Red Wolf's Room

Becoming a writer is a struggle for most, from gaining experience to having the time to write to believing you're a "real" writer. In a past blog post, I shared my experience about how I fell into a fog, believing wholeheartedly that I couldn't write and didn't have a future. I asked some friends of mine, Lia and K.T. Anglehart a while back to share their writing stories. In today's post, I asked a friend and fellow writer, Gen Methot to share her journey of how she got into writing. Below is her guest post. Enjoy! The Lovely Gen Methot Gen's Story I don’t know why I’m embarrassed to admit this, but the thing that made me want to become a writer was the film Little Women. Nope, not the book; the Hollywood movie. Granted, I was probably seven or eight years old and classic novels were probably inaccessible to me, but I still can’t seem to forgive my eight-year-old-self for being so uncultured. How silly of me! I don’t know why Jo March had such a prof...

With my more mature eyes, I am delving into a much earlier book of Eric Wilson's Tom and Liz Mystery series. Funnily enough Book #3: The Case of the Golden Boy references Book 19: The Lost Treasure of Casa Loma , which I reviewed a few months back. Uncle Henry briefly mentions a friend of his who owns a castle and keeps his diamonds hidden in the building.  This story takes place in Winnipeg. The Golden Boy statue mentioned in the book is located on top of the Legislative building in Manitoba and was erected in 1919. It is based on the god Mercury to symbolize eternal youth and the spirit of enterprise. The Golden Boy faces North because this was the "future of Manitoba" at the time. The statue is depicted in a running stance while holding a sheaf of wheat and a torch, which represent the fruits of labor and a call for youth to come together and make the future a prosperous one. Photo by  Mahesh Gupta  on  Unsplash ; Right: Legislature Building You Should Read...

  I dug out my brick of a Canadian Literature Anthology from university and picked a few short stories that I could talk about. The book has many of the greats, including Margaret Atwood, Susanna Moodie and Leonard Cohen, to name a few. The book has a total of 1,290 pages, so there are tons more of excellent writers to read about. This anthology contains a page or two on each writer and has poems and short stories, as well as narratives from people during the time of Canada's exploration. Side Note about "Eskimo:" A Derogatory Word I remember that one of the stories, a narrative, was about a British man living amongst a tribe in Canada and the tribe referred to a second tribe as "Eskimo," or "Esquimaux" as it was originally spelt in the narrative. It means "eaters of raw meat" and was used because it was believed that they were savages . It was a barbaric term that has remained attributed to natives of the upper part of Canada and Alaska . Bu...

  Photo by  Houcine Ncib  on  Unsplash What Are the Key Elements of a Mystery? At its core, a juicy mystery has to have these elements: The Sleuth Setting The Crime/Mystery A Satisfactory Solution The Sleuth The sleuth is the main character who tries to solve the mystery. The mystery can also involve the sleuth. Their background usually connects them to the mystery or even to the killer/culprit. The sleuth has to have a motive that explains why they feel the need to solve the mystery.  Sometimes, the sleuth's motivation is rooted in the fact that they provide a service to clients and they don't have an emotional stake in the crime or mystery. Photo by  Eleanor Styles  on  Unsplash Setting Readers are drawn into well-described and atmospheric settings. Think of Sherlock Holmes walking along the foggy streets of London, Nancy Drew driving around River Heights in blue roadster/convertible, or Thomas Magnum driving around Hawai'i in his red Ferrari. D...

Cliffs of Moher - Photo by  Sarah Donisi  on  Unsplash If I were writing a travel brochure for Ireland, I start with what it smells like. It's a combination of just-fallen rain mixed with earth and something else, something secret. For me,  Love & Luck  by Jenna Evans Welch is reminiscent of the movie Leap Year because it follows the protagonist on a road trip across Ireland and she encounters many ups and downs along the way. But the plot of Love & Luck is quite different as it's a coming-of-age story. Its genre is YA fiction. I picked up this novel because I'm part Irish and would love to explore the country one day. I am fascinated by Irish lore and love getting swept up in the magic of the tales.  Love & Luck seems to be the unofficial second book since Welch's previous novel, Love & Gelato , follows Lina, Addie's best friend, and explains why she's in Italy. But readers, like myself, who have not read Lina' story are given enoug...