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October 20, 2022
Sharon's Bench
I met Sharon shortly after I started building my home on Green Lake. In the early times we were more like acquaintances than friends, the kind to say ‘hi’ and exchange a few words than to sit ...
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October 17, 2022
My Abuser Died
Trigger Warning – Sexual Violence, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Trauma.I have pondered the title of this thread for weeks now, wondering if I should lead with a softer opening. Something like, ‘the ...
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October 05, 2022
About that Award
Several months ago, I was sent an e-mail sharing the good news from the Alumni team at Algonquin College that I was to receive an Alumni Award of Distinction for Apprenticeship. I graduated from the ...
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October 02, 2022
Let's Get Started
Hello Open Book ‘ers, My name is Lorrie and it’s my privilege to be the Writer in Residence for the month of October. I’m honoured and truly humbled. I’ll pass on a big introduction as it’s ...
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October 24, 2022
Rusted Development
For decades I’ve been cruising antique haunts and farm fields, stopping at those laden with dormant pieces of rusted equipment - harrows, cultivators, thrashers, sickle bars among them. I’m drawn ...
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March 13, 2017
What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Becoming a Writer #9: Monica Heisey
Some years in the writing life are better than others. A few years ago I was having a bad one. My draft of The Best Kind of People wasn't working out. I wasn't sure it was ever going to be good enough ...
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March 16, 2021
A love letter (to libraries)
(—and other public places I once wrote to escape violence.)My life is very different from what it was when I began writing. While working on my latest novel, Girl Minus X, I often wrote in public ...
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October 13, 2022
The Legend of Howard Stroud
Sometimes when I’m feeling sad or needing inspiration I think of Howard. I met Howard in 2016 when I travelled out west to research the family homestead and to walk the same land my mother did as ...
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October 30, 2018
Journalism and Fiction
While I am very fortunate to have established a career as a published author, it’s not my primary gig. I’ve been working as a journalist in a professional capacity for more than two decades, first ...
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May 28, 2009
English Grows Up
It appears English is about to undergo some kind of rite on June 10 at 5:22 a.m. ET. An unsupported headline on the front page of today’s GLOBE AND MAIL (you have to go inside for the article) says ...