Issue 1: Almost Twenty

It's Nice to Meet You, Let's Be Friends!

Feb 20, 2025

Happy 19th, Ninetweeners!

Welcome to the first issue of my monthly newsletter, Ninetween. You can look out for new issues on the 19th of every month at 19:00 EST (that’s 7 PM!)

My goal with this space is to share my excitement about the writing craft along with some publication news, reading recommendations, and other goings-on. And oh golly are the goings ever on!

But first, allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Elysia Rourke — my first name is pronounced like Alicia or Aleesha or Elisha, though let’s be real, there’s a bunch of pronunciations for those too. But mine’s Uh-Lee-Sha.

Rourke rhymes with…well…dork. Can’t really argue there.

Hi! It’s nice to meet you.

Definitely the real Mount Everest Base Camp.

I grew up in Stittsville — a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, from grade one when our teacher asked our class to write stories and hardbound them for us. I wrote on the back pages of all my dad’s work reports, tapped out stories on an old three-inch thick Nortel laptop with a sticky “s” key, then later set up camp at the family desktop, minimized MSN, and wrote, wrote, wrote.

I wrote my first “novel” when I was 11. It was 40 pages and written in Comic Sans. When I finished, I wrote another. And another. I didn’t stop, wouldn’t stop. I was churning out 85,000-word manuscripts when I was 18, winning local writing competitions and creative writing awards at high school graduation.

I channeled a lot of that enthusiasm into a BAH in History from Queen’s University and then an MPhil in Early Modern History from Trinity College Dublin. I wrote a really cool thesis (debatable?) about a protestant bishop, John Bale. He fled Ireland by ship during Queen Mary I’s reign (Bloody Mary!) then ended up captured by pirates off the coast of Cornwall where he was arrested for treason in England, narrowly escaped to the Netherlands, and went on to write the first English translation of the Book of Revelation —— Gaaaaaaasp —— did you get all that? Did I lose anyone?

I hope not!

Ol’ Johnny Bale was an interesting guy. My thesis ended up with an average grade, but let’s be honest — I didn’t want to write a thesis, I wanted to write a novel! Wouldn’t you? For years I’d been operating on the belief that I was destined for a career in academia, but by the end of my master’s program, I knew deep down that education had run its course for me. I just didn’t know any other way to be creative.

My writing? Yeah, right. Everyone knows you won’t make it with that. You have to find an excuse to write: essays or newspapers or scholarly things.

Right?

Atlantis Books — a stunning bookstore in Oia, Santorini.

I was listless leaving university. For years, I’d lived a semi-nomadic existence travelling every weekend, taking in as much of the world as I could. I’d prided myself on how worn out my Converse were from all the walking and biking I did; how small a backpack I’d travelled through Europe and North Africa with. Who was I without the shoes? Without the bag? Without classes or deadlines or essays to write?

Lost for what to do, I wandered to Costa Rica. I taught English for a (very) short while, but I was homesick, buried in debt, and — frankly — a bit scared the best was behind me.

I was pretty burnt out.

I made my way back home to Canada worse for the wear, moved my stuff out of my parents’ house, and got a job downtown Ottawa as a professional proposal writer. It was the first job that would take me. And, I mean, it had “writer” in the title. Wasn’t that good enough?

They told us to carry the boards like that, I swear.

It did not go well. Things usually don’t when you feel like you’re playing dress-up, faking your way through every aspect of your day. Going to work, putting on business attire, it all felt wrong. But this is what I was supposed to do, wasn’t it? If a cubicle wasn’t for me, what was I? Billie Eilish probably would have been on repeat.

I hit an all-time low in 2017. I’d changed jobs a few times, worked outrageous hours, done everything possible to prove my worth to someone, anyone — but mostly myself. I took some time off to screw my head back on straight, adopted a rescue puppy, watched an embarrassing amount of Housewives, and tried to find the things that brought me joy again.

I started to write.

I’d stopped writing on some bus in Europe. I don’t remember where I was or where I was going, but I remember staring at the seat ahead of me and thinking “I need to focus on academics, not on silly stories that will get me nowhere.” On some bus, somewhere, I’d privately self-rejected.

I’d never been more wrong.

When I started writing a terrible, horrible, very bad manuscript in 2017, I laid the first bricks to rebuilding my sense of self-worth. The end product sucked, but it was mine and it felt right. My first novel in six years.

So, I did it again. I was driving home from work one night in October 2018. It was fall and the trees were turning colour, a real picturesque sight when the sun set just right. I’d recently read a book about the treatment of killer whales in captivity, Death at Seaworld, by David Kirby.

Blackfish (2013) was a bit of a weird comfort movie for me in that it allowed me to sob like a baby for one hour and thirty minutes without my husband thinking I’d lost it again. Kirby’s book was heartbreaking — one of those books you can’t help but think about for weeks after you turn the final page.

I thought, “Whales can’t speak the way we do.”

Glad you’re putting those degrees to use, Elysia. Money well-spent.

“But they have complex social relationships. Names for each other.”

I started thinking about the way we relate to one another. I thought about names, about a whale called Whale. How her relationship with her family would be so important, it’d form her entire identity. Her brother wasn’t Shawn or Jake or Bubbles, he was Brother. How Whale could be simultaneously Sister to her siblings and Daughter to her mother.

Killer whales have a matriarchal society and live, in the wild, as long as we do. Pods are led by the oldest female, often grandmother and great-grandmother to the pod’s calves.

I thought about names, about a whale called Whale.

