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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 ...
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November 22, 2018
Inspiration is Inconvenient
I’ve been talking about writing, publishing, YA, comics, and all of these other aspects of being involved in the writing world. Now I’m going to interrupt all of this to talk about inspiration. It’s ...
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September 18, 2020The Word on the Street: Authors Lamees Al Ethari, Karoline Georges, & Michelle Parise on Going Virtual for WOTS
An annual highlight of Toronto literary calendar, The Word on the Street brings together authors and book lovers for reading, discussions, workshops, and a massive literary marketplace. This year, of ...
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November 01, 2021'Write when the baby sleeps' and other impossible writing rules
Years ago, long before I had any kids, I read that Alice Munro wrote when her baby napped, so when I was pregnant with my first kid, I told myself I’d do the same. It was 2015, six years before my first ...
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May 28, 2020
Something on race.
I had planned to post something on race. I was going to look at how it has affected me, including the friendships I have (and don’t have) today in real life. I was going to explore race in story and ...
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May 11, 2020Goals from another time.
I found this piece of paper recently. I’d made it many years back and stuck it to my wall when I was trying to get organized with my linked short story collection, Coconut Dreams.Some observations:I’d ...
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October 31, 2018
We've always been here
My time here is drawing to a close and I’d like to express great thanks to the Open Book team for inviting me to this space for the past month. It’s been a real pleasure and an immense honour to have ...
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October 09, 2018
"How do you find time to write?"
Like many authors, I have a full-time job that’s my primary source of income. It’s a wonderfully fulfilling gig in a truly enjoyable and engaging profession that’s been my primary career for the ...
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May 03, 2023
Class, History, Fiction, and Form Part 2: Is the Bicycle Dead?
Before I do anything else, I have to try to say what I mean by fictional forms. I do so with a lot of trepidation, because my sense of these things is idiosyncratic and perhaps wrong. But here goes.People ...
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November 27, 2019The Entitled Interview, with Fereshteh Molavi
Fereshteh Molavi's newest book, Thirty Shadow Birds (Inanna Publications), is an exploration of the challenges faced by new immigrants and the deep scars left by a legacy of violence.Fleeing the bloodshed ...