre Tudor Robins was the presenter of the topic, ‘Make your Book an e-Book’. She discussed the pros and cons of traditional publishing versus e-publishing, and shared her wealth of knowledge with the group.

* * * * *

Byline November-December 2014 Page 13 LOOKING AHEAD

On Tuesday, January 13, we will have our first meeting of 2015, which will include a presentation by award-winning author, Charlotte Gray. The meeting will take place at McNabb Community Centre, 180 Percy St. east of Bronson at Gladstone. * * * * *

The National Capital Writing Contest Awards Night takes place on Tuesday, May 12, at the Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe St. at Laurier.

* * * * *

PLEASE NOTE: We still need to put programming in place for February, March and April. Questionnaires asking for meeting and workshop topic ideas have been distributed at our fall meetings, and have already received some ideas.

If there's a topic you'd like to see discussed at one of our General Meetings or Workshops, please let me know at Debbie Rose. Back to top

CAA-NCR WRITING CIRCLES - OPENINGS!!!

By Catina Noble, Writing Circle Coordinator Interested in working on specific pieces of your writing and getting valuable feedback from other writers? If this sounds good to you, join a CAA Writing Circle! We have a Writing Circle re-starting in October in Centertown and another in the west end coming soon. This is a great opportunity! Participation is FREE to CAA members. Non-CAA-members may join for $75 for the year. For more information or to join the writing circle, please contact Catina Noble

Byline November-December 2014 Page 14 28th Annual National Capital Writing Contest Canadian Authors Association–National Capital Region (CAA-NCR) Writers Helping Writers

CATEGORIES: Short Story • Poetry Prizes in Each Category: 1st $300, 2nd $200, 3rd $100

Guidelines for 2015 NCWC

The contest is open to members of CAA–NCR and/or residents of the National Capital Region

CATEGORIES: Short Story (max. 2500 words) or Poetry (not Haiku) (max. 60 lines including title & blank lines) ENTRIES must be the original, unpublished work of the entrant. Winning entries and/or Honourable Mentions may be published CAA–NCR’s e-mag Byline, or in a CAA–NCR anthology. Copyright remains with author.

Finalists are requested to attend CAA–NCR’s 25th Annual NCWC Awards Night, Tuesday, May 12, 2015 Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe St. at Laurier, Ottawa. Your presence is important to the celebration of your success with fellow entrants, families and friends. First place winners will be asked to read their entries. Entries postmarked after midnight FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015 will be disqualified. Submissions not accompanied by entry fee will be disqualified. Submissions will be neither acknowledged nor returned. Entries not conforming to rules will be disqualified. Overpayment of entry fees will not be returned.

▸ Entry fee: $15 per story; $15 for up to three (3) poems (poems will be judged individually). ▸ number of entries unlimited. ▸ Each Short Story entry must be in English, typed, on 8 1/2 x 11″ paper, one side only, page-numbered consecutively on bottom right of pages. No extra-large type, please! ▸ Indicate category and title on top left corner of every page. ▸ Short Stories must be double spaced; this is not required for Poetry. ▸ Contest is blind judged. Entrant’s name must NOT appear on the submission(s). ▸ Include a separate cover page with contest category, story/poem title, name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. ▸ Members of CAA–NCR are entitled to one (1) free entry in one (1) category. ▸ Make cheques payable to Canadian Authors Association–NCR and designate NCWC on the subject line. ▸ CAA–NCR reserves the right to withhold any prize should entries fail to meet expected standards.

Mail entries to: CAA-National Capital Writing Contest 163 BELL ST., N., Box 57081 Ottawa ON K1R 7E1 Attention: Sherrill Wark Chair - [email protected] Back to top

Byline November-December 2014 Page 15 THERE’S GOTTA BE A BETTER WORD THAN GOT! By Emily-Jane Hills Orford

