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March 14, 2014
The Reading Rulebook
I used to go to a lot of public readings of poetry and fiction. Then I had kids, and rarely went, but recently, due to changing circumstances, I've been out to a few more, and what hasn't changed are ...
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June 21, 2017Flash -- Opportunity for Writers
A post on social media: Wilfred Laurier University seeks applicants for the Edna Staebler Laurier Writer-in-Residence position on its Waterloo campus in southwestern Ontario.For ten weeks, starting in ...
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August 03, 2017
Improv Taught Me How to Craft a Story
I know a lot of people who want to write books who don’t actually do any writing. It’s a curious thing to want to do something you don’t do. I used to be one of those people, so I say that with ...
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August 02, 2017Gwaandak
This started off as a straightforward article about Gwaandak Theatre, Yukon’s only Indigenous theatre company. But something went wrong. Or right.I wanted to feature Gwaandak’s production, Map of ...
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March 18, 2021The Chaos of Creation and Why I Chase the Rupture Point
When I write, it feels like I am on the inside of a spinning wheel that never stops. The wheel lets itself loose from the chassis and throws itself, willingly, down the hillside. The after effects of ...
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May 17, 2021
The Writer's Voice: It's Not What You Say but How You Say It
‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.’ As a child and teen I heard this simply as a parent’s retort to the self-righteous whine, ‘But I only said…’As a writer I realise it’s ...
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May 20, 2021
Toilets and the Research Iceberg : Bringing History to Life
The best and worst part of writing historical fiction is research. The best and worst part of research is that chasing every bright and shiny object – oops, I mean fact – can be so addictive that ...
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June 23, 20215 Tips For a DIY Writing Retreat
Now that we're peeking around the corner at a post-pandemic world, I've been starting to crave a DIY writing retreat. I don't get to do them as often as I'd like, but there's something magical about blocking ...
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July 06, 2021The Listener in the Work: How a Sense of Address Can Transform Your Writing
Who is the “speaker” in your poems talking to? Is there a listener within your story? Who is the narrator’s confidante? I’ve been thinking a lot about a sense of address and I’ve come to believe ...
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June 21, 20226 Reasons Why Your Kids’ Book Was Rejected
After working in children’s publishing, sitting on various book selection committees, and judging writing for kids contests for 15+ years, I’ve read a lot of manuscripts. Here are the six most common ...
