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September 27, 2022The Joy of Literary Festivals – And Dreams Coming True
It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of September and that the time I have been privileged to spend with you on this Open Book platform is almost over. Looking back at what I have shared with ...
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July 10, 2018
Did You Really Go Through All That?
I stole the title of this post from a scene late in the film Sideways, but I could’ve taken a similar line from nearly anywhere—for instance, the second of Orhan Pamuk’s Norton Lectures (collected ...
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August 03, 2020August Writer-in-Residence Alison Wearing on Family, Unexpected Inspiration, and the Art of Memoir
Say hello to Alison Wearing, our writer-in-residence for August!A critically-acclaimed author, educator, and multimedia artist, Wearing's previous book Confessions of a Fairy's Daughter earned her nominations ...
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February 22, 2019Excerpt! Get Hooked on the Mystery in Ann Lambert's Dark Quebec Tale, The Birds That Stay
In the opening of Ann Lambert's The Birds that Stay (Second Story Press), Louis Lachance sneaks away while his wife is sleeping - not for an affair, but to take one more job as a handyman. Instead of ...
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February 26, 2019When All Your Faves Are Problematic
Recently, at a dinner with several writer friends, I learned that a writer I’ve long admired has been known to behave rather smarmily around young women. This writer is now on the list of names that ...
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January 24, 2020Making Time: Making Randomness & #SSCLUB
When 2020 began, I’d been off most social media for about twenty-two days. My decision wasn’t deliberate. In fact, it was reactive. The night before I went offline, I read a short story: “Innards” ...
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November 25, 2019Call for Submissions: The Writers' Union of Canada 27th Annual Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers
Attention new and emerging short story writers!The Writers' Union of Canada is now inviting submissions for its annual Short Prose Competition for Emerging Writers. Now in its 27th year, the Competition ...
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March 04, 2018
Oh, the horror!
Here's some self-gossip for you: A few years ago, in the months leading up to the release date of my book, I was pleased to take part in Naked Heart, Toronto’s LGBTQ literary festival, and to read as ...
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December 12, 2018Beyond the Possible: On World Building
Sometimes, I think about what would have happened to Frodo and Sam if, during their journey across the land to Mordor, Frodo had fallen down a jagged slope of rocks and broken his leg.Would Frodo, delirious ...
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September 12, 2016Excerpt from for All the Men (And Some of the Women) I've Known
Hi Open Book Readers,I want to share one of the short stories from For All the Men (and Some of the Women) I've Known.The book is divided into sections: Meeting, Falling In, Falling Out, Friendship and ...