Marion Agnew

For several months, I've been keeping track of five things I'd like to remember from that month. Here's what came up in July.  One. Ginger ale actually tastes kind of … peppy. Peppery. Almost spicy. In fact … Gingery? I hadn’t noticed before, in all these years. I love it. Two. I like being able to learn new things (that are NOT like insurance, estate planning, getting bids for something etc.) at my “advanced” age. See ginger ale tastes gingery, above. Still getting to know smoked paprika, for example. Time, it passes. Make a wish. Three. Same “learning” category: I actually enjoy legumes, oat-based cereals, and getting more exercise, and good news: so does my cholesterol score. Four. From January through April and into May, I dream about the warm days in June (ha! that's a pipe dream, and the reason for the invention of the Spring Sweatshirt), July, and August. Here are the things I always forget: the tenacity of the smells of bug repellant and sunscreen, the fact ...

June included a trip to see family, which doesn't count for these five things. I doubt I forget that visit any time soon--it was lovely to spend time together.  So below is this month's list of five things from the month that are memorable to me. (This practice, which I started only in January, has been very interesting. I make notes all month and sometimes I return to the document and think, "that was only last week?" But maybe that's just how all of 2025 is gonna be.) One. White wine vinegar. It’s perfect for dressing greens in the summer. Balsamic is great too but sometimes you need a lighter option. I'm not sure what finally made me choose to buy some white wine vinegar, but I ran across a lentil salad recipe calling for red wine vinegar recently so today I added that to our pantry. Fun times ahead! A sunny morning near the summer solstice   Two. Antihistamines. Excellent additions to springtime. Thanks, science, for medicine!   Three. The quest...

It's a bit of a challenge to be a person online. And in general--in what we call "in real life"--too. Or so it feels these days, as the world becomes more violent.  Or perhaps I mean this: as the world's violence touches me more directly. That distinction, as well as the fact that the world's violence feels ever closer, gives me an opportunity to reflect and learn. Which I hope to continue to do--and here I would say "for the foreseeable future," except that the definition of "foreseeable future" has also changed.  Although I've foreseen many elements of today's present, back when those elements were what I thought were only dire distant future possibilities, I didn't actually believe that they'd become the present. Yet here we are. And  I'm happy to still be here, still learning.   

As always (by which I mean for the past few months), I'm tracking five things I want to remember from each month. And if you get to the bottom, you'll find links to places I've been interviewed or appeared, and/or where my work was discussed, along with books I've posted about on Instagram! OBVIOUSLY not a recent photo, but I do believe the lake ice will melt.  Someday... ONE. An update on putting time limits on social media, which I know I've written about somewhere. I’ve noticed as I pick up my phone to scroll, which I still do, I ask myself why. Or sometimes I mutter, “now I’m just irritating myself,” and THEN I ask myself why. And often I put down the phone, which was my goal. Yes, I’m finding time and inclination to do more things, but doing isn’t the point. Limiting social media isn’t a productivity hack—it’s an attempt to improve my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. And it’s helping, I think. TWO. Addendum to the above: having something to ...

Hi, everyone, it's March. And still 2025. I felt the need to point that out because the months take forever and fly by at the same time.  Not a recent photo, but a fair representation of what today looks like A reminder: on Wednesday, March 12, I'm reading in the Brockton Writers Series . If you're in the greater Toronto Area, head to the Glad Day Bookshop, 499 Church Street. If you aren't, you can watch on their YouTube channel, here :  Brockton Writers Series - YouTube    In addition to the other readers, the evening will feature Asifa Sheikh speaking about Playing with Form in Nonfiction, an always-fascinating topic. Although I tend to default to the standard linear narrative, I've braided narratives and am striking out into other ways to spread my wings.  I'm excited to be part of this event. Participating is one way to remind myself that yes, I've written books and I have spoken to people about them and about writing. I've hung out in the company of...

