Newsletterof the Writers’Communityof Durham Region

The Writers’ Community of Durham Region encourages writers at all levels; offers opportunities for support, education and networking; and promotes the value of writers and writing.

July/August 2013

THE

THIS ISSUE:

03 - Hot Summer Reads by Karen Cole

05 - Fairy Good FAQs by Dorothea Helms

06 - Write Here, Write Now by M-E Girard & Kevin Craig

08 - Who’s Who? - by Barb Hunt - featuring Kathleen Martin

10 - Can you say more about this? by Barbara Turner Vesselago

11 - You Shoulda Bin There! by Kate Arms Roberts

13 - Word Weaver Challenge Winners

The WCDR slogan- our watchword and a legacy left us from the founding mem-bers of this wonderful orga-nization. It stands out on the home page of our web site like a friend, inviting newcomers and longstanding members alike to participate in the fun and hard work of being a writ-er.

As your new president and a proud member of the WCDR, I reflect on the vision that founded this group and the enthusiasm and partner-ships that now support our future. We have much to be excited about.

First, the wonderful writ-ers, editors and readers who founded the WCDR contrib-uted a belief in the power of writers and their words that stands today as the founda-tion of our group. Truly, they wanted writers, all writers, from those with a desire to

share their family stories to those with dreams of becom-ing a published author, to feel supported, nurtured and mentored. A community was born, and people came from all over the region to share their writing, network with other writers, and grow as an artist.

Today, that community has grown to over 350 members, a testament to the value and vi-sion of the WCDR. I am so very honoured and proud to call myself President of this group. Our board has grown to eleven eager, talented and giving people who are willing to dedicate many, many vol-unteer hours to further the goals of the WCDR. In ad-dition, we have a wonderful Past President whose years of experience with our group continues to inspire us all, and an administrator whose talent and dedication to our needs is

unflagging. Such a strong foundation

for growth and interaction is a blessing indeed, and rare. In my travels to workshops and events in Toronto, other parts of Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., I have the opportunity to meet other writers, pub-lished and aspiring. Unfail-ingly they are impressed with descriptions of the WCDR. “We don’t have anything like this where I live!” is a frequent refrain. Many of these people go to our web site and express their eagerness to join, even though they are hundreds of miles away.

The need for community is in all of us, and none more so than the writer. We write

Message from the Board

Sally Moore,President

Writing Doesn’t Have to be a Solitary Act

2 3

by Karen Cole ing in Another Man’s Grave. Still drinking, smoking as much as ever, Luddite Rebus at least learns to appreciate those with tech skills and uses their work to help him uncover the truth in his in-imitable fashion.

Ken Follett fans of Fall of Giants will treasure the sec-ond in the Century Trilogy, Winter of the World. The cast of characters from the first book survived World War I and now face the rise of the Third Reich in Ger-many. The von Ulrich fam-ily is especially touched as the parents, Maud and Wal-ter, are firmly anti-Fascist, while their children are less so. Their fortunes are inter-woven with four other fam-ilies, the Peshovs from Rus-sia and America, the Welsh Williamses, the American Dewars, and the Leckwith’s of England. Simmering po-litical conflicts play out in the confines of these fami-lies and beyond. At nearly a thousand pages, the book is a brilliant interweaving of world histories and intimate family lives. The pages fly!

Best known as a humorist and travel writer, Will Fer-guson shifted gears recently and created the Giller-win-ning 419. The title refers to Nigeria’s designation of the

Message from the Board - cont’d

“When we’re not writ-ing, we’re probably reading.” Reading is usually easier than the struggle to research and create our stories. In-stead, we can relax, and get lost in someone else’s stories. Books are great companions, whether we’re travelling or swinging at the cottage. Here are some friends to accom-pany your holidays.

The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Win-dow and Disappeared, a 2009 creation of Jonas Jonasson, has been called the Swedish Forrest Gump. On his hun-dredth birthday, rather than be feted at a party, Allan Karlsson escapes his retire-ment home, takes a bus ride to another town, and stars in numerous adventures, some ending in the comical deaths of villains. Along the way he

joins forces with other eccen-trics, all of whom narrowly evade capture and death. Looking back over his life, Allan recalls his meetings with Harry Truman, Fran-co, Stalin, Mao and other fa-mous folk. Allan’s escapades and his quirky companions will keep you laughing and shaking your head.

