Two Paths (short story) by Leanne Dyck

Inspiration for this story came from two sources--a quote by Ella Winter "Don't you know you can't go home again?" and Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken

photo by ldyck

Two Paths

When we started our journey, we were more or less together. You--a little ways ahead. Me--a little ways behind. But together. Seeing the same trees. Smelling the same flowers. Feeling the same breeze.

The path forked. You continued on the same path. but I thought--. I thought maybe I could try this new path. This path took me over hills and past mountains. I saw the ocean and explored sandy beaches. It was very different in this new place, yet it felt like home. I felt more myself there than anywhere I'd ever lived. I grew. I changed. But I didn't forget the old path. Though I saw arbutus trees; I remembered birch and maple. Though I tasted blackberries; I remembered the smell of lilac bushes. I can always go back is what I thought.

One day I retraced the steps I'd taken so long ago. With each step I took I told myself that it would be nice to see maple trees, smell lilacs and see you again. I thought you, everything would have waited for me unchanged like in a time capsule.

But... A thick weaving of weeds obscured the path. I tripped over the vines. The thorns scrapped my hands and I bleed. Though I tried very hard I couldn't get through. I'd waited too long to go home. And this realization hurt.

Now when I think of you I know I'm flipping back pages. I know I'm remembering what was then but isn't now. 

But what I've come to realize is that these changes don't diminish the happy times we once shared. Once upon a time... is a magical place.

photo by ldyck

Photo by Byron

Without a reader,

a writer's words mean

Nothing

February on this blog

Sunday, February 23

Grandma's Knitting Needles Sing (children's story)

This children's story celebrates the bond between grandparents and grandchildren, introduces the art of knitting, and explains how wool is produced.

Please excuse me for getting political...

Love Stories: a collection by Leanne Dyck

"All you need is love," sings The Beatles. I'm celebrating love in all its wondrous forms in this collection. And I ask you, who do you love?

photo by ldyck

Her First Crush

Lasting Love

The Pitter Patter of Little Feet

Answering Machine

Alone with Him

A Stone Heart

Devotion

Dream

Walk with Me

Mirror Talk

Regardless of what you wear

or the colour and length of your hair

I love you

Regardless of any apparent

or perceived flaws in your appearance

I love you

Regardless of any apparent

or perceived flaws in your personality

or in your physical or mental ability

I love you

Regardless of where you live

or how much money you have

I love you

Regardless of the mistakes you've made

or will make 

I love you

Regardless what others may say to you or about you

Regardless how they may treat you

I love you

Regardless of anything in the present, past or future

--anything, any time, any where

I love you

Always remember and never forget

you can depend on my steadfast and unconditional

Love

photo by Byron

Without a reader,

a writer's words mean

Nothing

February on this blog

Sunday, February 16

Two Paths (short story)

Inspiration for this story came from two sources--a quote by Ella Winter "Don't you know you can't go home again?" and Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken

Sunday, February 23

Grandma's Knitting Needles Sing (children's story)

This children's story celebrates the bond between grandparents and grandchildren, introduces the art of knitting, and explains how wool is produced.

Guest Post: Author Christina Myers

Of all the books I reviewed in 2024, The List of Last Chances earned the most page views. Inspired by this popularity, I asked author Christina Myers to be a guest on this blog and she kindly agreed. I enjoyed learning more about her writing life and know you will too.

Photo by Wendy Lees

How/why did you start to write?

 I started to write when I was a kid, just little stories here and there. I'm positive that arose out of being a really avid reader. I inhaled Nancy Drew books, Anne of Green Gables, and then before I was probably old enough to, I started reading Stephen King and my mom's romance novels. I think when you experience that magic of being transported by someone else's writing, you love the idea of being able to do the same thing yourself, of giving that gift of disappearing into a book. In high school and university, writing was pretty much limited to essays and reports and this will sound weird but I actually really loved doing those - it felt like stretching these great muscles to be creative in that way, and I felt like I was good at it. I didn't get really serious about my writing until my 30s though. 

How did you become an author?

