From one woman’s island to another …
Carin Makuz and I “met” when we both enrolled in the online Humber School for Writers Creative Writing Programme, offered by Humber College in Toronto. That was 2006 and I was living on Bequia at the time, so I was able to study online from a great distance. Carin was living just outside of Toronto. We kept in touch with each other, as many students did, and have since continued to do, in that particular class, and I eventually met Carin in person, a number of times, in fact, and even made a “whistle stop” once while taking the train back from Kingston to Toronto. Carin met me at the train station and waited with me for the connecting GO Train to arrive so I could then continue on my way. What fun that visit was! Carin also made the trip north to Minden when we held a literary salon at the home of Michael Fay. At that salon, there were several other authors in attendance: Bruce Hunter, Frank Beltrano, Timothy Phillips. I’ve promoted all of them, and Michael, as part of the Authors-Readers International series on my blog. And Carin accompanied me (drove me there, actually, after dining together in a local restaurant) to a talk and reading that was being given at the local library by none other than Gail Bowen! (Also promoted on A-RI!)
Carin as well had the absolutely brilliant idea of beginning The Litter I See Project, which I promoted on my Reading Recommendations blog. She had invited me to take part in this project and I was very pleased to be included, especially since it was all in aid of Frontier College and literacy instruction.
So we continue to chat (by email) every now and again, although we haven’t seen one another in person in a few years now. (I’m too ensconced in the trailer while in Canada during the summer months!) But what started out as a quick email conversation at the beginning of the new year – Carin had finished reading my second novel and sent me a link to the “not-a-review” she posted to her blog – turned into a discussion about island life. Then … the back and forth questions and answers began, and comparisons of our both having lived on small Caribbean islands, and comparisons of my story to other books, and, and, and … we ended up with the following piece that Carin offered to write up for me to post here; not so much a review of the novel as an explanation of what struck her as significant about her reading of my book, and why my experiences on Bequia resonated with her own living on a different small Caribbean island. (And yes, Carin, that was definitely you I was thinking about when, in the story, Tex talks about a Canadian woman whose name is spelled the same way as yours!)
Carin’s view from her Caribbean island …
I so enjoyed the book, Susan, not the least for how it tapped into my own memories of living in the Caribbean in ’91/’92. I don’t recall too much of the expat lifestyle when we were there, but I may have missed it, or maybe it wasn’t as ‘rife’ yet. P was working with one of the hotels so we got to know many of the locals (most of whom came to our wedding). We didn’t make friends with many of the other ‘imports’… I remember thinking how odd most of them seemed, like they were just there for the money and the privileged Jimmy Buffet lifestyle; they seemed to be missing the point that this opportunity could give them, to understand local customs, rather than impose their own. But no one seemed very interested in island culture, food, or getting to know the local residents. Given that, it’s easy to see how divisions would be created. Not to mention the residents resenting the fact that the best jobs were often given to (white) ‘imports’. That was one of the difficulties for me when we lived there… being seen as ‘one of those’. Once we got to know the local residents, it was better, and that stigma fell away, but not with everyone. Still a certain amount of animosity from locals, for which I don’t blame them.
You captured so well that attitude of newbies trying to change the very thing that brought them to the island in the first place. Can imagine it’s even worse now with gentrification and displacement of people’s culture as if it’s just another commodity. How can this create anything but animosity? How wonderful that you’ve been there long enough to be known for who you are, as someone who respects the island way of life.
We went back to the island a few years ago for our anniversary. I was reluctant because I had a feeling it would have changed due to gentrification, etc., and I didn’t want to see it. Turns out much was still charming and familiar, but there was a lot different too … more villas where there were none before and a totally different vibe ‘in town’, ie. the harbour shops (selling very different items than before; before being mostly basic necessities for locals and only a very few things like postcards or souvenirs). Restaurants that were casual had been renovated and were now upscale … that was a big change. Very different feeling. Can imagine there was a lot more behind the scenes that I didn’t notice, given that I was there only a week and seeing with the eyes of a visitor.
