Today, on the BWL Author’s blog, I write about how my novels got their designs https://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/
Category Archives: News
My books on Amazon
Amazon has finally decided to recognize Canada as the originator of paperback books. This means BWL no longer has to publish my books on Amazon.com with the higher USA conversation prices. BWL can now publish the books on Amazon.ca and price them to the Canadian marketplace. My books will still be available in the USA and worldwide.
Here’s a page of books on Amazon.ca with writings by Susan Calder and more. Amazon.ca : Susan Calder I’m not the Susan Calder who wrote the book on microwave cooking, although her name prompted me to buy her book years ago. The page doesn’t include e-books for A Deadly Fall and To Catch a Fox, but you can find the kindle formats by clicking on the titles. I’m pleased to see a couple of short story collections that include my writing: Passport to Murder, Coast Lines and Coast Lines 2.
Cataracts
One of my projects this spring has been cataract surgery. Today, I write about my own and painter Claude Monet’s experiences with this on the BWL author blog https://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/
The Oprah interview
On today’s BWL author blog I offer my 2 pence on the Meghan and Harry’s infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey. The couple has come a long way since their wedding almost three years ago at Windsor Castle.
Great deal!
Writing About the Pandemic
The pandemic is still at the top of most of our minds, but when it is finally over will writers want to put it behind them or explore it in their stories? I ask this question on today’s BWL Author blog.
New Ideas
In my BWL author blog post for the new year, I discuss how how I get my ideas for my stories.
Happy New Year
I hope your Christmas celebrations were happy this year, despite the difficulties. Calgary was fortunate with its weather. A few days before Christmas, we got a huge dump of snow, which made for a pretty holiday season. The weather turned relatively mild after that. High temperatures slightly above freezing and abundant sunshine continue into January. I find our city parks crowded on weekends, with people making the most of what’s available during Calgary’s lockdown. Between writing, reading, clearing out my basement clutter and outdoor activities, I expect to have plenty to keep me occupied this winter. Best wishes to you all for a healthy and happy 2021.
Happy Soltice
I write this minutes after sunrise in Calgary, at 8:37 am, this shortest day of 2020.
My clutter clearing project continues (see my recent blog post). Yesterday, in a box of old papers, I stumbled upon an article from Writer’s Digest magazine, ‘How to know when workshop criticism is useful or destructive, irrelevant or priceless.” The article published in the late 1990’s or early 2000’s shows how times have changed. Among irrelevant criticism, author Nancy Kress includes comments from people with a political agenda. She writes, “I have heard stories condemned for their negative portrayals of a woman, a union organizer, a military officer, a high school teacher and a wolf (the latter condemnation came from a wildlife advocate). None of the criticism dealt with literary concerns (“This portrait isn’t convincing”). Instead, each centered on a political concern (“When you show a woman as weak and manipulative, it just reinforces stereotypes”).” I don’t know if Kress’ comment was controversial at the time, but I doubt today she’d advise writers to ignore a critique centered on insensitivity to a particular group.
Early New Year’s Resolution
Today I write about one of my winter COVID-19 projects on the BWL Author blog.
