Byline Volume 30 Number 4 Summer 2013

Vol 32:3 ISSN 1929-6193

IN THIS ISSUE

President's Message – Dr. Qais Ghanem Well, it is a New Year once again! And like everyone else I know, I am wondering where and how the weeks sailed past. ... More ... Member News Qais Ghanem honoured with Martin Luther Citation; Sanjeer Gallery now open... More … Sussing out the story - by L. D. Cross I write articles and books about unique or little-known aspects of Canadian history. But where to find the information to spin these stories? … More ....

Just get to it! – By Kelly Buell The page stares back at me. Daunting. Its blank demand is difficult to escape. .... More .... A short story for your reading pleasure – by Christina Crowe “I’m sorry, Jonathan, I just don’t think it’s right. I knew your mother, God rest her soul. .... More ... What You Missed: – by Louise Rachlis Author Charlotte Gray tells packed CAA-NCR meeting about 'murder’ she wrote ... 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... 27th CAA-NCR Writing Contest - Second Place – Poetry Category - By Joan McKay I love you as certain dark things are loved I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz or arrow of carnation that propagates fire: ... More... CAA-NCR Program Information – 2014–2015 February Meeting: “Getting Published without Getting Burned”; March Meeting: “Blogging Pros & Cons”; April Meeting: “Marketing in the Digital/Social Media World” … More ... CAA-NCR Program Information – Workshop - 2014–2015 April Workshop “Writing as a Spiritual Practice” More ...

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President's Message – January 2015 Well, it is a New Year once again! And like everyone else I know, I am wondering where and how the weeks sailed past. But we are not going to let the Ottawa winter dampen, or rather cool our enthusiasm. Our Programs volunteer, Debbie Rose, is quickly assigning events and speakers to the different months of the year, and the program looks promising. Thus we have our monthly programs more or less organized, the venue being the McNabb Community Centre, where you should find ample parking. You’ll find program details following in Byline. We had a small Christmas potluck party which my wife and I hosted, with a dozen attendees each bringing something different to eat or drink. Each of us, fortified with a bit or Christmas cheer was asked to speak about herself or himself, and about their books and poetry, while I videotaped them for between two and three minutes. By the time we went round the room, one hour was gone. If you are on Face Book (and who isn’t these days!) you can watch these short presentations by Christine Beelen, Sharyn Heagle, Betty Kearsley, Francois Mai, Kathy Bose, Nerys Parry, Gill Foss, Debbie Rose, Bob Abell and myself on our FB page: Canadian Authors Association NCR. The link is https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanadianAuthorsNCR/ In addition you will find a few photos taken of the group. Hopefully there will be more people next year, but the weather often influences our numbers. But our new FB page should also be consulted for such events and other announcements. It is always a challenge to keep a web page including a FB page interesting, and you are encouraged to post on the FB page, or send me the info for posting. As some of you know, Dorothee Komingapik has “retired” from her longstanding task of sending out notices of event and contests. Carol Stephen is still compiling all that useful data, and I have taken over distribution. If you have any comments or suggestions about that, please let me know. We in the executive are seeking a volunteer to act as our recording secretary during our regular meetings, which tend to occur six times a year. It is an opportunity to get to know CAA-NCR from inside without shouldering too much responsibility for running the show. You can always try it for one or two meetings before you commit to it. I hope to see many of you next week on Tuesday, February 10th at 7 pm, when Tudor Robins will be our speaker. Dr. Qais Ghanem

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MEMBER NEWS

CAA-NCR Branch President, Dr. Qais Ghanem, received the DreamKEEPERS 2015 Citation for Outstanding Leadership at the eleventh annual celebration of Martin Luther King Day at Ottawa City Hall on Monday, January 19th, 2015. The Citation award honours an individual who, in her or his life, has emulated and exemplified the high values that motivated the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a celebration of black pride, racial harmony and the non-violent resolution of social and racial injustice. The event was held in Jean Pigott Place in Ottawa City Hall where attendees gathered for poetry, prayer and keynote address, followed by a musical presentation. This honour follows an earlier November event where Dr. Ghanem was one of 15 who received the Order of Ottawa Medal from Mayor Jim Watson.

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.

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. Also, contact us if you're excited about a particular book you've just read, and would like to review it for publication in Byline.

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Sussing out the story - by L. D. Cross

I write articles and books about unique or little-known aspects of Canadian history. But where to find the information to spin these stories?