One memory from when we lived there … P was working late on xmas eve and I was sitting outside on our patio in the pitch dark, under the stars when, from the valley below, came the sound of a single trumpet playing “Silent Night” and then a few other carols. A simple strain of music, not from a party, but likely just someone sitting outside (who would have a trumpet?). Then they stopped. Not another sound all night. I thought of that when we were there a few years ago and couldn’t imagine it happening now. Too many other sounds have taken over. The energy feels different.
Anyway, all of that to say One Woman’s Island was an absolutely lovely trip back to the Caribbean in the 90’s and to how I remember it. The story is compelling on many levels, but that was certainly an added dimension for me.
I think it’s brilliant that you’re writing about all this in your novels, Susan. As you say, for people who think it’s all paradise … an eye-opener. And so much more respectful to fully embrace reality while still finding the charm within, which of course I know you do.
Thank you again, Carin! Both for understanding what I’m trying to do with this Bequia Perspectives series and for the effect that I now know my writing has had on at least one reader! This is, after all, the main reason we write … to have an effect on readers and possibly even elicit a response.
My view of Bequia from The View
A Profile of Blogger, Carin Makuz
I first met Carin Makuz when we were enrolled in the online Humber Creative Writing Program in 2006 and we’ve stayed in contact ever since, and have even met in person a few times! I’ve subscribed to Carin’s blog pretty much since the beginning, and when she began batting around the idea for The Litter I See Project … well, I just had to become involved, and I’ve been helping to promote this great idea all along. Here’s Carin to tell us about this very interesting project that was intended to bring attention to the two problems of Litter and Illiteracy.
Carin Makuz , rt, with friend
When not writing short fiction or essays, Carin Makuz can be found wandering the shores of Lake Ontario muttering about darlings that won’t take a hint. She is a workshop facilitator for abused women and youth at risk. Her work has been published in journals in Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. She has won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and been nominated for the Journey Prize. Essays and fiction have been broadcast on CBC and BBC Radio. She combines text with photography, reviews books and chats with writers on her blog, Matilda Magtree, and runs The Litter I See Project.
What’s the background to this idea of yours? When did you first think of the concept behind your blog?
The Litter I See Project grew from my interest in bringing attention to both litter and illiteracy. When I walk I pick up litter; I carry bags for this purpose. I’m doing it to tidy up the schmutz but sometimes I find interesting things, notes, lists, etc., and I wonder at their origins: were they dropped by accident or intentionally? I wonder about the kind of person who can be trotting along, having a fine time in a park, at the beach, on a street, anywhere really, and then just toss a can or water bottle on the ground and keep going. I wonder what they think will happen to it and if they’d even notice or care if someone did the same thing on their lawn. I wonder how people learn this behaviour. You could say I’m a wee bit passionate on the subject. As a society we talk a lot about big problems … The Environment, the oceans of plastic, etc., all of which seems so impossible a thing to tackle. And yet, really, change begins with our attitude towards the small stuff. Like litter. Because how we view that reflects how we see our communities, and our environment, in general. I’m equally passionate about literacy, and the two things, litter and illiteracy, have more in common than alliteration; both are pervasive, but only one is visible. With all this in mind I began photographing certain pieces with the idea of writing about them, maybe doing a thin collection and giving any proceeds to a local literacy group. But I wanted the effect to be broader than that. When a friend suggested I do something online, a light went off. That was it!
How are you organizing the material for the blog?
I drafted a plan, figured out a way of offering a small honorarium (am a big believer in paying for the written word), invited a number of writers to participate, created a site and named it The Litter I See Project. It went live in June of 2015. How it works is that I send out a picture of a piece of actual litter from my ‘collection’ and, using that ‘debris’ as a prompt, or inspiration, the writer responds in the form of poetry, prose, memoir, anything at all. As submissions come in I try to keep posts varied, giving consideration to genre and a few other things, but mostly it’s just a happy, trashy party.
Carin has also arranged for donations to be made on behalf of the blog to Frontier College in Toronto, a school dedicated to teaching literacy.
How much longer do you see publishing this particular theme?
No idea how long I’ll keep the party going. Through winter anyway, and probably spring.
Is there anything you have learned through writing this blog that you’d like to share? Any surprises you hadn’t expected?
