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<title>Steven Mayoff RSS Feed</title><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/index.html</link><description>New Posts from Steven Mayoff</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 2009 Steven Mayoff</dc:rights><dc:date>2010-07-09T22:21:51-03:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:08:25 -0300</lastBuildDate><item><title>The Dim Sum of Its Parts</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><dc:date>2010-07-09T22:21:51-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/6040bca219a038f0c0daa3c40e06d6cd-34.html#unique-entry-id-34</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/6040bca219a038f0c0daa3c40e06d6cd-34.html#unique-entry-id-34</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In 2009 I won the WildSound.ca One Page Screenplay Contest where the prize was having my script turned into a short film. &nbsp;  They did one better and made two films and now you get to vote which film is better. &nbsp;  Go to WildCard Pictures&nbsp;to watch both films and cast your vote.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Malahat Review</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2010-01-22T13:59:05-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/7082a7f8315f90e966b8b485e160c8c8-33.html#unique-entry-id-33</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/7082a7f8315f90e966b8b485e160c8c8-33.html#unique-entry-id-33</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Here&rsquo;s a review of Fatted Calf Blues from the Winter 2010 of The Malahat Review.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Beauty To Its Beholder&#xa;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Dorian</category><dc:date>2009-08-23T15:10:04-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/d4923068bf6f497bed1ebda0a65f0216-32.html#unique-entry-id-32</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/d4923068bf6f497bed1ebda0a65f0216-32.html#unique-entry-id-32</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[At one time there was even a New York producer interested in the show (due to the success of a show Ted had created with Richard Greenblatt called 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, which played off-Broadway and in London's West End).


...A web site  was created by our friend, Stephen Caswell, who also put together a CD (comprised of some of the McClear sessions and live performances), which can be purchased on CD Baby.&nbsp;


...Ten years is certainly enough time to look at a piece of work with "fresh eyes" and it was very clear to me what I needed to do to streamline the script so that every song pushes the narrative forward. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Back In The Saddle&#xa;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><category>Writing Life</category><dc:date>2009-08-13T15:14:46-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/1489fdf0b9e671043aa6453211f9bdc6-31.html#unique-entry-id-31</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/1489fdf0b9e671043aa6453211f9bdc6-31.html#unique-entry-id-31</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[This year a pal of mine, Liza (or just Za, whom I met at the Seawords workshop at Brackley Beach here on PEI last year) was driving there and taking the ferry to boot (Yay!) ,so I offered to help out with gas and we rode together. &nbsp;

...He actually remembered me from last time, remembered one of the stories we worked on then, and even remembered (much to my embarrassment) that I had inadvertently commented (half-jokingly) that he had &ldquo;control issues&rdquo; with his characters. &nbsp;

...When I got back home it was time to get down to brass tacks and finish my novel so I could get it to my agent before the end of her reading period (after which she is very busy). &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Summer Camp For Writers&#xa;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-06-28T20:37:00-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/247629741196048b423908b42bf59d08-30.html#unique-entry-id-30</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/247629741196048b423908b42bf59d08-30.html#unique-entry-id-30</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When I wrote about my time in Hamilton I neglected to mention that I stayed for two nights at the Inchbury Inn, which is a wonderful bed & breakfast run by Doug and Solange Trudel. &nbsp;  Those of you who read this blog know that I tend to stay at B&Bs when I'm traveling and have written about many of the terrific places I've stayed at. &nbsp;

...Writing, being the solitary activity that it is, means spending most of the year holed up in my office, so it is always refreshing to meet up with other like-minded souls and share our similar obsessions. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>End of the Tour&#xa;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-06-13T00:17:52-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/fc69c6f206c808a14418ab8d99f3e53d-29.html#unique-entry-id-29</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/fc69c6f206c808a14418ab8d99f3e53d-29.html#unique-entry-id-29</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[That evening I was one of three writers on the bill for the Pivot Reading series, which is held every two weeks at the Press Club on 850 Dundas Street West in Toronto. &nbsp;

...It is a first person narrative of a stalker waiting in a phone booth across the street from the girl of his dreams and I felt almost like I was improvising the text as I slowly found his voice: erratic and obsessed by the object of his desire.


