The Platinum Ticket by David Beynon

The Platinum Ticket by David Beynon
Shortlisted for The Terry Pratchett Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now First Novel Prize

Saturday 1 March 2008

An End, a workshop and another workshop

I officially finished with the display company on Monday Feb 25th, however I was in Toronto yesterday for a video conference with California to make sure that a certain very cool display project was transitioned properly (It was). I was amazed at how far video conferencing technology has come. The last one I was involved with was several years ago and the video was choppy and the sound quality was none too good. Yesterday it was as smooth as a Dick Tracey Video Phone. One thing that was disheartening after this tough winter we've been enjoying was that through the window in the background I could see the glorious snow-free weather of Southern California. What made it worse was that there was yet another snowstorm blowing outside and by the time I finished the meeting the streets of Toronto were snow covered and jammed with traffic. It took me three and one half hours to get home and the only comfort I had throughout the white knuckle drive was that this would be my last trip into the city this winter.

The fiction writing workshop met again this week. Last weeks assignment was to describe objects through fresh perspectives. My effort can has been posted at my Fiction Notebook and the piece can be accessed at this link.

Today I attended a storytelling workshop in Guelph. It was a great experience. A fantastically diverse group of people attended and each brought a unique voice to the day. We were exposed to a range of folklore stories from various cultures and each of us was given a story to tell. Mine was Orion and the Scorpion. It was interesting to look at the differences between spoken and written words and how what works for one does not always work for the other.

All in all, a busy week. As I move forward into a search for a job that will afford me time to write the future promises to be busier still...