Nattalia Lea promotes her Revenge of the Computer Widow, a self-help guide for the computer obsessed. The kids had plenty to keep them busy, too, with one of the most popular sites being the Mad Science Tent. For aspiring writers, a panel of published professionals tried to answer the age-old question of where writers find the time to write. The answers, however, changed with each speaker. The bottom line, according to non-fiction author Brian Brennan, is sleep is a luxury writers can t afford.
Music fans weren t left out either, as songwriters held workshops to discuss their craft.
The festival was also a reunion of sorts for a handful of veteran reporters who left their jobs at the Calgary Herald following its eight-month labour dispute. The Word on the Street began in Toronto eleven years ago and is also an annual feature in Halifax, Ottawa and Vancouver. Grant McKenzie is a veteran journalist and author of the young-adult adventure Avalanche on the Prairie .