...Jaffe, put together an anthology called From Sinai To The Shtetl And Beyond: Where Is Home For The Jewish Writer?, which was also the theme of a panel discussion on Saturday afternoon as well as the running theme of the whole festival. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Long and the Short of It&#xa;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-06-01T18:02:56-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/0bfad0bff740480247c9d8e63d8b9058-28.html#unique-entry-id-28</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/0bfad0bff740480247c9d8e63d8b9058-28.html#unique-entry-id-28</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I happened to be looking at the web site for the Governor General's Awards for Literature to see when the submission deadline is (not that I don't trust my publisher to keep up on these things, but there is nothing wrong with a writer taking a healthy interest as well.). &nbsp;  After a little navigating I happened to find the list of books&nbsp;that have been submitted&nbsp;(just press the "GO"button) &nbsp;and there was Fatted Calf Blues near the bottom of the Fiction Category (the list is in alphabetical order by publisher).


...It's a long list and there are books from the big houses and small indies alike, first time authors like myself and veterans of the literary wars with a number of titles under their belts -- all of us on what seems to be an even playing field. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>A Boy From Away Comes Home</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Family</category><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-05-20T10:06:37-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/c362c03bf8732ecb6aa861fc4015345f-27.html#unique-entry-id-27</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/c362c03bf8732ecb6aa861fc4015345f-27.html#unique-entry-id-27</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It was a cold and windy day when my sister and I arrived in our nation's capitol and we weren't exactly sure where we were going, so we took a bus from the train station and got off where we thought we were supposed to. &nbsp;

...After thirty minutes passed and it was clear the reading was a bust, my sister and I decided to cut our losses by going to the National Gallery, which we enjoyed immensely, before catching the train back to Montreal. &nbsp;

...After the reading a woman came up to me to ask about a character mentioned in the story, a dance teacher named Madame Voronov, and asked if she was modeled on a woman of the same name who had taught at the National Theatre School.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Montreal Book Launch</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Family</category><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-05-06T12:17:28-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/460e8bebbe6aa2a62cf4336a66360155-26.html#unique-entry-id-26</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/460e8bebbe6aa2a62cf4336a66360155-26.html#unique-entry-id-26</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[My sister, Rena, flew in from England and we are staying at our favorite B&B, Le Gite de L'ecole, which is very close to the Jean Talon Market and Little Italy in the city's north end. &nbsp;


...We are seeing cousins and friends and taking a day trip to Ottawa on Sunday, May 10 where I will be reading at the book store Collected Works at 2:00 p.m. &nbsp;  During my second week in Montreal I will be doing an interview with a reporter from the Concordia student newspaper, The Link , reading at The Visual Arts Centre, May 13 at 7:00 p.m. and appearing on Focus Montreal  on Global TV.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Out To Launch&#xa;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-04-26T22:57:23-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/457f30cb1532db6b8db73812f6ed606c-24.html#unique-entry-id-24</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/457f30cb1532db6b8db73812f6ed606c-24.html#unique-entry-id-24</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The strategy was to talk about the book, the disparate nature of the stories and what connects them as a collection, how living on PEI has influenced my writing, where the stories come from and using my own personal experience as a springboard into fiction -- all the while reading excerpts from the stories to prove my point. &nbsp;...  As much as I tried to speak "off the cuff" I kept finding myself with head craned over the podium, constantly referring to my notes so as not to lose the thread of theme. &nbsp;

...Rather than talking about influences, themes, etc. and reading excerpts to show examples, &nbsp;I should have chosen a story, read it in whole and then talked about influences, themes, etc. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>That Syncing Feeling&#xa;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><category>PEI</category><category>Family</category><dc:date>2009-04-19T16:39:26-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/9f4fef7b23bc3b2713abcb7eaf64bd41-23.html#unique-entry-id-23</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/9f4fef7b23bc3b2713abcb7eaf64bd41-23.html#unique-entry-id-23</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[All the same, I have a tough time listening to myself (like many people do, I think) and find it's easy to be self-critical when I hear how I stumbled over some answers or felt I could have been more concise. &nbsp;

...We had a few issues with finding the proper format in which to save it (again solved by Thelma's resourcefulness) and will be uploading it (as soon as we can access some hi-speed) onto Facebook (as a virtual launch) and on YouTube. &nbsp;

