Emergency Call to Action: Call in for Aleppo

as we speak, civilians are being executed by the assad regime in east aleppo & all over syria. this is a call to action from xʷməθkʷəyəm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh territories.…

Source: Emergency Call to Action: Call in for Aleppo

Changing Direction

Historical fiction, paranormal/young adult/women’s fiction, call it what you will, my current in-progress novel could be labeled all of these.

When a woman time-travels to the past, meets intriguing characters, learns about herself and life, and brings that new knowledge back with her to the  present and future, you have the gist of the novel I’m working on.

Imagine my joy when I met Veronica Knox, an editor who also writes paranormal books that include time travel. Then imagine my excitement when she liked my plot and encouraged me to develop it. Then think of my gratitude when she said I could call and talk with her about it and even recommended books to read to help me with the plotting.

So, if you don’t see frequent posts here, be assured I’m busy writing my book.

Cheers.

Magda Grows Up?

Parallel universes have taken over my mind. The past couple of months I’ve been working on a book dealing with this concept.  In this novel,  the protagonist confronts her life’s decision points and goes back to sample a reality she rejected earlier. 

Life is made up of decision points,  small and latge, and had we turned right rather than left, how would life be different? She finds out.

I’m enjoying writing about her many lives, and wish I had the secret of doing this with my own life. Don’t you?

Is this Magda, all grown up? It’s a question people keep asking me. I’ll tell you when I know.

Passage to the Gulf Islands

Reflecting Vancouver

This past weekend I returned to Mayne, some six years after my first visit to the Southern Gulf Islands, and reached further to Saturna. This island-hopping was made possible by an ambitious community event, Tour des Iles, which provided free sailings between neighbouring islands. Some boats took routes we landlubbers might otherwise never see: from Retreat Cove in the north of Galiano to Salt Spring Island, and in a triangle from the eastern side of Mayne, to Saturna, to Hope Bay on Pender, and back again.

To keep things simple, I planned a Saturday morning arrival on Mayne followed by a bike ride across the island to Horton Bay. A Tour des Iles boat would then ferry me to Saturna in the early afternoon and return me to Mayne in the evening for camping near Miner’s Bay. Sunday would allow a meandering journey back to Vancouver.

“Are you headed…

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Ph.inisheD

Ph.inisheD.

 

There are many reasons for completing our education.

The Truth Remains The Same Feat. Robbie Madsen (DJ Kwe – Search N Rescue Trevor Mix)

The Truth Remains The Same Feat. Robbie Madsen (DJ Kwe – Search N Rescue Trevor Mix).

 

Here’s one more tragic story that could have been so happy,  if someone with authority had been wiser. I hope Trevor is found and the three brothers have a reunion very soon.

 

Getting a Kick out of Reading

It’s so much fun reading from my latest Magda book at the Mayne Island LIbrary. I ended up saying a lot more to my audience than I’d planned to about why I write and what inspires me. Without their questions I might not have opened up as much. For me it’s all about the joy of being able to tell a story, invent characters, and bring themes I care about out into the open. The adults and children present, with their smiles, laughter and general warmth, gave me the feeling of security a shy person like me needed to speak from my heart.

Another bonus on this occasion, (Festival Active Pass on Mayne Island, )was having my husband, son, a granddaughter and a grandson in the library audience. So much of the time as I write my books I think about how these and other very special people will enjoy it. I guess I’ll always write for an audience I keep in my mind. Guess that’s why I get such a kick out of reading to them!

Definitely Not Pysanka

Each year I used Ukrainian egg dyes and traditional patterns to make lovely dyed eggs to share with my friends and family. I was proud of the way they looked. I even taught other people to dye eggs. But this year I thought I’d try something new. I wanted to try dying eggs using natural dyes.

This morning I went shopping for ingredients. I bought two kinds of onions, beets, purple cabbage, cranberries, carrots with tops, and turmeric. I had already cooked four little eggs last night, one for each grandchild.

I boiled up the ingredients, each dye lot in its own pot, then transferred the dye to a stainless steel bowl when enough time had passed for them to have a good colour.

I drew the first initial of each grandchild’s name on the eggs, then, when the dye was dry, I covered the letter with wax from a birthday candle. (This was something my older sister and I had done as kids – written our names in invisible wax before we dyed our eggs). So after that I dipped the eggs in the appropriate dye bath and presto! Easter eggs.

The biggest surprise was the red cabbage, which gave me a lovely blue colour (T) but turned sort of violet (J) when I added vinegar. The pink egg (S) was made with two dyes, cranberries and beets. And the one I thought worked best (B) is yellow from turmeric. The onion skins and carrot tops dye didn’t look festive to me so I didn’t use it. I shone the eggs up with olive oil and here they are.

They certainly aren’t Pysanky eggs. They aren’t even anything special, really. But they are made with love and it was fun trying something new.

Book Names and Branding

Your blog post was so helpful , Kristina. My four book mystery series might benefit from a review of the titles. I love the idea of one word titles. And I think Blaze is a much more exciting title than Burnt. Thanks for your help.

Creative Story Editors

Ready to Publish?

If you haven’t read my blog before, I’ve just signed on with Imajin Books and intend to blog about my publishing adventure. I’ll share what I learn and hope it helps someone out there get their novel published. At the end of my last blog, Ready to Publish?, I gave myself two action items:

Step one : Re-launch website and give it a cleaner look.

Done: Or sort of done. I’ll keep working on this as I get feedback. What changes did I make to the site?

• I changed my home page to a static page instead of my blog. I did this so when I have book covers designed, I’ll have a landing page to post the covers.
• I chose a new format that I found pleasing to the eye and what I think is a more professional image.
• I updated the image at the top…

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Writing a Play

I never thought of myself as a playwright. But a few months ago, the Mayne Island Little Theatre challenged locals to write plays that were no longer than twenty minutes, had no more than three characters,  and depicted a view of island life. These plays were to be submitted blind, no names attached.

Well, finding that a challenge was just what my writing needed at the time, I decided to give it a try.

I recalled a humourous experience while giving a ride to someone, and this became my first play.

My second play started life as a short story about the internment of Mayne Islanders of Japanese origins.

I enjoyed writing the plays, but was of two minds about submitting them. I rather timidly, and urged by friends, while not really expecting them to be chosen, entered them.

I was shocked when the theatre company’s readers selected both my efforts. Tomorrow and for the next two nights,  my little darlings, along with three others by local writers, will be displayed for all to see.

You can probably imagine my excitement.