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September 18, 2020How writing rituals saved me from quitting as a writer
I define my writing ritual as a series of unique actions taken that tells my brain it’s writing and creation time. This is part preparation, part boundary-setting, part protective aura. I know that ...
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September 05, 2023Writing on the Clock
A common question from the published writer is: will I ever earn out my advance? Recently I wondered: what about my stolen time? If I only ever wrote when I was “supposed to” (in periods of grant ...
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September 23, 2023The Strangest Places I've Sold Books
As a niche (I use the word niche here as a stand-in for what others have described as feminist or bad) Canadian novelist, I try not to have high (or any) expectations for the success of my books. Sales ...
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February 19, 2025Writing Lessons Learned From Zines
In my early twenties, my friend Teri Vlassopoulos introduced me to zines and it changed my life. If you’re not familiar with the term, ZineWiki defines a zine as “an independently- or self-published ...
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March 31, 2025Big Books for Little Naturalists Giveaway from Groundwood Books!
Groundwood Books, one of the most respected children's publishers in Canada, is jumping into spring with the release of My Book of Frogs and Toads. They are celebrating the publication of this fantastic ...
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June 23, 2014
To Blog or Not to Blog, That Is the Question
I think of Julie Powell’s 2002 blog The Julie/Julia Project as the original food blog, or at least the first blog I heard of that paired good writing with food. But Powell’s blog, about trying every ...
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September 13, 20172017 Journey Prize Shortlist Released: Bala, Kemick, and Naponse Tapped for Top Short Fiction Prize
The Writers’ Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize has an almost uncanny track record of singling out emerging writers who will go on to become the heavy hitters of CanLit. This year, the three ...
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November 22, 2014With Mat Laporte and Paloma: About a Goodness (Part I)
With Mat Laporte and Paloma: About a Goodness (Part I) On Halloween afternoon 2014, Mat Laporte and Paloma came to my house, sat on my daybed, and we laughed so loud, fair listeners, that this podcast ...
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February 06, 2017Featured Video: Max Eisen on his Taylor Prize Nominated Book By Chance Alone
Max Eisen is the author of By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz (HarperCollins Canada), nominated for the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction. The harrowing ...
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July 18, 2017
the inspiration of Swedish poetry
the inspiration of Swedish poetryI have not written much in this blog yet about my work as a poet. I have two books of poetry out: Gabriel’s Beach and Songs to Kill A Wîhtikow. I have a third book, ...