Tag: Seana Moorhead

Mixing Solitude with the Camaraderie

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Lori Twining ~ Coffee at Sunrise
Lori Twining ~ Coffee at Sunrise, Elmhirst’s Resort

What writer wouldn’t love to disappear from their life and spend an entire week hidden away at a remote location? With no other obligations other than to put fingers to keyboard or pen to paper and tell a story. Maybe, a story no one will ever read? That’s a possibility. But hey, if you are a writer, you will have a strong desire to write that story whether someone reads it or not, right? 

Disappearing to a remote location sounds fantastic, especially after the tough year or two we have experienced. My doctor said I was becoming a workaholic, even though I’m working from home now, and I should take a mental health break. She said something like, “Take a vacation.”

In my mind, I watched her scribble a prescription on her pad for me:

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Accountability Partners: Are They Beneficial?

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Accountability Partners: Colleen Winter & Lori Twining

I have a simple goal: I want a writing career.

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as quitting my day job and writing the damn novel. Other things factor into a writing career, besides having money to pay the bills. In 2021, as a writer, it is essential to have a social media presence, network with others, be searchable on Google, be knowledgeable and experienced with the craft of writing, have an agent, have a publisher, and the list goes on and on. It is endless.

Is a writing career something I can do alone?

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Opportunity Knocks on a Holiday Monday

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Seana Moorhead & Lori Twining writing short stories at a Writescape Writing Retreat

Today is not a national statutory holiday in Canada, but in Ontario, Family Day is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of February (and many of us have a holiday away from our daily jobs). This holiday was originally created for people to spend time with their families, however, it also allows a day off between New Years Day and Good Friday (which are three months apart). These three months are a loooooong stretch of time when the sunshine goes on vacation to Florida (to hang out with my parents). When this happens, the Canadians end up battling snowstorms every other day and need to deal with the extremely cold winds whipping through the land freezing our facial expressions of sadness until mid-April.

Family Day is great for people who have young kids that want to celebrate by playing board games all day in their jammies by the fireplace, or going snowshoeing, skating or skiing together in the -35 degree weather. But, if you don’t have children, or if you are like me, your kids have grown up and have moved out, Family Day becomes more of a “Catch-up-on-all-the-other-stuff-you-have-procrastinated-doing” Day.

If you are a writer, it also becomes a “Finish-My-Novel” kind of day or a “Let’s-Write-A-Short-Story” kind of day. After reading Seana Moorhead’s blog post on 10 Reasons to Write Short Stories on January 27th, I thought I should investigate all the possibilities of where to send these newly-created short stories. Then, I decided to share the information with you. There is no better feeling of sending out your work and having it be a finalist (or a winner) in a contest.

Okay, that was a little lie above…

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Grey-Bruce Story Collection Hits Shelves Soon

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Ascribe Writers - Photo by Taylor Rebecca Photography
Ascribe Writers – Photo by Taylor Rebecca Photography

 

The Ascribe Writers are pleased to announce the publication of their first collection of writing by our members entitled Beneath the Surface: A Collection of Grey-Bruce Stories.

Anthology - Front CoverWithin the pages of this anthology, you will find short stories with subject matters that will appeal to almost everyone: history, romance, fantasy, science fiction, animals, relationships, parenthood, holiday celebrations, antique cars, aging, murder, gardening, werewolves, dragons, health, religion and more.

This book features 14 stories from nine local contributors; all stories varying in different writing styles, genres and topics, as well as several time periods (historical, contemporary and futuristic). In addition to the short stories, the collection includes a foreward by Andrew Armitage, a local author, historian and former librarian who believes in preserving stories about the Grey-Bruce area that would be lost to us, if we didn’t write them down and share with others.

Here is a sneak peek at what is inside this new collection of stories: Read more