...There are a lot of elements to sync up, all of which Thelma and I have been doing to the best of our ability, but what it all adds up to in the end owes as much to luck as anything else.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>I Sing The Body Eclectic</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-04-07T22:01:32-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/9945d8b6786c3ac773d4d6aaaaca44b0-1.html#unique-entry-id-1</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/9945d8b6786c3ac773d4d6aaaaca44b0-1.html#unique-entry-id-1</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Perhaps it has always been thus, but &nbsp;those of us who grew up in the sixties &nbsp;remember listening to commercial top ten radio where one could hear Johnny Cash followed by B. ...  And yet, when I listen to it now, I marvel at how distinctive they were as a group because of those different personalities. &nbsp;


The usual pattern for emerging writers is to put out a story collection as a kind of introduction or calling card and then "graduate" to the more lucrative novel. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Google Unsettlement</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><dc:date>2009-03-30T22:15:56-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/e30ff48251b85dffc5f31d15a75ac0db-2.html#unique-entry-id-2</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/e30ff48251b85dffc5f31d15a75ac0db-2.html#unique-entry-id-2</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[If you haven't heard, Google has the rights to digitize published or out-of-print books from before January 5th, 2009 and will make them available on the web. &nbsp;...  They will receive a one-off settlement of at least $60 per book and will then be poised to receive future profits from Google's efforts to sell their works as downloads or print-on-demand. &nbsp;

...Since Google has approached pretty much every library to digitize books, I shouldn't be surprised to see my modest first effort pop up on their settlement web site. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Welcome to my new home on the Interweb</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Personal</category><category>Technology</category><dc:date>2008-03-21T19:45:09-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/78244510a56b2c4ecced403d08b0d6d6-3.html#unique-entry-id-3</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/78244510a56b2c4ecced403d08b0d6d6-3.html#unique-entry-id-3</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[We've ripped off the old wallpaper, pulled up the shag carpeting and have added some new drapes and paint.    Over time we will be adding and refining - pictures on the wall, books on the shelves, music on the Hi-Fi - so check back soon to see what we've been up to.


We've built this site using a great program called RapidWeaver, which lets ordinary folks create pretty websites without having to know very much about the behind-the-scenes magic .  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Confession Of A Workshopaholic&#xa0;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Workshops</category><dc:date>2009-03-23T22:37:32-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/5c2add671e18ee10b3b30d4f0f87bffb-4.html#unique-entry-id-4</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/5c2add671e18ee10b3b30d4f0f87bffb-4.html#unique-entry-id-4</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Since I never took any kind of creative writing course, I consider these workshops a form of continuing education where I can bring an early draft of a story, poems or even a film script that would benefit from some outside feedback to help bring it to the next level. &nbsp;

...In the course of my communications with Lil and Ellen, I was informed that some of the other writers would be giving workshops and was asked if I would like to do one too. &nbsp; 

...It was decided between myself and L & E that I would read a story from Fatted Calf Blues called The Two Annes, which is about an artist who uses his talent to deal with personal loss, and talk about that process. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Home and Away</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>PEI</category><category>Writing Life</category><dc:date>2009-03-13T15:24:59-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/b372281faf9fcb9036888431dc7cdc78-5.html#unique-entry-id-5</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/b372281faf9fcb9036888431dc7cdc78-5.html#unique-entry-id-5</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I have been writing since high school, but it wasn't until I moved to PEI that I focused on my writing in earnest and began to send out work on a regular basis. &nbsp;

...But anyone who lives here knows that if you weren't actually born on the Island you will always be considered "from away", no matter how long you live here. &nbsp;  I suppose I could have used the phrase "Resident Island Writer", but that seems to undermine the commitment I've made by moving to PEI as the place where I am establishing my identity as a writer. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Lap Top of Luxury?</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><category>Technology</category><dc:date>2009-03-07T16:12:02-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/db5ecde4c25d71606cd1e7354ec39ff7-6.html#unique-entry-id-6</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/db5ecde4c25d71606cd1e7354ec39ff7-6.html#unique-entry-id-6</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In fact, I have been preoccupied with setting up readings for myself in Montreal and Toronto, so I haven't really done much work on my novel. &nbsp;  I suppose procrastination has turned out to be a lucky break for me, although, in my defense, I have been obsessive about Googling bookstores, libraries, various media, reading series, colleges and universities and anywhere else I think I might have a shot at reading in public. &nbsp;...  So far the only Toronto reading is at the The Press Club on June 3rd, then two readings in Hamilton (where I will also be leading my first workshop, but more on that in an entry-to-come). &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>An Early Thaw&#xa;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>PEI</category><category>Writing Life</category><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-02-27T04:32:51-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/ea3f2b14d48d86b615ce237b0378c7a5-7.html#unique-entry-id-7</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/ea3f2b14d48d86b615ce237b0378c7a5-7.html#unique-entry-id-7</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I feel I'm in some kind of creative, emotional and even spiritual deep-freeze, a period of stasis where my life has come to a standstill. 

