Summer Reading: Audiobook edition

Our family recently returned from a two week family vacation that covered 3 provinces, over 3000 kilometres and at least 40 hours in the car with two 40-somethings, a new teenager and a ten-year-old. We learned several years ago that the best way to do this is with a stack of audiobooks.

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This year, our family listened to several Stuart McLean stories from the Vinyl Cafe, Louis Sachar's Wayside School Series and our favourite The Tiger in the Well (Sally Lockhart #3) by Phillip Pullman. We listened to the first book in this series (The Ruby in the Smoke) the summer before and loved the story, so we picked up what we thought was book 2. Unfortunately we missed the book between, but we were still able to enjoy and follow the story.

Expectations on amazon

I've been hoping to turn one of my books into an audiobook. I looked into Audiobook Creation Exchange acx.com which sells audiobooks on Audible, amazon and iTunes, but at first, they weren't open to Canadian clients. Then, just before our holiday, I received the good news that acx.com now accepts Canadian authors. I signed up as soon as I could and submitted a script for potential actor/producers to read. I began to lose hope when I hadn't received an audition before I left. A few weeks later, I had a message. Someone was willing to narrate my book!

It was a thrill to hear my book Expectations, read by a British woman. I listened several times and shared it with my husband and kids. They confirmed that she was the one. She has currently accepted my offer and I am awaiting her first 15 minutes. I will be sure to post with updates. Can't wait!

Hold on to the good

 We headed to my hometown for the holidays.  It's been a week filled with games, food and excited children.  I've totally enjoyed it and have been spoiled with my mom's cooking and the time and energy to visit and do whatever we feel like each day.

I came across this Christmas Basket from my childhood, tucked away in a closet collecting dust.  I brought it out as a joke, but it actually gave me a lot of joy.

Even though writers aren't supposed to admit it, I had a wonderful childhood.  I've frequently had conversations with other writers about whether or not you can write well if you've had a healthy upbringing.  I'm clearly in favour of answering yes to this question.  Fictional writing, at least, is about more than experiences -- imagination is absolutely necessary. You can have that no matter how you were raised.

So, in the midst of the trend of decluttering, minimalism, and chucking it all to live in a tiny house, I'd like to suggest you hold onto something (or maybe a few things) you never use purely to bring a smile to your face.

I recently took part in a writing exercise at the Surrey International Writers' Conference with Danika Dinsmore where she had us imagine a room from any time in our past and then to write about specific objects in the room.  We were to say "Hello stapler", for example, and then keep writing.  It sounded a bit crazy at first, but as I went along, I was surprised by how much detail I remembered.  The point of the exercise was to pay attention to the emotions each object brought us.  After saying hello for 10 minutes, or so, we wrote about these emotions to show us that our characters feel something for the objects around them.  Here is a similar exercise by Danika, if you'd like to try it: Images from Memory Exercise.

Happy New Year to all and may you enjoy the objects around you and may you do something you love as much as I loved cross-country skiing with my family.

On Working

"Write what you like, then imbue it with life and make it unique by blending in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships, sex, and work.  Especially work.  People love to read about work."  Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Sometimes, when I can't sleep I go through a list of all the jobs I've had in my life.  It's a lengthy list.  Sometimes I share it with my kids and I feel like they are impressed.  There is a segment on my favourite CBC Radio talk show called The Next Chapter about the jobs writer's have held.  I think it's important to have worked widely as well as to have read widely.  Details about work are interesting to read.  Here is a list of my jobs, in case anyone else is interested.

www.ayelettsabari.com

1.  Chambermaid - At the age of 12, I insisted that I wanted to work as a chambermaid.  I thought it would be a great way to meet new people, especially boys.  One of my dad's best friends owned a hotel, so after trying to dissuade me, he agreed to get me a job at the bustling business.  I believe it was September or October when I started.  Four weeks later, I quit.  I hated missing the weekend and I discovered the act of going to work made me incredibly anxious.  Plus, I was too small to lift to vacuum cleaner.

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2.  Baby-sitter - I baby-sat for several families in my community.  One summer, a friend and I shared full time care of a one-year-old while her parents worked at their busy store.  I remember that if she got hurt she would scream without breathing for way too long.  I would blow in her mouth to try to get her to breath.  It freaked me out, but I loved eating her parents' food.  Can you guess my favourite book series at the time?

