Jean Little and her sister who assisted in Jean’s presentation.
This past June I was lucky enough to attend a writers’ conference in downtown Toronto, Ontario. Such a plethora of choice sessions to attend made my two days there very interesting but the best for me was going to hear Jean Little give the Margaret Laurence Lecture which is always entitled “A Writer’s Life”.
I knew this would be interesting as Jean Little’s writing helped send me on my own writing journey. I well remember sitting on my back porch and finishing Listen For the Singing, one of Little’s books I read for a Children’s Literature course I was taking at the time. As I closed the book the tears came and I remember wishing so hard that I could write that well that I couldn’t stop crying. You see, Jean Little is almost blind but has risen to the top of her profession. What an icon she is.
Now the second thing which made me want to attend Little’s lecture was the name of the Canadian author whose name graces the event. Margaret Laurence. As a young stay-at-home-mother searching the local library for books, I found Laurence’s Jest of God. And my mother lent me her copy of The Fire Dwellers. Both of these books seemed to reach right into my soul and know what I was thinking and feeling. The first is about a single school teacher in the Canadian prairies and her sad struggle to find a life and to recognize who she is. The second deals with her sister suffering through a less than perfect marriage in Vancouver, both sisters shaped by their prairie upbringing with an undertaker father and the down sides of living in a small town. I could relate to all of this even though my own story is nothing like these.
With every new book that Laurence produced, I went further into my own coming of adult age. The woman just seemed to pick topics so current and so poignant that they touched me. Later I was lucky enough to teach The Stone Angel to my senior English classes, and the story of Morag Gunn came to life in The Diviners. Laurence wrote several other novels and many short stories but The Stone Angel is the one for which she is revered even though it was, at one point, removed from school curricula as a result of extremist book banning actions.
It took me a lot of years to find the exact right combination of life circumstances to reach out and become a writer myself but these two women certainly egged me on. When my son asked me if there was anything I wished I had done in my life so far, I said, “Write a novel.” It just popped out. He replied with all the reasons he thought the timing was perfect. “If not now, when?” he asked.
Today I’m interviewed on Charlene Jones wonderful Soul Sciences site via a podcast. Charlene interviewed me at her home north of Toronto late last spring when The Loyalist Legacywas nearing the end of its journey to publication. Of course today the book is out, the launch parties are in full swing, and this blog tour is finishing its second week of a three-week stint. Click on this link for the podcast itself and on this one to go to Charlene’s wonderful website. Sit back, put your feet up and listen to two women talk about writing, The Loyalist Legacy, life and our place in life.
This finishes up week two of The Loyalist Legacy Blog Tour. One More Week! Watch for the last day surprise!
This day has been a long time coming, this day of relief and smiles. No, I’m not talking about the two books in my arms although they’re part of my joy. Today I’m writing my first post for my updated blog on my brand spanking new website. So that’s my number one reason to be ecstatic today and, I hope, for a lot of days to come.
My new website is finally up and running after months of struggles. Thanks to the two people who came to my rescue. We’ll have more changes and updates and upgrades but the site is live today.
My audio book of the first in my trilogy is all recorded and just waiting for me to have a spare moment to finish off the packaging details. Now The Loyalist’s Wife will be available to accompany listeners in their cars, their showers, and on their iPods. So great for those who have trouble finding reading time. Here’s a blog post listing great reasons for authors to create audio books.
A re-edit of that first book is moving along nicely for the second edition coming out this summer along with a new cover to match the others in the trilogy. For some reason the e-version ended up with a lot of formatting errors so I’ve taken the opportunity to do a second edition for both print and electronic formats. Of course the audio book is of this updated version and will have the new cover on the CD versions.
Book trailer number two for The Loyalist’s Luck is almost here, too. I might even have it next week. If you missed the first one, here’s the link. It takes a minute and a half to watch.
My revisions for The Loyalist Legacy are well underway with all but one of my beta readers having finished and returned the manuscript to me. These wonderful people are from varied places and have a multitude of experiences to bring to this very important job. I love that they each see the work differently and am so thankful to have their help. Today is the day I’ll start going through their comments and suggestions, on track for publication in November.
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Now the second thing which made me want to attend Little’s lecture was the name of the Canadian author whose name graces the event. Margaret Laurence. As a young stay-at-home-mother searching the local library for books, I found Laurence’s Jest of God. And my mother lent me her copy of The Fire Dwellers. Both of these books seemed to reach right into my soul and know what I was thinking and feeling. The first is about a single school teacher in the Canadian prairies and her sad struggle to find a life and to recognize who she is. The second deals with her sister suffering through a less than perfect marriage in Vancouver, both sisters shaped by their prairie upbringing with an undertaker father and the down sides of living in a small town. I could relate to all of this even though my own story is nothing like these.
