Five Years a Writer

Blue comes in many shades already, from Picotee blue to Liberty blue and dozens more, but last Tuesday’s midterm vote in the US demands a brand new shade be mixed: Tsunami. Bold. Deep. Powerful.  Only 49% of those eligible to vote actually cast a ballot, which is historic but a tad lacklustre when you consider what was at stake. However, that 49% liked what it heard and saw from enough Democratic Party candidates to flip both the House and the Senate . In my view, that’s good for the US, and good, also, for the larger world. The election is over, but the real work lies ahead — hard work that will, I hope, return progressive legislative change to America. Maroon is the colour I chose for the cover of my handbook, because I wanted the cover to look bold and be eye-catching, and enough buyers have told me they like it for me to know I made the right choice. The hard work of bringing my handbook into the world is long done, but next stage is, of course, the much harder one: Getting ...

The final book in Iggy's adventure is now available Ordinary people can become writers and then published authors. "All" it takes is vision, commitment and the support of others on the same quest. I am learning this every day, all the time, as I meet more and more people who have stories to tell and who want to get those stories out into the world. The more we meet each other, the more we can believe that we, too, can be that Writer.  On the occasion of her third book being published, I profile one such person who has become a Writer.  Buy the book from Amazon here Buy the book direct from the US publisher here Introduction   I met Jenn Forster, who writes under the pen name Ani Birch ,  several years ago  in a 3-hour  writing class that Deborah Schnitzer and I were leading in McNally Robinson's community classroom . Jenn's enthusiastic response to our writing philosophy and writing activities paired well with our shared commitment to conversation and comm...