I am extremely grateful for my local bookstore, The Sherwood Park Bookworm for working with me to host a children's colouring contest. As my little monster, Rumble's story takes place at Halloween it is the perfect time of the year to get kids involved and read the...
The joy of reading books gives us the ability to travel to places that might not be possible in real life. A writer might use a real location that inspired the narrative, whether on their travels or somewhere they have actually lived. Knowledge of a place gives the...
How has your teaching experience influenced the characters you write about? It has definitely helped me make authentic and relatable teen characters because this is who I’m surrounded by everyday. I also have a group of students who generously donate their time as...
Today is National Writing Day, so as a writer and published author I thought I would share some of the reasons I write with you. As an avid reader myself, I am always curious about the person behind the narrative's I read. So here goes: I write because I enjoy...
Unfortuntely, political and religious banning of bookshas been shown to be harmful in many ways, apart from inhibiting free speech and independant thought. Research shows it is bad for mental health, especially impacting: Marginalized Individuals People of colour's...
There are multitude ways to promote your novels, from in person events to online social media sites, interviews, author readings and more. Other ideas are holding a prize draw at an event, or an online contest for a free copy of your book, or maybe as a guest at a...
When we are considering buying a novel, our initial draw is the book cover. Many give a hint of the genre and storyline, then we turn to the blurb on the back. As readers, many of us also read the first sentences, or two of the narrative. I thought it would be fun to...
First Light, Last Light, the first new poetry book in six years by Glen Sorestad, one of Canada’s elder literary icons, coming this month from Shadowpaw Press. Shadowpaw Press in Regina, Saskatchewan, is thrilled to announce the release on September 23 of First Light,...
I've received a few messages asking about my visual inspirations for Willow Tree Tears. You can actually see many of them on my Pinterest page - https://ca.pinterest.com/mandywordsmith/willow-tree-tears/ It is a collection of how I 'see' the characters, although you...