Ravenous Reader #3

Dan Murphy is author of The Amazing Adventures of the Dispatch Rider.

1.  Do you have an early memory of learning to read?
Yes, I'm at home, and my mother would ask me to read something and then quiz me on what I remembered about the story. And I couldn't tell her because I didn't know anything I had just read.

2.  Have you always been an avid reader?
No. My avid reading started in my early twenties.

3.  How do you decide what to read next?
I go to the book store or library. I will switch genres if I can, almost every time.

4.  Do you have any reading rituals that you follow? 
No, I read mostly on transit and would hate to think what would happen if I could afford a car. Ha!

5. What makes a great story or novel?
For me, it's leaving out a lot of detail because that just bogs me down and makes me tired. I like a fast paced story.

6.  Do you have a favourite genre?
No. I read all kinds of books.

7.  Who was the first author you fell in love with? The last?
That would have to be Hunter S. Thompson. The last would be J. K. Rowling.

8.  What classic or well-known book have you never been able to get through?
This is a bad one because I rode a motorcycle for seventeen years, but I could never finish Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I think I tried three times.

9.  What book or books do you reread?
Books that I read a long time ago and just can't remember. A book like W. P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe. Kinsella's words just went to the centre of my brain. I heard it, when I read it.

10. Do you have dry spells where you stop reading or read very little?
Rarely, but I almost always have something set up for the next one or go to the library if I don't. 

11. How do you organize your collection?
I don't; they're everywhere. I've always said that if I ever buy a house, I'll put them all on shelves. 

12. Do you enjoy recommending books to others? What criteria do you use?
I do like passing along a book, but usually I'll know the person and will already have a sense of what they like.

13. You host a dinner party for five authors (dead or alive). Who’s invited?
Stephen King, J. K. Rowling, Paul Brickhill, Pierre Burton, and Charles Dickens. 

14. Do you write? If so, how does reading influence your writing?
Yes. I think my writing is influenced (subconsciously) by just reading so much and hopefully learning structure that way. 

15. What are you reading right now?
I'm reading an autobiography by Rob Lowe who has some great stories to tell.

Ravenous Reader is a regular series.

April Lit Links

Buzzfeed. The 30 Best Places To Be If You Love Books

Melville House. Is this really a golden age for short stories?

Writer's Digest. Life of Pi's Yann Martel Shares His Writing Secrets

the guardian. Good Sex in Literature: why is it so hard to find?

Lauren Holder Raab. Handy Hint: On to vs. Onto

The Malahat Review. Above our Biology: Naben Ruthnum in Conversation with Kris Bertin

terribleminds. 25 Ways to Unstick a Stuck Story

Beyond the Margins. The Psychology of Books: Why We Read What We Read

The Baltimore Sun. Good grammar doesn't entitle you to be smug

Lit Reactor. This is Not a Checklist: How to Write a Story

Muriel Barbery

Excerpts from The Elegance of the Hedgehog:

The Great Work of Making Meaning

"There is always the easy way out, although I am loath to use it. I have no children, I do not watch television and I do not believe in God - all paths taken by mortals to make their lives easier. Children help us to defer the painful task of confronting ourselves, and grandchildren take over from them. Television distracts us from the onerous necessity of finding projects to construct in the vacuity of our frivolous lives: by beguiling our eyes, television releases our mind from the great work of making meaning. Finally, God appeases our animal fears and the unbearable prospect that someday all our pleasures will cease. Thus, as I have neither future nor progeny nor pixels to deaden the cosmic awareness of absurdity, and in the certainty of the end and the anticipation of the void, I believe I can affirm that I have not chosen the easy path."

Profound Thought No. 9

". . . this is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond. That may seem trivial but I think it is profound all the same. We never look beyond our assumptions and, what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. If we actually realized this, if we were to become aware of the fact that we are only ever looking at ourselves in the other person, that we are alone in the wilderness, we would go crazy. . . . As for me, I implore fate to give me the chance to see beyond myself and truly meet someone."

Profound Thought No. 15

"You know what? I wonder if I haven't missed something. A bit like someone who's been hanging out with a bad crowd and then discovers another path through meeting a good person. . . . Sigh. I don't know. This story is a tragedy, after all. 'There are some worthy people out there, be glad!' is what I felt like telling myself, but in the end, so much sadness! They end up in the rain. I really don't know what to think. Briefly, I thought I had found my calling, I thought I'd understood that in order to heal, I could heal others, or at least the other "healable" people, the ones who can be saved - instead of moping because I can't save other people. So what does this mean - I'm supposed to become a doctor? Or a writer? It's a bit the same thing, no?"

