Hello everyone,

I am back with renewed enthusiasm after taking a winter break. The website will be undergoing several changes in the next little while, but keep checking back. Meanwhile, I have posted a story and poem for your enjoyment.

The story this month is titled “The Sucking Pig” – not a typo, but the reason for the misspelling will become apparent as you read the story. The poem is by Angela van Breemen and is titled “Winter Solitude”, an expressive poem about the winter months.

Then, on the advertising page, I have featured a compilation of three of my children’s novels about to be published in hardcover – that is if I can ever work out how to size the cover. Amazon is very particular about covers it seems. If you want to feature your own novel, please contact me, brendashort@writingblog.ca

Lastly, we at Wordsmiths have just finished our latest story chain. Two teams of five writers have completed a short story on the same prompt. They will appear in chapter form over the coming weeks.

Now for a little local news. If any of you are thinking of moving to Mount Forest, be aware that it has snowed every day in January so far. The children have had a snow day every day this week with school buses cancelled. That’s excellent if you like the snow and have lots of recreation ideas, but not so good if you don’t like the cold. The upside is that the people are warm and friendly, and willing to help in any way. Send me your most unusual snow stories.

Bren