Blog — Meghan J. Ward

Profile of Nat Gillis: Pilot, Poet, Photographer

It’s with a heavy heart I post this piece today, in remembrance of Nat Gillis — a friend, fellow creative soul and shining light who died Monday June 17, 2024, when her aircraft crashed in Albany, NY. I had the fortune of writing a profile about Nat for Kootenay Mountain Culture for their Summer 2023 issue. I wanted to share more about Nat so I’m posting a excerpt below with a link to the full article so that you can learn more about Nat’s journey and see some of her gorgeous photographs.

Freelance WritingMeghan WardJune 19, 2024profiles, publishing, mountain culture, mountain womenComment

Lights to Guide Me Home: In Pictures

Lights to Guide Me Home: In Pictures

Lights to Guide Me Home is a travelogue that takes readers on a trip around the world while I chronicle my transition through some of life’s major milestones. As there aren’t images in the book itself, I wanted to share some of these memories and visuals with readers to enhance their experience as they read.

Books, Travel, FamilyMeghan WardAugust 8, 2023book, memoir Comments

Memoirs about Motherhood and the Outdoors

Memoirs about Motherhood and the Outdoors

The memoir genre is rich with wonderful books about motherhood and the outdoors. Below you’ll find some of my personal favourites and some new recommendations. It’s by no means a comprehensive list but instead represents the myriad ways these two topics intersect. Whether it’s through climbing, hiking, or a simpler life on the trail, these journeys share a common thread of motherhood as it converges with Mother Earth.

Books, Work/Life BalanceMeghan WardMay 8, 2023motherhood, mother, outdoors, adventure, travel, parentingComment

Weighing the Truth in Memoir: Literary Hub

Weighing the Truth in Memoir: Literary Hub

When my book, Lights to Guide Me Home, morphed into a full-length memoir, I discovered myself in the throes of a process I didn’t expect — one in which I needed to consider the impact of telling my story. Telling my truth. Upon the book’s publication, I had the opportunity to write a piece for Literary Hub in which I explored the topic of memoir and the fine art of weighing our truth.

Freelance Writing, Writing CraftMeghan WardNovember 13, 2022writing, memoir, writing process, processComment

Wildflowers: The Story Behind the Mary Schaffer Documentary

Wildflowers: The Story Behind the Mary Schaffer Documentary

There’s this person I met about 17 years ago. It was my first summer working in the mountains at a historic lodge in Banff National Park. Now, by this point, this person had been lying in the Banff Cemetery for 66 years, but her story was so compelling that it has been the subject of much Rockies folklore. Her accomplishments as an explorer, writer, photographer and artist put her name in the history books alongside notable men of the same era.

Mary Schäffer was no ordinary woman.

History, Projects, FilmMeghan WardSeptember 22, 2022film, documentary, Mary Schaffer, Meghan J. WardComment

5 Myths of Outdoor Parenting

5 Myths of Outdoor Parenting

The reality is that much of what we aspire to be as "outdoorsy parents" (or even just parents) is based on myths and ideals that we shouldn't get so caught up in. The funny thing with myths is that there is usually some element of truth to them. But mostly they take us down that dangerous hole of comparison. It has been a process for me to realize that there were things I was aspiring to that simply weren't real to begin with.

Family, OutdoorsMeghan WardJuly 11, 2022outdoors, parenting, tips, myths, adventurousparentsComment

Writing a Memoir (When You've Never Written One Before)

Writing a Memoir (When You've Never Written One Before)

How do you write a memoir when you’ve never written one before? Where do you even start? From story selection and structure to finding beta readers and the editing process, here’s a window into my first-time memoir-writing process.

Books, TipsMeghan WardJune 16, 2022writing, memoir, process, editing, memory, book Comments

Cover Reveal: Lights to Guide Me Home

Cover Reveal: Lights to Guide Me Home

This is a heart-in-throat kind of announcement for me as an author because it feels like the best day ever and the height of vulnerability all at once. I humbly present to you the cover of LIGHTS TO GUIDE ME HOME (Sept. ‘22) ✨ — the results of the hard work of the team at Rocky Mountain Books (a particular nod to designer Lara Minja), who were wonderfully collaborative with me as the author. I don’t take that lightly!

BooksMeghan WardMay 4, 2022book, Rocky Mountain Books, Lights to Guide Me Home, author, book coverComment

8 Things I Learned from 52 Weeks of Feedback

8 Things I Learned from 52 Weeks of Feedback

Just over a decade ago, I set off on a project to give feedback to other writers for 52 weeks straight.

I recently stumbled across the blog content I wrote about that experience and decided to pull it from the archives for you. As outdated as some of it is (my personal career has come a long way in those ten years), it was a cool project and one I think we can all learn from!

Freelance Writing, TipsMeghan WardApril 25, 2022feedback, writing Comments

Tips for Travelling Abroad with Children

Tips for Travelling Abroad with Children

Maybe you enjoyed travelling before you had kids or it’s something new you want to do with your family. Either way, travelling with your kids is a rich experience that will shape your family, challenge you, create many memories, and help you and your kids grow in new ways. Here are some of my best tips for travelling with kids, and enjoying the experience.

