Ink Slingers

I am an enthusiastic participant in almost every area of the writing profession.

I love writing. Whether it’s freelance nonfiction pieces for newspapers and magazines, web writing, blogs, reviews, short stories, a full length novel, or my personal favourite, poetry, I can freefall with the best of them. I’ve been writing since I was a kid, but kept it to myself for most of my life.

But after almost thirty years in corporate jobs, I realized that writing was my passion. So I turned to it full time and have never looked back. This gives me some unique perspectives on the life and craft of writing and I enjoy sharing them.

Offering substantive critiques and helping authors/poets develop their writing craft have become highlights for me. I also enjoy designing and overseeing books and magazines as a small press publisher and contributing editor to several magazines. In the last five years I have edited and published over a dozen poetry books as CreativeJames Publishing.

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Then I decided to start my own own publishing house, Piquant Press.

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Three years later, we’re the proud parents of 9 new books.

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My poetry and short fiction have been published in a variety of anthologies and magazines. The Garden in the Machine, my first full book of poetry, was published by Hidden Brook Press in 2007.

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I particularly enjoyed finishing the first draft of my novel in the company of the many other novelists participating in the course, Sue Reynolds and I teach, A Novel Approach.

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One of the things I’ve noticed about writers is how little emphasis most place on preparing, practising and delivering written material to an audience. So I started a monthly poetry reading series in March, 2006, Hot-Sauced Words, with the intent of making poetry readings more interactive. It has morphed over the years to include audience feedback and on-the-spot writing challenges. It sure helped raise my confidence as a reader and now I’m proud of the challenges and spoken word competitions that I have entered and won. I’ve developed techniques on preparing for a twenty minute reading set that I often include in my poetry workshops.

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I am committed to helping writers develop their talent. I teach creative writing at Durham College from time to time and offer workshops on a variety of subjects from writing erotica, poetry, novels and memoir, to public performance. I partner with the amazing Sue Reynolds in most of these workshops so participants enjoy our unique perspectives on each subject.

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I have been a member of the Writers’ Community of Durham Region for eight years, have served on the board for three, and am very proud to have been elected President in May, 2010. I am thrilled to be able to help writers of all ages and stages of development gain confidence in writing and presentation skills. I partake in many symposiums and workshops, and attend several readings a month. I believe that lifelong learning both triggers and sustains productive creativity. And being around fellow writers and performers is the best method of discovering new talent and stretching my own suppositions about the writing craft.

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Oh yes. I’m learning everything I can about photography and video, graphic design, web template designs and other useful skills in the age of the internet. Please check www.piquantproductions.ca.

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For a complete copy of my C.V. please click on the dancing fellow on the right:

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(My apologies: This link is temporarily unavailable. I’m updating my CV and hope to have it back online in 2011. I’m too busy to keep things like this updated. If you need to see it, just contact me and I’ll email you the latest version.)