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March 23, 2020On Road Maps
Before beginning a project, is it worthwhile to do a detailed outline? Or is it preferable just to dive in? I’ve tried both approaches. In writing my first novel, After the Bloom, I outlined extensively. ...
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March 27, 2020On Emergency Landings
A few years ago, I boarded a crowded plane to Asia. As I reached my aisle seat, I was dismayed to notice that the guy next to me had his arm all over our shared armrest, spilling over to my side. He was ...
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November 25, 2019Special Feature: Book*hug Press
On November 2, 2019, a throng of enthusiastic word nerds gathered at Harbourfront Centre to toast Book*hug Press on its fifteenth anniversary. It was an appropriate venue in which to celebrate, given ...
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July 07, 2016How to Plan a Book Tour
As grateful as I am for the vast reach that the internet provides artists, every time I tour I am reminded of the value of real life human connection and interaction. Being able to travel with my art ...
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October 11, 2021PECULIAR TIMES
Write at the edges of the day.― Toni MorrisonI was a thirty-four old woman with three children under the age of eight when I got the bright idea to write my first novel. I was also working outside the ...
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October 15, 2021MUSE ON THE LAM
Today’s post is about what to do when your muse goes AWOL. When your muse is a contrarian like mine is, getting them to show up for work often requires lengthy debates. Who has that extra time?The ...
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October 22, 2021RIDING THE WAVES
Marigold stood, held up her fist and struck a defiant pose as she recited William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus.” Out of the night that covers me,Black as the pit from pole to pole,I thank whatever ...
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October 25, 2021WE MOVE
While doing life, Nigerians use the slang “we move” to capture the dogged determination needed to plow through difficult situations. It’s a clarion call for better.Over the years, I have come across ...
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June 17, 2016Revenge of the Indie Bookstore
In 2014, when I began booking my Crushes and Mountains US book tour with fellow Toronto-based writer Elisha Lim, I Googled “gay bookstore” or “independent bookstore” in cities we were planning ...
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June 09, 2016Writers' Trust Names Rising Literary Star Brendan Bowles Winner of the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award
The Writers’ Trust's RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers has an enviably accurate track record of picking out CanLit's rising stars. Last night, they honoured Toronto writer Brendan Bowles ...
