Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Hallowe'en plans and DIY



Hallowe’en is coming and it is one of my favourite times of the year. Fall has such a distinct atmosphere that I love. The crisp air, the beautiful leaves and colours, and the pumpkins. As usual, I’m flooded with inspiration for Hallowe’en; costumes, decorations, carvings, and so on. It happens every year, and every year I usually can’t get to half of what I would like to because other than building a house, I have very little DIY experience. But kids are money pits, so to save money this year I’m trying to make a lot stuff that I might have once bought. It seems to succeed at DIY, you need to be able to plan ahead and be resourceful. Both are characteristics I have, so might as well put them to good, money-saving use!

The first is to get an early start. Back in September I decided what I would do for the house. My big plan for the house is to have all the windows decorated with creepy silhouettes. During my lunch hours I’ve been scouring the internet, getting ideas of what would look fun and a little scary. Being rather un-artistic when it comes to drawing, I’ve relied on others to think of things / draw things for me, and I’m making vain attempts to trace them onto water-heater boxes my Dad has brought home for me from his latest job site (yay free resources!). Victor has been helping with the tracing, though I think I may have introduced him to crayons a little early, as many windows, the coffee table, the dryer door, and occasionally the floor have all been treated with his artwork as a result. And sometimes he likes to chew on them. I found my tissue paper at the dollar store and got it last weekend – nothing will be sold out for my great Hallowe’en dreams as a  result of waiting till the last minute.

Other than pumpkins, the other scare I want to give my trick-or-treaters is creepy eyes in the dark woods. My driveway is surrounded by woods on both side and I came across a really neat idea. You take toilet-paper rolls, cut out eyes in them, and insert glow sticks. Hide them in the trees and it will look like creepy eyes are watching them in the dark. Again, dollar store has me covered – you can buy 10 mini-glow sticks, the perfect size, for $2.

The one thing I'm not doing this year due to time and energy is candy apples. Usually I give them out, but this year I just won't have the energy while also trying to keep Victor entertained. So instead I'm giving out full bars. I remember when full bars used to be a huge thing. I know the whole free candy part of Hallowe'en isn't what it used to be as kids get candy all the time now, but I still want to make it worth while and fun. It's easy for me to do, as we only get about 25-40 kids, and have a cost-co membership. But even if we didn't, the dollar store has some full bars for 50 cents each. I'm all about the extra-special element. 

And finally, we need costumes. I've struggled over what to dress Victor in, as I plan to take him around to a few houses just to try it out (plus, he's always wondering onto the neighbour's yards anyway). It will also be the last year I get to decide what he wants to wear. I found a dragon costume at Salvation Army, but alas it has a hood for the dragon head and Victor won't keep that on. So I came across a Musketeer costume. Basically it's blue fabric with a white lining and white French cross in the centre. Add to it a dollar-store hat with the side glued up, and a big feather, as we have a costume that will fit over his clothes and he'll probably keep on. And it's cool and interesting! My costume will be simpler, but I plan to make the shirt that has both mine and baby's skeleton. The really big cost in both of these costumes and all my other plans will be time, as the materials I bought at Salvation Army or the dollar store for a few dollars. But with my hour and a half lunch break, I should be able to make it work and all come together for October 31st! 

Happy Hallowe'en, and I'll let you know how it all turns out!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Why my Book Won't be Published with Bryler, and Hope...


It is with sadness that I must tell the world that my book, Into the Walls of Madness, will not be published with the company it was supposed to be published with. Here are the reasons why:

The company that was supposed to publish the book was Bryler, which was owned by Cynthia-Ann McMurray. This company has now apparently gone under. But it is not just me who has suffered greatly from dealing with this company, and the subsequent fallout of it - several other authors have been through emotional hell like I have.

For over two years, I tried to be in constant contact with the company that agreed to publish my book. But, release date after release date was pushed back. Or ignored, with no notice to me. If I didn’t get in touch with them, no one from the company got in touch with me. I got pregnant, brought Victor into the world, and still nothing from the company in substantial ways to move my book forward. It wasn’t until shortly after Victor was born that I received a fully edited copy. I spent copious napping hours my son had working on the book. In the evening, my husband would watch him so I could work on the book and finish it by mid-summer, then re-submit it to the company. I put so much time and money (driving around, getting photo permissions, etc.) into this book. And then, September 2012 came and still nothing. No sign that this book would be done anytime soon.

Around early 2013, a few authors contacted me, asking about the book’s progress, and my experience with the company. And, you see, this is where it was a little complicated. When we signed our contracts with Bryler, there was a clause in there that said we were not supposed to discuss our experience with the company. The lawyers who since reviewed my contract (after Bryler had broken it by not actually publishing the book), informed me that would not hold up legally. People are allowed to talk about their experience and their contract. So when other authors came to me, and told me of their struggles and loss of hope with the company, I started to talk to them, too. I told them about the stress, the constant delays, the constant excuses for these delays, the times when no one answered the phone, no one responded to my emails, etc. Of the pain that came from dealing with Ms. McMurray on a personal and emotional level. Other authors told me that all the staff had quit. One staff member left because she had not been paid – and I can say that, because that staff member took Ms. McMurray to court as a result, and won. But it took her months to do so, because Ms. McMurray came up with several last minute reasons not to appear to her court date. Ms. McMurray and Bryler have now lost three court cases as a result of her business actions.

