Have Writing, Will Travel

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment
Photo by Damiano Baschiera on Unsplash

I’m flying the coop! I’ve been a work-from-home mom for almost 21 years now. I’ve taken a couple vacations—a week here or there, but this one feels different. I’m going to Italy for two weeks, without my family. I travelled a lot when I was young and single. Doing two major backpacking trips: the first through northern Europe before I started a two month job in Norway. And then another, I refer to as my beach vacation: Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Venice Beach, California.

It was the time before internet, before a little phone in your pocket connected you to the world. I actually took a camera—and had no phone at the time. I remember the struggles trying to learn the pay phone system in each country so I could call home to my mother and let her know I was still alive. As a mother now, I’m deeply sorry for what I put my mom through!

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Novelists and Quiltmakers Bound by Threads

Lori Twining Leave a comment
Early Stages of Planning…

Often, writers have other creative interests besides writing short stories or novels. There are many pursuits to indulge in, such as painting, clay sculpture, embroidery, knitting, sewing, basket weaving, jewellery, photography, etc. I do many different activities, but this month, I concentrated on creating quilts. 

As I pushed a hot iron across a square piece of white cotton material for the next quilt block, I couldn’t help but notice the similarity to a blank white page on my laptop or in my notebook. It struck me how similar being a novelist and a quiltmaker really are for me. 

At first glance, a novel is made from words on pages bound together and printed into book form. A quilt is made from scraps of material and sewn together to produce a warm blanket. A book and a blanket are two different items, one hard and one soft, but both are created for you or someone else to enjoy. I thought about the parallels, and I couldn’t help but smile. Check them out below.

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A Writer’s Journey to Unexpected Places

Seana Moorhead Leave a comment
Image by Victoria_Regen from Pixabay

In my January blog, I shared my goal of writing, editing and polishing a short story to submit it to someplace… any place! I broke down the steps to achieve this goal in 2023: the first step was to research various fantasy short story contests (see my blog in January). So how am I doing on this plan? 

True Story: When I was in high school, one of my English teachers had us submit a short piece of writing to at least 2 magazines for publication as part of our requirement to pass his course. The goal was not to get published but to understand how to get published and experience the process. Back then, we had to flip through a massive book that listed every magazine with their criteria and how to submit. Then you mailed your story or poem with a self-addressed stamp envelop so that you could receive your rejection letter. 

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Adaptability – An Essential Author Trait

Donna Judy Curtin Leave a comment

I was listening to a podcast this morning while engaging in forced labour. By forced labour, I mean working on my husband’s half of our aspirational weekend job list—the list longer than we have the time, physical endurance, equipment, man power or complimentary weather complete.

Photo credit Donna Curtin

My husband grumbled all this winter about how he wanted to cut down the creeping branches along the edge of his fields. Many of our fields are surrounded by bush and eventually, the trees stretch into the unencumbered space to steal sunlight from his crops and barricade his combine.

So, following my husband along the edge of the field as he sawed off pesky new growth, it was my job to drag the bud laden branches into the bush and away from his crops. On the podcast I was listening to, they said we writers need to lean into learning and be willing to grow… to adapt. And this got me to thinking about how, if mother nature can adapt to find the open spaces, surely, we as writers can as well. Read more

The Beginning of the End

Diane Ferguson 4 Comments

Living in Canada means living with weather. When I lived in Toronto, there were ways to ignore it, but when I moved to Grey County, I soon realized there was no denying winter as it piled outside my door. I did learn to embrace it through: snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and eventually hockey. And I also learned there was no better time for a writer than in the depths of winter. And then there was that pandemic. For us introverts, it was a perfect time for writing.

Slowly things are opening up, or maybe I’m slowly opening up. Sometimes, I feel like I’m crawling out of a dark cave, adjusting to the light, checking out the horizon. And it’s not just covid, but my daughters have just come of age, so I’m also waking from the world of intense parenting—at least it felt intense! Obviously, the job doesn’t end here, but the duties are less time-consuming.

Barbara Kyle

A night out with writer friends to see Barbara Kyle and C.S. O’Cinneide, presented by the West Grey Public Library, provided lots of inspiration for future projects!

C.S. O’Cinneide

And I’m also coming out of a long period of editing my novel, getting it ready to submit. And as close to the end as it’s seemed, the finish line keeps getting moved back. Al-most-there-just-a-bit-more-to-do. I’d printed off a copy and read through and made edits before handing it to other friends to read.

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Ex Astris

Andrée Levie-Warrilow Leave a comment

More than one blog posted here at Ascribe has dealt with the importance of reading books. How reading books makes one a good writer. So much enrichment: escape, inspiration, entertainment, information, healing – all the “tools” someone who hopes to one day write a good book needs.
Then there are the books you don’t really want to read, but know you should. The books that tell the stories of the Other, the disenfranchised, the exploited, of terrible events, injustices, of awful lives lived far away, of miseries lived just down the street. The books that teach hard lessons.

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Forget Writing Festivals—take a Book Holiday

Tracey Richardson Leave a comment
Bronze statues of Oliver St. John Gogarty and James Joyce outside the pub of the same name in Temple Bar Dublin.

Ever get tired of those bookshelves of yours bursting with unread books that you just can’t get excited about reading?

At least once a year, I fall into the book doldrums. It’s a reading lethargy that writers will identify with, because it very much resembles writers’ block. It’s where you can’t get inspired or motivated to read books, and I hate when this happens, because I’ve loved reading books since I first learned how to read.

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You Are A Story Teller

Kelly Babcock Leave a comment

My son and I telling each other stories.

I have spent years crafting my language. No, not English specifically, I’m not responsible for that mess, but the English words I choose when talking or writing are my language.

And you have your own language as well. When you tell a story there are grammatical constructs and turns of phrase that you favour. Even your choice of spelling when there are options speaks to “your Language.”

And there are many things that have informed my language, I want it to make people think, I prefer it to be a bit witty, I want it to be clear and concise without being Read more