When I read the recent headline in our national newspaper announcing that Canada was opening a website where prospective employers and skilled foreign workers could date each other, one side of me was heartened and the other side petrified. I was heartened, because when I came to this country a quarter century ago under the […]
Dating Game for Wannabe Skilled Immigrants Read More »
This will possibly be my one and only post for December. I have been in a pensive mood of late, observing the world as writers normally do, trying to understand its subtext: another mass shooting down south, a man•made fiscal cliff looming with both sides being intransigent, an old calendar ending without the predicted ending
Year-end Miscellany Read More »
I overheard these two guys, Jim and Sam, talking on the subway. Jim: You’ve been on this social media kick for some time now. Is it working for you? Sam: Sure is, man. I’d be resenting talking to you right now if my iPad was getting a signal in this tunnel. Jim: I know, “Google
Lessons on Social Media From Two Guys on the Subway Read More »
I was trolling through the stories I have had published in various anthologies and magazines over the years and they are starting to amount to an untidy pile. More importantly, what do I make of them? After publication, and after an initial reading, they lie forgotten in boxes and bookshelves in readers’ houses, perhaps never
Lest They Be Forgotten Read More »
I was elated when young Justin took the podium recently and announced his candidacy for Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. At last, new hope, a new face, and no baggage other than for a marquee name (with perhaps some old baggage). Now, let the young people try to make some sense of this
Just-in-time Trudeau Read More »
A fellow writer asked me what it would take to write the next literary novel. I searched through my notes, gathered after wondering for many years in literary wastelands, and came up with these Ten Commandments (caveat emptor: I take no responsibility for the success or failure of your novel): 1) Do away with plot.
How to write the next literary novel Read More »
It saddened me to see top tennis players hit thirty and then retire at the US Open this year, their bodies giving way, their spirits no longer in the game, worn out and tired – at thirty! Like gladiators of old, albeit richer. I wondered whether this is a harbinger for the world of work
Dickens vs. Camelot Read More »
Have you ever received a manuscript back from an agent or publisher saying, “We like this, BUT…” followed by a list of things that don’t work and need fixing? Do you feel as if they are talking about your children? “Your son is a nice lad, except that he has too much sex in him
Revision – Author’s friend or foe? Read More »
“There will be no more professional writers in future” – read the headline of the arts section of one of our national newspapers last week, waking me up to my own dire predictions of the last few months, reminding me that I am not the only one having these nightmares. Change is coming, no matter
There will be no professional writers in future: banner or epitaph? Read More »
The social media enthusiast lives in a parallel universe: on the one hand he is isolated from human contact by being totally focussed on his PC, tablet or mobile device, thumbing away to an equally anonymous community of friends, on the other his life is now a public one where every photo, joke, threat, bias,
Seeking fame and protecting privacy online – a tough balancing act Read More »