Find Polaris

by Joan Marie Galat

The oldest known map was written on a Babylonian clay tablet in about 2300 BC. People have appreciated how knowledge can be conveyed through maps for a very long time! Early diagrams on paper were drawn by hand but before mass production was possible, most people needed other methods to find their way around. Verbal directions, landmarks, and an understanding of landscape were vital. Knowledgeable desert travellers used, and still use, the shape of sand dunes to determine direction based on predominant wind patterns.

For centuries, explorers and other travellers have depended on the Sun, Moon, and stars to gather navigation information. While it has become the norm in North America and many other parts of the world to use global positioning system (GPS) technology, satellite images, and other technologies to find directions, it’s still useful to know one of the basics—how to find the North Star. 

Named Polaris, the North Star is part of the Little Dipper, also called Ursa Minor. Although it’s an important star, it’s not the biggest or brightest star in our night sky. If you could visit the North Pole, lay on your back, and look straight up, Polaris would be the star you see nearly directly overhead.

Try to find Polaris on a dark, clear night. Begin by giving your eyes 30—45 minutes to adjust to the dark. Face north and make two fists, tucking your thumbs to one side instead of overtop your index fingers. To find the North Star, stretch your arm straight out in front of you and place one fist atop the other. Now repeat this maneuver, going hand-over-hand the same number of degrees as your latitude. You can find your latitude, on a globe or map of Earth. 

Suppose you live 60 degrees North of the equator. You would go fist-over-fist six times, then follow the path your arm makes into the sky and search that area for the North Star—on the tip of the Little Dipper’s handle. Once you learn the Little Dipper’s location in the night sky, it’s easy to spot and simple to use to determine each of the compass points.

Orion is also an easy constellation to use find direction. The three bright stars that form Orion’s belt rise near due east and set near due west.

In the 1700s, people often became lost at sea because they did not know how to determine their longitude, which cannot be determined using the stars. The Discovery of Longitude, 2013 winner of the R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature, is a historical picture book which explains how a carpenter, John Harrison, devoted his life to solving the problem of finding directions east and west at sea. 

Despite his dedication and hard work, it took the King of England to make sure he got the recognition he deserved. Thanks to Harrison’s work, everyone on Earth recognizes the same time zones and navigation is much easier than it was when maps were made on clay tablets!

Build Your Writing Career

Building a writing career involves a multidude of skills. First you must master language. You need to be able to create distinct settings, build intriguing characters, write words that drip with suspense, and dialogue that makes readers feel like they're eavesdropping. Tackling these areas takes discipline but offer the rewarding feeling of expressing your creativity.

Once you've fine-tuned your writing, it is necessary to learn the business of getting published. This part requires developing the practical skills of writing the perfect query letter, researching publishers, and studying agents' submission guidelines. It takes perseverance, which keeps you busy, and patience, which is no fun at all. I help lead aspiring writers through this area by offering personalized consulting sessions.

Between formatting query letters, researching publishers, and beginning another writing project, consider enhancing your career by volunteering with a writing-related organization. My activities with the Young Alberta Book Society and other writing groups have been very rewarding. They allow me to connect with other authors, learn about publishers, compare publicity ideas, and explore many areas of this work-in-solitude business.

Volunteering during the annual Raise-a-Reader program provided the opportunity to connect with fellow authors and others devoted to improving literacy in Edmonton. We stood on Edmonton's downtown street corners, selling newspapers and collecting donations to support literacy programs in Edmonton. Some of these funds go to to support Young Alberta Book Society programs. YABS organizes the Taleblazer festival every October to tour authors, illustrators, and storytellers in schools and libraries throughout Alberta. Bringing kids into contact with creators is a great way to encourage reading and writing.

Volunteering with a writing, book, or literacy group offers a good break from writing while still allowing you to move your career forward. Alberta groups include The Young Alberta Book Society (YABS), the Writers Guild of Alberta, Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers (CANSCAIP), Alberta League Encouraging Storytelling (TALES), SCBWI Canada West, Canadian Authors Association Alberta, Room-to-Read Edmonton Chapter, and many others.

You may be drawn to helping a literacy group, establishing a critique group, or joining a book club. No matter what group you choose, you are bound to learn useful to tips that move your own writing career forward.

Advice for aspiring authors

Five things you absolutely must do to become an author:

1. Read great quantities of books, especially in the genre in which you hope to be published

2. Practice, practice, practice. The more you write, the better you will become.

3. Never think your manuscript is done after one draft: edit, edit, edit!

4. Research publishers before you submit, to ensure the publisher is interested in your genre. (Cookbook publishers don’t want to receive young adult novels.)

5. Take rejection in stride. Rejection letters mean you’re trying. Many fantastic books were rejected many dozens of times before a match was found.

Copyright or Copy Wrong!

