CALL ME ECLECTIC
I (she/her) am an author, freelance writer/editor, and writing instructor/coach who lives and works mostly from Roberts Creek (xwésám, shíshálh for ‘fat fish’) on the unceded, traditional territory of the shíshálh Nation on what is known today as the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia.
I am also grateful to work and live in Vancouver, BC, the unceded Indigenous land of Coast Salish peoples. This includes the territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Musqueam, Skwxwú7mesh, and Tsleil-Waututh.
I am the author of five books, including a 2023 memoir published by Guernica Editions of Ontario, Canada. I’ve written for more than 50 publications (e.g. The Globe and Mail, The Greater Vancouver Book, The Vancouver Sun, The Georgia Straight) and have co-authored Vancouver’s Glory Years with Henry Ewert, published by Whitecap Books in Vancouver. (For more details on my writing experience and to view published samples, see Writing.)
TEACHING: THE ART OF INSPIRATION
I love to inspire others to write in many genres and to encourage them to explore themselves more deeply through writing. I teach Introduction to Memoir at the University of King’s College in Halifax, BC and created and taught their 2022 online creative nonfiction course Writing From Pain to Power. Creative Nonfiction Foundation in the U.S. hosted my November 2022 webinar “Trauma and Truth-telling: The Risks and Rewards of Revealing Secrets in Memoir.” I also facilitate creative writing classes for the City of Port Moody, BC.
I have taught travel writing in Continuing Education at Capilano University in Sechelt and other writing courses at private venues. Over a decade, I taught several days of screenwriting and writing short documentaries at Powell River Digital Film School. Over five years, I taught creative writing to adults with mental illness through Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, also in Sechelt.
I have taught professional writing full-time at Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC and Introduction to Journalism at the Kootenay School of Writing in Vancouver. A favorite focus is inspiring students to use writing as a tool in personal transformation. I have offered the latter type of courses through the Vancouver School Board, Simon Fraser University at Harbour Centre, and in private workshops. The works of Natalie Goldberg (Wild Mind) and Deena Metzger (Writing for Your Life) have provided much rich material for my curriculum. (See Teaching for more details.)
WRITING COACHING: WANT INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION?
I enjoy coaching writers one-on-one, whether they’re beginner or intermediate. I specialize in creative nonfiction, memoirs and trauma memoirs, but have helped people initiate, shape and complete story ideas, book projects, personal essays, fiction, screenplays . . . any written venture that requires encouragement and clear direction. (See Coaching for more details.)
EDITING EXPERTISE: EYE FOR DETAIL
As an editor, I have edited more than a dozen books. In general editing, I work with both individuals and organizations. I have edited web content, newsletters, magazines, student writing, and corporate materials. Some past clients include Sustainability Television and Pacific Wild. Having served as guest editor of The Local on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, I also spent almost five years as editor-in-chief for PeopleTalk magazine, the province-wide publication of the B.C. Human Resources Management Association. (See Editing for more info.)
In the corporate realm, I’ve been communications manager for BC Transit and editorial director for Century Communications Corporation in Vancouver. I’ve conceived, written, edited, and served as project manager for many publications from brochures and annual reports to employee booklets. (See Corporate for more details.)
WRITING FOR CHILDREN
Gracie’s Got a Secret is my first picture book, a fantasy tale, published by MW Books. Here’s Gracie, by illustrator Lillian Lai:
For details on my 2019 picture book, Six Stinky Feet and a Sasquatch, illustrated by Lillian Lai (Peppermint Toast Publishing), see the Books section of my website.
SOULCOLLAGE(R) WORKSHOPS: CREATIVE SELF-EXPLORATION
As owner of Sunshine Coast SoulCollage(R) and a Trained Facilitator in the SoulCollage(R) process, I also offer fun workshops of self-discovery. Find out more from my Sunshine Coast SoulCollage website.
See SoulCollage workshops for more info.
Participants in my spring 2011 SoulCollage workshop
TV & FILM: WRITE LESS, SHOW MORE
As a screenwriter, I wrote and produced the four-minute, 2023 video Journey to Forgiveness, directed by Genie-award-winner Velcrow Ripper. I wrote, produced and co-directed, with Ivy Miller, a 20-minute documentary A New Way: An Organic Garden Changes Lives, released in 2013. I’ve also co-written two Bravo! TV short films, and created segments for Hopscotch, a brief television show aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Vancouver. An avid film viewer, I have done consultation work with producers and filmmakers regarding story structure, treatments, etc. A huge fan of documentaries, I blog on related subjects. See film and TV for more info.
— Heather Conn photo
SPIRITED SERVICE: WHAT I OFFER
Since tapping out tales on my mother’s typewriter at age seven, I’ve wanted to share my words and ideas with an audience. I love the magic and power of stories well told. I love to help others hone their words and share their creative visions with others.
After journalism training, many years working in media, publishing, and education, and decades of diary writing (started while an angst-filled teenager), I have found my perfect niche: creative nonfiction writing or literary journalism. After receiving my master’s degree in this exciting genre, I wrote a memoir No Letter in Your Pocket while continuing to write professionally, teach and consult. This education has helped me share greater depth and resources to my students and clients.
PUBLISHING: MY PRECOCIOUS START
My foray into publishing began in grade seven, when I won a cartoon contest in The Toronto Telegram. I drew a tortoise with a crash helmet that dared a hare with the words: “Wanna drag?”About three years later, I wrote a letter to MAD magazine artist Mort Drucker, accusing him of plagiarizing a Ronald Searle character from a 1950s Holiday magazine article. In response, Drucker sent me a hand-written letter, saying that his cartoon was a stylized compliment to an artist he admired.
At age sixteen, a letter to the editor I wrote to a Toronto daily resulted in the resignation of a boss I had for a summer job. I learned then the power of the press. Today, I can harness that impact of the printed word to your advantage.
CALL ME A CREEKER: WORK AROUND THE WORLD FROM HOME
Most of all, I like to work in xwésám (Roberts Creek), where I can see spawning salmon and admire forests of Douglas fir, cedars and bald eagles. From the mouth of the creek, which opens into the Pacific Ocean, I can launch my kayak and go for a quiet paddle.
I love living on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, only a 40-minute ferry ride northwest of Vancouver. It feels like an island here but we’re part of the mainland coast. There is no road access between Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast; you can only get here by air or sea. Living like this in two parallel worlds, the city and country, is ideal.
To find out more about life as a writer in Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast, see Chica in the Creek on my blog.
To read about current issues in topics from Compassionate Communication and Social Responsibility to Peace Activism and Film and TV, read www.heatherconnblogs.com/.
INSPIRATIONS
Values from compassionate communication to Thich Nhat Hanh‘s concept of nonviolence infuse my work & life. I love the Oneness concept of Indra’s Net, used in SoulCollage(R), which reaffirms that we are all connected and interdependent, each a unique, inseparable part of the whole.
TERRITORIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In Canada’s Pacific Northwest, where I work, the shíshálh and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people have stewarded the land known today as the Sunshine Coast for thousands of years. It remains their unceded, traditional territory.
Today’s Vancouver, BC is part of the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. I thank them all for their stewardship and generous sharing of their land, culture, and resources.