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September 21, 2023I’ve been invited to present at a literary festival, now what?
From the Brigadoon-esque setting of The Eden Mills Writer Festival to the hustle and bustle of TIFA Kids, it’s literary festival season. Everyone loves an invite to a party, but make sure you have all ...
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November 29, 2017So You Want to Write About Race
Somehow I have become on expert on writing race.This was not something I planned for. When I started publishing, I was writing fiction about Chinese Canadian characters, about families who had been invisible ...
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February 05, 2019Who I Think About When I Write … It’s Probably You: A List of Questions to Ask Yourself About Audience as You Write
I find it really challenging to write a picture book without imagining its audience. In whose hands will the finished book end up? What will make them pick it up? Will they find my story satisfying? To ...
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May 17, 2018"They Like to Wander at Night": Valerie Mills-Milde on Crafting Unforgettable Characters
For the women and children at home during the First World War, life was an unpredictable, anxious, and terrifying existence, as they waited for news of their sons, fathers, and husbands and worked to ...
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August 28, 2020Should Memoir be Considered Non-Fiction?
One of the things that makes this question so interesting is that the answer isn’t as obvious or cut-and-dried as it first appears. It varies from country to country, for one thing, changes from culture ...
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May 23, 2009
Teenagers with a Vision...
I enjoyed meeting Emil Sher and reading with him at Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People this morning. Folks visiting ranged in age from babies in buggies to ladies and gents with white hair. That’s ...
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June 23, 2020Five Tips for Writing About Tough Topics for Children and Teens
The best comedy often comes from life’s darker moments. Read up on any comedian and you’ll likely learn about their tumultuous beginnings, middles and ends. (Especially, on Twitter. Literally. At ...
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February 07, 2024Immerse Yourself in an Excerpt from Who We Are In Real Life, New YA from Victoria Koops
YA fans will be taken by Who We Are in Real Life (Groundwood Books), the new novel by Victoria Koops. It's a story of role playing games, romance, and epic adventures that take place in-game and IRL. Darcy ...
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August 31, 2020How to Be Exceptionally Editable
When I first started writing children’s books, I possessed the strength and virility of a thousand strong and virile men. I believed in my ideas and held fast to them. While I was open to the editorial ...
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November 09, 2020
Screenwriting Lessons
Sometimes I forget that I majored in screenwriting during my undergrad, even though it ended up playing a key part in what and how I write now. I had chosen this major because I wasn’t sure what to ...