Before leaving on our trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, we arranged to visit a cat shelter there called the Purr Project. One of their volunteers, David, goes out once a week to visit the cats and agreed to take us on the twenty-five minute drive to the shelter. Once there, we were immediately mobbed by friendly kittens! They have two hundred cats at this shelter which runs on donations and they do their best to get as many cats adopted out to good homes as they can. They have a vet clinic on site to make sure no more little kitties are being born and to look after any sick animals. It’s a really great organization and we’re so glad we were able to spend some time with these adorable cats. We took them a bag of crochet blankets I made, some toys and some treats. Here’s some photos from our visit.

David who drove us out and gave us a tour of the shelter:

Ross and a little kitten that couldn’t get enough attention:

Ross set his backpack on a chair and this little guy really wanted to come back with us!

We didn’t find out this one’s name, but stuck out his tongue when you pet him and he loved to give head butts.

Treat time!!! (I should’ve brought a bigger bag!)

One of the blankets I made:

A few potraits of the Purr Project residents waiting for a good home:

How’s that heart holding up? Go hug your pets, or better yet, visit a local shelter asap!

I’m a big fan of Dan’s work so I was thrilled when Shaun agreed to let me interview him for the podcast. It’s probably redundant to say I highly recommend his books, but listen to the podcast and I know you’ll want to check out Dan’s books for yourself!

You can hear the podcast on the AISFP website HERE or download it from itunes.

So, I recruited my Mom as well, we got ourselves some purple yarn and started making baby hats. My mom ended up making TWELVE, while I came in at a mere eight. It was a lot of fun to try new patterns and great to know it was for a good cause.

There is still time to make hats and hand them in! For more information on the PURPLE Program, visit Dontshake.ca

Bitten by Books » Author Mark Teppo Sound Bites Podcast and Contest LIVE Here!

He will be talking about his books and other things.

CONTEST INFO:  Open to readers in the US.

Prizes: 3 sets of the Codex of Souls series includes Lightbreaker and Heartland

RSVP and get 25 entries to the prize portion of the contest when you show up on the day of the event. If you don’t show up and mention your RSVP AND ask a question, your points won’t be entered into the contest.

It’s been a year since I proposed the idea for this blog and the Inkpunks were formed. A whole year and while the time has flown by, we also can’t believe how much has happened for all us within that year.

We thought we’d take some time to reflect back on the year with the Inkpunks. The most obvious change is that we’ve grown and we’re now at ten members, but that’s not all. We’ve also grown an astounding amount in publishing, editing and slush reading credits, we have increased our readership, have had people asking us if they could guest blog (crazy, right?) and most of all we’ve grown as a group dynamic and as individuals. It’s amazing what can be accomplished by the uplifting force of positive, encouraging people come together to support each other and the writing community. I have learned so much from my Inkpunks, not just about the writing world, but about life in general, that I feel blessed to know each and every one of them.

In the last year, I’ve sold two stories, polished and queried a novel and written another one. Throughout the process, the Inkpunks have been there, to bounce ideas off of, to give critiques and most of all to provide encouragement along the way.

I attended so many great conferences and conventions over the past year, all of them highlights for different reasons, too many to go into in this blog post. I’ve gotten to be on panels at World Horror, World Fantasy and VCon, which I love. The absolute best part was this year I DID get to meet every single Inkpunk in person and give them real hugs instead of virtual ones. Every Inpunk is now the proud (or embarrassed) owners of a handmade scarf from me. I decided to make scarves to match their personalities because we’re all so unique and I love that about us.

Speaking of personalities, I split mine into two. I took my sandrawickham.com website and devoted it to writing and started a new one at sandrawickhamfitness.com that deals with my fitness career. I take this as a good sign, that I have enough going on with both that I needed two websites.

What else? This past year I’ve joined the Functional Nerds as the Fitness Nerd columnist, along with several other Inkpunks who also double as Functional Nerds. I started a podcast series for Bitten By Books where I interview my favourite urban fantasy authors and I’ve been interviewed myself for several podcasts. I’ve also become a slush reader for Lightspeed Magazine.

Another thing I’m proud of is that I’ve stuck with martial arts training. Last year at this time I would’ve been a gold belt, and now I’ve just promoted to my high purple belt. It’s helped me in my writing, I’ve sat on panels about writing about fighting and I can’t wait to keep moving up the ranks.

It truly has been a great year. I know I am probably forgetting things to highlight (we had TWO Inkpunk weddings this year!) but that’s the great thing about having a group behind you, whatever I’ve forgotten, someone else will be sure to point out in their post.

I keep a picture on my fridge that a friend’s daughter, Stephanie coloured. I keep it because it strikes me as an excellent example of how to live life every time I see it. At the top of the picture of a kitten, it clearly states, “Color all the spaces with a C gray. Color all the spaces with a c pink.” Stephanie has proceeded to colour the kitten with all the colours of the rainbow, blue, purple, red, orange, green and I love it. I think the kitten looks much more original, interesting and happy for its multi-coloured fur. That’s also how I think of the Inkpunks. Without them being such a big part of my life, I probably would still be colouring the proper sections with gray and pink. My Inkpunks make me want to colour with blue, purple, red, orange and green, in my writing and in my life and I know I’m a better person for it.

