Catherine Knutsson's Blog, page 13

A little about yoga

Though I've dabbled with yoga for the past ten years or so, it's only been since I moved to Campbell River that I've found a focused yoga practice (it helps that I found a fantastic teacher too!).

Whenever I read about yoga, I'm always struck by the inherent wisdom in what the author has to say, and doubly struck that I haven't moved to that place yet, where yoga becomes less about the poses and more about being whole and within one's self and all that good stuff. I hoped that transition...

Digging Out

I'm a great believer in fallow time. We creative types need it, and if we try to go too long without letting our fields have a rest, well, anything that grows tends to be thin and feeble and weak. I think that's the stage I was at just after Christmas – brittle, hollow, worn to the nub. So, I gave myself a gift: fallow time.

Fallow time for me has been about getting lots of exercising, re-dedicating myself to my yoga practice (isn't it funny how you can know something's good for you and know...

A bit o' sage advice

For the last few months, I've been collecting quotes and bits of advice and posting them on my bulletin board where I can see them, hoping that, just maybe, some of the wisdom in the quotes will filter down into my poor brain. The jury's still out on the effectiveness of this tactic, but in the meantime, I thought I'd post some of these bits of sage advice here in case they're of use to anyone else.

I don't have an attribution for this particular bit o' sage, so if anyone knows of the...

Books of 2009

So, I'm back! Christmas, for the most part, was lovely and fun (I had the best time with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece), but now I'm left with a delightful head cold and post-celebratory fatigue. Ah well, at least it was well earned.

Anyhow – one of my goals for 2009 was to read more, so I kept track of what I read, mostly, for I'm a bit of a magpie reader when it comes to non-fiction and there were quite a few books I started but didn't finish for a variety of reasons.

My list is...

Happy Agent Day!

I've spent the last little while reading everyone's blog entries about their agents, and seeing all that love is a nice way to start the day!

There are lots of things I love about my agent, Diana Fox: she gets my writing, she likes my weird ideas, she's got a fantastic sense of humor, she's a contracts wizard…I could go on. But the reason I am so glad she's my agent is:

She believes I can do it (it being writing my stories), and on days when I'm not sure what I'm doing anymore, knowing that...

A semi-regular PSA: Women's health

Hey everyone!

The anniversary of my first fibroid surgery is rapidly approaching, so it's time for your semi-regular women's health PSA from yours truly. Women folk, if you haven't had a pelvic exam in the past year, consider this your reminder to book your appointment! And while you're at it, you might as well do a breast exam too, don't you think? And, if you're doing breast and pelvic exams, why not get a mammogram at the same time? Oh yeah, and don't forget to track your menstrual cycles...

I went for a walk in the woods today: a photo essay

I love this time of the year when we get north winds and clear, cold days. This morning, I woke to the first true frost of the year (we've had a couple of days with a touch of frost, but this is the first day when everything was silvery white) and decided I needed to go into the woods:

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Congratulations to Brian Brett!

First thing I did when I got up this morning was look to see who won the Rogers Writers' Trust of Canada awards", and….

Hearty congratulations to my friend Brian Brett, who won for his non-fiction work, TRAUMA FARM: A Rebel History of Rural Life. Brian served as our local writer-in-residence two years ago and has been a huge source of help and encouragement to me as I tred to figure out this whole writer thing.

TRAUMA FARM is a beautiful history of farming and living on the land. Please...

A bit o' news

Well, I can finally share a bit of news I've been sitting on for a couple of weeks – the publication date for SHADOWS has been pushed back to 2012. Though I took a deep breath or two when I got the news, I realize that this isn't the end of the world (quite the opposite, in fact). Actually, it's a rather nice silver lining because I've now got time to finish up a couple of projects that would have driven me nuts if they remained in their incomplete forms.

Anyhow, there you have it: my life...

Cat, Donkey, Fish – a Photo Essay

Fitzy, posing:

Cat, preparing for Halloween by chillaxing:

Autumn, being glorious:

Fish, on their way to spawn:

(The last week or so has been filled with mayhem and mishaps, including computer and car issues. This week promises to be much better with a sister/niece/brother-in-law visit, though that means I will continue to be scarce in these parts. Hope everyone's safe and well!)

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