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| Mary Pickford, one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. |
The silent movie The Artist took seven Oscars last Sunday at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony. It was only the second silent film to win the prestigious Best Picture Award. The first was the 1927 film, Wings, starring Mary Pickford's future husband, Buddy Rogers.
Now, eighty-four years later, a silent movie wins again. I can't help thinking that Mary Pickford got it right all those years ago when she said, "Adding sound to movies would be like adding lipstick to the Venus de Milo"
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| The kitchen table where I write. |
I wanted to show the school kids I'll be talking to next month what a rejection slip looks like. While digging through all my old paper file folders to find an example, I realized that these little rectangles of paper are now probably relics of the past.
The usual rejection slip was mass-produced, with a message similar to this: "We regret that your manuscript does not suit our requirements at this time. That does not mean it is without merit. We wish you the best of luck in placing it with another publisher."
Occasionally, the slip would be a half-page, pre-printed with a check list of reasons for the rejection, and someone had taken the time to tick off all the boxes that applied to your submission.
The point I wanted to make to my young audience was that a rejection could be a good thing. Each time we got one we had another opportunity to take a new look at our work, to make revisions, and then to send it out to another publisher. My first novel was rejected five times before it found a home with a publisher; another book was rejected a total of eleven times.
Today, a number of publishers have as part of their submission guidelines a note that if you don't hear from them in six months you know your manuscript was not what they were looking for. "Don't waste your money on a stamped, self-addressed envelope (SASE)," they advise. "Your manuscript won't be returned to you anyway. It will be recycled." That last sentence concerns me a little. I wish they'd said it would be shredded.
And here's another thing. If we can no longer collect rejection slips, what are we going to use to paper the outhouse? Oh, that's right; we don't have them anymore either.
Write on.
I've begun to make a list of places I might visit on an "artist date."
A new, independent coffee shop in town? A thrift store I've been avoiding but that I might be surprised to discover is filled with treasures? A matinee at a theatre that shows old movies?
Julia Cameron advises a weekly artist date in her book The Artist's Way: a Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. Like the "morning pages" that I blogged about earlier, Cameron tells us the scheduled date is a commitment an artist needs to make to herself.
The artist date is a preplanned block of time set aside to nurture one's creativity, an excursion of some sort that the artist takes with no other company than her inner artist or "artist child."
The artist needs to refresh the artistic reservoir from time to time. "When we work at our art," Cameron writes, "we dip into the well of our experience and scoop out images." We need to put some fresh images back.
Cameron suggests that in filling the well, we need to think fun, think delight.
So, where should we go first, my artist child and I?
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| Mary Pickford in Coquette, 1929. |
February is "Oscar" month, so here's a bit of trivia about Mary Pickford's relationship to the Academy Awards.The Oscars took on a whole new significance for me when I began writing the biography of Mary Pickford.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began as an idea discussed over dinner with actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo, and producer Fred Beetson at the home of Louis B. Mayer, MGM studio chief.
Mary Pickford and her husband, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., became two of the founders of the organization. The Academy was officially announced at a gala banquet in Los Angeles in May 1927. Mary used to refer to the organization as "the motion picture league of nations."
The first-ever Oscar (as the awards were later dubbed) for Best Picture went to
Wings, a silent film made in 1927. Co-starring in the movie were the "It" girl, Clara Bow, and Charles "Buddy" Rogers, who would within ten years become Mary's third husband.
The first Academy Award for an actress in a talkie went to . . . ? You guessed it: Mary Pickford, in 1930 for
Coquette. The film was the first talking picture made by a major star of the silent screen.
For more about Toronto-born Mary Pickford, the most important woman in the history of motion pictures, check out
Mary Pickford: Canada's Silent Siren, America's Sweetheart.
I had a great time at a local school earlier this week when I was one of the presenters at Family Literacy Day. It was the first time the school had marked the day in this way, and they did a tremendous job of it. They combined the event with a two-day book fair, well-attended by both the students and their families. They were able to use the proceeds from the sale to help with the cost of all the other events they had planned for the day.
During the afternoon, the students were able to choose from a variety of literacy-based activities set up throughout the school. They could listen to stories, play board games, make a craft, assemble a wooden toy by following written instructions, or meet and talk to some real-live authors. Each student had a passport that was stamped when they arrived at their chosen destinations.
