Progress Report: Fall 2025

Part of My 2025 Grape Harvest

One of the highlights of October for me was the Saskatchewan Writers Guild convention. Along with Victoria Koops, Theressa Slind, and host Jeanette Lynes, I participated in “Saplings: A Debut Authors Panel.” We talked about the process of writing our books, the mentors who influenced us along the way, our experiences working with editors, work backgrounds, book launches, and what we learned about ourselves as we brought our books to completion. It was fun! We laughed a lot and had great audience feedback. And wenagreed that, despite lack of financial reward, writing was a great occupation.

On November 15, I will take part in another interesting literary event—Word on the Street Saskatoon.  Thirteen Saskatchewan writers will spend the day reading from and talking about their work at The Refinery (609 Dufferin Ave.) The draft schedule hasn’t been confirmed yet, but tentatively I join Marina Endicott for a 45-minute slot at 1 p.m. Other listed writers are Dwayne Brenna, David Carpenter, Caleigh Crow, Eric Cline, Tea Gerbeza, dee hobsbawn-smith, Trevor Harriot, Jeanette Lynes, Erina Harris, Adam Pottle, and Guy Vanderhaeghe. We will be a varied bunch—a crime novelist, several playwrights, two or three poets, a number of writers of literary fiction, and several writers of nonfiction. I hope I don’t feel too intimidated by my illustrious peers. As far as I know, I will be the only writer of genre fiction (although David Carpenter does have one crime novel in his past). If you live in Saskatoon or are in the city that day, please join us. Admission is free.

And speaking of genre fiction. . . Work on A Clear-Cut Case continues to progress. I’m on the home stretch now, although there are several months of revisions ahead.  This novel is taking far longer than I’d anticipated. Fortunately, I haven’t lost my enthusiasm for it.

And now I’m starting to think ahead to my next novel.