I’ve been super busy as of late. So thanks for being patient and let’s have a lovely chat and catch up on everything that’s been happening since we last spoke in January (!).
On February 20th, I was invited to speak to a local book club, The Cover Girls. They were a wonderful audience, with great questions. I talked about how I’d started writing at a very young age with poetry and then short stories. How I’d accidentally written my first novel and haven’t looked back since. We talked about the process of writing and what goes on inside my head when I’m crafting a story.
In March, I was lucky enough to have an article in the local arts newspaper, The Humm, to talk about my book that launched March 23rd.
And, I published a book! In case you weren’t following my other social media outlets (facebook and twitter, links below), A Family Affair became available for the first time on March 23rd in both print and ebook. The cover art by Laura Sou is stunning.
Also on March 23rd and 24th, I had a booth with the Geek Market. Thank you to everyone who came out to see me that weekend. I had a great time and talked to some wonderful people. Special thank you’s to everyone who bought a book or a collection of short stories. You are more appreciated than you imagine. Also, grateful thanks to Laurie and Mona who came to sit at the table with me and to Celine and Aaron who spelled me when I was on my own. You all make these events easier and a lot more fun.
On April 16th, at the Ottawa Independent Writers’ monthly meeting, they announced the winners of their anthology contest. I tied for first!
I am so honoured by this award. Recognition is a powerful thing. Part of the proceeds are going towards a manual typewriter to forward some of my new writing projects. I’m also going to post the entire text of “Pirates in the Pantry” here in two weeks so keep your eyes open!
In the meantime, I’m hard at work on getting my website up and running. ‘A Good Idea Publications’ will be my literary home. It will have a bio, links to my social media, my published works and editing services I offer.
Until then, I’ll leave you with the first part of A Family Affair to enjoy on this spring day:
The wind swept across the red desert as it had for millions of years before humans had ever alighted and would continue to do so for millions of years after the last traces of their civilization had been consumed by the sand. The haze faded from the horizon for a brief moment, exposing no footsteps but the traces of tire marks on the rockier patches leading to the horizon. The wind drifted along this artificial trail, winding amongst the rocks and gathering sand up only to leave it to rest again. It settled on the rocks, on the trail and finally on the hands that reached up in silent vigil to the sky. Weathered and dried to mere husks, the remains of humanity at the bottom of the ravine might have been a final reminder of what was to come until the wind blew again and obscured them from sight.
Chapter One
Nadine jerked awake. There was violence, something burning. Where was Sven?! There was pain and she couldn’t move. She needed to move, get away. She blinked against the quickly dissipating vision and realized she could only see out of her left eye, staring at a bright white light. She blinked the tears away and finally made out a moving wall. Walls don’t move. She tried to speak but her mouth was dried out and there was a tube there. What had they done to her? Had the men from Earth finally tracked her down? Trying to spit it out, she gagged instead. Then there was a strange woman in a medic uniform over her. The woman’s teeth shone brightly against her dark skin as she smiled and said something in a reassuring tone but Nadine couldn’t quite make it out. She didn’t feel any calmer. Everything went black again.
*
Sven gripped the arms of the hospital chair to stop from reaching out to her. Swathed in bandages and with tubes in her mouth and nose, he didn’t need another surgeon’s report to tell him she was lucky to be alive. Six months was too short a period of time together. Seven if you included the month of the abandonment. He did, only because there was so little to count. Now they were here, after everything else they’d gone through. Exhaustion getting the better of him, he leaned back in the chair, hearing the crinkle of paper as he did so. He pulled the packet from his pocket and jammed it into the bottom of his bag. They were back again, trying to ruin things. He thought he’d left them behind on Earth, had finished with them. He had bigger things to worry about. He only hoped he’d made the right decision. Reaching out, he took her hand but she didn’t squeeze back.
Come find me online:
Twitter: @M_thewriter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mnegrijn
And check out A Family Affair, available here:
It's all about the words 
Huge congrats for your anthology win, that’s amazing! Looking forward to reading the story when you post it! 🙂
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