Making Maple Syrup at Maplewood

My dad has been making maple syrup on the McArthur lot (in Ottawa) for the last twenty-five years. I visited in March and helped him make batch #4. During the day, I engaged my dad in a little Q&A about the maple syrup process.

Maplewood

How did you learn to make maple syrup?
I watched Walter (our neighbour) making it. He showed me how to drill the holes, and I read some articles about the process.

What makes a good maple syrup tree?
Good sap producers are at least 10" in diameter (the trunk) and have a large crown (upper part of the tree).

Collecting Sap

How do you know when it's time to tap the trees?
I don't keep track of dates but usually the end of March, earlier if there's a warm snap. This year I got started around the 10th. 

How many buckets do you hang?
I used 9 buckets in the beginning. This year, I'm up to 17 because it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.

Firepit

How long does 1 batch (about 6 pints) take to make?
It's a day's work. I fill garbage pails full of sap, heat it up in two pots (on burners) in the garage, and then pour the warm sap into two pans on the firepit in the laneway. I just keep transfering from pail to pots to pans all day until I've run out o' sap. 

How many batches do you make in a typical year?
It all depends on the weather fluctuations, but usually three or four. I may cook up a fifth batch next week as it's supposed to go below freezing and back up again. It's been a productive year because I've persevered. (Batch #5 was made five days later.)

Pot to Pan

What do you enjoy most about the process?
It's fun to get out of the house, especially in the spring after you've been cooped up all winter. You get out in this beautiful sunshine - it's great.

Would you call this a one-man operation?
Yep.

Sap to Syrup

What is most challenging about making maple syrup?
Well physically, it's chopping all the wood. But other than that, getting it off (the fire) at the right time so you don't overcook it.

Have you ever overcooked the syrup?
Yes - the day it all burned. It was almost ready, but I went inside and got side-tracked watching some crappy TV show, and when I came out the whole pan was just black. It had boiled down to the the point where the sugar caught fire, and the pan was like tar. It took a long time to clean that pan up, son of a bitch (laughs). We finally did and were back in business, but that was a whole day's work gone up in flames. No fun at all.

Filter Set-Up

How do you know when to stop cooking the syrup?
I can tell by the look of the bubbles in the pan; they should be a caramel colour. And by the thickness of the syrup. It's better to take it off a bit earlier than later, as I can always cook it a bit longer inside on the stove if I need to. 

What's next after it's off the fire?
Time to dump it through the filter, at least twice, usually three times to get rid of what your mum calls "sand". Another mess-up happened one year before we had these factory-made filters. Mum thought she could make a filter, and she already had some black felt. These white ones are even made out of felt. Well, when we poured the hot boiling syrup through the black one, all this dye got washed into the syrup and, lo and behold, we had black syrup - not very appetizing at all (laughs). That was bad news; another day gone. You spend all day - boiling, boiling, boiling, cutting wood, feeding the fire, and whatya got? Dead syrup. So that was a bad day... but today is going to be a good day.

Pot to Jars

After filtering, what's left to do?
The syrup is pretty well ready to bottle after that. I sterilize the jars in the oven and boil the rings and lids on the stove. The trick is to keep the syrup warm for easy pouring. 

Where do you store maple syrup?
Well, I used to keep it in the cold cellar in the basement, but your mum didn't like that, so any batches from years past are now in the freezer in the garage.

Batch #4

What determines the colour variations from batch to batch?
Depends on how long it's cookin' on the fire. The longer it's cooked, the darker it is. But also, each batch in a season becomes a bit darker than the last.

How would you rate this year's syrup?
Most excellent. I think batch #3 is the best I've ever made.

Happy Sap

It was a great day, and I was able to bring some of the #4 Julie Dad batch back to Toronto for syrup loving friends. 

Backyard Maple Syrup Production

Maple Syrup: FAQ

March Lit Links

the guardian. Anton Chekhov: a lifetime of lovers

Book Riot. Start Here: Read Your Way Into 25 Amazing Authors

Poets & Writers. Agents & Editors: A Q&A With Editor Chuck Adams

Peevish Penman. Forging Relationships with Other Writers

Brain Pickings. 10 Tips on Writing from David Ogilvy

Salon. "Most contemporary literary fiction is terrible"

terrible minds. 25 Virtues Writers Should Possess

the Atlanctic Wire. If One Were to Use the Subjunctive Mood

Open Letters Monthly. Is Cormac McCarthy a Terrible Writer?

Daily Writing Tips. How to Revise Bullet Lists for Grammatical Consistency

Ravenous Reader #2

Carolyn reads voraciously in Ottawa.

1.  Do you have an early memory of learning to read?
No, not really, but once I got my first library card around the age of eight, I never looked back. My mother told me I was reading words from the newspaper at age four, and of course, my parents read stories to me. 