Tips, Travel, FamilyMeghan WardApril 6, 2022tips, family, travel, abroad, international, adventure, adventurousparentsComment

Farewell to Abbot Pass Hut

Farewell to Abbot Pass Hut

For anyone who has been there in its 100-year history, Abbot Pass Hut is a remarkable place. For anyone who hasn’t been, a quick glimpse of its location might make one double-take. Perched upon an inhospitable heap of stone piles between Mts. Lefroy and Victoria on the border of Banff and Yoho national parks, Abbot Pass Hut has been keeping mountaineers warm and safe since its construction in 1922.

But that heap of stones proved to be unstable.

Freelance Writing, HistoryMeghan WardFebruary 24, 2022abbot pass hut, alpine club of canada, history, Canadian Rockies Comment

Rockies Reframed

Rockies Reframed

“We were all standing there with our art supplies facing the glacier, just taking the wind,” Emily (Emily Beaudoin) says, “and it felt like the dying breath of a beast, just so powerful and so… vulnerable.”

It was a pleasure to put together this short feature about Rockies Repeat Film for the inaugural issue of Mountain Life Rocky Mountains.

Projects, MagazinesMeghan WardNovember 8, 2021climate change, Rockies Repeat, Mountain LifeComment

The Wonders That I Find

The Wonders That I Find

I am excited to announce the release of my first children’s book, The Wonders That I Find! Published by Rocky Mountain Books (Spring 2021), this book draws on my own experiences venturing into nature with my two young kids, and what I’ve observed as they’ve taken in the natural world through their own eyes.

Books, ProjectsMeghan WardApril 22, 2021children's book, nature, kids, The Wonders That I Find, Rocky Mountain Books, author, Tay Odynski, adventurousparentsComment

The Next Adventure

The Next Adventure

If every adventure I’ve been on is any indication, each one has a beginning, middle and end. Yet the adventure is never really over. It lives inside us in the memories we created, the challenges we overcame, the joys of the accomplishments and surprises, the callouses on our feet from rubbing in our hiking boots.

NewsMeghan WardMarch 1, 2021news, Crowfoot Media, publishing, co-founder, mediaComment

Keeping Our Kids Calm and Centred Through COVID-19

Keeping Our Kids Calm and Centred Through COVID-19

When our kids' mental/emotional health depends on ours, it can be a slippery slope. Even when we feel stable, it's tough to see our children struggle to cope with the enormous amount of changes to their routines, social life, and usual emotional outlets. Often we're so depleted ourselves.

So, how can we support our child's mental/emotional state during this crisis with COVID-19?

Work/Life BalanceMeghan WardFebruary 12, 2021parenting, COVID-19, mental health, wellbeing, calm, activities, kidsComment

New Cover Story for Outdoor Photographer Magazine

New Cover Story for Outdoor Photographer Magazine

Paul Zizka and I get to collaborate from time to time, and this is one of our favourite pieces. We’d pitched a story about methane bubbles that appear in frozen lakes nearly nine months before Outdoor Photographer came knocking with a last-minute request… They wanted the idea for a cover story but there was a caveat. They needed it in a week’s time.

Freelance Writing, MagazinesMeghan WardJanuary 20, 2021publishing, cover story, Outdoor PhotographerComment

Film Project: Celebrating Mountain Women

Film Project: Celebrating Mountain Women

Every once in awhile a project comes along that allows you to tap into your knowledge, passion and skills in the most wonderful way. When a local filmmaker with Banff Lodging Co. approached me about consulting on and assisting with a film about inspirational mountain women, I was immediately intrigued. Fast-forward a few months and the project is now out in the world!

ProjectsMeghan WardNovember 4, 2020mountain women, adventurers, history, Canadian Rockies, Banff National ParkComment

Travel Memoir to be Released Fall 2022

Travel Memoir to be Released Fall 2022

I’m excited to announce that I signed a book contract for a travel memoir to be published by Rocky Mountain Books in Fall 2022! “Travel memoir” is the best I can do to distill the book down to its essence, but it spans the past 15 years, and tracks my journey West and then off the beaten track. It spans oceans and continents, from peaks to valleys, as I learn to navigate an adventure-filled life, unlike anything I was raised with, and guide my young kids down the same bumpy path.

News, BooksMeghan WardOctober 9, 2020travel, memoir, book, writing, Rocky Mountain Books Comment

Managing the Load: 12 Tips for Parents/Entrepreneurs

Managing the Load: 12 Tips for Parents/Entrepreneurs

Most entrepreneurs have an insatiable desire to see their ideas and projects come to fruition. They have many balls in the air at once as they build out their ideas and create businesses from scratch. It is a volatile position to be in, but manageable. But, when an entrepreneur also wants to have a family, the juggling act can get overwhelming – at times even out of control. Here are my best tips for managing it.

Tips, Entrepreneurship, Work/Life BalanceMeghan WardOctober 9, 2020writing, entrepreneurship, parenting, work/life balance, adventurousparentsComment

10 Tips for Getting Published in Magazines

10 Tips for Getting Published in Magazines

Many writers dream of getting published in a magazine. It is a favourite amongst writers because of the interactive qualities of the final product and the supporting visuals and illustrations. It’s also seen as prestigious. So, how do you get your work and ideas published? Here are some of my best tips for increasing your chances of getting the gig.

Magazines, Freelance WritingMeghan WardOctober 7, 2020magazine, publishing, tips, writing Comment