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I picked up the October 2010 issue of "The Writer" today and read the most interesting article by Lynn Capehart called "The Important of Inclusionary Writing." In it, she discusses how many white authors only describe their non-write characters and do so in racial terms. One of her examples:

"Bringing up the rear was Solomon, a tall black man."

The other characters were not described by race, so the readers just assumes that they are all white. She points out several things, including that...

As some of you know, "Harvest Moon" debuts in a couple of weeks (insert screaming and rotating head). So, I wanted to share a bit about the world of Dancing Cat and her family.

Harvest Moon is set in Northern Alberta. Somewhere between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, to be exact. I wanted a different setting. There are so few stories featuring Canada's First Nations peoples. It was important for me to include them in my work.Yes, Saskatoon berries are real.There is no bannock in Harvest Moon...

Trunk stories are the unsold, oddball stories that sit on your hard drive. Rumour has it, every author has a few and the longer one writes, the longer the list grows.

Right now, I have two in mine. "Heaven, Inc" a fun story about a meeting in Heaven. I've gotten lots of good comments on it; it just doesn't quite fit with the magazines that I've been submitting it to. The other is "Second Anne" a literary story about a young woman who's life resembles Anne of Green Gables. I haven't submitted t...

I do all of the time. When I do it, it's on purpose. On my Facebook fan page (shameless promotion � is the link! Join now!), I often put out "casting calls" for people who want to be servants, corpses, the blond woman who screams, etc. In "Flying Kite, Crashing Ship," my friend and former co-worker, Laurel, becomes the obedient maid servant. In Road to Hell, several of my friends and family become corpses during a planetary invasion.

It's been so popular that I often think of the minor...

I posted about favourite characters a couple of months ago. It's a popular subject for us authors, after all. It's always easier to talk about the things we love to do. But today, I want to talk about the characters we just can't write.

I'm sure that there are writers out there that can write any kind of character. I'm not one of them. I really struggle with passive female characters. Mine always come out as whiny. Not all passive women are whining in real life, I know. However, put me in...

From Lea Schizas, MuseItUp's Senior Editor, CEO, and person to whom I suck up to on a regular basis [image error]

It's time, dear readers, to announce what we have in store for you…one surprise at a time.

Beginning October 1st, and on the first of each month, one lucky reader will win a FREE e-book.

The rules you ask?

Simple: join our discussions, ask questions to our authors, have fun with us, that's it. Participate and you have a chance to be one of our monthly winners.

To join our readers group go here:

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There I was. Eating my lunch in my neon "Peace" lunch box and drinking a club soda with lemon. It dawned on me � Harvest Moon comes out in a month. Next month. In four weeks.

PANIC ATTACK!

I feel woefully unprepared. I am excited, nervous, anxious, frustrated, and slightly gassy over the entire thing.

For most of the month of October and into the beginning of November, I am guest blogging and being interviewed on several websites. I have sent Harvest Moon out to a dozen reviewers. My publisher s...

Today was the first day of school for the kids. I now understand why my mom always seemed gleeful every September.

In honour of my own Day of Glee, here are five of my guilty pleasures.

Homemade lattes with frothed milk, whipped cream, vanilla flavouring, and chocolate sprinkles.Office supplies. Nothing cheers me up like a fancy set of binder clips.Notepads. Note books. Note anything. I love to scribble and I need an endless supply.Potatoes and all variations, not limited to poutine, french...

I am taking a week off in late October (perhaps even two weeks � I haven't decided yet). Now, I don't read every day. I can't. I do best going on book binges, where I read a dozen books at a time, stop for a few months, and do it again. For some reason, I can't read and work on my writing at the same time.

My wonderful friend, Andrienne, gave me a gift certificate to Chapters for helping look after her wedding reception. With the books from that, plus my already large TBR pile, PLUS a couple b...

August has turned out to be a crazy month for me. With the kids not in school and bored out of their minds, things have been pretty crazy around here. Some good things have happened, too. So, let's list them:

We did a mini-vacation to Drumheller, AB. The dinosaur museum was awesome, as ever. The complete in-stone T-Rex wall mount was worth the admission price alone.The Amazing Transformation of Wicca Dog is finally up on Kobo Books for $0.89. It's still free for another 5 days over on