 I had left my full-time job when my kids were little and I was doing a bit of freelance work but it felt flat and uncreative. Eventually I decided to make a real effort at it, and I knew I needed structure. After some research I decided to apply to the Writer's Studio at SFU. That year really changed my path - I met so many people and built a community of fellow writers, which helped so much with creativity and learning and just feeling like I had a "place" and people to look to for help and support. I started submitting non-fiction and fiction to various journals and competitions and had some early successes and that gave me the boost to just keep chipping away. A few years later, I published my first novel. 

Reflect on your writing process:

 I wish I had a single process, but it varies hugely depending on the time of year and the actual project. I seem to work differently in fall versus spring, for example, and with fiction versus non-fiction. But in general, even when I'm working with a daily routine, I find my work tends to come in big leaps - one day will be a huge amount or a big lightbulb goes off and then the next few weeks will be small incremental additions. 

What did you do before embarking on your writing career? 

Was it an asset to your writing? How? 

My first degree at university was in psychology and I definitely think that has helped my writing! But I never worked in that field; after I finished my degree, I did a second degree in journalism and that was where I landed in my career. It was a way to write and get paid a wage to do it. And I got to learn about a lot of interesting people everyday. I did that for about 13 years before I left. And it has been an asset for sure but not in the way people think - there seems to be an assumption that the fields are so closely related that it's easier to get published in literary work but that's definitely not the case. I didn't know anyone in the publishing industry, didn't have any special connections. But it did help me a ton in other ways - I learned how to work fast and clean and meet a deadline. I learned how to edit my own work and how to work collaboratively. I am often told by the people I work with that they enjoy working with me because I am responsive, efficient ... I'm always thinking about the next person in the production line after me, knowing that an editor or a proofreader or a layout person will have to take my words and get them publication ready. So I want their job to be as easy as possible, and that means I try to cross my T's and dot my I's and deliver clean good copy that doesn't need a lot of work to prep. 

What inspires you? 

oh that's a good question - I think I'd say other writers because I'm always blown away by the ideas that people come up with, the tenacity and determination I see in other writers. It's the most exciting thing when I have a writer friend who gets that phone call from an agent or publisher and I know that behind the scenes there has been rejection, and that they had to keep picking themselves back up and trying again, to make it happen. 

Please share one of your successful author platform-building techniques:

I have a really hard time asking people to "pay attention to me" - it's one of the things about social media in general that I find challenging. But sharing your books, your events, your updates is really critical when you're a writer. It's part of how you promote and publicize your work. On the other hand, I find it really easy and fun to promote other people, to be a cheerleader for other writers and so I do a lot of that, it feels much more authentic to be paying attention to other people and to be sharing their work out to other people. And that is across the board, from emerging writers placing in a contest to a multipublished author announcing a new book. I get excited for people and I like cheering them on. And though it wasn't intentional, I think that kind of outward-looking focus feels genuine to people who are watching, and so they're maybe more inclined to want to follow you as a result? I don't have heaps and heaps of followers but I think the people who do follow me are there partly because of that - because I'm not just there to talk about my own stuff. 

Parting words: 

Keep going. If the urge to write is in you, it won't go away. You have stories to tell! And if you don't feel like a writer, and you're waiting for that magical moment when you will, I can tell you that no outside approval or success will get you there - it's an inside job. So start telling yourself right now, every day: I am a writer, I belong here, I can do this. 

Published in 2024

Halfway Home: Thoughts From Midlife (non-fiction, essays) - From first bra to first hot flashes, the essays in Halfway Home consider and re-consider the lessons we’ve learned through media and culture-–and often from each other—about our bodies, gender roles, aging, parenting, and our own futures in an uncertain world, as we reach and move through midlife. With warmth and wit, tears and laughter, Halfway Home is a reminder that none of us are walking home alone.

Published in 2021

The List of Last Chances (fiction) - Heartfelt and humorous, The List of Last Chances follows a pair of reluctant travel companions across the country into an unexpected friendship, new adventures, and the rare gift of second chances. From PEI to Vancouver, this road trip story takes readers along for a ride that reveals that our best life might be right around the corner - if we have the courage to keep going and see. 

February on this blog

Sunday, February 9

Love Stories: a collection

I'm celebrating love in all its wonderous forms in this collection of prose and poetry--just in time for Valentine's Day.

