Linda K Sienkiewicz

Writing life, line by line

12 Tips to Survive a Book Festival

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It's all about engagement! Every time I'm at a book festival or author fair, I learn something new. When I shared a table with author Sylvia Hubbard at Sterlingfest, I learned to encourage people to pick up your book and browse through it. "It's okay to touch it!" Sylvia told a man intently studying the cover. When he started reading with evident concentration, she asked him what part he was … [Read more...]

Sacral Torsion

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Back pain is more than a nuisance. It’s horrible to get up from a chair or out of the car to find yourself unable to stand straight. My back pain began in 2011. I don't know what made me thought I could lift, or even drag, an oversize duffle bag packed with magazines and books with one arm, but that's what I tried. Full stop. The bag didn't even budge. Instead, it was me that gave way. … [Read more...]

The Joy of Meeting with Book Clubs

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The Joy of Book Clubs: As an author, a great way to foster a relationship with your readers is through book clubs.  Readers at book clubs are incredibly sincere, and they are thrilled to meet with a real life author. It’s quite an ego boost. They want to know about your inspiration, your approach to writing, how you create characters, how long it took you to write your book, how you got it … [Read more...]

Boredom and Creativity

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"Creative people need time to just sit around and do nothing." ~ Austin Kleon My 10 year old granddaughter flopped next to me on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "Hey, how are you doing?" I asked. She sighed. "Fine. I'm just bored." "That's okay," I told her. "It's not a bad thing to be bored." She gave me a funny look. I tried to explain that boredom can be a meaningful experience that … [Read more...]

What, Why, How: Shara McCallum

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What: I principally write poems, but I also write personal essays from time to time. In all cases, I write about things that elude me and which seem paradoxical in nature. I tend to be drawn toward autobiography as a beginning point (rarely an end), the self as something worth interrogating, and the meeting point between the individual life and history. As a woman, a woman of colour, a … [Read more...]