Category: On Writing
Ancestors As Inspiration
My family history gave me the courage I needed to start my career as a novelist. I can remember a decade ago writing down in Julia Cameron’s The Writer’s Way that I really wanted to write a novel and learn French, but in the years before Amazon I had no idea how to make that […]
If You’re Anxious And You Know It
Being a writer is nerve-wracking for everybody. Self-doubt, uncertainty, writer’s block, nerves–it all kind of comes with the territory. Right? Well, while everyone feels these things sometimes, or to some degree, a lucky group of us feels it all the time. That’s the difference between what I call lower-case anxiety (as in a commonplace feeling […]
Social Media: To Share Or Not To Share?
In this golden age of social media, I still find it a bit of a novelty that I can tweet my favourite author. Even more so on the occasions when they tweet me back! Having this kind of direct access to an author would have been unimaginable just 20 years ago. Back in the old […]
Paint Vs Prose
Not that it’s a competition but as a professional artist who has recently become a published author, I can’t help but compare the creative processes that characterise the two modes of artistic expression i.e. painting and writing. What are the similarities and how do they differ? ‘Difficult pleasure’ is how renowned Australian painter, Brett Whiteley, […]
Light after Dark
My little boy spoke of wanting to die. His statements came out of the blue at innocuous moments – once when we were playing with Lego on the living room floor. Yet his reception class teacher described his smile as ‘lighting up the room’. Perhaps that light shone all the more brightly for its contrast […]
Let’s talk Book Translations!
Let’s talk… in a different language… or in my case let my books talk. I have just a smattering of French, German and Russian at my disposal so that I can order a beer in those three languages and say thank you in a few more. Impressive – it is not. However, my books have […]
Why I Love Vampires
In 1994, I was twelve and somehow talked my parents into letting me watch Interview with the Vampire. I guess they figured I’d read the book; I might as well watch the movie. Plus, I had this serious little girl crush on Brad Pitt. I had a crush on Brad Pitt before I ever knew […]
My Life in Bookstores
What came first — my love of books or my love of bookstores? The two are inseparable in my mind. All I know is that bookstores are as much part of my life as any relationship with friends. And like the best of friendships, it continues to deepen and evolve with age. My most recent […]
Multilingualism and Writing
When I was eleven years old, my parents decided to up and move to another country. Quebec was not the original destination they had in mind; in fact, I didn’t know such a place even existed until my parents told me we were moving there. After that, I dug through a stack of old life […]
Of Fathers and Daughters: The Thriller as Tragic Love Story
I adored my father when I was growing up. I was a natural tomboy, my father’s shadow. I was the middle of three girls, and my father called me “Sam”—short for “Samuel,” and not “Samantha”—and I was more than happy to become his only “son.” My father taught me how to hammer a nail and […]
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