Here are five things I'd like to remember from February. Not all pleasant, but notable. One. Sometimes it’s worth going into rooms you don’t go into often, just to make sure there’s no dead bird lying in the floor. It apparently fell down the chimney of a long-unused woodstove. I mean, if it had actually happened, which it did, hypothetically. And I guess come spring it’s worth looking into what happened to the screen over that chimney. Roy says it was an owl. I didn’t look too closely. Two. There may come a day when I don’t enjoy shoveling snow—and for sure if I had to do it more often and for longer sessions than I do, I’d be less enthusiastic—but there’s also something reassuring about accepting snowfall in SOME places (grass, trees, rocks, lake ice) but not HERE or HERE (sidewalk, back deck, front porch). Control, but really an illusion of it, because we all know that the snow’s really in charge here. Three. Two words: finishing sugar. I get it now. I don’t understand why pe...

Back in the Days of Yore (pre-lockdowns—actually, more than a decade ago, wow, what even is time) I’d periodically get four-hour coffees with a specific writer-friend who is also a musician.   One of the questions we’d mull over is “What is the writer equivalent of scales?” Another was its related idea, “What is a practice session for writers?”   Obviously, the questions don’t have a 1:1 answer. Musicians perform, and although writers can perform also, it’s rarer. Perhaps. For me, anyway. As a writer of things on paper (vs. writing works for performance), I don’t focus on a performance element of my work, though I’ve grown to enjoy the more performative opportunities for readings and conversations. An accident, but I like it!   But! Back to a scale—a form that musicians can practice to gain muscle memory and general mastery.   For me, the equivalent is a daily writing practice. My practice varies, in terms of form, result, and effectiveness (and even ...

Earlier this year I mentioned my gratitude practice, explained (more or less) how it works (more or less), and shared some of the recent specific things that had appeared on my gratitude list at that time.   Six months later, it’s time for more gratitudes. At present, I’m grateful for many of the big-picture items I mentioned in June, plus these specifics, in no particular order: Enough snow that our well is not frozen and may hold its own when spring arrives Life in the country, where we marvel at small birds at the feeder and big birds in the sky, and we watch deer grow from fawns to adulthood People who drive the speed limit (or slower!) in neighbourhoods when they’re driving on ice, even if they’re driving a ginormous truck and think they don’t have to slow down; I doubt that they’re doing it to keep from frightening walkers but that’s a happy side effect Our local bookstore, Entershine Bookshop, which has become an integral part of the local writing and reading community ...

The year is waning, as is the amount of daylight in individual days; both will soon wax again.  Meanwhile, here are some of the sights. Also sites (certainly familiar locations to anyone who follows me on social media). Also sighs, which is what I'd originally typed instead of sights.  The evening sky Because even after twenty years here, ten years in northern Colorado before that, and five years in the mountains of New Mexico before THAT, the first snowstorm--the first REAL one, the first that stays--still daunts me.  But in the space of three or four days, we've now had two. And managed. Here it comes And I continue  my ongoing "wayfinding" efforts . I'm looking for lampposts, bits of joy (also called "glimmers" I think). Recently, I had a great time volunteering with Dementia Cafe (and have the chance to next weekend as well).  Yesterday I saw old bananas in the grocery store and got an urge to make banana bread. Maybe I resemble Simone m ore than I...

It's been quite the autumn. After the events in September, we had another at the end of October. In that one, author Roy Blomstrom (who is also my husband) and I participated in Entershine Bookshop's "In Conversation with Michael Sobota" series. Roy's newest historical novel, The Devil's Violin: Myllysilta's History , had come out early in the summer, and this was our celebration. Michael asked us his trademark thoughtful questions, we ate cookies, Roy talked about The Devil's Violin and I talked about Making Up the Gods, we signed books that the lovely Entershine people sold. It was a nice event. We're fortunate to have both Entershine and Michael in Thunder Bay. Besides interviewing authors and participating in the arts community in general, Michael writes book reviews for the local newspaper AND the local arts magazine (for which he also writes a column on movies). The following weekend, I began co-leading a three-week community arts/creative wr...

Yes, I'm aware that it's already October--we're not even in the FIRST days of autumn anymore. However, the weather is very summer-like (and too dry!), so summer's experiences have been on my mind. Also, September was a full month. Besides extending the summer "I want to be outdoors" feeling as long as possible, I had a couple of events. Early-ish in the month, I shared a book signing with David Giuliano, Marathon-based author of The Undertaking of Billy Buffone (Latitude 46), at Indigo Thunder Bay. It was fun to see friends and spend time in the local branch of the national chain.  I'm on the left Later, I hosted a stop on the Northern Tour for Rod Carley's new novel, Ruff , also from Latitude 46. We had a great chat at the library about all things creativity, Shakespeare, midlife crises, plagues/pandemics, and everything old being new again.  Rod signing copies of Ruff Between and among those events and the regular Activities of Daily Living, I'v...

