Four Contemporary Horror Stories

Seana Moorhead Leave a comment
Image by Lukas Baumert from Pixabay

I previously wrote about reading 3 classic horror books: one about a haunted house and ghosts (The Haunting of Hill House), one about a monster created (Frankenstein) and the classic vampire story (Dracula). I decided it would be fun to find contemporary horror novels in similar subplots. What better way to celebrate the start of autumn? I also looked for stories written outside of the English speaking counties. I wanted to find stories with different voices and perspectives. I found it interesting to look for contemporary stories from classic novels and how writing styles and the choices that authors make have changed or in some cases, stayed the same, over time.  

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Mooning with Purpose

Donna Judy Curtin 2 Comments
Photo by Kerin Gedge on Unsplash

A loon just mooned me.

Well… actually, it was a duck.

But still! He fully mooned me. I was minding my own business, driving home from the veterinary hospital after morning treatments, admiring this last blast of summer, when I glanced out my window to catch the shimmer off a pond in a neighbour’s pasture—I enjoy watching the cattle sipping or the calves playing along the water’s edge or maybe I seek glimpses of water out of a habit held over from my childhood, when us kids used to fight over sitting on the driver’s side of the bus so we could look out the window to count the turtles sitting on the logs as we drove along the Saugeen river, the winding road twinning with the river to sneak into the back of Paisley. Read more

Back-to-School?

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment

 

As the leaves start to turn and the geese gather overhead, it’s hard not to think about back-to-school. I loved school. While many were mourning the passing of summer, I was anxious for the start of September, new books, new clothes, new class. So many exciting possibilities. (Yes, the excitement soon waned by mid-October.)

I LOVE learning and I LOVE reading. Two things that school was all about. Of course, seeing all my friends was a bonus too. Since I loved school, I knew I wanted to go to University—didn’t matter what I was learning, as long as I was in school. I decided to become a Chartered Accountant (now called a CPA). This was a path that would take seven years to complete. The culmination of that was a 16 hour exam spread over 4 days with a 50% failure rate. I made it!

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IS IT REAL OR IS IT FICTION

Tracey Richardson Leave a comment

Have you ever got caught up in a novel that seemed so rich in detail, so real, that you thought for certain the author must have lived that experience?

I mean, we know we’re reading a novel, which, by definition, is fiction. Yet how come a scene or a character will resonate so thoroughly that you find yourself wondering about the author’s real life? Surely an author who can write with such emotion, such clarity, must have experienced what his/her character is going through? Or at the very least, they must share a lot of the same traits as their character.

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Summertime

Kelly Babcock Leave a comment

It’s almost exactly the middle of Summer. It’s a time I personally adore. I mean, I’m one of those people that loves the season I’m in when I’m in it. But there’s something about summer that makes me feel good.

And I have to point out that I’m a realist. Summer starts three weeks in to June and it ends three weeks in to September for me. I don’t make the rules I just live by them. I don’t cheat Spring out of her rightful holdings and I recognize her for what she is, transition from Winter to Summer. And as such, Spring is some of Read more

Who Are You? And, Why Do You Write?

Lori Twining 4 Comments

The summer months are full of extended family gatherings. This year we are celebrating many things: the arrival of our second grandbaby, the engagement of our niece, the departure of my hubby’s brother and wife (moving to Singapore for two years), and a bridal shower for my hubby’s cousin (even though we are not invited to the wedding). Where am I going with all this family information?

Lori Twining

With family gatherings come rapid-fire questions about how my writing career is going. Typical questions are something like this: 

  •  “Are you still trying to do that writing thing?”
  • “Where is this book I keep hearing about?”
  • “Why isn’t your book done yet?”
  • “What’s taking so long?”

These questions are often followed by examples of so-and-so publishing their 27th novel this month, and they write three books a year. So, why is my book, which I have been working on for what seems like 100 years, taking so long to write and publish? There is an instant sense of dread or shame. I should stop calling myself a writer and instead watch some movies on Prime or Netflix like everyone else.

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Thursday Afternoon Pedicure Book Club

Bernice Connell Leave a comment

How many times have you been so excited by a book you have read that you could not wait to find someone to talk with about it? You pass it along to a friend with the hope that they will read it quickly so you can share your enthusiasm and discover whether it impacted them as well.

Book clubs are the perfect solution to this dilemma with everyone reading the same novel at the same time and with a scheduled time for discussion. Clubs are as varied as their members are creative. Everything from choosing titles and the structure of their gatherings is negotiated. Rules can be rigid or flexible; don’t attend if you haven’t finished the book, meet at restaurants instead of members’ homes, dress with a nod to the era or characters in the recent read, etc. One group I know of took the last idea to the extreme by attending the club meeting in full Victorian dress for afternoon tea.

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