Last week was very busy and I'm still recovering. You go like crazy for a week or so and tehn eventually the adrenalin runs out and you kind of crash. But it's fun while it lasts.

Anyway, on Wednesday night, I attended The Word Guild Awards Gala in Mississauga, where I received three Canadian Christian Writing Awards. Here is part of the press release:

June 18, 2009
For immediate release
 
NEWCOMERS AND VETERANS TOP THE WORD GUILD 2009 AWARDS
 
National writing awards highlight talents of Canadian authors, including poverty activists and a rugby-playing romance novelist

Toronto—A novel set during the Roman Empire and a series of articles from the anthology Hot Apple Cider were the most awarded publications at Th e Word Guild Canadian Christian Writing Awards this year. Awards were given in 30 independently judged categories, including non-fiction books, novels, articles, columns and poems published during 2008.

Read the rest of the press release here:

The picture above is of Herbie Kuhn, the Air Canada voice of the Toronto Raptors and a passionate reader, who  emceed the Awards Gala for the second year.

My awards:
Article—General Readership (articles that explain or encourage faith for mainstream readers)
Winner: N. J. Lindquist of Markham, Ont. for “The Diamond Ring” (Hot Apple Cider Anthology)

Article—Inspirational/Devotional
Winner: N. J. Lindquist of Markham, Ont. for “The Diamond Ring” (Hot Apple Cider Anthology)
Award of Merit: N. J. Lindquist of Markham, Ont. for “My Letter to the Editor” (Hot Apple Cider Anthology)

The picture to the right is of me receiving the Award for Inspirational/Devotional article from the representative from FaithLife Financial, the sponsor of that award.

Two other articles from Hot Apple Cider (by Angelina Fast-Vlaar and Eleanor Shepherd) also won awards. I edited both of them, so that made me feel doubly happy.  

The complete list of winners is here.

More pictures at http://hotapplecider.ca  

Photographer:  Audrey Tavares

Canadian Christian writer · Hot Apple Cider · TWG awards

I’ve been working hard each day this week to find time to do a little work on my writing, even if it’s just 15 minutes a day. Doesn’t matter what I work on as long as I do something!

Tonight, I started thinking about my next Manziuk and Ryan Mystery. I know what the setting is (decided on that about 10 years ago, and refined it recently :0 ) and I know who the characters are, more or less. But I didn’t know who the murder victim is or what the catalytic event that starts the story is or who the murderer is. Until tonight.

Have you ever watched a flower bud open in fast action? Something that usually takes a couple of days to happen is sped up so you see it all in only seconds. That’s what happened to me.

As I looked at my characters and tried to think who the victim should be, I suddenly realized that I needed one more character – and that person would be the victim.  And then, in mere seconds, the entire story, from beginning to end, unfurled in my mind and I saw it all. I know the opening of the book and who the victim is and why and which of the other characters has a motive… Very cool! 

Now all I have to do it write it.

Problem is, at 15 minutes a day, it might take a while. I may have to find a bit more time. I have to write it to find out who actually did it.

getting an idea · next Manziuk and Ryan mystery · writing a novel

Unfortunately, the way it works is that when there are urgent things needing doing for The Word Guild, my own writing gets sadly neglected – including this site. I’ve actually been working like mad on Write! Canada and on starting a new site for The Word Guild Awards.

But I was reminded last night that I ought to mention that I have been shortlisted for three awards. well, two stories. Both of them from Hot Apple Cider. "The Diamond Ring" is shortlisted for the General Readership article, along with three others. And both it and "My Letter to the Editor" are shortlisted for Inspirational/Devotional article:

Article—General Readership
Cynthia d’Entremont of Lakeview, N.S. for “An Unexpected Gift” (A Maritime Christmas: New Stories and Memories of the Season Anthology)
Angelina Fast-Vlaar of St. Catharines, Ont. for “It Was Then That I Carried You” (Hot Apple Cider Anthology)
N. J. Lindquist of Markham, Ont. for “The Diamond Ring” (Hot Apple Cider Anthology)
Colleen Taylor of Duval, Sask. for “Arlington Beach Camp and Conference Centre: a very special place” (Last Mountain Times)
Colleen Taylor of Duval, Sask. for “Newschool Arts: so much more than pottery” (Last Mountain Times)

Article—Inspirational/Devotional
N. J. Lindquist of Markham, Ont. for “My Letter to the Editor” (Hot Apple Cider Anthology)
N. J. Lindquist of Markham, Ont. for “The Diamond Ring” (Hot Apple Cider Anthology)
Rose McCormick Brandon of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. for “Discouraged” (Today’s Pentecostal Evangel)

Of course, I edited Angie’s story in Hot Apple Cider, so that’s cool. I think a couple of other pieces from Hot Apple Cider are also up for awards.