The aim of researching an article or a book is to approach it systematically and methodically. What has already been written on the topic by authoritative sources?

Check out the local library and Amazon sites. How will your version be fresh and different from what is already out there? What do you already know about your topic? Then identify your knowledge gaps and fill them in. The more specific your questions, the more accurate your findings.

Whenever possible, visit the places you will write about, observe the locale and talk with the people. Or, visit in your imagination and create the places you need. The choice is yours.

Luckily I live in the national capital with ready access to government departments, agencies, universities, museums and archives containing a wealth of historical, statistical and anecdotal information. And much of this treasure trove has been paid for by taxpayers across the country.

For example, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is the repository for Canadian documents including genealogy and photos. Its archives can be accessed in person by registering at 395 Wellington Street or by researching online from the comfort of home at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/lac-bac/search/arch.

While not everything is online, much is. Sourcing old photos in the public domain to illustrate your work is faster and cheaper than negotiating with private copyright owners. LAC’s reproductions are currently processed for a fee under contract to Brechin Imaging Services.

More data can be found in provincial archives. For instance, the Archives of Ontario in Toronto (http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/index.aspx) at 134 Ian MacDonald Blvd has holdings in off-site storage but records are brought to their Reading Room or reels delivered to a library near you. Hopefully CDs or more online access are in their near future.

Don’t overlook regional museums. I searched the BC Archives (http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/search-archives/) collection online for information I needed for High Peaks Engineering: Rocky Mountain marvels and ordered photos from the Glenbow Museum in Calgary (http://www.glenbow.org/) for Flying on Instinct: Canada’s bush pilot pioneers.

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Museums by their very nature are storehouses of culture and context. Interviews with curators, conservators and scientists, experts in their fields, can refocus your research on new areas to investigate and provide introductions to people with firsthand experience.

Writing about geology, birds, mammals or the world of water? Try the Canadian Museum of Nature (http://nature.ca/en/home). Working on an essay about immigration? Talk with researchers at the Canadian Museum of History (http://www.historymuseum.ca/home)

Special exhibitions, often scheduled during the summer to attract tourists, can highlight unique themes. Small community heritage museums and galleries run by volunteers contain often-overlooked data.

The City of Ottawa Archives (http://ottawa.ca/en/liveculture/archives) at 100 Tallwood Drive preserves community documents including millions of photos as well as family papers of early settlers like the Billings, Lett, and Ogilvy clans. I used their services when researching one of my first books Ottawa Titans: fortune and fame in the early days of Canada’s capital.

Not to forget reference resources from the media like newspaper morgues (old ‘dead’ files with article clippings and notes), magazine back issues and, our national broadcaster. The CBC Digital Archives (http://www.cbc.ca/archives/) has radio and television audio/visual clips on subjects as diverse as prisoners of war and basketball in Canada. Click. Listen. See. Be there.

Another valuable resource is Paper of Record (POR), searchable historical newspaper documents presented in their original format (https://paperofrecord.hypernet.ca/default.asp). Of course there’s an app for that.

This global archive presents full screenshots of as-they-were-printed political, business and sports stories from many countries. All were scanned and converted from microfilmed newspaper collections.

The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star newspapers were the first to have their archives fully digitized. Conceived, as the story goes, by e-publishing pioneer R. J. (Bob) Huggins of Cold North Wind Inc. at an Ottawa Mexican restaurant in 2001, POR now contains over 21 million digitized images accessible for a fee. It was sold to Google in 2006.

Then there is always Wikipedia for a quick, high-altitude topic scan. Apparently the term wiki was created by American computer programmer Ward Cunningham in 1995 when he developed collaborative software he labelled the WikiWikiWeb. Wiki is Hawaiian for fast or quick.

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He is also credited with Cunningham’s Law, which states: “the best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer.”

Consulting ‘Dr.’ Google is another information gathering device, whether you are “Feeling Lucky” or progress to “Advanced Search”. Just don’t believe everything on the internet. What you find online ranges from the intelligent to the idiotic. But one of your duties as a creative non-fiction writer is to suss out the facts. In a diversity of opinions, reality usually lies somewhere in the middle.

Other general search engines such as Bing (http://www.bing.com/) and HotBot (http://www.hotbot.com/) can yield a slightly different information lineup.

It is always good to see what else is out there. And, as former US President Ronald Reagan said, referring to an old Russian proverb: “trust, but verify”.

