Find the Magic YOUR Way Back in elementary school, my Grade 5 class put on a play, The King’s Creampuff, in which the Witch of All Witches steals the King’s royal recipe book, causing uproar in the royal kitchen when the … Continue reading →

Write the Unexpected I had a minor “huh” moment recently. I’d washed a flower vase and had left it to dry on the kitchen counter. I’d then taken two eggs, to prepare an omelette. I set them on the drying … Continue reading →

A Marathon of Ideas Writing advice often uses the marathon/sprint analogy, as in it takes a lot of time, practice, patience and endurance to complete a novel. I’m absolutely on board with that! But there’s another element of the analogy … Continue reading →

Elevator Pitch My daughter’s friend is in business school. She explained a marketing assignment she’ll soon have: an elevator pitch.  It’s a short, concise, engaging, convincing line that can be used to sell your product in a short period of time. Like, … Continue reading →

Our Worth As Writers I might have told you this before… (I tell it a lot!) I met Princess Diana. In person. The most famous woman on the planet at the time, and she talked to me!  I was eight years … Continue reading →

Our Impact as Writers I was watching a mindless police procedural TV show, of the variety where the bad guys are caught in 42 minutes. The climax was a warehouse fire and in one shot, a firefighter filled the frame. … Continue reading →

Writing Is About US After years in the writing world, here’s what I keep circling back to. Writing talent/skill/effort is NOT the same as discoverability.  The best books may not sell. The best writers may not get published.  The best … Continue reading →

Happy Pub Day, Amaranth! There’s an easy narrative about writers. So-and-so published their first novel in [fill in year], followed by their latest in [fill in a date often very soon after the first.] Perhaps this makes sense to non-writers, … Continue reading →

A Piece of Cake I had to shake my head at my own folly. I had two errands to run: buy a book and buy a cake. Coincidentally, both were the same price, about C$40. I winced at the cost … Continue reading →

Video Games and Writers I love talking with teenagers; they have a perspective on the world that is refreshingly different than those of us who are older (and, as a result, perhaps more jaded…).  My teen daughter: We’re just NPCs … Continue reading →