Sunday, February 16

Two Paths (short story)

Inspiration for this story came from two sources--a quote by Ella Winter "Don't you know you can't go home again?" and Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken

Sunday, February 23

Grandma's Knitting Needles Sing (children's story)

This children's story celebrates the bond between grandparents and grandchildren, introduces the art of knitting, and explains how wool is produced.

Making Giant Snowballs (children's story) by Leanne Dyck

 Making Giant Snowballs encourages children to show acceptance and kindness--especially to people who are different from themselves.

I'm grateful to feature my friend Linda Smith's beautiful photos of a magical Manitoba winter.

photo by Linda Smith

Making Giant Snowballs

 The playground looked like one big snowy field. It looked like one field but Willow the kitten knew it wasn't. She knew that it was divided into two sides. This side was for kittens. The other side was where puppies played.

Snow twirled like tiny birds. Willow looked up into the sky and opened her mouth. Snowflakes landed on her tongue and melted. The snow tasted like rain.

Willow picked up a clump of snow, rolled it between her paws and made a snowball.

"Hey," Misty the kitten called, "Look what I made." She ran over with a snowball balanced between her paws. "Mine is bigger than yours."

Willow brought her snowball closer to Misty. "I think mine—."

Misty smashed her snowball into Willow's. "Let's work together and make it even bigger."

The two kittens patted snow onto the snowball and it grew and it grew and it grew.

"Now we need to roll it on the ground," Misty said. And she said, "No, you're doing it wrong." and "No, don't do it like that. Do it like this." and "No, you're not listening to me." and "I said, you need to do it like this." and "Watch me closely." and "Here, let me do that for you." and a whole lot more but Willow was no longer listening.

photo by Linda Smith

A puppy ran across the field.

Some kittens arched their backs. Others ran away. Some just watched the puppy run. Willow and Misty watched.

The puppy ran to...the...kitten's...side and, and ran to Willow. "Can I play? I'm good at making snowballs."

Misty stood between Willow and the puppy. "She can't play with us."

Willow looked at the puppy and then she looked at Misty. "Why not?"

"Because. Because," Misty said, "She's not our friend. She doesn't belong here. She needs to go back to the puppy side."

"But maybe..."

"No! Maybe nothing. We worked really hard making that clump of snow into a snowball. And then she sees it, comes running over here and...and... She wants to take it from us because that's what puppies do. They take things."

The puppy picked up a clump of snow, rolled it into a snowball and handed it to Willow.

"No!" Misty knocked the snowball out of the puppy's paw. "Go away. We don't want you here, dog. Go back to your side of the playground."

The puppy turned around very slowly and—.

photo by Linda Smith

"Wait," Willow said.

"If you play with her," Misty said, "I won't be your friend anymore. No one will. You'll be all alone."

"I'll be your friend," the puppy told Willow.

Willow picked up a clump of snow, rolled it into a snowball and handed it to the puppy. "Let's make a giant snowball," she said.

"You'll be sorry." Misty ran off to play with another kitten.

Willow and the puppy patted a snowball and giggled, rolled a snowball and giggled. And they made one, and they made two, and they made three giant snowballs.

photo by Linda Smith

JP and his dog Finn.

photo by Linda Smith

 Finn happily lives with two cats.

February on this blog

Sunday, February 2

Guest post: Author Christina Myers

Out of all the books I reviewed in 2024, my review of  The List of Last Chances received the highest number of page views. I sent Christina Myers an email to congratulate her on the popularity of her book and invited her to be a guest on my blog. To my delight, she accepted the offer. I can't wait to introduce her to all of you!

Sunday, February 9

Love Stories: a collection

I'm celebrating love in all its wonderous forms in this collection of prose and poetry--just in time for Valentine's Day.

Sunday, February 16

Two Paths (short story)

Inspiration for this story came from two sources--a quote by Ella Winter "Don't you know you can't go home again?" and Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken

Sunday, February 23

Grandma's Knitting Needles Sing (children's story)

This children's story celebrates the bond between grandparents and grandchildren, introduces the art of knitting, and explains how wool is produced.