I had four groups of students come to my location, and judging from their smiling faces, they were enjoying their day. The display of all my books prompted immediate interest. Leaving time for questions and discussion at the end, I did a short reading from
Growing Up Ivy. It seemed especially appropriate for Literacy Day. When 12-year-old Ivy meets her father for the first time, she is surprised to learn that he can neither read nor write. She decides that over the summer, while they travel the roads together in a horse-drawn caravan peddling shoes, she will teach him to read.
A lot of work went into making Family Literacy Day such a success, and I commend everyone involved. Thank you for including me in your event.
Till next time, keep reading and writing!
Are you looking for a way to unblock your creativity? Perhaps you are between creative projects and looking for inspiration. Of all the books on writing I've read, the one I most often return to myself and always recommend is Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. It comes as no surprise to me that I often hear it referred to by other writers.
According to Julia Cameron, one of the two basic tools to unblocking creativity is the writing of "Morning Pages." The second is the "Artist's Date," which I'll blog about at another time.
Now that I am between books, I've gone back to doing Morning Pages. This involves sitting down first thing every morning and producing three pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing. You should write whatever comes into your head, in whatever state you are in at the time: grouchy, feeling sorry for yourself. Even if all you write is the fact that your brain is mush and your feet are cold. Just keep writing till three pages are filled.
Why are you doing this? Because, as Cameron explains it, "All that whiny, petty stuff you write down in the morning is what stands between you and your creativity." Are you feeling resentment towards another artist? That's a sure sign, says Cameron, that you are creatively blocked. You need to get rid of all that "drek" by putting it in your morning pages.
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| Back when winter was WINTER and snow was fun. |
When you're doing the pages, don't stop to think that what you're writing is drivel, or that you're wasting your time. There's no
wrong way to do Morning Pages and therefore, the opinion of that pesky, internal editor doesn't count. Your internal editor is just another blocking device.
Why not give it a try? There's nothing to lose and all that natural creativity to unleash.
Write on!
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| Photo taken by me of my family on a camping trip in the old Nash Rambler. |
The youngsters I talk to in the schools are sometimes surprised when I tell them there was no television in our home when I was growing up. Not that there was no such thing, just that my parents didn't think it was something we needed. I remember when television came to Winnipeg, how my friends and I stood and watched it for the first time through the storefront windows of a shop on Academy Road.
My parents didn't think we needed to be entertained. We were all read to as tots and went on to become avid readers and, in my case, writers. We played board games like "Snakes n' Ladders," "Parcheesi," and later, "Scrabble." There were paper-and-pencil games too, word games like Hang Man or the old party favourite where you tried to make as many small words as you could from one long word like
antidisestablishmentarianism. (I can't believe my Canadian dictionary doesn't even recognize the word!)
Ours was a family that sang when we took car trips—between endless games of I Spy. We warbled along to folk songs like "Swanee River" and "Jimmy Crack Corn." And there were the camp songs, because we all went to camp, like "Down By The Bay" that required each one of us to come up with an original, outrageous chorus to every verse.
I'm privileged to speak on the occasion of Family Literacy Day at a local school next week. It's always fun to talk to children; I find their enthusiasm contagious. And I hope to share with them some of my personal experiences of family literacy.
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| Picture from the Archives of Ontario |
Whenever I hear Mary Pickford's name mentioned anywhere, my ears naturally perk up.
I was watching the first episode of Global Television's new series,
The Bomb Girls, when Mary's name came up in the dialogue between the actors. The setting was a munitions plant, presumably in Toronto, early in World War II. The female employees were chatting about the possibility of Hollywood movie star Mary Pickford paying a visit to the plant. The women in the show are employed in the making of bombs that will be used against the enemy overseas, serving a role every bit as important as the soldiers themselves.
A strong supporter of the Canadian war effort, Mary
did visit the General Engineering Company's munitions plant in Scarborough on May 24, 1943, when the above photograph was taken. She spoke to a large crowd of enthusiastic women workers—real-life "bomb girls"�in the plant's cafeteria.
Her visit to her Toronto was under the auspices of the Lions' Club and the Gerrard Businessmen's Association, co-sponsors of the Mary Pickford Bungalow project. You will find more on
that project and the story of Mary's life in my book
Mary Pickford, Canada's Silent Siren, America's Sweetheart.
