I offered a summer pop-up women’s Writing Life women’s writing circle recently on the theme of “Inside the Treasure House.” It’s a theme I’ve used before, and thought it a good time to revisit and acknowledge our gifts. In the circle, we are honoured for who we are and in the midst of busy lives, have a chance to slow down and be with what is. Especially in the chaos of summer, the circle is a welcome place for grounding and centring. (What chaos, you may ask, isn’t everyone at the beach?!) It was the subject of museums that led me to the theme of “treasure house.” While our own provenance hol ..read more

Lynda Barry’s What It Is published in hard cover in 2008 is now out in soft cover (Drawn & Quarterly, 2024). The first edition won the comic industry’s 2009 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work. What It Is is a wonderful combination of a graphic novel, memoir, lots of collage, drawings, and questions to ponder as if a writing workbook with many tips to spark creativity. To many, the pages may appear chaotic but there is much to glean in this scrapbook of a life. Comics, music and art saved her, Barry said in an interview with Tom Power on CBC Radio’s Q. Barry is an American cartoonist ..read more

Many years ago when my children were young (they are now 50 and 46), I began writing for the local newspaper in the small Ontario town where we lived. The freelancing started  with writing letters to the editor of The Canadian Statesman in Bowmanville. I expect it’s one of those newspapers that is no longer in existence. When a meeting was held for locals, particularly parents interested in a school to be built for a newer area of Bowmanville, I wrote an article about the meeting and sent it to the newspaper. They put it on the front page! It may have been a slow news day but whatever hap ..read more

I love writing in community whether in a circle facilitated by me or at a workshop (which could be a writing retreat) with a respected mentor. Meredith Heller, who lives in Northern California, loves writing in community too. I can tell by the enthusiastic and engaging writing in her new book: Writing by Heart: A Poetry Path to Healing and Self-Discovery (New World Library, 2024). Meredith started “Writing by Heart” poetry workshops during the pandemic with some women from Marin County, California. Now, people from all over the world attend her workshops on Zoom. She has had the “honour and jo ..read more

Last week I attended a poetry retreat in Honeymoon Bay, on Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island.  I try to do this at least once a year. That good habit started in 2006 when I began attending poetry retreats with Patrick Lane. Patrick died in 2019 and it’s now his partner and fellow poet, Lorna Crozier, who has taken on the leading of the poetry retreats in Honeymoon Bay. It’s wonderful to work with a master poet and teacher. The other fabulous part of attending a retreat is being able to hang out with fellow poets. There were nineteen of us and we were able to write together, share our poet ..read more

It’s National Poetry Month and spring is a fabulous time to celebrate everything poetic! I live in a city full of poets, Nanaimo, B.C, and we have our own Poet Laureate, Kamal Pamar. We’ve had two  previous poets laureate: Naomi Beth Wakan and Tina Biello. This blog (since 2014 or so)  is called “A Poet’s Nanaimo” as I’ve appreciated, as a poet and writer,  being part of a vibrant writing community in my home city and further afield on Vancouver Island. Last April, I was pleased to publish my chapbook of poetry, Mending, along with MJ Burrows and Marlene Dean who also had new ch ..read more

The third book co-edited by creative collaborators Eric Maisel and Lynda Monk is now out: Affirmations for Self-Love: A Motivational Journal with Prompts for Self-Worth, Self Acceptance & Positive Self-Talk (Mango Publishing, 2024). Eric Maisel has inspired many with his 50 + books in the world. I believe the first book I read of Eric’s was Fearless Creating and I’ve appreciated many more since. Eric is a retired family therapist and active creativity coach who is a member of the Journal Council of the IAJW (International Association for Journal Writing). Lynda Monk is the Director of the ..read more

I’m not sure if there is a particular genre name for light-hearted crime fiction. Until I find out, I’ll call the likes of books by Richard Osman, Susan Juby, Ron Base, Prudence Emery, Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti: crime fiction (with a chuckle). Novels by these authors with their amateur sleuths, remind me somewhat of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. Usually, the Christie novels, as well as those of P.D. James, were set in a particular setting such as a small village, a school, a theatre, and we got to meet all the characters among whom is the murderer. That way we readers could be sleuth ..read more

Spring Pop-Up Writing Life women’s writing circles on Zoom Nourish Yourself. Honour Your Voice. Write Your Stories. You are invited to join me for a spring pop-up writing circle (or more than one!) to honour signs of spring and your own writing practice. For those who find these circle themes familiar, you’ll have an opportunity to reconnect to your writing. For others new to the circle and perhaps even new to writing, you’ll have an introduction to the gifts of writing with companions nearby. In the two and a half hours we spend together on Zoom, we’ll have a mini retreat of connecting to our ..read more

It’s that time of year when the writing circles begin again. I always look forward to seeing old friends and welcoming new ones. Writing has been my spiritual practice for a long time and I can’t help but encourage it in others. There are a couple of opportunities coming up. If you are in Nanaimo or not too far away, I invite you to join me either for a four-week Writing Life women’s writing circle, in my home, or for a seven-week writing circle called Writing Home: A Whole Life Practice that will take place at Bethlehem Centre in Nanaimo. The Writing Life Circle‘s theme this time is “Stitchin ..read more