When Ian Rankin retired his popular detective John Rebus a few years ago, fans fretted. Other Rankin books followed but lacked the gritty charm of Rebus’ Edinburgh. Luckily, Rebus is back, join-ing a group of other retirees studying cold cases, but the present intrudes with a new missing person’s case similar to past unsolved ones. He’s off to solve another crime with sidekick Siobhan Clarke in the fast-moving Stand-

because we wish to share, and the WCDR gives us the oppor-tunity to do so. From Words of the Season to the short story contest to our monthly meetings, people participate and share what they’ve written and what they like to read. They encour-age others to write, they buy books, they vote for their favourite slammer, they ask questions at the AGM, they sponsor scholar-ships. We support each other, because we care, writer to writer.

Supporting writers is what the WCDR is all about, and mem-bers supporting the WCDR strengthens that cycle of support. We are a community, first and foremost, and we write to express how important that community is to us.

As President of the WCDR, I hope to continue this vision of community. To support writers at all levels, beginners to ad-vanced, to nurture talent and reach out to others beyond our immediate circle who can add to our vision. The WCDR exists because YOU want it to, because you have a vision that includes sharing, mentoring, outreach. It’s a solid past and a strong fu-ture that I’m immensely proud to contribute to.

WCDR Board 2013-2014

The Word Weaver is published by The Writers’ Community of Durham Region as a service to its members and other interested parties. Publications are invited to quote from the Word Weaver upon obtaining written permission from the

President,The Writers’ Community of Durham Region, Bayly Postal Outlet, P.O. Box 14558,75 Bayly Street West, Ajax, ON L1S 7K7 905-686-0211www.wcdr.org

WordWeaver subscription: $12/year (six issues).

Editor/Desktop Publishing: Sue Reynolds

Hot Summer Reads 2013

With forty-five years of Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice and fifteen years of

private psychotherapeutic practice based in Jungian Dream therapy, I offer

body release and breath exercises, dream reading,

Tarot and Astrology as methods for discovering how your

Consciousness, and your life unfolds. Read my blog at

www. Charlenediane.com to discover my orientation toward

neuroscience and for suggestions for immediate change.

Have you ever wished for an instruction package

for life’s difficulties? With forty-five years of Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice and fifteen years of

private psychotherapeutic practice based in Jungian Dream therapy, I offer

body release and breath exercises, dream reading,

Tarot and Astrology as methods for discovering how your

Consciousness, and your life unfolds. Read my blog at

www. Charlenediane.com to discover my orientation toward

neuroscience and for suggestions for immediate change.

Contact me at charlenej@rogers.com

for a complimentary introduction.

Kevin Craig,Vice President

Jenny Madore,Treasurer

Sally Moore,President

Phil Dwyer,Secretary

Cryssa Bazos,Special Events

Susan Croft,Public Relations

Maureen Curry,Membership

Sharon Overend,Workshops

James Dewar,Past President

M-E Girard,RAW Coordinator

Christina VasilevskiWebmaster

Sandy CampbellBreakfast

Dawn RiddochAdministrativeAssistant

4 5

The Writing Fairy® Eat My Dust Column

FAIRY GOOD FAQ’Sby Dorothea HelmsSTONE’S THROW PUBLICATIONS

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• Provide a professional template if you have your own book cover designer.

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no cost) so book sellers world-wide can order your book

• Tell you how to acquire a C.I.P. designation (at no cost) so libraries can order your book

• Tell you how to add a price barcode to the back cover of your book (at no cost) so every bookstore and retailer can sell your book

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If your book is ready to publish, and you just need a competitive print quote, call us: 416-435-7273

Hot Summer Reads - cont’d

Q: Where do you get your ideas?

A: I live. I observe. I listen, taste, feel. I make lists. I look at my lists from time to time. Life hands you all the material necessary to create characters, plots, nonfiction articles, hu-mour pieces, etc. Pay attention, and you’ll have more ideas than you know what to do with - especially if you have chil-dren.

Q: What can I do to develop my voice?

