On the road again...

Uncle Travelling Matt is travelling again. We're off this week to drive down to Vancouver (with a stop-off in Kelowna to visit the in-laws) before catching a flight over the water to England. It's Finlay's first big trip so it will be an interesting adventure. There is some nice synchronicity with this trip in that Fin will be around eight-months-old, the same age Amelia was when we first took her over to meet the family. Life on the road, as usual, will be complicated and not only because we're travelling with two kids, a baby and a toddler; my time will be constrained by a need to spend several hours each week on coursework for the instructor's program I'm enrolled in. Busy, busy, busy.

Three Days of Literary Madness

I did it. I wrote a novel in three days. It was savagely wonderful. With some sponsorship, I managed to rent a room in a local BnB and lock myself away from household chores and the demands and distractions (both good and bad) of kids. I was afraid I'd stall out in the middle, but something about the deadline spurred me on, exactly what I'd hoped for. Ironically, the novel came in at only 31,000 words, but checking in with fellow writers, I've found that that's quite normal for a 3-day novel. Whew! I won't find out until January if the impossible has happened and I've actually won the contest. Not likely, but then, that's not really the point. Until then, I think I'll leave the book alone.

3 Day Novel

It's official - I'm entering the infamous 3-Day Novel Contest. Over the Labour Day weekend, September 5-7, I will be holed up somewhere in Prince Rupert, consuming vast quantities of coffee and writing madly. I suppose in a way I'm doing it because it's the ultimate motivation to finally finish a novel. Twice I've stalled at around 30,000 words, or about half way. This, I hope, will be the catalyst to produce a complete work.

Cover Shot

The article about my autumn escapades up in the Rockies has just been published in Cottage Magazine. They chose my photo of the Alpine Club hut for the cover, which was a nice bonus. Cottage did a fantastic job with the layout and I'm hoping I get the chance to work with them again soon. Check out the article online at backcountry cabins or, better yet, go out and buy a copy of the magazine!

Renovation and Relaxation

The Rupert house reno is nearly finished - or at least as finished as it's going to be before the baby arrives - and, for the first time since December 20 or thereabouts, I'm sitting at an actual desk to work. Bliss. I even have my record player and some records here, an indulgence that gives me much pleasure. We live on Jamaica Avenue, so I've tried to increase my reggae intake as much as possible.

Since my last post, I've barely written a word, my hands instead being used for construction and as a result, they're thoroughly battered and calloused. But I did sneak in a couple of articles, writing with the laptop on my lap amidst a chaos of power tools, half-demolished walls and drywall dust: one for a publication called Northword about Shames Mountain, the closest ski hill to Prince Rupert, and a couple for Monday Mag in Victoria. Check them out in my archive.