How sensitive is your writing?
Many thanks to Amanda Gutierrez, who recently contacted me after reading my blog when surfing the internet for more information on writing. I appreciate her telling me about this online resource, “How to Make Your Writing More Sensitive and Why It Matters” by Melissa Haun. As Amanda states: “This guide really helped me understand how one can enhance interaction by creating a safe and inclusive environment for communication. When writers are mindful of the reader’s emotions and experiences, they can establish a sense of trust and empathy. This can encourage readers to engage more deeply with the content and feel comfortable sharing their own thoughts and feelings.”
I think this issue is indeed important, particularly when writing about trauma and events that can trigger trauma in others. I try to be as sensitive about this issue as possible when talking about my memoir No Letter in Your Pocket, and when working with authors who are writing their own trauma memoir.
Photos from my memoir launch, April 2023
Henry Ewert, my co-author on Vancouver’s Glory Years, and I
at Word on the Street in Vancouver, BC in 2012.
It’s all about stories
Whether on the web, in a magazine, book, government plan, or on TV, stories are what grab people by the heart. Everyone loves a story. That’s what I do: take facts and ideas, interview people, add imagination, clarity, and organization, and produce written stories that inspire — an action, organization, reader or audience.
How do I differ from other writers?
I write to promote positive social change, a healthy planet, and soulful living — not just to record events. I challenge the status quo by honouring inner transformation more than external power.
I write to engage people’s hearts and minds. Many people have told me that they’ve cried when they’ve read my magazine features and other content, touched by the poignancy of the story.
Here’s what I write:
- Creative nonfiction
- Journalism
- Nonfiction books
- Media content (print & web articles, press releases, etc)
- Corporate content (reports, draft plans, etc)
- Children’s fiction
- Short screenplays & documentary narration
Personal narratives, either in print or documentary film, and creative nonfiction intrigue me the most as a writer. I love the emotional power of true-life stories, when told with poignancy, depth, and literary flair.
I read an excerpt from Gracie’s Got a Secret at Vancouver’s 2012 Word on the Street festival.
I am a writer who lives and works in North America’s Pacific Northwest: on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast and in Vancouver, BC on Canada’s west coast.
To view some of my published Magazine Features, please click on the desired topic heading(s) (Arts & Culture, Health & Lifestyle, etc) on the right side of my website. You can also peruse my archived materials below.
To see samples of my published writing in other categories, click on these links:
Samples of web content
Cherlyn Skincare (blog and website)
West Vancouver School District, International Programs (website)
Gracie’s Got a Secret (blog and website)
Archives of my Magazine and Book Writing (this portion is under construction)
Articles in the issues below provide a broad overview of the diverse topics I have covered in my freelance writing. Please click on the cover to read the enclosed feature.
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TRAVEL 
Here’s a partial list of the where and what I’ve published:
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
BC Bookworld (multiple articles)
BC Parent Magazine (multiple articles)
Common Ground
Bravo! TV Film – Divine Waters (co-written)
Bravo! TV Film – Corona Station (co-written)
Documentary A New Way: An Organic Garden Saves Lives (written, produced, and directed)
The Georgia Straight (multiple articles)
The Globe and Mail
Herizons
NeWest Review
New Maritimes
Quill & Quire (multiple articles)
Persephone – Kid at Heart CD (lyrics)
Reel West (multiple articles)
PhotoMedia (multiple articles)
Sunshine Coast Life (multiple)
The Sun (North Carolina)
Supernatural Stories Around B.C. (book essay)
Vancouver Parent (multiple)
The Vancouver Sun (multiple)
Vancouver, Victoria & Whistler Guidebook
BUSINESS
BC Business (multiple articles)
BC Woman
HRVoice (multiple web articles)
PeopleTalk (multiple articles, print & web)
UBC Law Alumni Magazine (multiple)
Working Dollars (Vancity)
ENVIRONMENT
Alive (multiple articles)
Balanced Life
Bears magazine
PeopleTalk – corporate social opportunity
Shared Vision
Sierra Magazine (multiple, web & print)
HEALTH
Alive (multiple articles)
BC Parent (multiple articles)
Impressions Magazine (University of B.C. – multiple articles)
HISTORY
Canadian Geographic
Chapleau Sentinel
The Greater Vancouver Book
Reel West
Transit Exchange
Vancouver’s Glory Years
LIFESTYLE
Alive (multiple articles)
Real Weddings (multiple articles)
Select Homes
Sunshine Coast Life (multiple articles)
Western Canadian Resorts (multiple)
SPIRITUALITY
Gracie’s Got a Secret (children’s fiction book)
HR Voice – Spirituality in the Workplace
PeopleTalk – Spirituality in the Workplace
Spiritually Speaking blog (Victoria Times Colonist)
Step Magazine
TRANSPORTATION
BC Transit Annual Reports
SkyTrain (book)
Transit Exchange (multiple articles)
Trucking Canada (multiple articles)
Vancouver’s Glory Years (book)
Vancouver’s Trolley Buses (book)
TRAVEL
Atlantic Insight
Chasing Halley’s Comet (book excerpt in anthology)
The Greater Vancouver Book (multiple articles)
Kinesis (multiple articles)
Sierra Magazine
Sunshine Coast Life
Transit Exchange (multiple articles)
Trucking Canada (multiple articles)
Vancouver & Victoria Guidebook
I am a member of the Writers’ Union of Canada, the Federation of B.C. Writers, the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society, the Sunshine Coast Arts Council, and other organizations.
ANTHOLOGY CONTENT
Art & Words Anthology, SCWES (2024) (poem “Supernova Sky”)
Art & Words Anthology, Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society (SCWES) (2023) (poem “Solo Writing Retreats”)
Beachcombers 50th Anniversary Content Anthology (2022) (essay on tribute to late husband)
Art & Words Anthology, SDWES (2022) (poem “Supernova Sky”
New Beginnings, Timbercrest Publishing (2019) (essay on grief/caregiving)
Raincoast Chronicles 22, Harbour Publishing (2013) (history/environment)
Emails from India: Women Write Home, Seraphim Editions, ON (2013)
Vancouver, Victoria & Whistler guidebook, Formac Publishing, NS (2009, 2008)
Supernatural Stories Around BC, Penticton Writers & Publishers (1997)
The Greater Vancouver Book, edited by Chuck Davis (1996)
Chasing Halley’s Comet, Laughing Willow Press, BC (1995)
MY BOOKS
No Letter in Your Pocket: How a daughter chose love and forgiveness to heal from incest (Guernica Editions, 2023)
Six Stinky Feet and a Sasquatch (Peppermint Toast Publishing 2019)
Gracie’s Got a Secret (MW Books 2011)
Vancouver’s Glory Years (Whitecap Books 2003), co-written with Henry Ewert
Vancouver’s Trolley Buses 1948-1998: Celebrating a Half-Century of Service (BC Transit 1998)
PUBLICATION LIST
A copy of my published writing in books and media across North America is available upon request.