for more information check out my post on CBC’s the Manitoba Scene blog – my post

~

ever try writing the ear rot tick? it’s harder than it looks. pun intended haha

i think you should try it. i think that should be your challenge. it doesn’t have to be all nitty gritty you know. you could be shy, like me, and just get a little, well, sensual… just a taste, a tasteful taste, a little something something…

for inspiration check out my friend Maeengan’s Manitoba Scene post - maeengan’s post

and then just have fun with it!!

happy writing,

kate

photo cred: kidstuffworld.com

And here in Canada it is also National Aboriginal Day – a day when we can celebrate the diversity and community of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people.

The summer solstice has always been a sacred time for Aboriginal people. Traditionally, Plains people have celebrated and honoured this time of year with intense Sun Dance ceremonies. Solstice was the start of our calendar, and many of the ancient stone circles, very much like Stonehenge in the UK, that have been found across North America, including Oodena at the Forks here in Winnipeg, have centred on this day!

photo cred: deonandia: http://blog.deonandan.com/wordpress/2009/06

Plus, hey, it’s summer! What’s not to love about the Solstice?!

Below is a poem I wrote many moons ago. I hope you like it. I hope you can go out and get inspired by the magickal solstice and write a poem or story about it too….

summer solstice

a thin night descends

witches raise their noses to the wind

like dogs

we know the sky

the waxing

the waning year dance

together this night

babies run in

and out of circles

chased by sleep

we raise our arms

and surf the year

and light a candle

light enough for half the world

….

happy writing,

kate

This is what writers do, right? Complain about all the time they DON’T have!

It’s like written in the WRITER’S RULE BOOK. You know the book, right? You got it when you decided to go wild and become a writer, right?

One of the first rules is – complain about not having enough time for writing. It might not be the first rule, but it’s right up there – probably somewhere between – must have a high threshold for solitude, and  - must enjoy the company of imaginary people.

Ok so I’m busy, old, achy, and a wee bit crazy!

Also found this:

AWESOME LIST OF WHY WRITERS ARE SEXY!!!!

Also found an article about how blog posts are supposed to be short, but obviously I didn’t take that one as seriously as the one about why writers are sexy. Obviously!

What other rules can you find in the WRITER’S RULE BOOK? Or, about why writers are sexy??

Go on, make some up. I double dog dare you, you sexy beast you!!

love, kate

In this next edition of Adventures in Cyber Space, your trusty Writerly Hero found this new website: Be a Better Writer

- check it out  ->  here!!

Let the inspiration pour forth!!!

Happy Writing,

Kate

for photo cred look - here!

i had the pleasure of spending last thursday afternoon with poet Stephen Ross Smith and a bunch of writers. always a good way to spend some time, this workshop gave me a much needed poetic boost as i launch into post-lit-degree-pre-fine-arts-degree life!

things i took away from the afternoon that i want to share with you:

the word TORQUE is pretty amazing…. i may have just found my new favourite word!

the word TREACLE is equally awesome and i take my hat off to anyone who has recently had to use it in a writing contest submission.

also, Stephen Ross Smith (three named people have a distinct advantage of sounding far more posh than the rest of us) directed us to this great site – 82 WRITING EXPERIMENTS BY BERNADETTE MAYER.

i love learning new things. here are 82 new things i didn’t know before i logged on to this site this afternoon.

so check it out. there will be inspiration, oh yes, there will be inspiration!

~

a rainy afternoon is the perfect time to start the new masterpiece!

happy writing,

kate

and a jolly merci to all my friends who have helped me out these last few months of hermitage and crazy paper writing… got me thinking: aren’t friends great? dare i say, aren’t friends super??

a cat picture, oh yes, i went there!

so that’s our inspiration tonight: FRIENDS. write about your friends, a time when someone helped you out? a funny story? oh one the many embarassing stories??? maybe a character sketch of one of them? we write love poetry all the time (maybe that’s just obsessive me?!) why not an ode to a pal??

i’m going to write rhyming couplets about lindsey’s lovely lithe fingers plucking away at the keys and posting pretty posts

I think we did one of these a while ago, but each time it’s so different.

With this one, I randomly asked three people to tell me the first word that came to their mind (thank you facebook!).

The responses: star, apple, freckle!…. Interesting… ok what you do with a trifecta triangle of joy is now you have to make a story, or a poem, or a something that includes those three words.

Or, if you’re just looking for something quick, just to get the juices going – you can make quick fun sentences. …

~

“You can see the stars better if you eat apples,” said that freckley kid.

While eating an apple, I noticed that that freckle is in the shape of a star!

That freckled Apple Martin is a star!

~

You don’t have to use these words, you can pick three of your very own, and ENJOY

your very own trifecta triangle of joy.

Good Luck!!

all’s you do is fill in the blanks and click submit and your words are imputted into an existing piece!

lots of good ideas, love the randomness of the associations, inspiration abounds!!

happy writerly thoughts to all of you,

kate

(I’m sorry, I do not know where this beautiful picture came from, but it was a part of tribute that a friend of mine wrote for her mother, and I think it’s beautiful!)

Hello everyone, if you haven’t already heard, we are suffering quite a loss over here. Our dear friend and Program Coordinator Michael Van Rooy passed away a week ago today, and I, for one, am still feeling great shock.

Michael was a wonderful friend and ally in this crazy writing world. He was a mentor to many, a father to three, a husband of too many moons to count to his beloved wife Laura! He was the kind of guy everyone had nice things to say about, a “gentle giant,” a truly kind, generous man.

Sorrow is as good a launching pad for writing as any other emotion. For what is writing other than a safe place to work out our feelings, to articulate our pain, to give a little bit of solace to those things that are inconsolable… I know this is what writing is to me!

So for this prompt, let’s think of our heroes, let’s think of Michael, or if you didn’t know him, think of someone like him, someone who has changed you, someone who has passed but will never be forgotten.

In some traditions, we do not name our departed, we merely think of them without words, or we remember what they have done for us and how their generous spirit is now open and floating as freely as air. Other traditions consider it the deepest honour to name the dead, and remember them always and often.

I will leave you to decide which tradition, if any, you choose to follow.

Maybe it is enough just to take a moment to think of these lovely beings who have helped us in some way. Maybe thoughts of them will make a heartfelt poem, or maybe you will remember a story about him or her, and it will make you laugh and feel better. The best news about whatever comes is that, that story, that memory will be yours forever, and never ever have to be lost,

Happy thoughts, Kate

Now that I think about it, I’ve written about snow several times. I’m sure it’s a Winnipeg thing. Here, there’s a lot of snow to go around.

Years ago I wrote a story about tobogganing with my brother and cousin and called it, you guessed it: “Snow!”

And just today, I was talking about how some Aboriginal languages have different words to distinguish types of snow, or snow in various states of melting or freezing. Snow has personality; snow changes, differs, melts, freezes, sparkles; snow is worth talking about. Winnipeggers know this, understand this. So before winter really sets in and makes us crazy, let’s remember the good qualities of all that marvelous snow!