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July 06, 2016What is Literary Fiction? Ask a Romance Publisher
Years ago, I was the guest author at a summer camp for teen writers. The afternoon started well: I read a bit from my first novel, spoke in very general terms about how I became a writer, and outlined ...
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July 13, 2016The In Character Interview with Scott Gardiner
After AMC's Mad Men, the life of charismatic advertising types became a topic of fascination for many, with the glitzy — and at times, manipulative — backdrop of the ad world acting as a perfect backdrop ...
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July 04, 2015
A Roadblock All Writers Set for Themselves Every Now and Then
When I teach classes in creative writing at U of T’s School of Continuing Studies and at Haliburton School of the Arts, I have on occasion faced this predicament: A bright, talented, energetic student ...
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August 14, 2016Why I Led a Boycott Against Stuart Ross
I spent the first forty-five minutes of my own Toronto book launch this past spring standing outside the venue holding up a sign calling for a boycott of myself. This led to an enthusiastic round of jeers ...
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August 18, 2016Poets in Profile: Vivek Shraya
Multi-talented and multi-genre artist and musician Vivek Shraya is running out of debuts — she has tackled short fiction and the novel and now she's completing her literary hat trick with a gorgeous, ...
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June 13, 2015
Twere Easier for God to Make Entirely New Men…
Exactly 199 years ago today, during a stormy night at the Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva, Mary Shelley had a waking dream that gave birth to Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus. How do we know? Astronomers. ...
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October 27, 2015
Why I Don’t Want You to Buy My Book (From Me)
“I want to buy your book, but I want to do in a way where you’ll get the most money. Should I buy it from you?”I love this question. It’s one of I’ve had several times over the years from well-meaning ...
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June 10, 2017Calling All Writers to an Audio Book Project
Once upon a time, audio books were recorded (somewhat mysteriously to a writer) by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.There was always a clause in your publishing contract giving the CNIB the ...
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August 04, 2017
Interview with Kyo Maclear
Kyo Maclear is one of my favourite children’s book authors and one of the loveliest people I know. She’s the author of many acclaimed picture books including Spork, Virginia Wolf and The Fog, and ...
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June 15, 2017Combatting Oppression With Community
Two months ago, I attended Fuel for Fire, a professional development conference for writers of colour, organized by the Ontario Arts Council. The event provided a venue for discussions about writing and ...
