Hi everyone and happy November! I’m just wrapping up a short vacation and have been enjoying the chance to catch up on some of my creative projects. October was a hectic but interesting month. I travelled to California for the first time to attend the 2019 International Conference of Indigenous Libraries, Archives, and Museums, which is organized by the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums. It was such a great conference and it gave me a lot of ideas for things to do and ways to move forward at my work (I work at the the Deyohahá:ge: Indigenous Knowledge Centre in my community).
Read moreSneak Peek - A Work in Progress
A few years ago now, I found myself in between books and unsure about what to write. After a few weeks of indecision, I wound up starting a rather fun project that I never actually intended to publish—or even finish—but started to become more and more invested in the longer I worked on it. Once the rough draft was done though, I put it away and moved on to writing something else. I never really intended to return to it. That all changed when I happened across the book in May/June of this year and found myself getting caught up in the story again and next thing you know the book I was supposed to be writing had fallen by the wayside and another book had emerged in its place! And now that book is (mostly) done.
It's an adaptation of the wonderful and much-loved Pride & Prejudice except all of characters are Indigenous and they live in a fictional First Nation community called Smoke River. And honestly—this book was so much fun to write.
Read moreLanguage Books at Last!
Every once in a while, I feel the urge to change course and do something different from what I’m doing. To write a different genre of book than I currently do or to write in an area I come across as I research Indigenous education—in which there are so many potential areas. Sometimes this happens because I read an article or thread someone posted on social media and I realize how far we still have to go for even the faintest possibility of reconciliation and shared understanding to occur. And because there is an endless stream of ideas and information appearing every day—it can become very easy to get distracted.
Read moreThe Fortune Teller's Daughter - Now Available!
Hi Everyone!
Wow. What a week it's been. I've been reading a lot. News. Blogs. Books. Facebook posts. I've also been thinking a lot - about the days ahead and what I want to do to support and empower my daughters and my nieces and nephews. About what I want to do to make sure they are able to speak our languages, know our stories and our ways of honouring creation. I've also been thinking a lot about water and the climate, and what I can do to reduce my footprint and live more sustainably. About how we can really transform the way our little family lives and demonstrate how grateful I am for the many blessings we have in our lives.
For all these reasons and more it seems strange to launch a book today, but I am happy to share this one. It's called The Fortune Teller's Daughter and it's about a young Haudenosaunee girl named Cora who is yanked out of her everyday life when her mother goes missing and she suddenly acquires the power of lightning.
Read moreCover Reveal for The Fortune Teller's Daughter!
Happy December everyone! All month I've been wrapping up various projects and thinking about ways to celebrate the #SeasonofStories. I have been writing, painting, and editing work and now I am so, so, so excited to finally be able to share a sneak peak of the cover for my new book with you!
This story has been brewing in my mind for the last five years and almost every year since these characters first made themselves known to me, I’ve written their story in a different way, each time growing closer and closer to the way it was unfolding in my imagination. There have been twists and surprises all along the way.
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