Category Archives: Writing

Visit to the Pod

On my recent trip to Vancouver (yes, the sticky notes trip), I took the opportunity to visit Orca Publishing in Victoria. It seemed silly to cross most of the country, and not take the extra day to meet the people … Continue reading

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Travel Tip: Leave the Sticky Notes at Home

I’m in Vancouver today, jet-lagged and a little foggy-minded. But not so foggy-minded that I can’t learn from my mistakes. Oh, no. And here’s an important one: leave the sticky notes at home. I don’t do well with airport security. … Continue reading

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Bravery

Last night CBC aired a story on my cousin, Mark Dawson, and his wife Yoo Choi. Yoo died a few months ago. She had a gambling addiction that she had struggled with in the past. Things got out of control … Continue reading

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Lost My Golf Balls

Last February, I blogged about a nice metaphor my friend Susan Blakeney uses when it comes to organizing her life. Life is a jar, and you have a bunch of things that you want to fit in it. Sand and … Continue reading

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Plotting and Pantsing

Today’s blog post is inspired by K.M. Weiland’s post on plotting. Worth a look, if you haven’t come across it already. I’m looking forward to her new book! I’m an outliner. A “plotter,” as writer-types tend to call it. (As … Continue reading

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Write Like Jose Bautista

Maybe that should be “Write Like Jose Bautista Bats.” I have no idea whether or not he writes. But if he does, I bet he’s good at it. (Spoken like the wife of a true Jays fan.) So a month … Continue reading

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First Impressions

Some advice I’ve heard, and shared with my writing group often enough that I don’t remember where I learned it (Don Maass, I think, but I might have first come across it somewhere else), is to pay close attention to … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday: We’re Not in this Alone

Today is my husband’s birthday. He doesn’t know I’m writing this. In On Writing, Stephen King talks a lot about his wife, Tabitha. He says that whenever he sees a first novel dedicated to the writer’s spouse, he thinks to … Continue reading

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The Right Advice at the Right Time

Sometimes things come together. Thanks to my good friend Susan Blakeney, I had an out-of-the-blue opportunity last week to attend a free writing workshop hosted by Driftwood Theatre. I don’t write plays, but I do like to learn about different … Continue reading

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Television Drama and Pending Doom

Before I get into today’s thoughts on writing (which are mostly: yay, school’s back in session — I get to write again!), I wanted to share some happy news. 1. Boarder Patrol was selected as  one of the Canadian Children’s … Continue reading

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