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May 26, 2022
The Soul of Story: Authenticity
My first car was a 1980 Toyota Tercel hatchback, payment for which I had earned working 60 hours a week at two jobs all summer. It was a gutless four-speed manual with a top speed of eighty km/hour. But ...
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August 15, 2023Read an Excerpt from Epic Historical Novel Tropical Rose by Debbie Sands
Many families have their own lore and legends but Debbie Sands' family stories were particularly sensational, and she loved to hear them again and again as she grew up.The family's favourite narratives ...
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April 28, 2023May 2023 Writer in Residence Geoffrey Morrison on the 7 Words That Sparked His Captivating Debut Novel
In a strangely deserted public park, Hugh Dalgarno is falling apart. Through an entire day and night, his fevered mind will take him, and anyone along for the ride, on a rollicking interior journey, touching ...
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July 22, 2017Inspiration of Old Cree Stories
For years, I have been retranslating a book of old Cree stories. I am presently retranslating a story told by sâkêwêw: the story of opwâsimow kâ-kitimâkisit okimâwipayiw [a poor Stoney/ Nakota ...
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October 01, 2018Why Does It Take So Long to Make a Picture Book?: Or, How To Get Really Good at Waiting
I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t prepared for all the waiting I’d have to do in life. And when it comes to writing, you do a lot of waiting. Waiting for inspiration to strike. Realizing that ...
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August 04, 2020My Attraction to Gritty Stories
Not all stories are romantic or are tied up neatly at the end. Sometimes characters do not have a redeeming quality, and sometimes their experiences have made them hard and difficult to “save.” Gritty ...
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March 29, 2021Speaking Your Story into Existence
Over the winter I was part of two separate online writing residencies through the Banff Centre. Each cohort involved wonderfully talented writers from across the land, sharing their stories, truths, and ...
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August 25, 2020Memoir is Not the Story of Your Life
The funny thing about memoir is that it is not the story of your life.It is true that memoir deals with and includes stories from the author’s life, but therein lies the distinction. For while autobiography ...
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December 06, 2016"What's Your Story?" OBPO Contest Winners Part 4: Scarborough
We've had a season of amazing original writing on Open Book through the Ontario Book Publishers Organization's inaugural What's Your Story? writing competition. Today is our fourth and final instalment: ...
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November 04, 2020"If Someone Feeds Me Wonder, They Have My Heart" Poet Sarah Venart on the Long Road to Her Powerful New Collection
Poet Sarah Venart dives deep into love, family, need, and grief in her powerful new collection I Am the Big Heart (Brick Books). But what is the big heart? In these poems, big-heartedness means being ...
