Living in the US, I learned to advocate for my own healthcare. Support groups helped me know what questions to ask. They helped me when I had odd symptoms and couldn't reach my doctor. They helped me know what was normal and what needed urgent attention.

I did this thing. I started a new podcast. Definitely not famous: More extra than ordinary.

In this episode of Definitely Not Famous, host Rebecca Hogue interviews...

I am writing the Going East book in present tense. This brings the reader along with us, as if they are sitting on the bicycle seat along for the ride. I recall my English classes, being taught not to mix my tenses. And yet, as a creative writer, that is exactly what I'm learning to do. I'm learning to be intentional about my use of tense, but also using tense as a way to shift time.

When writing memoir, where do you draw the line? Can dialogue be made up if it helps propel the story forward, and the essence of it is true? When you read memoir, does dialogue make you trust the author less?

The eBook version of my book Never knew I wanted to be a breast cancer survivor, will be free to download on Amazon today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday). Also, if you are Kindle Unlimited, you can read it anytime for free. If you read it, I ask that you please, please, pretty please, leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads or both.

The eBook version of my book Never knew I wanted to be a breast cancer survivor, will be free to download on Amazon today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday). Also, if you are Kindle Unlimited, you can read it anytime for free. If you read it, I ask that you please, please, pretty please, leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads or both.

Never knew I wanted to be a breast cancer survivor: A young survivor's story [Hogue, Rebecca J.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Never knew I wanted to be a breast cancer survivor: A young survivor's story

I did my first real author reading at a conference on Saturday - the Fantastic Grown-up Book Fair happened to be located about a half hour drive from my house. I decided to sign up to do an author reading - figuring I might as well try jumping into the community of local authors. There were a lot of self-published local authors at the fair.

At Ever Forward Books, we believe honest stories shape lives. We publish memoirs that explore the raw beauty of personal experience — from the silent strength of surviving cancer to the transformativ...

When you are certain When you are certain, your emotions run high. When you are certain, you can easily be triggered. When you are certain, you can be wrong. I was certain.

As part of my reconciliation responsibility, I am committing to updating my land acknowledgement on an annual basis. As a descendant of a settler, it is my responsibility to learn more about the Indigenous communities who walked this land well before my ancestors arrived. Ever Forward Books is located in Sin So’sepe’katik (sin-SO-say’bay-a-tik), the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, known today as Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

Kristen Jokinen’s Joy Ride is a memoir chronicling a 21-month cycling journey from Alaska to Argentina—the Americas from North to South, with her husband, Ville. Throughout the over 18,000 mi…

“The road immediately grows darker under the mountain’s shadow. Evergreens shade the highway; what little light we receive comes through the narrow sliver of leaden sky overhead...while the highway shoulder is thinner than a slice of toast. Alisha and I switch on our bike lights, but compared to car headlights our beams appear pitiful. As inconsequential as fireflies darting around porch lights.” (Hackinen, 2019, 75)

Cycling along the northern shore of Lake Superior between Thunder Bay and Wawa, I notice how few towns and services there are. We can ride for four to six hours without passing a gas station or convenience store, making me appreciate every mom-and-pop shop that appears out of nowhere on these long stretches of lake, rocks, and trees.

After several hours of pedalling in the heat of the afternoon sun, we pull into a small convenience store. We know we will be wild camping tonight, so we need to find a source of water, not just for drinking now, but also for cooking dinner tonight and wiping our sweaty bodies down before sleeping. We also hope to top up the charge on our laptop.

I have a knot in my stomach. I'm scared. I feel like an impostor. Will the water be too cold? Can I get back on the board in deep water? These thoughts are running through my mind as I prepare to leave. 

I have a knot in my stomach. I'm scared. I feel like an impostor. Will the water be too cold? Can I get back on the board in deep water? These thoughts are running through my mind as I prepare to leave. 

Getting a campsite on weekends in this part of Nova Scotia during tourist season is almost impossible unless you’ve booked in advance, so we opt for boondocking. We decided to check out the coast southeast of Shelburne, closer to Yarmouth, somewhere we’d never really explored.

Kristen Jokinen's Joy Ride is a memoir chronicling a 21-month cycling journey from Alaska to Argentina—the Americas from North to South, with her husband, Ville. Throughout the over 18,000 miles of their journey, they endured bad weather, rough roads, and dog attacks. Primarily living in their tent, on a limited budget, they met many people as they sought out places to place their tent at night.

Me: Since my swelling is mostly in the areas where I had liposuction, I think a referral to a plastic surgeon would be a good next step. Dr.: You'll need to go to a private clinic for that. Me: No, sorry, the liposuction was part of my breast reconstruction surgery. This might be a long-term side effect of that reconstruction. I'm asking for a referral to a specific surgeon at the cancer centre who is familiar with the type of microsurgery I had in California.