And Colleen Taylor’s article on Arlington Beach Camp and Conference Centre brings back memories. I was born in Regina and lived there for a number of years after I was married. (My husband is from Swift Current). We lived at Arlington Beach Camp the first summer after we were married, looking after the camp store and the grounds. Les also served as life guard. And the following summer we directed a camp for junior highs.A long time ago…

Check out the complete list of finalists for these awards, as well as the Best New Canadian Author Award finalists and the press release for the 2009 Leslie K. Tarr Award winner, Ray Wiseman.

The Word Guild Awards Gala on June 17th will be held at World Vision headquarters in Mississauga. It’s open to the public. With Herbie Kuhn (the Air Canada voice of the Toronto Raptors) as emcee, it’s guaranteed to be a great evening.

June 17, 2009: World Vision headquarters, 1 World Drive, Mississauga. For tickets call Jeanette Duncan at 519-886-4196.

Canadian Christian Writing Awards · Herbie Kuhn · Hot Apple Cider · N. J. Lindquist · The Word Guild Awards

Some days it feels as if I’m being eaten alive by a million little mosquitoes. I look at my to-do list of maybe 20 items, and I try to work through them. But at the end of the day, my list is always longer, instead of shorter! None of the items that have been added are usually that huge, but each one seems to take just a little bit of my blood out and leave me tired, frustrated, and wondering where I went wrong. Okay, that’s my explanation for not posting here recently. 

And now, I will respond to a few questions I’ve been asked:

Dave asked about finding a Christian bookstore near Richmond Hill, Ontario.

The best online lists of Christian bookstores in Canada I’m aware of is that of David C. Cook Distribution. You can find it here: http://davidccook.ca/retailers.asp

Or that of Word Alive Distributors, which is here.

Several people have asked me what I’m working on (as a writer, that is).

The short answer, not much. The longer answer, I’m actually trying to put my writing first. Hoping to write something each day. Hoping to make it a habit. But the reality is that until Write! Canada is history, I likely won’t get any writing done. My writing to do list includes trying to complete my edit of Princess Persnickety and figuring out what to do with it re publishing (find an agent who loves children’s fantasy, look for a publisher, etc.) I’m also trying to work on an adult contemporary novel called Transforming Jesse Owen Tucker which I started writing about 15 years ago, I think. One thing you can say for me is that I don’t give up on anything easily. It’s probably 1/3 written. I’m hoping to finish it this summer. I’m also getting ready to put a lot of my writing workshops into some form of book, ebook, audio, video, etc. over the summer.And then I have two mysteries, 2 non-fiction books, a memoir, a new teen nvoel, and a host of other things I’ve already begun. Sigh.

Where am I speaking?

Right now, I’m trying to figure out what I want to do in the fall and 2010, so I’m sort of "on hold." 

I did speak recently for a Unionville Women’s Group of 100 or so, and that went very well. My talk was based on my story "The Diamond Ring" in Hot Apple Cider. That story, by the way, is shortlisted for two awards in The Word Guild Canadian Christian Writing Awards. My other story in Hot Apple Cider, "My Letter to the Editor," is also shortlisted for an award. If you’re interested in supporting Canadian writers, do consider coming to the Awards Gala June 17th. It’s open to tbe public.

And of course, I’ll be at Write! Canada (I am the co-director). I’ll be teaching and facilitating, with 4 other people, the continuing class, "Everything You Need to Know about Publishing a Book in Canada." I’ll also be teaching a workshop on writing fiction and moderating a panel on creating a platform. Yep, looks as though I’ll be busy.

Why do I  look different?

Because over the winter, I let my hair go au naturelle, and this is the result. I hated putting chemicals on my head and only started because it looked so bad when I started going grey in my 40’s (still had long hair and it came in in streaks). But now I am very happy to be "me."

If you have any other questions, on any topic, feel free to ask here.

list of Canadian Christian bookstores