Special delivery

April 16th, 2010

This time of year always pulls heavy on my heartstrings, I become acutely aware of how quickly days slip away and memories fade into the next. I grow weepy and reminiscent each April 14, of all that I have experienced since first becoming a mother. I marvel at the lovely little person before me, the one I created in a span of only nine months.

Watching her attempt to blow out all eight of her birthday candles, I smile while fighting back the urge to cry. I wonder what she wishes for… and if, by chance, it’s hidden under the shiny gift wrap and curly ribbon. She looks at me with her huge hazel eyes and I can’t help but think back to the first time she was placed in my arms… that same beautiful gaze staring back at me.

I tuck her into bed, kissing her cheeks, knowing that we have already begun the journey to her 9th birthday. Moments dissolve with such haste that I wish I had it all back to relive but instead I realize the importance of appreciating what I have when I have it. This is the birthday gift she has given to me.

Happy birthday, Meleigha. I love you always.

In the red

March 30th, 2010

I see a trip to Rouge Beauty Lounge in my future… this Saturday to be precise.

As resident Rouge blogger, my inspiration and knowledge, as luck would have it, derives from indulging in a sampling of just a few of their most fabulous services offered – a signature pedicure and customized facial. As an added bonus, Rouge boasts a pedi-chair above and beyond that of most other spas, a delicious shiatsu-massage throne that has, obviously, been the basis of many a (day) dream of mine.

An afternoon of spa-spoiling is certainly welcomed after such a wonderfully productive last few months. I’m thrilled to be stepping out into the world of professional writing and it’s made only that much sweeter to be able to do so with perfectly polished toes!

Up(coming) & up(grades)

March 23rd, 2010

I have been working diligently on upgrading the content for melissamacdougall.com and in the coming weeks visitors can expect to see a revamped portfolio and photographs of yours truly. The overall layout will be the same, why mess with the creative and technical prowess of Mr. Andrew Noonan? If it’s not broke… and all that!

This week saw the launch of Rouge Beauty Lounge’s blog and more reworking of my children’s book. Will I ever stop editing long enough to move beyond the first few chapters? Besides this, I have a staff bio to write (for the Rage Project) and a meeting with a client regarding an upcoming publication (yes, that makes three magazines I’m affiliated with), both of which will be flanked by restless anticipation of the soon-to-be-released issue of Gonzo Magazine.

Part of the process

March 19th, 2010

Today, I learned something invaluable to my career as a writer – how to take rejection.  I expected to be so greatly offended that I would want to pull a J.D. Salinger and go into reclusion.  But I didn’t.  I wanted to for about a minute and forty five seconds… until I composed myself and realized that all of this I have created, I have produced, I have established.  Writing isn’t what I do, but rather a part of who I am. 

Regardless of the context, rejection is never an easy pill to swallow.  I’m certain I’ll see a lot more of it in the future, not because I lack the ability or the talent, but because I offer something that is out of the realm of the expected.  That is a rationale that I can live with…

Photographic memory

March 17th, 2010

mel01Kristal Burgess and I took to the hills this afternoon for a photo-shoot (complete with vintage typewriter and a scattering of old, slightly yellowed pictures throughout the wispy tall grass).  The sun was golden warm, spliced by wind, and the earthy background was perfect for the theme. 

I can’t wait to see the results; Kristal is an absolute creative genius and had me, an ordinary non-model, perched in precarious positions to evoke the best angle and light combinations.  All in the name of art!

A wonderful-busy-type-blur

March 13th, 2010

This last week was nothing more than a blur of meeting with potential clients and polishing assignments.  Positive feedback continues to pour in and my take on Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ saw an end result of: “Exquisite review, Melissa”. 

Editorial deadline for Gonzo was met with time to spare… phew!

On the agenda for next week:  Preliminary assignments for Rouge and time devoted to my book(s).  Also, I have the distinct pleasure of meeting up with Kristal Burgess for a mini-photo shoot for my website and other marketing materials.  Check out how brilliant this girl really is: www.kristalburgessphotography.com .  It’s no wonder, I feel so blessed to have her snap some photos of little ol’ me…

Getting my groove on

March 8th, 2010

It’s official – I “aced it” (said Gonzo editor, Dean Unger).

My piece on exuding confidence (titled: Get Your Groove On) landed me some stellar feedback, including something along the lines of having what it takes to be a great writer…

The hazard of all this success?  Cheeks that ache from smiling so much.