You got it. I got it. Got. We use it all the time. Perhaps we use it too much. Got is one of the most overused and misused words in the English language. Got the idea? It’s got to be an overused got, to the point of being an annoyance every time you see the written word, got. What does got really mean? Dictionary.com defines got as a simple past tense and past participle of get. It can also mean to have in one’s possession. So, get, is somehow related to the verb to have. Got as the past tense of the verb get is also related to the verb to have. Still following me? Good, because when you say, I have got to go to the store, perhaps you are really saying, I have had to go to the store. Doesn’t make sense, does it? Why? Because got has become so ingrained in our casual vocabulary that it can, and often does, mean just about anything. It’s become a very un-creative word and creative writers love to overuse it. Wouldn’t it make more sense to simply say (or write): I have to go to the store. Get and its past tense, got, has been around for centuries. It’s not just a twenty- first century word of convenience. As early as the twelfth-century, the Middle English used geten, a derivative of the Old Norse, geta, meaning to obtain, beget, something that was a derivative of something else. Forms of get were found in the thirteenth-century Old Norse, Proto-Germanic, Swedish, Greek, Old Church Slavonic, to name but a few. To put it simply, get and got have been around for some time. The twentieth- and twenty-first-century’s craving to simplify the English language has engrained too many gots into our vocabulary. The word got is not only overused, it’s also misused to a point that it is almost redundant. It’s in the vernacular of contemporary dialogue, so when writing or reading dialogue, one expects to find plenty of gots. However, the word itself really says very little and it’s not very useful in a descriptive passage. Let’s look at the following example: After work, I got some groceries. I got bread, milk and bananas. I got home and got my supper. After supper, I got into bed. Believe me, I have read many passages like the above, every sentence using another got. It starts to get annoying, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be better (and more creatively descriptive) to say something like: After work, I purchased some grocers. I bought bread, milk and bananas. I came home and prepared supper. Once I had finished supper, I cleaned the kitchen and went to bed.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 16 Or, perhaps the writer could be more creative and make the story really move along: After work, I hustled through the grocery store, picking up a few much-needed items like bread, milk and bananas. I loaded the car with my purchases and drove home in the busy rush-hour traffic. I took my grocers into the house and put things away before making supper. After I had finished eating, I tidied the kitchen and turnout out the lights before mounting the stairs to my bedroom. I changed and climbed into bed, exhausted after a long day at work. Got is too easy to use. It has become ingrained in our vernacular dialogue and it’s now ingrained in our way of writing. It is a word with multiple meanings and connotations, while, at the same time, it can also mean nothing at all and is therefore redundant. So, why use it at all? Basically, got a very un-creative word, and, as writers, we want to be creative in our vocabulary. For the reader, it’s annoying to read a story full of gots. Take a look at your own work. Circle all of the gots. Have you overused and/or abused the word? Got is an unavoidable word in dialogue, for the most part, because that’s the way North Americans talk. It’s part of our culture, our language, our vernacular. In narrative, however, got should be avoided. Be creative. There’s always a better word to use than got. In fact, to help you along, dictionary.com has provided us with a list of synonyms: obtain, acquire, procure, secure, win, gain, apprehend, grasp, induce, dispose …. Using a synonym or a more descriptive phrase instead of got, will certainly make the story more interesting. Don’t force your reader to stumble over got after got after got. Once you start thinking about it, about the word got, you’ll probably cringe every time you see or hear the word. I know I do. My suggestion? Avoid the word got. Use your ingenuity and find something more suitable to your story or poem. Get away from the got fascination invasion. After all, there’s gotta be a better word than got.

Back to top

Byline November-December 2014 Page 17 Canadian Authors Association National Capital Branch 2014-15 Executive & Chairs

Please feel free to contact any of the following with your suggestions or concerns EXECUTIVE

President–VP Communications and Branch Promo. Dr. Qais Ghanem Past-President Sharyn Heagle VP Membership Jim Moran

VP Youth Program Nerys Parry

VP of Programs Debbie Rose Recording Secretary Unfilled Treasurer Arlene Smith Branch Historian Gill Foss

COMMITTEES Events & Programs Director Debbie Rose NCWC Contest Chair Sherrill Wark Byline Magazine Publisher Dr. Robert Abell Editor Sharyn Heagle Website & Video-casting Chair Dr. Qais Ghanem Communications Distr. Coordinator Carol Stephen Distribution Dorothee Komangapik Back to top

Byline November-December 2014 Page 18 CAA-NCR Program Information – 2014-15 MEETINGS

