A beginner’s guide — I began a newsletter on Substack in April 2021, and then went “paid” with it June 1. My publication, the Unschool for Writers, has now averaged about $500/month income for me, and this is just the first — and growing — five months. Let’s start Q&A, and please ask any…

But could we do it? — More often than not, when one brings up the topic of equality and equity between women and men, the wage gap is cited. Then the talk is of the need for more women leaders. People who grasp that numbers and statistics don’t always tell actual stories — rarely, in fact…

The good, the bad, and the ugly — In sickness and in health What does that mean? It wasn’t something I was thinking about, that hot August day in our backyard under the pear tree. I wore a green wedding dress that I’d discovered in an antique store, a week after telling my mother that green was the…

Let’s resurrect the idea of tithe, and keep art in our lives — This past summer, this was the one way I heard live music: in the park, and on the beach, with a jazz standards group. Bring a blanket and bottle, enjoy the setting sun, the warmth on my back. Listening to tunes that have sustained for decades. The idea of tithing…

Bringing out-of-print books back to life It’s been over two years since I received the letter from my former publisher, Coteau Books, letting me know that after forty-five years their wonderful literary press was going under. It was a sad day for many of us in the Canadian Lit world…

Gathered together I’ve been writing on Substack for a year now, following a year of working on this site. I’ve learned a great deal, and written posts to share some of this knowledge. Here, I’m compiling them for easy access. The first I posted speaks to the differences and commonalities…

Reality and numbers — My experience is on the Substack platform, but there are other platforms, and I think the questions of “when to go paid” and how to be compensated for your blogging/posts are similar regardless of where you work. Do you wait for a certain number of subscribers? Or a level of…

Why you should subscribe to my Substack newsletter — The Unschool for Writers is my rather eclectic newsletter on Substack. Since 1996, I have published in multiple forms, from picturebooks to YA novels, from fiction to memoir for adults, and I’ve taught not only in an MFA program, but in continuing education, and within all grade levels, as well…

Notes from a teacher — The anxiety level in students has ramped up to ugly these past couple of years. As a post-secondary teacher, I’ve experienced all manifestations of this, from the seemingly inevitable course-dropping — mysterious and at end of term, with no earlier word or question from the learner. And the most worrisome…