It's so much fun to share information about the characters in Making Up the Gods that aren't necessarily an integral part of the book.  For example, as the novel begin, Simone bakes, and it's surprising to her that she's enjoyed it so much. She takes advantage of the presence of Chen and Martin to keep baking. And one of the things she makes is scones.  I also make scones, though I have zero nine-year-olds and also zero potential cousins hanging around. I've been using the same recipe for about 45 years, since Fort William Historical Park opened. It's a pretty foolproof recipe, which is why I keep making it, although I did have some performance anxiety around it this year after accidentally substituting baking SODA for POWDER (WHY???? Such a rookie move.). Regardless! This week, a review of Making Up the Gods, as well as a link to the Blueberry Scones recipe I use, appears at Canadian Cookbooks! Here's a link to the review. The recipe is linked in the text ...

August held lots of weather. Hot and humid days worthy of June in Oklahoma, cool rainy days hearkening back to April (perhaps? March?) in Oklahoma, and a share of those cool night/bright and sunny days that are so typical of Augusts of my memory. And now it's September, with its "back to school" or even "the other new year" vibe. Certainly my holiday is over--my sister has gone back home to her regular life, the weather is changing further, events are beginning again in town.  AND! Some of those events on the horizon include me! First, on September 17, I'll be doing a joint signing with David Giuliano at Thunder Bay's Indigo location from 11 to 1. We'll share short readings, discuss our books, and sign whatever you like!  David is a fellow Latitude 46 Publishing author. His award-winning novel, THE UNDERTAKING OF BILLY BUFFONE, is set in Marathon and is a satisfying, layered who- and why-dunnit. A former Moderator of the United Church of Canada, he...

We don't garden, exactly, but there's a rosebush on the septic field that produces lovely small blooms in August.  It also gets kind of weedy, and in previous years, I've taken some pruning shears to what appeared to me to be "dead branches." Did I know what I was doing? Nope. Did I do any research? Nah. I was just doing what was obvious. (Narrator: not so obvious.) This year, we had little snow and (in spite of a lot of rain in June), a relatively hot and dryish summer, so our well has been iffy. On occasion, we top it up from the lake, using the pump system at the camp next door.  This year, when I'm not actively putting water from the garden hose into the well (and no, we don't drink the well water), I've been leaving the (somewhat leaky) spray gun on the septic field. I also had the bright idea of leaving it close to the base of the rosebush. And this has been the result!   In case those photos aren't clear, green leaves and some blooms are spr...

I so enjoy talking with readers and other folks about Making Up the Gods. Each person has a lens through which they read anything, and combining that with their life experiences and the moment through which they're living can be really powerful. Thinking about it, I've often said, "This is the right book for me at the right time." And, of course, a different view--"This isn't the right time for this book for me" or "Hmm, I don't seem to personally *like* this type of book." In any case, I've recently been fortunate to have several public discussions about my book and its themes: grief and loss, home and place, choices and communication. They're collected on the Making Up the Gods page, linked above, as well as in individual posts. Here are the latest two: Podcast: Let's Talk About Grief with Anne, on how grief can be a powerful motivator to make changes.  YouTube: Shawn Breathes Books , in which Shawn Mooney and I have a great ...

One of the distinct pleasures of interviews after publishing a book is the chance to chat with someone who's read the book and asks questions about these imaginary friends you're missing.  That's a new roof! Every interview/conversation is different, because people have unique needs for their own media outlet, but some questions overlap. As a result, I'm getting better at describing what my book is about and how it started and why it's stayed with me.  And at last I'm finally developing a better understanding why publishers and others in the book community ask the question, "What would you like readers to take away from this book?" It feels presumptuous to prescribe what a reader might take away from my book. But that's also, in a way, why I work at the book in the first place.  I may begin a writing project because it's interesting to me or pushes me artistically. I may stay with it because I'm trying to figure something out, and I'm n...