Research? What kind of research?

It doesn’t seem to matter what the task is, unless it’s something I’ve done before, research has to come first. Changing the needle on the sewing machine? Check the manual. Removing a stain from delicate fabric? Google my options. Bake a special dessert? Get out the cookbook. Refinish deck furniture? Find a YouTube video and follow the

The not-so-Common Loon

At one time it would prickle the back of my neck — an eerie wail from out of the dark somewhere on the lake. Now it’s the first thing I listen for each time we arrive. The call of our Loons. Our rustic little cabin is situated on a very small unpopulated lake in BC’s Cariboo country. Loons are

Facts or Fiction in Writing a Novel

One of our signs of autumn is the Woolly Bear Caterpillar, which is the larva form of Pyrrharctia isabella, the Isabella Tiger Moth. It waits out the cold winter, sometimes freezing solid, and thaws out in the spring to pupate and eventually become a moth. (Such interesting tidbits I provide for you on this blog!) The width of

Story lessons from an iceberg

Taking a break from blogging has pros and cons. I’ve returned feeling rested and refreshed, but my mind is still focused on the many sights and sounds that filled my week away. So I’ll apologize in advance. We’re probably doomed to an abundance of cruising analogies here for the next little while. This past week provided

Book Review & Giveaway: REBELLIOUS HEART by Jody Hedlund

When I first encountered Jody Hedlund back in mid-2009, she was a new blogger seeking representation and publication for her writing. She often used examples from PILGRIM’S PROGRESS in her posts, and admitted a passion for John Bunyan. So it was no surprise when her first published novel was a story loosely based on the

Writing ‘ho-hum’ fiction

Vancouver is the city of my birth. Its population today is much larger than it was all those years ago, but even then I considered it big. Still, my parents never hesitated to let me roam our neighbourhood to play with friends in the evening darkness, or as a young teenager to take a city

Doing little and getting behind in everything (aka Multi-tasking)

It’s BC’s newest holiday today — Family Day. I suppose that makes it excusable to take the day off, but truthfully, I wasn’t going to be doing much today anyway. It’s a Monday, after all… my day to tackle whatever appeals to me. I caught up on some necessary correspondence over the weekend and today

Baseboards and Oversights

Our house has baseboards, and today my hubby is taping above them in preparation for repainting. Baseboards are one of those things I’ve always taken for granted. Don’t they just run around rooms in straight lines to tidy up where walls meet flooring? Who knew they have to fit around so many corners and into

Claiming the Facts – Researching the Ridiculous

 . Something about claims on labels has bothered me for years. I read them because I want to know how I might be affected by a product. So if an antiseptic kills only “99.9%” of viruses and bacteria, I don’t want to know just the ones it kills, I want to know the remaining .1%

Keeping Our Facts Straight

. Although I’m not eager to encourage bears near the house, I love to watch birds. Unfortunately, attracting them with strategically located bird feeders has the side effect of also catching the attention of hungry bruins looking for tasty granola-style morsels, as I mentioned in a earlier post. We no longer keep the feeders out