Writing
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Thursday, June 13th, 2013I love Writer Unboxed. I do. It’s one of my favourite writing blogs. Today’s article, though, has me a bit riled. It’s called “Why the Hero’s Journey is a Tourist Trap.” As it happens, I spent last weekend at a two-day seminar in Toronto, along with some very talented, dedicated writer friends. (Hello Anne Laurel [...]
Weekend in Niagara
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013Last weekend I met rock stars! Well, they are to me. YA Authors Ellen Hopkins and Sara Zarr. Middle-grade author Kimberly Griffiths Little. Susan Rich, the editor behind the Lemony Snicket books (yes, she knows the actual, real Lemony Snicket). Laura Biagi and Susan Hawk, literary agents working in the United States. And editor and [...]
Raccoons! And Other Animal Adventures
Friday, April 5th, 2013We had an interesting morning. A squirrel recently moved into our house, between the first floor ceiling and the second floor floorboards. We didn’t know what it was, of course, only that my husband, Aaron, was hearing loud, scrabbling footsteps overhead while he was at work in his office. So we called Paul, a local [...]
St. Thomas
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013Guess where I was earlier this month! You’re jealous, aren’t you? I don’t blame you. I’ve been feeling jealous of trip-Erin, too, this past week while it’s been blustery and damp and cold. Shovelling heavy, wet snow. Driving my daughter to choir practice in an impromptu blizzard. Working through mountains of laundry and folding shorts [...]
In the Wrong Lane
Wednesday, January 16th, 2013A funny thing happened with my daughter last week. It has me thinking about characters in kids’ books, and the things they do. Sarah is a swimmer — a pretty good one. She’s involved with the local swimming team’s pre-competitive program. Last month she tried out for the competitive team and was accepted, although the [...]
Today
Friday, December 14th, 2012There are things I was thinking of blogging about today — about the mess that is my manuscript and the folly of posting goals in a space as public as a blog. About a large publisher’s recent decision to take on a self-publishing imprint, with possible publication by one of the publisher’s traditional lines as [...]
Panic Time
Tuesday, November 27th, 2012It’s getting close to submission time for Tyler’s Intergalactic Spy Squad. (Title change!) And as a result, I’ve been something of a non-productive, panicky mess for the past few weeks. On the plus side, I got lots of Christmas knitting done. Here’s the thing. Most of the books that I’ve submitted to publishers (except for [...]
The Cowboy Knitting Circle
Monday, November 12th, 2012Yesterday was CANSCAIP’s annual Packaging Your Imagination conference in Toronto. I try to make it every year if I can–even the year that I was eight-and-three-quarters months pregnant and not at all sure I’d be able to pop myself free of the desk, once I had wedged myself into it. This year’s PYI Conference was fabulous, [...]
A Tale of Two Socks
Tuesday, October 30th, 2012I’m learning how to knit socks. It’s still very much a work in progress. In the picture, you can see my two current projects. The one on the right is for my mom. She has knit me some lovely socks, which are on my feet as often as they’re out of the laundry. I figured [...]
Weekend in Ottawa and Ramblings on Character
Tuesday, October 16th, 2012Last weekend my daughter and I took a road trip. A good friend of mine was celebrating his fortieth birthday. This friend, Paul, is someone I’ve known my entire life; his parents are my parents’ best friends. He and his younger brother, and my younger brother and I, were pretty much raised as siblings. Cousins [...]
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