Tag: featured
Let’s Hear It for the Girls!
No matter how near we are to our biblically allotted three score years and ten, we always remember our milestone firsts: first kiss, first car, first horizontal episode. Mothers are likewise big on firsts: first word their child spoke, first step, first lost tooth. These events constitute the magical moments, forever tucked away in the […]
The Right Time To Write
I remember very clearly, where I was, when I decided I would finally write my book. I had waited for and imagined that inspired lightbulb moment for a long time. It’ll be when my son is a little older and starts nursery, I’d surmise, or when I finally have a desk I can sit at, […]
Creating from the Deep Well
Over the last year, I’ve spent some time at holy wells. Each is different. Some exposed to the sea air; some tucked within forest; some hiding in plain sight on the edge of pasture. So many, yet none entirely the same. When we talk about creativity, there’s a lot of conversation about wells, too. There […]
Amah Juanita by Roselle Lim
Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood. She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother’s) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured […]
Things I Wish I’d Known Earlier
Ten years ago I published my first novel and when I look back, I marvel that I’m still here. But also how bumpy the road has sometimes been. Below are some of the things that might have helped if I’d known what I do now: That publishing is as commercial as it is creative, and […]
My Road To Publishing
From a young age I loved telling stories. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. At school, I couldn’t get to grips with maths, science or languages, but give me a novel and I was set. I would happily interpret them for exams and read books before they were on the syllabus […]
Techniques for Flexing Memory Muscles
After writing my memoir, Being Mean: A Memoir of Sexual Abuse and Survival, one question I have been asked frequently is, “How can you remember details from so long ago?” Excavating our life experiences can indeed be a challenging and illuminating experience. But certain practices have helped hone my memory muscles, allowing me to dig […]
Journaling: A Writer’s Healthiest Addiction
One of the most powerful habits you can develop as a writer is also one of the simplest: keeping a daily journal. This is no secret. Many of the writers we love, who have moved us with their words and influenced our own work, have also been faithful journalers – from Ida B. Wells and Henry […]
Your Writing Group & You: How to Get the Most Out of What Can Be a Challenging Experience
Writing fiction is a solitary pursuit. The writers of Saturday Night Live might have great craic (“craic” being the Irish word for “fun”) aiming paper airplanes across the table, and end up with memorable and quirky sketches, but it doesn’t work for us novelists. We must work alone. Thus, we need to pause long enough […]
Authors Interviewing Their Characters: Tracy Clark
Tracy Clark writes the Cass Raines PI series, which is set in Chicago. Her series debut, BROKEN PLACES, made Library Journal’s list of the Best Crime Fiction of 2018 and was short listed in the mystery category on the American Library Association’s 2019 Reading List. CrimeReads also named Cass Raines Best New PI of 2018. […]
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