By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor
October 28, 2009

It’s almost November, which means aspiring writers everywhere will flock to coffee shops to knock out 50,000 words before the month’s end. National Novel Writing Month, affectionately abbreviated to NaNoWriMo, is upon us again.
Writing 50,000 words in a month’s time can be intimidating, but merely trying can get you on the right track.
Sara Gruen, two-time NaNoWriMo participant, has had two of her books come from NaNoWriMo sessions. One of them, Water For Elephants, was a New York Times Best Seller for 12 weeks in 2006. The paperback edition hit #1 on July 8, 2007. And, she didn’t even finish her 50,000 words.
Gruen says that although she did not officially win the two years she participated, coming in around 40,000 words each time, she considers her word count a win for herself. >>

By Josh Kolm
Lance Writer

October 28, 2009

Reinterpreting historical and literary events in fiction can be tricky. These events are from a different time, and the era’s philosophies of storytelling are tired and can be hard to shake. Author Grant Buday, who adapts events from the Illiad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid in his latest novel Dragonflies, discusses how he avoided that and how observing the details can provide inspiration for a new perspective.
Dragonflies tells the story of the Trojan Horse as a modern novel, as opposed to the original mythic epics of Homer and Virgil. And notice how I didn’t write “re-tell,” that’s what drew Buday to writing the story in the first place.
“Between the three texts dealing with the whole Trojan War, there are no more than two and a half pages total which mention the Trojan Horse,” Buday said about the fleeting presence of the famous plan. >>

By Alanna Magri
Lance Writer
October 28, 2009

When a mother is torn between her husband and her child, she forces herself to believe that she can make everything work in the University Players latest production, Emma’s Child.
After 15 years of trying to bear a child, conservative Jean Farrell (Alexandra Johnson), and husband Henry (Mischa Aravena) are ready to adopt.
The show begins with a visit from the adoption agency’s representative Tess (Ashley Steeves), a joyful, kind, and joking character. The couple nervously goes though the motions of adoption, realizing that the characteristics that they want for their child veer away from each other.
An opportunity arises when Emma (Katie Ribout), a young punk-rocker, gives birth to her baby boy, Robin.
Born with an incurable neurological condition, hydrocephalus, Robin is unable to receive surgical treatment and is the centre of concern for Jean.
Jean and Henry’s marriage is put to the test when Jean looks positively upon Robin, while Henry looks out for the well-being of himself and Jean. >>