Nellie Bly is an amazing woman who set the bar for investigative journalism a decade or so before the turn of the century.  Not the last one.  The one before that.  The things that she did were unheard of for a woman of that time period.  One of those things was to try to beat Jules Verne’s fictitious Phineas Fogg’s record of circumnavigating the globe in 80 days.  Go to this page to find out a bit more about Nellie’s trip around the world.  (SPOILER ALERT – she beats him!)  Nellie first earned her notoriety by allowing herself to be locked up in a madhouse on New York City’s Blackwell’s Island and then publishing the story of her experience.   To say the treatment of the imprisoned women in the facility was horrendous is a serious understatement.  Because of Nellie’s work, a grand jury convened to investigate the situation at the asylum.  As a result, almost a million dollars was put into the mental health system and many improvements were made.   I had the pleasure of narrating “10 Days in a Madhouse” earlier this year.  It’s a fascinating story and I highly recommend you give it a listen.  You can download it here.

Wishing you all a happy 125th anniversary of Nellie’s circumnavigation of the globe in ???? days. (You have to read the article noted above to get the answer to that question!)

#NellieBly #10daysinamadhouse #bravewomen #earlyfeminist #journalism

Will and I had a very interesting discussion the other night.   I gotta say, this interview did not go the way I thought it would.  Great fun though.  I hope you enjoy listening!

As part of the June is Audiobook Month promotion, I was asked by Tantor to prepare an audio about my experiences in the Summer Shorts program.  Which I did and which you can listen to here!

Good Listens Recording

Yes, I realize that it’s July.  But my new website was just launched on June 27  (thanks be to my web guy, Chuck Burke  (burkec005@hawaii.rr.com) so I couldn’t really post this before then because I didn’t actually know how to do it (Chuck just taught me that yesterday).  Besides, the blog post that I’m going to talk about was just released on June 27 so give me a break already – geez!  Oh, and happy birthday Canada!  Happy Canada Day Canadians!

So, back to June.  I was so, so, SO blessed to have been included in Going Public’s “June is Audiobook Month” promotion.   Every day during the month of June, at least one story, poem or essay was available for a free listen on Going Public’s website.  Thanks to Tantor Audio for their production and distribution services.  And thanks to award winning narrator Xe Sands who was the executive producer of the whole affair, responsible for organizing 40 plus narrators and 40 plus blog writers to create Summer Shorts ’14.  The entire collection is available for purchase from Tantor Audio with all of the proceeds going to ProLiteracy, an international literacy organization.

I narrated two pieces in the collection, both written by my author friend, Jane Cawthorne.  Something as Big as A Mountain was included as part of the free daily listens and Weight is one of the bonus titles.  Jane and I were interviewed by Michelle Erin for her blog My books. My Life.   You can read the blog post here.

Even though the June free listens are over, don’t despair ’cause you can purchase the entire collection online forever and ever and ever from Tantor Audio!

Welcome to my most beautiful new website! After much collaboration with my web designer, Chuck Burke chuck@charleskburke.com. I am so, so, SO pleased with the result. This site is so much more “me” than my old one was. Take a look around – I think you’ll agree.

I set myself a goal earlier this year to write at least four blog posts per year. I think this will be number two so, on track! I’d like to do more. Goodness knows I’m always coming up with ideas for blog posts; usually when I’m trying to go to sleep or when I’m in the bath. Often, I’ll write the entire post in my head. Like this one. The first blog post on my new website – an important one! It was completely written in my head a couple of nights ago. It was spectacular, funny, profound, insightful. It would have changed lives!

Sadly, I neglected to get out of bed and write it down. “I’ll remember it,” I said confidently to myself. Now, here I sit, blank paper in front of me, and not a single clue as to what that brilliant post was about. Heavy sigh. I even downloaded an app to my phone a few months ago that allows me to speak into it and it will convert my conversation into text, which I can just email to myself for such an occasion. Unfortunately, I don’t sleep with my phone. I know, many do. Any of you who are or who have teenagers know this. Alas, I don’t. But I know what I need. Maybe what we all need.

