So, first things first:
Amanda is participating, with Nina Amir, in the NaNoWriMo alternative, Write Non-Fiction in November, or WNFIN š
Hereās the lovely pic:
As part of the lead up and promotion, Amanda has gone plum prompt crazy!Ā Sheās even giving us prompt-interviews!Ā I think itās a fabulous idea (thatās why sheās the Creative Idea Gal).Ā For those of you who may not have perused my pages, itāll give us a chance to get better acquainted. Plus some of the answers wonāt be found on my pages, so bonus info!
Hereās what Amanda posted on Wednesday.
Here are my answers š
(1)Ā Does the title of your blog, Writerly Goodness, have a special significance?
Writerly Goodness is my creative alter ego.Ā In my day job, I work in the corporate learning and development world, which is related to, but distinct from, the creative work I do in the evenings and on weekends.Ā I need to compartmentalize and separate my two working worlds and so, like a pseudo-super hero, I āchange costumesā and transform into Writerly Goodness, which is also what I hope to produce šĀ I address this in a post: Do you dress for success?
Iām also an introvert.Ā Big time.Ā Itās another part of my daily transformation.Ā I have to put on the extrovert for my work, especially when I deliver training, and just need to hole up when I get home.Ā Fortunately, the interwebz give me the virtual distance to engage all my online friends and family without distress.Ā I havenāt written a lot about introversion yet, but Iāve just finished Susan Cainās Quiet, and will begin to share some of the insights Iāve gained in the reading.
I joke in my welcome message that I might have a multiple personality disorder, which is more appropriately called a dissociative identity disorder, but while that is not true, I am host to other mental illnesses, most notably depression.Ā I actually talk about mental illness quite a bit, what experiences have contributed to my condition, how mental illness intersects with creativity, and what Iāve learned in the process of managing my depression.
Finally, Writerly Goodness has a decidedly canine aspect to her: loyal, patient, dedicated.Ā I can tell her to āfetch, girl!ā and she will inevitably return with the words I need šĀ So maybe WG is the embodiment of my muse? Ā Oooh! Ā Hadnāt thought of that before.Ā Thanks, Amanda!
(2)Ā You write frequently about Caturday Quickies. What does that mean? What is Caturday?
Caturday emerged from a web site called I can has cheezburger? Ā Itās one of the original sites where LOLcats can be found (cute pictures and animated gifs of cats, or kittehs, as theyāre called, with humorous captions).Ā The siteās mascot is a gorgeous Russian Blue with a hopeful look on his (or her) fuzzy face and with the caption that eventually became the name of the site.
Instead of Saturday, the day became Caturday.
I used to visit āI can hasā every day for my feline fix, and eventually their sister-site, I has a hotdog (which gave rise to Sundog instead of Sunday in the same way) for my puppeh pick-me-up.Ā Eventually, I couldnāt keep up with the number of new posts in a day and realized it was more of an addiction than an entertainment.Ā Now, I see enough of the shared memes on social media to keep me happy.
Iām an animal lover and I used to own serve two cats. Right now, I have my dog, Nuala, but more on her in a bit.
(3)Ā Are you inspired by your training coordinator job? Do you write about your job?
My day job intersects interestingly with my creative work.Ā As a writer, I always think stories should educate as well as entertain, and the things that I learn as a trainer contribute to my stories.
Also, my writing translates into instructional design.Ā Iām a fan of story-based instructional design (surprise, surprise) and Iāve been able to help write a course that won me and my team a Silver Award of Excellence in 2012.
More recently, my grammar Nazi nature has been able to come out and play as Iāve taught five sessions of Business Writing Made Easy to participants in two different business lines.Ā The second last one was a training-for-trainers version of the course, where I was introducing colleagues to the training material so they, in turn, could deliver it to other staff members.
As a training coordinator, Iām constantly writing reports, training plans, proposals, and briefing notes.Ā Itās completely different work than writing a story, poetry, or a novel, and my background in rhetoric (BA, Laurentian University 1995, cum laude) has come into play.
I have a category devoted to my learning and development (L&D) side: the Learning Mutt. Ā As youāve been so kind as to ask me about that, Iāll write to that point more directly later on.
(4)Ā Why do you call yourself a writing geek? Why do you call yourself a keener?
Iām a writing geek for many reasons, only a few of which Iāll mention here (donāt want to bore yāall).
I love words.Ā In my university years, I took several courses on the history of the language, old English, middle English, Shakespeare, and 18th Century literature (the days of the first dictionaries).Ā I love etymology.Ā I love the evolution of the languageāEnglish is such a mutt language, weāve stolen from or been contributed to by nearly every language at one time or another.
I love the physicality of language, where the sounds are produced.Ā Itās different for each stage/evolution of English: back in the throat, up in the nose, forward in the mouth, up front through the teeth.
I love accents and dialects.Ā I love pidgin languages.
You can smell the smoke when I start thinking about words š
I adore the writing process, mine and others.Ā Nothing makes me more #furiouslyhappy than to read the posts of other writers who share their workspaces, work habits, revision strategies, etc.Ā Iāve been glued to Elissa Fieldās blog while sheās been writing about her revisions.Ā Endlessly fascinating.
