About
Call me eclectic
I’m an author, writer/editor, and writing instructor/coach 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 am author of the children’s book Gracie’s Got a Secret (MW Books, 2011).
Besides writing the book Vancouver’s Electric Trolley 1948-1998, I have co-authored Vancouver’s Glory Years, published by Whitecap Books in Vancouver. As a screenwriter, I have written a 20-minute documentary A New Way: An Organic Garden Changes Lives and co-written two Bravo! TV short films. I also wrote segments for Hopscotch, a brief television show aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Vancouver.
Teaching with intuition
I am a creative writing instructor for the City of Port Moody in a program started by Douglas College. I also teach screenwriting at Powell River Digital Film School.
I have taught writing at Pull Focus Film School in Vancouver and in Continuing Education at Capilano University in Sechelt, BC. In For five years, I taught creative writing to adults with mental illness through Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, also in Sechelt. Teaching gives me great satisfaction; there is always more to learn from my students.
Some of the many magazines from my freelance writing work
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.
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.
Some of the many books and publications from my editing work
Editing with a keen eye
I have edited books, newsletters, magazines, web content, poetry and fiction, student writing, film/TV treatments, and corporate materials. While a communications manager at BC Transit, I edited and oversaw the employee newsletter.
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 for a variety of publishers and served as guest editor for The Local newspaper on the Sunshine Coast. I have done writing, editing, and consulting with Sustainability Television and Pacific Wild.
Some of the many corporate publications from my writing work
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.
Some of my many SoulCollage® images (from left): The Fool; Source; Witness Self; filmmaker Velcrow Ripper
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 inner awareness. To find out more, see www.sunshinecoastsoulcollage.ca.
At home in the Creek
I live and work in both Vancouver and 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.
Most of all, I like to work at home, surrounded by cedars and birds, watching the two bald eagles who live nearby soaring in blue sky. I live about 30 metres 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.
Find out more about me at www.heatherconn.com.
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