Don’t overlook YouTube which is more than music and performing pets. Lectures by academics and subject specialists can be viewed in their entirety.

Also, educators at community colleges and universities have valuable knowledge and are usually very generous in taking time to talk with you. If there is a professional conference related to your topic, ask to sit in on a key session.

Research never stops. You can always learn something new about an old topic. Research continues even while writing as the story spurs the research not vice versa. Such ongoing curiosity often uncovers serendipitous gems or, takes the manuscript in a whole new direction. Happy hunting.

Research quotes:

“Research is creating new knowledge.” Neil Armstrong

“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” Albert Einstein

“Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought.” Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

BIO: L. D. Cross is an Ottawa writer of government job descriptions and policy papers who graduated to creating business and lifestyle articles and books on unique aspects of Canadian history. Dyan's next book in the Amazing Stories series, The Luck of the Karluk: shipwrecked in the Arctic, about the first Canadian Arctic Expedition (CAE) of 1913 will be published in May 2015. Check out other titles on her website http://www.koalaus.com

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Submit by midnight FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015 to qualify 28th Annual National Capital Writing Contest Guidelines for 2015 NCWC Canadian Authors Association–National Capital Region (CAA-NCR) - Writers Helping Writers The contest is open to members of CAA–NCR and/or residents of the National Capital Region CATEGORIES: Short Story • Poetry Prizes in Each Category: 1st $300, 2nd $200, 3rd $100 Short Story (max. 2500 words) and 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 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.

You have until midnight FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015 to qualify. Submissions not accompanied by entry fee will be disqualified. Submissions will be neither acknowledged nor returned. Entries not conforming to rules will be disqualified. ▸ Entry fee: $15 per story; $15 for up to three (3) poems (poems will be judged individually). ▸ number of entries unlimited. Overpayment of entry fees will not be returned. ▸ 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]

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Just get TO IT! - by Kelly Buell

The page stares back at me. Daunting. Its blank demand is difficult to escape. Write, I tell myself. Tie the letters together to form a word. Form sentences that will entice the reader and then type some more. Nothing!

I take a sip of my imaginary coffee. If only I had brewed a real cup before this piece came to mind.

To be a writer, you need two things. Okay, maybe four. An idea, the will to put it out into the world, conviction in oneself and the discipline to write those words down without making excuses about why you should wait until another day to write. That day is today!

An original idea is important. It is what separates you from the millions, if not billions of other writers in this world. The great thing is the topics to write about are seemingly endless. The genres are extensive. Crime, comedy, drama, action, fiction, non-fiction, meta-fiction, the list is endless. Pick something and begin.

To write takes time. To edit and revise your own work takes talent. I do not think it wise to write and publish without getting a second, or even a third or fourth opinion of one’s writing. Objective eyes will always see differently. The reader's point of view can offer a wealth of insight to one’s own work.

Good writing entails taking the time to write the first draft, then re-write, and re- write until you finally get your words as polished as possible before sending them into the world. A good editor friend is helpful. If you don’t have one, a good grammar book can go a long way.

When writing your query letter, introduce yourself and your credentials. Take the time to include relevant information like your writing background, samples of your work if you have any, and why your query material would be suitable for the publisher you are submitting to.

Read their guidelines. A lot of publishers don’t accept unsolicited material. Other publishers may ask that you send only the first few chapters of your work.

The will to put your work out into the world means you are also dedicated to the task at hand, your writing. You let the phone ring, you miss your favourite television show (At least I do.) Sometimes, not always, the writing comes before making love or drinking coffee, okay, maybe not before drinking coffee.

Those who write for a living know that the rejection letters don’t mean their writing sucks. It means the person who read their material doesn’t find it suitable

Byline January-February 2015 Page 8 Vol 32:3 for that particular publication. Sometimes, it means the manuscript just needs revisions here and there before it should be sent back into the writing universe.

Occasionally, an editor may take the time to tell you where the work could be improved, and sometimes you are told how you can improve it. That is rich literary advice. Take it for what it is worth.

Don’t take it personally. You are not your work. While it is easy to grow an attachment to the prose we weave it is important to remember that writing books or articles for a living is first and foremost a business. You are not your business. Remember that.

Finally, if you are going to write, do so because you love the art of the form and not because of the form of the economics you hope to see from your work. Yes, there are writers who make ridiculous amounts of money with their prose and it is a great ambition to hope to be among them, but sadly, it does not happen for everyone.

