Ann Walsh, Writer

VICTORIA FLAME STORYTELLING WORKSHOP Flame Two-Day Workshop. January 11 - 12, 2020 10am - 4pm each day Belfry Theatre, 1291 Gladstone Ave, Victoria, Deb Will...iams, award-winning actor, co-creator of Mom's the Word, and The Flame is hosting a storytelling workshop at the Belfry Theatre. Deb will share her decades of storytelling experience, giving you tools to create and share compelling stories. This inclusive and supportive workshop is focused on learning and growth. This is a TWO DAY workshop, and participants must be able to attend both days. $150.00 (plus GST). Register online at belfry.bc.ca or call the Belfry Box Office at 250-385-6815. Space is limited. New to storytelling, but passionate about it? Bring a short, interesting personal anecdote, and Deb will work with you to get it performance ready, for stage or around the dinner table. It has to be true, about you and told in less than 5 minutes. The workshop is both challenging and loads of fun. Suitable for beginners and experienced storytellers.

Yesterday I sadly/gladly said goodbye to three boxes of 'archival' material as the kind clerk at UNBC (University of Northern BC,) wheeled them away to be shipped to Prince George and he main campus. It was an honour to be asked, but it took me over 2 weeks to work through all my files. Silly me, I thought I'd be done in a weekend. So many memories, so much work--so many rejection slips. If I'm an 'archive' I must be really old, right? Sigh. Wish I'd thought to take a picture. (Apologies for anyone who gets this twice.)

Just when I'm ready to retire, something like this wonderful letter arrives. "Good morning, Ann. I just am writing you to thank you for writing Your Time My Time. ... The book came out when I was 10 years old. I must have read it some time between 10-12 years of age. I remember spotting it in the book store and asking my mom if we could get it. Back in those days money was tight and new books a luxury. We didn’t get it at that time, but my mom went back and bought it for me and I received the book as a gift. I absolutely loved Your Time My Time. It was the beginning of my love for historical, time travel, romantic stories. As I grew up I continued to enjoy historical fiction with Clan of The Cave Bear and Outlander being some of my favourites. I reread Your Time My Time every 5-8 years and kept it all these years. Now to present day. My good friend and I are planning a trip this summer from Vernon, B.C. (where we live), to Barkerville. Taking our Moms, and we each have a 10 year old daughter. So, ladies trip. (My mom is also a fan of your story). After we booked our stay for this July, I started to think of your book again. I wondered if my daughter would enjoy it? She tends to avoid reading, as she is currently being assessed for dyslexia, and finds reading novels challenging. I told her about the book and she seemed interested. We finished it last night. She read quite a lot of it out loud to me, and I the rest to her. She loved it. She told me it was her favourite book she has ever read. It turned into a lively discussion on the logistics of time travel and could we effect the present by changing the past? I see Amazon has a copy of Your Time My Time available. She had asked for my book to keep. However, I think I will order her her own copy too! She did continue to ask me though, why couldn’t Steve just have taken the invisible pills? She also was excited to realize she had figured out why that grave marker was Elizabeth’s favourite spot in the cemetery. I am sure you get a lot of emails and are busy, but I wanted you to know the effect you have had on myself and now my daughter, for the love of reading and the love of a great story. Thank you."

bill bissett is reading in Victoria!

These contests sound like fun! http://poets.ca/verysmallverse/

Another contest. This one has been going for years and is for Interior writers.