Let’s Get Writing

My guest’s first book, Dirty Birds, was long-listed for Canada Reads 2021 and the past few months have been an exciting time for him. Join me as I sit down with Morgan Murray and learn about his writing journey and how Dirty Birds came to be.

Morgan Murray grew up on a farm near the same backwoods central Alberta village as figure-skating legend Kurt Browning. He now lives in the backwoods of Cape Breton with his wife, cartoonist Kate Beaton, Mary the baby, Agnes the dog, Reggie the cat, Peggy the ditch kitten, and six chickens without names because they all look alike. In between, he has been a farmer, a rancher, a roustabout, a secretary, a reporter, a designer, a Tweeter, a tour guide, a schemer, a variety show host, and a student in Caroline, Calgary, Paris, Prague, Montreal, Chicoutimi, and St. John's. He has a BA in Canadian Studies from the University of Calgary, a Certificate in Central and Eastern European Studies from the University of Economics, Prague, a MPhil in Humanities from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and a participation ribbon for beef calf showmanship (incomplete) from the Little Britches 4-H Club, Caroline, Alberta. His writing has been rejected by some of North America’s top publications, and has appeared in a bunch of other places like The Scope, The Walrus, Newfoundland Quarterly, and Echolocation. His short story “KC Accidental” won the Broken Social Scene Story Contest in 2013, and was anthologized in Racket: New Writing from Newfoundland in 2015. His first novel, Dirty Birds has gotten him compared to Kurt Vonnegut, somehow..

Get in touch:

https://twitter.com/memurray

https://www.instagram.com/morganeliasmurray 

https://www.facebook.com/morganmurraywrites

Morgan's Book at http://www.morganmurray.ca

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www.kathryntaylor.ca  

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It was high energy when I welcomed Susan Flanagan, author, to this episode of Let’s Get Writing. Her new book, Supermarket Baby, is a fun satirical read and it will put you off cart switches forever. Laughter aside, she is clearly an engaged author with a desire to support other writers along the way. Her dedication to her profession is commendable as is her commitment to The Writer’s Alliance of NL.

Susan Flanagan has worked as a freelance journalist (BJ, King’s College, NS, 1991) in St. John’s and Halifax for 30 years. Her non-fiction works have appeared in Canadian Geographic, Canadian Running, National Geographic (maps), Newfoundland Quarterly, The Hockey News, Doctors’ Review, Atlantic Progress, Atlantic Business, Saltscapes and Nelson Literacy’s high school textbook, Homegrown. 

Susan has two novels hitting the shelves in 2021: Supermarket Baby, winner 2019 Percy Janes First Novel Award (Flanker Press), and her first YA novel, The Degrees of Barley Lick (Running the Goat Books & Broadsides). She is currently working on her third novel, Digital Detox, set in Battle Harbour, Labrador.

Susan has also worked as a columnist for The Newfoundland Herald (48 Degrees, 2002-04) and The Telegram (The Kids are Alright, 2011-15), and has worked for CBC Radio and both NTV and CBC TV in Halifax and St. John’s as reporter, producer and researcher.

She is married with five children. 

Get in touch:

https://www.susanflanaganauthor.com

https://www.instagram.com/susanflanaganauthor

https://twitter.com/SusanFlanagan48

https://www.facebook.com/susanflanaganauthor

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-flanagan-author

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www.kathryntaylor.ca  

www.facebook.com/kathryntaylormedia

www.youtube.com/kathryntaylortv

Shelley Golden: International Personal Branding Image Consultant, Fashion Stylist, and Certified Colour Consultant.

Shelley Golden shares tips and concepts to take your online image from humdrum to outstanding. Her easy to integrate ideas will help you improve your relatability and professionalism. After all, an online image is the new business card. Are you presenting your best brand?

