Scrapbook
In praise of dreamy design
When I heard that Natalie Olsen, designer of the sumptuous Short Story Advent Calendar, would design my book, I danced a jig of joy. Olsen’s dreamy creations make book lovers swoon.
To cry, to laugh
Long, long ago (1986), in a kingdom far, far away (Wolfville, NS), I wrote my Honours BA thesis on Thomas Hardy.
When art gets its hooks in you
The other night, at the suggestion of my brother-in-law in Ottawa, perhaps the best recommender of music, books, and movies that I know, I watched the 2018 film The Miseducation of Cameron Post.
On earthquakes and broken places
As I write this, in August 2021 in British Columbia, wildfires are ravaging the drought-ridden BC interior.
Where does the title come from?
“The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong at the broken places.”
—Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
How I came to write The Broken Places
What if a major earthquake struck right now? What would it look like and feel like to me, up here on my own?
Playing with words
Is it hard to write creatively when you’re also an editor? People ask that a lot.
Margaret Atwood and me
Beyond excited to appear next to Margaret Atwood in the Publishers Marketplace deal announcements, October 9, 2020.
