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A Novel Journey E-newsletter Subscription

Subscribe to A Novel Journey , a free bi-monthly newsletter, that takes you along with Ann as she writes her next novel. 

  

Decomposing Maggie

If you denied your loved one's last dying wish, would you blame them for haunting you?

Maggie Cooper has lost sight of the living. Three years after her husband Peter's death, Maggie is estranged from her daughter and removed from her son. She wears Peter's one remaining item of clothing - a spattered sweatshirt - and spends more than the occasional night sleeping in her car, away from the memories of their once-shared bed.

In the Hands of Anubis

Now available as an E-book !

Replete with coyotes, dog-headed gods and broken tractors, In The Hands Of Anubis is a wonderfully playful exploration of human relationships and the unexpected guides we meet in life.

Trevor Wallace, a tractor salesman with a lost childhood and a stalled relationship, is en route to Africa on business. In the Frankfurt airport he stumbles over the bag of Constance Ebenezer, a gregarious old lady travelling the world with extraordinary contraband in her luggage.

Falling From Grace

Now available as an E-book !

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that make all the difference—like chromosomes, sperm, tiny bugs or an endangered seabird that nests in an old-growth forest. But, what’s big or what’s little depends entirely on your perspective.

At three feet ten inches tall, Faye Pearson knows all about perspective. A scientist doing entomological research in the tallest trees on Vancouver Island, Faye’s struggle to function in a world not made for people her size is poignant and heartwarming.

May 14, 2013: Walk Your Way to Mental Health

If the state of the publishing industry is driving you crazy, I suggest you go out for a walk. Recent studies have revealed “strong evidence to demonstrate the ability of exercise to in fact treat mental illness and have significant benefits on a neurotrophic, neurobiologic basis," (Douglas Noordsy, MD, at Psych Congress 2012: US Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress.). Translated into English this means that in some cases, the benefits from exercise have been shown to match that of psychiatric drugs and to extend remission in the long term. The strongest evidence was seen in cases of depression (surprise!) but was also significant for anxiety and dementia. While evidence about the impact of exercise on core symptoms of more serious psychiatric disorders is less strong, in one study, patients with chronic schizophrenia who jogged for 40 minutes 3 times a week showed significant decreases in symptoms of depression, anxiety, phobias and obsessive compulsive behaviours.

Ann's Blog: The Ecology of Writing

Ann Eriksson - Author and BiologistWelcome to my blog about writing and ecology (or the ecology of writing). In the spring of 2011, I started producing a free email newsletter called A Novel Journey, which takes subscribers along with me as I write my new novel (working title: High Clear Bell of Morning).  The newsletter has generated a lot of interest and I have been encouraged to direct the content to a wider online audience, hence the beginning of my blogging career. While you can read all the back issues of the newsletter here, I thought I would focus the blog on a subset of topics about writing, editing, and publishing, as well as the environmental and social issues which I often write about in my novels such as forest conservation, marine ecology, environmental toxins, mental illness and homelessness to name a few. Occasionally I might include something unrelated simply because it interests me.

I plan to post a new blog at least once a week so check back here frequently or let me know you are interested in receiving notices of new blog posts by sending me an email through my contact page, following me on Twitter or by friending me on Facebook. Until I've figured out an integrated format for comments, you can comment on my blog posts via my contact page.

Thanks for your interest! Ann