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How to stay calm while monitoring the decline and fall of the American Republic from uncomfortable proximity.
(This may be too wordy for the title of a post)
It has been a great summer in the Comox Valley—long sunny days (but now rapidly shortening) days, a warm sea for swimming and brown lawns while the marrows establish their dominance in the garden.
The Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival
In July, the annual Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival. (Should there be possessive apostrophes?) Check out the DIRWF site for complete details of the authors.
After my wander to the Sunshine Coast last year for a visit to their annual Festival of the Written Arts, it was great to be back on Denman—so many familiar faces, members of my former writing group, current members of the Comox Valley Writers society and old friends. And due to the intimacy of the venue, a chance to make new acquaintances.
I treated myself to Caroline Adderson’s workshop, Ending it All. The salient points are there must be a a good beginning and middle to your work or you are doomed to have an Insufficient or Bad Ending. What type of ending will satisfy your readers?
Bill Engelson and I applied Caroline’s algorithm to our current projects to tease out improvements. My protagonist’s motivations (to avoid shame and regret) were not clear enough. And I’m grateful that with structured guidance, I can see that now. Even better, and I think I know what to do to fix it.
Fiona Tinwei Lam, a Vancouver poet, presented her poetry videos. Her poems are animated with dynamic visual media. My favourite one was Plasticnic. https://fionalam.net/poetry-videos/plasticnic/ This session was followed by lunch, where I regretfully drank an iced latté served in a plastic cup.
The graphic novelist, Sarah Leavitt, who prefers to be called a comic book artist, presented her 2024 comic memoir, Something Not Nothing, created after the 2020 MAiD death of her partner.
It’s a tale of a loved one’s journey of living with a debilitating, progressive, chronic illness. It’s the tale of the decision to die by that loved one and the subsequent grief and recovery journey. It’s funny, poignant and honest. Importantly, it is self-compassionate.
Do you love Paris, gastronomy and don’t shy away from the stories of physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring nightly behind the two-way swinging doors of these kitchens? The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf is for you. Perhaps think of Ralph Fiennes in the 2022 film, The Menu. And Timothy Taylor cooks. Check out his blog for the restaurant, Noma’s soil recipe.
John Vaillant shared vignettes from interviews with firefighters, workers, and civilians who escaped the 2016 Fort McMurray fire, as described in his 2023 book, Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. If you haven’t heard him speak already, here is a link to his interview by Gaia Vince at the 2024 Royal Society of Arts and Commons. Definitely worth a listen.
When I read his book, two years ago, I was in awe of the humanity of the citizens of that town as they co-operated with the astonishing evacuation along the single highway leading them south to safety. The vibe was, “Nobody wanted to be that guy.”
The basic human right to breathe fresh air is in jeopardy. This is no longer a remote threat, affecting only the developing world or major urban centres; it is now an expected seasonal risk here in Canada as our dessicated boreal forest ignites.
A lot of sitting and intense thinking (three days) for this body and brain but I’ve been provoked, inspired, and challenged to get back at it, to improve my bad beginnings, saggy middles and unsatisfying endings in my current short story projects.
REJECTION
And my favourite rejection so far—a lovely encouraging letter from Keagan Hawthorne, Associate Editor at Gaspereau Press.
SPORTY STUFF
The US Open
No rackets for me right now, but if you love tennis and the US Open it’s an exciting time. Nobody wants to be a “hater” but if you enjoy disliking Nole, check out this Substack, Sweater Weather, written by Brandon Taylor. Terrific writing and craft tips. Meanwhile, go Felix and Leyla!
On the Bike
Luck smiled on us for a four-day, supported ride from Jasper to Canmore. Ben of Mountain Madness was a great host. It’s a blessing that I can still complete these adventures. You can’t buy the weather, and it can be pretty random in the Rockies but we lucked out with four mainly sunny days. I didn’t want to push my luck by complaining about the mind-blowing headwinds at the Athabasca Glacier.
Thanks for reading. Please continue to get all your routine immunizations. Coming up for me this fall, influenza, RSV and Covid. Follow the science. Until next time, take good care of yourself and your loved ones.