DECEMBER - snuggle in with your your pals
Nov 30, 2022 3:18 am
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields that it kisses them so gently? And then covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till summer comes again.’” ~Lewis Carroll
Hello ,
Happy snuggle-in-season!
Regardless what holiday you may celebrate, we want to wish you a happy end to 2022. We hope that you take a moment to pause before you start all your planning for the year to come to recognize the progress you’ve made this year on your personal creative journey.
Maybe you pushed through a creative block or learned a new skill. You may have taken the leap into querying your work or you may have finished a manuscript. Perhaps you had the chance to hold your words in your hands as a published work or your step may have been smaller, but know that every single step is part of the process.
We are so proud of you.
Enjoy this chance to take a deep breath and reflect. We have so many things planned for your coming year. Heck, we’ve got a lot planned for this coming month!
We’ve got a couple extra fun sessions coming including member Judy Derkson leading a session on Dec 13 on PTSD and how that can affect mood, behaviour and character. Award winning author Liza Palmer will be joining Eileen on Dec 21 to chat about keeping those creative fires burning.
And if you want to get planning, Crystal will be leading the 12 Week Planning retreat on December 3rd!
You can find all of our upcoming live events cleverly filed in the Events space.
Highlights from November
Catch the replays!
Writing, research, marketing with guest Kris Waldherr
Relationship scenes with Eileen
Importance of showing character change with Eileen
Tracking story timelines workshop with Crystal
Pinterest for authors with Crystal
Cognitive reframing with Crystal
Coming up in December
A new look for the Creative Academy!
The Creative Academy (and all communities hosted in a Mighty Network) will be getting a navigational facelift in the first week of December.
Things will look different but everything will still be in the community.
Join Crystal on Wednesday, December 21st as she takes us all on a tour of the new spaces and fun new features.
Winter 2022 '12-week year' planning retreat
Let's celebrate our wins from the last 12 weeks and re-orient our priorities, patterns and projects for the coming season!
Join us on Saturday, December 3rd for one of our most popular events!
RSVP to add the event to your calendar—and as always if you can't attend live you'll be able to watch the recording and participate on your own schedule.
Complex PTSD: Difficult childhoods and how they affect mood, behaviour and character with Judy Derksen
Trauma(s), or repetitive childhood insults occurring against a background of emotional or physical abuse or neglect, shape our brains, our bodies, our behaviors and personalities. Now is your chance to dive deeply into how complex PTSD makes for complex characters, characters readers can root for, and antagonists with motivations readers can understand. This interactive event will provide opportunities for self-reflection and practical suggestions on how to use the landscape of childhood adversity to create interesting and flawed characters.
Judy Dercksen is a family physician and writer who embraces her lived experience of complex PTSD. Writing programs and mentors from UBC and SFU Writer's Studio and Graduate programs helped her on her road to publishing in national medical and literary journals, as well as the Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, and Tyee. When not with her patients, she can be found at home, crawling around on all fours as she chases her bearded dragon, or on the couch, next to hubby, writing.
Join Just and Eileen on Tuesday, December 13.
#1 Reading as a writer book club (with Elissa McColl)
November meeting rescheduled to December 1st,
The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen.
For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sally Rooney, and Rebecca Serle, The Arc is a smart, high concept love story that asks: is it possible to optimize our most intimate relationships?
# 2 Reading as a writer book club (with Elissa McColl)
Our December Book will be The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School.
Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can't stay buried forever.
Moving between the trio's adolescent years and the present day, The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside––all culminating in a twist you won't see coming, with magnetic characters you won't soon forget.
We will meet on zoom to discuss the book from a writer's perspective. What worked in this book? What didn't work? What did we learn about the craft from reading this book? What could have been improved?
Everyone is welcome to join in the discussion, even if you haven't read the book, but it's more fun if you have.
Crafty Critique Club
Here’s your chance to get feedback on a focused area of your story. Members submit a couple of pages for feedback and give feedback to others in the Crafty Critique Club.
December's topic is ... whatever you'd like it to be!
For more information, DM Jenny Graham Lang or Bonnie Jacoby.
Your drop-in Q&A (with Steph Candiago)
Mon 5—Drop-in Q&A indie publishing
Tue 13 —Drop-in Q&A publishing tools & tech
Mon 19 —Drop-in Q&A for indie publishing
Your author biz (with Crystal Hunt)
Wed 14—How to handle author biz end of year
Your story craft (with Eileen Cook)
Wed 7—Happy Hour: How to get the feedback you want and need
Wed 14—Happy Hour: Traditions and your character
Wed 21—Happy Hour: Chat with bestselling author Liza Palmer
Wed 28—Happy Hour: Traditions in action with Tracy Thillmann
Your hot seat (with Donna Barker & members)
Thu 1—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Bonnie J)
Tue 6—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Janee)
Thu 8—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind
Tue 13—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Lynette)
Thu 15—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Bonnie J)
Tue 20—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Janee)
Thu 22—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind
Tue 27—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind (facilitated by Lynette)
Thu 29—Motivation & Accountability Mastermind
Genre meet-ups & open mics
If you're new around these parts and haven't found all your genre peers yet, find your people by joining the communities that match your interests!
See all the communities you can join right here:
And then meet up with them at these events.
Wed 7—Children's & Middle Grade Writers Hangout (with Janee)
Wed 14—Children's & Middle Grade Writers Hangout (with Janee)
Wed 21—Children's & Middle Grade Writers Hangout (with Janee)
Wed 28—Children's & Middle Grade Writers Hangout (with Janee)
Sun 11—Memoir Community Meet Up & Open Mic (with Vig)
Sun 25—Memoir Community Meet Up & Open Mic (with Vig)
Tue 13—Historical Fiction Meet Up (with Jenny)
Tue 27—Historical Fiction Open Mic (with Jenny)
Thu 15—Young Adult fiction Writers Meeting (with Bonnie J)
Thu 29—Romance Writers Rendezvous (with Crystal)
Writing sprints
The writing room is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are several times every day when you can be pretty sure to find at least one other person in the room to keep you company. No matter where you are in the world, we’ve got you covered! Check out all the times here:
We'd love to see you in one of our events this coming month.
Happy writing,
Stephanie, Eileen, Crystal and Donna
