The Pluckiest Canadian in Texas

April showers bring May…poems? Maybe! I get our gut reaction when we hear ‘poem’ might be resistance, reluctance, and, honestly, downright boredom.  BUT. Did you know there is scientific evidence that reading even one poem daily can make your life richer, deeper, and more meaningful? It’s true! You can follow that rabbit right here – Here’s What Happens In Your Brain When You Read a Poem. Now…

A quick highlight of my two favorite writers'' tech options and a drink recipe!

For those of you who follow my blog, you are amazing and wonderful. I’ve got some fun new insights for us all this year, so sit down, get buckled, and put down your coffee. You’re going to spill it. Angela’s Favorite New Tech 💚💻: Squibler’s Random Writing Prompt Generator: Have you heard of this? You write for five minutes, but if you stop to think (or stop for more than a few seconds), it…

The Writers Conference Come Down

I recently attended my very first in-person writers conference. You guys I was so excited. I want to say it was worth the money but I just can’t this time. I think the organizers did a great job, and the volunteers were amazing. And, I get it, we’re in a living, breathing economy and people need money to eat. DUDE: How Much Did You Spend? I’m glad you asked. I spent about $500 on the conference…

Staying Awkward, Kind, and Brave

I stood behind my little table rearranging the Phoenix statue, OCD lining up my books, and just in general feeling awkward and out of place. In this post-COVID era, I think I have forgotten how to human. How do I do this interaction thing with people I don’t know, or haven’t seen in years? And for god’s sake why can’t I do this in my comfy clothes? Do we even still dress up anymore? Is that a…

Five Ways to Build Creativity into your Daily Life

Life is busy. We have bills to pay. Wouldn’t it be great if we could infuse our daily lives with shots of creativity? Wouldn’t that be amazing? It IS possible and the best news ever is that it pays to start slow and build on good habits you are already doing. Before we get Started: Some evening prep work can pay off in spades. Set yourself a glass of water by your bedside (I use a mug with a…

“Many paths lead to the same destination; it doesn’t matter how you get there.” I’m sitting here feeling shame because although I have been busy writing blogs for other people and working on my next novel (I just finished the messy first draft – VICTORY DANCE!) I realized I haven’t written a blog post in over a year. I have fallen off the blog horse. The horse has gone on without me, probably…

Inspiration is for Losers and other things I tell myself

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com I recently heard a writer friend ask another writer friend what she did to get ‘inspired’ to write. The question threw me off guard. Who are these writers who wait for inspiration? In my experience inspiration only happens once I’m warmed up and that only happens when I sit down to write on a consistent basis. The Secret is Consistency The secret to finishing a…

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com I recently read an email from an anxious writer about whether or not we have to grab the agents attention in the first 500 words. Honestly I think that is probably a good buffer of about 250 words – and we need to remember that agents are human. Sometimes as writers we get locked into adversarial thinking. Us against the thousands of submissions agents…

Three Ways to Ease Back into the Writing Life

A few years ago my daughter was about three years old and I was home with my second, a bouncing (literally) baby boy. Life couldn’t have been better. I had everything I wanted. A loyal husband, enough money to pay the bills, and now two beautiful, healthy babies. What more did I need? Besides sleep and to finish a hot mug of tea in one go? I will tell you – and every writer out there published…

It’s A Writer’s Life for Me!

“Writing is a craft, and storytelling is an art, and together they form this nebulous interstice where it’s just clowns juggling medium-sized cats and those cats are juggling little cat-sized chainsaws and the whole place is on fire and did I mention the “place” is actually a blimp and it’s drifting swiftly toward a flickering lighthouse operated by orphans?” Chuck Wendig Isn’t that quote super…

How to be a Writer,

Rumi tells us there is ‘a light seed grain inside. You fill it with yourself, or it dies.’ This is the writing life in a nutshell. You may do it for the dream of helping someone, for the dream of being someone’s favorite author. You may do it for the money (nothing wrong with this but it cannot sustain you in this endeavor if that is your only reason.) There are much, much easier ways to make…

Writers With Day Jobs, writers, beginner writers, inspiration, motivation, working to write, writers craft.

Imposter syndrome is a real thing. It is so real, it’s been named. And we don’t have to explain what it means, do we, because if you write, you have struggled with this. Let me be the first to assure you, dear writer, that you are not alone. Working on the customer service desk at DIYMFA.com I have received hundreds of emails from people struggling with the confidence to put pen to paper. I…

I mean, is there any better feeling? I’ve got some useful websites for beginner writers and an online writing conference to share details about.

Just found this awesome app called the Hemmingway app: and it does exactly what you think it does – highlight text that is clunky or wordy or too confusing. Where has this been all my life? Only issue is that it isn’t integrated into the Word docs…

Why Am I Doing This? Being helpful, cool books, podcasts and articles designed to make life 1% better.

Someone asked me recently what this blog was for. I thought I knew the answer to that until I was asked directly. This blog started as a way to communicate what I’ve been doing in Texas to my friends and family back home in Canada.

Time saver: I’m still doing yoga and hanging with my dogs and my kids:

The longer I have been here the farther away from that original impulse I’ve gotten. Plus…

Autumn Falls, motivation, self-help, parenting, self-growth

Autumn, how I’ve missed you. Is there anything more lovely to look forward to after a brutally hot summer? The promise of cozy sweaters and cool sheets. The anticipation of sitting in front of a roaring fire (or a picture of one on your TV) with a book and a mug of hot (Irish) chocolate?

Autumn has historically been linked with the growing cycle – of ripeness, abundance, of gathering and…

Where is your focus today? To be honest, I have taken pride in my ability to multitask, multi-focus. I’m working two jobs while studying for a third. And writing my second fantasy novel. Oh, and I’m raising two toddlers. So…mountains are not being moved, needless to say. Unless you count the laundry, every two weeks in an all day marathon I have dubbed ‘Operation Clean Shorts.’

I’m not proud…