Years ago, I developed a habit of reading the Nova Scotia obituaries every day. This morning, this little gem caught my eye. “I think it’s important that each of us wring out of every day whatever we can. Play the game full out, and don’t leave anything on the table. Decide what you want from…
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Summer!
WordPress recently reconfigured everything, (grrr….) so please bear with me as I try to figure out how to make my posts look okay. Lots going on this summer, including selling our lakefront cottage of 19 years – both our Ontario kids and partners are expecting their first babies, so we know we’ll be spending our…
THE HERMIT – the film! And some good news…
A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days making a book trailer for THE HERMIT. I used Animoto, which was new for me, but I have to say it’s a nice program (once I figured it out, roughly). And I got to include my late grandparents, Nana and Gramps Mingo in a YouTube…
Stephen King ON WRITING – a synopsis
I finally got around to reading ON WRITING: A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT, Stephen King’s book that every writer should read. Since he reportedly earned 17 million last year, he must know a few things about writing. Plus there are over 350 million copies of his dozens of books in existence. He has such an…
Annick Press
I attended an excellent webinar put on by CANSCAIP (Canadian Society for Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers) last night. It was moderated by author Natasha Deen, who had wonderful questions for Katie Hearn, Editorial Director at Annick Press, and Gayna Theophilus, Rights and Sales Director for Annick. They had excellent, in-depth and thoughtful answers, and…
Bits and Pieces of Fall in this Virtual World
I enjoyed my first virtual school visit last week (Dr. Arthur Hines School), using Google Meets. It went well, although for the Q&A portion, kids had to approach the teacher’s laptop directly; otherwise I couldn’t hear them. From grades 4 and up, the students in Nova Scotia are masked, so it was a little tricky…
Main Street Melancholy
1960s small-town life When I was a kid in 1960s small-town Nova Scotia, going “uptown” was a big deal. Oh, the wonders to be seen at Woolworth’s, the hardware store and the Metropolitan store in those simpler times! Tanks full of innocent goldfish, waiting to be bagged up and taken home to a guaranteed short…
Endless mask-making
Masks for the Food Bank Demand is great, and I’ve now made over 3,000 masks,including these lovely sea-inspired ones worn by my writing retreat pals, raising thousands of dollars for local food banks and school backpack programs. The latter (facilitated by the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Wolfville) is even more important now that…
Important Books in my Life
I’ve been having fun thinking of seven books that have been influential in my life, yet another Face Book tagging game. I’m sure there could have been others, but these are the ones that came to my mind first. the book I re-read at least once a year, while occasionally wishing I was Kate DiCamillo…
Masks, Grandparents, and Tragedy: Nova Scotia in the Times of Covid
I’ve been making masks, about 50/day for the past ten days, and raising lots of money for the Food Bank. I know many kids get a good chunk of their nutrition at school, when there is school, and I wanted to find a way to help them. I didn’t know the demand would be so…
