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U.S. podcast interview highlights my books, writing career

I was delighted to spend a half-hour yesterday interviewed by Matthew DiBiase, a Pennsylvania-based author, on his podcast The Packaged Tourist Show. When he first contacted me via LinkedIn, I assumed he was someone trying to market tourism packages, which is not my form of travel at all. But no, he explained that he likes…

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Learn our local literary history Nov. 10 at Roberts Creek Hall

If you want to learn more about notable authors who lived on BC’s Sunshine Coast, come to the Tale Trail Experience at Roberts Creek Hall on Nov. 10. I’ll be giving a presentation about M. Wylie Blanchet, the author who wrote the west-coast adventure nonfiction The Curve of Time. It has recently been on BC’s…

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Facilitated reading Oct. 19 in West Vancouver

CANCELLED DUE TO ATMOSPHERIC RIVER: Due to nearby flooding and road closures, we had to cancel this event. We apologize for any inconvenience. It will be rescheduled in the new year. Watch for a post in 2025 providing new event details. I’ll be part of the Oct. 19 event “From Pain to Power,” a two-author…

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Catch my reading Oct. 3 in Powell River

Want to hear my stories of solo travel in India, from touring the Taj Mahal under curfew to visiting an exorcism temple? Come to my reading “A Story of Thriving Empowerment” at Powell River Public Library in Powell River, BC. It’s on Thursday, Oct. 3, from 2 to 3 pm. I’ll focus on my 2023…

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Another excellent author experience at Art and Words

Had an excellent time at this year’s 3rd Annual Art and Words event, held at the Gibsons Public Market Aug. 22-25. This event, hosted by the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society, started with the Book Fair, where more than a dozen authors and artists shared their wares on the main floor. Some participants came…

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SCWES Book Fair Aug. 16 at Trail Bay Mall, Sechelt

How do you find my Book Fair author table? Look for the sasquatch tablecloth, Bigfoot figures, and tree full of animal hand puppets. I was among about a dozen authors and artists, all members of Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society, who sold and signed books Aug. 16 at Trail Bay Mall in Sechelt, BC….

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Cancel culture: Consider a case-by-case response

The following is my final post in a three-part series addressing the sexual assault of Alice Munro’s daughter by her stepfather. Alice Munro’s daughter Andrea Robin Skinner has said that she does not want her public revelations regarding sexual abuse by her stepfather Gerald Fremlin to destroy her mother’s legacy. Instead, she would like her…

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Munro no ‘feminist icon’

Some have called author Alice Munro a “feminist icon.” The devastating revelations about how she stuck by her second husband who sexually abused her daughter Andrea certainly show otherwise. Again, this does not surprise me. I consider myself a feminist and yet even so-called ones, presumably evolved beyond misogynistic values and role rigidity, can reflect…

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Alice Munro and sexual abuse fallout: I’m not surprised

As the world still reels over the horrifying news that the late Nobel-prize-winning author Alice Munro supported, and remained with, her second husband who sexually abused her daughter, I have decided to weigh in. This is part one of a three-part response. Munro’s behaviour didn’t surprise me. Like my mother, she grew up in the…

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Georgeson lets cedar show him what to carve

Wood carver Derek Georgeson in ch’atlich (Sechelt, BC, Canada) creates stunning cedar masks, poles, and furniture. This summer, he and his cedar-weaver wife Shyanne (“Shy”) Watters will appear on Coastal Carvings, a documentary series on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Find out more about Derek and see his art in my profile of him in…

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Memoir review in BC BookWorld’s spring issue

In the spring 2024 issue of BC BookWorld, reviewer Steve McClure writes of my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket: “Conn’s soul-baring honesty and writing skills compel you to keep reading and keep learning. The arc of her narrative …. is one that anyone with the slightest amount of empathy will be drawn in by…

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Award-winning filmmaker Liz Marshall profiled in Sunshine Coast Life mag

It was a pleasure to profile activist filmmaker Liz Marshall for the spring 2024 issue of Sunshine Coast Life magazine. As a director, she collaborated with three Indigenous multimedia creators — Kawaya7 Ecko Aleck of the Nlaka’pamux Nation (Lytton, BC), Kwamanchi Alfonso Salinas of the shíshálh Nation and Charlene SanJenko of Splatsin of the Secwépemc…

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Hear me read March 9 at Village Books in Bellingham, WA

If you’re looking for a fun kids’ event, come to my author reading of Six Stinky Feet and a Sasquatch on March 9. I’ll be at Village Books and Paper Dreams in Bellingham, WA. at 11 am. There will be lots of audience participation and a Q&A. Books will be available for sale and signing….

