Ken MurrayTag

Literary Road Trip Destination: Talking about Prince Edward County's "County Reads" Festival with Barbara Sweet

There's more than wine, bike tours, and golden beaches in Prince Edward County. Fast becoming a centre for the arts in Ontario, one highlight of the County's jam-packed arts calendar is the County Reads ...

The Greatest Joy of Writing Is to Occasionally Be out of Your Mind

Writing these posts over the past month has reminded me of something. It seems obvious but I’d forgotten: When writing short pieces for regular publication (in this case, every other day), my writing ...

Do Not Wait for Inspiration

Do not wait for inspiration; that bus is on an irregular schedule.I’ve been asked several times now what was the inspiration or vision for my recently published novel, and I often see disappointment ...

"...My Reading Pile Inevitably Grows: Books to Read, and Books to Read Again"

Several years ago a talented and passionate writer friend said to me, when I complimented her work, “Yes, but I want to be Virginia Woolf.”I said that if she wanted to be Virginia Woolf, then she ...

“I Love That Ability to Capture the Surreal and the Comical” — a Chat with Emily Schultz

Emily Schultz is the co-founder of Joyland Magazine, host of the podcast Truth & Fiction, and creator of the blog Spending the Stephen King Money. Schultz’s newest novel is The Blondes (St. Martin's ...

The Anti-Block

People like to talk about writer’s block, the horrible dead end feeling of a blank page and nothing to write, or of a work in progress that has lost its energy and for which the writer can find no direction.But ...

A Bona Fide Once in a Lifetime: Awaiting the First Review of My First Novel

Coming off a one hour presentation about my novel this evening at The Haliburton School of the Arts, a presentation that I enjoyed immensely (largely because of the engaging and welcoming audience), I ...

Talking in Public About Writing a Novel

I’m putting the finishing touches onto a talk about my novel, Eulogy, which I’ll present tomorrow as part of the weekly Artist Talk series at Haliburton School of The Arts. This is to be a one hour ...

At the Start of a New Creative Writing Class

I’m about to teach a new class, “Writing That Resonates,” starting tomorrow at Haliburton School of the Arts and, as happens each time, I pause.The students in the room will be diverse. Some will ...

Storylines

“All kinds of storylines are playing out here.” Question: This quote is most likely to be heard from...(a) A TV journalist reporting on a political or legal case?(b) A football commentator?(c) A book ...