And then, to be taken away — to no longer be Sister, Daughter, Grandaughter — how that would devastate a life. Who would she be without them? What would she do to get back?

I outlined Whale Fall that night.

The book practically wrote itself. Once it was done, I ran home every night to edit, edit, edit. It felt good. Worthwhile. Whale Fall consumed me, getting Whale’s story just right. I joined critique groups, went to workshops, made friends. For the first time in a very long time, I was thriving — doing work that had meaning.

In the Summer of 2019, I started querying the manuscript to agents. I received an offer from agent-extraordinaire Rachel Ekstrom Courage only 56 days later (Shameless Plug: she has a substack and two books coming out this year! Check them out). Rachel had great ideas for the manuscript and we worked together to get it into the best shape it possibly could be.

We went on submission to editors in March 2020. Could our timing have been worse? Probably not.

But three long years later, I signed Whale Fall’s book deal with Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. My dream came true, and I can’t wait for you to meet Whale in 2026.

In the meantime, I’ve settled in Almonte, Ontario with my husband, two sons, and dog. Almonte is an artistic town (we host an annual puppet festival called Puppets Up! It’s kind of a big deal), but I saw a gap in the literary arts and founded the Almonte Writers Guild in 2023, which offers gatherings, educational talks, and events for writers every month for free.

I want my friends and neighbours to find success in this art form too. Together, I think we are going to achieve that.

I’ve also joined the Board of Directors for Almonte Readers & Writers, a local non-profit that provides literary events in our community. I’ve met many, many new friends and incredible writers through the community I’ve built by picking up my computer at my absolute lowest in 2017 and writing one word…and another…and another.

Writing is such an important part of my life and I’ve learned a lot along the way. It keeps me healthy, nourishes me, challenges me, and (sometimes) perplexes me. I hope you’ll enjoy following my continuing journey.

I’m happy to have you! Thank you for being here.

Why Ninetween?

Nineteen is my lucky number. It’s the day I was married, the year I was signed by my agent, and the date Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith came out (not relevant? How dare you)!

Nineteen is just short of twenty. It embodies a spirit of always learning, room for improvement, challenge, and perseverance. Nineteen isn’t pretty; it’s rough, works hard, and rolls up its sleeves.

And since we’ll be celebrating middle-grade books, tween felt appropriate. Especially because of the in-between-ness that comes with being a young person. And let’s be honest, an adult too most days.

Writing Tip: Facing a Blank Page

We’ve all dreaded it; the intimidating blank page. Full of possibility but empty without effort. Are we good enough to fill it? Do our words do it justice?

Backspace, quick! Try again.

It’s a vicious cycle. One that all writers go through, even professionals.

Next time you’re blocked, try this exercise.

Find something to write on. Anything. The weirder, the better. A leaf, a piece of wood, the backside of wrapping paper.

Set a timer for 5 minutes and write on that object based on the following prompt. Try not to overthink it, just write.

Prompt: The artist stares at the blank page.

Now, once you’ve done that, set a second timer for the same amount of time. Write based on the following prompt, again using stream-of-consciousness.

Prompt: The blank page stares at the artist.

When I do this prompt, I tend to find possibility, opportunity, and excitement in the blank page. Depending on what the item is, I may be off to the races right away writing about jumping into piles of leaves, wood-carving, or birthday parties. Sometimes, I find an emptiness. That’s okay. Emptiness is a story too: a tragedy, a horror. Live there for a second, write that down.

But the second prompt, that’s the revealing one. Because 99% of the time, the blank page finds the same things in me — possibility, opportunity, excitement, fear, longing. When my blank page looks at me, it demands to be turned into something interesting.

That’s a super cool way to think about writer’s block. The page needs us too!

So, my writing tip for this issue is to try to look at the blank page as possibility rather than obstacle. And for those times when possibility feels like an obstacle? Change the point of view.

Elysia’s Middle Grade Bookshelf

Having read and adored The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman in March 2019, I instantly pre-ordered her new book Safe Harbor as soon as readers were able to do so. From the outset, this book is gorgeous. The cover is absolutely stunning, with a brilliant mix of blues and soft reds/oranges. I love when book covers appeal to the eye this way, drawing from opposite sides of the colour wheel.

Safe Harbour is an equally beautiful novel-in-verse that lives up to its cover art. It explores the experience of an immigrant girl who has arrived in the USA with her mother after a messy divorce and is struggling to adjust. When she and her new friend Miguel discover an injured seal on the beach, Geeta sees parallels between her own difficulties in adapting to her new home and the seal’s struggle for survival. She organizes a beach cleanup, embracing her love for nature and music and finding a way to make a little piece of the US feel like home.

As a writer, I spent 99% of the time reading trying to figure out how exactly Venkatraman achieves what she does in so few words, so artfully. I’m not sure I’ve unlocked her secrets, but this book is a masterclass that requires much more thorough study. I was blown away by the ease of her verse and the way the story flowed, never feeling too sparse on detail or emotion.

For middle-grade readers and parents, this book is a wonderful opportunity to discuss topics including divorce, relocation, immigration, acceptance, conservation, and mental health. As a parent, I found the moments between Geeta and her mother the most poignant in the book. In particular, Geeta’s perspective on her mother’s mental health challenges.

Safe Harbor may be purchased locally at Mill Street Books. If you aren’t in Almonte, please consider supporting an independent bookstore near you. It would mean a lot to me.

Other Projects

If you are interested in joining the Almonte Writers Guild, you can do so here. Please note that members must reside in Lanark County. I’d love to connect with you through our bi-weekly write-ins and monthly discussion groups.