New Home!

3. The New French Hacker Underground – This doesn’t have anything to do with writing. Instead, it is about a group of artist-hackers that break into Paris’s lost treasures to restore them.

4. Need motivation to start or keep writing? Here are 9 tips.

5. Did you know that even after T. S. Eliot published his most famous works, Prufrock and The Waste Land, that he continued to hold down his day job at at bank? It’s true.

Inspiration Monday: John Yau

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Victoria Musgrave

Only half the story is real. The rest is necessary.

~ John Yau

Inspiration Monday: Anais Nin

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Victoria Musgrave

My ideas, usually come not at my desk writing, but n the midst of living.

~ Anais Nin

Five Things Friday: Paper vs. Digital

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Victoria Musgrave

The debate about paper books versus digital books continues. In my post earlier this week, I thought that the argument is rather moot. I don’t think it is necessarily a case of one over the other. Personally, I use my iPad to read ebooks or or content that is exclusively online and still have a sizeable paper library of fiction and non-fiction books – still my favourite way to really enjoy thought-provoking works.

1. The Power of Paper in a Digital Era – Scholars have learned so much about writer’s through their collected papers and you have to wonder what will be lost when writers only work in digital, not keeping each draft of a work.

2. Going West by Maurice Gee – another fabulous book trailer/video produced by the New Zealand Book Council for a book originally published in 1994 (found via Brainpicking.org).

3. An hilarious cartoon about the future library.

4. It’s a Book by Lane Smith – another funny book trailer that celebrates the magic of paper books.

5. Love Downton Abbey (PBS) but want to read novels set during the same time period? Russell Smith provides several excellent options, including The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. The movie is also excellent.

I want it to feel…

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Victoria Musgrave

Danielle LaPorte has launched The Burning Question series over on her blog and she is inviting others to answer the question – “How do you want it all to feel?” Here is my response:

I want my writing to flow softly from my pen like a black velvet ribbon that wraps itself gently around the reader.

I want my mind to feel like a calm lake.

I want my ideas to feel like that burst you get from biting into a Starburst candy.

I want my friendships to feel like a mug of hot cocoa.

I want my love to feel like the purr of my cat.

How do you want it to feel?

Happy Birthday Charles Dickens!

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Victoria Musgrave

Charles Dickens House Museum, London UK

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

~ A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens turned 200 years old today. I was first introduced to Dickens by my Grade 12 English teacher Mr. Sutton. My OAC English teacher Mr. Durant helped feed my new passion for Charles Dickens by allowing me to do my independent study project on Dickens, even lending me some Dickens books from his own collection. Dickens continues to be one of my favourite writers, so, of course, I visited the Dickens House Museum in London when I visited in 2010.

Fantastic Flying Books

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Victoria Musgrave

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo. (found via Strand Books).

I think the whole traditional books versus e-books is rather moot. E-books are happening whether Jonathan Franzen likes it or not, although flying Kindles and iPads wouldn’t be as magical.

Inspiration Monday – David Hume

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Victoria Musgrave

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

~ David Hume (via @heididurrow and @urrealism)

Writer In Progress

Dispatches from a writerly life