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October 18, 2018
My friend Richard
In my last post I talked about some of the influential writers and books that inspired me to seriously pursue my own creative writing. My list is much longer than that, and there are many more storytellers ...
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July 17, 2018
Catherine Fatima on her Raw & Frank Auto-Fictional Debut Novel, Sludge Utopia
Catherine Fatima's debut novel Sludge Utopia (Book*hug) is as ambitious as it is raw, exploring sexuality and desire as conceptual experiences while still grounding the narrative in a deeply introspective, ...
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November 22, 2018
Inspiration is Inconvenient
I’ve been talking about writing, publishing, YA, comics, and all of these other aspects of being involved in the writing world. Now I’m going to interrupt all of this to talk about inspiration. It’s ...
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November 29, 2018
The Journey is More Important Than the Destination
My hope for every person on this planet is that they die never having completed everything on their bucket list. That may sound strange and morbid now, but please bear with me. I hope by the end of this ...
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May 02, 2019
Getting to Know Coconut Dreams Author Derek Mascarenhas: Bloody Noses, Scars & Cozy Sweaters
Aiden and Ally Pinto, the brother and sister duo of the Pinto family, are at the heart of Derek Mascarenhas' linked story collection Coconut Dreams (Book*hug). Moving from Goa, India to suburban Canada, ...
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January 18, 2019
Yard Dog author A.G. Pasquella on Keeping the Rawness from Draft to Draft (and a Tattoo Suggestion)
Sometimes getting the thing you want most doesn't quite work out. That's what Jack Palace discovers in A.G. Pasquella's gritty new thriller Yard Dog (Dundurn Press). When Jack gets out of prison, it ...
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April 26, 2019
Poet Ayaz Pirani on Oral Tradition, Literary Gatekeepers, and Writing Faithful Lines
Ayaz Pirani's work has been praised as "wise... surprising [and] sly" and his newest collection, Kabir’s Jacket Has a Thousand Pockets (Mawenzi House), builds on his characteristic insightful, elegant ...
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September 29, 2019
Bookstore Love
This is my final post as September Writer-in-Residence for Open Book. It’s been such a pleasure to spend the month thinking about my writing life and what I’d like to say about it. I’m grateful ...
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October 01, 2019
"Sometimes, the Story Isn't Finished Being Told" Drew Hayden Taylor on Spending 20 Years with the Story That Inspired His Newest Novel
In playwright, novelist, and screenwriter Drew Hayden Taylor's new book, Chasing Painted Horses (Cormorant Books), an innocent act of encouragement from a parent has far-reaching consequences. When ...
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September 16, 2019
My Teenaged Reading Secret
When I was six my mom started to take me with her on her weekly visits to the public library. Mom was a fan of Dorothy L. Sayers; I was a fan of Raggedy Ann and Andy books. Around the age of thirteen ...