Are you ready for the Fire Horse?
According to the Chinese zodiac, last month we entered the Year of the Horse. Not just any horse. It's the year of the Fire Horse, a sign that comes along only once every sixty years.
Experts say the Fire Horse year is expected to bring intense, fast-paced change on a personal and global level. Sounds about right. Due to its intensity, a Fire Horse year calls us to manage our energy wisely, to stay grounded and cultivate emotional steadiness as a way to navigate the year's momentum.
It's been an intense writing year at this end. I've been juggling several manuscripts and working on a few rewarding consulting projects. Last year, I was named the Atlantic Canadian correspondent for The Walrus magazine. As a journalist, I've been speaking with Atlantic Canadians and telling stories from our region to national and global audiences. On 49thShelf, I continue to speak monthly with Canadian thought leaders, novelists, poets, and memoirists about their work and process.
Like many of you, though, my happiest place finds me alone with my writing, tucked into a quiet corner or staring out a window. As a writer, there's alway a productive tension between attuning to events in the wider world and moving inward to cultivate the deep attention needed to write. This tension looks different for each of us. As a writing teacher and coach, centring that mindful attention and awareness in my work is vital.
Over the past year, I've been fortunate to work closely with a wonderful cohort of writers in my coaching practice. While this practice looks different for every client, one of the throughlines is helping writers like you find ways to pay attention, manage blocks, and build strategies to move closer toward your writing goals. In Manuscript Tune-Up, this means funnelling ever more deeply into a manuscript to uncover the story beneath the story--and then shaping and cultivating your work until it's ready to share with the world.
While my coaching practice and manuscript list are both currently subscribed, I've opened the doors and am now receiving inquiries for summer and fall, 2026. If you're curious about working with a writing coach, or if you feel you have a manuscript that will soon be ready, be in touch.
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