After thinking about it for weeks and some encouragement from my friend and blogger, Tranquil Dreams who has done it at least twice, I finally found the courage to sign up for NaNoWriMo. Continue reading
Author Archives: Day's Lee
World Teachers Day
When my first book, The Fragrant Garden, was published, I got a phone call that I will never forget. My fifth grade teacher, Miss Rubin, had called to congratulate me and to tell me she was proud of me. She had read the article about me that had appeared in The Montreal Gazette that week.
Montreal Comiccon 2015
Yes folks, that is a picture of John Barrowman in Lieutenant Uhura’s dress and black size 13 pumps. Barrowman (Torchwood, Doctor Who and Arrow) was a Guest of Honour at this year’s Montreal Comiccon. He was wildly improper and funny, especially when telling stories of outrageous pranks he played on set. The audience loved him.
Remembering Our history: The Ancestral Ceremony
As a writer, I’m constantly on the lookout for ideas especially anything that might help me discover more about my father’s history as a head tax payer. So a few years ago, when a friend mentioned that he was on a committee called The Ancestral Ceremony, it piqued my interest.
I remember my father used to say he “walked the mountain” with friends. Considering his advanced age, I knew he didn’t mean that he went hiking. When I questioned him about it, he said it was something the men in Chinatown did once a year. It turns out that he along Continue reading
Q&A with Suana Verelst, Illustrator of Razia’s Ray of Hope
Montreal has a terrific writing community and there is no doubt that its members have helped me grow as a writer. I met Suana Verelst, an award winning illustrator, several years ago at a get-together for writers and illustrators of children’s and young adult books. (She also makes great home-made soup which I tasted at our last Christmas pot luck.) Her latest, Razia’s Ray of Hope, is an award winning book based on the true story of a girl in Afghanistan who desperately wants an education Continue reading
Copyright Advice for Photographers and Illustrators
If you are an artist or a creator, and intent on making a living with your work, then understanding copyright is very important to your career. Simply put, copyright is where the money is.
The basics are discussed in this video by Mr. Media who interviews Edward C. Greenberg and Jack Reznicki, the authors of The Copyright Zone: A Legal Guide for Photographers and Artists in the Digital Age. Greenberg is an intellectual property lawyer and Reznicki is a photographer. They explain, in simple to understand terms, how protecting your work can make a difference to your bottom line. Although they are discussing copyright in the United States, I think the logic can apply to other countries as well.
The video is almost an hour long, but totally worth watching.
Talking About Books from Knowlton to Westmount
It was a beautiful day to be in a bookstore yesterday. Sunny and blue skies outside and sunny smiles inside. Here are a few of my photos from the first Canadian edition of Authors for Indies Day. Continue reading
Writers Writing and Reading Really, Really Fast
This is me doing my two minute reading.
Thursday evening, I was invited to participate in a really fun event with the Quebec Writers’ Federation. Twenty-five writers were challenged to do a reading lasting no more than two minutes. Then each writer was to contribute a sentence or two to a short story which would be read out loud at the end of the evening. Welcome to “Rapid-Fire Readings, Ricochet Writing: 25 Montreal Writers Write Before Your Very Eyes”. Continue reading
Montreal Swings into Spring
If you happen to be near Place des Arts between now and May 31st, you may want to take a few minutes to play. The installation 21 Swings is back on De Maisonneuve Street.
The motion of each swings triggers the musical notes of one of four instruments: piano, guitar, harp and vibraphone. When multiple swings are in motion, they create a melody. The notes change the higher you go. At night, the swings are illuminated. Yes, that’s me in the photo above making music and feeling like a kid again.
The installation is removed for the summer festival season, but will be back from August 6th to October 18th.
Celebrating Independent Bookstores
When I was a teenager and working part-time, there was a Classics bookstore at a nearby shopping mall, and that was where I headed on payday. My meager paycheque wouldn’t have gone far in a travel agency, but in a bookstore, it took me anywhere I wanted to go. I checked out the bestsellers before heading to the mystery section. On the top of my list were books by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot was my favorite) and the Peanuts series by Charles Schultz. I still have those books, now slightly yellowed, packed in a box. Back then, I thought working in a bookstore would be a dream come true. Continue reading
Day's Lee 