I need to live on the starship Enterprise. I need to be able to say “Computer, write this down” as I continue to lie comfortably in my bed, eyes closed, ready to drift off. “Future blog post,” I’d say. “This is the answer to solving all of the problems of the universe,” I’d say. When I awoke in the morning, I would have all the answers. Instead, I am left asking myself why I didn’t get out of bed and get my phone or at least a pen and some paper. ANYTHING so that the problems of the universe could be solved!

Unfortunately, my lack of preparedness leaves me currently unable to solve those particular problems. I have solved one problem however; the problem of never again losing those wonderful blogs written in bed or the bath. Henceforth, I shall sleep and bathe with my iPhone. Thank goodness for waterproof cases.

Enjoy my new site. I’ll let you know if I remember how to solve the problems of the universe.

I don’t really pay much attention to this New Year’s Resolution stuff anymore. Well, except that I recognize that OTHER people making resolutions makes January a great time to sell that exercise equipment I bought a few years ago when I was still making resolutions! (Mental note – post ad to sell elliptical trainer)

One thing I really want to do, however, is write a blog. I stumble onto blog post ideas on a regular basis so I have notes and little slips of paper stuck in books and drawers and cupboards all over my office and my bedroom and electronic notes on my desktop, my laptop and my tablet. I have enough ideas to post blogs for a long time to come. Problem is, I just never seem to be able to find the time to actually write the damn things. I have people who follow my website as well as my Twitter account and I have friends and business associates on Facebook and Linked In. Every time I am notified of a new friend or follower or associate, I feel this pang of guilt for having all these interesting thoughts and not sharing them. So, in order to assuage my guilt, I am committing to posting FOUR BLOG ARTICLES THIS YEAR. I am NOT calling this a new year’s resolution. This is an annual goal. It is simply a coincidence that it happens to be being set at the beginning of a new year. Not a new year’s resolution so I shall have no problem achieving this goal, right? I should give myself some kind of reward when I get to the fourth posting. I have some time to think about what that will be. Suggestions welcome!

So, this is number one. I’m getting to be of an age where I’m being invited to more funerals than weddings. So, I’m reading and/or listening to obituaries a lot. Which got me to wondering about what my obituary would say. What would I want it to say? What things are important to a person when they reach the end of their life, when their time to do and be and accomplish is over? What do I want to overhear my friends and family and business associates saying about me after I’m gone? (Cause you know I plan to be that fly on the wall listening in!) As a performer, I am used to reading reviews of my work. It’s nice when they’re flattering and can sting when they aren’t but, at the end of the day, they are just opinions. Maybe we can learn from them and our work can improve, maybe we just need to ignore them and move on. Your eulogy is like the review of your life. And there are no do overs – no improving with practice. Some people believe in reincarnation but my understanding of reincarnation is that we don’t generally recall our past lives so, even if I am reincarnated as that fly on the wall, I’m not going to be able to learn from my past experiences. I need to do my learning this time around. So, here’s an exercise. Write your dream eulogy. What would be said about you? What would your significant other say? Your parents, siblings, children, grandchildren? Your friends, your neighbors, your business associates, the guy who runs the corner store, your boss, your staff? When you are done, compare what is said in your dream eulogy to what would be said about you by these same people were you to die tomorrow. Are you happy with what you have discovered? How close are the two? If there’s a gap, it needs your attention. Find out what you need to do to close the gap and start doing it. You can become the person you want to be. Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out what that is and how to get there. Hope this exercise helps!

In closing my first blog post of 2014, I want to share this new year’s wish that I read the other day. This is my wish for all of you.

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art – write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

~ Neil Gaiman

Treacherous Heart premiered in Calgary, Alberta on May 31, 2012 at Chinook’s Scotiabank Cineplex Theatre and on June 2, 2012 at the Globe Cinema. The film will be premiering internationally soon – stay tuned!

Back in 1971, when “The Waltons” premiered on CBS, no one realized the popularity and longevity that the series would enjoy. For nine seasons, it dominated the ratings, winning numerous Emmy, Golden Globe and People’s Choice Awards. It also broke new ground in network television—proof that a show about family, and family values, could succeed even as the world’s values began changing. Read more here.