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October 01, 2018Why Does It Take So Long to Make a Picture Book?: Or, How To Get Really Good at Waiting
I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t prepared for all the waiting I’d have to do in life. And when it comes to writing, you do a lot of waiting. Waiting for inspiration to strike. Realizing that ...
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April 12, 2016Why Don’t We Take Sports Writing Seriously?
In February of last year, Canadian Notes and Queries publisher Dan Wells kindly approached me with a question. “Brainstorming a games issue of CNQ,” he wrote in an email. “Wondered if you might ...
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July 23, 2019Why I Don’t Announce My Social Media Breaks
Over the past couple of years, I’ve watched several writers announce that they’re taking a break from social media. Sometimes they edit their profile so that their status, “on hiatus,” is added ...
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August 14, 2016Why I Led a Boycott Against Stuart Ross
I spent the first forty-five minutes of my own Toronto book launch this past spring standing outside the venue holding up a sign calling for a boycott of myself. This led to an enthusiastic round of jeers ...
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July 12, 2020Why I've Been Waiting for Lovecraft Country
One of the most divisive and important figures in the horror canon is H.P. Lovecraft (the H.P. standing for Howard Phillip). His impact has been unmistakable, heavily influencing the work of artists across ...
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February 28, 2016
Why Some of the Best Writers I Know Aren't Publishing
Some of the best writers I know are relatively unpublished. They might have a story out here or there, or maybe write professionally in another genre, but they aren’t actively trying to pursue a publisher ...
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February 02, 2021Why We Need to Question “Hobbies” in the Pandemic
On a rainy Thursday morning at the end of January 2021, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling for far too long... I couldn’t remember what I had done in 2020. I remember the past couple of years clearly: ...
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February 17, 2016
Why Writers Should Be Reading Works in Translation or Part 1 of The Extravagant JT Reading Plan Never to Be Started or Completed
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about reading because I’ve rekindled that love. I go through phases with reading, as I guess most of do, usually dependent on how engrossed I am in my own projects. ...
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November 20, 2014With Evan Munday: The Great Unpacking (Part III)
With Evan Munday: The Great Unpacking (Part III)In the third and final installment of my conversation with Evan, we find out what the deal is with him wearing ties all the time, as well as discover how ...
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November 19, 2014With Evan: The Great Unpacking (Part II)
With Evan Munday: The Great Unpacking (Part II)In the second part of my chat with Evan Munday, we consider the politics of niceness The views expressed in the Writer-in-Residence blogs are those held ...