Punk Rock and Sacred Stories

This is a pressie I'm going to give to my writer friend Lori Hahnel (the fridge magnet, not the fridge - I'm going to need that) next time I see her.

She's the author of a literary novel called Love Minus Zero (Oberon Press) it's based on her time in the 80s when she started the first all female punk rock band in Calgary, Alberta, Canada - if you want to know which juicy bits are true, apparently you have to ply her with scotch (note to self: ply Lori with scotch sometime soon). It launched to great reviews which you can see on her website.

Nothing Sacred (Thistledown Press) a book of short fiction (in my day we called them short stories, just saying) is her second book and it will launch October 29th at Audrey's in Edmonton, Alberta.

When I'm not bugging Lori about her cyber links hanging out all over the place we regularly get together for lunch and whine, er, I mean discuss, writing and the publishing industry. She's been a great resource and source of support for me on my journey to publication and beyond. I will be getting her to do a blog post a la David Letterman style 'Top Ten Things I've learnt in the year since I've been published.' She's also doing a writer in residence schtick with the Canadian Author's Association this fall and winter so check out her blog for details.

Over the next few months I'll be profiling members of my writing group, and other writing friends, who are not only active in the community, but are always ready to give advice, listen, and be supportive. I'm a big believer in writers critiquing groups, even if it's a loose knit group of writers in your network that you call on for feedback.

Next post: Writers groups I've loved, ditched and infiltrated.