Whispers from the Myth Teller

I spoke to my publisher last week and pitched the Irish/Quebecois book/CD and he has agreed to work on it! The first step is to tally up the expenses involved in producing this book and then applying to the Canada Council for some funding (which my publisher has agreed to follow-up on).

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to apply for two grants for the same project. The Canada Council does not have a single grant for a book/CD, but they do have two grants that do apply:

Spoken Word and Storytelling Program (for the CD)
http://www.canadacouncil.ca/grants/writing/io127227335980156250.htm

Book Publishing Support: Emerging Publisher Grants (for the Book)
http://www.canadacouncil.ca/grants/writing/of127227340679531250.htm

So hopefully, by next summer, I should have a new book/CD out. If it's Canada Council approved, that might help me with credibility and sale-ability of the product.

Tomorrow, I've got a storytelling gig in St. Henri: I'll be telling tales for about 30-40 minutes to a group of 3-5 year olds. As much as people think that storytelling is solely a children's activity (which it isn't), telling to this age group ain't easy. It takes a very particular type of story that suits their level: it has to be short, repetitive, and gives them a chance to get involved in the storyflow.

Most of my stories are usually between 10-20 minutes long and are geared for a more adult audience. Not that they are inappropriate for younger children, but they tend to be longer than a child can sit still for or deal with concepts that they don't understand (death, reincarnation, the evils of drink, etc.).

On top of this, the show is entirely in French! I've translated the stories, but for most of them, this will be the first time I tell them in French. Yikes!

Ah well... A gig's a gig!

These past few days have been filled with Story!

On Monday night, I attended a dinner/fundraiser for the Empress theatre and did some storytelling for it. I really like the Empress project and I want to do what I can to support it. Not only is the Empress a historic building, but if I work this right, it could turn into a permanent venue for storytelling!

On the celebrity side of things, I got to meet Peter McAuslan, the owner of the McAuslan Brewery. I am a big fan of their products (their apricot beer is to die for) and maybe, since he's seen me tell a story, I might get other gigs out of it.

For the last two days, I've been telling stories at St. Anthony Elementary School. It was a two-day tour of duty: I told tales for all the grades (from Kindergarten to Grade 6). I sat in the Library, the teachers brought the groups to me, and I told stories in English and French, stories for wee children and for the higher grades (these are very different types of stories), and the kids were very receptive. I even managed to sell four books!

By the end of the two days, my voice was hoarse and I was exhausted, but I loved it. I'm grateful to be in a position where I can take a couple of days off my regular job and tell stories here and there. The best thing that could happen to my career is to keep my writing career alive, but be able to take breaks to go and do storytelling in schools, festivals, and other events.

Keep working, keep dreaming, keep living.

Last weekend was chock-full of goodies. I had to give a bardic workshop at CMS on Saturday morning and then, in the afternoon, sarahcarotte, grrscary, and Sam the Elf went exploring the Medieval Fair.

So much neat stuff in that place! There were beautiful weapons (both steel and boffo), armor (leather and steel), jewelry, clothing, and stuff, stuff, stuff! sarahcarotte tried on chainmail armor while I looked over-protected in various helmets.

In the end, all of us walked away with something. sarahcarotte told me that I could either get my birthday present from the fair or from the computer store. I picked the fair 'cause the computer store will always be there. So she picked out a kick-ass medieval shirt and jacket that I can wear in a number of places (LARPing, Pagan fests, special events, etc.). I love that girl.

For myself, I picked out a drinking horn with leather trim. Sam the Elf got a little bag and grrscary picked up a box of leather scraps (anything else?). All very cool stuff.

The next day, I went to the first edition of the Pagan Sunday Brunch at Chez Dusty's (Parc/Mont-Royal). The Brunch was very well attended (30 people!) and a bunch of us went to the TamTams afterwards (where I got to test out my new Djembe!).

We ended the day with some Irish storytelling at Hurley's Pub. Exhausting, but very satisfying weekend!

When I read this story, it was written to be told to one or two people. I would like to adapt the ending so that it can be told to a group, but I'm not sure how to do it. I'm looking for suggestions on how I could end it and ensure a strong reaction from the audience.

Here's the basic run of the story:

==================
Just outside a small village lived an old woman who reads the tarot. For a fee, she'd read tarot for anyone (as well as prepare potions, salves, and other crafty items). Althought the villagers are publicly wary of her and her ways, each of them secretly visited her to get their tarot readings.

One day, she was reading the cards for herself with the Death card turned up. She immediately threw the Death card off the table where it was caught by the cat and hidden behind the stove. Just then, Death himself turned up at the door, knocked, and walked in.

"I hear you called me," he rasped, reaching for the old woman.

"I did not such thing!" cried the woman, repulsed. "I'm not ready to go with you just yet, so get on your way."

