by Danielle | Mar 28, 2023 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
“Are we covering up the tattoos?” called the young woman from the dressing room. Her friend, the bride-to-be, scoffed in reply. “We would never cover up Mama Jade and Raven Sky.” She turned to me. “Her ancestors,” she whispered with...
by Danielle | Feb 28, 2023 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
At precisely 7:55, I begin to close up the gallery. For the past eight hours, I have had one customer (an elderly woman asking to use our washroom) and one phone call (wrong number). This has got to be the least successful art gallery in Canada. But why do I even...
by Danielle | Feb 7, 2023 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
*excerpt from my novel-in-progress, The Lonely People “I don’t have the energy for her,” said Sarah with a flip of her thick brown hair as she and Manfred walked a local, heavily-wooded trail on a mild February afternoon. The sun was high above them,...
by Danielle | Jan 17, 2023 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
She moved through the trees with ease as if it was where she came from—as if she had been rooted and born here. Her long black hair draped gracefully over her dark green cape, and her worn brown boots made the barest of thuds against the mossy floor of the forest. He...
by Danielle | Jan 12, 2023 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
I gathered her hair in my hands and attempted the braid she requested. My daughter, now nine years old, was keenly aware of her appearance and valued it. She was particular about colours (bright) about pants (tight) and about jewelry (never too much). To me, this...
by Danielle | Dec 31, 2022 | Blog Post |
Excerpt from The Sweetwood Series, Book 2 Back at the hotel, Jacob headed straight for the shower knowing it was the only way to ensure his mother would leave him alone. Minutes later though, she was knocking at the door. “Darlin’? Jacob, honey, it’s your mother.” He...
by Danielle | Dec 30, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
Because some days, we don’t know where we want to go; we just know we’re not ready to go home. I always landed at her doorstep. She was everyone I had ever known and all of those whom I still had yet to meet. She had eyes that knew, with irises that were...
by Danielle | Dec 20, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
I told her I felt better. A week-long, nasty cold had finally abated. “Thank goodness,” she replied. “With all the work we (as women, as mothers) have in December, it’s a very good thing.” Yes, December means ‘more’: more...
by Danielle | Nov 30, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
I know how this goes, and yet I fall for it every time. I fall for the drama, the who’s right and who’s wrong of it all. It’s so easy to get caught up in the noise and distraction. You just want attention. You don’t want my heart…. This...
by Danielle | Nov 17, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
It’s cold, but the wind has died down, so I decide to walk. I stick to the salty sidewalks and avoid ice patches. I want to reach out to my brother, Wes, so I take my phone out and send him a quick text: I did it. I went out, met strangers, and I survived! He...
by Danielle | Nov 8, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
The city bus in downtown Niagara Falls is quiet. Tourists take the casino buses. It’s just me, some teenagers and an elderly woman with her shopping basket on wheels. My nerves are in my throat; I swallow them, but it doesn’t work. The tension slides down...
by Danielle | Nov 1, 2022 | Blog Post, Podcast Episode |
There’s a meme out there that says something along the lines of: “I’m always writing a story in my head.” This is my experience. I play out the life around me in my head to understand, to foster compassion. This, for me, is part of the process...
