WGA Xmas Party; Annual Holiday Wind-Down

Thanks to Samantha Warwick and Carol Holmes of The Writers Guild of Alberta for organizing last night's really enjoyable Guild Xmas party, and many thanks to the Rose and Crown for hosting. There were fine readings by Barb Howard and Jeramy Dodds, door prizes, food and lots and lots of chat. A good time was had by all, I think!

Tomorrow night is my last creative writing class for the fall term at Mount Royal. However, I'm back in the Winter Term to do it all again. Have really been enjoying my classes and my students.

So, getting close to the holidays. Looking forward to taking a break with family and friends and getting back to some real writing in the New Year. Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

"Impatient to be Free"

My story "Impatient to be Free" is today's featured story on Fiction365.  Check it out!

Freshwater Pearls Encore Reading Wed. Nov. 23; Coming to Canada

This Wednesday, November 23rd at 7 PM is the  Freshwater Pearls encore reading, featuring  Lee Kvern, Susan Carpenter, Frances Hern, Kari Strutt, Julie Lockhart, Robin van Eck, Richard Gorecki and me. Excellent Christmas shopping op, folks! That's at Owl's Nest Books, in the Brittania Shopping Centre at 815A - 49 Ave. SW. What better way to Occupy Calgary than by supporting your local indie bookstore (and indie writers and publisher)? Plus awesome readings and amusing banter! 


But before that,  tomorrow afternoon I'm braving Calgary's first real blast of winter for Coming to Canada, readings and panel discussion about immigration with Frances Hern and Brian Brennan. That's at Shelf Life Books, 1302 - 4 St. SW at 1:00. I understand there will be coffee and cookies. Sounds good!

Owl's Nest Reading; Rubbing Stone; FreeFall

Open mic night at Owl's Nest was a blast -- wide variety of work and readers. Thanks to Rea of the Alexandra Writers for organizing. Next open mic night is November 30th, so bring out your three double-spaced pages of work and put your name in the hat. Well, Ziploc bag.

Speaking of Owl's Nest Books, looking forward to the Freshwater Pearls encore reading there at 7 PM on November 23rd. That's Lee Kvern, Susan Carpenter, Frances Hern, Kari Strutt, Julie Lockhart and me. Owl's Nest is in the Brittania Shopping Centre at 815A - 49 Ave. SW. Come on out and support your local indie bookstore (and indie writers and publisher)!

I'm happy to announce a couple of forthcoming publications, in different genres, yet! It seems I will have a poem (!) in Rubbing Stone: A Nose Hill Anthology, which will be published in 2012 and is being edited by Vivian Hansen. I had a couple of poems published in a tiny long-dead journal many years ago and kind of thought that was it for me and poetry. But it's something I've been revisiting lately. Very nice.

Also, FreeFall Magazine is running a creative nonfiction piece I submitted to them for the Winter 2012 issue. Very pleased to once again be appearing in their pages!

All the news for now. This fall has been going by even faster than usual because of the classes I'm teaching at Mount Royal (and enjoying very much!). Looking forward to a Xmas trip this year -- first time in my life I've ever travelled at Xmas. And we're going to Hollywood! Oh, my. Pretty exciting for an old movie freak like yours truly! Yay!

Fiction365; Nothing Sacred Review; Open mic night

Got word that a story of mine is set to appear in the online journal Fiction365. They feature a different story every day -- hence the title, as my kids would say. My story will be up in about a month's time. I'll post here once I get the details.

Also just discovered that in July a review of Nothing Sacred by Andrea Ledding ran in The R-Town News Online, out of Wolseley, SK. Scroll down to page 4 to read it if you're interested. Thanks very much, R-Town News and Andrea Ledding!

Looking forward to Open Mic night hosted by The Alexandra Writers Centre Society and Owl's Nest Books, at 815A 49 Avenue SW, in the Brittania Shopping Centre. That's Wednesday, October 26, at 7 PM. I understand there's the possibility of enjoying a beverage later, too. Sounds like too much fun!

More Freshwater Pearls news; Open Mic nights!

Nice to see the Freshwater Pearls anthology at number two on this week's Calgary Herald Calgary Bestseller list! I've had a chance to read several of the pieces so far -- very fine work! Congratulations again to the Alexandra Writers and all the contributors, both in the book and the online supplement.

Speaking of Freshwater Pearls, I'm going to be part of an encore reading from the book along with Lee Kvern, Susan Carpenter, Frances Hern, Kari Strutt and Julie Lockhart. That's taking place 7 PM, Wednesday, November 23 at Owl's Nest Books, in the Brittania Shopping Centre at 815A - 49 Ave. SW. Looking forward to it!

And speaking of the Alexandra Writers and Owl's Nest Books, AWCS has started holding open mic nights the last Wednesday of each month at Owl's Nest. I was sorry to miss the first one, which I understand was insanely fun, but I will be at the October 26th edition for sure. Come on down and read your work and buy a book from our friends at Owl's Nest.

Well, back to work...

Love Minus Zero Review

I'm grateful to Carrie Mumford, who reviewed Love Minus Zero at her blog. Getting press is one of the biggest challenges for most authors, and most of us really love it when you talk about our books.

Thanks again, Carrie!