...The icing on the birthday cake, so to speak, came actually the day before the big event when I received a phone call saying I had won the One-Page Screenplay Contest&nbsp;&nbsp;I had entered in 2008. &nbsp;

...Things seem to be happening fast and I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a tad overwhelmed at times, but I look out my window and see the frozen white expanse of Foxley River and think that in a few months I'll hear that tell-tale crack when the ice starts to break. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Where the Lie Truths</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><dc:date>2009-02-20T21:59:08-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/bb9854f7e290ddfd23a479c19dd55124-8.html#unique-entry-id-8</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/bb9854f7e290ddfd23a479c19dd55124-8.html#unique-entry-id-8</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I once saw an interesting film called Storytelling, where one of the characters, a creative writing teacher, says "Once you start writing, it all becomes fiction." &nbsp;...  The teacher's response &nbsp;"Once you start writing, it all becomes fiction" &nbsp;can be seen as some kind of lame defense for his sexual encounter with the student. &nbsp;

...Some do it  by trying to create a feeling of immediacy in their prose, evoking the five senses wherever possible, so that the reader believes he/she is experiencing what is on the page. &nbsp;
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Career Versus Calling</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Workshops</category><category>Writing Life</category><dc:date>2009-02-14T15:34:50-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/930d1abf6323bcca34aee7992651032d-9.html#unique-entry-id-9</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/930d1abf6323bcca34aee7992651032d-9.html#unique-entry-id-9</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The other is Duotrope's Digest,&nbsp;an ingenious search engine where you fill in the on line form with details like the genre and length of your submission (as well as other particulars) and -- Voila! -- you are immediately presented with a list of magazines and links to their submission pages. &nbsp;

...I guess by that I mean writing was something I came back to every so often, mostly as a way to vent frustration, in the course of trying to discover who I was and what I should be doing with my life. &nbsp;

...It's only now, when I look back on my life, that I realize that was exactly what I did, that all my years of drifting from job to job and trying to discover my place in life, were somehow preparing me for the writing life. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Birth of a Salesman</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-02-06T07:04:08-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/face5dd77477f21d43fb0447122e57cc-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/face5dd77477f21d43fb0447122e57cc-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[At this workshop I rediscovered my love for public reading and decided to write my thank you letter in the form of an essay in which I realized that reading my work to an audience could be construed as selling myself to them. &nbsp;

...Maybe a better title for this entry would be "Rebirth of a Salesman" because here it is 5 years later and my first book of stories, Fatted Calf Blues, will be published by Turnstone Press in April. &nbsp;

...If you are serious about your writing then you always have an audience in mind, even if you don't know who they are but if you persevere, one day you may just find yourself having to get out there and meet them face to face. &nbsp;]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Hello 2009&#x21;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2009-01-09T23:36:12-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/abb093aa499bb1931483622e86737322-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/abb093aa499bb1931483622e86737322-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[These days I have been struggling to return to my novel (I was at it great guns last October and November, then hit a bit of a wall in December) while trying to make some preparations to promote Fatted Calf Blues (researching writers' festivals and other potential gigs). &nbsp;  I did manage to set a date for my book launch, which will be at the Confederation Centre Library in Charlottetown on April 23rd at 7:00 pm. &nbsp;

...Then imagine my surprise when I discovered (thanks to my wife, Thelma, who keeps me apprised of these things) that Fatted Calf Blues can now be pre-ordered (for a substantial discount) at Amazon.ca&nbsp;and Chapters.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>One-Page Screenplay Contest</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><dc:date>2008-12-29T22:33:53-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/1d9631cb5e91451ca00f96f1a78c5a3a-12.html#unique-entry-id-12</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/1d9631cb5e91451ca00f96f1a78c5a3a-12.html#unique-entry-id-12</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There are a lot of things I could write about for my last entry of 2008, but I think all those subjects have probably been covered already. &nbsp;

