Sandra Gulland's Blog, page 3
December 3, 2018
The ins and outs & ups and downs of public speaking
I’ve been combing through old blog posts, preparing for The Big Read in San Miguel de Allende of The Shadow Queen this coming January. For one, I need to have my website in order, especially the posts that relate to that novel. I also need to refresh myself on the process I went through in […]
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November 29, 2018
My fav podcasts of the year
I’m an avid Podcast listener. I listen to them while exercising, doing household chores, or driving. These are the ones I check out most often. Daily news podcast: The Daily by the New York Times is a short (about 20 minutes) in-depth look at a specific issue in the current news. It covers the history […]
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November 27, 2018
What do beignets, a film and The Shadow Queen have in common?
This is an exciting winter for me. Not only will I be giving a keynote at the San Miguel Writers Conference in February, but my novel The Shadow Queen has been chosen as “The Big Read.” What this means is that readers all over San Miguel will be reading The Shadow Queen. (Yes!) From an article […]
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November 24, 2018
Using Scrivener: the good, the bad, and the hopeful
I’m using Scrivener right now to write my next novel and most everything else I need to write … a speech, a workshop, etc. Notice I said “right now.” It’s a bit of a love/hate relationship so far. For the short pieces, I jump in frustration to Word fairly quickly … only to recall why […]
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November 22, 2018
Memories of a violent era — and why I became a Canadian
JFK was murdered on November 22, 1963, fifty-five years ago today. I was nineteen and in university. I don’t remember the moment I learned — How is that possible? — but the images and the shock of it are indelible in my memory. I have since read a moving biographical historical novel, titled, simply, Nov 22, […]
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November 20, 2018
Machine Without Horses: a beautiful historical novella by Helen Humphreys
The two reviews I read of Helen Humphreys newest publication, Machine Without Horses, were somewhat negative, claiming that the combination of memoir and fiction simply do not work. Humphreys is one of my favorite writers. She never fails to please, and so I was curious. I’ve just now finished it and I beg to differ. […]
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November 16, 2018
World Falconry Day celebrates women falconers
Today, November 16, is World Falconry Day. This year the theme is specifically on female falconers, historically and currently. This is significant because traditionally falconry has been a male realm. I’m in the research stage of writing a Young Adult novel about a young woman falconer in Elizabethan England, so naturally this caught my eye. If you […]
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July 28, 2018
Book reviews: the good, the bad, the ugly … and the wonderful
A good review can leave a writer depressed if it’s obvious the reviewer hadn’t read the book. Even rave reviews can be frustrating if there isn’t one quotable line. And then, of course, there are the “condemn with faint praise” reviews. Worse is the despair of not having any reviews at all. It’s hard not to […]
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July 27, 2018
Finding focus
I’ve been visually challenged this summer. Two cataract surgeries have made reading difficult. That’s a problem for a writer! For a time I felt like Mr. Magoo. Having worn glasses for over 50 years, it felt strange not to be wearing them. Plus, there was this thing called vanity: frankly, I look better in glasses. […]
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July 1, 2018
The cure for sixes and sevens
Last Tuesday was publication day in the U.S. for The Game of Hope. I told my husband that I’d been walking in circles all day. “I’m at sixes and sevens.” He’d never heard the expression. I explained that it meant feeling out of sorts, disordered and in confusion. In search of the origin of the […]
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