All writing has value; sometimes it is a value that money cannot buy. Gather your wealth in friends and living, and in doing so, may you find that you are truly rich.

Most importantly, never give up. Believe in yourself. And just keep writing.

BIO: Kelly Buell is a married, stay- at home mother and part-time freelance writer. She is receiving her graduate certificate in Creative Writing from Humber College this year. She has a diploma in journalism-print from Algonquin College. Her work has appeared in various publications since 1997.

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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 19th 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 commercially 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.

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? Join a CAA Writing Circle! The West End circle is currently at capacity, but openings are available in the Centertown group. If sufficient interest were shown, we would consider opening a circle in the East End. This is a great opportunity for a writer! 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

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A short story for your reading pleasure The Globe – by Christina Crowe

“I’m sorry, Jonathan, I just don’t think it’s right. I knew your mother, God rest her soul. Went to school with her.”

“Mister Kingsbury. These were hers and now they’re mine. Are —”

“Lenny. Call me Lenny. That’s what the sign reads out front of my shop, doesn’t it? Lenny’s Pawn Shop? Actually, it was named for Dad. But then so was I.”

“Right. Right. Are you going to buy this stuff from me, or not?”

Lenny slid off the stool behind the counter, grimacing as his feet touched the floor. “Damn knees. Been giving me hell since college. Ever play any football, Jonathan?”

“Mister Kings— Lenny. I’m in kind of a hurry.”

The narrow seat of Lenny’s trousers shone in the overhead fluorescents as he hobbled toward the front door of the shop. “Well? Did you?”

“Did I what? Oh, football. No. Never did. Wasn’t much into sports. Listen, can you kind of speed it up a bit? Like I said, I’m —”

“What do you need the money for, Jonathan?” Lenny flipped the sign on the door so it read OPEN on the inside. He flicked the deadbolt. Then he turned to face the young man who stood at the counter, nervously picking through the contents of the large jewellery box that sat there beside the old-fashioned cash register. “Drugs? Gambling debts, maybe?” The OPEN sign swung back and forth behind him.

“What business is it of yours? Do you give all your customers the third degree?” Jonathan picked up a large brooch in the shape of a turtle. “What about this one? Mother always said it was her most valuable piece.”

“Yes, yes. I’ve seen her wear it. Lovely piece. Lovely.” Lenny hobbled back to the counter. “Come with me,” he said. “Bring her jewelry box. We’ll go to my apartment. Have a cognac. Maybe two. Maybe talk a little business. What say?”

Jonathan looked at his watch. “I don’t have a lot of time.”

“Yes, yes. I understand. Do you like cognac? Or would you prefer Scotch? Perhaps brandy. A liqueur?”

Jonathan looked at his watch again. “Oh, all right! Whatever.”

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He followed Lenny through a hall into a small parlour cluttered with furniture, lamps, and wall hangings. Above a fireplace hung a large black and white photograph of a beautiful young woman, head thrown back, flowers in her long dark hair. She was seated on a boulder on a long beach. Skirt pulled up to her thighs. Toes in the water. She was laughing at the photographer who was obviously standing in the lake or river in front of her. One of her fingers was hooked into the strand of beads around her neck, holding it out playfully to the side, as though to display it.

“That’s a hot lookin’ babe,” said Jonathan without realizing he’d spoken aloud.

“That’s Beth.”

“Beth?”

“My wife.”

Jonathan flushed. “I . . . didn’t mean to be rude.”

“No offense taken,” said Lenny handing Jonathan a snifter with an amber liquid halfway up the bowl. “My personal favourite, Grand Marnier.” Lenny saluted with his own snifter and sipped. “I imagine you meant it as a compliment. Please. Be seated.” He indicated a large comfortable-looking brown leather chair. Lenny sat on a hardback wooden chair.

Jonathan hesitated. “I don’t want to take your chair. It must be more comfortable than that one you’re in.”

Lenny laughed. “That one’s comfortable, all right. But I have a hard time getting out of it.” He patted his thigh with his free hand. “Knees don’t work too good anymore.”

Jonathan sat. The chair was, indeed, comfortable. He leaned back and crossed his ankle over his knee.

Lenny took another sip of liqueur, set his glass on the end table beside him, then leaned forward. “So, Jonathan. Let’s cut the crap, okay? What do you need that much goddamn money for?”

“I . . . Uh . . .”

