Rae Roy

November is nearly upon me. This means National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). This means 30 days where I attempt to write 50,000 words while working 9 to 5, attending several martial arts seminars and classes in preparation for December grading, and try to keep up with other life things. I've read it's important to reward oneself, so on my list is: 1. A deck of Tarot cards. 2. ??? 3. Digital bunny ears. (Might wait for a sale) 4. A "Best Brass" trumpet mute. So I might drop off the planet for many people this month. I'll be slow to answer texts and I'm going to avoid Facebook. I will tweet the odd thing that will update Facebook for me, but my goal this month is to see how much I can do in 30 days if I cut down my social media time and really focus on my writing. I've been looking forward to starting this new story. It's been hard to resist starting ahead of the November 1st start date. I worry that I will finally be allowed to write and the words w...

I arrived at Can-Con full of excitement and wonder. Unlike many other cons in Ottawa, I knew a fair amount of the attendees and the panelists, so it felt exactly like I belonged. The first panel I had wanted to attend was to be a debate between two Ottawa-area authors on whether short-fiction or novels are better. The panel was unfortunately canceled as one panelist was delayed, so I instead attended the panel on Medical Science Fiction and Biological Engineering, which was moderated by Julie Czerneda,  presented by Alison Sinclair  and Agnes Cadieux . There were discussions on things like stem cells and how they may test on human stem cells eventually rather than on mice or people. The potential implications of getting your own genome scanned for diseases you are predisposed to developing was another topic. There was speculation that since technology is becoming cleaner than anything biological and given that humans are already beginning to implant their bodies with birth control and ...

So I've been wanting an asian room divider, but not wanting to pay $500+ for it. I was drawn to Kijiji this morning to search for this. I stumbled on one that was hand-painted and I snagged it for $175. The photos don't even do it justice. The Japanese figures on it are actually raised, which adds texture to this already beautiful piece that will be my headboard once my friend helps me take it out of my car and I clean it up a bit. The lady who owned it has a cat, so I need to get rid of any lingering catness. I'm super excited :) This has been one of those homeowner moments. Happy Friday! Psst... 8 days to NaNoWriMo!!!!! Ciao, R~

I'm still working on my post on how I felt about my first Can-Con, but this one feels more important. Yesterday was a terrible day in our nation's capital. I'm upset that people I know were so close to the situation on parliament hill as it was unfolding, that they could've been harmed and I could've been reading about a loved one. I'm not scared for my life as an Ottawa resident. I feel like the response was quick and the situation didn't drag on for days unlike the incident in Moncton earlier this same year. It annoyed me to read people tweeting that they thought it took too long for police to respond to the scene, though I get that they were scared. Everyone just wanted the shooting to stop and to know what was going on. Having worked at a police station, I can say that officers aren't always 100% ready for a situation of that magnitude. Some may have been eating lunch, been on their sanctioned break, been intaking someone for another crime, been in ...

The list of panels I planned on going to was altered slightly based on panel cancellations and me changing my mind. Here is the list I went to with a few takeaways from each: Medical Science Fiction & Biological Engineering [ Alison Sinclair , Julie Czerneda , Agnes Cadieux] - Life will find a way. - Some efforts to improve things in the world don’t want publicity. How to Get Traditionally Published [ Max Turner , Matt Moore , Matthew Johnson , Alison Sinclair, Julie Czerneda] - Avoid writing purply prose (over-using adjectives). - Stay away from people like book coaches who just want to take advantage of you. Check out sites like Writer Beware. - 35,100 words is often where it gets annoying to write. RPGs: How the Industry has Changed, Open Gaming Licenses and Breaking in [ Geoff Gander , Alice Black ] - You can’t copyright a game system. - 4 Styles: 1. Event Based 2. Location Based 3. Story Based 4. Crisis Management - The world is still happening when characters aren’t there,...