writing

Back in the BER months again

One hundred days to Christmas First of all, a happy welcome to all my new subscribers! Thanks for coming out to meet me, for buying my book, and most of all for supporting local venues and events. I look forward to staying connected through this newsletter, future events, or maybe as your book club guest!ContinueContinue reading “Back in the BER months again”

Reality Check

When the universe reminds you what really matters The subject line of the email read: FIRE INTERRUPTION Because I knew that the sender—the proprietor of a book marketing co-op I belong to—resides in Southwestern Canada, I instantly thought, Oh shit. Indeed, she was alerting her subscribers to a pause in programming. She and her familyContinueContinue reading “Reality Check”

Writing What You Know

And the joy of discovering what you don’t “You are not your characters, but your characters are you.” — Raymond Carver Last week, I had a couple of a-ha moments around the revisions I’m making to my upcoming novel (technically my previous novel that I put aside to publish Little Pink Houses). Ever since attending Courtney Maum’s fabulous workshopContinueContinue reading “Writing What You Know”

Wife vs. Mother-in-Law

You can rewrite the story (Trigger warning. This one gets a bit emotional towards the end.) The envelope, as I recall, was lavender. The card inside a flowery, glitter-encrusted thing, Happy Mother’s Day written in flamboyant script. She’d presented all three of us daughters-in-law with similar cards. The awkward thing was, two of us were childless. “DoContinueContinue reading “Wife vs. Mother-in-Law”

Truth and Consequences

Or: An optimist, a pessimist, and a realist walk into a bar “We should open a bakery,” my sister said. We were enjoying some decadent creation, say a vanilla bean cupcake beneath a cloud of her amazing fresh strawberry buttercream, at some family event. Her daughter’s birthday, maybe. Though it could have been any randomContinueContinue reading “Truth and Consequences”