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Monthly Archives: April 2011
Open Letter to my MP
I 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. … Continue reading
The Wrong Book
After 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 … Continue reading
Retreat!
(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; … Continue reading
Structure, Structure and More Structure
I 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. … Continue reading
Woolly Ragwort in your Nose
One 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 … Continue reading
Chicken Man
Ever 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 … Continue reading
How my Writing Group is like a Bumblebee
Because 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 … Continue reading