...All ten screenplays were given live readings and the videos of these readings have now been posted on-line. &nbsp;

...So please have a look at the reading for my screenplay, The Dim Sum of Its Parts,&nbsp;and vote for it, thus making my cinematic dreams come true.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What&#x27;s In A Cover?</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><category>Fatted Calf Blues</category><dc:date>2008-11-22T16:43:26-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/fa0c4561b919e0706c623843f785afe7-13.html#unique-entry-id-13</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/fa0c4561b919e0706c623843f785afe7-13.html#unique-entry-id-13</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When you think of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band&nbsp;&nbsp;you immediately envision that immortal history of pop culture collage on the front as well as the kaleidoscopic music inside.    Unzipping the blue jeans on the front of the Sticky Fingers&nbsp;&nbsp;jacket (revealing a pair of tighty whiteys inside) is as much a part of the music listening experience as hearing Keith Richards' opening chords to Brown Sugar.


...And if it actually gets made into a film I may just see my original concept of a cow skull on the poster.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Strategy versus Conscience&#xa;</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Politics</category><dc:date>2008-10-15T15:15:04-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/b6c8113f290bbf72921bfc7d06cdb26c-14.html#unique-entry-id-14</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/b6c8113f290bbf72921bfc7d06cdb26c-14.html#unique-entry-id-14</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[For those of us who did not want to see Stephen Harper back in power there was much debate as to whether one should vote with their conscience or vote strategically.    That is to say, should you vote for a party whose values most coincide with your own, even though that party might not get enough seats to make an impact, or should you vote strategically, which would mean voting for a party you don't necessarily believe in purely to shut out the Conservatives?


...If voting for the party of your choice doesn't actually bring them any closer to being able to represent your values, then I can fully understand the futility someone might feel in casting a vote at all.&nbsp;
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Next Level</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Writing Life</category><dc:date>2008-09-25T21:01:08-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/2e23c014e8613fd75ff193b9866184f5-15.html#unique-entry-id-15</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/2e23c014e8613fd75ff193b9866184f5-15.html#unique-entry-id-15</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Wayne's initial notes to me were marginal and had mostly to do with verbal tics, which are words or phrases that keep cropping up in my writing.  ...  The process of weeding these out of my prose can be tedious, but having to scrutinize my work in so menial a fashion allowed me to discover other verbal tics that Wayne had not mentioned.  

...I'm happy to say that everyone at Turnstone Press, not only Wayne and Sharon, but Managing Editor, Todd Besant, and Associate Publisher, Jamis Paulson, have been encouraging and supportive.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>SeaWords By The SeaShore</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>PEI</category><category>Workshops</category><dc:date>2008-08-24T21:08:38-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/f89d2b936ffbe760bef8a7e8483cc2be-16.html#unique-entry-id-16</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/f89d2b936ffbe760bef8a7e8483cc2be-16.html#unique-entry-id-16</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In fact i had once taken a poetry workshop with Anne and came out of it with two publishable poems, so I was eager to see what would happen with fiction.    I can't say I came out with a publishable piece, but it did change drastically in the rewrites I did during the week and I know what I have to do to get it into a publishable state.&nbsp;


...One of the things that attracted me to this workshop was the opportunity to meet Jackie Kaiser, a Toronto literary agent with Westwood Creative Artists, who spoke to us at length about various aspects of the publishing business.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>CBC Hockey Anthem Challenge</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Music</category><category>Fun</category><category>Media</category><category>Mojomatic</category><dc:date>2008-07-28T21:07:03-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/e899a9792e40567e59d9f8e42e60839f-17.html#unique-entry-id-17</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/e899a9792e40567e59d9f8e42e60839f-17.html#unique-entry-id-17</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In fact, I'm not even sure it's about winning as much as it's about just being in the game (how's that for a sports analogy from a non-sports kind of guy!).  ...  Those of us who think we are musicians just because we can make music by dragging a few loops into a virtual recording studio are fair game for those truly talented and inspired folks who can take this technology to a whole new level.  