The Internet and other new technologies have dramatically changed the way copyright material can be produced and accessed. If you are a published author, type your name into a browser. There is a good chance "Google Books" will be one of the links that appears on your screen. 


As well as listing your titles and showing your book covers, this site invites visitors to browse excerpts or sometimes the entire contents of books at no charge. In fact, the Google Books homepage brags that you can search the full text of more than seven million books.

Image courtesy of
Renjith Krishnan
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What Google Books is less enthusiastic about discussing is that they have been scanning books without obtaining permission from copyright holders. As a result, people such as myself who would rather work on a manuscript than read legalese, must pay attention to numerous details relating to copyright. Sadly, it feels more like copy-wrong.

Considering the Canadian federal government’s eventual intent to amend copyright law, it becomes necessary to examine its claim to “protect and promote Canadian culture in the interest of Canadians and to ensure a domestic, as well as an international market, for Canadian cultural products.”

Is this really likely to happen, considering current laws and Google‘s somewhat successful bulldozer attempt to seize copyright?

As copyright holders, authors already have contracts that describe their rights in relation to what their publishers can or cannot do, along with reimbursement terms. Yet, intellectual property issues are becoming increasingly complex as technologies advance and methods of distribution take unprecedented and unpredicted forms. Many of us have seen contract clauses which demand authors agree to publication in any form that currently exists or may be invented in the future, without the benefit of any additional compensation.

The responsibility for keeping copyright policies up to date lies with the department of Canadian Heritage Copyright Policy Branch, which works with Industry Canada’s Intellectual Property Policy Directorate.

Creators negotiating copyright will do well to limit rights for specific uses and for limited time periods, largely because business models will continue to evolve. Future legislation will need to keep Canada on par with international standards by ensuring balance between the protections of creators' rights with consumers’ ability to legally access copyright material. It will necessitate better enabling Canada’s knowledge-based economy to take advantage of global Internet opportunities.

Protect Yourself
•  In Canada, copyright protection arises as soon as an original work is created.
•  International treaties ensure Canadian copyrights are protected in most other countries.
•  Registering copyright provides owners with evidence of ownership.
•  Canadian copyright typically lasts for the creator’s lifetime, plus 50 years running from December 31 in the year of death.


Learn More
•  Media Awareness Network
•  Copyright legislation
•  Canadian Intellectual Property Office
•  Google Book Settlement
•  Access Copyright

The Importance of Book Ownership

Alberta Author Book Fair 2010
As a child, I frequently rode my bike to the County of Strathcona Library and came home with a backpack of books. I remember the glorious luxury of having time to read a book a day. Another memory takes me to a toy store at the Sherwood Park Mall. I bought a book on birds that led to a lifelong interest in nature. It also helped me in my first paid writing job--a story I'll save for another day.

Book ownership is important, especially for children. Ownership reinforces the message that reading is a valuable pastime. Ownership motivates kids to read and read more frequently. What message do parents send if willing to purchase DVD movies but not books?

As children change and grow, returning to a cherished book is a nurturing experience. Books expose readers to new perspectives as well as offer entertainment. Unlike television and movies, books challenge the mind. Readers imagines scenes based on written words rather than acting as passive observers. If you are trying to encourage reading, expose the children in your life to all genres and styles of books.

"Parents who have books in the home increase the level of education their children will attain," reports Science 2.0 in its article Owning Books Makes Your Children Smarter.

The International Reading Association offers brochures to help parents, caregivers, and educators encourage reading. Topics include:

• Getting Your Child Ready to Read
• Supporting Your Beginning Reader
• What Kids Really Want to Read
• Reading, Writing, and Technology
• Getting Involved in Your Child’s Literacy Learning

In 2009, the Stony Plain Public Library kindly hosted its first "Buy a Book for Someone For Christmas" event. We are repeating the event in 2010, but renaming it the Alberta Author Book Fair. It is sponsored by the Writers Guild of Alberta and the Stony Plain Public Library. This is the public's chance to meet new authors and familiar favorites.

Authors will sell and sign titles for both adults and children. Signed books make gifts that are extra special!

Alberta Author Book Fair

Monday, November 29

6:00- 8:00 PM
Stony Plain Public Library
4613 52 Avenue

Participating Authors:

• Barbara Galler-Smith
• Dar Renner
• Eileen Bell
• Roxanne Felix
• Billie Milholland
• Erika Knudsen
• Joan Marie Galat
• Karen Spafford-Fitz
• Leanne Myggland-Carter
• Linda Goyette
• Lyle Weis
• Marty Chan
• Mike Boldt
• Molly Anne Warring
• Nicole Luiken
• On Spec Magazine
• Patricia Brine
• Pauline Holyoak
• Roberta Laurie
• Tyler Enfield

Recommended authors in other parts of Canada:

http://www.jacobberkowitz.com/
http://www.claireeamer.com/
Cora Lee
Etta Kaner

Skypediving-Using Skype for Author Presentations

When Whitecap Books published my first children's book in 2001, I looked forward to the opportunity to travel to libraries and schools to share its content and talk about how to become a good writer. My visits began in Alberta and eventually spread to other provinces. Every trip is exciting and I still enjoy face-to-face visits but excessive travel can become weary. Fortunately, a reluctance, difficulty, or inability to be away from home need no longer prevent authors from connecting with their audiences.

