As many of you know I am the Secretary of the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County. We hold a writing conference every year. Our 14th will be held on 2nd May 2026 and the title is - Claiming Your Future Creativity Our presenters are experts in their field, so take...
Wordsmith's Collective Thursday

WORDSMITH’S COLLECTIVE THURSDAY – TEEN LITERATURE
Teen Literacy Day encourages younger people to read books and raises awareness for teenagers to be interested in reading more. Unfortuantely, teenagers are reading less and less and this is evident statistically: STATICS Back in 1980, 60% of high school seniors read...
WORDSMITH’S COLLECTIVE THURSDAY – COPING WITH A PUBLISHER’S REJECTION
As authors we all face rejection of our manuscripts at one time or another. Yes, we can be disappointed and disheartened, but the truth is a rejection doesn’t always mean the quality of our work is below par. There are numerous reasons it could be rejected by a...
WORDSMITH’S COLLECTIVE THURSDAY – TODAY IS BOOK DAY
As writers and authors, we not only write stories, but also enjoy reading them. It is part of the writing life to immerse ourselves in our own characters and their journeys, but also those of other authors - whether in the same genre or not. Reading books is a vital...
WORDSMITH’S COLLECTIVE THURSDAY – 9 TIPS FOR BOOK FAIR ATTENDANCE
As we begin the year there are a number of scheduling items we need to take note of, one of which is, our attendance at book fairs and events during the year. Some of us have regular events we attend and note the dates down on our calendars. However, there are always...
WORDSMITH’S COLLECTIVE THURSDAY – LOVE YOUR WRITING LIFE
Photo by KoolShooters on Pexels.com In this month of love, we should remember why we became a writer, an author. It is the love of words that has engaged us to create characters and the worlds they inhabit. It is also partly a love of self too, we have found a...
WORDSMITH’S COLLECTIVE THURSDAY – THE BENEFITS OF HANDWRITING
The 23rd January is National Handwriting Day. There is a significant decline in handwriting as we utilize technology with multiple devices to 'do' our writing for us from simple texts to digital note taking for study lectures, to writing systems on our laptops. I...
WORDSMITH’S COLLECTIVE THURSDAY – LAYOVER ESSENTIALS FOR A WRITER
While most of us have experienced the dreaded layovers at airports, there are some ways to make the time more pleasant, especially as writers. We can utilize the time to write a new chapter or scene for our current project, or plot out a whole new story idea. I did...
WORDSMITH’S COLLECTIVE THURSDAY – THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT FIRST LINE
As writers and authors we know we need capture our readers attention. After a potential reader has picked up our book, possibly due to the cover artwork and reading the blurb, the first line or two can clinch the deal. So the most worked on, pondered and despaired...
