What Are You Writing Now?

Whenever I do a reading or a book signing of my latest title, someone will ask the inevitable question, "What are you writing now?"

It used to be that I would circle around the answer, always avoiding telling what the new story was about, believing I could jinx it before it ever saw the light of day. (I believe this because it's happened to me.)

I acknowledge that in order to be happy I have to be writing something. I've always loved working with words — my own or editing those of someone else. Lately,  my writing has taken a different tack. I am helping a gentleman get his personal recollections ready to be published in a book.

Currently, I visit him once a week with my digital voice recorder, and he tells me the stories as they occur to him. He has lived in this town for more than 85 years and is a fount of knowledge of its history. A history buff myself, I am thrilled to be able to help preserve these memories.

After I have transcribed his words and edited them into a readable form, I email them to him to read. Before we record another session we will go over those pages together, making revisions. Another rewrite and edit, and they will be ready for him to make the final revisions.

Stay tuned!

Hill Spirits — An Anthology

Last winter, the Spirit of the Hills writers' group to which I belong decided to publish the first anthology of our work. It would be our way of celebrating "October is Arts Month" in Northumberland County.

Now the book has arrived, an attractive paperback, published by Blue Denim Press. For more information, please go to the publisher's website  http://www.bluedenimpress.com/hill-spirits.php

Hill Spirits contains a wide variety of short stories, poems, and art from twenty-one Spirit of the Hills contributors. My own contributions are a prose piece I think of as a kind of reverie, called "Summer Sojourn" and a short story, a murder mystery, entitled, "The Good Neighbour."


The book is being launched in grand style this month and next at several different locations in the area — Cobourg, Port Hope, Colborne, Brighton, Norwood, Trenton, as well as at The Rivoli in Toronto.

A few of the contributors will be reading from their own creations at each of the launches. I am among a group reading on October 28th in Brighton at an invitation-only luncheon. Please contact Lighthouse Books (613 475 1269) if you'd like attend.

I'll also be reading here in Trenton on October 30th at the Arts Quinte West Gallery at 7:00 p.m. Here is the poster with all the information you'll need to attend this event. I hope to see you there!