A WRITER'S LIFE

How do addiction and memoir writing intersect? In this episode, we sit down with Erin Steele, author of Sunrise Over Half-Built Houses , as she shares how her eclectic upbringing, personal battles, and vivid memories shaped her writing journey. Erin reflects on identity, compassion, and the stigma of addiction, offering a fresh perspective on trauma, vulnerability, and the cycles of life choices....

Curious how family stories shape a writer's voice? Join us with  Linda Quennec as we explore her novel Fishing for Birds . Influenced by her grandmother’s life and British Columbia’s coast, Linda's work reflects her rich heritage. She shares her journey from student to writer, inspired by family tales and classic stories. We'll discuss the highs and lows of writing, from rejection t...

Barbara Black’s newest book, Little Fortified Stories , published by Caitlin Press in 2024, is now available in stores. In this episode, Barbara delves into her creative process and shares how a literary workshop in Lisbon, complete with port wine and tiny notebooks, inspired this compelling collection of microfiction and flash fiction. We explore how memory influences creativity, examining how ex...

 Fantasy is fun to write and creating magic is so fabulous! Tara Gilboy is the author of Unwritten and the sequel Rewritten  published by Jolly Fish Press. Tara spills the beans about her writing journey and she has great tips on how to write fantasy. https://taragilboy.com/for-kids/ https://a.co/d/1DwZMbz https://www.facebook.com/taragilboy. Unwritten/ https://twitter.com/taramgilboy? ref_src=tws...

So much fun with Michelle Barker! We spoke about her life as a writer, and she has an incredible amount of insight about writing and editing. I loved reading her latest novel My Long List of Impossible Things   published by   Annick Press 2019. A brilliant historical YA that asks: how do you choose between survival and doing the right thing? https://a.co/d/8gpdff7 https://michellebarker.ca/ https:...

If you love BC history you'll love hearing this interview with Jennifer L.  Butler. Jennifer is the great-granddaughter of Mame and Duke Wastell, who bought and named Telegraph Cove in 1912.  Butler's book Boom & Bust: The Resilient Women of Historic Telegraph Cove, published by TouchWood Edition truly is a treasure, and  a must  read. Jennifer and I spoke about some of her many fasc...

I love Barbara Black's work, and we  had  such a wonderful conversation.  We spoke about music, puppets,  favourite books and Barbara read from her book Music from a Strange Planet , a striking and genre-bending debut short story collection published by Caitlin Press, 2021. https://www.barbarablack.ca/ https://www.instagram.com/bblackwrites/ https://www.facebook.com/barbarablackwriter https:/...

Eufemia Fantetti,  was a delight to talk with, and what fun we had . We spoke about life in Italy, cultural differences, and mental illness.  Eufemia talked about what it was like for her to write her  second book My Father, Fortune-tellers & Me: A Memoir   released by Mother Tongue Publishing, in 2019.    https://www.eufemiafantetti.com https://twitter.com/eufemiafantetti?lang=en https://www....

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Holly Anna Rose.  We had a lovely conversation about writing,  she spoke about her writing process, and I was amazed at her story telling skill. I have a new favourite author! If you would like a copy of her story 'The Girl of Peace'  by donation, for the SPCA,  please email Holly's mom.   darcystottwellness@gmail.com Send us Fan Mail Supp...

Last spring I spoke  with Caroline Adderson, who is the author of five novels, and many books for young readers. We spoke about when she joined the youth program, Katimavik. I loved hearing about why, and how she became a writer. Caroline is the Program Director of the Writing Studio at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, which runs for five weeks every May. I learned about The Shoe Project,...

What a fun conversation I had with Katherine Fawcett, we talked about her favourite books growing up,  naturally we spoke about writing, we laughed a lot and I must say I was spellbound listening to one of her stories from her latest book  of short stories ' The Swan Suit' published by Douglas and McIntyre (2020)   the book is enchanting, a little wicked and truly magical. Katherine Fawc...

This was an intriguing and fun interview, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little intimidated. Daniel Paisner is an amazing writer and a well-established Ghost writer, New York magazine once called him “the world’s most prolific ghost,”   His bio reads, Daniel Paisner is a journalist, author and podcaster, with more than 70 books to his credit, including 17 New York Times best-sellers. He...

