I've just ordered a proof copy of my new book. I'm breaking all writer rules and moving forward without using professional editors—a decision I may regret, but, like I said a few days ago, I'm choosing not to immerse myself in those trauma-filled days again. I just want to finish this work and move on.
Early this year, I started working on another book. Here's what I wrote in the draft introduction. There was a saying going around when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging, reminding us that, while we were all weathering in the same storm, we were doing so in different boats. The experiences of people we saw on
If you know me, you know I believe in the power of story. Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable enough to share our story makes us stronger and give us permission to own our truth and stand strong in it. Our stories can serve as catalysts for change when change is needed. Writing our stories enables
I can't unsee or unhear things I've seen over the past two years and, most incredibly, in the past few weeks. There are things we can't come back from in this country and, indeed, in the world. I have never been particularly politically minded, but our leadership's actions, overreach, and outright disdain for citizens with
I've been writing, in one form or another, for most of the day. That, and keeping one wary eye on the Canadian news. I can't believe what's happening in the country I love. For the first time since its creation in 1988 (as a modern-day replacement of the War Measures Act), our Prime Minister. has
There are elephants of varying sizes in almost every room I enter—but not at home, thank goodness not at home. Here we speak openly and disagree respectfully, but out there there are things I dare not speak of lest I face judgment or attack by one faction or another (by “out there” I mean the
I read a post this morning on Christy Woolum’s blog, Gathering Around the Table, called Ten Things Savimg My Life Right Now, where she shared 10 things helping her through the bleak mid-winter. Her post was in response to Anne Vogel’s post on her blog, Modern Mrs. Darcy, and invitation to others to do make
It's Monday—the last one in January and my birthday week. After a slow and gloomy weekend, our granddaughter is in good health and rose early to make her own healthy breakfast and lunch to kick off a good day. Gerry's happy to have the opportunity to return to the gym after recent closures, so he
It's a gray Saturday. Our granddaughter is sick so we're hunkered down at home. It's not serious and she is feeling somewhat better today, and getting bored. That's a good sign. I just took a loaf of bread out of the oven and we all enjoyed a warm slice—Makiya's and mine slathered with butter. Gerry
I wonder how it will end? Will we wake one day to the news announcing it’s over? Or will the word “pandemic” have to be pried from the cold clutching hands of the news media? Maybe it will quietly fade from the headlines, replaced by the word “endemic” and, one fine day, other things will
The January melt continues. Our cars are dirty and our garages are mucky; roads are slushy and our shoes are wet. We're on the downward slope toward spring and, while it's entirely possible we're in for another dump or two of snow, I'm choosing to believe the worst of winter is behind us. I even