Featured Writer: donalee Moulton
Featured Writer: donalee Moulton
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Welcome to Women Writing! ‘Tis the season for literary events and book launches. If you are an aspiring writer and haven’t attended a book launch or a literary festival, I encourage you to find a local event and make a point of going. Not only will you be supporting other writers, you will be making connections with fellow readers, authors, and publishing folks.
In many ways, literary communities can be quite small, whether they are local or national in scope. It doesn’t take too long before you get to know one another, even in vast countries like Canada. In my experience, people who love reading and writing books are the most supportive and generous people I know. For the most part, there is a lack of ego and competitiveness between writers. It’s a community that holds each other up. Is it perfect? By no means. There are always ways to improve, but the writers I know and adore have their hearts in the right place. They willing to share their knowledge and expertise and encourage others to do the work of writing.
Support your local authors, events, and festivals. Attend sessions. Volunteer. Share on social media. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the author launching her book, conducting a workshop, or speaking on a panel someday, and those same folks you made connections with over the years at literary events will be supporting you on your journey. Let us know what events you’ve attended lately in your area. We’d love to hear from you!
About the author…
donalee Moulton’s first mystery book Hung out to Die was published in 2023. A historical mystery, Conflagration!, was published in 2024. It won the 2024 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense (Historical Fiction). A short story “Swan Song” was one of 21 selected for publication in Cold Canadian Crime. It was shortlisted for an Award of Excellence. Other short stories have been published recently in numerous anthologies. donalee’s short story “Troubled Water” was shortlisted for a 2024 Derringer Award and a 2024 Award of Excellence from the Crime Writers of Canada. donalee is an award-winning freelance journalist. She has written articles for print and online publications across North America including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Lawyer’s Daily, National Post, and Canadian Business. As well, donalee is the author of The Thong Principle: Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say and co-authored the book, Celebrity Court Cases: Trials of the Rich and Famous.
“You will be pulled in a million directions. Push back. Write.”
On a writing routine …
I am not a marathon writer. I am a sprinter. I can’t sit and write for hours at a time. I break up my writing by taking a yoga class, soaking up some sunshine, checking email, doing some other paid work. I do try to write 1,000 fictional words a day. Some days I achieve this. We don’t need to talk about the other days.
On writing spaces …
I tend to write in one of two places: the office or the dining room. The office feels like a place I should write. It's away from the activity of the house. It can be my space. The dining room table is in the centre of the house. There is an ebb and flow to this space that reminds me I am part of something more than myself and my ideas. It's distracting, but comforting.
On writing communities …
I belong to a fabulous writing group called The Frivolous Pencils. It is both inspirational and insightful. The feedback provided is invaluable: it gets me thinking about a piece of writing from an outside perspective I simply don't have. It also makes me feel part of something that is bigger than me. Community does that, and the writing community in Nova Scotia is supportive, creative, embracing.
On challenges …
Life is full—and that is a gift. As writers, however, fullness breeds guilt. We feel guilty when we're writing and not doing wonderful things with friends and family. When we're doing those wonderful things, we feel guilty we're not writing. I am trying to find balance without guilt. Some days I succeed.
On the best writing advice …
To write. This sounds simple. Many days it isn’t. Some call this dedication, others devotion. I’m not sure it matters what it’s called as long as it happens. I've learned I will never be a better writer, I will never write another book, if I don’t sit down in front of my computer screen and begin to put words in front of me.
On the worst writing advice …
Write what you love. I don't know what this means. I love to write, but more than that I feel compelled to write. It is part of who I am. As a freelance journalist, I wrote about lots of topics I didn't love (or, frankly, in many cases did not know anything about), but the process of getting a story to the page never failed to satisfy. Deeply.
On advice from personal experiences …
You will be pulled in a million directions. Push back. Write.
On a recent publication …
My newest book is a historical mystery, Conflagration!, that takes readers back to a warm spring day in 1734, when a fire raged through the merchants’ quarter in Montréal. When the flames finally died, 46 buildings had been destroyed. Within hours, rumors ran rampant that Marie-Joseph Angélique, an enslaved Black woman fighting for her freedom, had started the fire with her white lover. Less than a day later, Angélique sat in prison, her lover nowhere to be found. My newest book, Bind, will be out next spring. Three women meet on the mat, but everything that happens in a yoga studio is not Zen. Sometimes it’s grand larceny. Three yogis, two cops, and one damn cute dog join forces to discover who’s stolen a Patek Philippe watch from what was supposed to be a secure locker. Time is ticking.
donalee’s online spaces …
Upcoming …
This weekend Sudbury will be hosting Wordstock Literary Festival at Place des Arts with an excellent lineup of panel discussions, workshops, and open mics. I have been honoured to be involved in the festival in many capacities over the years as a moderator, author panelist, and attendee, as well as volunteering at the Sudbury Writers’ Guild book table. This year I’ll be hanging out at the SWG table on Friday afternoon, and moderating the “Inner World of Women” panel on Saturday at 1:45 highlighting debut novelists Kim Fahner, Louise Ells, and Heidi Reimer and their women-centred novels.
On Sunday, November 3, I’ll be conducting a workshop for Canadian Friends of Finland to attendees at Vancouver’s Scandinavian Center. I’m looking forward to guiding participants who want to write their personal or family stories.
Women Writing is a weekly newsletter featuring women who are doing the difficult work of writing. If you enjoyed reading the newsletter, please share it with a fellow writer. Let’s inspire each other!
Liisa Kovala is an Author Accelerator certified book coach. She is the author of Sisu’s Winter War (Latitude 46, 2022) and Surviving Stutthof: My Father’s Memories Behind the Death Gate (Latitude 46, 2017). Her short stories and creative non-fiction have been published in a variety of anthologies and literary magazines. Liisa is a member of The Writers’ Union of Canada, Canadian Authors Association, and past-president of Sudbury Writers’ Guild. Visit liisakovala.com.