Studying Poetry (a poem) by Leanne Dyck

I was introduced to poetry, as many of you were, in grade school. Later, I matriculated and a professor furthered my studying on the subject. Those two experiences were remarkably different. How? Well...

photo by ldyck

 Studying Poetry

The first time I studied poetry

I was encouraged to

think

feel like a poet

I was rewarded with

Well done, Leanne

Insightful

And I felt like

a genius

poetry was part of me

The second time I studied poetry

I was taught that

poetry 

was a bug 

to be 

di-s-sect-ed

I was chastised with

Not that

The poet clearly didn't mean that

And I felt like

a foreigner in a strange land

clearly, I didn't get it

And so now

I've decided

not to study poetry

but simply

to enjoy it

written the morning of 11/18/2024

photo by Byron Dyck

Sunday, January 26

Making Giant Snowballs (children's story)

Making Giant Snowballs encourages children to show acceptance and kindness--especially to people who are different from themselves.

Book Review: Poems by Maya Angelou, reviewed by Leanne Dyck

 I've been doing a lot of reading but not for pleasure. And I've missed it. I felt the key to returning would be finding something undemanding. Maya Angelou took me by the hand and brought me back.

Photo by ldyck

Poems 

Maya Angleou

Bantam Books

1986

I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with Maya Angelou. She was entertaining, inspirational, and insightful. Admittedly, some of her writing required a second reading, and some escaped me. But others will remain with me long after this book is closed. 

Still I Rise

 You can write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

with the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it comes as a surprise

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bring the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise

Such power... Such pride... 

What does this poem say to me as a Caucasian... as a woman... as a neurodivergent? 

I know my time with Maya Angelou has changed me. I close this book with regret wishing I could have stayed longer.

Other genres that have kept me reading...

short story collections such as...

How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa

graphic novels such as...

Ducks by Kate Beaton

novellas such as...

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Middle Grade fiction such as...

The Dollhouse: a ghost story by Charis Cotter

Young Adult fiction such as...

When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid

More... 

How to get back to reading consistently again 

by Akanksha Narang

How to Make Reading a Habit

by James Clear

photo by Byron Dyck

January on this blog

Sunday, January 19

Studying Poetry (a poem)

I was introduced to poetry, as many of you were, in grade school. Later, I matriculated and a professor furthered my studying on the subject. Those two experiences were remarkably different. How? Well...

Sunday, January 26

Making Giant Snowballs (children's story)

Making Giant Snowballs encourages children to show acceptance and kindness--especially to people who are different from themselves.

A Painting (short memoir) by Leanne Dyck

When did I fall in love with the idea of creating stories? What made me want to write? Tips on how to remain inspired.

One of my earliest inspirations to write came from a painting.

photo by ldyck

My paternal grandmother owned a painting called "The Open Window," created by Frank Moss Bennett. The painting is of a small room surrounded by stained-glass windows. In the room is a bench and a table. A cat sits on that table looking through a window to a green meadow. One of the side windows is open. From childhood on the painting has mesmerized me. Did the cat jump into the room? Who lives in the house? Will they find the cat? What will happen then? Or does the cat live in the house? Is it contemplating escaping into the meadow? What will the cat find in the meadow? Will the cat return to the house once it has explored the meadow? I told myself a new story about the painting each time I visited my grandmother. And yet, my pen never captured any of them. That pool of inspiration may have been too deep. Unable to capture the cat stories, I was inspired to cast my net and capture others. 

(Much thanks to Angie and others on Facebook who helped me discover the artist of this painting.)

What stories does 2025 hold?

Wishing you the best of 2025.

7 Science-backed Ways to Channel Creativity by Amanda Lieber

Boosting Creativity: 8 ways to instantly unlock your creative flow by Alexandra Tudor

17 Ways to Find Inspiration and Spark Creativity by Nikki Carter

photo by Byron Dyck

1/6/2025

January on this blog

Sunday, January 12

Book Review: Poems by Maya Angelou

 I've been doing a lot of reading but not for pleasure. And I've missed it. I felt the key to returning would be finding something undemanding. Maya Angelou took me by the hand and brought me back.

Sunday, January 19

Studying Poetry (a poem)

I was introduced to poetry, as many of you were, in grade school. Later, I matriculated and a professor furthered my studying on the subject. Those two experiences were remarkably different. How? Well...

Sunday, January 26

Making Giant Snowballs (children's story)

Making Giant Snowballs encourages children to show acceptance and kindness--especially to people who are different from themselves.

Oh, this mighty blog...