“I think you have an appointment. You’ve been looking at your damned watch ever since you came into the shop. Being in the pawn shop business you get to know a lot about people and people’s troubles. My guess would be that you owe some folks some money. And it probably isn’t the folks at the bank. Am I getting warm?”

Jonathan uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, elbows on knees, cradling the brandy snifter in both hands. He nodded, head down.

“What is it? Drugs?”

Jonathan shook his head. “Dogs.”

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“Racing or fighting?”

“Rather not say.”

Lenny smiled. “Ah. Gambling carries many curses along with it, doesn’t it? How much you into them for?”

“Ten thousand.”

Lenny sucked in his breath and leaned back in his chair, reaching for his glass. “That doesn’t sound too healthy.” He took several sips from his glass before replacing it on the table. “Give me the jewels. I’ll see if I can help you out.” He took the box. “Your poor mother must be rolling in her grave.”

As Lenny sorted through the jewelry box, Jonathan rose and began walking around the room, looking at the pictures, wall-hangings, and furniture, thinking that some of it was probably quite valuable. Then his eyes returned to the picture of the woman over the fireplace.

“Is your wife deceased?”

“Can’t really say,” said Lenny. “These pearls are worth a bit. And, of course, that turtle brooch is magnificent. Two, three grand at least.”

“What do you mean?” Jonathan frowned, suddenly feeling uncomfortably warm in the small room. “You don’t know if she’s dead or not? Did she leave you, or something?”

Lenny turned toward him, his jeweler's ring still over his right eye. “Just as I said. Can’t really say.”

Jonathan shrugged and turned back to the picture. It was then that he noticed the dusty globe on the mantel beneath the picture. He stepped closer to it, setting his snifter beside it.

Through the dust he could see a figure encased in the globe. It appeared to be that of a middle-aged woman. A gaunt, half-starved woman whose entire body seemed to exude grief.

He took his handkerchief out of his pocket, picked up the globe and wiped the dust from it. Immediately it seemed to glow with an inner light of its own. An unwelcome shiver ran up Jonathan’s back from his buttocks to his neck. It was not a shiver of fear. It was a shiver of desire.

Quickly, he replaced the globe and picked up his glass and drank half of the burning liquid in three gulps.

“See that globe beneath the picture?” asked Lenny whose back was once again turned toward Jonathan. “Beth stole that. Shortly after that picture was taken. Never met a more honest person in my life than my Beth. But she stole it. Stole it from some kid who’d brought it into the shop in a real hurry to get rid of it. Said the kid was acting really peculiar, so she refused to pawn it for him, figuring — and she was more than likely right — that the kid had stolen it. But she told me that after she’d touched it, she had this terrible . . . terrible . . . What’d she call it? ‘a terrible need’ to have it.

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“So. She stole it. It was now in her possession. You’d think she would have been pleased. But just before she went . . . Well, just before she went where she went, she warned me never to touch it. She put it on the mantel there, right where it is, and it’s never been touched since.”

Jonathan glanced again at the globe and what he saw made his skin crawl: The woman in the globe, who now bore an uncanny resemblance to the woman in the picture, was smiling at him.

“Yes. She told me that anyone who touches that globe must possess it, and whoever possesses it soon becomes possessed by it.” Lenny turned toward him, closing the cover of the jewelry box, and removing the jeweler's ring from his eye.

“Tell you what,” he said, tapping the top of the box. “I’ll give you ten thousand for the whole lot. How’s that sound?”

Jonathan nodded, unaware of either the sweat running down his back or the thin thread of saliva hanging from his open mouth.

“Now you have to understand, son. I don’t keep that kind of cash sitting around the apartment.” Lenny groaned as he stood up from the chair. “Damn knees. Been giving me hell since college.” With the jewelry box tucked under one arm, Lenny hobbled toward the hall. “I’ll be back with your cash in a flash.” He turned and smiled at Jonathan. “You just hold tight. Won’t take but a few minutes. Bank’s just down the street.”

And he winked at him.

* * * *

When Lenny returned fifteen minutes later, he was greeted by his Beth.

In the joy of their reunion, neither of them paid any attention to the barely audible screams coming from the globe lying on the floor by the doorway.

BIO: Christina Crowe is an Ottawa writer. “The Globe” is a short story from A Girl Dog’s Breakfast, scary stories and rude poems, and is available from Amazon.com (print) and Smashwords (digital) or directly from the publisher, Crowe Creations. She is also the author of The Unkindest Cut: Short Creepy Movie Scripts (Amazon.com) in which you can meet Lenny and Beth again ...

