Find out more about my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket
It was a joy to host my latest SoulCollage(R) workshop Finding Sanctuary in Symbols May 9 at Powell River Public Library in qathet, BC. Twelve women and library staffer Mark Merlino created cards that embraced both their light and shadow selves. Thanks to all participants for your trust and courage. Thank you to the library…
If you like to listen to, rather than read, stories, I invite you to check out the new audiobook version of my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket. As of mid-March 2026, it is available on Amazon, Spotify, Kobo, Google Play Audio and other sites. If audiobooks aren’t your thing, you can still get a…
I’m pleased to announce that Jane in Plain Sight, a poignant debut novel by a recent client, Texas psychiatrist Olga Tolscik, is now available on Amazon. I copy-edited this engaging book, which reveals how easily and publicly a sex trafficker can target and deceive a vulnerable young woman in New York City. Yet, human trafficking…
STORY AND PHOTOS BY HEATHER CONN Part two in a two-part series Every day, the Lombok Sea Turtle Conservation Project in Indonesia requires hundreds of litres of fresh salt water to clean and refill its open-air tanks. Run by the international nonprofit Green Lion, the program uses sea water drawn via portable pumps and long…
As two-foot waves roll onto the sandy shoreline on quiet Landang Luar Beach in Lombok, Indonesia, I’m one of a dozen westerners huddling close to the water’s edge. It’s just before dusk. We’re not watching a floating clump of tourist surfers or wondering if nearby local fishermen, standing calf-deep in the shallows, will make a…
Discover the works of talented shishalh Nation multimedia artist Manuela Salinas throughout ch’atlich (Sechelt) and across British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. From banners, T-shirt images and graphic designs to a museum mural and aluminum creatures in Coast Salish traditional forms, find out more in the summer 2025 issue of Sunshine Coast Life magazine. Read my profile…
I’m delighted to offer my first SoulCollage(R) workshop since before COVID. This free public session, “Discover the Power of Archetypes: Intro to SoulCollage(R),” will be held on Friday, March 28 in qathet at Powell River Public Library, from 2 to 5 pm. Celebrate yourself through the fun, intuitive process of SoulCollage®, a dynamic process based…
Find out how Tahltan artist and carver Levi (Mala) Purjue is reviving his Indigenous culture, using traditional Northwest Coast forms. Read my profile of this artist-in-residence at the Silver Moon Gallery in Gibsons, BC. My feature and photos appeared in the winter 2024 issue of Sunshine Coast Life magazine.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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….
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
Have you thought of writing a memoir but don’t know where to start? Are you in the middle of writing one but feel stuck? I can help writers at any stage of the process. Find out lots of helpful tips at my free workshop “Writing a Memoir: Do You Dare?” on Saturday, Oct. 14 at…
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…
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…
I enjoyed my recent chat with Nelia Hutt, host of the Apple podcast Giving Starts With You, based in Barrie, Ont. Under the topic Writing As a Transformational Tool, I discussed how I help others find their voice when writing about traumatic events. I shared my experiences writing the incest memoir No Letter in Your…
Listen to the podcast here. I enjoyed my chat with Abby Ayoola, host of the Toronto podcast How to Survive Society. We discussed my incest memoir No Letter in Your Pocket and my work coaching authors of trauma memoirs. We talked about how to stay resilient, and find the courage to share your…
A snowstorm didn’t stop our Feb. 25 Heritage Week literary event, held at the Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives in Gibsons. I enjoyed giving a presentation about Muriel Wylie Blanchet, author of the classic West Coast boating tale The Curve of Time. Many thanks to Michael Gurney of The Coast Reporter for his coverage of the…