I live in a small town in central BC with my husband and my dogs. I love to get outside whether that is hiking, kayaking, taking the dogs for a walk, or spey fishing for steelhead. I have had the privilege to complete several backpacking trips from the historic gold rush Chilkoot trail in the north, the Brazeau Loop, to the West Coast Trail and many in between. I have also made the trip around the Bowron Lakes circuit a couple times and fully intend to go back.
When I am not escaping to the bush I am working as a Literary Intern, bookkeeper, social media advertising, and working on my own creative writing projects. I love learning about the publishing industry and the intricacies that work within it. I love working with agencies and being able to see the publishing world from their perspective. As might be assumed by now I am an avid bookworm and I am always working on building up my own collection. Some of my favourites include Suzanne by Anais Barbeau-Lavelette translated by Rhonda Mullins, Ru by Kim Thuy, The Vegetarian by Han Kang, and I could go on.
Writing a cover letter can be challenging, what do you put in it? That depends on what you are applying for. Is it a posted job? Then you want to reference the posting and how your skills will benefit the company specific to that posting. Reference the skills required section of the posting and give… Read more »
Using classic novels to study creative writing is an easy way to learn plot and character development. I have found them most beneficial for character development as there is rarely a character that feels underdeveloped or there for no reason, each character is key to the plot. The characters are in control of themselves; the… Read more »
I didn’t realize how many creative writing textbooks I have until I started to pull them off the shelf. Most I got through Athabasca University courses, others I’ve purchased, and some were gifted to me from a family friend. It takes time to find a text that works for you, one that speaks to you…. Read more »
One of the questions that comes with learning creative writing is which is the best way: studying the classics, or taking creative writing courses? My argument is, well, both. Though the classics could be switched up with more current work, as long as the work is sound. This is why the classics are so useful,… Read more »
In some career fields, there is a specific trail you need to follow to get to your end goal. If you complete A, B, and C (in that order), and do them well, you are able to climb up the career ladder. Other careers do not have a well-trodden path. Sometimes it’s like youre standing… Read more »
[t]../articles/images/2530-Wheel.jpg[et]Regardless of what field you are in, there are a few conventional words of wisdom that get thrown around. You must do X if you want to succeed. For writers it is, “you must read if you want to write. You must read widely and within your own genre. In this way you are able… Read more »
Over the weekend the fires in BC continued to grow in size and number. Athabasca University has a plan for students affected by natural disasters, if you are being directly affected please contact the Student Union they can help you. The number of evacuations grew substantially. The city of Williams Lake, as well as the… Read more »
In the southern interior of BC wildfires are raging. There have been, according to recent reports, about 10,000 people evacuated from their homes. What makes this so difficult to fight is that there are so many fires, it isn’t a single blaze that is threatening but several, meaning resources are being spread across the province…. Read more »
One skill that Athabasca University taught me well was time management. I learned to prioritize my schedule and learned to say “no” to requests for use of my time. It was a hard lesson for me at first, I always wanted to be available to help, to visit, to do whatever. But there came a… Read more »
I would find podcasts waiting to be listened to, filled with useful information and enough humour to make them interesting, but I couldn’t find the time to dedicate an hour (or so) to listening to them. But when I started looking, I found bits of time that were not being used productively. Bits of time… Read more »