A: Live. Observe. Listen, taste, feel. Your voice is the soul that comes through in your writing. It is composed of ev-erything you’ve taken in through your senses and imagined during your lifetime. You can work on technique. Relax about your voice, and let it come through. You don’t have to write like anyone but yourself.

Q: How do I know how much a job pays?

A: ASK BEFORE you accept the job. Get all the information up front, such as whether and how much it pays, how many words are expected, whether the client is expecting quotes in it from anyone in particular, the deadline and so on. Then you decide whether the job is worth accepting.

cyber crime so familiar to all of us. Haven’t you received those requests to send money to a Nigerian prince/princess who needs it to escape evildoers, and you’ll be paid back in spades? Who would be gullible enough to comply? Ferguson creates a plausible answer to this question, and the innocent are threatened or die in the process. Shifting between Nigeria and Canada, two families’ struggles are examined. Ferguson keeps us travelling but not laughing this time, as the poignant situations create suspense and shock.

Cathy Marie Buchanan (a reader at OWC this spring) spent years researching 19th century Paris, focusing on the impoverished girls who form the core of Painted Girls, a compelling tale based on some true events. Degas plays a role in the struggles of two sisters who join the ballet out of love of the form and to keep their family from starvation. Their absinthe-addicted mother is more dependent than they are. Can men be trusted or are they merely patrons who use the girls for their own pleasure?

Marie models for Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Al-though this sounds like an amazing opportunity, all is not as it seems. Meanwhile, older sister Antoinette sinks into the depths of the society, while trying to support her family. The reader can’t help hoping life will improve for these captivat-ing characters.

Despite the present upheaval in the publishing world, talented authors keep creating exquisite books for readers to enjoy and to inspire our own writing. These are just a few that I can recommend.

Q: What is Ronnie Hawkins really like?

A: He’s a walking joke machine. A big, rough, tough guy who talks like a baby to his Chihuahuas. A living, breathing example of the philosophy that even bad publicity is good publicity.

Q: What should I do when I make a mistake on a job?

A: Say you goofed, apologize, do your best to rectify it, then put it in the past and carry on.

Q: How do you find time to write so much?

A: I make time. I don’t bother with things like making the bed unless I know someone is coming over who hasn’t seen our house before. I don’t care if dishes sit in the sink over-night. I limit my time playing Solitaire Arena on Facebook to ... to ... well, OK, maybe I could make more time if I limited that. Who asked that question, anyway?

After 20 years of freelancing and teaching writing, I decided to come up with a list of the questions I am asked a lot, and the answers. Here are some of the more popular FAQs. I left out a few that are none of your business, like “What were you thinking?”, “Did you grow up in a barn?” and “Really?”

Read more about Dorothea Helms, a.k.a. The Writing Fairy®, at

www.thewritingfairy.com

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Debbie’s Boutique Café94 Harwood Ave. S.Ajax, OntarioMon-Tues: 7:30am-6:30pm, Wed-Thurs: 7:30am-8:30pmFri: 7:30am-9:30pm, Sat: 9:30am-9:30pm, Sun: 11am-5:30pm

7

Write Here, Write Now

M-E went back for a second one. Kevin had the chicken breast avec aubergine—his favourite vegetable—on a Panini. It was, perhaps, the best Panini he has ever ex-perienced. With a caramel latte to wash it down, com-plete with a healthy drizzle of caramel, Kevin was pret-ty much in Nirvana. The food is all prepared on site from scratch, including the daily soups and delectable homemade baked goods.

Enough about the per-fect food, though. We were, after all, there to write.

M-E usually writes with her iPod blaring in her ears but the music playing overhead seemed to be at the perfect level to allow M-E to rock out between writing spurts and to pro-vide a steady unobtrusive groove during the writ-ing itself. (It was playing ‘90s Top 40 type of tunes, which is the reason M-E was rockin’ out.) Kevin en-joys a quiet atmosphere in which to write. Inexplica-bly, he found Debbie’s to be

bie to explain her café, she said, “Well, this is my home. I want you to feel like you’re coming to my home and you can come and do what-ever and not leave.” The Scrabble, Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit games sug-gest that she is not kidding in the least.

