On Festivals and Readings . . . When you don’t hear from me for ages, you can assume the writing is going well, but even so, where did August go?

I’m at the Vancouver airport on an extremely long **yawn** layover to Toronto, and thought I’d take the opportunity to catch up with you.

In July, at the Denman Island Reader and Writer Festival (DIRWF) I had the great pleasure of introducing award-winning author, Eliza Robertson. She read three short stories from her book, Wallflowers. I also had the opportunity to introduce eight of Denman Island’s local writers to the stage, and I then shared a reading from Penance (now titled Lethal Waters).

I also attended the DIRWF writer-in-residence program with Steven Price. You might remember that I’ve got a few writing projects on the go. One of them is a companion piece to Secret Sky. It’s the story told from Jackson’s perspective with the working title Sins of the Father. I took Sins to Steven Price’s workshop and the participants’ feedback improved and inspired the story. Can’t wait to finish it.

A New Story is in the works

I also have a new work in progress tentatively titled Witness. I’ve worked out most of the outline and even written a number of chapters. Interestingly, because I’m writing Witness from the third person point of view and Sins from the first person point of view, I’m finding it a challenge to work on both at the same time.

Last week I attended When Words Collide in Calgary and had the opportunity to meet the extremely personable Diana Gabaldon and hear her read from the as yet unpublished ninth book in her Outlander series. What a treat.

Which brings me to now . . . waiting to board a plane to Toronto and from there, points north. In addition to visiting family, I’ll be doing a reading at McKellar Public Library on Monday, August 24^th at 1:30. If you’re in the neighbourhood, please stop by (701 Highway 124, McKellar, Ontario). I’ll be reading from Lethal Waters and offering a few other surprises. Come and check it out, and then check out a fishing rod and head down to the river to catch your dinner.

See you there.

The Gift Legacy books are available to borrow from the McKellar library, but if you’d like your own copy, you can pick up Lethal Waters for Kindle with one click right here. And if ebooks or Amazon aren’t your preference, other purchase options are available under the Bookstore tab.