Check out my latest post on YorkScene.com – “Forget Professionalism, Remember Writing” – where I reflect on writing as a business venture, where each post becomes another page in your portfolio. This view is helpful and oftentimes necessary when art becomes public, but it can also be creatively crippling.
This YorkScene post is hopefully the first in a series of similar pieces written “Stream of Consciousness” style reflecting on the nature of writing. As always, please comment and review. Have you had a similar experience with writing? How do you balance the sometimes slapdash nature of creative inspiration with the methodical, meticulate needs of editing and reviewing? Let me know either on YorkScene or MiaHerrera.com.
This Thursday, November 10, I will be attending the panel discussion, Buy, Sell, Trade? The Currency of Identity, hosted by Diaspora Dialogues and the Harbourfront Centre.
The event features writers Priscilla Uppal, Cherie Dimaline and Kate Taylor, and actor and playwright Ins Choi. The four will explore identity and representation issues, while audience members contribute one-word “identifiers” that will be used to build characters and discuss storytelling challenges.
The event starts at 7pm in the Harbourfront Centre’s Studio Theatre. Hope to see you there!
Vito Marchese, event host and owner of Whiteboard Studio, and I
On October 19, I attended The Networker’s 3rd Distillery Business Networking event at Tappo Restaurant and Wine Bar.
An evening of business networking held in open format, the Business Networking event was a night of amazing hors d’ouevres (salmon + cucumber = AMAZING), great drinks, and fantastic people.
The event was a huge success with over 100 participants. It was my first experience at a networking event, and it felt a bit like speed dating for professionals (there were plenty of quick “Hi, Hello, this is what I do” speeches before moving to another), but I found my groove eventually. It was interesting to find myself among so many people in Finance and Real Estate, and I did get a few surprised looks when I introduced myself as a Writer, but I am assured in the fact that if I need an Accountant or Agent I will find myself in good hands.
The next Networker event will be next year in York Region – the 1st Annual MEGA Networking Event. Held at the Richmond Hill Country Club, the event will feature appetizers, drinks, a host and MC, and door prizes and draws. Be sure to buy your tickets now to avail of the early bird prize.
Curtis, Sam, Vito, myself and Rajvir - YorkScene Bloggers represent! Haha
Random Tips from a Networking Newbie:
- Wear a blazer with two pockets – one to keep your business cards to hand out, another to keep the business cards people hand you. Do not mix these two pockets up.
- Try all appetizers. They are generally delicious. If the salmon and cucumber apps appear, it is your lucky day.
- If you’re at Tappos, ask for a red wine sangria. It is delicious! If you are anywhere else, ask for any sort of wine sangria, which is a never-fail treat for your taste buds.
- Try to attend a networking event geared towards your profession. If you’re down for something fun and new, though, attend one for a completely different industry and have fun meeting new people with different perspectives
Last year I had the pleasure of interviewing Toronto’s indie game developer and founder of Spooky Squid Games, Miguel Sternberg. Miguel gave me insight into Toronto’s flourishing indie game community and the tight-knit world of socials and workshops offered by awesome organizations like the Hand Eye Society.
Recently, I was delighted to hear of Spooky Squid Games’s upcoming Xbox Live Indie Game, They Bleed Pixels. Featuring a distinct visual style that blends pixel art with paper and ink textures, They Bleed Pixels tells the story of a young girl haunted by a mysterious book and her violent Lovecraftian nightmares. The game features a robust one button combat system and a mid-level save system that requires players to pull off stylish kills in order to earn checkpoints.
They Bleed Pixels, on top of being an awesome game all on its own, features guest levels created by four other Toronto indie developers: Starfall, Sissies Magical Ponycorn Adventures, exp., and Techno Ninja.
“We’re big fans of community collaboration and wanted to give some of the talented folks we know chance to play in our world,” said Miguel Sternberg. “This is the first of two secret collaborative projects we’ve been cooking up – folks will have to wait till the release date announcement to learn about the second one.”
I strongly recommend everyone to check out They Bleed Pixels for some good fun when it is released later this year.
