Research your criminals

Last night I attended a talk by Peter James, "Britain's #1 bestselling crime author," at the offices of HarperCollins Canada. It was, appropriately, a dark and stormy night, which we had a great view of from the floor-to-ceiling windows in HCC's fabulous 20th-storey offices.

James spoke to an intimate audience of crime writers and fans about his writing process, his sources of inspiration, and the effect on his psyche of writing about gory murders all day. (Apparently the antidote is vodka martinis.)

To add realism to his stories, James has been cultivating relationships with police, criminals, and victims for decades. He goes out on patrol, witnesses arrests, hangs out in jails...the whole bit.

While not all authors have the luxury of totally immersing themselves in the world of their stories, I think any author could benefit from the general lesson of seeking inspiration through research. So often in manuscripts I find that the very best writing comes from what the author knows best, that the most developed characters and settings are the ones that are clear stand-ins from the author's life experience, and that the characters and plot points that are the most "made up" are the haziest, even if the author means them to be interesting and important.

The best thing about this is that it's an infallible excuse for field trips! So go feed into that author stereotype thing where you get to do all kinds of weird, fun things because it's "research for your book." I think I am going to start researching a book about a horseback-riding ballerina who hangs out in tea shops reading her brand-new stack of British crime thrillers now.

Also, he's totally talking to me in this picture. I am Britain's #1 crime author by association.

Blog revivalism

Oh, hello!

I've been off running about for the past year, pursuing a graduate certificate in book and magazine publishing in Toronto. That's all done now, which in theory makes me an accredited publishing professional, which is a lovely thing to be!

I've learned a lot about the publishing industry in the past year, and I'm looking forward to taking that out into the world now. At the moment I am freelancing and job-hunting, and that is what I will be blogging about. Soon.

Back to School

It's been a busy couple of weeks! I discovered a graduate certificate program in Book and Magazine Publishing through Centennial College in Toronto. This is one of just a couple good publishing programs offered in Canada, and it's very well established and respected. How I'd managed to miss hearing about it for so long is beyond me.

So I packed up a few things and headed down to Toronto - a good friend here was lovely enough to let me house-sit her gorgeous downtown apartment while she was away over the last two weeks, so I've had a chance to unwind and get to know the city a little bit before school is full swing!

I was a (very) late applicant - I had my entrance interview this past Friday, and classes start tomorrow. But I got in! Apparently they have over 200 applicants for just over 60 spots, so I'm thrilled to have squeezed in at such late notice.

So, this is going to be exciting! I will review lots of things, and learn lots more new things. I'll get to do an industry internship, and participate in putting out a magazine. Happily, the editing classes are going with Chicago style, so at least I'll have a head start there!

Business-wise, this means that I won't be taking on new clients for a while. There's a month from mid-December to mid-January where I might be able to squeeze in some projects, but other than that I'm going to keep my slate clear so I can concentrate on school.

It's very strange to be a student again, but I'm looking forward to it. If you happen to know anything fun to do in Toronto, or better yet, if you have information that could lead to me having an apartment anytime soon, let me know!  I probably won't be updating this blog during the school year - though maybe I'll put up a few tidbits if I learn anything interesting! Thank you for reading, and feel free to keep in touch! I'd love to hear how everyone's projects are going.