The Power of (Imaginary) Friends When I was young, I had an imaginary friend. Only, she didn’t spring from my imagination; she came from the mind of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne Shirley, who first appeared in Anne of Green Gables, embodied everything … Continue reading →

Writing Reward Misery loves company, right? Well, let me assure you, that if you are, or have been or expect to be miserable in your writing life (as I assure you, you will be), then you and I are joined at the … Continue reading →

Respect Your Own Journey Not long after we graduated from university, my friend Jeremy, a brilliant writer, got his first book published. Then he moved to Paris and lived in the iconic Shakespeare and Company bookstore. He founded an independent literary magazine, … Continue reading →

Accepting Success Congratulations to client and friend Cathey Nickell on landing a literary agent for her middle-grade novel A Night Without Light! It’s a huge, well-deserved milestone on Cathey’s writing path. Yay, Cathey! It also got me thinking about how … Continue reading →

There is No “Should” The 1997 movie Amistad is based on a real-life story of an 1839 rebellion aboard a slave ship. The Africans, illegally abducted into slavery (not that any abductions should have been “legal”) were put on trial. Their lawyer, Roger Baldwin enlisted … Continue reading →

You Determine Who You Are I grew up in a liberal Christian church and, especially during dark moments in my teens, my faith sustained me. Then, in university, I asked a church friend to become my roommate. It was a … Continue reading →

The Writing World’s Dirty Little Secret Rejection sucks. It’s the dirty little secret of the writing world. Oh yes, it is, despite the fact that everyone knows rejection is a horrible, frustrating, inevitable part of the writing life.  Because the secret is … Continue reading →

When You Feel Like a Fraud “Imposter Syndrome” is a persistent sense of profound doubt in one’s abilities and a chronic fear that one will easily be exposed as a fraud. Sound familiar? I haven’t met one writer yet who … Continue reading →

The Joy in Writing I have homework for you.  Go to YouTube or, if you’re old like me, unearth an old DVD of your favourite TV show or movie and search out the clips with the bloopers.  Funny, right? There’s … Continue reading →

Writing the perfect first draft Are you a perfectionist? Especially when it comes to your first draft? You won’t move on to the next scene because you know the last scene isn’t “perfect”?  Yet for us to judge “perfection” we … Continue reading →