Susan Lynn Reynolds
I am a published novelist and an award-winning writer of poetry and creative non-fiction as well. I have been writing all my life. My first novel was published in 1992 and won the Canadian Library Association’s YA Novel of the Year award.
When it came time to write my next book, I panicked. I froze. I got a monumental case of writer’s block. Just exactly how had I managed to write that first book again?
That’s when I began studying the craft of writing. I read everything I could get my hands on. I took courses. I went to New Mexico and studied with Natalie Goldberg (of Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind) three times. Over the next few years I also studied with Barbara Turner Vessalago (Freefall Writing), Anne Michaels (Fugitive Pieces), Orm Mitchell (W.O. and Mitchell), and Robert J. Ray and Jack Remick (of The Weekend Novelist).
Through experiencing the workshops with Natalie Goldberg, I realized that I needed to find community – my tribe – to write with. And so, twenty-five years ago, I began passing on what I had learned. In 2002 I took the AWA Certification to lead writing workshops with Pat Schneider and Patricia Lee Lewis, and I’ve never looked back.
Through leading writing workshops I began to see the profoundly healing effect that writing one’s truth can have on the writer (whether in fiction or memoir). I changed my life so I could go back to university to study Psychology with a particular focus on the therapeutic use of journaling and memoir (my thesis on that topic received the Canadian Psychological Association’s Award of Academic Excellence in 2006).
I love writing in all it’s many forms, and helping others achieve their dreams of writing is a passion that has me meeting each day gladly.
For some testimonials about working with me as a facilitor and writing mentor, please visit this page on our Inkslingers website. Testimonials for Sue
For more about me please visit my website, SueReynolds.ca, where I focus my thoughts around writing for therapeutic benefit, as well as other topics.
James Dewar
I am an enthusiastic participant in almost every area of the writing profession.
I love writing. Whether it’s freelance non-fiction pieces for newspapers and magazines, web writing, blogs, reviews, short stories, a full-length novel, or 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. 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. Editing and crafting first drafts into second ones and applying substantive critiquing to the writing of new and experienced authors are skills that I first learned in the business world and continue to develop. I design and oversee the editing and publication of books and anthologies as a publisher (Piquant Press and Stones Throw Publication Services) and I am a contributing editor to several Metroland magazine sections every year.
I am almost finished the second draft of my first novel. I am looking forward to finishing the first draft of my next novel in the company of the many other authors participating in the A Novel Approach workshops.
I am committed to helping writers develop their talent. I have taught advanced creative writing at Durham College and offer workshops on a variety of subjects from writing erotica, poetry, novels and memoir, to practicing the key elements of performing your work in public. I often partner with the amazing Sue Reynolds in these workshops so participants benefit from our unique perspectives on each subject.
If you would like to know more about me, please visit www.creativejames.com website.
I successfully completed an Honours B.A. in English and History at YORK UNIVERSITY and a Bachelor of Education, Type A, at the UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO.
For some testimonials about working with me as a facilitor and writing mentor, please visit this page on our Inkslingers website. Testimonials for James
Please feel free to also read more about us on our InkSlingers website.