Enter Skype, an eBay company that uses voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) to send voice through the Internet. You can use this free service to make video calls to anyone else signed in and you can enhance the experience with instant messaging, file transfer, screen sharing, and other features. You can even download a program called TalkAndWrite (TAW) for Skype that allows up to 10 people on different computers to view, write, and work on a document at the same time.  

Skype is great for school visits, readings at bookstores or libraries, and attending book club meetings as a guest author. Before my first virtual visit, I practiced with Toronto, Ontario author Mahtab Narsimhan, who wrote The Third Eye and The Silver Anklet. We discovered a number of things.
 
Good lighting is important and three point lighting is recommended. This involves using a key light, fill light, and back light to ensure a more three-dimensional video. You can also use book lights to improve the experience of using Skype on a laptop.

Backgrounds must not be cluttered. You need to avoid moving too quickly or making wide, sweeping gestures. And perhaps the most difficult part to get used to is the need to look at the camera rather than at the people engaging with you on the screen. I found it helped to put a sticky note near my camera reading "look here!"
 
Skype is an especially ideal tool for connecting with young audiences. Children and teens already use instant messaging and are comfortable with it. Shy students may find it a more comfortable way to ask questions.

One Skype visit connected me with a school in Erie, Pennsylvania. It was fun to see the students sitting on a rug in front of their Smartboard. I talked about why I wrote my books and told a story from Dot to Dot in the Sky, Stories of the Moon. When they asked me questions, it felt as if we were in the same room.

The instant text feature makes it possible for classes to to type their questions to the author, offering another style of interactivity and the option to create a permanent record of what is asked and answered. You can download programs that record your virtual visit and this provides the opportunity to create podcasts and video that can be posted on Youtube and other sites to raise your profile.

The Writers Guild of Alberta invited me to demonstrate the technology at the 2010 annual general meeting and mini-conference held in Edmonton. In a session titled Skypediving I shared a video call with Judith Graves of Cold Lake, Alberta. She is the author of Under My Skin. Using a projector so the audience of more than 80 could participate, Judith showed us her book and kindly demonstrated some of the habits to avoid when using Skype.

Remember to:

- make sure you consider time zones when coordinating a Skype session
- try to book morning slots to avoid times when the Internet is extra busy
- place your props close at hand before you connect
- make sure those involved understand your connection may be 
  temporarily lost during the chat
- decide how you will handle lost connections in advance

Avoid:

- making gestures above your chin, wider than your shoulders, or below
  your mid-chest
- looking up at the ceiling when thinking what to say
- clothes that are all black, all white, or covered in large patterns or
  geometric shapes
- sparkly jewelry that reflects light
- untrimmed mustaches that prevent viewers from seeing full
  facial expressions

Books and technology do not have to compete. You can use Skype to celebrate the great
aspects of both. When people talk to an author, even remotely, they get to hear opinions and understand the book better. The interactivity triggers learning and insights on both ends, which is fun for the author and fun for the reader. And perhaps your audience's increasing familiarity with you will lead to a higher profile and greater book sales!

I hope you will invite me to visit your school, library, conference, or book club! Visit these sites to learn more about using Skype for author visits:

• Facetracking
• Lighting Basics
• Webcam Tips
• Skype an Author website
• Example of a Skype podcast

Earth Hour

Who knew sitting in the dark could be so fun? It was a delight to celebrate an hour of darkness during Earth Hour Saturday, March 27, 2010. The sun set around 8:00 pm in Stony Plain, Alberta, making the sky only a bit darker at 8:30 pm.

I walked my bichon around the block and observed numerous houses without lights. It would be nice to believe they were celebrating too, but I suppose many were just not home. Wishing the street lights would go out, I returned home and noticed that sitting in the semi-darkness encouraged conversation. It forced me to stop dashing around trying to accomplish things.

Many cities reported electricity savings as people turned off their lights. Apparently candle use surged instead! I think the next step should be to encourage people to actually embrace the darkness. Go outside and observe the change from daylight to twilight to darkness. Look at the different shades of the sky, close your eyes and feel the air cool against your skin.

When it's dark, look for planets and stars and satellites. Imagine the stories ancient cultures once told when they looked up at the illustrated canvas of the night sky.

Mark your calendars for next year! Dark skies are important for animals and plants as well as those who love to view constellations and night sky phenomena.