Thursday, June 30, 2005

Back here on Earth and Practicing Harassment

I had a great time but now my feet are on the ground. They would be in the mud if there was any, because then they would be cooler.

By Saturday, or Sunday, or sometime down the road it is supposed to be a civilized temperature. All this heat is making me grumpy. Yesterday I told a friend who is not a writer that if she wanted to read my prize winning short story, she should consider buying the book. Now that was very bold of me - or was it? Yes, I'm delighted to be published and I must say that I don't even know what "rights" are involved yet since I neglected to check (didn't think I'd win) and now the information is not on the website. Fiction writers are the last to know, I guess and maybe we are expected to be humbly grateful.

But, after reading about the "literary" Canadian writers who have contributed so much to us, yet now live in poverty I've decided to get tough with my non-writng friends who can afford to buy books. Afer all, I'm not the only writer in that book and the Niagara Branch of the CAA takes a lot of time and trouble to try and produce something good.

The Canadian Writers Foundation is really struggling to provide financial support to writers who are "national treasures" but later in life are stuck in poverty. My friend Lori and I are considering an idea that may help. It's too soon to say whether we will be able to go forward with it.

In the meantime, I intend to stick with my "buy the book" stance whenever it seems right to me. At least one of my better-off friends wants to buy several copies. I'll have to remind her of her promise when the book comes out in September.

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