2.  Have you always been an avid reader?
Extremely so! I was an only child, very shy, and books were always a comfort to me. In public school (grade eight) students were required to read a minimum of five books per year and give a book report on each during class. Every student had a page in the teacher's notebook, recording the book title and date read. By the end of the school year, I'd read fifty-three books and the teacher said I needed a notebook just for my books. Obsessive, or what?

3.  How do you decide what to read next?
It depends on my mood or how I physically feel. If I'm not feeling well, I'll read a book that doesn't require a lot of concentration (a pocketbook I can finish in a couple of hours). When I feel really well, I'll read historical trilogies or complicated murder mysteries.

4.  Do you have any reading rituals that you follow? 
I like to go to bed by 9 or 10pm and read fiction books every night until 1 or 2am, although I have been known to read until 4am (not recommended!) I only read non-fiction or magazines during the day. My bedroom is my sanctuary, and I can't sleep without reading first. The norm is to fall asleep with the light on, glasses on my nose, and the book upside down on my chest.

5. What makes a great story or novel?
It should have a great plot, amazing characters, be fast paced, and grab your attention during the first few pages. Continually falling asleep over a book means it's boring boring boring, or badly written and not worth my valuable reading time. I usually return such books to the library the next day. I should point out that quite a few of my rejects have been Giller Prize winners!

6.  Do you have a favourite genre?
Absolutely not! I read just about anything that catches my eye, mainly historical fiction but also erotica, thrillers, adventure and even vampire stories. As far as non-fiction goes, I own a lot of cookbooks, gardening, and how-to books as well as obscure books on things like ancient Egypt, medieval Great Britain, archeology, and the Roman Empire. I think I see a pattern here! I do love historical facts and I do learn a great deal, even from fiction books. At the oddest times, I seem to pull strange snippets of information from my brain during a conversation with someone.

7.  Who was the first author you fell in love with? The last?
Zane Grey, when I was very young, and the last authors I loved were Diana Gabaldon, Manda Scott, Jack Whyte, Lora Leigh, Nora Roberts (J.D. Robb), and Clive Cussler.

8.  What classic or well-known book have you never been able to get through?
The Sentimentalist because I spent all my time going back and forth to figure out the storyline. I even kept reading to the halfway mark but finally gave up and took it back to the library. I dislike Margaret Atwood books, although I may be in the minority.

9.  What book or books do you reread?
Very few fiction. I do plan, however, to reread Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, Manda Scott's Boudica series and Jack Whyte's King Arthur series. I mainly reread non-fiction such as history, cookbooks, and reference books.

10. Do you have dry spells where you stop reading or read very little?
Never, never, never! I would have to be dead, and I do hope there's a great library when I reach the pearly gates. To make sure I never run out of books, I have boxes and boxes of them under the bed, in the basement, and in multiple bookcases around the house. I guess I really am addicted.

11. How do you organize your collection?
I don't (see question 10). My family tells me constantly that I am totally disorganized, which I am, but I do seem to be able to find certain books when I want them. My cookbooks, gardening, how-to, and medical books are grouped together on the bookshelves by type, but fiction is impossible. I only read these once and then donate them to a thrift shop. I do need to thin out some of my over 100 cookbooks, and I would use typed labels on shelves if I ever get motivated enough.

12. Do you enjoy recommending books to others? What criteria do you use?
Sometimes, if I really feel strongly about a book, but I don't do it very often as everybody has their own favourites.

13. You host a dinner party for five authors (dead or alive). Who’s invited?
Would never happen. I prefer to worship my favourite authors from afar. Besides they are too numerous to count.

14. Do you write? If so, how does reading influence your writing?
No. I do, however, recognize great writing when I read it! There are many published novels that never should have seen the light of day. Tip to writers: check your grammar and punctuation thoroughly, and get a good editor!

15. What are you reading right now?
Until the Night by Giles Blunt. 

Ravenous Reader is a regular series.

February Lit Links

Youtube. Stephen King on Twilight, 50 Shades of Grey, Lovecraft & More

The Atlantic Wire. Doom and Gloom for Whom?

Richard Skinner. Max Sebald's Writing Tips

The New York Observer. Semicolons and Exclamation Points' New Enemy in Punctuation Wars: Cormac McCarthy

The New Yorker. On "Tenth of December": An Interview With George Saunders

99%. 25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer

National Post. On not putting yourself out there

Indiana Review. Three Stories Unlikely to Make it Beyond the Slush

brain pickings. Freud on Creative Writing and Daydreaming

jeff goins writer. The Difference Between Good and Bad Writers