Thanks to the Inkpunks and all of those who support us. We look forward to another great year.

1. Coffee or tea?

2. Morning person or night person?

3. Favourite TV show when you were a kid. A teenager/twenty something? Now? (ok, that’s kind of more than one question)

4. What movie did you see when you were young, before you should have? (content or fear factor)

5. Weirdest thing sitting on your desk? (or around it)

My Answers:

1. Coffee or tea?
Tea!
2. Morning person or night person?
I used to be a morning person, till I turned into a Vampire, I guess. Now I seem to be a night person.

3. Favourite TV show when you were a kid. A teenager/twenty something? Now? (ok, that’s kind of more than one question)

Ack, why do I ask these tough questions? I really should think about having to answer them when I write them down..When I was little I really liked normal kid shows but I think Mr Dressup was my favourite. Let’s see, I watched Xena, young hercules (yeah, I did), then later, Friends, and for some reason in university we watched the Price is Right a lot. Now, I am into the Amazing Race, Law and Order SVU, the Deadliest Catch, Supernatural, Fringe..wow. I watch too much TV. I’m also catching up on shows I missed because I either didn’t get the channels or I was too busy partying and travelling. (ahem)

4. What movie did you see when you were young, before you should have? (content or fear factor)
WATERSHIP DOWN! I’m still traumatized. I don’t want to say how old I was because that will hint my age, but, I saw it in the THEATER on the huge screen when I was just a wee one. Had nightmares forEVER. Watched it again several years ago, it still creeps me out.

5. Weirdest thing sitting on your desk? (or around it)
Hunh. What a weird question to ask. Might be the spray bottle I have for shooting at boy cat when he scratches my writing chair.

Suzanne Church, a Canadian author said it was a way for her to build a brand and said, “I want people to know my name.” This has been true for me. Being published in Evolve and Evolve 2 has led to many opportunities to do appearances, signings and readings, that I wouldn’t have yet if I’d only be focused on writing my novels. I now can call myself a published author! (I’m still working on the novelist part)

Brad Sinor said short stories are a great way to teach ourselves about making a deadline. He also said the longest distance for a writer is from the brain to the page, which I thought was a fantastic line. Just get it down, he told us. He also told us that Roger Zelazny would always write a short story about his main character to get to know them. I think that’s a great reason to write a short story, to improve your novel!

Joe Hill said for him, the short story form is the “great classroom.” He told us he spent three years writing an epic fantasy that didn’t sell, and then wrote short stories because he needed to learn the skills of writing (dialogue, etc) faster. If you haven’t read Joe Hill’s short stories I highly recommend them. They are incredible.

Do you have your own reasons for writing short stories?

Here’s some quick highlights and pictures. (I never take enough pictures!)

I am so glad I had the opportunity to attend and be on a panel with Phoebe Kitanidis, pronounced “kitten eat us.” What? Don’t give me that look, that’s what she told us. Pheobe is the author of the YA novel Whisper. She’s simply fabulous! I can’t wait to read her book and I’m hoping to run into her at some cons in the future. You can learn more about her here: Phoebe Kitanidis and follow her on twitter here: @phoebekitanidis.

I got to chat with some awesome authors like Rhea Rose, Mary Choo, Linda Demeulemeester (still can’t pronounce her name), Casey Wolf, Donna McMahon, Lynda Williams, and Eileen Kernaghan as well as EDGE publishers Brian and Anita Hades and Ian Alexander Martin from Atomic Fez. I also got to hang out and have a few drinks with Joseph Picard who I met last year at VCon and we’ve continued to stay in touch online. Joe is a writer and all around hilarious dude. You can find his books and other shannanigens, here at Ozero.ca. You have to check out “Ozero versus The Ninjas,” which he describes as “The epic tale of a guy stuck in a wheelchair (me), and one of many struggles against the ninjas which attack me frequently, and how my wife refuses to believe.”

The book launch was fun, we got to hear a lot of great authors and I took full advantage of the occassion to dress up in my new vampire costume. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to get a full shot of the whole costume!!

With my friends and writing partners, Leanne (also in Evolve2!) and Kristi (also on panels at VCon).

By wonderful coincidence, the Vampire panel I was on was scheduled for after the Book Launch so I stayed in my costume while we went to get a drink at the bar, here’s my Inkpunk Erika Holt, all the way from Calgary, and Leanne and Kristi absorbed in conversation.

Here I am on the vampire panel, I don’t know what the heck I’m saying, but I just thought they were funny pics.

Here’s Kristi on her VERY first panel at a convention, The Science Flaw! I was like a proud mom. She did a GREAT job and I did notice on both her panels, even the panelists were asking her questions. That’s how hard she rocks!

Overall, a great con and I look forward to VCon 37 next year!