Summer 2019 Newsletter – Patio Edition

Patio Retrospective

Hello loyal readers and welcome new subscribers!
Time flies between newsletters! As I’m writing this, it occurs to me that I am sitting in the exact same spot I was last June at newsletter time. For the record:

June 2018

June 2019

This reminds me of those “Spot the Difference” pictures I loved as a kid.
Can you spot SIX differences?
(Different flowers don’t count!)

Contest was open to people on my Newsletter email list. First FOUR correct entries won a signed copy of Separation Anxiety.

Contest closed June 28, 2019.

Series Summer Arts School

Registration still open!

For over 30 years Red Deer College has offered its Series Summer Arts School, and this year I am thrilled to be part of it.

I’ll be instructing a one-day writeshop “Memoir-abilia” at Taste of Series Saturday, July 20. My five day workshop “Writing a Gift of Story” runs from July 15-19.

Check out the course details here:
RDC Event Registration Link: Writing a Gift of Story CRN #1826
RDC Event Registration Link: Memoir-abilia Writeshop CRN #1842

Separation Anxiety and Mental Health Week

Speaking of time flying, it has been four years since Separation Anxiety was published. I’ve enjoyed meeting readers at bookstores, libraries and literary festivals across Canada.

One of the most frequent questions people ask me is about anxiety. Mine and theirs. I wrote Feeling Proud and #Getting Loud in support of Mental Health Week, May 6-12, 2019.

On and Off the Wall: Writing in Progress

Marking four-year book anniversaries naturally leads people to ask: “How’s the next book coming along?” My answer: “Slowly and surely – but not in the direction I planned.”

This work-in-progress began as the story of my mother’s childhood and young adulthood, which always fascinated me. With the help of archivists and librarians across Canada, I have found fragments of detail about her extended family going back decades before her birth. I’ve gathered an impressive collection of photographs, documents, news-clippings, letters. This research has opened up a whole new world of speculation about people I’ll never know. I want to write their stories, too.

Which is why I need this timeline on my wall.

My research took me far beyond the wall last fall to see the places these people lived and the things they might have seen. I travelled to Edinburgh. I toured the Canadian Battlefields of World War I in France and Belgium.

It was a poignant, unforgettable journey. So many people, places, and events to imagine into story.

On the Go with Separation Anxiety

In between research junkets and writing jags, I visited some libraries and local stores for book events.

Separation Anxiety was the March book choice for the discussion group at Calgary’s Fish Creek Public Library. So impressed that one reader brought her own vintage Barbie! (So jealous…)

Literary Launches

I was proud to celebrate new book launches with these Alberta authors! Congratulations Shaun Hunter for Calgary Through the Eyes of Writers and to Fran Kimmel for No Good Asking.

Summer Reads

My A-List for Summer 2019
I’ll be spending time with these books by Alberta writers. Some fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Nuala: A Fable by Kimmy Beach

The Figgs by Ali Bryant

A Wake for the Dreamland by Laurel Deedrick-Mayne

Stained with the Colours of Sunday Morning by Rayanne Haines

The Patch: The People, Pipelines, and Politics of the Oil Sands by Chris Turner

Going (Book) Clubbing

This author also makes house calls — in person, on Skype or FaceTime.
Visit my website for information and to download free resources: Going (book) clubbing with Separation Anxiety.