It’s Canada Day. Geo and I thought we might go to a beach somewhere. After breakfast, we let that thought drift away. He went to Canadian Tire. I went for a walk.

I did not see the mama bear and her two cubs in the trees along the trail, but I heard about them from my friends and neighbours. I wish I’d seen the bears. I’m glad I didn’t.

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Every April, the Okanagan Valley turns yellow as the arrowleaf balsamroot plant busts out all over the place, brightening our trails and hillsides. No matter what’s going on in the world, it’s impossible not to feel happy, or at least happier, when the arrowleaf blossoms are everywhere, announcing spring and causing an outbreak of smiles, of oohs and ah…

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I have been a writer since I was a teenager. I’ve been a photographer for even longer. My parents gave me a Brownie camera for my birthday one year, I think I was twelve. I think that camera was my first true love. I’ve been taking pictures of my world ever since. So I have a lot of photos of Canada. The photos in this post are all old, taken before dig…

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A windy day last week had the flags standing almost straight out from their poles. There weren’t many people along the downtown waterfront when I took this shot, so our flags were doing the “elbows up” work on their own. I was happy to see them.

I started writing this piece with the idea of a series of morning photos. At times in my life, I have been a m…

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I went for a walk yesterday. A late afternoon walk, the sun was lowering towards the hills, the snow we had earlier this week already washed away by the rain that came last night. The trail was mushy and muddy in spots. I passed a few people, enough humans to keep me from feeling like bear bait. (Are they still sleeping?)

Just before leaving for my walk…

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My musings this week aren’t about writing or reading. They’re about making images by other means. Above you see a non-representational drawing I made about ten years ago. I made it in a time when I was struggling with various personal upheavals, some minor, some a little more than minor, all weighing on my mind. I paid a visit to a tarot card reader and…

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Hello again. I know. I’ve been awol from this newsletter for a while. A long while. Since last April, in fact. I called my last post “Looking at Clouds.” And I shared with you that I wasn’t sure I would continue writing, that I was putting everything I’d been creating on pause. In short, I turtled, crawled inside my upside-down shell and stayed there. A…

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My apologies, everyone. It’s been more than a month since my last issue of Me Who Writes. That’s because me who writes hasn’t been writing. I’ve come to realize I’m at a transition time - again - in my life. Thinking about who and what I am. Am I a writer if I’m not writing? I don’t feel like a writer at the moment. This is different than previous pause…

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Hi Everyone,

Late last fall, on a trail I walk often, a sculpture appeared. Artist unknown. Its location is not far from a university campus, so my guess is that the unknown sculptor/s came from there. I thank them/her/him for it.

My friends told me they had discovered this strange creation and the next day I went searching for it. But it blends in so we…

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One of the nicest comments I ever received in the numerous rejection letters that have come my way from publishers and agents and acquisition editors over my writing career is that the sender was sorry not to be accepting my work because my writing had “a lot of heart.” In this heart month of February, Geo and I generally let Valentine’s Day pass with l…

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Hi Everyone,

The Okanagan skies are low these days. Mist and fog cling to the hills. I know many people are yearning for glimpses of blue and sun, but right now I’m quite comfortable with the snug cloud cover and unthreatening weather that brings with it much-needed moisture. It feels somehow cozy. And it’s good thinking time.

I was well into writing the…

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Greetings to all in this first month of 2024. This issue of Me Who Writes is making its appearance several days later than I planned. I have no real reason to offer, other than to say that I have been moving slowly these days.

I am the eldest of five siblings. I didn’t mind the arrival of all the siblings - they were kind of fun and cute when they were s…

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This is me waving good-bye to 2023. I took this photo a few days ago: late December and not a flake of snow in sight. Here in the Okanagan Valley, we are enjoying beautiful mild weather that is definitely producing some anxiety (what the heck is going on).

I started this Substack on Dec 31 last year with a first issue titled Are You Still Writing? The a…

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There’s a reason for the presence of the Ace of Pentacles in this photo of my new book and my beautiful old salt lamp. I’ll let you know why it’s there at the end of this piece, but first I want to tell you about the publishing journey of She Who Burns.

This issue is a few days late because I’ve been sitting on some good news. It’s hard to keep good news…

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Hi Everyone,

How was November for you? I usually find it one of the difficult months of the year. Life feels subdued and contracted. Here in the Okanagan Valley, the clouds have taken on their seasonal battleship grey colour as the days shrink to their stingiest hours. In keeping with the theme of my last issue, I’m opening this one with a view of my of…

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Hi Everyone,

I’ll start this issue of my newsletter with good news. I have re-scheduled the Edmonton launch that I had to cancel a few weeks ago. I’ll be in Edmonton at Audreys Books on Jasper Avenue on Sunday, December 3 at 2 PM, talking about She Who Burns. If you’re in the area, please join us.

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Hi Everyone,

I delayed this post for one day so that it coincides with Halloween. I’m not exactly sure why I felt the need to do that because I’m not really a fan. I’ve never been good at Halloween. I’ve written about this before, in my second book, A Year of Days, in a chapter titled “Survival Gear,” which is ostensibly about Halloween, but is essential…

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Over the past week, as the news of the world grew more and more disturbing each day, I was well into my reading of a book called Bittersweet by Susan Cain. A thoughtful blend of narrative, psychology, social theory, and self-help, this book is about longing and how the purpose of longing isn’t necessarily to gain possession of whatever we’re longing for…

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Hi Everyone,

This issue is a little late. I aim to publish each newsletter at about noon every second Sunday, but I missed that deadline this time. The part of me that expects punctuality is not happy about this tardiness. I offer no excuse, other than to say that life got in the way of writing these past few weeks. So, a day late, here’s a post that con…

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I took this picture at about six in the morning earlier this week. I saw mist rising from the pond and ran to the top of the hill to take some photos. I don’t remember what I was wearing—whatever I’d thrown on after tumbling out of bed. I snapped off a dozen shots, waking myself up completely by inhaling the cool morning air. About fifteen minutes later…

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