This essay was originally published in Blank Spaces. The format didn't transition really well (because technology is still a pretty foreign language to me!). I've attempted to attach the PDF below (in case you're interested in what it looks like on "paper"). Or, you could just buy my collection of essays when it comes out … Continue reading Lyric Essay: Home is Beyond the Horizon
While I Was Away… It's been a productive six months, as you might have noticed from my list of publications. I'm also excited to tell you that I'm finishing up my first-ever creative nonfiction manuscript. So You Want to Be a Writer? How to get from there to here Stop letting your inner critic be … Continue reading Becoming a Writer
This is a flash creative nonfiction piece I wrote a few years ago. It was published in my alma mater's online journal, The Fieldstone Review. I guess back then I REALLY like using semicolons in my writing. The good thing is you probably wouldn't have noticed unless you are a punctuation fiend; the bad thing … Continue reading Orange Soda Paradise
Think of your favourite object/image--something that's been with you for as long as you care to remember. Now, go look at it. Jot down (or think through) the memories/connections/feelings and associated memories/connections/feelings this object/image calls to mind. Ready? Look for something new or overlooked--maybe a crack in the vase, or a scuff on the side … Continue reading A Diptych: Captured in Black & White
The threads that hold our stories together are often invisible. - Rachel Laverdiere (upon writing this post) This week, my mother told me on the phone, "I’m amazed at how your mind works!” (And the expression in her voice told me it wasn't a bad thing. This time.) She went on to say that she … Continue reading Weaving Threads
The Truth People have asked why I tell the truth about myself... I've finally found my answer: Why not? There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. --Ernest Hemingway Most writers rely on their memories, experiences and emotions--at least in a first draft, the floodgates open and … Continue reading Why I Tell the Truth About Myself
Let the Floodgates Open. Let Closure Begin. Ernest Hemingway once said: ‘There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.’ Most writers rely on their memories, experiences and emotions when the floodgates open and the words flow out. This is true of all writing, but writers expertly disguise … Continue reading Closure Through Writing
Experiments, Seinfeld and Literature are three of my big favourites in life. Experiments Ask my mother—even as a young girl I loved to experiment. When my aunt and my mom went dancing, my cousin Mickey and I would take all of my mother’s baking supplies and half of what was in the fridge and play … Continue reading On Experiments, Seinfeld and Literature
Creative Nonfiction is a sub-genre of nonfiction Less than two years ago, I was a die-hard fiction girl through-and-through, and the more literary, the better. I felt cursed with my poetic ease. I wanted to write novels. I wouldn't have believed it if you told me I'd become a fountain spouting creative nonfiction. But I … Continue reading Creative Nonfiction–What in the World is That?
This experimental CNF piece is the first of my published nonfiction work. Oddly enough, I wrote the original before I knew what genre it fell into. Enjoy! **It was published in issue 64 of filling Station in autumn of 2016. The Gods, Looking Down 1. Although Travis Maxwell was not always good at expressing himself, … Continue reading Experimental CNF–“The Gods, Looking Down”