It’s been more work than I thought but the best kind. I love getting these constant surprises in my inbox. I send out a muddy grocery list and get back poetry; a chocolate bar wrapper in a ditch inspires a childhood memory. I’m in awe of the talent in this country, most of which isn’t celebrated nearly enough. I also like the way the litter conversation has already grown to include larger questions, such as in Betty Jane Hegerat’s piece about homelessness, and Tanis MacDonald’s ‘rabbit litter’.
The lovely thing about a blog is that it’s your own world and if you don’t like something you can change it. I’ve been hanging out in this space for over five years and I’ll keep doing it as long as it’s fun. If that requires adding, changing things, great. When it stops being fun, it stops being.
Blogging is a commitment like any other kind of writing. You get out of it what you put in. I think readers sense the place you’re coming from, the vibe you create. That was a pleasant surprise, the feeling of connection with readers, something you don’t get from traditional forms of writing.
Was there a single post you were particularly proud to have included? And what made it special?
If I had to pick one special post it would be bill bissett’s. I was beyond chuffed to have him kick things off with his fabulous piece, ‘yr littr has arrivd, eet it’.
Overall, what is it you hope your readers will take away after reading your blog?
My hope for readers of The Litter I See Project is that, in addition to the attention and conversation it brings to the problems of litter and illiteracy in communities across the country, it might also serve as a way of introducing readers to new writers. The posts are all intentionally positioned as bite-sized morsels, meant for easy browsing, a few at a time …
Now, in keeping with the Reading Recommendations idea, please name three authors or books you’d like to recommend to readers.
If I had to recommend three books, I would reply with: Egad!! Only three??? I’d have to go with a theme; makes it a little easier to choose. So, let’s say the theme is “writing from a disadvantaged place” … in which case I’d recommend the following:
The Education of Augie Merasty, by Augie Merasty (with David Carpenter)
A Crowbar in a Buddhist Garden, by Stephen Reid
One Hour in Paris, by Karen L. Freedman
How Poetry Saved My Life: a hustler’s memoir, by Amber Dawn
(oh, are we up to four already??) (;
Also, I HAVE to add Anakana Schofield’s Martin John because a) it’s different than any book out there; it’s daring and changes how we think about sexual deviants, harassment and all manner of perverted crimes. Including the ones we pretend aren’t happening. And because, b) it’s brilliant.
I’ve chosen this theme, not because I only read heartbreaking or uncomfortable stuff (far from it!), but because I feel books that express well what it is to be human help us to understand one another and become a more broadly-thinking and compassionate society. Despite the topics covered … residential schools, prostitution, rape, sexual perversion, imprisonment… none of these books are written in the mass market scandalous-to-cause-reaction style. They’re not scandalous at all. They’re written from a real place with real feelings about things that happen all the time whether we like to admit it or not. That’s both the scary part and the part that matters most.
What are you working on now or what do you plan to do when you finish writing this blog?
Currently working on a collection of short prose and, forever it seems, a medium sized novel.
Carin Makuz maintains a main blog, Matilda Magtree, where she publishes regular segments, (at) eleven: chatting with writers (I was once hosted here!), this is not a review, and Wordless Wednesday, featuring her photography.
A number of Reading Recommendations-promoted authors have been featured on The Litter I See Project: Alice Major, Betty Jane Hegerat, Bruce Hunter, Fran Kimmel, Gail Anderson-Dargatz, Katherine Govier, Kimmy Beach, Lori Hahnel, Rosemary Nixon, Steven Mayoff.
Teaching Literacy on Bequia
When Carin Makuz first announced her idea for The Litter I See Project and asked authors to contribute a written piece to be published on the blog, I was in! Anything bringing attention to the problem of litter was important to me. But the combined issues of litter/literacy was a perfect play-on-words (Litter-I-See) that made this project irresistible. I wrote to Carin immediately to ask for a photo of a piece of litter.
The other aspect of this project that attracted my attention is that it was launched to help raise funds, as well as awareness, for Frontier College in Toronto, a literacy organization founded in 1899 that began by sending teachers to far-flung work places, like the railways and mines and even into lumber camps in the bush, to work by day and teach the other workers to read and write in English at night. Maintenant en français aussi.
