Storytelling. Fact and fiction. One word at a time.
The Restorative Sauna Session I've found myself in the middle of a very lovely group of earthy women. I know a few of them from my belly dancing days. We had a super fun sauna experience on Sunday, which included a group photo of our bare bums in the cold prairie. Yes, I said bums.... Continue Reading →
I found the following quote cut up and taped together in one of my bins of collage materials that I’ve been curating for over three decades. A completed sentence ends with a small black dot, but that’s how epiphanies begin. A coffee bean. A tiny, good thing from the earth. But the best ones have... Continue Reading →
On my way to Edmonton for the Oilers–Bruins hockey game, my friend Ashlee sent me a message wishing me a safe trip. She included a screenshot of a conversation she’d had with a colleague on their work chat platform. Colleague: Good morning, Ashlee. Are you the Ashlee Ballan that Angie Counios acknowledged in her book... Continue Reading →
I’m not a fan of shopping or buying much, but what I have bought into is Christmas. It took some time, but I did it. I love Christmas. I fell in love by the spoken law of a beautiful older Greek woman. You can read about it here. And over the years that I have... Continue Reading →
New Year, New Me?Nah. I like the current me quite a bit. I like the tenacity I’ve shown over the years of teaching and writing—lugging heavy boxes of books to book fairs, chatting with new readers and fans of our books. I like the openness I bring when welcoming new folks into our book world.... Continue Reading →
Fan mail that is... Paranoid about spam, I clicked on an email I didn’t recognize. The name was Ali. I do not know an Ali. Turns out it was not spam at all. It was a forward from my WordPress contact page. And it was fan mail! I got FAN MAIL. Here’s what she said:... Continue Reading →
I was leaving school. It had been a long day. There was a lot of cleanup and correcting to do in the art studio at this old school. The burden of my backpack reminded me I still had work to finish. I pushed open the door, having spent the entire day inside. A warm breeze... Continue Reading →
Taking care I loved books so dearly that I read them while keeping them in pristine condition. I was careful about where I read, and if a book ventured out into the world with me, it traveled safely in a Ziploc bag. They often looked untouched. To me, they were tender storytellers, and I treated... Continue Reading →
I have a peony bush in my backyard with about fifteen giant, soft-pink blooms. Every morning on my way to the car, I stop to sniff them—because really, isn’t that the best way to start the day? It's the small things in life One morning, I leaned in toward the biggest blossom. Peonies aren’t just... Continue Reading →
Did you know that?Well, now you do. I came across a post from Mikro Karavaki Bookstore (Little Ship Bookstore) today on Facebook. I follow them—they’re based in Greece and always manage to stop me in my scroll with their thoughtful posts and beautifully curated images. There's something intentional and eye-catching about their aesthetic. I’m drawn... Continue Reading →
Angie Counios 