I live in a small town in central BC with my husband and my dogs. I love to get outside whether that is hiking, kayaking, taking the dogs for a walk, or spey fishing for steelhead. I have had the privilege to complete several backpacking trips from the historic gold rush Chilkoot trail in the north, the Brazeau Loop, to the West Coast Trail and many in between. I have also made the trip around the Bowron Lakes circuit a couple times and fully intend to go back.
When I am not escaping to the bush I am working as a Literary Intern, bookkeeper, social media advertising, and working on my own creative writing projects. I love learning about the publishing industry and the intricacies that work within it. I love working with agencies and being able to see the publishing world from their perspective. As might be assumed by now I am an avid bookworm and I am always working on building up my own collection. Some of my favourites include Suzanne by Anais Barbeau-Lavelette translated by Rhonda Mullins, Ru by Kim Thuy, The Vegetarian by Han Kang, and I could go on.
Would you ride a motorcycle for the first time on Friday the 13th? If something bad is going to happen, it is all more likely to happen on the bad luck day, right? I’ve never been one to get too wrapped up in the lore around Friday the 13th. The reasoning behind this day being… Read more »
In case you didn’t follow along with Canada Reads this year, it breaks down like this, the order the books were voted off: The Boat People Sharon Bala Precious Cargo Craig Davidson The Marrow Thieves Cherie Dimaline American War Omar El Akkad Forgiveness Mark Sakamoto The book I was rooting for, The Boat People, by… Read more »
Rejection can be paralyzing. The thought of putting yourself out there to only be turned away can be enough to stop you from wanting to try. But, what is the worst that can happen? You ask, they say no. But, if you don’t ask, you are rejecting yourself. Sending creative work to magazines, contests, agents,… Read more »
Creative writing can be hard—worthwhile and fulfilling, but hard. It is difficult to get the words out some days, and it is easy to be hard on yourself when it is. It takes a lot of time and effort, a lot of being critical of your own work and merciless when it comes to editing… Read more »
Even if you love what you do, some days it can be hard to find the motivation to work on it. This lack of motivation can come from any number of sources and none of it speaks to how much you enjoy what you’re doing. Sometimes it just doesn’t want to work. I find that… Read more »
It can be hard to acknowledge to yourself, let alone anyone else, that you have taken on too much. That the workload you thought you could handle was dragging you down and making you less productive across the board. But it is important to see that. To acknowledge the exhaustion, the forgetfulness, the lack of… Read more »
There is a new social media app that is out and threatening to take over. Vero boasts that it is Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all in one. I heard about this app through a couple creator pages that I follow on Instagram, their reasoning for making the switch was that Instagram algorithms are making it… Read more »
Getting out into the bush and disconnecting is a great way to recharge. But the disconnection does not need to be complete. I used to love the inability to be reached, there was a sense of freedom in it. When we started looking at SPOT and InReach devices it was for their safety aspect, but… Read more »
Submitting my first essay for my first graduate level course was stressful; it was probably similar to the first essay I submitted for my undergraduate course. I spent a lot of time preparing quotes, editing, editing, and then a bit more editing. I used a trick taught by The Voice Magazine’s editor and worked through… Read more »
Valentine’s day is almost here. There are lots of traditions among couples, some influenced by the consumer culture, while others not. I am all for celebrating it, or not, in your own way. One thing that comes to mind, though, with the tradition of Valentine’s day is poetry. I started to do a poetry challenge… Read more »