ANNOUNCING JEWISH EDMONTON STORIES ONLINE PROJECT

I am happy to announce that I will be working on the following project in collaboration with #YEGFilm and the cooperation of several community organizations. 

JEWISH EDMONTON STORIES ONLINE PROJECT SEEKS PARTICIPANTS

Jewish Edmonton Stories Online, a project for Jewish and non-Jewish Edmontonians alike to learn and connect with the stories and places of our community’s past, will launch in the fall of 2021. We are seeking remarkable stories and memories from interested members of Edmonton’s Jewish community that connect to a particular place in the City. Stories do not have to be submitted in a complete format. At this point, we're looking for story ideas and summaries. We will follow up with you once the stories are selected for sharing on our coming interactive storytelling website. Stories will be recorded via audio, video, and/or written transcription via an interview process.

We intend for the stories to represent diversity within the Jewish community, including, but not limited to elders, Sephardim and Mizrahim, women, LGBTQ individuals, and people with disabilities. All recording will be carried out safely with COVID-19 protocols in place. The storyteller will be paid a small honorarium. At this time when we are physically isolated due to COVID-19, it’s important to reach out in as many ways possible to connect and share our community’s knowledge, history, and experiences.

This project is being made possible with the support of the Edmonton Heritage Council, JAHSENA, WordsPicturesMusic.com, #YEGFilm, and the Jewish Federation of Edmonton. To share your story, or for more information, feel free to connect with us at stories@jewishedmontonstories.ca. Deadline for stories: March 1, 2021.

A Novel Triumph

For the second year in a row, I took part in National Novel Writing Month - better known by its acronym NaNoWriMo.

With the philosophy that inside everyone is at least one novel, the goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days during the month of November. That is an average of around 1667 words per day. Results are entirely self-reported. There is no outside verification. What one writes does not have to make sense, or even be any good. A suggestion often repeated is if you get stuck, add ninjas.

The daily word count may not seem like a lot, but when you are sitting there trying to think something up, it can be daunting. I am someone with a lot of flexibility in my schedule - I have no idea how someone with a typical job can do this.

I wasn't even going to do it this year. Last year, I have personal reasons for taking part. I had a few things I needed to work out of my system, and I chose to do it through writing. This year, I was blank. Blank, until I woke up in the wee hours of November 1 with an idea. An idea that was too good to let go of. So far, this has been the biggest advantage of morning insomnia.

In general, I have mixed feelings about NaNoWriMo. The sheer speed with which the novel has to be produced probably results in a lot of unreadable manuscripts forever to be hidden on a hard drive. Does encouraging people to write page after page of crap accomplish anything? I think so, ultimately. Writing for the sake of writing is wonderful, and if it gets people thinking creatively, then it's all good.

How much did I write? The final word count came in at 50,456 completed on November 28. The most I wrote in one day was around 4000 words. The least I wrote was around 300. On average, I wrote around 2000 words, which was my goal.

As someone who writes and edits for a living, I wanted to write something that actually flowed and made sense. While it is going to require some extensive editing, I feel I have accomplished that. I know you're probably wondering what I wrote. It's an erotic novel that goes places 50 Shades of Grey doesn't, in several regards (I am talking about both the storyline itself and, ahem, "activities"). In addition to many scenes of a sexual nature, there is actually a strong storyline that delves into issues of life, love, and identity. If you are a literary agent who would like to have a look, please contact me.

I hope everyone taking part in NaNoWriMo this year had a meaningful experience!

Boyle McCauley News Has a Website!

I spend a lot of time in the inner city. One of the major reasons is because I edit Boyle McCauley News, the community newspaper serving the neighbourhoods of Boyle Street and McCauley. The paper is an important source of news and information about the area, presenting many of the positive aspects of life there.

For the past five or so years, BMC News (as it is known for short) has had a presence on the website for the McCauley Community League. About a year's worth of papers were archived in PDF form, so visitors could download the paper to read.

2009 marked the 30th anniversary of the paper, and myself and my staff thought a good way to commemorate this milestone was to properly archive all of the past issues of the paper in microfiche. When we researched that option, we also saw that we could have all of the papers scanned and converted into PDFs that were searchable and could be incorporated into a project such as a website.

We reached the conclusion that a website that was stand-alone and featured an electronic version of current issues as well as a searchable archive was not only desireable, but necessary as a valuable resource not only for the community itself, but for anyone interested in the history of Edmonton's inner city.

After receiving a projects-based grant from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit's Community Initiatives Program, we embarked upon the task of putting the website together. Today, March 1, 2011, the site officially launched at www.bmcnews.org. The site does an incredible job of presenting the newspaper in a format that stays true to the print edition, but has its own unique aspects like the archive. It was developed as a group effort of myself, designer Vikki Wiercinski, programmer Derek Hogue, and the BMC News Board of Directors.

Bringing Edmonton's oldest community newspaper online is something which I have been involved with for a while. I developed and maintain BMC News' presence on Twitter and Facebook. This new website brings the paper completely into the modern age. I am looking forward to the community's feedback as we expand the profile of Edmonton's inner city.