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September 27, 2022
The 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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February 26, 2019
When 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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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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March 14, 2018
How to hold a launch.
There comes a time in a writer’s life when, if you are very lucky, you will be published (frequently but not always a book) and you may feel the need to draw attention to it with some kind of hoohah. ...
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December 12, 2018
Beyond 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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May 25, 2022
"My Life Happened and Then the Stories Followed" Dayle Furlong on Writing Her Gritty, Gripping New Story Collection
The yearning hope and baffled rage of those characters who haven't been lucky in life is a palpable presence in Dayle Furlong's gritty new linked story collection, Lake Effect (Cormorant Books). With ...
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September 12, 2016
Excerpt 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 ...
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February 16, 2020
Blogpost #4: START TO FINISH, The Story Behind the Story 2- A Likkle Miss Lou
In this second instalment of my START TO FINISH, The Story Behind the Story series, I focus on my latest picture book A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found ...
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February 23, 2018
"True Stories are Always the Best Stories & They Can Be the Toughest to Write": The 2018 RBC Taylor Prize Finalists on Non-Fiction
On Monday, the 2018 RBC Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction will be presented to one of five shortlisted authors. This year's list is an eclectic one, making it tough to predict a winner in this strong crop ...
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September 03, 2019
"Story is Story, No Matter the Medium" Playwright & Writing Teacher Diane Flacks on Finding "the Why" of Your Writing
Diane Flacks is no stranger to posing provocative questions in her work as a playwright. Her newest play, Unholy (Playwrights Canada Press), delves into a big one: Should women abandon religion? In ...