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Called to Egypt on the Back of the Wind by Anne-Kathleen McLaughlin

Setting out from New York in November 2008, a group of travellers, guided by the visionary teacher Jean Houston, eagerly anticipate their first glimpse of Egypt. They cannot imagine how their rituals in Egypt’s ancient pyramids, tombs, and temples will alter them, turning a quest for a planetary spirituality into a personal transformation.

In a place where it is still possible to breathe in the ancient spirituality amidst the stunning beauty of the land, the river, the people, and the sacred sites, they travel for eighteen days.

As they sail down the Nile in the Moon Goddess, stopping at sacred sites for rituals, Jean recounts the Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris. The journey becomes for them a womb for a refashioning of spirit, a healing of old wounds, a rediscovery of profound love in the universe.

Called to Egypt on the Back of the Wind , written by NCR- CAA member Anne Kathleen McLaughlin, is published by Borealis Press, Ottawa. The book is available at Singing Pebbles Bookstore, across from Saint Paul University at 202 Main Street in Ottawa or directly from the publisher’s website: www.borealispress.com B ack to top

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What You Missed - by Louise Rachlis Author Charlotte Gray tells packed CAA-NCR meeting about 'murder’ she wrote Charlotte Gray’s latest book, The Massey Murder: A Maid, Her Master and a Trial that Shocked a Country, has been “an incredibly good seller,” she said of her 9th book of literary non-fiction. “I must put the word ‘murder’ in all my titles,” she told her packed audience at the January CAA-NCR meeting at McNabb Recreation Centre. She knew “something dangerous was happening” every time she went into a bookstore. “True crime was at the front, and history was at the back.” So she asked her legal and history buff friends “have you got any juicy crimes?” The result was The Massey Murder, published September 2013, which won the Canadian Authors Association’s 2014 Lela Common Award for Canadian History. Gray is the only author who has won this award twice: in 2005, The Museum Called Canada was also honoured. “I can’t tell you what it does to an author’s heart to be nominated for a prize, and then to hear you’ve won!” she said. She realized the Massey Murder topic would “illuminate so many parts of the world at that time, and Toronto as a booming, rapidly growing centre.” In 1900, there were 5.3 million Canadians, and by 1915, there were 7.9 million Canadians. Born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, Gray 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. Because of that magazine experience, “I hate books that go on forever, and I also don’t enjoy books that are too slight. I write for myself.” Her CAA-NCR presentation was twofold; the first part covered how she wrote the Massey Murder, and the second she wanted to be “guided by you,” she told the audience.

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She said she realized there was a market for “this kind of history, where you go into people’s houses…I really go for the senses.” She showed many wide-ranging historic slides, such as British immigrants arriving in fancy hats to a city of tall buildings and a busy traffic policeman, the Massey Mausoleum, Toronto City Hall with the criminal courts, and the immigrants who went west, who weren’t among the 88 per cent of immigrants who were British. The setting for the Massey Murder on February 8th, 1915, was the time of the newspaper wars. In 1915, there were six newspapers in a city of half a million, and an intensive rivalry between the Toronto Evening Star and the Evening Telegram. Families back home were worried about their sons fighting overseas, and there was a huge movement by women who wanted the vote and a public role. Of the incident, Carrie Davies, still holding the gun, said “Take me away, I shot him…He tried to ruin me.” Lawyer Hartley Dewart kept referring to her in court as “this little girl.” There were word by word transcripts in the newspapers, and coverage across the country. “A lot of what the book is about is currents of change and opinion,” said Gray. “That sense that Canada was a different kind of country than Britain.” Answering questions from the audience, she said she allows herself three years per book to write. “When I’m writing, I map out exactly what the book is going to be, and I start writing really really early…Never think you’ll do all the research and then the writing. Do them in parallel.” She has a big plan for the whole book, and then goes chapter by chapter with “masses of sticky notes.” “I don’t invent or imagine facts,” she said in reply to a question about whether she had ever gotten into hot water over a portrayal. She gets a lot of information from archival photographs. “You come at the facts and put them together in a creative way…I love what I do. I don’t want to write novels. It’s a different skill.” She is at the stage now where she won’t write on spec. She presents the publisher with a one-page synopsis and outline of chapter by chapter, and receives an advance. Her agent negotiates her contracts. “Publishers look at what did well last season, and want it for this season,” she noted wryly. “When writers get together, we used to grumble about our agents. Now we grumble about the time we spend on social media.”