“Did you know I taught literacy on Bequia under the auspices of Frontier College?” I asked Carin during our correspondence.
“I certainly did NOT know that! I’d like to hear the story sometime,” she replied.
So, to go along with my piece that’s being posted on the blog today, here’s the first part of my Teaching Literacy on Bequia story for Carin and all her readers …
I stopped in my tracks when I heard the statistic broadcast on the radio that more than 40% of the people living in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are illiterate. “How could that be possible?” I wondered. Having been born in a place and at a time when education and reading were valued and encouraged by our parents and society in general, then working all my career in the book business, I had never known people who couldn’t read. (Wouldn’t read, yes, but that’s another problem altogether.) Books and reading have been my life and I wanted to share this love and my knowledge with others. My thought then was that if every one who could read taught every one who couldn’t, we would wipe out illiteracy, at least in SVG, in no time! Yeah, I know. A bit optimistic on my part, but I have always tried to look on the bright side.
My problem was, however, how to get started. I had met at least one man, a gardener working for Dennis, who had expressed an interest in learning to read. So I put out an email-call for help and received a reply from author-pal, Linda Granfield (who has been featured on my blog Reading Recommendations), that I would be wise to contact Frontier College. I did just that, and began a correspondence with one of the women there. She advised me on how to begin, but I was pretty much left to my own devices when it came to developing methods and resource materials. These were pre-eBook days (1998) and it was much too expensive to purchase and ship learning and reading materials to the Caribbean. So I used the same method I’d employed when teaching myself how to use a computer – the by-gosh-and-by-golly method.
What I did discover though was that learners want to tell their own stories (as do we all!) and read about other learners and how they live their lives. So I asked the six men I was teaching to write about themselves and we shared those stories around, as well as keeping in contact with Frontier College and reading what their students were writing.
I stopped teaching on Bequia (for a number of reasons) in 2002, and I had largely forgotten about this time on the island until Carin asked me to contribute to her project. The memories suddenly came flooding back and, when Carin sent me my piece of “litter” to write about, I was inspired to create a short story from the POV of an illiterate Caribbean woman living illegally in Canada. I felt I had enough experience dealing with the men I taught on Bequia to understand how a person might think about their inability to read and write, and how they would feel when taken away from a world where they could live quite comfortably without being literate.
It was coincidental when Carin wrote to say my piece was scheduled for publication soon that I happened to be sorting through books and papers stored in a Calgary locker. I discovered two copies of a booklet Frontier College had published when I was still teaching to which I had submitted stories written by four of my adult students. So I wrote to Carin to say, “Stop the presses!” because I had found a surprise and would pop one of the copies into the mail to her. I contacted Frontier College and asked their permission to create a PDF of the booklet, Reflections From the Inside: A Collection of Student Writing, and they were not only intrigued by my discovery of this long-lost publication but thrilled that I was planning on making it available to Carin’s and my readers. So here you go!
Frontier College Reflections From the Inside
Please do read through all of these stories. You will find many are uplifting, some are heartbreaking, but all are illuminating. To those reading this blog post, I doubt any has ever had to struggle with illiteracy during your lifetime. You may never have known anyone either who is illiterate. (And people can be illiterate for so very many reasons other than just the circumstance of where they were born.) What I discovered while teaching on Bequia is that people who are illiterate do often manage to hide it well, because there is still such a stigma attached to not being able to read. The men who came to me to learn were afraid their secret would get out, so I met with them individually at my house. And it was interesting to me that not one women ever asked to be taught. That spoke volumes in itself about this Caribbean culture I’d chosen to live within.
I had mixed success with my efforts, and I often felt after all was said and done that I learned much more from my students than I ever taught any of them. I’m grateful to have had the experience, and thankful for the help I received from Frontier College and the encouragement they offered my students by publishing their very own stories in book-form. As I said at the time to Glenford, “Hey! Your writing is being published before mine!” They were all quite chuffed about seeing their writing and names in print! That went a long way to make them want to continue learning. And I was certainly proud of having been part of their process towards learning how to read and write.
Frontier College continues to do excellent work! Please consider clicking on the button provided on The Litter I See Project site and donating to help them keep doing what they do in encouraging literacy.