Red hot!

March 7th, 2010

Rouge Beauty Lounge, Penticton’s latest and greatest full-service spa and salon, is heating up the Okanagan with its new approach to old Hollywood glam.  Partners in polishing, Yolanda Abraham and Tania Chartrand are making waves in this lakeside town while establishing themselves as the place for pedicures and pampering. 

As luck would have it, I have been given the extreme pleasure of helping these Esthetic geniuses with informing their clients of upcoming events, product reviews and other Rouge-related hype.  Stay tuned for their blog… it’s bound to be addicting!  www.sparouge.ca

To Shakespear, with love.

February 27th, 2010

Language has evolved over the years from Shakespeare’s rich sonnets to emoticons of smiley faces and hearts.  And, though I understand it’s been a natural progression and that it took centuries to go from speaking in full-bodied poetic dialect to the causal execution of the same emotion still felt in life and love today, I sometimes wonder why we are so empty in our expression.  Lengthy letters filled with longing have now been replaced with quick abbreviated texts and Facebook declarations of relationship statuses, while the thought of one true love has been replaced with a string of Mr. Right Now’s. 

I am the ultimate in hopeless romantics.  I lose myself in story, film and music… and even when the last chapter is read, the credits roll, or a song fades into another, I hold on and finish their story in my head.  So many of my friends (aged anywhere from mid-20’s to early 30’s) have fallen in love with the New Moon trilogy – not for it’s dynamic writing (as it’s written for the teenaged demographic) but for the love story that sprawls across the pages.  Each book, they have devoured in need for that same beautiful content to reach into their own relationships… and, perhaps if we spoke more of a romantic language, it would. 

I realize that as centuries fade into the next, we are less and less likely to be able to recreate the splendour that was once commonplace, that we will continue to evolve our language of love into something completely unrecognizable in comparison.  I only hope that we find our way back to authenticity, that we find a way to ensure those we care most for know it, understand it and feel it.  Whole-heartedly.

Found: Coins, shoes… and little ol’ me

February 25th, 2010

This upcoming June will mark fourteen years since I graduated high school (that loud bang you heard, yeah, that was my jaw hitting the floor!) and since I left the sleepy little Vancouver Island town I grew up in.  Like many of the graduates of Lake Cowichan Secondary, I returned for a brief stint (two of them, actually) before realizing there was something bigger that I needed to do, somewhere else I needed to be. 

I took the long way ‘round to ultimately end up exactly where I started with the very goal I set out with.  My parents were always cautious about my intention of being a writer – you know, that whole starving artist thing and all – and, offered up a handful of other possible careers (all of which were great options, just not for me) in an attempt to lure my attention away with something shiny (like, coins… and the beautiful shoes that could be purchased with coins!). 

I wavered a little… which gave way to doubt… which gave way to thinking I could write solely as an on-the-side activity.  So, I treated it as such and rarely wrote beyond silly emails and quirky stories involving close friends.  An entire decade dissolved leaving nothing more than trace memories with little to show in terms of work produced.  When I look back now, I get why that was, I understand why it sat so long simmering on the back burner – if I didn’t acknowledge it, I wouldn’t miss it as much.  If I didn’t miss it as much, I wouldn’t realize that that there was a gigantic part of me that felt lost.  And, was lost.  

I’m not exactly sure when the light came on, when I had that ‘Aha!’ moment that Oprah speaks of in nearly every episode, but somewhere along the way it happened.  Somewhere along the way I found my way back to me.  I realized that regardless of which path I followed, I was likely going to starve – either literally or figuratively.  I picked up my pen and paper (or rather, opened my laptop) and began rapidly writing (or rather, hammering away on the keys)… only to discover how different my voice is now from back then…  When exactly did that happen? 

The first full year (last year) was painful and oddly enough, I was somewhat prepared for that.  Though contracts were landed (to my surprise) and I started to establish a rhythm, I wondered if it would ever move beyond that, if I would ever establish my name.  Then, when I started to waver a little once again, a photographer friend of mine said something that I put trust in:  When you least expect it, things are going to gain speed and snowball in the best way.  Hmmm… maybe so!

Two weeks later, I had landed a freelance position on a magazine (in addition to the one I landed on another magazine two weeks prior to that) and a scheduled interview with Victoria Banks…

Yesterday was the interview… and, the timid little Lake Cowichan girl nailed it!  Next stop:  Coins… and the beautiful shoes that can be purchased with coins!