EVENT: 2014 Winter Social DATE: Tuesday, December 9, 2014 TIME: 5:00 – 9:00

LOCATION: The home of CAA-NCR Branch President, Qais Ghanem. (To confirm attendance, and for the address contact Qais at

LOCATION: McNabb Recreation Centre, 180 Percy St. east of Bronson Ave. Award-winning author, Charlotte Gray, joins us to share experiences from her writing life. She is one of Canada’s best-known writers, and author of nine acclaimed books of literary non-fiction. Charlotte’s new book The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master and a Trial that Shocked a Country, published September 2013, won Canadian Authors Association's 2014 Lela Common Award for Canadian History. Charlotte is the only author who has won this award twice: in 2005 The Museum Called Canada was also honoured. Bio: Born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, she began her writing career in England as a magazine editor and newspaper columnist. After coming to Canada in 1979, she worked as a political commentator, book reviewer and magazine columnist before she turned to biography and popular history. Back to top

Byline November-December 2014 Page 19 CAA-NCR Program Information 2014-15 WORKSHOP

TOPIC: Writing as a Spiritual Practice

DATE: Saturday, April 11th, 2015 TIME: 9:00am – 4:00pm LOCATION: Trinity United Church, 1099 Maitland Ave., COST: $65.00 for CAA members; $90 for non-members NOTE: Lunch will be served Writers move their bodies when they write, they delve deeply into emotions, and they tap into their brainy intellects. But what about the spirit of their writing? In this non-denominational workshop, Arlene Somerton Smith encourages writers to improve their writing by accessing that fourth dimension. Through meditation, journaling and other mindful practices, writers can polish a piece of writing they are already working on or create some surprising new stories. BIO: Arlene Somerton Smith began her career shooting the rapids of the Ottawa River—with a video camera, that is. As a videographer for Wilderness Tours Whitewater Rafting, she laughed a lot and slept little as she created video memories of crashing sprays of whitewater. For twelve years she worked as a producer for Rogers Television in Ottawa with some of the brightest and most talented people she has ever met. She is now freelance writer and a certified copy editor. She writes original video and television scripts, speeches, and promotional materials. She also writes short stores, and has been published in DESCANT magazine and a Writer’s Digest short story collection. She blogs about inspiration, science, spirituality and other ideas just for fun at www.scienceandstory.co m Back to top

Spread the Word If you regularly receive Byline magazine, we encourage you to forward your copies to friends who are writers or readers – anyone you feel would be interested in enjoying Byline. If they like what they read, recipients can contact Qais Ghanem , CAA-NCR Branch President, who will put their name on our distribution list to receive their own copy of Byline.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 20 Byline Note Byline's new advertising rates: (a great deal) Member Rates Members are entitled to a 1/8 page advertisement in each issue of Byline at no cost! News bits for the “Kudos” column, or Book Reviews are still free for Branch Members.

Single issue: 1/8 Byline page: N/C 1/4 Byline page: $15 1/2 Byline page: $30 One year: (6 issues, no changes): 1/8 Byline page: N/C 1/4 Byline page: $75 1/2 Byline page: $150 Note: the above represent the cost of appearing in five issues; the sixth is free.

Non-Member Rates Single issue: 1/8 Byline page: $15 1/4 Byline page: $30 1/2 Byline page: $50 One year: (6 issues, no changes): 1/8 Byline page: $75 1/4 Byline page: $150 1/2 Byline page: $250 Note: the above represent the cost of appearing in five issues; the sixth is free. For more information, contact Byline Editor

Byline is distributed by e-mail to those on our CAA–NCR Mailing List. To have your name added to our distribution list, contact Dorothee Komingapik, CAA-NCR Communications Coordinator.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 21 Video-Casting service FREE for CAA-NCR members What would better reach your reader market? Having potential buyers spend time leafing through your book, or spend three minutes watching you, the author, talk about it, show the actual book in colour and hear you read a paragraph from the book in your own voice, with style and passion? If it is the latter, you should take advantage of this free-for-CAA-NCR- members service, provided by Qais Ghanem. Qais will interview you and video- tape the interview. This video will be posted on the official CAA-NCR website alongside the interviews already there, and on Facebook! There is no cost for this service. Contact Qais Ghanem at to set up an appointment. Check other interviews on the branch website – Podcasts

CAA-NCR Byline Submission Guidelines

Byline is seeking articles about the business of writing, and creative and instructive articles about the craft of writing for upcoming issues - writing-related articles that include information about the process, profession or business of writing, or insights into the writer’s world.

