Writer in ResidenceTag

Friday Night Fright Club

I didn’t vote for this. Remote viewing a friend’s funeral was not how I expected two years of reading Goosebumps live on the internet to end, but sitting next to my partner Emma in my office and staring ...

Reading the Veil

When it’s going well, writing feels like magic. You sit in front of a blank page, and against all expectation, open a portal to new people, scenarios, settings, and ideas. Through some synthesis of ...

Writing For Ghouls

It’s spooky season, and here in Atlantic Canada the ambiance is that of a flooded crypt. The smell of wet fallen leaves, rainy days that feel heavy and dark as night, smoke on the air indicating warmth ...

Eclipsed by the Source

“It’s not all dark.” - Roger Waters, “Eclipse”They say the original is always better. In our era of reboots and revivals, when adaptations or sequels fail to capture the scope of their source ...

Vulnerability is a Writing Tool

My most reflexive apology is, “I went to theatre school.” Usually delivered with a shrug or a knowing smirk as if to say I can’t help it, it gets a laugh from the creative set about 82 percent of ...

Music, Automation, and Writing With a Satellite Mindset

Technology drained away my love of new music with the promise of access. That’s why I didn’t see it happening. Logging on to my subscription streaming service, I’m greeted with abundance—playlists ...

October 2023 Writer in Residence Peter Counter on Writing After the Unthinkable

Peter Counter was on a perfectly normal family vacation when the unthinkable happened: a stranger shot Counter's father, leaving Counter to drag him, wounded and bleeding, to safety. It was a moment ...

On Motivation

I’m a person who gets called “very prolific” a lot. I won’t get into what I think about that or whether I agree or if I think it’s even remotely good for my mental health or personal relationships. ...

The Strangest Places I've Sold Books

As a niche (I use the word niche here as a stand-in for what others have described as feminist or bad) Canadian novelist, I try not to have high (or any) expectations for the success of my books. Sales ...

The Places I Write, Rated

I’ll write anywhere but not all writeable spaces are equal. My latest novel was written all over the place (see: How to Write a Novel in a Month) and if I learned anything from that experience it’s ...