Five Years a Writer

My friend Penni Mitchell has died. I knew her as feminist, writer, editor and all-round face of feminism in Winnipeg and beyond. She was a force, taken by cancer much too young.  I credit Penni with encouraging me to write and to think about myself as Writer, as I told her in this letter I dropped into her mailbox a couple of years ago. May 17, 2023 Dear Penni: This weekend, I took stock of my writing by creating a ‘record of publication’ that lists what I’ve written and where it’s been published. Doing this made me realize that you played a major role in setting me on this track of writing and then submitting it and then, sometimes, seeing it published. The first piece on my list is the one I wrote about Norma Scarborough for the summer 2009 issue of Herizons . You may or may not recall it as starkly as I do. It went like this: I called you to say that Norma had died and that Herizons should write a tribute or look-back over her life. You said, Why don’t you write it, Amanda? Wh...

We watched the NBC news show Meet the Press on Sunday, which included an interview with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Throughout the questions put to him, he was continually  in the position of having to characterize his relationship with the current president of the United States. Zelensky chose his words carefully. Underneath every one, I sensed both his deep regret the alliance is not stronger and more consistent, and his disdain/pain/disgust that this is how it is these days. He has no choice. He must be diplomatic towards the world power while being loyal to, and proudly representative of, his country. Not an easy line to walk, but walk it Zelensky did — and does. There is no war in our house, but there is, currently, a minor skirmish between us and tiny invaders. It’s pitch black dark when I get up with the cat, then walk quietly with her to the kitchen where she gets food and I make tea, then I creep down the basement stairs and stand still, listening, listening fo...

Life is a collection of dots... Abigail Thomas , the American memoirist, says not to worry about chronology when we are trying to capture our life ’ s stories. Just get the dots down, she says. Worry about connecting them later. I find this freeing. In a recent writing class, the prompt was the image of an old-fashioned pencil sharpener — the kind that was affixed to the wall of my primary school classroom. I mulled on it a while, thinking about pencils and sharpening them, a most satisfying action. Then, after a conversation with a writing friend who said the image reminded her of ‘back to school’ times, I realized I had two dots stored in my memory bank that I could work with: Miss McCormack, my Grade One teacher in Montreal; and Frau Doktor Friedrich, my home room teacher at my middle-grade school in Germany. I started with those two dots, inserted a third ‘teacher’ dot in between them, and then noodled on how to extend the piece beyond those three dots into something I would share ...

“ Write something ”  is a favourite encouragement of mine: Just start. Put words on the page. Write. Time enough later for editing, revising, refining. Today, right now: Write something . My sister sent this lemon poppyseed cake from my neighbourhood bakery to celebrate the launch of my handbook,  How to be a Writer in Four Steps , this past Saturday. Yum! Of course, my one fear was that no one would come. My other, much less rational, fear was that so many people would come the room would burst. Of course, neither of those things happened. This past Saturday, about 50 people came to my book launch. I know this number only because my clever friend Jacki counted the 45 people seated to which I am able to add the handful who came to buy the book but were unable to stay for the formal event. What a spectacular feeling — to have people, many known to me but also some total strangers, come to an event designed expressly to celebrate the launch of my handbook into the world. While I...

The world is unnerving these days. Far-away wars rage, politicians more or less ignore the threats of climate change and AI, women die in childbirth, and penguins are losing their Antarctic ice. Closer to home, email scams trick even the most vigilant among us, including, now, me. REMINDER (and belated note to myself): Always delete an unexpected email message, even (maybe, especially) from a known sender. If you are even moderately concerned, check with the apparent sender via a different communication channel. These days, the sad truth is that trust cannot be taken for granted, because trust is what is being exploited by the baddies out there. Staying vigilant and questioning just about everything is the best way to stay clean and safe these days. After having the "party-invite scam" affect one of my email accounts last week, I spent countless hours alerting my contacts, locking down all my accounts, and changing passwords  — and I was left with feelings of sadness and gr...

I know it's a book I'll be releasing on Saturday, October 3rd, but it feels like I am launching my very self out into the world. I am beyond excited and (remind me I'm saying this) ready for whatever happens... My handbook, How to be a Writer in Four Steps , is the longest-running creative project I have ever undertaken. What started as a short-form piece in a writing group way back in March 2023 took root in my mind and has grown into a fully fledged book. How did this happen?  I believed in my original idea. I took a chance on myself by getting started.  I experimented beyond my comfort zone, writing in a longer, much longer form, than I usually do.  I showed my work to other writers. I believed them when they said I was producing value for other writers, and I took to heart their notes about necessary changes.  I persevered. I listened when a writing friend told me I needed a designer, then a proofreader. I committed more deeply to the project, putting money into...