Upcoming Events. 2019

February 1 (Friday). OLA (Ontario Library Association) Superconference. Crime Writers of Canada members present short pitches (2 to 3 min) on their current books -1 to 2 p.m. Metro Convention Centre Toronto

February 20 (Weds) The Writers Union of Canada (TWUC). Panel on Writers' Groups. Glad Day Bookshop.  Church & Wellesley. Patricia Westerhof., Allan Weiss,  Heather Wood, & MLD
.
February 28 (Thurs) Noir at The Bar.. 7 pm  Wallace Gastro Pub. Reading (Christian Baines, Mary Lou Dickinson, Michael Januska, Kim Moritsugu, Jon Sheppard, Jennifer Soosas)
954 Yonge St., at Davisville, Toronto.

March 7 (Thurs.) Novel Idea Books 7 pm (Kingston, ON). Readings and Q&A with Lisa de Nikolits, Mary Lou Dickinson, Ursula Pflug, & Elizabeth Greene

March 12 (Tues)      Book Club (Toronto)  Private

March 21 (Thurs)    University Women’s Club, East York  Speech 7.30 pm

March 31 (Sun)       Famous Last Words (to be confirmed) evening

 April 10 (Weds)     Book Club (Toronto) evening Private

April 18 (Thurs)     Panel 7 pm (Authors from Crime Writers of Canada whose mysteries are set in Toronto at Sisters in   Crime meeting) Sharon Crawford, Lisa de Nikolits, Mary Lou Dickinson, &  Desmond Ryan. With special guest, Maureen Jennings.. At Northern District  Library. Open to the public. $5.non members of SINC..

A Writer's Life. A New Year. And it begins on an especially good note.

What a gift to arrive home late on New Year's Eve to find this on Facebook as part of a post by Jeffery Round about books he had read an liked over the season. Many thanks to Jeffery, a fine writer himself.

"The White Ribbon Man by Mary Lou Dickinson (Inanna) – every once in a while you come across a book that has so much heart you just want to hug it. This is one of them, but the surprise is that it’s also an adroitly told whodunit. Dickinson takes Toronto’s famous Church of the Holy Trinity (behind the Eaton Centre) and creates not only an intimate portrait of the community that revolves around it, but also the prickly details of a murder and its suspects, including the church's sleep-walking pastor. A highly enjoyable read, it also offers some perceptive insights into the psychic ills of our times."

Jeffery Round on Facebook. Dec. 31, 2018.

Looking for Titles: The Happy Retire?; subtitle?

Yes, the heading of this post does indicate I am writing a book about retirement. If you are thinking of retiring or have just recently taken this step, I would be interested in interviewing you. If you are interested, please message me on Facebook! Or send an email to marylou.dickinson@gmail.com.

Below is a short Foreward to the book. It could be changed, of course, since I am at an early stage in the writing of this book. But reading it will give you a brief introduction as my work begins around this interesting subject.

Foreward

I often thought I could have written a book for people thinking of retirement because I have found that in this later stage of life much has come to fruition. But as an author of four books of fiction, all published since I retired, why would I want to write a non fiction book? Then I discovered why. It seemed many people wanted and were asking for such a book.

            What holds the contents of this book together are the stories of many lives that have my own story threaded in and out of them. I am grateful for the willingness of these people to share significant parts of their journeys with me. So this is something that I have written from their interest in contributing to a project they felt worthwhile and from my own experience.

            I used a questionnaire to interview the people whose stories are shared in this book (see Addendum). Some interviewees asked for anonymity and I have respected that either by using a name they suggested or by creating a pseudonym. I have not included any surnames, whether the name is a pseudonym or not. This part of the project of writing this book that involved conversations with many people as well as having questionnaires filled in was both interesting and fun.  I have talked with people in person, on the telephone, on Skype and have received written answers and letters from others. Many thanks to those who offered and/or agreed to participate!

Life of a Writer: Reading this Sunday in Hamilton

Looking forward to reading at LitLive in Hamllton this coming Sunday.(See below).
A request to the universe: Could winter be held off a few more days at least! xo

‎Moribund Facekvetch‎ to Lit Live Reading Series, Hamilton Ontario

October 8 at 8:31 PM

Taken with permission. I was fascinated by the way the comb of hair fell forward when he leaned over to read whatever had captured his attention on his cell phone.

Elevator Chatter.

I get on an elevator on the 12th floor. A couple of floors lower four people with small suitcases on rollers get on, three women, one man. They are talking and laughing. 

“I’ve had that argument with my husband already,” one woman says. “I don’t want to approach it that way again.” 

They all continue to laugh and chatter. The elevator stops again and another woman with a small suitcase gets on. They pick up the same conversation, laughing some more. They seem to know the new woman. I wonder what they do. They do not wear anything that would identify that, such as an airline insignia. And they are well dressed in different colours.

I don’t know why I say what I am thinking out loud. It is usually not greeted that well to jump into a group conversation, but they all chuckle.

“I will have to make up some story about what you are talking about,” I say.

“Presto card,”. One of them says.

Ohmygoodness, How boring is that. And all that laughter, too. I ought not to have asked. My fabricated story would have been a lot more interesting.

The Writer's Life: Writing A New Book.

I am about to venture into my first non fiction title. I am not about to divulge the main title at this point, but the subtitle is:

          "What You Need To Know Now About Retirement."

Any suggestions about what you would like to see included are welcome. Or questions you might have that you think would be beneficial for others. This will be a book that will relate the stories of people who are approaching retirement. Rather than overloading the book with information that is likely out there in the many books published on the subject, my hope is to engage readers with questions that are pivotal for them to have a fulfilling retirement. Good heavens, this might mean that in the years that most would retire if they could, you might choose to go on working, perhaps part time, if you have the option. Or you might decide to travel around the world. The key point is that it will make your own retirement all the more rewarding if you think about it beforehand and deal with a lot of questions you may not have thus far even considered!.

Please let me know what you would like me to consider!
Also if you would like to be interviewed!

My first four books are fiction titles:
   One Day It Happens (short stories) 2007
   Ile d'Or (Novel) 2010
   Would I Lie To You? (Novel) 2014
   The White Ribbon Man (Mystery) 2018