About
Call me eclectic
I’m an author, freelance writer/editor, writing instructor/coach and communications consultant who lives near Vancouver, B.C. on Canada’s west coast. I’ve written for more than 50 publications (e.g. The Globe and Mail, The Greater Vancouver Book, The Vancouver Sun, The Georgia Straight) and have co-authored Vancouver’s Glory Years, published by Whitecap Books in Vancouver. As a screenwriter, I have co-written two Bravo! TV short films, and wrote segments for Hopscotch, a brief television show aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Vancouver.
Teaching with intuition
I teach travel writing in Continuing Education at Capilano University in Sechelt, BC. I have taught creative writing to adults with mental illness for five years through Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, also in Sechelt. Teaching gives me great satisfaction; there is always more to learn from my students.
Besides group classes, I enjoy coaching writers one-on-one, whether they’re beginner or intermediate. I help people initiate, shape and complete story ideas, book projects, personal essays . . . any written venture that requires encouragement and clear direction.
I have taught professional writing full-time at Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC and Introduction to Journalism at the Kootenay School of Writing in Vancouver. A favorite focus is inspiring students to use writing as a tool in personal transformation. I have offered the latter type of courses through the Vancouver School Board, Simon Fraser University at Harbour Centre, and in private workshops. The works of Natalie Goldberg (Wild Mind) and Deena Metzger (Writing for Your Life) have provided much rich material for my curriculum.
Editing with a keen eye
I recently served as guest editor for The Local newspaper on the Sunshine Coast. I do editorial and consulting work with Sustainability Television and Pacific Wild. For almost five years, I served as editor-in-chief for PeopleTalk magazine, the province-wide publication of the B.C. Human Resources Management Association. I have edited books, newsletters, magazines, web content, poetry and fiction, student writing, film/TV treatments, and corporate materials.
Writing in the corporate world
I served as corporate communications manager for BC Transit and editorial director for Century Communications Corporation in Vancouver. I’ve conceived, written, and managed many publications from brochures and annual reports to employee booklets.
Reaching out in a visual way
As a photographer, I have taken images for books, magazines, and newsletters and have exhibited my photos in solo and group shows, both juried and non-juried.
I teach SoulCollage workshops, a fun, intuitive way to celebrate your many aspects of self and to deepen your spiritual self-awareness. To find out more, see www.sunshinecoastsoulcollage.ca.
At home in the Creek
Most of all, I like to work at home, surrounded by cedars and birds, watching the two bald eagles who live across the road soaring in blue sky. I live about 100 feet from the favored waters of Roberts Creek, where I can watch salmon heading upstream to spawn. From the mouth of the creek, which opens into the Pacific Ocean, my husband and I launch our kayaks and go for a quiet paddle. I love where I live on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, only a 40-minute ferry ride northwest of Vancouver. It feels like an island here but we’re part of the mainland coast. There is no road access between Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast; you can only get here by air or sea. Living like this in two parallel worlds, the city and country, is ideal.
Find out more about me at www.heatherconn.com.