30 Before 30 – The List

It’s my birthday!!!

I’ve been talking about creating one of those infamous thirty before thirty lists for ages now. It took a while for it to come together, but I finally have it. And guess what? It includes a whole lot of travel and writing. So, why this may be less about informing you about travel destinations or tips I’ve learned on writing, it’s just a little something about Girl Tries Life.

Photo Credit: Brian Gianz Flickr

Here goes:

1. Find an agent. Or at least give it my best shot.

2. Go on a solo vacation. That’s right. Solo. Just me, my thoughts and hopefully I remember to bring a notebook.

3. Drive a motorbike – just once!

4. Sing karaoke. I cringe as I write this, but you gotta do it once, right?

5 / 6/ 7/ 8 – These ones are private, but are personally important to me.

Waterton – Photo Credit Mark Goble (Flickr)

9. Take a trip to Waterton. Albertans talk about the beauty that is Waterton Lakes National Park, yet I have never been!

10. Climb Goatfell. I’ve been to Arran countless times, but never have I actually climbed Goatfell.

11. Get my full drivers’ license. I can’t live on my graduated license forever, I know, I know.

12. Take my niece swimming. 

13. Backpack Southeast Asia. Coincidentally… this is currently happening. I could create a whole list of 3o things to do in Southeast Asia, but that would be cheating, because I know I will or have done them already!

14. Give scuba diving another try. Maybe I had a head cold, maybe I just panicked, but the first time I did a try-dive it went… badly. I don’t want one bad experience to mean I miss out on the wonders under the sea. Guess I’m gonna have to suck it up and give it another go.

15. Take a road trip with my brother. I haven’t spoken to my brother about this yet, in fact, he doesn’t read my blog, but even if it’s just a day or a weekend, I think we’d have fun.

Photo credit: David Blaikie

16. Complete the writing of my standalone series. There are three books that I have to write. Have to. And even if they’re the roughest of drafts, I’d like to complete them before my thirtieth birthday.

17. Have dinner at Teatro. This restaurant is famous around Calgary, but I need to see if it’s worth the hype.

18. Get a car. You might say that this goes hand in hand with getting my license, but in fact, it doesn’t. The license just means I get cheaper car insurance!

19. Cycle from Canmore to Banff. Otherwise known as the Banff Legacy Trail, this 22.5km bike ride is definitely a goal. A sweaty, masochistic goal.

20. Go one week digital free. I am the person who checks Facebook/Twitter/Gmail first thing in the morning and countless times throughout the day. It’s ridiculous. Imagine what I could do if I detoxed for a week.

21. Take a cooking class with the hubby.

22. Go one month without spending anything discretionary. Just to see what it’s like… and to save dough! I may have been inspired by these people.

Skoki Lodge. Photo Credit: Orlandk flickr

23. Stay at Skoki Lodge. I think we’d aim for spring/summer, as I hear the cross-country ski in can be brutal.

24. Road trip to Kelowna, B.C. 

25. Get another tattoo. 

26. Re-pierce my nose.

Photo Credit: Bert Kaufmann

27. Take a trip with one of my good friends to Chicago. Hey, gives me something to blog about!

28. Visit the Gopher Museum. Who doesn’t want to visit Torrington, AB? The Gopher Hole Museum seems stranger than fiction.

29. Tuck into dinner at the Longview Steakhouse. Another Alberta trip. Just outside of Calgary I hear tales of succulent steaks and delicious cheesecake. These are both things I love.

30. Become a vege-… wait. See number 29. Nope. Instead this goal will be to find an excuse to wear a formal dress. I ask you, after the days of prom and weddings, where does one wear a formal dress?

There you have it. You might ask why crazy things like bungee jumping, sky diving or zip lining aren’t on the list? Well… I’ve done them. I’m actually incredibly lucky to have lived the life I have to date, this is why most of what’s on my list are homegrown destinations or things I want to put my mind to.

I have two years to complete this list, so here goes.

What would make it onto your list? 40 before 40? 50 before 50? 60 before 60?

Seems odd to me that the lists get longer…

Blogmance – So You’re A Romance Writer, What Do You Blog About?

Credit: Mike Licht (Flickr)

This question comes up a lot when I tell people that I’m a writer and I have a blog. Most of my friends, family and colleagues know that I write women’s fiction with a hint of romance, so as soon as I tell them that I have a blog, most people ask what I blog about? 5o hottest sex tips? What makes up a great toy box?

Um, no…? To be fair, nobody has straight out asked me those questions… but you can see a glimmer in their eyes that hints at it.

Sage Advice from the Alberta Romance Writers

Photo credit Peteoshea (Flickr)

I’m biased, I get that, but I attended a fabulous workshop by the Alberta Romance Writers Association in August. There were four speakers: Jessica Jackson, Diana Cranstoun, Sarah Kades and Mahrie Glab Reid.

Rather than try and sum up a three hour session, I thought I’d just share my key a-ha moments. Ladies – forgive me! I can’t remember who said what, but you can take credit for your points in the comments.

Never treat a single character lightly. You never know if you’ll need them in your next book.

Write a character profile. Their likes, dislikes, wants, don’t wants and secret desires. You might just unlock something magical.

Ways to show theme: your character’s job, their hobby, their name (Atticus Finch, anyone?).