...That theme had become a second Canadian anthem, but it was only written in the late 60s and before then there were other hockey theme songs which were equally iconic for their own time.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Great Blue Heron Workshop</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Workshops</category><dc:date>2008-07-05T15:03:11-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/f28cd618adb64489e0fc63f909451d96-18.html#unique-entry-id-18</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/f28cd618adb64489e0fc63f909451d96-18.html#unique-entry-id-18</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[No matter what genre of writing I came to work on, I always left either having taken the pieces I brought with me to the next level or, at the very least, with a better sense of who I am as a writer and where I want to go.


...I left her workshop with two useable poems: "Let Us Improvise Motifs", which later was published in Aquapolis, and "Gathering", which grew out of a writing exercise Anne gave the group and later was published in Mobius Poetry Magazine.


...Even so, I am grateful to Anne Compton, not only for pointing out the poetic strengths in the work I brought to her, but also for her painstaking effort in showing me how to rectify my weaknesses.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Happy May Day</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>PEI</category><category>Family</category><category>Politics</category><dc:date>2008-05-01T19:25:04-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/5ce6c2ce5d0d4fa6e8caf58666ac4676-19.html#unique-entry-id-19</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/5ce6c2ce5d0d4fa6e8caf58666ac4676-19.html#unique-entry-id-19</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Walking back to the car, we noticed a crowd near Province House (home of the provincial legislature and The Birthplace of Canadian Confederation) and remembered that it was a rally to bring attention to the plight of PEI farmers.   Some speeches were made by politicians and farmers, but the best part was an impromptu protest song in which all the crowd got to join in by chanting "May Day! 

...It is fitting, then, to have a very nice profile of myself published in this month's Buzz (PEI's arts and entertainment newspaper) as reminder of how far I have come as a writer (and how far I still have to go) since making this island my home.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Rellies and Relics</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Travel</category><category>Family</category><dc:date>2008-04-30T19:53:35-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/e02a6a103e54140aa75f1cb430c434b7-20.html#unique-entry-id-20</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/e02a6a103e54140aa75f1cb430c434b7-20.html#unique-entry-id-20</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[But Rena was off&nbsp;with some of her work colleagues for an exercise weekend at Potters, a resort hotel that is a bit like the holiday camps that were so popular in England in the &lsquo;50s. ...  Much of the television in England seems very Americanized (as does Canadian TV) but there still some excellent panel shows such as Have I Got News For You and QI &nbsp;(with host Stephen Fry) as well as one of the best music programs ever, Later&hellip;with Jools Holland.


...The guy asked me again - or as he put it: "The way you answer now will decide on how we proceed" -&nbsp; so I had to fess up to the rest of the stuff &ndash; the Apple keyboard, some gifts I bought in Amsterdam and a number of museum souvenirs. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Dutch Dreams</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Travel</category><category>Family</category><dc:date>2008-04-19T14:52:17-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/4ec5fb004277c010a215e1d22b144cc4-21.html#unique-entry-id-21</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/4ec5fb004277c010a215e1d22b144cc4-21.html#unique-entry-id-21</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[On our first night we walked through the more touristy section which led to the famous Red Light district and then into Chinatown, where we had a couple of fine meals.   Both my sister and I are hopelessly direction-challenged, but she was determined to understand the map and managed to guide us (in an often-roundabout way) through the city and get us back to the B&B. 

...It would probably be a challenge to learn Dutch, but on the other hand the place seems so laid-back and easy-going that it might be easier than I think.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>A Tale of Two Museums</title><dc:creator>steve.thelma@pei.sympatico.ca</dc:creator><category>Travel</category><category>Family</category><dc:date>2008-04-11T23:58:25-03:00</dc:date><link>http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/94eacf0c207269e763f2e9b37622f196-22.html#unique-entry-id-22</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.stevenmayoff.ca/page4/files/94eacf0c207269e763f2e9b37622f196-22.html#unique-entry-id-22</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When it was first exhibited it caused an uproar because people thought a nude shouldn't be shown doing something as prosaic as walking down some stairs. 

...After the Tate Modern we walked along the Thames to the National Portrait Gallery where they were having a retrospective of Vanity Fair photographs throughout the magazine's history. ...  Another - interestingly enough connected to the earlier exhibition we had seen - was Man Ray's photos of La Nijinska (the sister of the great dancer, Nijinsky) done up in dramatically grotesque face make-up. 
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