I first wrote this as a guest post for the Metro Writer in Residence blog from the Edmonton Public Library. This year’s writers in residence are Omar Mouallem and Natasha Deen. Here’s my post, reposted here- Here are some things you can do to help take you from scribbled notebook pages to published book. 1. […]
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Memorable non-fiction of 2012
Usually I seem to read about half and half fiction and non-fiction. For some reason, non-fiction took over strongly during the summer and I was reading a ton of non-fiction. In no particular order, 1. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck- I loved this book so much. Loved Steinbeck’s travels across America, writing […]
Memorable fiction of 2012
For a while, I wasn’t even going to do a top reads list for this year. I changed my mind after several people told me that they were looking forward to seeing what I picked. I read 177 books in 2012, down about 20 books from 2011. When I look back at my list, I’msurprised […]
A nice review
This review was written by R.D. Girvan and appeared in The Spruce Grove Examiner. 13, by Alexis Kienlen 13, Alexis Kienlen, Frontenac House Ltd., 2011, ISBN: 978-1-897181-53-9 Reviewed by: R.D. Girvan Originally Published in The Spruce Grove Examiner, October 2012 I was introduced to Alexis Kienlen, poet, fiction writer, editor and journalist, when she appeared as […]
Why do so many people want to write?
For the past couple of days, I’ve been asking myself this very question. “Why do so many people want to write?” I know lots of writers. The writers I know include poets, novelists, short story writers and screenwriters. I know people who make their living writing articles for newspapers, magazine articles and copy for websites […]
I judged the Edmonton Journal poetry contest
My friend Jenna Butler and I judged the Edmonton Journal poetry contest, which received 200 entries! The winner of the contest won a meet and greet with Maya Angelou. You can read the story about the contest here.
What every writer can learn from seeing Kenneth Oppel…
Last night, I ventured out to the Arden Theatre in St. Albert to attend a talk given by writer Kenneth Oppel. I’m a huge fan of his SIlverwing series, which explores the world of bats, and I loved his book “Half Brother”, a novel based on the Project Nim study and language acquisition in chimpanzees. […]
I didn’t win any awards….
My second book “13” came out in 2011. It was eligible for a few awards, but it didn’t even longlist for any. Now this could make me feel like a loser, but you know what? It doesn’t. Of course I would like the recognition, and would love to have some sort of award to add […]
My experience as a 2012 IFAJ Alltech young leader
I decided one post on my experience attending the conference of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) was not sufficient. So you get two posts, gentle readers. Here’s the backstory, my friend Lisa Guenther was the 2011 Young Leader and attended the IFAJ conference last year in Guelph . She was the one who […]
My first week in Stockholm
I’ve been back in Canada for one week, and I already miss Sweden. I was there for two weeks, from August 6 to August 20. The first week, I was a tourist and the second week, I was a participant in an international conference. I’m going to write two posts; one about each week. I […]