The Trouble with Mandy

Shirley Bigelow DeKelver, current President of the Shuswap Writer's Group, has published her new book, "The Trouble with Mandy," a novel for young teens.

Her novel release was featured in the Shuswap A.M. community newspaper:

To read more about Shirley, and to learn how to order her new book, you can visit her website at: www.shirleydekelver.com

Where is Salmon Arm?

Sharlee Plett is currently living in Salmon Arm, British Columbia.  So where in the world is Salmon Arm?

Just for the fun of it, this post will start with a global view, then zoom in more and more and end with local photographs of the Salmon Area.  Be sure to click on the links -- they open to satellite views from FlashEarth, which you can zoom in and out to see greater and lesser detail.  (Note: links are in blue)

North America

We'll start with a map showing a global view of North America, courtesy of Wikipedia.

North America is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the North and the Caribbean Sea to the South.

North American countries include: Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & The Grenadine, Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States of America.

Canada

Canada occupies the northern part of North America, and is bounded by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the United States of America to the south.

West to east, there are ten provinces in Canada: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland-Labrador.  In the far north, there are three territories: Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Map of British Columbia showing the location of Salmon Arm.

Salmon Arm, is in south-central British Columbia.

It gets its name from the Shuswap Lake, which has four long arms, one of which is named the "Salmon Arm," the arm that connects to the Salmon River.

Salmon Arm is part of the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, which include the cities of Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Revelstoke, Golden.

Smaller communities include: Anglemont, Blind Bay, Celista, Craigellachie, Eagle Bay, Falkland, Malakwa, Notch Hill, Ranchero, Scotch Creek, Silver Creek, Sorrento, Sunnybrae, Swansea Point, Tappen and White Lake.

Trans-Canada Highway #1 runs right through the middle of the city of Salmon Arm.  On the map to the left, you can see that it is right on the shores of the Shuswap Lake.

It is a 5 to 6 hour drive to Vancouver, on the west coast of British Columbia and a 6 - 7 hour drive to Calgary, Alberta.

It is a four season area, with distinctive weather for spring, summer, autumn and fall.

It can be remarkably hot in the summer time and yes, it snows in the winter, with the first snows usually arriving in mid December and sticking around until late March.


      The Shuswap region is drop-dead beautiful with its pine forests, mountain plateaus and fresh water lakes.

The Salmon River, where it connects with the Shuswap Lake ~ Photograph by Sharlee Plett

The Shuswap River at Enderby, B.C. ~ Photograph by Sharlee Plett

The Secret - Short Story by Sharlee Plett

In the fall of 2011, Sharlee Plett participated in a weekly writer's meeting in Salmon Arm, B.C.  Each writer brought their original short pieces for reading at the meeting, created from the weekly "homework assignment" given at the end of each class.  

As an example, the homework assignment might be to write a story that included a list of words.  Each word had to appear in the story or poem.  Another type of assignment might be that the story had to begin or end with a particular paragraph or sentence.

It was surprising and fascinating to hear the different ideas that were drawn from each assignment, as each author wove their tale from their own perspective and style.

"The Secret" was a short story written by Sharlee Plett from one of the homework assignments.

You can read Sharlee Plett's version of the homework assignment at her site on the Writer's Network:
The Secret - A Short Story by Sharlee Plett


If you live in the Salmon Arm area of the Shuswap, and you love to write or would like to, consider meeting up with the Shuswap Writer's Group.

This wonderful group of people always begin their meetings with a reading of their Mission Statement:

Our goal is to provide mutual support in a safe, encouraging and positive environment as we each develop our writing skills and flex our creative muscles.   

When it is requested, feedback and evaluation of a member's work will be done in an atmosphere of sincerity and empathy, keeping in mind that it is the evaluator's opinion only. 

As we explore the poetic world of imagination  individual goals will be respected; where one member may be committed to publish, another member may be writing for their own personal pleasure.  All paths are honored.   

It is our intention to evolve as writers.

If not, you might want to feature your work on the Writer's Network.  You can set up your own profile, publish your work, and receive feedback from other members on the network.

Sharlee Plett - Writer's Network Profile