Words of the Season

March is a busy month for me normally.

Birthdays.

Yep, enough said, right? But this month it is particularly busy.

Wednesday night, March 9, 2016, I will be a co-host/MC with Tobin Elliott, for Writers Community of Durham Region’s Words of the Season at La Rosa Ristorante, 3050 Garden Street, Unit 102, Whitby ON.

Words of the Season Hosts

Don’t know what that is? A bunch of writers get together and read excerpts of their writing, be it poetry, prose, or song. It is free to the public (you will have to buy your own meals and drinks though) and a great way to discover some new writers or simply to hear some established ones. Definitely worth a visit. I mean, how many events can you go to, nowadays, that are free?

On top of that, Tobin Elliott and I are gearing up for the Ontario Writer’s Conference. There we will be teaching a course called Close Encounters: The Art of Writing Collaboratively. If you are a writer, or are trying to get into writing, this is the place to be. Not only will you get the opportunity to mingle amongst your kind, in various stages of progress, but you can catch sight of the elusive literary agent and even a publisher. Not to mention all the great workshops, including our own (shameless plug), where you can advance your skill.

And then to top off an already busy year, I will be participating in the Muskoka Novel Marathon again this year.

This year marks 15 years for this event. 15 years of writers supporting readers through funding of YMCA Muskoka/Simcoe. Last year was a banner year and we hope to break that record this year. So pop over to the page and help these writers support literacy.

And now onto news about my own writing.

Last year was a bumpy year for me personally and it had an effect on my creativity. While I did participate in last year’s Muskoka Novel Marathon, thank you to all of you that supported me, I wasn’t able to fall into the zone. Yes I wrote, but it was forced and clunky. Nothing I could salvage. I had a better plan of attack last year than I did the year before but just couldn’t follow through.

They say that writing is a solitary job, and it can be, but it doesn’t have to be. It is not a prerequisite. I am thankful that I have a group of writers that not only believe in my writing but push me to write. It is because of their examples that I always strive to be a better writer.

That group pushed me. They wouldn’t let me give up on writing. They made me write when I didn’t feel like it and it is because of them that I continued, in dribs and drabs mind you, but still continued.

Thank you.

And thank you to you readers who keep dropping in to read. I know I haven’t updated my blog in a while. I have been busier on my Facebook page and Twitter because it requires less scripting when my writing brain didn’t want to script. There I post little fun bits and pictures. Not enough for a blog, but enough to want to share. So stop by there.

And a final note. My wife’s treatment are done. We are now in that grey area that all surviving cancer victims go. It is by no stretch “back to normal”. The spectre of the cancer is always there. We have to keep on watch.

My wife showed remarkable strength, in my eyes. And strength is sometimes measured in tears. But through it all she remained positive and she, above all else, pushed me to keep writing. She inspires me.

Onwords and upwords right?

See what I did there?

Keep your pen on the page, keep reading and keep imagining.

Dale.