I can't remember if anyone wished me a Happy New Year last December 31st and a "year full of writing." If they did, that's exactly what I got—a year of almost non-stop writing.
After six months work, the manuscript of my book
Mary Pickford, Canada's Silent Siren, America's Sweetheartwas delivered to the publisher at the end of March, 2011. Almost immediately I began reading biographies of other Canadian women, looking for another subject I might write about. But none engaged me the way Mary Pickford had. She had seemed a good fit for me, and I believe the fact that she always maintained strong ties with Canada has made her especially appealing to readers in this country.
Early in June 2011, my publisher asked me if I'd be interested in writing the life of Laura Secord, another in Dundurn's Quest Biography series. Laura Secord wasn't a person I would have chosen; her story began all the way back in 1775. But I said I was up to the challenge, and I'm glad now that I did. Over the weeks and months she too came to life for me—a real flesh-and-blood woman with a loving husband and seven children, living amidst the turmoil of the War of 1812.
I began researching Laura's life while I was still working on the copy edit and proofreading for Mary Pickford. That book was released in mid-September and launched officially on November 5th while I was still furiously writing Laura Secord. At times it was hard to switch from one subject to the other. But on December 29th, I delivered
Laura Secord, Heroine of the War of 1812 to the publisher, right on time. A Bicentennial Book, it will be released in May, 2012. There is lots of work to be done before then.
So, wish me a year full of writing for 2012, and if you're a writer I wish for you the same: a year filled with joyous writing!
The book is finished. I've written the beginning, the mid-section, and the end. I've completed the bibliography, the chronology, the prologue, and the epilogue. Now, it is "jelling."
I turn my mind to Christmas preparations -- hang the wreath on the front door, start the gift shopping, and plan the menus.
The "jelling" period is, for me, as vital as any other part of the process of writing a book. It is now that I see the project as a whole. Now while I have the time, I think of what I learned about Laura Secord, and how she started becoming a real person to me.
She was just an ordinary housewife living in pre-Confederation Canada. She gave birth to seven babies -- at home -- her last when she was forty-two. Sources tell me that Laura Secord also"did needlework," but obviously that went beyond embroidery because she also sewed clothing for her family.
Long after she died, an elderly man recounted how he used to shovel snow at Laura's house in Chippawa when he was just a boy. His family was very poor, he said, and Laura knit him the first pair of mittens he ever owned.
I imagine her standing at her window, watching the boy clear the snow from the walk to front door. Perhaps she sees him stop and blow on his cold, red hands before he takes up the shovel again. I think it was that act of knitting mittens for that boy, more than any other event I read about, that made me see Laura as she really was. Someone I wanted to know.
It's not likely that you have someone on your gift list who can remember the days of silent movies. But if you know someone who is a movie buff -- especially old movies -- or someone who loves to read about celebs (and Mary Pickford was the first movie superstar!) then I recommend my latest book,
Mary Pickford, Canada's Silent Siren, America's Sweetheart. Of course, there lots more to Mary's story than just the movies. She began her career at the age of eight, on the stage of the Princess Theatre in Toronto where she was born. Determined to provide for her fatherless family, she spent years barnstorming, riding the rails from one town to the next, until she landed, finally, in a Broadway production.
She and her second husband, the dashing Douglas Fairbanks, became Hollywood Royalty, and their magnificent home in Beverly Hills, dubbed "Pickfair," was the centre of Hollywood society.
But the story of the most important woman in the history of film-making also has its share of laughter and tears. Mary was, after all, only human. You might even want to read her story yourself!
The good news is, there's still time to order it in time for Christmas. If you can't find it on the bookstore shelves, it can be ordered online.
www.amazon.ca says that if you order it today, you'll have it as early as December 5th. Check it out!
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| Laura Secord's House in Queenston | |
This is a familiar scene to anyone on the trail of Laura Secord. She and James and their family moved here in 1803, shortly after their third daughter, Harriet, was born. They'd lived in St. Davids for the first few years of their marriage.