Bryler charged some authors varying amounts to publish their book (some authors had a traditional agreement of the company covering all costs). And by varying, I mean that they could have covered the printing charge, of about $3-4,000, or they could have had that charge and pay for an illustrator (an extra few thousand), if they were writing a children’s book. Or they could have had to pay for everything, as a few authors did (Cary Baker admitted to paying $18,000 for 1000 copies in a recent article about the company). Authors were supposed to receive royalties from the sales of their book, very generous ones in light of the money they put up for the publishing of the book. And yet, only of the authors I have spoken to, which is not all authors, none of them did. There is now a warning on the Better Business Bureau about this company and Cynthia McMurray.

One author, who was not involved with the company, wrote some blogs about what their author friends were going through with Bryler. It was the first time the authors had a public chance to talk about our stresses with the company. However, Ms. McMurray threatened legal action against this person for posting about her company, unless the author removed all posts and wrote an apology. I guess that is what has promoted me to write this. So much has been taken away from these authors without hope of getting what they are owed; it is not right that their voices are also silenced. The legal system, which seems useless to help the authors who are out so much financially and emotionally, seems to provide protection to the person who has done the wrong. Well, I have also talked with a lawyer, and I know that I am legally able to write about my experience.

Since my falling out with Bryler, the company has, according to Ms. McMurray, closed. Yet not gone bankrupt. Thus all those authors who were in thousands with the company are simply left out in the cold, with no chance of recovering the thousands they paid for their books, or getting the royalties that are owed to them. The legal system will not help them because they signed a contract. Yet it will protect Bryler and Ms. McMurray. To me, that seems horribly wrong, and no wonder people would  feel broken, abused and seriously hurt after something like that. And then to have their voices silenced... well, that is just too wrong.

Now, Ms. McMurray is offering to give the books back to some of the authors. Others have had to get lawyers involved to retrieve their books. All authors I have spoken to who have gotten their books back have had to sign confidentiality agreements (again) that they will never speak of their experience with the company or Ms. McMurray. But I have no books to get back. All I have is wasted years, time, money and resources, with no hope of getting any compensation from the company. I am sad, and angry, and extremely disheartened. But I am forging on.

The best I can say is that through this, I have met some amazing and supportive people who, like me, were hurt by this experience. And I will not give up on this project. A few months ago, I took the day off and prepared new submissions of this work. It was hard, I can tell you. But I did it. I’m a very determined person, and with Kipling’s “If” by my side to keep me going when the going got tough, I sent them out. Now I wait, and hope that something good will come out of this. Because hope is such a beautiful human emotion. We can lose so much, go through so much pain, but always, if we can still have hope, we can still survive.

Monday, April 15, 2013

The Simpsons and Parenthood



I should start by saying that I love The Simpsons. Ever since I started watching them way back when it first aired as a full-length show, and have been hooked ever since, despite the declining work of the past 8ish years. I can quote thousands of lines - this show is a part of my life and always has been.  

One of the things I have always loved about The Simpsons is this; the more you know, the funnier the show is. For example, if you know who Ayn Rand is, then the fact that Maggie goes to “Ayn Rand School for Tots,” is an added comedic element. There are thousands of allusions throughout the Simpsons. But as I got older, there were other aspects that became funnier. For example, when I watched a re-run at the age of sixteen and saw Otto leave “Stoner’s Pot Palace” and claimed that to be false advertising because it sold kitchen supplies, I suddenly got a joke I hadn’t before.

Now that I’m a mom, a lot more of The Simpsons makes sense. I see Homer and Marge sitting and talking in bed on a regular basis, and understand why they do that. Because, after a long day of child-rearing, who wants to go back downstairs once the kids have finally gone to bed? I find myself doing the same thing – retiring to the bedroom around 8 when Victor goes down because while I don’t want to go to sleep right away, I don’t want to head back downstairs.

In many episodes, Homer often daydreams about sleeping. That’s kind of a joke because he’s lazy, but after having a baby, I can relate! There have been many times when I daydream about falling asleep.

When Maggie stays home with Homer in one episode, Homer is trying to pull her from the door frame she's clinging to and can’t pry her off of. He says “She’s starting to give!” and I realise that that’s true – babies may be small, but if you try to take away something they want, it’s not easy! They hold on tight!

I’m sure as my kid (and future kids) continue to grow, I will continue to relate as a parent to my favourite TV family. If a show only gets better as the audience becomes more educated, and develops more life experience, I think it’s a pretty good show! Screw Flanders.