Death shook his head. "No matter how old they are, no matter how much they've seen or done, they are never ready to go when it's their time," Death sighed. "Very well... I will be back next year to get you."

For the rest of that year, no one in the village died, including the old woman.

One year to the day, the old woman was reading her tarot cards when the cat fished the Death card from behind the stove and dropped it into her reading. Horrified, the old woman snatched up the Death card and slipped it into her apron.

Just then, Death knocked at her door and walked in. "You called for me?" he rasped.

"Not at all!" the old woman cried, reaching for her broom. "You are not welcome here, so back on the road with you!"

Death searched high and low throughout the cottage, but he could not find the Death card. "Very well! One more year do you get, but the next time I arrive, you will be coming with me!"

Again, for the rest of the year, no one in the village died, including the old woman. But after Death had left, the old woman swore off reading the tarot cards. She took her cards, wrapped them in silk, locked them in a box, and stored them high on a shelf. No matter how the villagers begged and pleaded, she would no longer read the cards for anyone, even herself.

A year to the day passed and the old woman was tending to the fire in the hearth when she heard a sharp tapping at her window. When she opened the window, a crow flew in, made straight for the box of Tarot cards sitting on the shelf, and began pecking at it. The old woman grabbed her broom and tried to shoo the crow away when there was a knock at the door.

"I believe you called for me," rasped Death, leaning on his scythe. "It's your time, it's your time."

"I don't even read the cards any longer, so how could I have called for you, you old ghoul! Get out!" she cried, swinging her broom.

Just then, the crow had pecked so hard at the box that it broke open and fell from the shelf, spilling it's contents all over the hardwood floor. Every card was turned face up, every card was the Death card.

"It's your time, it's your time," repeated Death, reaching a bony hand towards the old woman.
==================================

At this point, according to the book I read, the storyteller would pull out a chicken foot from her pocket and scratch her listener's hand (which was her daughter). She would then proceed to peel her daughter from the ceiling.

The thing is that I want to tell this story to a group of people, but I can't think of a good way to end it. You're all creative people out there, right? I await your suggestions!

Last night, I had a show in DDO (a suburb of Montreal) at the public library entitled Fireside Tales from Around the World. It was a two-hour solo storytelling performance and I told some of my favourite stories (including this story). We had about 20 people turn out for it, sold a couple of books, and generated lots of interest in future shows.

Driving back to NDG from DDO, I took Sources Blvd. to get to the highway when I passed a marquee. It was put up by the city to highlight events taking place at their civic centre. I nearly lost control of the car when I saw my name come up in the lights!

I immediately drove home, picked up my digital camera, drove back to Sources Blvd., stood on the median in front of the marquee, and with confused traffic going to and fro around me, I waited until my name popped up again to snap off the pics.

This is what every performer looks forward to: their name up in lights for all to see. Sure, sure... it was for a small public library show (not Radio City Music Hall), but it's important to savour your victories, however small they may be.

Click here to see the picture of the marquee

The You Don't Know Jack book launch was a tremendous success! We had 50 people turnout to see it on Sunday night and sold 22 books (plus a couple we had to give away). We even had some interest shown to us by a woman opening a shop in France who would like to carry the book. So cool.

You can read more about it at my other blog.

Our show for Monday night has sold out! Yay!

I only hope that we can sell out our upcoming show in March (Tristan and Iseult). We're going to need at least 60 people to attend to make ends meet.

I was invited to tell a French story last night at Le Divan Orange on St. Laurent. It went okay, but it's obvious that I need more practice and exposure to telling in French. I've been a bit lax about that this year; the publishing of my new book is taking up all my energy.

But once the book comes out, I'll need to go on a storytelling spree to promote it. Now is not the time to drop the ball 'cause it's an expensive one to drop now. I'm investing alot of my own money into this project, so I need it to work or it'll break the bank.

This would be alot less stressful if I was supported by the Canada Council, but you need to be published on your own (for credibility) before they'll consider giving you any grant money. I've got the basic structure for my next book set, but I won't be able to fund it all on my own again. Support Canadian Culture!

‘Twas the Night Before…
An evening of Winter Tales

Tuesday, December 7^th 2004
7pm – 9pm

Shäika Café
5526 Sherbrooke West (corner Old Orchard)
Metro Vendome – Bus 105

Cover: $5 per person

Space is limited (30 people)

For reservations, call David at 514-488-5430
or email him at womp@sympatico.ca.

Photo Opp

These are photos that were taken by a photographer who came to our storytelling concert last Friday (I'm the guy in the first set of photos). I rather like the two pictures the photographer has singled out in B&W, but I wondered what some of you thought.

I'll be contacting him about getting soft and hard copies of these photos for a publicity package and maybe even the Book/CD (coming out soon!).