Today is my birthday. I’m hoping for a banner year. 
Here is the banner for my future books with my new publisher. The banner will appear at the front of each book.
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Loft Lunch Success
I really enjoyed my Long Lunch Quick Reads event at Loft 112 last Friday afternoon. Delicious food, great company, sharp questions after my reading that followed our hearty meal. Many thanks to Lisa Murphy-Lamb for giving my short story a home and hosting this fun happening. It even inspired me to come up with a new short story idea that I hope to get down to writing soon.
Chapbooks
How exciting to see this collage of the chapbooks featuring my short story “When a Warm Wind Blows Off the Mountains.” Those who come to the Loft Lunch this Friday will choose one of these little books to take home. During the lunch, from noon-2:00 PM, I’ll read from the story and we’ll chat about writing and more, while enjoying lunch, either the one we brought or the one we ordered from The Loft. To learn more and/or to order lunch phone 
403-455-1120 or check www.loft112.org.
Friday, October 21, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Loft 112
#112, 535 8 Ave SE – in the East Village
Loft Lunch
I’m thrilled to have my short story selected for this month’s Long Lunch Quick Reads, at Loft 112, 535-8 Avenue # 112, in the East Village. The event takes places Friday, Oct 21, noon-2:00 PM.
Never been before? Here’s what to expect:
1) a beautiful chapbook to read on site and then to take home
2) a chance to sit and read in a cozy, light filled space with other readers reading the same story
3) opportunity to discuss the story
4) insight into this new writing
5)Lunch! Your own or pre-order from us @ loftonetwelve@gmail.com $10 gets you fed and contributes to the Loft’s Pay-A-Writer Fund
6) Coffee, tea and Village beer
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Loft 112 is commercial space + loft apartment that serves as a centre for writers and artists of all kinds from the Calgary literary, arts, creative and academic community; a creative hive where ideas are given space to develop, a place where established and emerging writers, readers and artists are supported, a place where unheard voices are given a platform and a place of collaboration.
I hope you’ll join us on Oct 21 for a fun lunch and chat.
When Words Collide panels
Due to a couple of last minute cancellations, I wound up participating in three panels at the When Words Collide Readers and Writers Festival, held in Calgary a couple of weekends ago. I learned something from all the panels and hope the audiences did too.
Anxiety-Free
When Panic Attacks: the new, drug-free anxiety therapy that can change your life by David D. Burns, M.D., continues my blog series about books on modern psychiatry.
I picked up this book because some 25 years ago I read Dr. Burns’ earlier bestseller, Feeling Good: the new mood therapy, for a psychology course and found its cognitive therapy approach enlightening. Everyone, I thought, could use a dose of cognitive therapy. In fact, the so-called normal might benefit more than the mentally ill, who might require medicine and stiffer techniques.
When Panic Attacks is a self-help book for people with disabling anxiety. Dr. Burns includes charts as well as space for writing answers to his questions posed along the way. He insists you can’t simply read what he says to get results; you need to be active in your therapy process, with pen in hand. I confess I didn’t write down anything. Mainly, I tried to relate the material to my most anxious, irrational moments, such as my panic when the mouse who lives in my patio wall runs out and scurries past my chair.
Dr. Burns takes a strong stand against the two pillars of modern psychiatry, medication and psychoanlysis. He calls them, generally, useless for anxiety and depression. I get the sense he never prescribes pills. Instead, he makes his patients work on their fears through daily mood logs and applying his 40 ways to defeat your anxiety until one of those ways works. 
His case studies make the process sound easy, but it probably is a lot of work — and scary. His 40 methods include Exposure Therapy, which involves flooding yourself with the object of fear. For me, this would involve bombarding myself with images of mice and rats or real ones. I’d rather take a pill. In addition, my rodent phobia doesn’t affect me enough to truly want to change. I’m currently writing this outside on my patio.
Dr. Burns says that a problem with most methods of therapy is that they assume people want to change. In reality, we like the familiar and don’t want to confront our demons and darkest fears.
Anxieties, bad habits and addictions are also rewarding. He often asks his patients, “If you could push a magic button and make all your anxiety, depression or anger disappear right now, would you push that button?” A surprising number of people hesitate.
It seems bizarre, until you realize there are benefits to neurotic fears. He cites an example of a convenience store owner who developed post-traumatic stress disorder after being robbed and beaten at gunpoint. While working on one of Dr. Burns’ charts, the patient came to see he didn’t want let go of his anger at the perpetrator. The man deserved it. Anger allowed the patient to feel morally superior. He found satisfaction in being a victim. He believed hanging onto the anger might make him more vigilant against future attacks. All of these thoughts contributed to his continuing PTSD, which he decided, in the end, wasn’t worth these benefits. 
Facing the truths behind your anxiety and fears involves harsh self-examination.
It’s something of a compliment when Dr. Burns says that people with severe anxiety are invariably overly-nice. They don’t want to admit to problems in their lives and relationships and supress them, which causes the problems to burst out as anxiety and panic. What they need to do is chase their fears, rather than avoid them by running away.
I’d recommend When Panic Attacks to anyone suffering from anxiety that he or she wants treated. Meanwhile, I hope my resident mouse and I will keep our distance.
It’s here – almost
When Words Collide starts this Thursday with the pre-festival master classes and a public reading by the festival guest authors at Calgary’s Fish Creek Library.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be packed with panels, presentations and more, with about 10 choices of activities per hour. I’ll be participating in two panels:
Saturday 1 PM –Structure in Story: How important is it? with L.S. Johnson, Susan Calder, Barbara Scott, Madeleine Wong (M). Genre fiction is often accused of being “formulaic.” But are there not conventions expected by the genre reader? A murder mystery had better have a murder! But is literary fiction, by its nature freer, or more experimental? Or are there structures inherent to literary fiction of which the author needs to be aware? 
Sunday 2 PM – Travel Writing with Glenn Dixon, Dan St. Yves, Susan Calder, Rachel Small. As our world becomes more mobile there is a growing market for travel writing. Our panel discusses the diverse ways to enter this rewarding field.
My third can’t-miss activity is the Friday Night Live open mic show in the Fireside Lounge, where my sister Lynn will be making her stand-up comedy debut. The public is welcome at this event to cheer on Lynn and other brave souls.
I’m sure to overdose this weekend on learning, networking and fun.
Evening of Words
Calgary’s When Words Collide Festival for Writers and Readers begins with a free public reading featuring the festival’s special guest authors. I’ll be there, after a dinner at the nearby Boomtown pub with the festival guests and organizers.
WWC
Calgary’s When Words Collide Readers and Writers Festival is only 20 days away. In my role as Writers Guild of Alberta liaison, I’m busy lining up and confirming moderators for the panels I’ve helped organize. 
Stampede
- Evening Grandstand Show
In the midst of ducking rainstorms while showing my Stampede guests around Calgary and area, I’m catching up on my Stampede reading at Calgary Through the Eyes of Writers.