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May 20, 2016
The Long Odds
I used to keep a Word document detailing where I'd sent what. Now it's a Google spreadsheet, colour coded, sortable. It lists the titles of completed stories and their word counts, tells me where I sent ...
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May 19, 2016
Work
In January the flu raced through our house. It hitched a ride home from school on one child – one of the senior kindergarteners or the fourth grader, who can say which? – and in turn each of them ...
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May 18, 2016
Kid Lit Can, with Susan Hughes: The Magic, The Wonder - Chatting with YA Fantasy Authors (Part 2)
Today, I continue my conversation about writing fantasy with these four amazingly talented and experienced YA authors: Lena Coakley, Alyxander Harvey, Nicole Luiken, and Arthur Slade. Please feel free ...
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May 16, 2016
Profile on Monty Reid, with a Few Questions
Ottawa poet Monty Reid, who moved to the area in 1999 after spending most of his working life in Alberta, including side trips to British Columbia and Quebec, was originally born in Saskatchewan. He is ...
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May 09, 2016
Where We Do What We Do
The first stories of any quality that I produced were written at an old white melamine desk in the windowless furnace room of my future in-laws' house in suburban Ottawa. The hot water tank clicked and ...
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February 28, 2016
Why Some of the Best Writers I Know Aren't Publishing
Some of the best writers I know are relatively unpublished. They might have a story out here or there, or maybe write professionally in another genre, but they aren’t actively trying to pursue a publisher ...
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February 23, 2016
Awful People Still Exist: Part One of Andrew F. Sullivan In Conversation
Andrew F. Sullivan already gained attention for his 2013 short story collection, All We Want Is Everything (ARP Books), and just three years later, he’s releasing his first novel WASTE (Dzanc Books), ...
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November 20, 2015
Taking Your Medicine in the Editing Room
In previous posts I’ve talked about the hard road to getting a book published, and even a bit about the effort that goes into just getting those first few stories done. I’ve talked about submitting ...
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October 01, 2015
Transit Lit: Public Transportation as a Source of Literary Inspiration
I live a one minute walk away from a TTC subway station. In theory, this should mean that getting around town should be more fun, efficient and easy. And it generally is. But before I commit any more ...
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June 09, 2015
On the Benefits of Not Writing (Surfing)
It isn’t (usually) wise to blame other people for things that happen to you, but I blame Dr. Kary Banks Mullis for everything.Dr. Mullis is a Novel Prize-winning biochemist who devised paradigm-shifting ...