Entering the small café that looks out onto Har-wood Avenue in Ajax was like walking into an earthy art and antique shop. Pho-tographs and paintings by local artists hang on the walls, and books, china, board games, and decora-tive pillows fill bookshelves arranged throughout the space. The menu is scrawled on chalkboards and it offers many delicious and healthy choices for all-day break-fast, wraps, and signature salads.

M-E had the tuna melt with provolone cheese and an interesting iced latte unique to Debbie’s: the ba-nana split iced cappuccino. Don’t let the name scare you: It was so awesome that

M-E had heard about Deb-bie’s a few times before, but she had yet to step inside. She assumed that Debbie’s, like many independent cafés, would likely open its doors later in the day. M-E’s a weekday morning writer. Well, looks like Debbie’s is going to work just fine be-cause Monday to Friday, it opens at 7:30 am.

When M-E asked Deb-

REPORT CARD• Connectivity: Free Wi-Fi (no password needed), electrical

outlets throughout.• Parking: Debbie’s is inside the Harwood Plaza, so plenty of

free parking.• Facilities: Two clean single occupant unisex washrooms.

• Food & Beverage: Breakfast and all-day menu items

including salads, wraps, paninis, etc. Exquisite desserts

and baked goods. A wide variety of hot and cold specialty

drinks. • Atmosphere: Extremely friendly and accommodating.

Rushes at peak eating times, but nothing too intruding for

the café writer.• Seating: Two or three comfy leather chairs sprinkled

throughout, dining room table and chair sets at the back,

bistro tables and long tables near the front.

• Hours of Writer Friendliness: Open 7:30am throughout

the week, a bit later on weekends. Would accommodate

the morning to late afternoon writer nicely. Most days, not

open late-night.• FYI: Debbie’s just reopened on Sundays after being closed

for over a year

For this issue, we headed West! We know WCDR members are spread throughout the region. With M-E living in Ajax, we figured that would be the next logical location to scout out. At M-E’s suggestion, we decided to check out Debbie’s Boutique Café at the Harwood Plaza. Stop the presses. We may just stay here!

The WordWeaver’s new column on the hottest spots in Durham Region, to hole up, drink a hot beverage and write.By roving writer-reporters M-E Girard & Kevin Craig

the right fit. The place is so relaxing, and conducive to the writing life, it’s easy to forget one is not at home.

The bulk of the seating is at the front of the store with tables and chairs lit-tered in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. There are also a few bistro ta-bles set on the sidewalk for those who want to get some sun. At the back are some larger tables, a great place for writing groups to meet. One of these is com-pletely set up for afternoon tea. Debbie says, “You can book this table for you and your friends and we put on afternoon tea and sand-wiches. It’s just a fun thing to do if you just want to hang out.”

Without a doubt, Deb-bie’s is worth checking out. Debbie and her staff want you to make this a regular writing spot and it shows by their friendly service, the venue’s homey and earthy décor, and by the warm vibe of the place. This place is already a hit

with many writers and it is likely to attract a lot more of you. Take our word for it—go check out Debbie’s!

Who could you imagine running into at Debbie’s Boutique Café? Writer J.K. Rowling, or maybe WCDR member Myrna Marcelline.

98

by Barb Hunt

Kathleen Martin, former WCDR board member, author of Still Dancing says she’s always written – mostly poems for her daughter, son, neighbours moving away or parents’ anniversaries. Beyond that she saw herself as a short story writer. But things change.

WW: When did this writing journey start for you?

KM: Once I’d retired from Early Childhood Education, I de-cided to brave a writing course with children’s author Peter Carver at the North York Public Library. Our first assign-ment was prompted by the word ‘stranger’. On the bus on

my way home, I scribbled down a poem about my father’s return after World War II. He’d been away for 5 years, hence a stranger. When I read the piece in class, Peter listened with his eyes closed. I was terrified. Then he said, “Read it again.” Well, I just about died. When I finished, he opened his eyes and said, “That’s your writer’s voice.” You know, writing has given me the confidence in life.

WW: What brought you to the WCDR then?

KM: Around that time, I wrote my first ‘Katie’ story and submitted it to Whitby This Week’s short story contest. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it got an honorable mention at Ruth Walker’s insistence as one of the judges. I didn’t even know her then. And I always tell people I got the best prize – a one-year WCDR membership. Next I attended a writing retreat and was invited to join Write Now. I realized that you didn’t have to be ‘topnotch’ and the praise ‘Katie’ got kept me writing.

