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April 26, 2023Read an Excerpt from Rocco de Giacomo's Casting Out, a Poetic Memoir of Leaving Evangelical Life
Rocco de Giacomo's childhood was filled with TV faith healers, tense and frequent predictions of the rapture, and the dramatic and sometimes problematic practices of the extreme Pentecostal religious ...
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March 28, 2022What's Beyond: Writing as an Actor, Part 2
One of the important exercises we do in theatre is called “What’s Beyond.” It’s a Viola Spolin exercise to help actors understand the full, inner life of their characters. Viola Spolin is credited ...
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September 18, 2025In Defense of Procrastination
The procrastinating author is a time-honoured trope. For me personally, I’m at my most productive with other tasks (vacuuming, crocheting, washing dishes, doing laundry, clearing up clutter) when I ...
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February 26, 2021Grinding Out a New Novel
Writing a novel is a grind. It’s an arduous, meticulous, and often repetitive process that can take years. There’s the actual typing of words onto the page, and then come the edits and rewrites, which ...
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August 24, 2022"I Want Children To Be Proud of Who They Are" Kuljinder Kaur Brar on Her Debut Picture Book
What's in a name? A lot, especially if people don't get it right. When Saajin starts his first day of school in Kuljinder Kaur Brar's My Name Is Saajin Singh (Annick Press, illustrated by Samrath ...
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4 hours agoA Young Girl Faces Her Fears to Reconnect with Sound in WHEN BRYN'S EAR WENT QUIET
Open Book will be publishing a few special previews of upcoming titles this season, and today we're featuring When Bryn's Ear Went Quiet (Owlkids Books), an evocative new picture book from celebrated ...
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October 28, 2020In good company
So, you finished your novel and sent it off anticipating it’s publication. Bravo! If you get a “No thanks, this isn’t for us” note, then consider yourself in good company. Many an author’s ...
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October 17, 2020Fertile ground
Sometimes story ideas seem to come from out of the blue.“I don't know myself where the ideas really come from, what makes them come, or whether one day they'll stop. I used to tell people the not very ...
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July 31, 2023Managing a Writing Career and Mental Illness
As someone who's dealt with chronic depression and anxiety for most of my life, I know how difficult it can be to balance mental illness and writing. Sometimes, the thought of working on my latest book ...
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August 03, 2021"Be Patient...and Develop a Thick Skin" Deborah Kerbel on Literary Events, Breaking into Picture Books, & Cover Reveals
In 1923, 32-year old Frederick Banting received the Nobel Prize for Medicine, remaining to this day the youngest Nobel laureate in his category. His contribution, now one of the most well-known medical ...
