Happy Publishing Story
A novel that, less than a year ago, was without a Canadian publisher has won the country’s most prestigious literary prize. Esi Edugyan’s Half-Blood Blues, about a jazz musician who…
Literary
Church of Lies by Flora Jessop
My reading plan was derailed when Church of Lies by Flora Jessop and Paul T. Brown came in from the library. I put down The Book Thief and picked up…
Late Bloomers: Jose Saramago
I’ve always thought of Jose Saramago as a prolific, accomplished and successful literary writer, someone elevated, and not even enviable because he deserved it all. So I was astonished and…
Advance Quotes!
stonishing, shocking, loving…Step into this novel and you will find yourself submerged; wake from it, and you will find yourself transformed. Web of Angels is a rare gift, perfectly named;…
You Are My Only by Beth Kephart
You Are My Only is a gorgeously written YA novel. That’s the first thing I want you to know about it. The second thing is that I couldn’t put it…
A Better World for Books
The literacy mission at Better World Books isn’t something that’s tacked on — it’s always been part of our DNA. Starting August 15, 2011, we are making an additional commitment…
On Writing
Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren’t. I’m not surprised some people prefer…
Writing and Weeping
I intended to post my report about Scrivener yesterday, and I have photos from my Thanksgiving walk to upload. But instead I imported a document to Scrivener. It was a…
Interview with Margaret Laurence Part II
A critic once said of A Jest of God that Rachel really wasn’t worth writing about because she was no more interesting than anybody you might sit next to in…
Interview with Margaret Laurence, Part I
In a sense writing a novel is a sort of discovery . You know more or less where you’re headed but everything could change in the doing of it. And,…
My Memories of the Literary Triumverate
When I was a teenager, 3 great literary icons were coming into prominence, all of them women writers: Margaret Laurence, Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood. Of these Margaret Laurence was…
Writing Again
I have 2 projects on the go–a fun idea and a serious one. However, from past experience, I know that fun can morph into serious and serious can take a…
A Sweet New Year
Rosh Hashanah starts tonight, the Jewish New Year, and in celebration we’ll dip apples in honey to ensure a sweet new year for us and all our friends, online and…
New Blog!
Writers have so many ways of procrastinating. But this one is constructive and has a higher purpose…seriously. I was inspired by the bookclub Slaves of Golconda. When I was asked…
First Reading of Web of Angels
This was on my desk when I arrived home yesterday. I’d spent most of the day at the first McLaughlin Literary Festival in Oshawa, all of my wired energy drained…
I’m Reading in Oshawa
This Sunday, the 18th, I’ll be reading at 2:50 at the First McLaughlin Literary Festival! I’ll be reading from The Singing Fire and talking about Web of Angels. Location: Parkwood…
epic rap: dr. seuss vs shakespeare
Filed under: Fun, Literary
The Lizard Cage: A review
Every once in a while, I read a book that I want to tell everyone to read. The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly is one of those novels. These are…
Making a Difference: You Are My Only by Beth Kephart
You Are My Only releases October 25th. For two weeks if you help spread the word about You Are My Only, you will be entered to win a prize! All…
NEW WEBSITE!
I’ve been MIA for several weeks while working on my new website! I am so excited about it because I’ve wanted to have something like this for ages–more interactive and…