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photo of snow-laden garage

Significant Incident Report #2: The Garage*

Hello? Is this the emergency shelter? Oh, good. Glad I caught you. I’d like to report an incident? Something that happened last night. No, I know you’re not the police. But I thought I wasn’t supposed to call the police anymore? Poverty’s not a crime, right? So I thought I’d call you, because this has to do with a homeless person and you handle them. You serve that population. Yes. That’s what I meant to say. You serve that population,… Read More »Significant Incident Report #2: The Garage*

Significant Incident Report #1: The Basket*

*Being a satirical recounting of (at least partially) true events occurring in a rapidly-growing mountain town during the unprecedented year of 2022. Around here we call this kind of basket a Kootenay carry-on. Yeah, it does fit everything, and I mean everything. If you need it, I probably have it in here. A lot of locals have them. I want to talk to you about what happened this morning. I was walking down the hill from our house to the… Read More »Significant Incident Report #1: The Basket*

T-shirt under construction

So Much More Than a T-Shirt

Pictured above is a t-shirt that I made. It took me 8-10 hours, which, given how simple it is, is probably a long time. When it comes to sewing straight lines, I’m an advanced beginner. I made a quilt for each of my kids when they were little and went through a whole making bags from old jeans phase while I was working up the courage to write my first novel. But when it comes to sewing clothes, I’m an… Read More »So Much More Than a T-Shirt

Notebook with pens

6 Reasons To Keep Your Day Job

Once I was on a panel with four other writers in front of a large audience. The event moved the the Q&A segment, and, as writers do, we all held our breath. This next part could go in any direction at all. The first question was this: Do you write full time, or do you still do other work? It’s an uncomfortable experience to pass the mic down the line, writer to writer, and answer for your success based on… Read More »6 Reasons To Keep Your Day Job

Notebook and writing materials

Fictional Empty Nest

I recently completed a round of novel edits so substantial that I practically rewrote the manuscript from scratch. It took way longer and was way harder than I expected. Those last few weeks, as each day blended into the next, I couldn’t wait to be done. I imagined the relief, the satisfaction, the freedom that would come once I sent this round off to my editor. Anything that comes next with this book will be easier than this round of… Read More »Fictional Empty Nest

Kidney beans lined up on a tiles counter

Math For Authors

[When I first started this blog, I promised to reprise some posts from my earlier blog, just for fun. There’s not much that has changed from when this post was originally written, except that the seven-year-old in question is now seventeen. (And he’s really good at math.) It’s fun to look back at writing from the front lines of parenting. Those of you with younger children might appreciate this excerpt from the trenches. It comes with the promise that it… Read More »Math For Authors

Sticky notes and notebooks spread across a table

Do Your Own Work

Most of the time I’m all encouragement and you-go-get-‘em on here. My purpose with this blog is to light a fire under writers and get them working. If you are someone that has a strong desire to tell a story, and if the idea that you might die before you write it keeps you up at night, I hope you’ll dive into these posts and find all the tips, tricks, courage and positivity you need to get started. I will… Read More »Do Your Own Work

Old magazines, notebook, scissors, glue stick and pen on a table

15 Things To Do During Your Writing Time

In one of my earlier blog posts, here,I talked about the importance of scheduling your writing time, whether it’s twenty minutes a day or an hour twice a week. And then I told you the most important rule of writing. Really, the only rule of writing as far as I’m concerned: Show up for yourself. Now What? It is quite possible that now that you’ve carved out the time, you don’t know what to do with it. When you set… Read More »15 Things To Do During Your Writing Time