WW: Where do your ‘Katie’ stories stand now?

KM: I have 11 linked short stories. But the craziest thing happened when I sent that honorable mention to CBC Ra-dio’s First Person Singular. I hit ‘send’ and went straight to

Kathleen Martin

something or other. About 15 minutes later the phone rang and it was Producer Karen Levine. She told me she was a sucker for Scottish stories!

WW: But you were sidelined for a while, right?

KM: Yes. When Ian became a patient at Princess Margaret, my life centered on him. We’d been married 49 years. By the time he passed away in 2007, I wasn’t even aware of how much I’d learned as an advocate and caregiver. Back then we had to find services and information the hard way. So, after a year of recovery and counseling, the first place I headed was the Head & Neck Clinic this time as a volunteer. I had things to share.

WW: That must have been difficult.

KM: Actually I found it very healing. This May I’ve been volunteering for 5 years.

WW: And what is it you do?

KM: I interact with the patients and caregivers. The new program is called Healing Beyond the Body. Aside from that, they asked me to write an article for their newsletter. Then I

Who’s Who?

led a monthly session with a group of HBB volunteers, where we shared and supported each other in our HBB role. I’d love to have one for caregivers too.

WW: That must be very gratifying.

KM: I won a Star Award in my first year. For compassion and dedication. That doesn’t usually happen.

WW: And the book?

KM: Novel Approach was starting and I joined the Mem-oir sessions. Oh, how I cried through those evenings, but had my ‘grateful’ journals and Sue [Reynolds] to help me through. That was healing too. And I felt it was important to end with this new life I’ve built. Alone. I’m already in my third printing!

WW: And new projects? Or is life busy enough?

KM: I keep myself busy. Tuesday’s are my Princess Margaret days. I’m taking a break from writing except what I do in my hospital writing group. I’d love to get back to ‘Katie’ and write a few more stories. We’ll see where that goes.

Kathleen and her husband Ian in Scotland, summer 1997 visiting relatives.

Kathleen’s memoir about the journey she took with Ian through cancer and caregiving.

The writing group Kathleen facilitates at Princess Margaret Hospital.

10

You Shoulda Bin There!

Yet strangely, since I wrote that chapter, I have felt changed as a person, too. I feel calmer and less muddled, more capable of coping with what life throws my way. Clearly, that question must have brought me to some edge of myself – and past it.

What I suspect is that I was afraid of defining such expe-riences in case I lost the magic. I kept them vague and in-choate in my mind as a way of staying under my own radar. I think I must have learned, somewhere along the line, to hide my most precious experiences even from myself, as I imagine many of us must do.

But what I discovered is that the magic isn’t going to go away, even though any attempt we make to define it will al-ways be inadequate. And the struggle to articulate anything about it is worthwhile. Don’t try to hide, I realized. “Do not stoop to strategies like this,” as Leonard Cohen says.

My editor’s question forced me to discover that hidden taboo – and I’m grateful. But when someone says I made it look “easy” to be “vulnerable,” I have to shake my head in

wonder. Just ask my husband how easy it was, I say. Fortu-

nately, he survived to tell the tale.

May Breakfast 2013

“Can you say more about this?”

by Barbara Turner-VesselagoLast August, writing the memoir chapter for Writing With-out a Parachute: The Art of Freefall, I spent a lot of time cry-ing and yelling at my husband. It went like this:

Painfully, I would dredge up something about, say, the “opening” experience I had while I was at Cambridge, forc-ing out each word. I’d send it to my editor in England. Back would come her email: “Can you say more about this?” Meltdown. IcannotpossiblysayonemorewordI’vesaidevery-thingeverything! (tears)

My husband was always sympathetic. How can she say that? What does she want from you? Exactly! But after a couple of days, he’d say quietly, “You now, I think I kind of see what she means…” “How can you say that? How?” (yell-ing, tears). Clearly, he’d gone over to the dark side. Over the next few days I’d manage to calm down and write a bit more. And so it went on.

Now I look at that chapter and think, “Unh-huh, that’s fine, that’s how it happened.” So what was my problem? Vet-eran of thousands of pages of Freefall, I had thought I could pretty much say anything about anything, any time.

