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:
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.
Series Summer Arts School
For over 30 years Red Deer College has offered its Series Summer Arts School, and this year I was thrilled to be part of it.
I instructed a one-day writeshop “Memoir-abilia” at Taste of Series Saturday, July 20. My five day workshop “Writing a Gift of Story” ran from July 15-19.
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 traveled 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. I was so impressed when 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
Warm Wishes for Summer!
Thanks for hanging out on the patio with me.
Would love to hear from you!
Drop me a line…
Or stop by for wine.
~ Miji