Hi! I don’t know how January was for you, but for me it was go-go-go non-stop. Back in the fall, when I decided not to schedule a bunch of library events and in-person classes in January and February, I imagined myself huddled under a blanket, sipping hot tea, writing peacefully.
The last month didn’t happen like that. Well, the blanket and tea part happened, but I ended up doing my final edits on my Post Civ book after my fabulous editor was finished with the manuscript, and I forgot just how much work is involved when preparing a Word doc for the interior design phase of indie publishing.
It took a long time. But reading this story again with a careful eye to the sentence level made me fall head over heels with my twelve characters again. This feminist climate novel was my thesis project at UBC for my MFA degree, and it’s the book of my heart - the one I’ve been longing to write for decades but was too afraid to go for it. Now I feel braver, and I cannot wait to share it with you all this September.
One-Word Feeling Check-In
How are you feeling right now, in one word? In my online writing class, we practiced naming our feelings each and every week, and I realised again just how powerful it is to develop language around our inner emotional landscapes.
Right now, my word is reflective. I’m about to travel to Edmonton and Calgary to speak at annual teachers’ conferences (with a stop in between the two cities for some R&R in the Rocky Mountains of Canmore with my high school pal Sue) and I can’t help thinking about how different I feel this year compared to last February.
Last year, I was struggling with my health in the form of growing perimenopause symptoms that made it increasingly difficult to function or cope. Ava had left home for the first time to attend university and I really missed her. Jason and I were at our lowest point ever in marital terms, distanced from one another in a scary and unfamiliar manner. I was stressed out to the max, but didn’t really know it yet.
Now, a year later, everything is different. Better. More hopeful and vibrant and healthy. When I look at the quote my daughter paraphrased on our message board after Christmas - “Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. No feeling is final” - I’m amazed how much things can change over a period of twelve months.
Book Corner
I love Catherine Ryan Howard’s books, so I was very excited to get The Trap from the library. It was fast-paced, with lots of twists and turns, and she kept me guessing. As much fun as you can possibly have reading about a twisted serial killer.
Neal Allen is Anne Lamott’s “personal husband” (as she calls him!) so I was eager to try out his new book Better Things. It gets a little bit out there with talking directly to your superego and naming it, but I found this a fast and approachable read that taught me a few useful tips and skills about quieting that critical inner voice.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden is a cracking good read. Dark and weird, this book constantly surprised me. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series now!
The Soul Says
Last month, I worked on the word “slowly” as that’s what my soul was telling me. To be honest, I wasn’t very successful with this as my workload got heavy and I was busier than I would like to be.
This month, I’m focusing on the first word of the three I picked for 2024: Savour. (If you want to read more on my words for the year, check out this post on my author site.) Savour goes along with slowly as they both require more presence and focus. When I remind myself to savour, I notice how my food tastes. How the sky looks on my walk. The feel of my warm magic bag on my lower back and the sound of my 13 year old cat Flower snoring like an elderly man from his cat bed on the couch.
How about you? What is your soul saying right now?
Spring Library & Community Writing Classes
My full event schedule is on my website (and below!), and more dates are being added regularly. Please come join me for some fun and interactive writing classes in the coming months!
In January the only Write Your Novel or Memoir class was at Parkgate Library in North Vancouver, and it was AMAZING. 25 writers came and a bunch of them signed up for my next online writing class in October and they were so generous and kind about the class. It was so much fun. I’m looking forward to more at several new libraries in different cities this spring!
I’m also moving into adult education by teaching in the community at Semiahmoo Arts Society in South Surrey and at the Kent Street Activity Centre in White Rock! All that info is below.
Spring In-Person Teaching Schedule – 2024
Write Your Memoir: Key Building Blocks - Port Moody Library: Friday, March 1 from 1:30 - 3 pm
Write Your Memoir: Key Building Blocks - Semiahmoo Arts Society Turnbull Gallery: Thursday, March 7 from noon - 2 pm
Write Your Novel or Memoir - Clearbrook Library, Abbotsford: Saturday, March 9 from 2 - 3 pm
Write Your Novel: Key Building Blocks - Semiahmoo Arts Society Turnbull Gallery: Thursday, March 14 from noon to 2 pm
Write Your Memoir: Key Building Blocks - White Rock Library: Saturday, April 13 from 2 - 3:30 pm
Write Your Novel or Memoir - City of Langley Library: Saturday, April 20 from 1 - 2 pm
Sharing Life Memories - Kent Street Activity Centre in White Rock: Thursday, May 2 from 1 - 3 pm
Write Your Novel: Key Building Blocks - White Rock Library: Saturday, May 11 from 2 - 3:30 pm
Conversation Cafe - Kent Street Activity Centre in White Rock: Tuesday, June 11 from 1 - 3 pm
Jamesy Harper’s Big Break
As for Jamesy Harper’s Big Break, I just received another order of books from Library Bound (HAPPY DANCE!) to fill more library orders in BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Hopefully the book will start to spread even farther across Canada soon, and show up on even more library shelves.
When I did a search, I found Jamesy Harper on a shelf in Haida Gwaii, and also in Red Deer, not to mention Saskatoon and Regina! How cool is that??!!!
TV Recs
We just started watching Guilt, a hilarious crime show set in Edinburgh about two brothers who attempt to cover up a hit and run fatality. We’re only one episode in, but the writing and the performances are so clever, I can’t wait to watch the rest of the short series.
Speaking of amazing writing and performances, with the fourth season of True Detective premiering in January, we decided to go back to season one for a re-watch and HOT DAMN, is that ever an incredible eight episodes. The rest of the series just cannot seem to match what they achieved in that first stunning season.
I’m a huge Seinfeld fan, so I can’t believe that I never tried Curb Your Enthusiasm until now. We’re only in the first season, which means we have lots of hilarity to come, but I find Larry David’s curmudgeonly character with his petty irritations so incredibly funny.
Write Your Novel or Memoir Online Classes
We just completed my first ever online creative writing class! Our numbers were small for the first 5-week Start section of the class, with 2 writers working on novels and 2 writing memoirs, but it functioned through the Canvas platform exactly as I dreamed it could. People dropped in and out of the discussion forums in our active 48-hour participation window, engaging with one another and me by answering questions, sharing struggles in life and in writing, and workshopping with each other in a safe, supportive space.
It was so great. But it’s challenging to build the type of community I know is possible online in a flexible format with only 4 writers, because life gets busy and not everyone can participate fully during each active window. So the hard decision has been made to press the pause button for now on the full 20-week session until we have more writers ready to jump in with us for the second class beginning October 20th.
If you want to join us in October for the next 20-week class, please reach out to julianne@rubyfinchbooks.com and we’ll chat. The class is half full right now, so don’t wait too long! The full schedule is on my website, along with the growing number of in-person creative writing classes I’m scheduling around the lower mainland. If you’ve always longed to write a novel or memoir, you are warmly invited to join us!
Flower & Teddy
Here are the boys in all of their February glory. They both have wellness checks scheduled at the vet this month, but thankfully Ava will be home from university on reading break to help me corral them into the cat carriers and then the car. Teddy gets quite anxious about the vet, so this time we are attempting to take them both in at the same time to see if Flower has a calming effect on his nervous brother. We’ll see how it goes!
Flower and Teddy wish you a very Happy Valentine’s Day!
Libraries forever,
Julianne and Ruby Finch Books