Shaun Hunter’s post on writers writing about Calgary is, appropriately, about the Stampede parade that takes place here in two weeks. I’ll be there with my hat on – no boots yet.

Check out my friend Shaun Hunter’s new blog series about Calgary through the eyes of writers.

This blog post by author Gordon Cope made me want to fly to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, to attend their writers’ conference that’s been going strong for ten years.

Check out this blog post by my newest link Glenna Jenkins about her route to getting published.

Promo that works – from this reader’s perspective

Has self-promotion run its course?

Here’s a great blog post written by my friend, Glenna Jenkins, detailing Ernest Hemingway’s views on writing. Tons of advice for writers from a master of the craft.

Yesterday, at the Calgary Public Library’s Writers’ weekend I got lots of comments about my T-shirt.

The truth is I rarely base my characters on people I know. Honest.

Those rare times I do, the character becomes so changed from the original that he or she is no longer that person.

Thanks to my new role as a Crime Writers of Canada Prairie Region director, the CWC invited me to write a guest blog for their Crime Time newsletter’s From Sea to Sea column. Scroll down the newsletter for my take on the topic Boomer Lit: A Booming Market?

Friday was a fun evening at Fish Creek Library’s annual Wine and Cheese event, featuring wine samples sponsored by Willow Park Wines & Spirits, cheese provided by Springbank Cheese, paintings and photography by local artists and readings by Calgary writers. This year, I was thrilled to be invited to read, along with Fran Porter and Rosemary Nixon, this fall’s Calgary Public Library writer-in-residence.

Close to 200 people attended. A large number brought their wine into the reading room. They seemed to enjoy the readings and asked lots of interesting questions.  Many thanks to the Fish Creek librarians for including me in their event. I hope to attend next year to listen to other readers, while sampling some tasty wines and cheeses.