I’m gearing up to read the draft of what’ll likely be my third novel. I put the beast aside over a year ago when I returned to the second (now done, and its news will be told as soooon as possible, I swear). My read through will begin on Monday, the day after my Fearless […]
I’ve had a lot of wonderful conversations with writers over the past couple of weeks. Good conversations, and sometimes sad ones. Some of the writers I’ve spoken with – maybe even you – have been struggling with projects for several years (even decades) and/or trying – and often failing – to find time to work […]
Last week, in the woods, I became reacquainted with my brain. I remembered who I am. The paddling was tough. Every time we hit a lake, the wind bore down like a creature, pushing two-foot waves at us, and we had long distances to cover. There were whole days of paddling, when my shoulders smarted […]
Here’s a confession: I’m tired. Really tired. Exhausted, actually. I’m about fifteen pages away from finishing the latest in-depth edits of my book and have already told my agent to expect it in her email in-box on Monday. I’m nearing the summit, I guess, and feel oh-so-ready for a protein bar and a cup of […]
There’s a moment that often comes back to me. Early autumn of 2010, at a bed-and-breakfast in Ontario’s Muskokas. I was there on a solitary writing retreat and in the afternoon, at the desk, after a few days of hard work, I typed the last words and finished Swarm. I stood up, walked outside, and […]
The world up here is covered in slowly thinning snow; the ice not yet sliding down the river. The sun is warmer, the ravens are talking up a storm, the crows are back, and the magpies are busy building their stick-pod nests. It’s spring, that time when whatever you plant will start to sprout. For […]
I set a personal goal for myself this week and so far I’ve been hitting it. The goal: three hours of work per day on rewriting chapters. I use the timer on my phone, and I go hour by hour, and I stop the clock when I take breaks so that I know I’m not […]
The world has changed while I’ve been here. Last year, I saw the spring arrive in Saskatchewan, while writing poetry for two weeks at the Sage Hill retreat. This year, it’s Calgary, where the leaves have begun glowing as if lit by an internal light, as Ian McEwan describes it in Enduring Love which I […]
The following is a guest post by writer Aaron Shepard. Being a country-born lad, the odds are good I’ll never write a “New York” novel. Even a Toronto or Vancouver novel might be a stretch. Instead, I wrote a “West Kootenay” novel, even though I’ve been warned about the perils of doing so. Never heard […]
Two days ago I finished the last edit of Swarm. A friend of mine asked me what exactly that means, because it seems like over the past few years I’ve several times said, I’m done!, only to dive back in again… But this time is different. For the past month and a half I’ve been […]