The Life Group: Blog Tour and Giveaway

January 12, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

Title: The Life Group Author: Maura Jortner Publication Date: Jan. 9, 2017 Find: Amazon | Goodreads | B&N Summary ONE MISSING GIRL. NO SUSPECTS. Every day since her sister vanished, Rachel has visited the radical church where Leah was last seen. There are still no suspects or leads, but Rachel’s positive clues lie in that church somewhere. […]

Halloween Giveaway: A Pair of Wickedly Cute Earrings

October 28, 2016.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Hello Darlings, Dead bodies, cupcakes, and ultra-cute Japanese cartoon animals? If I had designed a pair of earrings based on my novel,The Tokyo Cover Girls, they would look like this. So, to celebrate their fabulousness (and yours) I’m giving away three sets on October 31. For a chance to win follow me on twitter, on instagram, or simply like this […]

Meg Tilly is coming to town!

February 21, 2013.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Yay! Meg Tilly has come out with another Young Adult novel, A Taste of Heaven, and though I haven’t read it yet, hello, it has rainbow sprinkles on the cover—what more can a person really ask for? Wait I know! How about getting to see her in person? That’s right, Tilly is coming to Vancouver’s […]

Things that inspire me to write #3: Eleanor Updale’s The Last Minute

January 26, 2013.Reading time 1 minute.

Like setting and conflict, time is one of those Important Novel Elements discussed in every writing class I have ever taken. When does one scene take place in relation to another? How is that conveyed? And whatever you do, don’t go overboard on the flashbacks. All good advice, of course, however, nothing makes me more […]

Things that inspire me to write #5: Meg Tilly

January 23, 2013.Reading time less than 1 minute.

She acts, used to dance, and has published a growing list of highly acclaimed Young Adult novels. Meg Tilly is one of those people that have the annoying tendency to excel in whatever art they take hold of. And as a writer whose painted mountainscapes look like something out of Dr Seuss book (and not […]

Things that inspire me to write #7: Rachel Vincent’s idea fog

January 21, 2013.Reading time 1 minute.

Anything two feet ahead of me no longer exists and the sky is a constant slate of white. The fog has settled on my part of the world and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon–and I’m starting to think that may not be such a bad thing. In the acknowledgements section of Before I […]

Things that inspire me to write #18: New Girl the Novel

January 11, 2013.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Whoot! whoot! for Joan…mostly. I ran into a woman I used to be in a writing group with this afternoon and found out one of the manuscripts she was working on, New Girl during our sessions was released as an e-book last October by Musa Publishing. And despite the initial twinge of envy I admit […]

Things that inspire me to write #64: Christianne’s Lyceum of Literature and Art

November 24, 2012.Reading time 1 minute.

It started with a short story and a night of open mic. Pretty soon I was coming to writing workshops, volunteering with kids’ zine-making groups and even worked as a program assistant at one point, helping to build floating poetry lanterns and then heading down to the ocean to set them free. Being involved, just […]