When you live in different places, and later try to write about the experiences you had in them, how much do you paint from the external and how much do you bring from within? Which is the better way? Which conveys a better sense of place? When I commenced writing my latest novel, Milltown, someone […]
Experience & Setting Read More »
Whenever I see the vibrant colours of Fall on the trees: the reds of dogwood, maple, and burning bush, the mixture of neon yellows, hushed browns and luminescent greens in the oak, elm and willow; when I hear the squirrels, birds and chipmunks suddenly tread loud on the fallen leaves that crunch underfoot, I get
Fall – promise fulfilled Read More »
I was doing my writer’s math again this week. It’s pretty basic – debits and credits – mainly debits, as we don’t get a lot of royalties and the bills are still, well, the bills – they don’t go away. Some statistics lay in front of me: 1) The average male adult reader reads only
Hammered by the Blockbuster? Read More »
I was with my old buddy Jake down at the Rivoli in Toronto and we were celebrating with bowls of latte. We were about to launch our novels together. We are in that fast increasing population of salt ‘n’ pepper•haired workers who have enough life experiences to churn out books in rapid succession but never
Having a Latte and toasting the old times Read More »
Everyone, including myself with the release of my book After the Flood, is on the doomsday wagon. The warming climate is fertile ground for flights of the imagination, predictions stemming from depressed minds, and expressions of anger at the fools who brought the world to this pass. I recall the last time we were in
Doomsday Merchants Read More »
The Opposition had finally got its act together it seemed and was going to make a fall election happen – not! The timing was apparently not right – again! I wonder what the real holdback was this time? Courage? Or anticipated low voter turnout? Maybe that’s the real concern. And why do our voters not
Voting – a forgotten civic duty? Read More »
When I read the article about how an online retailer deleted a controversial book from its buyer’s e•book readers, without their knowledge, it shocked the hell out of me. Ironically, I was in the middle of reading Ray Bradbury’s classic Fahrenheit 451 – a story about a dystopian future (Bradbury wrote the book in 1953
The invasion of our libraries – Fahrenheit 451 all over? Read More »
Shakespeare had seven stages of life, but I have settled for six acts on one stage… The First Act • Innocence– You are running free as a child, with images of past lives and guardian angels vivid in your mind; the imagination free, the strong spirit of enquiry to take those earlier experiences onto their
Life’s a Stage, with a six-act play Read More »
I have always wanted to read at least fifty books a year – approximately one a week, like a chain smoker, only this habit was healthier. During my youth, sports, studies, work, girls, dreams all got in the way of reading those fifty books a year. When I tried to squeeze books in among those
Reading Fifty Books a Year – a necessary civic duty Read More »
The copyright debate is underway in Canada and writers have mobilized heavyweights like the leaders of the opposition parties (who have all had the time to write books, it appears) to defend us from our wily prime minister, who has still to write one and who likes to sell everything we own to the highest
To protect or to give it away? Read More »