Heige's writing is influenced by the stories of her parents who grew up in Nazi Germany, and who at the end of the war, found themselves in East Germany. They escaped with their first two children to West Berlin in 1961, and Heige was born in Euskirchen West Germany on November 11, 1964. Ten years later the family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where they lived at the Sylvia Hotel for the f...

Crystal D. Mayo is a Native New Yorker, an actress and storyteller. Her repertoire of writing spans from memoirs and poetry to children’s literature. Her literary contributions have been published in the Bronx Memoir Project Volumes 3, 4, and 5 III, IV and V. She most recently performed one of her memoirs entitled, "Teaching Me A Lesson" at the Caveat theater in NYC with the Generation W...

Heige's writing is influenced by the stories of her parents who grew up in Nazi Germany, and who at the end of the war, found themselves in East Germany. They escaped with their first two children to West Berlin in 1961, and Heige was born in Euskirchen West Germany on November 11, 1964. Ten years later the family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where they lived at the Sylvia Hotel for the f...

Bonnie Nish,   is  the Executive Director of Word Vancouver and Pandora’s Collective Outreach Society. Bonnie has a Masters in Arts Education from Simon Fraser University and a Ph. D. in Language and Literacy Education from UBC. Bonnie’s research interest is focused on how those recovering from trauma, specifically Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (MTBI), are affected by the kind of care they receive...

  David Wiseman lived and worked in Oxfordshire most of his adult life but in recent years he has spent more time in Canada and became a permanent resident there in 2016. He currently lives on the unceded territories of the Mi'kmaq people in Nova Scotia in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Lifelong interests include maps, reading, writing, travel and photography. And for the last 25 years, geneal...

Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt,  her essays and poems have appeared in Best Canadian Essays 2019 and Best Canadian Essays 2015 , The New Quarterly , Grain, EVENT, Prairie Fire, Malahat Review , subTerrain, carte blanche, Antigonish Review, Room, The Masters Review Anthology X (forthcoming ), Queens Quarterly (forthcoming), Syncopation Literary Journal (forthcoming) and The Toronto Star, among other publ...

  Christina Alagaratnam is a writer from South London. She studied at the University of Westminster and graduated with a BA in English Literature & Creative Writing in 2014 and with an MA in Creative Writing the following year. Christina’s plays have been performed at the Brighton and London fringe festivals to four star reviews. She also had a performance of her play 'Face to Face'...

Bill Arnott is the bestselling author of the suspense/thriller series The Gamble Novellas , all-ages Allan’s Wishes: Illustrated Edition , poetry collection Forever Cast in Endless Time , column-series Bill Arnott’s Beat , award-winning travel memoir Gone Viking: A Travel Saga , and the travelogue sequel Gone Viking II: Beyond Boundaries . He’s been awarded for prose, poetry, songwriting, and for...

Claire Finlayson lives and writes on the beautiful Sunshine Coast of BC. After a 25-year career working as a jewellery designer, she now writes full time.  She has been writing for as long as she can remember, as an essayist and occasionally as a journalist. Her passion is narrative non-fiction Dispatches from Ray’s Planet , A Journey through Autism, published by Caitlin Press, is her first book....

RC Weslowski is the author of My Soft Response to the Wars, his debut poetry collection with Write Bloody North Publishing.  RC is also a broadcaster, a podcaster, voice actor and clown plus Co Founder and Artistic Director for Hullabaloo: BC's Youth Spoken Word Festival.  RC is the 2016 recipient of the Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award and former Poet of Honour for both the Canadian Festiva...

Richard Till reads his poetry to audiences large and small at public venues in the UK, Alberta and BC. His poetry has a strong focus on nature but can veer off into pieces on social justice, war and irony. But for a few travel articles he has rarely been published but his poem The 6th of June received a $500 first prize (which came in handy at the time).   He describes his attempts at retirement a...

Meaghan Marie Hackinen is a writer and ultra-endurance cyclist from British Columbia's West Coast. Her two-wheeled adventures have taken her from Haida Gwaii to Mexico’s high plateaus, across Canada and the United States, and from North Cape to Tarifa along some of Europe’s highest paved roads. Meaghan is a Trans Am Bike Race, NorthCape4000, and Paris-Brest-Paris brevet finisher, as well as t...

TANYA BOTEJU is a teacher and writer living on unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations (Vancouver, BC). Part-time, she teaches English to clever and sassy young people. The rest of her time, she writes and procrastinates from writing. Her novel, Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens (Simon & Schuster, 2019), was named a Top Ten Indie Next Pick by the American B...