Each month I feature a guest author on the pages of Funny Girl. Today, I'm delighted to welcome crime writer and fellow Crime Writers of Canada member Leanne Dyck, who writes a positive post just perfect for ringing in the New Year with optimism.
It’s
amazing what the power of the word yes can do.
In 2010 I
received an email regarding a free writers workshop that was to be given at the
Victoria Public Library.
My husband
asked, “Would you like to go to that?”
I said,
“Yes!”
Prolific
author Lou Allin provided a blue pencil critique. I signed up for it. Lou
taught me to take pride in my words. She also pointed the way to growth. The
panel discussions captivated me. And I came away from this event feeling
enriched and inspired.
During the
event I invited Lou Allin to visit my rural island home: Mayne Island. I explained that I was a
co-organizer for an upcoming artistic celebration. One of the events I was
organizing was a writers round table.
Lou said,
“Yes, I’d like to visit.”
During the
round table Lou Allin told the participants about the Crime Writers of Canada.
She also told us about Bloody Words. She explained that Bloody Words is
Canada’s oldest and largest gathering of mystery readers and authors. I was
excited to learn that next year Bloody Words would be held in Victoria.
I’d already
self-published a cozy mystery and, at the time, was writing a thriller*. So I
quickly filled out an application to join CWC and to attend Bloody Words.
Shortly
after becoming a member, I received an email from CWC regarding Bloody Words.
They were looking for panelists and were encouraging participants to sign up
to meet with a literary agent. I was nervous and didn’t feel ready but said yes
to both of these opportunities.
CWC
continues to facilitate my growth as an author. To date I’ve sat on a total of
three panels and networked with countless authors.
I encourage
you to say yes.
Here’s an
opportunity…
I blog
three times a week and it’s paying off:
100 page views per day, on average. One of my blogging goals is to help
promote my fellow authors. I’ve featured over 100 authors—including Melodie
Campbell. I’d like to feature you.
*I’m pleased to add that this thriller—The Sweater
Curse--was published in 2011. And one of my writing projects is to transform it
from novella length into a novel.
Blurb:
Aspiring knitwear designer Gwen
Bjarnson is stuck in Purgatory. To escape, she must re-examine her life,
journey through her past and right a wrong. But which wrong?
Young and in love, she works to
establish her career, except fate has different plans. One rash act and she
loses everything. Never resting, always seeking, and yearning for what she can
no longer have, Gwen faces the truth: if she remains, others are destined
to die.
How will she solve the mystery
before it is too late?
Buy Links:
Quotes from
reviews...
'Stitch by colorful
stitch, Leanne Dyck knits a tale of intrigue' --Laurie Buchaman
'Leanne Dyck has
crafted a tale as exotic and existential as Danish author Isak Dinesen's' --Lou
Allin (Twilight is not Good for Maidens; Contingency Plan)
'I found myself
totally engrossed... Go out and pick this one up' --Deborah Warner
'I found it very difficult
to put this book down once I started it, because the voice of lovely Gwen
Bjarnson, already dead at the start of book, drew me in immediately.' --Holly
Robinson (Sleeping Tigers: a novel)