3.  Bakery Girl/ Bus person - Another friend's father owned a cool 50's style restaurant in town.  She helped me get a job at the restaurant and we started off working at the front to prepare desserts and ice cream.  After a while, they took out the bakery to leave more room for seating and we were reduced to clearing up tables.  Not nearly as fun, but we did enjoy meeting the waiters.  If they spoke to us or even tossed a smile our way, we were smitten.

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4.  Legal Office Assistant - My dad is a lawyer and one summer I insisted I would be a great addition to his office staff.  My very patient and supportive dad agreed to let me "help" at the office.  There were no extra desks, so he had to set up a spot for me, quite close to his office.  I think the biggest challenge for him was finding me things to do.  Sometimes, he would let me type a letter, but he always had to go back and correct my mistakes.  The office secretaries let me get the mail and sent me on any errand they could come up with.  One of the bests was going to the Callebaut Chocolate store to buy dark chocolate chips.  They let me have some of theirs in exchange.

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5.  This is already a much longer post than I had planned, so I will summarize the rest.  Grocery Clerk - I ran off crying at least twice due to outraged customers

6.  Sandwich maker at local southwestern restaurant.

7.  Bathroom cleaner at a Parks Canada campground.

8.  Banquet Server at arts school.

9.  Piano Teacher

10.  Figure Skating Coach

11.  Salesperson/ warehouse manager at a nonprofit retail store

12.  Cashier/ coffee maker at Robin's Donuts

13.  Outdoor educator at conservation area

14.  Substitute teacher for three school divisions

15.  Elementary school teacher

I want to add writer, but I hesitate.  Is this a job, a passion or a hobby?  It doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the list, so I'll leave it off for now.  I see I have used a few of these jobs in my writing.  Substitute teaching was especially useful in writing Subgirl and Subgirl Returns.  It's reassuring to know I still have quite a deep reservoir to choose from.  How many jobs have you had so far and have any of them made it into your writing?

Five Fabulous Free Ways to have Fun in Banff

After taking my daughter on a tour of some of my favourite childhood haunts in Banff, she sighed and said "Mom, you had a great childhood."  Well said!  Banff is a much busier place than it was when I was a kid.  Many of the paths I thought were made purely for my friends and me are now constantly filled with people and much wider than they once were.  Still, Banff is a magical place to visit with children.  Here are some of the things I enjoyed then and now.  They are simple places, mostly close to my childhood home.

1.  The Top of the World - I believe our neighbours named this favourite place.  It's really not that high, especially when you can see much higher peaks from this little lookout, but it's a great title and my children have continued the tradition.  The little trail close to the Bow Falls is rarely busy and boasts a great view of the Banff Springs Hotel and has been used for games, sketching and plant identification.  In my days of Irish-obsession, I imagined it looked a bit like Ireland.

2.  The woods - Across the street from my family home is a small meadow surrounded by pine trees.  There is a tree filled with weird bumps that we called "The Booby Trap" (!), a swamp known for swallowing shoes, a dilapidated tree house, and tall ferns perfect for making "beds" and hiding places.  It's also a great place to snowshoe in the winter.  It amazes me how small it has become as I've grown older.

The old treehouse.  It looks like someone has made a new ladder.

3.  Bow River Trail along Central Park - I used this particular pathway as the meeting place between Catherine (Cate) Morland and Henry Tilney in my novel Banff Springs Abbey.  It's a beautiful path peppered with benches and other places to watch the river and mountain sky.  Further up the path, one can rent a canoe allowing further exploration.  

albertaeh.ca

4.  Cascade Gardens - This historic garden is often featured in photographs of Banff.  The Parks Canada administration building was constructed in 1935 and is sometimes available to the public for tours.  The garden is filled with gazebos and bridges perfect for children to climb and explore.  The little ponds were once filled with water but lately have been dry as Parks Canada restores the crumbling pools.  I had a personal lesson on greed one day on the way to piano lessons when I tried to fish out a quarter from one of these little ponds.  This lead to me falling into the pond in a brand new outfit!

banffandbeyond.com

5.  The Banff Springs Skating Pond - This magical little place is only available in the winter when it has been cold long enough to create ice.  The hotel makes and maintains the ice throughout the winter and lays out a wood fire to keep guests warm.  It is an idyllic setting beside the Spray River and can be seen from The Waldhaus Restaurant.  While natural ice is a more difficult way to start children skating, I think the incredible sights of the Rundle Mountain Range and nearby Bow Falls make this the perfect place to teach your child to love the ice.

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