Some Positive Affirmations to Guide You (and Me) Through the Writing Critique Process

Writing is not a team sport, except for when it eventually becomes one.

Overall, I consider writing the most solitary of the arts.  Not only does writing a novel involve spending months, if not longer, alone inside one’s head trying to reproduce the drama unfolding therein, the interim stages of an unfinished novel hold next to no interest.

Continue reading

My Week at Royal Roads: A photographic sojourn (with peacocks!)

View from the ferry window en route back to Vancouver from Victoria.

View from the ferry window en route back to Vancouver from Victoria, BC.

Most people consider Royal Roads to be the other university – the one in the woods, in the middle of nowhere – in Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

It’s also where I spent most of last week, enrolled in a four-day Continuing Education course as professional development for my job.

I have to admit, I’ve never cared for islands, for I’ve had a negative experience on every island I’ve ever visited; everything from,

  • Intentional exclusion by a friend
  • A migraine headache
  • Getting stung by jellyfish
  • Bronchitis
  • My accommodation turning out to be 1000 times sketchier than portrayed,

and most recently, four days of subtle mocking of the efforts of non-profit organizations by smug government works despite a non-profit worker – i.e. ME – being right there in the room.

Continue reading