When I was twenty-one I set out to become a dancer. For six months I’d been drinking in Europe – its museums, galleries, cafes and its men – but I was still thirsty. I’d been stretching my legs on the balustrade of my Persian lover’s balcony while...
I’ve listened to agents, editors, teachers and friends advise, guide, support and suggest ways to approach and improve my novel. I’ve been down dirt paths, super highways, and regular old two-lane roads according to their direction. Although I have always written, the...
Yesterday I attended the Ontario Writers’ Conference in Ajax Ontario. It was a heart-breakingly beautiful sunny day, and I wondered aloud if I really needed another writers’ conference. I’d already pitched to two of the agents at another conference,...
I love Alan Watt. Every newsletter he writes has me nodding and laughing and murmuring those sounds of recognition and delight. Each one is full of the wisdom of one who has been there again and again. And it always seems that the topic of the month is what I myself...
It is day four at Maryholme Retreat Centre on Lake Simcoe and I have just completed another full edit of my novel, Weather Vane. I have been hearing the voices that say bad words in my head again. I heard them and I kept walking over the lawns with my clipboard and my...
Writing does writing, I’ve heard it said. And, if you want to be a writer, you have to write. You learn to write by writing, and so on. It’s a fact, as one of the characters in my friend Nora’s work would say. You can sit in classrooms and workshops and learn about...