Byline pays 2-1/2 cents per word to a maximum of $25 on publication (minimum, $10); poetry $10 each; photos $5 each. Contact Editor ([email protected]) prior to submitting Deadlines: For non-solicited material, two months prior to publication. Issues published January, March, May, Summer, September, November. Submission guidelines: English with Canadian spelling. In MS Word or OpenOffice as an attachment. Photos in jpeg, largest available resolution. Font: Times New Roman or Verdana 12 point, single space. No formatting, no indents; one extra return between paragraphs. Length: Preferably between 600 - 1200 words. Send submissions to the Editor, Sharyn Heagle at [email protected]

Byline November-December 2014 Page 22 High Peaks Engineering: Rocky Mountain Marvels by L. D. Cross Building transportation routes through the Rockies is dangerous. It always has been. It is also expensive, labour-intensive, and highly political. But railway and highway construction through the western cordillera succeeded thanks to scientific innovation and sheer human grit.

In the nineteenth century, steam locomotives, railways, tunnels, trestles, and telegraphy represented hi-tech advances. A vast country with a small population raised money (and more and more money) and overcame mountain summits, foul weather, and scandal to build the longest railway of its time. To offset operating costs and increase passenger traffic, Banff, Jasper, and Lake Louise Resorts were created amid snowy heights, glaciers, and the headwaters of four river systems— Athabasca, Columbia, Fraser, and North Saskatchewan. Natural marvels like mineral hot springs were eommercially developed. In the 20th century, the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway accelerated the appeal of the peaks.

Today, oil and gas pipelines are pushing through the Rocky Mountains. The physical challenges are similar to earlier eras, but high peaks engineering must now address ecological impacts. It will be another test of Canadian resourcefulness.

ISBN: 9781927527801 Paperback $9.95 Ebook $6.39 Available from Chapters Indigo, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com. McNally Robinson and, directly from the publisher Heritage House Publishing Co. Ltd, Victoria, BC.

Back to top

Byline November-December 2014 Page 23 CRITIQUING ON STEROIDS – A Barbara Kyle workshop by Sharyn Heagle

On October 4 and 5 of this year, I attended Barbara Kyle's workshop Master Class: Your First Thirty Pages, in Guelph, Ontario. The promotional material states: “Immerse yourself in two days of workshopping the opening of your novel-in-progress with bestselling novelist Barbara Kyle and your fellow emerging writers.” And immersion, it was. We were required to submit 30 pages of a work-in-progress at least two weeks in advance of the workshop. This material was immediately distributed to each of the attending writers, to allow us time to seriously and constructively critique the manuscripts before we assembled.

THE LECTURE Before we got to the critiquing, Barbara began Saturday morning with a mini- lecture that covered, among other topics, what she called the Five As of Writing. These were: Audience – the readers you hope/anticipate will read your work; Argument – what you're saying to the world about the human condition, the one controlling idea in your narrative; Actors – the characters, the people who bring life to your argument. Remember to flesh out even your subordinate characters; Architecture – the story structure, the obstacles, the dialogue, the climax; Adornment – or style, which can be somewhat reworked in the final draft. Readers respond to good stories and interesting characters even if the style is clunky. We learned that interesting stories begin with a Character in action, with goals that meet an obstacle, i.e. the Inciting Incident, that throws the character's world out of balance and brings the story to life. This should ideally happen near the beginning of the story, and the writer should keep it in focus when working on the manuscript. Barbara spent a lot of time discussing Dialogue because of its importance to the telling of a story. She started by saying that dialogue is as fragile as air, but it carries a lot of freight in the telling of a story. It's not just about people passing the time of day, which is how we think of dialogue, or conversation, in the context of our daily lives.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 24 What we don't think about, until we become writers, is how dialogue actually reflects or reinforces our relationships with other people even when we think it's merely the exchange of information. Dialogue, in storytelling, should mimic natural speech, but it must do much more than that. It creates characters. It's about what the characters say, or don't say. Think about the difference between the Text – cocktail chatter, and the Subtext – molten passion underlying the text. Among Dialogue's many jobs, are to: - move the narrative forward (if the characters talk about the weather, the weather should have some importance to the story; be a portent); - reveal to the reader the relationship between the characters; (speakers using terms of endearment have a different relationship than those who are being sarcastic or cursing each other); - illuminate the individuality of the characters through repeated idioms or phrases; (a character who says, oh my goodness, is an entirely different character than the one who says, damn-it-all to hell); Barbara cautioned against using phrases such as he raged, he prevaricated, she sighed, etc. The dialogue and the character's actions should reflect the mood, i.e. Show, don't Tell. We're often told that he said becomes invisible to the reader, but it does insert the writer into the text. All stories are about Conflict. Barbara gave a simple example of creating conflict by thinking about the difference between the cat sat on a mat, and the cat sat on the dog's mat.

