The Annual AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) conference has just ended. This year’s 3-day extravaganza was held in Seattle, just a quick hydrofoil journey across the Strait of Juan de Fuca… how could I resist? I had no idea what I was getting myself into: it was the …
Now that I’m happily back to reading, I’ll share with you four of my top book picks for these wintry days… and one album. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Griffin) This book challenges the usual YA label, and manages to be sharp and soft, sweet and harsh, …
Every stage of writing a book is its own world, and I’ve just emerged from Editing Land. The place where my job was to fix what was broken. To clarify, condense, deepen, enhance, trim, slice, and tighten. An immensely gratifying experience, now that I’m on the other side of it, …
The past seven days have been, well, awesome. Full-on celebration mode!! Wahoo! Life is good! It began with a party to celebrate our wonderful volunteers for this year’s Victoria Writers Festival, where a small but very engaged group of us debated the virtues and dangers of social media, and talked about …
It’s Monday, it’s November, it’s tea and writing time. And yet here I am on the internet, reading articles. Oh, some are about writing and others are about antibiotics not working, which may lead to our demise, if Fukushima doesn’t get us first. What a mess we’re in. Time to write …
The blessing of a whole day to dedicate to the process is a rare gift for most writers who have families / jobs / schedules. I’ve managed to make my autumn schedule work so that I have a couple of them every week, and wow, does that feel good. (Not …