I also love learning about writing.Ā Iām constantly doing it, even though I have an MA in English literature and creative writing.Ā I read craft books (and everything else I can get my hands onāIām a book addict) and I read like a writer, looking for clues, analyzing structure, teasing out the reasoning behind creative choices.
Iāve got a subscription to Writerās Digest Tutorials and have recently started taking courses, from Dan Blankās Platform Building course, to a selection of Wana International webinars.
I follow Grammar Girl.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
(5)Ā How does being an experiential learner affect your writing?
This is going to be a short one: I learn by doing.
I write, therefore I am.
The only way to improve is to write, and to write every day.
(6)Ā You mentioned that learning and writing go hand in hand. Can you describe how you tie both into one on your blog?
I think I addressed this in my answer to question 3, above, but hereās a little more about it:
When I was back in university, I was amazed at how everything I was learning, from astronomy and biology, through philosophy and psychology, to English, music, and art, intersected in bizarre and wonderful ways.
I find this to be true with my work, as well.
Besides, if Iām going to spend most of my waking hours doing something that is not writing, it better feed my muse in some way.Ā I just stay open to the possibilities. Ā Mental popcorn. Ā Wheee!
(7)Ā You list several cultural references on your blog (Ukrainian Christmas, Algonkian conference, etc.). What inspires you to write about those cultures?
I think the reference to Ukranian Christmas was probably about a friend of mine, who celebrates it, or in my discussion about how I developed my religions/spirituality for my fantasy novel.
The Algonkian Conference is actually a pitch conference that has nothing to do with the Algonquin people.Ā Though I may have referred to the Ojibwe and Cree nations in my discussion of how I invented some of my languages for my work in progress.
In general, Iām very open to religion and spirituality.Ā I was raised Christian (Lutheran, specifically) but now identify as agnostic with pagan leanings.Ā I donāt blog about it too much, though, because I think that both religion and spirituality are very personal things, and while I admire the devout of faith, I donāt think that anyone has the right to tell anyone else what to believe.Ā That is between the individual and the God of their understanding.
I think Iāll shut up now, before I offend anyone :0
(8)Ā What is the learning mutt side of your brain? How does that impact your learning or writing?
The learning mutt is my day job personality, but itās more than that.Ā Itās the part of me that watches the Discovery Channel, follows Bad Astronomer Phil Plait, and was enthralled by Commander Hadfieldās social media campaign from space.Ā Itās the part of me that reads.Ā Itās the part of me that takes courses and webinars.Ā Itās the part of me that wants more, more, MOAR knowledge, regardless of what it might be.
Iām a pop culture junkie, a trivia queen (maybe princess), and creative connections pop out at me from everywhere (mental popcorn mention above).
I donāt have an eidetic memory, or speed-read, or anything, but my brain just wants to fill itself with everything out there, so it is very much like a mutt: a little bit of everything goes into it.
I hope most of it stays there too, another reason I try to keep learning š
(9)Ā Does your pup-child Nuala inspire your work? Have you considered writing a non-fiction book about dogs?
All of my dependant quadrupeds, feline or canine, have held special places in my heart.Ā My husband and I are childless-by-choice, and in a way our pets fill the place of children in our lives.
I also believe that dogs, in particular, are here to teach us how to love unconditionally.
I havenāt thought about writing a non-fiction book about dogs yet.Ā I donāt think I have enough experiences to fill up a book right now.
I do have an idea for a middle grade book that features a dog as its protagonist, though.Ā Itās kind of like a Desmond the Dog Detective meets Watership Down, with maybe just a dash of Animal Farm.
Yup, thatās the kind of thing I think up š
(10)Ā Your curriculum vitae is impressive! It is also a non-traditional addition to a blog. Has posting your c.v. helped you get noticed, get writing work, be featured on other blogs?
Thank you, but actually, it hasnāt resulted in any of that good stuff.Ā Nobodyās even ālikedā it yet.
When I started my blog, I didnāt have any books that I could promote, so I thought the CV would speak for my experience as a writer.Ā It was key to my application for professional membership to the Canadian Authors Association.Ā Maybe when I start querying, agents will start looking me up?Ā One can only hope š
Iāve since added a page to feature the two anthologies including my poetry of which the publisher still has copies to sell, but that hasnāt really resulted in much action either.Ā At least the publisher hasnāt let me know that heās run out of copies, or that my page has, in any way, influenced the poetry-reading public š
This must be tempered with the fact that a poetry best-seller in Canada means 500 copies sold.Ā NeoVerse accomplished that goal, if nothing else.
Thanks for giving me this opportunity, Amanda!Ā This was fun!
What do the rest of you think?Ā Did you enjoy finding out more about me, or did it leave you cold?Ā Regardless, Iād love to hear from you.
And please do visit/participate in WNFIN if you are so moved.Ā Thatās Write Non-Fiction in November with Amanda Socci and Nina Amir, just in case you forgot šĀ Itās been a while (long post, whew!).
Tomorrow: Review of Dead Air, and sommat about my trip last weekend.