Last Tuesday, July 26, I attended the Diaspora Dialogues Mentorship Launch Party and met with the organizers, mentors and other mentees involved in this year’s program. We had a beautiful evening of talk, food, and white wine sangria (mmm!) on the patio of L’Espresso.
Among those that I met, I was also able to acquaint myself with my mentor, Olive Senior, and the other writers being mentored by her. Aside from TWUC, I haven’t had the opportunity to attend a writing event in a while. It felt great to discuss writing with a group of people who were as passionate about the art as me. There’s something amazing about being able to talk about character, plot, and the horrifying revision process with people who don’t think you’re a complete geek when you get excited about these things.
Though I didn’t know it was possible, the Diaspora Dialogues Mentorship Launch made me even more excited for this year’s program. My peers are an amazing group of writers from a variety of backgrounds. I am already on my first round of revisions with Olive, and can’t wait for the rest of the season.
Just a heads up for other aspiring young writers, Diaspora Dialogues has released a call for submissions for a brand new youth (ages 16-25) mentoring program. Creative non-fiction, short stories, or poetry will be accepted up until September 30, after which 6-10 young writers will be selected through an adjudicated process.
P.S. I still get a schoolgirl thrill when I see “Writer” on any part of my name tags!
It was only a couple of months ago that I wrote about Keep Toronto Reading – an article that referenced the great influence Diaspora Dialogues had on me. This month, and three years after my first encounter with the organization, Diaspora Dialogues has offered me yet another opportunity: acceptance into their 2011 mentorship program. I’m ecstatic. Mentorship begins this month (perfectly scheduled at the end of my Humber program) and goes until September. At the end of the program, I will have the opportunity to submit my work to TOK for publication, as well as read at a Diaspora Dialogues event (eek! Public speaking!).
Whenever opportunities like this come around – a scholarship, a mentorship, a publication – I am always overjoyed and overwhelmed with the mind-boggling idea that someone else has seen value in my work. In a way, it’s validation for all the long nights and early mornings, and an extra push towards my goal. On top of anything else, I am most appreciative of this – of the extra encouragement and the opportunity to better my craft.
I am so appreciative of this opportunity and excited to start working with my mentor, Olive Senior. My submission, “Next Time,” is a short story pulled from the novel I am currently working on. I am excited to see how it will evolve under scrutiny and guidance.
Thank you, Diaspora Dialogues! Yet again, you’ve made all the difference.
On Friday, May 27 I was one of the lucky students from the Humber School for Writers to attend the Writers Union of Canada’s Annual General Meeting.
I live-Tweeted the panels I attended, so feel free to check those out on my Twitter account. Other than that, following is a brief recap of the day.
Having been under the weather most of the week and knowing absolutely no one at the conference, I woke up feeling sick and apprehensive to attend. Lucky for me, I expressed these feelings on Twitter and was met with welcoming tweets from others like Anita Daher and Nicole McGill.
I’m glad I didn’t let my shyness get the best of me. The day was fun and educational. Below is a recap of what I learned:
Look what I found in the mail today! I must admit, the thick paper and gold embossed seal make me feel a bit better about the past four months of school/work/business-juggling torture.
August 3rd, 2009 marked a memorable occasion: The day Penguin acknowledged me on Twitter. At the time, being acknowledged by Penguin on Twitter was like shaking a celebrity’s hand for me. It gave me a euphoric, giddy high. Over the past couple of years, there have been a few other times where I have had the same exciting feeling of going out in the world and rubbing shoulders with people I admire.
I received a similar thrill a couple of weeks ago when I visited Diaspora Dialogue’s website. I’ve been an avid follower of this Toronto-based arts organization since I happened upon it a couple of years ago. Imagine my surprise when I visited their site and saw they linked to one of my YorkScene articles. I was shocked and giddy. I print-screened it and saved it. It made my day.
How awesome is it to admire an organization for so long, only to find your name on the top of their homepage one day? Very awesome!
To read the YorkScene article, check it out here. The article also appears on Live in Limbo and Nerd Girl Pinups, so if you’re into Ontario talent or like books as much as hot chicks who dig Star Wars, check the article out on those platforms, too!