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27th CAA-NCR National Capital Writing Contest - 2014 Second Place – Poetry Category

I Love You as Certain Dark Things are Loved

by JOAN MCKAY

I love you as certain dark things are loved I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz or arrow of carnation that propagates fire: I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul. --- from One Hundred Love Sonnets, XVII by Pablo Neruda

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Not understanding the complexity of the human heart, I learn about you slowly, about ancient ghosts who trouble your dreams, who find the vulnerable spots each of us has and replay them like old melodies, music you only half remember. But I don't love you for what is Strauss or jazz, I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz

or care if the music is too soft or loud, but only if your ghosts can co-exist with mine, if this joint darkness can carry the burden of two lifetimes,

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or what more we may require to embrace shadow as a form of longing, to understand blindness as another way to see, to know that the philosophy of desire or arrow of carnation that propagates fire

can gather us into the arms of light. I want to take your darkness into mine so you become the wild in me and I that quiet centre you cannot find because its tenuous patterns are felt as though your fingers were gloved, the indistinct whorls of distinctiveness carrying you deeper into uncertainty. I love you though my love remains unproved. I love you as certain dark things are loved,

past the visible, and with a knowing I cannot utter, into the place the heart hears the beat of other lifetimes. I love you the only way I can, where our nakedness is clothed in penumbral shadow and the toll of bells for lost souls echoes the spaces between our words, where silence is the way we can console secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

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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 Recording Secretary Unfilled (volunteer?) 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 Writing Circles (Wcs)

Coordinator Catina Noble

Contacts

Centerpoint Kit Flynn Centertown Catina Noble Back to top

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CAA-NCR Program Information – 2015

MEETINGS

* * * * * TOPIC: Getting Published without Getting Burned PRESENTER: Tudor Robins DATE: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 TIME: 7:00 – 9:00 pm

LOCATION: McNabb Recreation Centre, 180 Percy St. east of Bronson Ave.

Many writers are well-versed in traditional view of publishing, but not many have seen the opposing viewpoint firsthand. Prior to attending this meeting, Tudor suggests that you read the post: http://www.thepassivevoice.com/01/2015/top-3-reasons-why-fiction-manuscripts-get-rejected /#comments. This will give you some background/knowledge on how some indie (self) publishers view the traditional publishing world, and will better prepare you for the information she will share with you. And it may help inform your participation in discussions at the meeting.

BIO: Tudor Robins is the author of horse-themed young adult novels set in Eastern Ontario. She has been published both traditionally, and independently, and enjoys sharing her experience and love of writing with others through workshops, school visits, and writing presentations. Tudor lives in Ottawa with her husband and two sons. * * * * * TOPIC: Blogging Pros & Cons – maintaining privacy PRESENTER: Lynn Jatania, Turtlehead Blog DATE: Tuesday, March 10, 2015 TIME: 7:00 – 9:00 pm

LOCATION: McNabb Recreation Centre, 180 Percy St. east of Bronson Ave. The presentation will examine how to set up a blog, and the pros and cons of blogging. As well, Lynn will discuss how to balance revealing parts of your life while maintaining a level of privacy.

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TOPIC: Marketing in the Digital/Social Media World PRESENTER: Laurel Anderson DATE: Tuesday, April 14, 2015 TIME: 7:00 – 9:00 pm

LOCATION: McNabb Recreation Centre, 180 Percy St. east of Bronson Ave. DETAILS to come

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

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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.

Otherwise, member rates are: 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 mailing lists, contact Qais Ghanem

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CAA-NCR Byline Submission Guidelines

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, one month 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]

Video-Casting service FREE for CAA-NCR members What would better reach your reader market? Having potential buyers will hear about your book through word-of-mouth, or accidentally come across it on a bookstore shelf or website, or ...... have them 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? And find out how to purchase it? 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, and on Facebook! There is no cost for this service. Contact Qais Ghanem to set up an appointment. Check other interviews on the branch website – Podcasts

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Spread the Word If you regularly receive Byline magazine, we encourage you to forward your copies to other writers or readers who might also enjoy reading it. If they'd like to receive their own copy of Byline, contact Qais Ghanem, CAA-NCR Branch President, who will put their name on our distribution list.

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