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BC authors share open mic readings Feb. 21 via Zoom

It was a delight to be one of five BC authors who read short memoir excerpts Feb. 21, as a Canadian Authors, BC Chapter Zoom event. Topics ranged from poignant reminiscences of a mother and her sudden death to a Lancaster fighter pilot who survived two years of duty in the Second World War. One…

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Recognition from my MFA alma mater

My memoir No Letter in Your Pocket recently appeared in the “New & Notable” book section (winter 2024 issue) of Goucher Magazine in Baltimore, MD. That feels like a birth notice, of sorts, because Goucher College is where I began to birth this book, in their creative nonfiction MFA program. Lynn Satterfield, Goucher’s director of…

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Watters’ culturally modified grad cap in permanent NYC museum display

It was a delight to interview shíshálh cedar weaver Shyanne (“Shy”) Watters for Sunshine Coast Life magazine. Shy’s unique cedar hats range from a sasquatch version with long black hair to a red-dress-themed one honouring Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women. Shy is perhaps best known for her culturally modified graduation cap whose pattern reflects ocean…

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My memoir on KaleidoSoul’s Top Ten List for 2023 nonfiction books

I’m honoured and flattered that Anne Marie Bennett, creator of Massachusetts-based online company KaleidoSoul, has included my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket in her list of Top Ten Nonfiction Books for 2023. I’m in great company, along with Michelle Obama’s The Light We Carry and titles like The Soul of Place by Linda Lappin…

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Thanks to Port Moody Library for supporting local authors

I was one of 34 authors at the Writers Fair hosted Nov. 5 by the Port Moody Public Library in Port Moody, BC. It was great to share a table with one of my writing students, Doug Matthews, and to meet new authors and readers plus writing students past and present. Former student Erik D’Souza…

‘Incest still considered shameful secret’: see my full interview
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‘Incest still considered shameful secret’: see my full interview

“Sexual violence is still, to a certain degree, a hidden issue for the average woman,” I told Meggie Royer, editor of the U.S. publication Persephone’s Daughters, during a recent interview. “The #MeToo Movement has been predominantly embodied by very privileged white women. I think it’s wrong that it was a Black woman who came out…

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Read editor’s interview with me in Persephone’s Daughters

It was a delight to discuss my memoir, the #MeToo Movement, toxic masculinity, forgiveness, and more with Meggie Royer, editor of the feminist publication Persephone’s Daughters. Meggie asked me if I felt comfortable using the term “toxic masculinity” and I said yes. Since then, I’ve learned that it can alienate some men. To me, it…

Free author reading Oct. 18 in Gibsons
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Free author reading Oct. 18 in Gibsons

Interested in a stimulating discussion about toxic masculinity, healing from trauma, and finding inner peace and forgiveness? Come to my free author reading on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Gibsons Public Library in Gibsons, BC. I’ll read short excerpts from my incest memoir No Letter in Your Pocket (Guernica Editions, 2023) and encourage attendees, who have…

Author reading at Seaside Centre Book Fair Aug. 19
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Author reading at Seaside Centre Book Fair Aug. 19

I’ll be reading brief excerpts from my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket at noon on Aug. 19 at the Seaside Art, Photography and Book Fair in Sechelt, BC. This new free event, held Aug. 18-20 at the Seaside Centre, will feature visual arts, workshops, readings and live music by local creatives. Check it out…

Karen and Heather win Audience Favourite award
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Karen and Heather win Audience Favourite award

It was a delightful surprise to win the Audience Favourite Award at the 2nd Annual Art and Words Festival, held Aug. 10-13 at the Gibsons Public Market. Photographer Karen Morgenstern‘s evocative image, which became the event’s PR centrepiece on T-shirts, posters etc., inspired my accompanying poem Solo Writing Retreats. Many thanks to all who voted…

Speaking from the heart: ch’elkwilwet (Raquel Joe)
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Speaking from the heart: ch’elkwilwet (Raquel Joe)

I interviewed and photographed ch’elkwilwet (Raquel Joe), shíshálh Nation councillor, teacher and weaver, for the summer 2023 issue of Sunshine Coast Life magazine. It was fascinating to learn more of the history of the shíshálh people through their museum artifact kikilim lhe tan (The Grieving Mother), the burial site containing 4,000-year-old remains of a chief…

Podcast interview highlights healing from childhood trauma
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Podcast interview highlights healing from childhood trauma

It’s rare to be asked, in an interview with a businessman, about your spiritual beliefs and how they’ve influenced your life choices. Thankfully, author and executive Ken Hannaman is no ordinary businessperson. He’s the author and host of the podcast Ungraduated Living and like me, drawn to eastern philosophies and religions. That’s part of what…

Short readings at 2nd Annual Art & Words Festival
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Short readings at 2nd Annual Art & Words Festival

I’m pleased to be appearing again at the Annual Art & Words Festival. I’ll be sharing the poem I wrote inspired by local photographer Karen Morgenstern. Her image appears on this year’s festival T-shirts and I love it. Come out and hear dozens of writers read and discuss their collaborative team work with a local…

Interview highlights two books on separate parental secrets
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Interview highlights two books on separate parental secrets

Bill Arnott, author of B.C.’s best-selling Gone Viking trilogy, has just gone live with his Summer Showcase interview series. This month, he’s featuring me and my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket, and Roxanne Davies, author of The Blue Riviera: A Daughter’s Investigation. Roxanne delves into the mysterious death of her mother while exploring her…

Author grateful for Coast Reporter coverage and book launch presence
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Author grateful for Coast Reporter coverage and book launch presence

Many thanks to Michael Gurney, Coast Reporter arts and culture writer, for introducing me at the April 15 launch of my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket. He provided insightful Q&A questions and I appreciated his understanding and sensitivity. About 50 people attended the event, held at Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt, expressing gratitude and…