 My name is Laura Stampler, and I'm a writer who lives in New York City. I'm currently working on a novel. It's called Nearly Departed, and it is a ghost murder mystery told from three different perspectives. One is just kind of a normal girl who's moving to New York. The other is a police officer investigating a murder case, and the other is a ghost. I'm in this final push, kind of trying to figure out where all my different voices are coming in. I need some sort of spark, and sometimes traveling inspires you in ways that you wouldn't be if you're sitting at home trying to force something out. I decided to come to Kingston. It has an annual writing festival that a lot of authors I really respect go to. I think coming from New York, I can see why it has become a haven for writers. It has community, it has people who are really supportive of one another. It's just a really beautiful setting to get inspiration. The best way to experience a new city is through a local's eyes, so I met up with Sarah. She's a poet, she writes picture books, she teaches writing, and I've really admired a lot of her work. I'm so happy that you came up, because it's so much better than sitting in your apartment. Kingston is Canada's most literary city. We've got some little writing groups and artist communities. And then if all has failed, you can step to your face, because we have the most restaurants per capita. A lot of the writing process can be really isolating. It was amazing being shown this city by a local who's work I really respect. So this is Martello Alley. One of the things that I love about Kingston is we've got all of these different artist groups. Kingston is full of different artistic communities, and it isn't limited to writers. When we went to Martello Alley, there were all of these incredible works of art that local artists had put together. This is the only art alley in the province of Ontario. This is such a lovely space. I'm so happy that I get to come here. Yeah, you need small town in Ontario. I know, I need some. We continued on to eat at incredible restaurants. So welcome to Kingston Food Tours, guys. Thank you. What we're going to be doing today is a little bit of a smaller version of our classic Kingston food tour. I was really pleasantly surprised by how incredible the food is. One of my main characters in the book is a baker, and so I feel like this is very meant to be. Cheers. Cheers. Okay. Well, good evening. Welcome to the original haunted walk of Kingston. I got some of my spooky inspiration from the haunted tour. We got to see some of the hidden stories behind things to capture some undead voices there. For my writing. Now, for those who have stayed in the hush-a-leg in, they have had many stories of seeing a young blonde haired boy crying. Generally, if something will stick in your mind, it will stick in a reader's mind. When I'm writing my characters, even if they're different from me, a part of who I am and the things I've experienced always funnel through. Once I have that spark and that inspiration, it just flows so much easier. I let my brain rest, and a lot of the mental work has kind of been done. Let's do this both! Yes! I wanted to come to Kingston to feel inspired. It was so helpful meeting this Sarah, especially at this stage in my book. It's so important to remember that other writers have been through this too. Well, I think what you're doing is perfect. Going out, trying to think a little bit more in your character's head. I think that's exactly what you need. And then by the time you go back, it'll all just come right. To end the trip, Sarah invited me to dinner with a bunch of local writers. When people say, how many drafts do you write, I don't know. I keep on revising or I'll go back. They have such a diverse range of experiences and publications and genres. Inspiration needs time to filter. You know, various things lodge in the back of your brain. Everyone has such a different process. I learned something from all of the different writers that were there. I toast to Laura for coming and seeing everything in my Kingston. To have a town that really has such a strong, vibrant, creative community is really special. Leaving Kingston, I'm feeling refreshed and I'm feeling excited. I'm just in awe of how much culture is packed into such a condensed space. It's able to have all of these things in a place that feels really community-driven. I feel like I'm really able to pull a lot that I got here into my work ahead.