Welcome to my new website!
Development began about a year ago. At the time, my first book was history, the second was in its early stages and the pandemic’s appearance in Canada was still months away.
My co-editor, Jane Cawthorne, and I had fully expected that our next book together would unfold much the way the first one had, complete with cross-country book launches and in-person readings. As with our previous anthology, Writing Menopause, the challenge would be to do all of the usual book things with concussed brains. But we were starting to see the bonus—if you can call it that!—of launching a second book that was about concussions, and thus having a platform to talk frankly about our limitations. We'd be able to more easily and openly explain away the oversights and occasional f-ups caused by our foggy, mixed up brains.
And then the virus arrived. Suddenly in-person book launches were a thing of the past. Online launches and book trailers had become the norm. With our new book, Impact: Women Writing After Concussion, due out in fall 2021, we wondered what our next launch would look like. We wondered how we'd get the word out to people who could most use the book.
As I write, there are now coronavirus vaccines ready to be deployed around the world. Although it's still unclear how they will all be rolled out and who will get them and when, these vaccines appear to be game changers. When our book is released next fall, it's possible that we'll be able to do launches in a bookstore, just like the old days. But I still don't know if cross-country book tours will be the right thing—and not just because of virus threats. Maybe sticking to a few events in our own regions (Alberta/B.C. and Ontario), powered by a hybrid electric vehicle, will be the way to go.
Small and seismic shifts continue to take place globally. I think of how people are shifting the ways they communicate and make art. We are speaking more openly. We are rising to the issues of the day, be it in support of political change, environmental and climate awareness, or fighting for the rights of those who need help the most.
It's been a tough year, but I am so very grateful for this latest book project with Jane. It's a hopeful book, even as it explores devastating events. Check in again for more news about Impact in my next post. In the meantime enjoy exploring my new site, a gorgeous and fierce patch of colour for whatever dark or joyful days lay ahead. Much thanks to Carla Klassen at Clay Graphic Design for the layout and beautiful graphics.