At first I thought the problem was that I didn’t quite know what the truth was, and I didn’t want to say what wasn’t true. Sure, I knew that in a certain way, all memoirists have to “lie.” I’ve always loved André Aciman’s statement:

“We alter the truth on paper so as to alter it in fact; we lie about our past and invent surrogate memories the better to make sense of our lives and live the life we know was truly ours.”

But perhaps some experiences were too precious to be “lied” about – too precious to be written about, in fact. Was I afraid that if I “made sense” of whatever happened in words, I’d start believing them, and lose what really took place?

Perhaps. And it may be that now, when I look back at what I wrote, my life does make “better sense,” and I like that.

Six Secrets of Suspense

Barbara Turner-Vesselago has been lead-

ing highly effective Freefall writing work-

shops throughout the English-speaking

world since 1982. Her newest book:

Writing Without a Parachute:

The Art of Freefall was published

by Vala Publishing in 2013.

To read more, go to:

freefallwriting.com

Andrew Pyper, author of The Killing Circle, Lost Girls, and The Demonologist, shared six tips for creating suspense with a rapt audience at WC-DR’s May breakfast.

1. A Working Definition of SuspenseSuspense is the space between the asking and answering of a question. For suspense, there must always be an open ques-tion.

A single question may drive a novel from beginning to end. Secondary and tertiary questions at midpoints keep the tension high. Pacing the suspense through the story requires creating a series of questions that are answered throughout the book.

Readers turn the pages to get the answers to these ques-tions.

2. Generating Fear in a Scene

A scary scene is driven by the experience of the character who is scared. A description of a creepy basement is far less frightening to a reader than sharing the experience of a character who hates basements but has to explore this one

because he fears his missing daughter is down there, and is terrified of what he will find when he gets to the bot-tom. The character’s inter-pretation of the creepiness of the elements of the base-ment is key.

3. Setting for a Scary SceneMake the scene identifiable to your reader to increase the immediacy of the sense

11

Kate Arms-Roberts writes essays on

creativity, play, and

deep living and is

currently working on

a middle grade fantasy

novel. Find out more at

katearmsroberts.com.

AndrewPyper

of fear. The devil is in the de-tails. In a realistic, contem-porary world, the moving of a coffee cup or the spilling of a cup of coffee can be scary.

One technique is to use the environment to reflect the character’s state of mind. As an example, Pyper used a scene from one of his books in which a frightened char-acter sees a pastoral mural,

but rather than focusing on the peace of the scene, the char-acter imagines a hunter lurking in the woods ready to destroy that peace.

4. Capture the Details of LifeGood writing is the movement between the general and the particular. A sole focus on the general fails to capture the reader’s attention, but too much of the particular becomes merely a list of facts.

There is a resonance in naming things. Pyper offered the distinction between a scene in which a character sees a half-eaten sandwich on the bathroom counter and a doll and an action figure in the shower and the same scene with the character seeing a half-eaten ham sandwich on the counter, and a Cabbage Patch doll and a Green Lantern action figure in the shower. Adding the specificity to the items engages the reader at a deeper level.

5. The Don DeLillo effectDon DeLillo often combines three elements in a paragraph and weaves a fugue of sentences using these elements.A writer can extend a moment in a believable way by weav-ing together a character’s actions, a memory, and a current

12 13

June 2013

Kristen den Hartogon Writing and Family

CHALLENGE

You Shoulda Bin There! - cont’dAndrew Pyper

Results of the

Solipsist Lens winner, fiction

by Brittany LeClercthought in a single paragraph. This approach enriches the action and delays the reader’s progression to the next moment, thereby delaying the answering of open questions and contributing to suspense.

6. Use How You, the Writer, Feel as a TestTo create fear with a scene, an author must feel everything is at stake for the character in the scene, and something about

the scene must be unsettling to the author.

When writing, a writer must let out all the things that

can go somewhere frightening. Refine and cut later if the

work demands it, but start by getting it all out there. Find

out where all the ugly things might be lurking.

And there you have them, six tips on suspense from Andrew Pyper. Use them wisely to keep your readers engaged.

Kristen den Hartog charmed the WCDR audi-ence at our June breakfast before our AGM.