The Secords lived in the Queenston house until 1835 when Laura and James moved to Chippawa. The Laura Secord Candy Co. bought the house in 1969 and after restoring it, donated it to the Niagara Parks Commission. The NPC maintains the homestead as a tourist attraction. During the War of 1812 Bicentennial celebrations in 2012-2014, this will be the scene of numerous events.
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| Scene of the Niagara River from Queenston Heights |
The first thing I wanted to do after arriving in Queenston early in November was to take the short drive (four miles) to St. Davids. I wanted to see where Laura went on the first leg of her walk. She left her house before dawn on June 22, 1813 to walk to Beaver Dams and warn the British of the Americans' plan of attack. She apparently took "a circuitous route" to St. Davids, wanting to avoid any American sentries on the road. I could imagine her staying down where the land is low, below the escarpment.
Also at Queenston, where we saw Mackenzie's Printery, we toured the park atop the Niagara Escarpment, Queenston Heights, and saw Brock's Monument as well as the one to Laura Secord. I was amazed at the height of the escarpment which Laura had to climb in order to find her husband, James, who had been seriously wounded in the Battle of Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812. That was no small feat.
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| Sculpture of British General Drummond at site of Battle of Lundy's Lane | | | |
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The second day of our tour we visited Lundy's Lane where the bloodiest battle of the War of 1812 was fought, and where both Laura and James are buried in the Drummond Hill Cemetery.
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| View across the Niagara River from Niagara-on-the-Lake |
Last week we were in the Niagara peninsula, on the trail of Laura Secord, the subject of the biography I am working on. I wanted to spend some time in the locales that would have been familiar to her, to soak up some of the atmosphere. I believe it worked: I do feel as if I know her a little better.
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| Display case at the Niagara Historical Society Museum |
We arrived in Niagara-on-the-Lake on an almost summer-like afternoon. The trees that lined the streets were shedding leaves the colour of gold, and one could smell the oak as we walked along the sidewalks.
At the wonderful Niagara Historical Society Museum in the town I found a display of some of Laura's personal possessions: a copper kettle where she is said to have hidden some doubloons from the Americans, a coverlet, handmade by Laura and her granddaughter, a small trunk, some teaspoons, some sugar tongs, and other small items.
This museum also has an extensive collection of artifacts from the War of 1812, and since that was the backdrop for much of Laura's story, I found it most interesting.
I was delighted to find in one alcove in the museum a sculpted bust of Laura, a smaller version of the one that sits atop her monument in the cemetery in Lundy's Lane.
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| Bust of Laura Secord by Mildred Peel |
Because we arrived on a week day, historic Fort George was not open this time of year, but we did stroll around the property and take a few pictures. All along the scenic Niagara Parkway people were walking, cycling, and basking in the early November sunshine.
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| Fort George, Niagara-on-the-Lake |
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Here are a few pictures (in no particular order) taken at the launch of my latest book, Mary Pickford, Canada's Silent Siren, America's Sweetheart.
My cousin and two of my three sisters came to congratulate me after the launch. It was great to see them.
After viewing one of Mary Pickford's silent movies, The New York Hat, the crowd heads to the refreshment table and the line-up along the far wall where they wait for me to autograph their books. This is me, reading one of the sections I chose from the book. I was thrilled at the size of the turnout, and sorry for those who ended up having to stand. Thank you to everyone who came to show their support, and to the Quinte West Public Library (Trenton) for hosting the event. Book sales were handled by Kathy Collins from J&B Books in Trenton. The book is available from your favourite book store. If you don't see it on the shelf, they're happy to order it for you.
 | | Mary Pickford, Canada's Golden Girl | | |
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We had expected about twenty-five (with my fingers crossed!), and we easily doubled that number, having to set up extra chairs. In the end, it was standing room only. Obviously, Mary Pickford still draws a crowd!
This is the way the program went. After a brief introduction I read several short selections from the book, tossing in a bit of necessary detail in order to link the pieces. A few questions and a bit of discussion followed.
Afterwards we showed The New York Hat, one of Mary's short silent films, available now on YouTube. It proved to be a big hit, with plenty of chuckles over the rather predictable plot. It is, after all, almost 100 years old. The film is considered to be one of Mary's best shorts, and was the last one she made for Biograph. It proved to be a good example of Mary's acting style, the way she used subtle, natural body movements.
