NovelTag

Read an Excerpt from Pale Shadows by Dominique Fortier, Translated by Rhonda Mullins

What is the purpose of stories if they languish in the shadows? If they are written down only to wait by on paper in a drawer in the hope that someone, anyone, will pull them out and share them with the ...

On Uncanny Delays, Endings, and Dionne Brand

Last summer I moved houses briefly to work on my novel. A friend was leaving the country for a few weeks and I gladly left my little apartment to take care of his place and write. I came well equipped ...

Seven Tips For Making a Great Audiobook

My first novel, At Last Count (Invisible Publishing, 2022) was recently turned into an audiobook. This is what you hope for as a writer, because it offers a great second way to reach readers—third, ...

Shakespearean Transformations: All’s Well by Mona Awad

Mona Awad’s 2021 novel, All’s Well, follows a drama professor suffering from chronic pain. She’s staging one of Shakespeare’s plays, All’s Well That Ends Well, which is about an orphan named ...

Abdulrazak Gurnah and the Rupture of Beauty

As snow fell over Vancouver and Calgary, it was hard not to think about beauty. When we see something beautiful, why do we become still? Why do we feel so calmed? What exactly happens in that moment when ...

On Orpheus & Eurydice, or the Inevitability of Timing

I’ve become superstitious about my novel. I believe that if I look back at the previous pages, I will not be able to write – not even one word to move it forward. After I finish writing for the day, ...

On Giving Yourself Room to Change (Or, Eros the Bittersweet)

A few months ago, I talked to someone on the phone. I didn’t know this person well and though I’d seen them over Zoom somewhat regularly for our work together, I never really noticed them too much. ...

On Listening to Music and Writing a Novel

Do you listen to music as you write? I often do, particularly when writing a short story, but it has been several months since I typed the night away with a melody playing in the background. At this moment, ...

Book Therapy: Help! I’m Alive

“Usually the isolation is a result of some life trauma. Does your brother have trauma?”“Fuck, I don’t know. Who doesn’t have trauma?”—Gurjinder Basran, Help! I’m Alive Lately I can’t ...

Read an Excerpt from Richard Scarsbrook's The Troupers, the Story of a Strange & Fascinating Family

We're wrapping up our spotlight on excerpts this week with a glimpse into acclaimed author Richard Scarsbrook's new novel The Troupers, in which the Trouper quintuplets are raised by their overbearing ...