​I was quite excited to attend the Writers' Guild of Alberta's annual conference this year, which took place over this past weekend. They had a great lineup of speakers, workshops, and events.

I'm a WGA member, and I've met a few of the organizers at different events around the city. So, I was happy to volunteer and help out - I signed up to do book sales on Saturday morning. It was a fun way to talk to members who were attending the conference (and get a good look at the books that were finalists for the Alberta Literary Awards.

First event of the day was the keynote address by Deborah Willis. She covered a wide range of subjects, everything from motherhood to the creative process, and why she's not writing a book right now... but might be soon. She was a very enthusiastic and compelling speaker.

After my stint volunteering at the book table, I headed off to the workshops. Next up was "Storycraft Essentials" with Thomas Wharton. Participants did a few cooperative writing exercises that explored the construction of short stories and how to look at them, which was fun. The last advice for the day he gave writers was a list of recommended books on the writing craft, which you can see in this slide. I've read a couple of the ones on the list or had several of them recommended to me by other writers - for example, Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin and A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders.

Afterward, I headed to "Writing to Effect Change" with Bertrand Bickersteth, Deborah Willis, Jenna Butler, and Juleus Ghunta. It was a well-moderated panel that explored the social impact of writing, both on the authors themselves and how they viewed their writing going out into the world.

I enjoyed hearing about their different perspectives and how they all came to writing. Some arrived at it late, some early, and some have put it on pause as they pursue other things in life, but they all had a message to tell that has impacted readers.

Juleus Ghunta was also the keynote speaker at the awards gala that night, and he took us on a journey of his life and how he learned to read at age twelve, and was on his own at the tender age of fourteen. As part of his speech, he read several very moving poems about his experiences, as well as discussing the impact of literature on both him and others.

Sunday started out with a keynote speech by Jessica Johns, which covered a wide range of topics that centered around the idea of treaty and what it means to her, considering her Cree heritage. Some notable quotes from her speech: "Treaty is an ongoing relationship. ... Treaty is always living. It grows as we grow. ... I have a relationship to story. A treaty with story." (Her novel Bad Cree won the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction at the gala on Saturday.)

Following the keynote was the AGM for the Writers' Guild, where the guild elected new members for the 2024-2025 year. After that was the last event for the day: "Ask an: Author, Publisher, and Agent Interactive Q&A" with Kendall Bistretzan, Natasha Deen (author), Wayne Arthurson (agent), and Matt Bowes (publisher). They answered a number of questions about query letters, book manuscripts, and the state of publishing today.

It was a great conference, and I met a number of lovely writers from all walks of life - some just starting out and some with multiple books or stories under their belts.

But I have to say one of the most exciting events of this weekend was on Friday night, when my daughter graduated from middle school. I will echo parents everywhere when I say, "She's growing up so fast!" It was wonderful to see her walk down the aisle and get ready for the next step in her journey: high school.

So, all in all, it was a really packed weekend! Hope everyone else had a fabulous weekend too.

I'm having a wonderful time writing my book-a-week project, but I've been neglecting my author website here. However, I have to tease some big news coming soon (but that I can't talk about yet). It's very exciting, though!!! And I can't wait to share it.

Speaking of news, is anyone going to the WGA (Writers' Guild of Alberta) conference this weekend (June 7-9), No Place Like Home? I'm one of the volunteers who will be helping out (I'll be at the book sales table Saturday morning, which will be selling the works of the authors who will be speaking at the conference). If you're attending, please feel free to stop by and say hi!

I'm thrilled to announce that my poem "Morning Ritual" came out today at The Wild Umbrella. I also had a lovely Q&A with Editor-in-Chief Julian Kanagy about my poem and writing in general.

I've also had some wonderful talks on several podcasts, radio shows, and TV shows recently about my project Author Versus AI. While you can check out all the links on my sister website for my project, here are some notable recent highlights about my journey to write a book a week:

Speaking of a book a week, I better get to writing. Hope you all have a lovely Thursday!

Also, look out for me in and around the Edmonton, Alberta area. I'll be doing readings and giving workshops at various places and literary conferences, as well as having "office hours" at local libraries if you'd like to come see the writer at work. I'll be posting a schedule once I've gotten into the groove of things with the writing and feel ready to take my show on the road. I'm also a scheduled guest at several upcoming podcasts, so if you're not anywhere near Canada, you can still hear me chat about Author Versus AI online or on streaming services.

I keep saying that I'll be running a Kickstarter soon, which I will be (soon being a relative term). I'll be raising funds to pay the NON-AI (read: human) creatives who have signed up to participate in creating lovely artwork for the covers of my lovely books. And there will be all sorts of fun rewards if you support the project, such as being a character in a book or getting a one-on-one Zoom session to edit your own work or give you some targeted advice about writing. So, stay tuned for an announcement about that too.

Phew! Lots of things going on, but the first thing that's going to happen with me right now: writing like mad to get my word count in for today. Happy writing, all!

Okay, I'm getting nervous. Only 3 days to go until Author Versus AI kicks off!

Check out my recent post about my status update on my other website. I'll be posting regularly during milestone moments of my journey, especially on the first day of writing each week (which will be Mondays, except for THIS first week of writing, which starts on a Tuesday) and the last day of the week to share my wordcount.

Fast and steady will win this race. I'm hoping to average about 10,000 words a day. That will keep me on track to finish all of these books within a week and also give me some wriggle room when other things come up too. You know, life stuff, posting these updates, and, of course, wasting time on social media. As we all seem to do.

I also promised an update on my recent writing acceptances, since it's been months since I've done so, and I'm really pleased these lovely magazines have said yes to housing my recent poetry. Here they are:

I'm thrilled to announce my poem "On the Wing" will be nesting in Grain Magazine
My fantasy poem "Cataclysm" will be magically published in Dreams & Nightmares
"Morning Ritual" found shelter under The Wild Umbrella
My science fiction poem "NFS" is being beamed up by Star*Line
And "In another line of time" will be published by the illustrious Canadian Literature

I'm overwhelmed that my poems have found such wonderful homes! Thanks to all these awesome editors for enjoying my writing.

ALSO, if you'd like to see me in person BEFORE I start my big project, I'll be at The White Water Blinks, which takes place at The Aviary  at  9314 111 Ave NW. The event is this Monday, April 22nd at 7 p.m., and it's part of the Edmonton Poetry Festival. You can stop by to hear me and other poets read VERY short poems (30 seconds or less). The fun part of the event is that if any of the poets go over their time limit, they will be played over by the Blinks Band, who will drown out each overly verbose speaker. I've been practicing my poem, and I hope that I get all my words in...

Look out for my next update in a couple of days when A.V.A. begins... dun dun dun...

I'm about to jump in the car and take a trip five and a half hours south of Edmonton to Lethbridge. Why, you might ask? To attend the Wordbridge Writers' Conference this weekend and speak at a few panels as well! My friend Robert Runté is one of the keynote speakers, so I'll be there cheering him on too.

I'll be leaving quite early on Saturday to (hopefully) make it to the first panels starting at 9 a.m. (although you never know how it goes with a road trip).

My panels will be on Sunday, and they include:

11:10 a.m. - World-building with Jenna Greene, Adam Dreece, Halli Reid, and me.

12:30 p.m. - All About Conflict with Pamela Donison, Halli Reid, Monica Zwikstra, and me.

If you're at the conference, please say hi! Always glad to see writers and readers I know.