Join me as I speak with Shelley Golden, an expert in online image coaching. With more than 20 years of experience, she is the owner of Shelley Golden Style and is coming to us from San Francisco, California. She’s 4th generation in the clothing and fashion business, and having lived in Europe and the Middle East for 15 years, her experience is rich and diversified. I’ve had the pleasure of a session with her recently and I’m excited to share her expertise with you.

www.shelleygoldenstyle.com

www.linkedin.com/shelleyegolden

www.kathryntaylor.ca

www.facebook.com/kathryntaylormedia

www.youtube.com/kathryntaylortv

Alexa Bigwarfe is a mother to 3 wildlings who keep her on her toes. She is an advocate, activist, speaker, author & author coach, publisher, and podcaster. Her writing career began after her infant daughter passed away at 2 days old and she turned to writing for healing. Since then, she has used her writing platform for advocacy and activism to support mothers, children, and marginalized voices. She began a nonprofit, Sunshine After the Storm, to provide support, care, healing retreats, and grief recovery to mothers in their most difficult time. She is the creator and co-host of the Lose the Cape podcast, which features moms working to make a difference in their children’s lives and has co-authored and published four volumes under the Lose the Cape brand. Her primary business is Write|Publish|Sell, a company dedicated to shepherding authors through the massive process of writing and publishing their books like a pro. She owns her own publishing house, Kat Biggie Press, and a children’s book publishing company, Purple Butterfly Press – both dedicated to bringing stories of hope, inspiration, encouragement, and girl-power to the world. 

Alexa Bigwarfe www.writepublishsell.co

www.womeninpublishingsummit.com

https://bit.ly/3plOS03

www.kathryntaylor.ca www.facebook.com/kathryntaylormedia

www.youtube.com/kathryntaylortv

Sarah Thompson is a former radio broadcaster and journalist from Grand Falls-Windsor, NL. She was first published in the Engen Books compilation light/dark in 2010 with the science fiction story "REMERS." 

She has two books currently available:

The Love of Summer and The Love of Julia. She is a romance writer in the sub-genre of lesbian fiction. While lesbian fiction may have started off accompanied by a bit of a stigma, today it’s a wildly popular genre that has audiences captivated across the globe. 

Sarah currently owns and operates the New Found Family Drama Company for which she writes the shows, including Leroy's Diner, Going to the Chapel and I'll Be Home For Christmas. She is a big fan of the community theatre scene and can often be found performing or directing with the Off Broadway Players. Sarah lives with her wife and their dog, Roger, in Corner Brook, NL.

https://www.amazon.ca/Sarah-Thompson/e/B084DZ4F9V/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

https://www.engenbooks.com/bookstore?Collection=Romance

https://www.facebook.com/Sarah-Thompson-Author-103822237817584

https://www.newfoundfamilydrama.com/

www.kathryntaylor.ca  

www.facebook.com/kathryntaylormedia

www.youtube.com/kathryntaylortv

Boulder Books is an independent Canadian book publishing company headquartered in Newfoundland & Labrador, with an office in Nova Scotia. Since opening for business in 2002 Boulder has become a leading publisher of significant books, including field guides, historical works and fiction. In 2019 Saltwater Mittens from the Island of Newfoundland: More than 20 Heritage Designs to Knit won the 2019 Best Atlantic Published Book Award.

In 2017, Newfoundland in the First World War, by Jenny Higgins won the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award. In 2015, Perished: The 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster, by Jenny Higgins won the Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing. In 2010, Boulder won the Best Atlantic-Published Book Award for Birds of Newfoundland: Field Guide by Ian Warkentin and Sandy Newton. Boulder’s reputation for publishing high-quality works has been established by maintaining high standards in editing and book design. By continuously improving the quality of our books, we hope to build an ever-growing base of readers for our authors. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. Also, we acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation through the Publishers Assistance Program.

Visit: www.boulderbooks.ca

www.twitter.com/Boulder_Books

www.facebook.com/BoulderBooks.ca www.instagram.com/boulder_books www.kathryntaylor.ca

::::Let's Get Writing::::

Kathryn welcomes Mark Griffin, Chair of the Lionel Kelland Hospice Board of Directors to Let’s Get Talking. They discuss the current stage of development, the role the hospice will fulfill, and ways to support their important fundraising initiatives.

**www.kathryntaylor.ca**

Lionel Kelland Hospice www.lionelkellandhospice.ca www.facebook.com/LionelKellandHospice

Call: 709-489-1222

Email: [email protected]

Donate at: www.lionelkellandhospice.ca/donations