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July 06, 2016
What is Literary Fiction? Ask a Romance Publisher
Years ago, I was the guest author at a summer camp for teen writers. The afternoon started well: I read a bit from my first novel, spoke in very general terms about how I became a writer, and outlined ...
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September 12, 2024
Rod Carley's Latest Novel is a Theatrical Odyssey Full of Elizabethan Eccentrics
With trademark humour and vivid imagination, Rod Carley is back at it in his latest novel, a Shakespearean romp set in 17th century Stratford-upon-Avon, and in Scotland (and all the roads between). ...
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May 27, 2017
5 Tips to Stand Out in the Slush Pile
You’ve finished your manuscript. It’s been edited by a critique partner. You’ve assembled a pitch. Now what? The next step is securing literary representation to pitch your project to prospective ...
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August 06, 2019
"I Want My Readers to Question the World Around Them" Jaime Lee Mann on the Thrilling End to her Environmentally-Focused YA Series
Could anyone blame Mother Earth if she started feeling a little, well, vengeful? In Jaime Lee Mann's Ancient Fall (Blue Moon Publishers), the earth has had enough of the humans who exploit her, who have ...
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September 12, 2019
Marie-Louise Gay's Celebration of Young Readers' Imaginations in Fern and Horn: "You Have Your Unique Wonderful Way of Seeing the World"
In Fern and Horn (Groundwood Books), the titular twins Fern and Horn might be small, but their imaginations are huge. Fern loves drawing and helps Horn unlock his love of drawing too - the only trouble ...
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November 15, 2018
"A Title Has to Win A Reader Over... Twice" Matthew Tierney on His Eye-Catching New Title & How Titles Function
Midday at the Super-Kamiokande (Coach House), the newest collection by Matthew Tierney is named after a neutrino observatory in Japan, which gives readers a good bit of context for where the Trillium-winning ...
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July 23, 2020
EMWF: Rob Shapiro on Seeing it Through and Sticking it Out
While this year's physical edition of the Eden Mills Writer's Festival may be cancelled, fans and creators alike were thrilled to hear that organizers had decided to make the experience virtual, presenting ...
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September 02, 2018
Show Me the (Writing-Grant) Money!
Hello, and Happy September! Thanks to the excellent folks at Open Book for inviting me here, and thanks to you for tuning in, lovely readers-who-I’m-guessing-are-mostly-also-writers.All right, let’s ...
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December 01, 2015
Eighty Feet Without a Net - Conversations with John Irving
About a year ago I got an email that I had to read about twelve times over before it really settled in. That email was from Janet Turnbull Irving, the wife and agent of one of the most famous literary ...
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November 21, 2023
Excerpt from Nights Too Short to Dance by the Late French Canadian Literary Icon Marie-Claire Blais
Marie-Claire Blais was known for her fiery writing, her passionate representation of the French Canadian experience, and her fearless literary voice. Over 70 years, she became an icon of Quebec, Canadian, ...