When Life Gets Too Real to Write Fiction

There’s good news and there’s not so good news. Let’s get all the not so good stuff out of the way because this blog post ends well. Very well!

Commitment is important to me. I’m a stickler – anal actually – when it comes to any kind of obligation or responsibility. I always strive to do my best in a professional manner. When health issues affected my dependability, I resigned my Board and Committee positions. A tough decision in that I’d genuinely miss the creative energy of the talented and convivial members of these groups. They inspired me.

Feeling I was letting everyone down, I grew depressed and anxious. Some of  you are nodding your heads. You understand. You’ve been there. To make matters worse, my husband and I left our home of 21 years. Never mind that we were looking forward to it. Most of you have been through a move so I don’t need to elaborate.

When it couldn’t get any worse, I experienced writer’s block for the first time. Had fatigue dried up my creative juices or was there too much reality on my mind? I still managed – it was challenging some months – to write my chatty column for First Monday magazine.

I’m not worried about my fiction writing. Without a doubt, as my life settles my imagination will kick in and my usual unusual stories will spew forth. 

And my enthusiasm is growing almost to the point of giggles since I’ve returned to work on a huge project (you’ll hear more about it in the coming months). I’m elated!

To bring you further up to date, just over a year ago, (before my life tilted) I was invited to collaborate on an anthology of short stories by three Canadian and two American authors. Of course, I agreed. 

Now, ladies and gentlemen, (drum roll please) the anthology ‘Our Plan to Save the World’ is out there. It’s available on Amazon, Lulu, and Barnes & Noble.

You can acquaint yourselves with Steve Nelson, Frank T. Sikora, Michael Joll, and Nancy Kay Clark by reading their interviews from blog posts right here on The Write Break.

This is exciting news! At 1:00 on Saturday, August 25^th I will be joining Writers on Tour at the Sarnia Library on Christina Street in Sarnia, Ontario. It will be my pleasure to read excerpts of my stories from this publication and there are a handful of books available for purchase.

If you’re in the area, stop by to say hello. I’m looking forward to seeing you and introducing you to the new anthology Our Plan to Save the World.

Here’s some info on the authors who will be reading on August 25th!

Tom Gannon Hamilton         Heather Robert Cadsby          Phyllis Humby

Heather Cadsby reads Standing in the Flock of Connections. Tom Gannon Hamilton contemplates El Marillo. Phyllis Humby offers Our Plan to Save the World.

In the 1980s, Heather co-produced Poetry Toronto and founded the press Wolsak and Wynn. She also organized poetry events at the Axle-Tree Coffee House in Toronto and Phoenix: A Poet’s Workshop. In recent years, she’s served as a director of the Artbar Poetry Series. Standing in the Flock of Connections is her fifth poetry collection.

Tom is a poet, a musician, and the organizer and host for the Urban Folk Art Salon in Toronto which combines words and music. His poetry in El Marillo reveals the experiences of relief workers with Salvaide in El Marillo, El Salvador during the 1980s. His list of books includes: Panoptic, Aeolus Press (2018) and El Marillo (2018).

Phyllis lives in Lambton and is a well known blogger @ The Write Break, a columnist @ First Monday Magazine, and a member of Crime Writers of Canada. However, Our Plan to Save the World, may be the first time that four of her stories are collected in one place. Our Plan to Save the World is an anthology that features five authors.

Sarnia Public Library     August 25, 2018     1 PM