If you don’t weave theme into your subplot, you’ve missed a golden opportunity.

The sense that we often put little effort into is taste. Take this as an opportunity to ratchet it up. “The conversation transformed his chocolate into chalk.”

Some of their favourite writing resources?

– Kim Hudson’s, The Virgin’s Promise

– Attack of the Copula Spiders, by Douglas Glover

– Fiction is Folks, by Robert Newton Peck

The Dreaded Slush Pile

On this haunted Halloween, the only thing scarier than ghouls and goblins has to be the slush pile.

When I first heard about the ‘slush edition’ at the annual When Words Collide conference, the idea sounded intriguing, exciting. In practice, it is intriguing and exciting, but also nerve-wracking and it plays havoc with your confidence.

And… we’re off!

It’s official! Today’s the day that the hubby and I jet off to Southeast Asia for 2.5 months! We’re ridiculously excited, if a little nervous. We’ve got a route planned, we have some things booked, but we’ve also left some flexibility for the discovery of what isn’t in the guidebooks.

Photo Credit: Mikhail Koninin

Novel Marketing: Describing Your Target Audience

Describing your Target Audience

Your book is not for everyone, said Larking, nor should it be. So, when looking for your target audience, don’t create a list so wide and vague that it encapsulates everyone. You’re only harming your own future reviews. The target audience for your book is the reader who will see it as an equal or beneficial exchange of value between reader and author (K. Larking).

So You’re Taking a Leave of Absence to Travel…Now What?

Taking a leave of absence to travel is not that common. For most of the travel blogs that I’ve read, folks have either done their travelling between large life events, such as university and their first job, or they have quit their job altogether.

What I haven’t seen much of is what to do when you plan to take a shorter time period, say 2-6 months off. For the past year, my husband and I have been planning to do exactly that, take 3 months off to travel Southeast Asia. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way:

• Talk to your employer EARLY. The difference between taking a leave of absence and having to quit your job almost always comes down to what kind of company you work for and how flexible they are. I’m lucky in that I work for a multi-national company as opposed to a small start up. That said, I gave my employer 12 months notice, yes you read that right, that I wanted to take three months off. Taking time off to travel isn’t nearly as common as taking time off for a new baby or to go back to school, so you need to give your employer time for this to sink in, and think about ways to manage your absence. Can you work ahead, put in some extra hours to get big projects done in advance, thereby only needing someone part-time to cover your work while you’re gone? There are lots of things to consider.

• Benefits – can you pay them forward? If you work for an organization where you pay into a benefits scheme, many of them will offer you the opportunity to pay your benefits while you’re away, rather than take a break. You’ll have to weigh your options, based on what you receive. Through my company, I receive great health insurance that includes travel health insurance. This covers both me and my husband, so I saw huge benefit in paying forward my benefits, even though I would have no income coming in.

• Home Sweet Home. What are you going to do with your home/apartment/rental while you’re away? Can you rent it out? Sublet it? Or are you comfortable to leave your place sitting empty? Remember that the cost of this should be considered when budgeting for your time off. For my husband and I, we budgeted to leave our apartment empty, as the rent was affordable, we can’t sublet our apartment, and the cost to move our stuff to and from storage would more or less equal three months rent anyways.

• Fur babies. Where will they live? Leaving a pet for an extended period of time can be heart breaking for both the owner and the pet. Yes, you could board your animal, but how would you feel if it were you. Best option is to plan early and see if a trusted friend or family member will take them. That way your pet has a home to stay in, people to love it, and maybe they can even see you on Skype once in a while (sap that I am!). Make sure you plan in advance to cover all your pet’s expenses (food, litter, etc.) and get it checked at the vet before you go. You can often leave your credit card number on file with the vet, in case of emergencies, so that your friend/family member isn’t fronting costs for any emergency services.

These were some of the key elements that initially kept us up at night, but as soon as you get a good plan in place, the stress eases off. After all, you want to enjoy your trip, don’t you?

Trends in the Romance Genre

Photo Credit Xanitia (Flickr)

I had the complete pleasure to sit on the Trends in Romance panel at When Words Collide this past August. When approached to sit on the panel, my reactions went sort of like this:

Throw on Some Shoes and Hike Alberta

It happens every year like clockwork. Fall comes around, the leaves turn yellow, the nights get shorter and the sun still heats my skin. Then the itch comes.

The itch to hike. Why do I not hike more throughout the year? I don’t know. Things get busy. Schedules are packed and in the heat of summer I’d rather soak up the sun than exert massive amounts of energy. Plus there should be a cold cider. Always a cold cider.

But, like I said, the itch comes and I always manage to find a willing friend to join me in the mountains.

On the road to Chester Lake.

Musings in Frustration

Don’t get me wrong, I love writing. I LOVE writing. Finishing the first draft of my novel, Girl Tries Life, was euphoric. I had created it. All 68,000 words of it. Me. My imagination.

It was one of those moments in life where I was really proud of myself.

But that was back in December. Life has since taken it’s grip, and I’ve been busy. Everyone says that, people see it as an excuse, and it partly is. I didn’t stop writing. I wrote 40,000 words of the sequel, wrote countless blog posts, not to mention all the writing I’ve been doing at work.