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September 19, 2018
Talk to Me
My little sunroom office at home (which is also our dining room) faces a fairly busy street, so when the weather’s good and our windows are open, bits and pieces of random conversations drift up to ...
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September 13, 2017
2017 Journey Prize Shortlist Released: Bala, Kemick, and Naponse Tapped for Top Short Fiction Prize
The Writers’ Trust/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize has an almost uncanny track record of singling out emerging writers who will go on to become the heavy hitters of CanLit. This year, the three ...
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July 06, 2015
“…Writing Was a Nasty Habit or Addiction That I Would Have to Support.”
This quote, which comes at 2:35 of the attached interview with Guy Vanderhaeghe, sums up a pragmatic approach to the early years of a writing life, years that for many of us can stretch for decades, or ...
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July 01, 2015
Keep Going
This is my last post as the writer-in-residence for this website. It’s been a lot of fun. I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.What remains to be said? ...
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April 10, 2014
Perfection
I’ve been running a writing workshop all winter and, once again, marveling at the courage that it takes to tackle the tricks and complexities of the English language. The writers are exposing themselves ...
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September 30, 2014
Eppur Si Muove / And yet It Moves
Eppur si muove. And yet it moves. This is what Galileo supposedly said, speaking of the earth, upon being found guilty of heresy in 1633 for promoting the Copernican model of heliocentricity. In its move ...
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October 07, 2015
An Etiquette Expert Weighs in on How to Handle the Most Awkward Questions Authors Get
“So is being a writer what you really want to do some day?”This is a question that someone asked me when they found out I had just had a book published.“Well, I’m doing it now, actually,” I ...
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May 07, 2020
Watching a Storm.
There was one anecdote that for some reason didn't evolve into a story in my collection Coconut Dreams. My young sibling characters, Ally and Aiden, are in the garage of their quiet suburban townhome. ...
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September 26, 2014
On Pseudonyms: Q&A with Michael Redhill
On pseudonyms a.k.a. aliases a.k.a. handles a.k.a. avatars a.k.a. monikers a.k.a. sobriquets ak.a. epithets a.k.a. pen names a.k.a. nicknames a.k.a. noms de guerres a.k.a. anon.:Q&A with Michael Redhill, ...
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October 08, 2014
Shifting Gears
Dear Open Bookers,It’s a pleasure to be this month’s Writer-in-Residence. I look forward to sharing thoughts and ideas with you over the coming weeks!Monday morning, I arrived at the Banff Centre ...