The library generously provided the crowd some light refreshments while they stayed to chat, and I was kept busy autographing books and smiling for the camera.
So, the book is now officially launched! Go, Mary!
 A view of my nook in the Colborne Public Library where I was a Human Book this past weekend. Call it a Human Book or a Human Library, these programs are popping up in libraries across the country. The event I was participating in was hosted by the Colborne Public Library and the Spirit of the Hills Art Association to celebrate "October is Arts Month" in Northumberland County and Canadian Public Library Month.
In most cases a Human Library presents the public with the opportunity to consult, for one half hour, people who are of different ethnic backgrounds, who work at unusual occupations, who live on the edge of society, or who are simply interesting people with a life story to tell.
At the event last weekend, we were all engaged in creative work. There was a children's book illustrator, a sculptor, an artist, a man who specialized in Chinese calligraphy, a photographer, and a writer. We each had a corner of the library where we could set up the tools of our trade and where visitors could come and ask us questions.
So what did the patrons who consulted me ask? Which of the books in my display was my first? How do I submit a manuscript? What drew me to write Ivy's story (Growing Up Ivy)? Do I have any input when it comes to the cover art? What can you tell me about the importance of editing? And it was inevitable: what do you think about e-books?
This event was a first for Colborne library. I've since heard that all the participants enjoyed the experience. There are a few kinks to be ironed out, but everyone is willing to take part next year.
Write on!
Early in the morning my writing day seems full of promise. I will accomplish a lot this day because there are no scheduled interruptions -- no meetings, no appointments, no luncheons (as pleasant as that might be). I will write 1000 words, email some updates to a couple of associations where I have a web page, send out more invitations for my upcoming launch of the new book, prepare some advertising posters, and do final revisions on the first two chapters of the next book. A good plan. But, mid-morning, when I turn on the computer to re-read the biography of William Lyon MacKenzie that I need for the present writing project, I get distracted. I read my email, reply to those that need some response, forward a couple of emails that make me laugh, and take a look at what's going on with Facebook while I'm there. So, how did I do, overall? I managed to write more words than I planned, I looked after most of the updates, emailed more invitations. But in order to do that I had to phone a couple of friends for email addresses and we got talking . . . Another brand new day. This morning I finished those revisions on the first two chapters. And here's that blog post I promised. Now I need to plan for what I want to accomplish today. It's good to have a plan. Such is life. For this writer, anyway.
http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/The War of 1812 provided much of the background for writing the life of Laura Secord. As my research for the book continues, I know I'm going to enjoy watching this PBS video that will be on television on Monday night. From what I've seen of the previews, it should be very interesting. Click the link above to see a short clip. We can never know too much Canadian history. Be sure to watch for Laura Secord in the movie!
I recently shared with the members of the writers' group I belong to an article I'd read in the United Church Observer (September, 2011), an interview with theologian Marcus Borg, author of several books of popular theology. He's just written his first novel, "Putting Away Childish Things," and the interviewer was asking Borg how he found the new experience of writing fiction. Borg admitted that for a long time writing the novel was a struggle. He found he couldn't get past the first few chapters because he didn't know what the plot was. I can relate to that. After putting the novel aside for ten years, he decided to try a different approach: he'd start by focussing on the characters. He wrote a page about each one, who they were, where they were, what they liked, etc. Then he put them in a setting to see what would happen. "It was the breaking of an ice jam," Borg said, "and I finished the book in eight months." He likens writing non-fiction, his usual field, to carpentry work. You know the sequence of the subject matter, and you know what topics you'll cover in each chapter. Then you just fit it all together. I agree with what he has to say. By focussing on the characters in your fiction you know how each one will react in whatever situation he finds himself. You don't have to think about plot; the characters will help that to unfold. Then you can go back and make sure that it moves along as it should. Write on!
The books have arrived! Soon they will be on the way to a bookstore near you. I hope you'll look for them. Last week I was interviewed for Dundurn Press's Defining Canada about the writing of the book. Here is the link to that interview: http://www.definingcanada.ca/2011/09/12/qa-with-peggy-dymond-leavey-author-of-mary-pickford/I hope you will enjoy reading my responses to the interviewer's questions. Mary Pickford, Canada's Silent Siren, America's Sweetheart will be on the shelves in your favourite bookstore very soon.
