Mahrie G. Reid

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When Words Collide – Theme Workshop

I’m really excited to be giving two workshops at this year’s When Words Collide Conference in Calgary, August 8-10th.

The first, on Friday morning, is part of a pre-festival workshop offered by The Alberta Romance Writers’ Association where I will be presenting along with fellow writers Jessica L. Jackson, Mahrie G. Reid and Sarah Kades.

The topic I’m discussing is Theme and its importance in your story. This is a subject I feel passionate about because theme is the heart of your story.

If you would like to check out my handout and read my thoughts on the importance of theme, please CLICK HERE for a link.

I will also be talking about The Heroine’s Journey on Sunday morning at 11am and will be posting a link to that handout on Sunday morning.

Happy Conference, everyone.

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Blog Hop

Many thanks to Gary Bonn for tagging me in this blog hop and posing the following four questions:

What am I working on?

Sitting here at my desk today, I have to; catch up with my blog as I’ve ignored it while on holiday, write an article for a writing group newsletter, prepare a presentation for a writer’s workshop on Saturday on Raising the Stakes, try to complete my list of tasks for a writer’s group board meeting plus update the group’s website and Facebook pages, read and edit chapters for an online critique group meeting tonight and remember to turn on Skype at 7pm for same meeting.

If I can squeeze any actual writing time today, I want to edit the first chapter of the current novel I’m working on – Sing Inside The Thunder.  I didn’t do any writing when I was on holiday – just got back last night so I’m pretty jet-lagged and have mounds of laundry to get through – but I got in some very valuable thinking time and have lots of ideas to strengthen/deepen the story I’m currently working on.

How does my work differ from other works in the same genre?

That’s a difficult question because I write in a few genres – romance, women’s fiction and children’s – and like every other writer out there, my aim is to craft ‘a good story well told’. So how is my work different? My voice, tone and personal outlook on life, I hope.

Why do I write what I write?

My stories all come from the heart with characters and situations I feel passionate about. However, I have noticed a common theme which frequently creeps in – the idea what we get second chances in life. Interesting, given that my favourite book of all time is Persuasion by Jane Austen.

How does my writing process work?

Irregularly irregular.  Sometimes I write like a fiend for days, sometimes I just do a lot of planning or editing and rewriting. But I do try – when I’m not on holiday – to get in at least one hour every day of solid new writing.  (Sadly, won’t happen today. The pile of laundry seems to be growing!)

Tagging forward: Mahrie G. Reid, Victoria Smith and Vivien Martin

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Searching For…

I’m really excited about the project the writing group I belong to – The Alberta Romance Writers’ Association/ARWA – is currently involved with.  (I know, I know… the prepositions in that sentence are in the wrong places, but it sounded too formal written the ‘proper’ way!)

Back in November, under the stewardship of multi-published author Jessica L. Jackson, ARWA decided to promote a series of books with the theme Searching For…

The cross genre novels are between 40-70,000 words, the link between them being the main character must be Searching For… something.  That ‘something‘ can be a person/place/thing/peace of mind,  so the writer’s imagination is not limited.

This week saw the launch of the first book in the Searching For Series.  Written by Mahrie G. Reid, it’s a mystery entitled, Sheldon Harris Came Home Dead.

Please check it out.  I will be announcing future releases on this blog as they are published.

Mahrie