She began by describing her early experiments with fiction - copying her older sister’s made up stories, but then putting a more dramat-ic spin on them.

As with many writers,

she spent years discovering what it was she wanted to write, through forays into studying journalism and doing copywrit-ing. But she said she always continued to write stories along-side her everyday life.

When she moved to Calgary, she began working in a flow-er shop - which as a writer, she adored. “In a flower shop,” she said, “almost everything that happened is a story. Flower shops are all about life’s highs and lows.”

She began getting work published in literary journals, and credits a retreat to Sage Hill with catapulting her to a new level in her writing.

These days she works in a variety of genres. She has a won-derful blog with her young daughter called “Blog of Green Gables” - a kind of documentation about reading children’s books. She has several novels published. But her most recent book was “The Occupied Garden”, a family memoir written with her sister (yes the same sister whose stories she used to borrow and revise!). Kristen talked insightfully about the challenges of writing non-fiction about family members both known, and unknown, and about the collaborative process.

Quotable quotes from Kristen:

“One of the greatest treasures of being a writer is that your whole life feeds you.”

“A good editor doesn’t tell you how to change something. A good editor tells you when something is not working.”

For more, visit: http://www.kristendenhartog.com/

Look closely; that woman is on her head. Now, we know that’s not right. In a second, she could be on her feet. Or her hands. She could have no head at all.

And did you see, just then? For an instant, the sky rippled. It might not be real. It might be a trick, but you don’t know. You never know.

Blink and it ends. That sort of thing happens all the time. Every time you blink. The shutter falls, like a pall, and behind it all the little forms dance beyond notice. Gibber-ing shades of shapes. The shutter falls and the world dies before it picks itself up again. The world dies; sometimes, it fidgets.

Yes, like a bad dream. I know a thing or two about bad dreams. It’s how I perform. I narrate the fragments, inject purpose to each fleeting piece. I slow the pulse and Change sleeps. The world is still. Pure. Static.

Stop looking long enough and the pieces, the shapes, fall apart. The world becomes worse than dead; a sketch, filthy and inaccurate. But, it’s alright. I have my special eye. I can click click click and save the world. It’s how I perform.

Stop the moment, keep it safe.

Your eyes just then – click click. No, you don’t want to know. I saved them.

Reduce a form to its shapes. You can feel shapes. You can know them. A square is never a triangle, even though a triangle can have squares, if it chooses. But a circle is a circle. Most of the time.

But shapes without forms are incoherent. Nightmares. Meaningless. Forms without shapes are hollow memories. Sketches. Meaningless.

Click. Click. Beep.

What was that? No power… Beep. There’s no power? Beep.

Forgive me, I’m… a little lost here.

Beep. Beep.

A little ways south, it seems.

Beep. Beep.

Damn, bloody, fucking dirge.

Beep. Beep.

The shutter closes. The shutter refuses to lift. I know what’s happening:

The leaves are rearranging. The clouds shifting. Reddening eyes, blisters rising, cool-ing, water hardening – solid, in sheets – peeling rust, skin, paint, thinner and thinner and nothing that exists now can survive it.

But, you know, I can still help. There’s still time in here, in me. Press it again.

Don’t look away. Be still. I can save this moment.

Beep.

But you’ll have to move quickly.

I was excited to get so many entries for the Word

Weaver challenge this is-sue, and even more excited to discover how good they were! And then came the

terrible realization that there had to be “winners”.

I have chosen one piece of short fiction, one essay,

and one poem from the entries. But be very clear - the quality of the material

entered was terrific and the decision about what

to print was extremely difficult - I read each piece

several times going back and forth between them.

So if you didn’t “win” this time, please enter the

next challenge - just be-cause your words are not

printed on these pages, be assured - your writing was

strong and compelling.

Susan Lynn Reynolds,Editor

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SB Visual Media905-852-2729barbara@sbvisualmedia.ca

Our Services Include:

How Many Hats Do You Wear?Everyone Can Use A Bit Of Digital Help!

www.sbvisualmedia.caCHALLENGE for the Sept/Oct issue

It was our wedding day, a humid June afternoon in 1998. James and I had only been married for five minutes; the ink on our marriage certificate was still wet.

