Ravens' View

Welcome to my blog

 

For my Short Stories, go here.

Hi - I'm Ravens. This blog may seem a little unfocused, but then so am I - I'm a writer, photographer, trombonist, grandfather, and promoter of graffiti as an art form and a community change agent. You can subscribe to my posts, over on the right hand panel, via RSS feed or emails, or follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

I retired a few years ago and quickly overfilled my days - no idea how I found the time to work before. A few years ago I moved downtown to the Parkdale/Hintonburg area, and love it. No house to maintain, walk everywhere, cafes, groceries, beer store, library, even a "local" nearby. Nice area to explore on foot with my camera, or as a base to explore further afield on my bike. 

I'm a writer now - new career. I'd written off and on over the years, but in 2010 decided to try the NaNoWriMo writing challenge. Thirty days (November) to write at least 50,000 words - first draft only. I met the challenge, and repeated it in 2011, then 2012, so now I have three drafts in edit mode. And - a publisher interested. I also started writing more short stories last year, inspired by Flash Fiction challenges from sites like Terrible Minds and Flash Fiction Friday. These give a prompt - such as a phrase, openng line, photo, or genre - a limit of usually 800-1200 words, and less than a week to write in. A great way to practice and expand your skills and - if you want - get some feedback. Here's a link to my stories . I've done almost 80 so far, posted mainly to this blog and a few newsletters. Some of them are about some Grimm's Fairy Tale characters, following their lives in between stories, or when contracted out to new tales. I've even published a story online, in the Pittsburg Flash Fiction Gazette, for money! I've joined several writer related groups, including ROW80. This is an online writers group where you set daily objectives, and track and share with others. Peer pressure works! I follow many writer/editor blogs, read about writing, dream about writing - it's my passion! Next steps are to finish up my drafts, do another novel in November, and pull some of my stories together into a collection. And of course - publish!! 

ROW80-2 check in - 06/16 - Father's Day

I had a biological father that I never met, never contacted, and knew little about. I had a step-father that I did meet, that I spent some ten years with, but never really got to know. He was quite reserved, even with his own children. Do two partial father's make a father?

Not for me.

I was better off than my siblings, though, as I had grandparents that doted on me, especially my grandfather, OB. He was the role model that took me fishing and hunting, that gave me a moral sense, that gave me hugs, that told me stories, that shared his sense of humour. He was 55 when I was born, so I didn't get a lot of rough-housing or sports training, but I still look back on my years with him with fondness. 

Happy Father's Day OB.

BTW - photo is him with my mother, when his Richelieu Club ran a trip tp Europe.

 

Status for this check in:

• Publishing - none - novel sent to Beta-readers, waiting for feedback by end of week. Then will incorporate that, and then send to editor/publisher for his changes. Once those are in he is sending to a copy editor.In the meantime, nice to NOT have to worry about editing. 
• Writing 
  • This ROW80 check in.
  • Attended a workshop on writing about mothers - very interesting. Assignment is now to mull over what we learned, and in 2 weeks do 2000 words on her. 
• Other
  • Lunches and visits with friends and family - things that were neglected a bit while editing.

ROW80-2 check in - 06/12 - Done, for now

June 13 - OK - NOW I'm done editing. I decided to do one more quick look yesterday after all my cut and pasting was done and I started finding typos, double words, missing words - yikes. So I spent the day on that, but was finally able to send this revision of to my editor/publisher as well as two Beta readers.
Now I don't have to worry about getting my editing done, I just have to worry about what changes might be proposed! ;-) 
All for the better though, that's why these other people are part of the process. 
And now? Going to a workshop this afternoon - A Mother's Story - book reading next Monday and - oh yes - unpack lots of boxes!

It's been a busy couple of months, what with having to find a place, pack, move, unpack (a bit) and edit. Now that I feel like I can pause and breath I think I'll just dabble in a few things before this round ends on June 20.

ROW80-2 check in - 05/29 - up and running

OK - highspeed connected, PC up and running, bed set up, and I've found enough clothes and kitchen stuff to survive for now. I'm sorting as I unpack, into either keep, charity, or trash. Yes - I should have done it last time but, well, I didn't. New place is nice, bigger than the old one yet less storage space - especially in the kitchen. But, the kitchen is huge, so I'll be getting some sort of microwave stand and/or kitchen island. Eventually. 

I did a short story today for last week's Flash Fiction Friday prompt. It's been a great site, but is unfortunately closing down. I loved the variety of prompts it had, and will miss it. I've started into my editing again for my novel too, and have a reading from it June 17th.

Status since last week:

• editing - just started up again today. Reviewing where I'm at so I can do a timeline (tomorrow?) for this phase, and set a target for publishing.
• writing - did another Flash. 
• other - finished packing, moved, unpacked a bit, went to band practice. 

 

Ave atque vale

This is for the final prompt on the site Flash Fiction Friday. From the site:

Through many countries and over many seas
I have come, Brother, to these melancholy rites,
to show this final honour to the dead,
and speak (to what purpose?) to your silent ashes,
since now fate takes you, even you, from me.
Oh, Brother, ripped away from me so cruelly,
now at least take these last offerings, blessed
by the tradition of our parents, gifts to the dead.
Accept, by custom, what a brother’s tears drown,
and, for eternity, Brother, ‘Hail and Farewell’. 

 The challenge asked for a story with a goodbye, in a crime fiction genre, 1300 words or less. I did another 'chunk' from an idea for a novel about a portal to another world. I've been using some flash fiction's to explore this story idea - they are great for that. Mine is just under 1200 words.