Archive for April, 2011
Open Letter to my MP
Friday, April 29th, 2011I live in Whitby, Conservative stronghold and home to our current Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty. He’s our MP. And I figure, whatever the outcome of the election Federally, he’s pretty safe. But I don’t know who I’m voting for yet. Because the issue that had me worried before the election has kind of vanished, and [...]
The Wrong Book
Monday, April 25th, 2011After I shared this story in class last week, Lena Coakley suggested that I blog about it. Our assignment was to identify the one children’s book that influenced us most, either as a reader or as a writer. Not an easy question at the best of times, and I admit, I was caught a bit [...]
Retreat!
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011(And my first television appearance. But you have to read all the way to the end for that. Or just check out my new Videos page.) Sometimes a writer’s just gotta get away from it all. We’re not talking Walden here; I have something a lot cushier in mind. Something like the place I just got [...]
Structure, Structure and More Structure
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011I spent last weekend at a Screenwriters’ Summit in Toronto, with fellow children’s writers Lena Coakley, Cheryl Rainfield, Karen Krossing, Jennifer Gordon and Urve Tamberg. My brain is still on overload. But I learned stuff. Oh, yes, I learned stuff. (No, I wasn’t just there for the movie clips.) The speakers: Syd Field. John Truby. [...]
Woolly Ragwort in your Nose
Thursday, April 7th, 2011One of the perks of being a children’s writer is that you get to go back and read all the books you didn’t get around to as a child. Patricia MacLachlan’s beautiful, sparse novel Sarah, Plain and Tall came out in 1985, just a little bit too late for me. I discovered it a few months [...]
Chicken Man
Monday, April 4th, 2011Ever wonder how a writer is made? Here’s how. On Thursday, my seven-year-old daughter came out of school at lunch complaining about a “mean supply teacher.” Being a supply teacher myself, I asked what he had done that was so mean. “He had a big voice,” she said. I nodded. She doesn’t like loud voices. [...]
How my Writing Group is like a Bumblebee
Friday, April 1st, 2011Because we’re always buzzing about something? No. I was actually thinking about that old saying about how a bumble shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bee doesn’t know that, so it flies anyhow. However, a quick Google search put paid to that theory. I’m going to write my blog post anyhow. Keep flapping those [...]