(I’ll be writing a Part 2 to this story of Teaching Literacy on Bequia with specifics as to who I taught and how lessons were conducted. I still have files of everything we did stored away on one of these many memory sticks in my bag of tricks.)
Here, let me help you with that promotion …
“Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far.” — Will Rogers
There is nothing worse – and I mean NOTHING!! – than an author who over-self-promotes!
Now I didn’t say just “self-promotes” but qualified it with “over”, because we all need to do a little bit of promoting, within reason, to get the word out about what we’ve written. Even traditionally published authors need to promote themselves, because many publishers just don’t have the financial wherewithall to deal individually with each author on their list. And you authors already know who your personal and professional contacts are, anyway, so you have a better chance of attracting attention by approaching those people personally.
But what happens when you run out of those initial contacts and begin preaching to the converted, so to speak? How do you attract new readers to yourself and your work without becoming the kind of self-promoting author we all love to hate – the one who constantly blows their own horn? Why, you seek out other people in the book business who will toot that horn for you – people like me, fer instance. I publish a promotion blog called Reading Recommendations precisely because I want to offer other authors free promotion and help them get the word out about themselves and their books.
And because I know that by doing so – by promoting my fellow authors – I also promote myself and my own work. That way I don’t run the risk of sounding off about ONLY ME AND ME ALONE. I know I am not the first author to have published and I know I won’t be the last to publish, either. Why not promote as many other authors as I can? That way I provide my audience with different reading choices when they’ve exhausted everything I’ve written – and before they become exhausted with me!
And since I set up this blog and changed my approach to how I promote my own work – guess what? I’ve discovered that I’m finding more readers for my own published novel and novella, as well as for those other authors I promote. I’m receiving more reviews, I’m selling more copies, and I’m being invited to promote myself and my work on other blog sites.
But the best part is – I’m not pissing off my loyal family, friends, and current readers by constantly singing the same tune. I’m offering information about new authors whose work they might like to read. So I’m providing a service to readers as well as to my fellow authors – and I’m not pissing off anyone in the process.
(This “not pissing off anyone” part cannot be stressed enough! I’m sure you are, as am I, tired of authors who tweet and share endlessly about themselves and their latest, but never say a word about anything else. It all seems so desperate, don’t you think? Those who tick me off the most are the authors I’ve followed on Twitter who don’t then give me the courtesy of following me back, but instead send me a direct message telling me where I can buy their books or asking me to like their Facebook page. I unfollow them in a nanosecond! We all want to receive recognition for what we’ve written and published. But we’d be more inclined to become readers and fans ourselves, if those self-promoters just took a wee bit of interest in something other than themselves. Ya know what I’m saying??)
So I challenge all you authors reading this out there who have been guilty of over-self-promoting to change your ways! You don’t have to stop promoting yourself altogether, but figure out ways to promote your fellow authors. Or band together as a group and promote each other. This works very well if you are all writing within the same genre, but I’ve also known it to work for groups of writers who only have writing itself in common. You could begin by tweeting/sharing something about 4 other authors for every 1 tweet/share you post about yourself. That would work! Or you could set up a promotion blog like mine that is dedicated to singing the praises of everyone else in the business. When you do find blogs or sites like mine, share the information with your fellow authors. Here’s another great blog you should be aware of: Chris The Story Reading Ape (If you know of others, please add a link in the comments section.)
Read promotions about other authors on these blogs; share, tweet, like, and reblog your favourites. Discover some new authors, read and review their books, and help them to get ahead. Do all the things listed in the box up above.
I can’t promise you overnight success for your own books, but I do guarantee that – aside from the warm-fuzzies you’ll experience from having done a good deed – you will eventually reach a new group of readers, and your work will be exposed to people you never dreamed might want to read what you write.
So, please, for all our sakes, STOP THAT ENDLESS SELF-PROMOTION!!! Start discovering and promoting other authors. Believe me, your family, friends and fellow-Facebook-and-Twitter users will thank you! And you can stop feeling so desperate and enjoy your writing and publishing, once again.
Weekly offering of links to Blogs, Articles, Information, Discussion, Inspiration … and a Writing Contest!