“Stacey?”, one of our guests called out. She barreled towards us, armed with her Nikon. “I missed getting a picture of you signing the certificate. Can you pretend like you’re signing it for the first time?”

I obliged and posed. I never did ask what interrupted her from taking a picture while I was signing the certificate the first time. I imagine she was busy talking with another guest. Maybe she was taking in the beauty of the city park we were mar-ried in. Maybe she was just enjoying the moment.

We were married before the advent of digital cameras. There were no smart-phones. The cutting edge technology back then was only cheap, disposable cameras. Each table at our reception had one. We wanted our guests to take lots of pictures.

We wanted to capture every moment.These days, we’re armed with our por-

table mini computers instead of our bulky 35mm SLRs. We don’t have to ration our clicks because we only have twenty-four shots on our roll of film. We don’t even have to wait a week to see what the image looks like. Pictures are now instantaneous and numerous.

Because of this, we now capture EV-ERYTHING.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m a big believer in documenting life. But I’m beginning to wonder if our incessant need to capture,

upload, and share moments of our life is somehow getting in the way of us experienc-ing the moment itself.

It’s impossible to fully enjoy the moment at the same time you’re capturing it. Experi-encing life through a smartphone lens is not the same as experiencing it with your own two eyes. That smartphone lens has such a narrow focus. It misses out a lot of life. We hold up our phones to our faces and it’s like a shield. It’s always in the way, blocking us from directly engaging with what we are trying to capture. We’re essentially twice re-moved from the moment.

We’re so busy making sure we have the perfect picture to post on Facebook that we miss out on all the other senses of the mo-ment that a smartphone can’t capture. The smell of summer air filled with the perfume of lilacs. The warmth of your kid’s arms wrapped tightly around your knees after he hits a home run in t-ball. The peace and awe that washes over you as you gaze up at the twinkling stars on a backdrop of black vel-vet.

Technology can capture only so much.As much as technology has advanced, it

can never touch the capability of our mind. A memory formed while enjoying the mo-ment through all our five senses will always be remembered. Captured forever. A one dimensional representation of a memory just pales in comparison.

Forgetting to capture a moment because I was too caught up in enjoying it? Well, that’s fine by me.

Remembering to Enjoy the Moment by Stacey Paterson

winner, poetry

Portrait of a Farewellby Mirtha Quattrochi

A long and silent embrace.

I walked awaydragging a heavy carry-on and a yet heavier heart.

Still I can feel the irrepressible impulsethat made me turn around.

To see you once again.

It was not enough,I needed to perpetuate that last visage.

With a shaking handI got hold of the phoneand rapturously snapped.

You did the same.

at the same timetwo clicks capturing much more than our images.

Two flashes toasting like in a mirror, reflecting the portrait of a farewell.

winner, non-fiction

Give us the classic “What I did on my summer vacation” - but give it to us so that we experience it right along with you. Poetry of no more than 24 lines, or prose of no more than 500 words. Give us the right words in the right order by August 15th!

Brittany LeClercElaine Cougler

Naomi MesburLinda BlackJenny Svetec

New WCDR Members,Welcome!

Mary CatalfoJustin Gormley

Myah GormleyShelley Macbeth

We welcome your input!Send questions/comments/article ideas to

wcdrwordweaver@wcdr.org

No one should act upon advice given without considering the facts of specific situations and/or consulting appropriate professional advisors.Please note: Submission does not guarantee publication. We reserve the right to edit submissions at our discretion.

16

“Energized me, inspired me and gave me the seeds of new skills. I felt myself unplug from mourning and pour forth unexpected things. I also got unblocked from where I am in my novel. Everything started to flow again.” - Colleen

Winter/Spring 2014 - Radical Restoration in

Costa Rica • ItalyYoga, Writing & Restoration

with writing companionsCosta Rica - one week or two starting Feb. 19

Italy - ten days starting April 16

radicalrestoration.ca

RHYMES AT TH E RO M

An on-site Writing Workshop at the Royal Ontario Museum

CREATE • CRAFT • READSept. 21, 2013 • 10:30 am to 4:30 pm$70 (+HST) workshop fee includes workshop,

entrance to the ROM,and one drink at the Happy Hour Reading

(of your work) at a local restaurantstarting after the workshop at 5:00 pm.For more information and to register:

inkslingers . ca