I’m not the literary magazine sort. That should be fairly obvious. But recently I answered a call to submit to the online magazine Font. The call was limited to members of the Quebec Writers’ Federation, and I am one of those. QWF feels like the Montreal Writers Federation most of the time. That’s only natural; that’s where most of the province’s English writers live and where the organization’s activities take place (although they’ve embraced Zoom, as who among us hasn’t).
So I was very pleased to be accepted in the monthly issue on the theme “Writers in Complex Times,” and even more happy to speak from the perspective of a writer from (as they say) “the regions” and what that means.
Two days before Christmas, I went to the pharmacy. I can say “the pharmacy” and mean it because where I live there is only one pharmacy. There’s “the pharmacy,” “the daycare,” “the bank.” When I moved to Stanstead thirty years ago, there were five banks in what was then referred to as The Three Villages. Now we’re all one village with only one bank. There were eight churches when I arrived. You can’t quite say “the church” yet, but check with me later.
While at the pharmacy, I came across a lone copy of my novel, A Hole in the Ground. It sat on a shelf of miscellany beside combination coin purse/key ring sets and a pack of tea lights. I self-published the novel in 2016, and it looks like it. Pro-tip: never design your own book cover. The image looks like algae soup. That’s because it is algae soup, and there’s a turtle in there, covered in algae. A lot of green.
Read more from my essay, “Visiting My Book at the Pharmacy” via the link below:
Drinking Tips for Teens 
Congratulations! It’s always great to have your talent recognized.
It is nice, yes.