THE CRITIQUING Following the overview of the writing process, we moved onto the critiquing phase of the weekend, which comprised the bulk of our time together. These sessions were active, focused, detail-oriented and very intense. While we had a great time together, we also accomplished a lot of constructive work. There were seven of us in attendance, plus Barbara. The genres were mixed and included two YA manuscripts, one memoir, one weirdly surrealistic story and contemporary novels, one of which was mine. I was completely floored by the quality of the material I received from the other writers. In most cases the writing was tight, the stories moved forward well, the narratives grabbed you and the topics were wonderfully diverse, from reality to fantasy to weirdness. It was exciting. Barbara's critiquing process is similar to what we do here in CAA-NCR Writing Circles. She calls the period when the writer being critiqued and encouraged not to speak, as being In The Box.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 25 This critiquing session differed from those we have in CAA-NCR branch, where critiquing writers are given a period of time to give their individual feedback. In Barbara's class, critiquing writers worked through a specific manuscript collectively, identifying places an individual participant felt were problematic, and discussing them together. Because of the quality of the writing, there were huge parts of each manuscript that slipped past as needing no changes. My submission bears the working title, Icicles. It takes place in the arctic and involves two main protagonists, a photo-journalist and an RCMP officer, and some skullduggery on the part of an oil consortium. (Some very brief feedback is shown in italics below. To include it all would require an additional article.) The story begins with a prologue (exciting and powerful) related to the main protagonist, the photo-journalist, but not to the upcoming storyline. It was provided to reveal to the reader important characteristics of the main protagonist. This was followed by a chapter involving oil company personnel (a lot of exposition and short on drama), then another involving a Inuit police officer distressed by evidence he'd found on a recent scouting trip (needs more humanity; what's the cliff-hanger; should come later in the story). The main protagonist doesn't reappear until Chapter 3, hence the feedback, Whose story is it? This is a few examples of the feedback I received on my manuscript, and I LOVED that nobody pulled any punches. I want to relate one incident that was of particular interest to me, because it related to the placement of words, nothing I've seen discussed in any writing course. In the story, the journalist is backing into a tight space already occupied by the RCMP officer. He places his hand on her back to help her through, then briefly states, following a short comment from the journalist, nice butt. In addition to admonishing me on how unprofessional a comment this was (particularly in light of today's news, and with no knowledge of the characters' relationship to each other), the whole critiquing group spent considerable time discussing and agreeing that the main protagonist would have punched out (the officer's) lights for touching her butt. My first thought was, “Great! They really know the character.” When I was allowed to speak, I asked them to find where, in the manuscript, the officer had touched her butt. Of course, it was not there, as it did not happen. But it was a fascinating lesson to me in how words can be taken out of context and united in the mind of the reader (in this case, six readers) to create a reaction. And how the news of the day can inform how we read fiction.

Byline November-December 2014 Page 26 Obviously, I have a lot of reworking to do, but the group was wonderfully supportive about the well-written parts, which makes me enthusiastic to get at the rewrites. We worked hard that weekend, but the experience of critiquing the work of this amazing assemblage of writers and, in turn, being critiqued by them, was both an honour and a major learning experience.

B ack to top

Byline November-December 2014 Page 27