On Editing:
From ragan.com: news and ideas for communicators
Why every writer needs an editor
From Writer Unboxed
The Value of Editors
On Reading, and Finding Readers:
From The Guardian
Readers are out there – but the model for getting their attention is broken
From The Guardian
Fiction prescription: why libraries make you happy
On Writing:
From GalleyCat
How To Write a Scene: A Step-By-Step Infographic (I love infographics!)
From Noveliscious.com
Write Your Novel – Torture Your Characters
From terribleminds
The Art of Asking: For Writers and Storytellers
From Anne R. Allen’s Blog
5 Ways “Difficult” Women Can Energize Your Writing and Make Your Fiction Memorable by Ruth Harris
From The Writing Corp
So, You Claim To Be A Writer?
And A CONTEST FOR WRITERS!
From Northwestern Ontario Writers’ Workshop
2013 Contest Rules
On Publishing:
From terribleminds
Writers and Misinformation, Or: “How Did You Publish?”
From Rachelle Gardner
Sometimes You Fail. And it Sucks.
On Promoting and Marketing:
From Forbes
19 Things Successful People Do On Social Media
On Unnecessary Promotion and Publicity:
From Carin Makuz
dear media people
GREAT Blog Posts
From Eugene Stickland, a very inspirational blog post …
Caylan Boyse – Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World
From Seth Godin
“I’m making money, why do more?”
And, Just For Fun!
From Proposition Zen
Daily Zen – March 4, 2013
Blogs, noteworthy articles, inspiring words for writers, and some stuff just for fun!
From Anne Lamott
From The New Yorker
Phantom Bookstores
From The Los Angeles Times
As Barnes & Noble shrinks, small bookstores are born
From C. Hope Clark
How We Treat Writers
From Rachelle Gardner
Who should read your unpublished work?
and Are Self-Pub Books the New Slush Pile?
From Seth Godin
Humanize It
From The Toronto Star
Academy of the Impossible an experiment in education
A request for topics and compelling material from terribleminds
The Annual Refuelling of The Blog Tanks
Great writing from Carin Makuz
maybe the kids’ll be alright after all
From Eugene Stickland, a hilarious take on
My Day in Comic Book Fashion
A new poem from Rachel Small (my editor!) on her blog, Freelancing to Freedom …
Absent Muse
Another short story, Kick, from Betty Jane Hegerat
From Beneath the Snoozing Tree
And a new video from Simon’s Cat
Feed Me
WHO in the World is Reading Island in the Clouds??? – Novel Blurbers and My Writing Possee!
From one of the novel’s blurbers and a member of my online writing possee through Humber, here’s Keri Michaud of Mississauga… This is me reading and enjoying, ISLAND IN THE CLOUDS at a cottage at Pickerel Lake, up north near Huntsville in Ontario.
This is from Jenny Ryan, Ottawa, owner of Copper Canary Publishing Services and my book’s most wonderful designer! And also a member of my Ryerson possee. Before and After. Oh Susan, it’s soooo nice and it has new book smell! Before being as an InDesign file on Jenny’s computer and After as the finished product. Thanks for the collaboration, Jenny!
Then, from Carin Makuz, Whitby, ON, the mail she received one day last week. Carin is among my Humber possee. Hey, Susan M Toy… this is what came in the mail today.
And Lori Hahnel, a writing pal from Calgary, as well as an Alberta Books Canada author, receiving delivery of her copy of Islands at a coffee shop.
Hey, Lori! Look how nicely your two kids are playing with mine!!
And finally, a novel blurber, a member of my Humber possee, and someone I can’t thank enough for all her support over the years – Darcie Friesen Hossack! (Take a bow, Darcemeister!) Darcie sent a picture of my novel as soon as it arrived in the mail. Unfortunately for Darcie, T’Abigail had her paws on it first to read!
Here’s a copy of Islands getting to know Darcie’s collection of short stories, Mennonites Don’t Dance.
Darcie has been running a contest in her food column and over at her blogsite, Nice Fat Gurdie and there’s still another day to enter! You’ll win a copy of my book! Go to Darcie’s blogsite – NOW!!
Books: Publishing, Reading, Writing 