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Second Degree With Kayla Hounsell

Date:
Time:
-
Venue:
Dartmouth Book Exchange
Location:
1187 Cole Harbour Road, Dartmouth. More info
Link:
https://dartmouthbookexchange.ca/events/
Calendar:
Community event

Join us with true crime author Kayla Hounsell and her book Second Degree: From Med School to Murder, The Story Behind the Shocking Will Sandeson Trials. We will be discussing her book. There will be a Q&A, a short reading, and a book signing at the conclusion of the event. This is her first appearance in Cole Harbour and her only event during this holiday season.

In 2017, a jury found Will Sandeson guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Taylor Samson. A “good kid” from a good family, Sandeson was about to start classes at Dalhousie University’s medical school when Samson disappeared. The trial exposed a dangerous world of drugs, greed, and misplaced loyalties—including a private investigator accused of switching sides. Sandeson was ultimately sentenced to life in prison.

He immediately appealed; in 2020, Sandeson’s conviction was overturned, and a new trial was ordered. In a shocking twist, Sandeson finally took the stand, detailing in four days of explosive testimony how and why he killed Samson, and for the first time offering an explanation of what he’d done with Samson’s body.

An updated and expanded follow-up to award-winning journalist Kayla Hounsell’s First From Med School to Murder, Second Degree features all-new chapters and never-before-published material. Accented with 19 colour photos, this riveting work tells the powerful story of a drug deal gone terribly wrong and examines the crime, the courts, and the killer’s crusade for freedom.

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Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children and young adults, and others) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the above definitions. A workshop’s participants should usually have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. 

For “intensive” and “masterclass” workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca