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The month is half over and I have only posted one article on my blog for 2009– why? The general economic malaise, the ultra•cold temperatures, the flurry of activity around a recently released book, the need to find a job now that it has proven conclusively to me that writers cannot make a living at […]

Young Bob had cultivated a daily habit. He stepped into his neighbourhood coffee shop, “Joe’s Coffee and Donuts,” and drank a black coffee on his way to work. One day, he saw that the new chain store opened across from Joe’s was also offering coffee, but always fresh. Bob liked that, even though he could

I wrote a novel in the aftermath of 9/11 that was set in a not•too•distant future. It was about a time when the world had split into fragments caused by a great earthquake and a flood brought on by a combination of global warming and terrorism. Consequently, all the Capitalists in the world (the ones

The strains of John Lennon’s song play repeatedly on the radio these days, making me wonder indeed, “What have we done?” Well, for starters John, we imploded on our own financial excess; we continued to fight meaningless wars; gas prices rose to heights that no one could “Imagine” and then plunged to where they should

Ninety•five percent of the writers in the land packed in their tools, finally. There were reasons for this perfect storm: first, not many were getting published. And for the ones lucky enough to see their work in print, most of their books were remaindered or recycled, and royalties had dried up. Their publishers were busy

I have always wondered about that term – the ploy used by ancient Romans to keep their citizens fat, happy and mindless with gladiator games and other sensual entertainment while the coffers were raided and the youth sent off to die in wars of greed and plunder. In Canada, things are different. Our circus has

I watched with sadness as black smoke swirled out and over the magnificent Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai • India’s repeating globalized horror image, similar to the one of the falling towers in New York City seven years ago. It seems that the cost for going global is the accompanying stigma of tragedy that follows,

Today’s newspaper indicated that the top five economic powers in our now ailing G8 club of nations, are collectively spending $2.5 trillion (money they do not necessarily have) to prevent their economies from contracting an average of 0.7% next year. This, despite the fact that the money poured in to•date has only sent stock markets

Ever since the Internet became stable and (somewhat) secure, companies have been in a war against paper as a major re•engineering venture that saves millions in hard copy print and mailing costs. A few years ago, when my bank called and asked me if I would like to try “e•banking”, I tentatively agreed. But when

When I decided to return to writing, in Canada, after a long hiatus, I wondered how the heck anyone was going to notice me. I did not belong to the literary community; I had not been educated in this country, had no industry contacts, no MA, MFA or other academic title that seemingly confers literary