Five Years a Writer

Amanda speaking at the mic Photo shared with permission:  Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press Writing in the third person is an interesting exercise; using she, he or they when writing about ourself can be immensely freeing and can tease out a story that, when considered from the first person "I" perspective, just cannot find purchase in words.  The micro story  "Marked from birth" (below) , written a couple of years ago, found its way onto the page only once I switched from "I" to "she". The rest of today's post, which I felt quite fine writing from the "I" perspective, was sparked by the photo above that appeared a couple of weeks ago in the local paper. I was not expecting to see it, but when I did see it and then really looked at it,  I did so without inhibition and with some good degree of joy.  The whole of today's post is maybe greater than the sum of its parts, or maybe not. I am not sure. All I know is that I have h...

The Crown of Bitter Root Book 2 of the  IGGY'S VOYAGE  trilogy science taught Iggy to ask questions -- magic taught her to believe a novel for  middle-grade-age readers by Ani Birch Publisher: Resource Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock (Oregon) Release date: March 13, 2026 Review by Amanda Le Rougetel Iggy continues to be a thoroughly intriguing character in this second story of her adventures (and misadventures) in the far-away land of Mystral. An ordinary girl, she struggles with the mysterious magical powers that she seems to have inherited. She continues to rely on Oona, the flying dragon, and Quinn, the adorable puppy, for much-needed companionship, and she is still trying to figure things out with her dad and her grandmother. Can she trust either of them? Can her dad make it safely back from the dark side? Is her mind-reading grandmother good or is she evil? Poor Iggy. So much for this brave ten-year-old to figure out. “Don’t repeat your ancestors’ mistakes...