Can you remember when autograph books were all the rage? Those smallish books filled with the invitation of blank pages? We were in public school, likely grades 5 to 8, when collecting the autographs of all your friends was popular. The little books proliferated near the end of every school year. You didn't just sign your name, either. You tried to come up with a little poem or bit of nonsense verse to go along with it: "Yours till the butter flies." "If by chance this book should roam, just box its ears and send it home." At one time, my mother showed me her high school or teachers' college autograph book. Some of the entries there were quite philosophical: "The road of life lies before you Like a path of driven snow. Be careful how you tread it 'Cos every step will show." What struck me most about the autographs in my mother's book was the beautiful handwriting. By the time we got to high school, autograph books seem to have disappeared. Maybe the school year books took their place. What got me thinking about all of this was how often I wish I could come up with something original to sign, besides my name, at a book signing. There often isn't time to ponder what to write, but when there is, why can't I be clever? Or is "best wishes" enough?
Happy Labour Day! Tomorrow all the students will be going back to school. This always seems a better time for New Year's than January 1st. Time for new beginnings and for making resolutions. A few years back I used to resolve to make writing a priority in my day. Then, lo and behold, it happened!
I now write an average of eight hours a day, largely because I'm under contract for two biographies, with only six months to deliver each one. Laura Secord is proving to take many more hours to write than Mary Pickford did. There's so much history to research. Laura was born during the American Revolution, and her feat of heroism took place during the War of 1812. I used to love history back in my student days.
What am I saying! I'm still a student, learning something new every day.
For instance, did you know that in February 1813, during the War of 1812-14, two hundred American soldiers and some volunteers crossed the frozen St. Lawrence River from Ogdensberg, N.Y. and freed a group of American citizens held in the Brockville jail. Before they fled back across the ice, they seized arms, supplies, and forty-five of Brockville's most prominent citizens.
The good news is that those prominent citizens were soon set free, but it conjures up some interesting pictures in my mind. Were those people snug in their beds when the Americans came calling? Or in formal dress attending a fancy event? They definitely were not planning on a stroll in the dark across the frozen St. Lawrence.
That is the kind of tidbit that makes history come alive for me!
What a relief to discover, as I begin the writing of Laura Secord, Heroine of the War of 1812, that Laura is starting to come to life for me. I need that to happen in order to make her real for my readers. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to breath life into her old bones. As I write I imagine her as a child, growing up in war-torn Massachusetts during the American War of Independence. She waits at the front window for her father, a member of the state militia. I see her as a teen beginning the long journey to Upper Canada with her family, helping with the younger ones, comforting her stepmother who is expecting another baby. Now she is a slim, vivacious, 21-year-old, working in her father's tavern in Queenston when she meets and falls in love with James Secord. Today I saw her at her wedding and imagined a lavish affair. Later she will go with James to begin married life in the little town of St. David's. Behold, Laura lives!
This is the illustration that will appear on the cover of my latest project, a biography titled Laura Secord, Heroine of the War of 1812 (Dundurn Press, June 2012). The artist was Henry Sandham (1842–1910), a Canadian painter, photographer, and illustrator who was celebrated for his paintings and water colours of Canadian subjects. I'm pleased that the publisher chose this piece of art from Library and Archives Canada for the cover. It's full of action and illustrates a pivotal scene in the book. It also portrays a youthful Laura. She was only thirty-seven when she made her heroic walk in June, 1813. There appear to be no pictures of her in her younger years, and the best known pictures of Laura Secord show her as an old lady, near the end of her life, which I think is unfortunate. I intend to bring her back to life as the vibrant, courageous, and ever resourceful young Laura. Stay tuned!
Last week I saw the manuscript of my book, Mary Pickford, Canada's Silent Siren, America's Sweetheart for the last time . I had one final look at the edited proofs, reading for typos and checking the placement of the illustrations and their captions. I'm very happy with it! Matt Baker, the copy-editor, made my writing look very good. And that's it! It will now be scrutinized for a week by an in-house proof-reader at Dundurn Press, and then it's off to the printer. I first accepted this project on September 21, 2010 -- and all going well -- one year and 48,000 words later it will be on the shelf at your local bookstore. I hope you'll look for it and let me know what you think.
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