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February 07, 2017
Kid Lit Can: Spotlight on Middle Grade Fiction - Part 1
Happy 2017! This month and next, I’m spotlighting middle-grade (MG) novels -- stories written for readers who are generally within the 7 to 12-year-old age range. I’ve written one MG novel (Island ...
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June 13, 2018"All Transformations Have a Cost" Dian Day on Her Arresting New Novel The Madrigal
It's no surprise that in a novel called The Madrigal (Inanna Publications), music is front and centre. Frederick (who shares a surname with the title) and his mother are both singers - but they experience ...
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May 15, 2017The Dirty Dozen, with Catherine Hernandez
Catherine Hernandez's Scarborough (Arsenal Pulp Press) is a force to be reckoned with. Filled with the vibrant voices of a struggling but tight-knit community in the titular city, the story immerses ...
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May 22, 2022
The Reasons I Write
I can think of many reasons why I should not write. The pay is terrible. The hours, though flexible, are insufferably long (i.e., even when I stop doing writing, I am thinking about writing). It can be ...
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March 25, 2024On Finding Inspiration Through Deconstruction
In my last column, I talked about the unexpected rewards of returning to the same themes and subject matter in your work. But there’s a related facet to this that I feel deserves its own examination—the ...
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July 16, 2018Why It’s Okay If You Haven’t Finished Your First Book Yet
I thought I would finish my first novel by the time I turned 25.I laugh at the absurdity of that now. But in my early 20s, I believed it when people told me that anything was possible with hard work and ...
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July 30, 2024Read an Excerpt from The Education of Aubrey McKee by Alex Pugsley
Award-winning writer and filmmaker Alex Pugsley has reached the middle of his recent trilogy of novels, with the author bringing the reader back into the world of Aubrey Mckee, who is winding his way ...
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September 13, 2017The Word on the Street interview with FedEx Express Canada President Lisa Lisson
The Word on the Street offers tons of exciting programming, but one aspect you don't want to miss is the Vibrant Voices of Ontario tent. Celebrating the unique and powerful literary voices of our province, ...
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March 15, 2024In Conversation with Author Yewande Daniel-Ayoade and Illustrator Ken Daley
Author Yewande Daniel-Ayoade crafts a unique and uplifting fable in her latest picturebook. It's the story of an eight-year-old girl in a West African village who loses her father, who was the king, ...
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December 04, 2017Talking to Picture Book Creators - Part Two
Welcome back! I hope you enjoy part 2 of my Q and A with the creators of four super picture books—Nicola Winstanley, author of A Bedtime Yarn, Shauntay Grant, author of The Walking Bathroom, Scot ...
