Welcome to my blog
Every Friday morning I’d wake up early and, coffee mug in hand, head out the back gate and down the alley to my neighbour Niki’s garage. She’d converted it to a gathering space called the shack (ART) collective and had invited a group of women — we affectionately call ourselves the Friday morning babes — to meet and discuss the Artist’s Way workbook. (More on that in my next post!) We enjoyed each other’s company so much that we kept it going after we finished the book. At first, we read and discussed other books about creativity. Then we morphed into a support group, sharing our struggles to carve out creative time in our hectic lives.
And we’ve reached our creative goals! Kathryn Sutherland, a musician, launched her own group, Blue Dirt Girl. She recently released her third album and regularly performs concerts around Vancouver. Kiki Yee, an accomplished artist, drew the fabulous cover artwork for Kathryn’s latest album. Kiki is also a talented editor and her structural and copy edits on my novel took it to a whole other level. Niki created a thriving yoga business and successfully shifted to online teaching during the pandemic. Sophie Yendole, who joined a few years after our inception, got back to her poetry roots. She performed her work at the Cultch in Vancouver, content edited a book of poetry, and is now working on getting her own material published.
Niki moved houses, and the shack, like everything else in Vancouver, got torn down. Then I moved to a different city and the Shack Gals graciously let me call in every Friday and put me on speakerphone. When the pandemic hit, we all shifted to Zoom and we still gather every Friday morning. This group of creative woman have become my closest friends, and we’ve celebrated our successes and provided comfort to each other through the tough times.
The Shack Gals were my first readers and provided valuable feedback on earlier drafts of my novel. Thanks to their support, I completed Off the Mark (the working title for my novel). Several weeks ago, I submitted a query letter and the first two chapters to a publisher. That same day, they requested my entire manuscript. So now I wait and hope…