Writing a Novel: How NOT to Begin!

The opening segment of your novel is by far the most important part, not only because you must hook your readers and keep them hooked, but because you are going to rely on your first few pages as a sample when you submit to agents and publishers. Your opening pages should offer the reader everything: gripping story, rounded characters, intriguing plot, believable dialogue, tension, mood, conflict and more. As a freelance editor, I’ve read a [...]

2022-04-29T15:40:59-04:00March 3, 2020|Home Page, On Writing, Writing Retreats|

Retreating to Costa Rica again!

Last month was our fifth annual writing retreat to Costa Rica, and while all of them have been wonderful, in some ways, this was the best yet. Eight incredible writers who shared laughter and moved one another to tears. Workshop mornings filled with inspiration. Critiquing sessions, reading circles and endless discussions about the craft of writer. We lingered over meals, took walks together in the rainforest, shared cocktails at the hot springs and spent long [...]

2020-03-03T17:37:11-04:00February 24, 2020|Home Page, On Writing, Writing Retreats|

Building a Writer’s Life

I've always wanted to be a writer, and of course, to be a writer there's only one thing you really have to do: write. That's what I tell my students, and it's true. But building a life as a writer is a different matter, and one thing I quickly learned is that it requires more than writing. It's taken me a lot of years to build a writer's life, but these days, I feel I [...]

Deboning a Dragon: A Poetry Collection

Yesterday, we settled on the cover for my new poetry collection, out soon with Mansfield Press. I'm incredibly happy with it. The cover, designed by Denis De Klerck, perfectly captures the tone of the book. I've been so fortunate throughout this entire experience: fortunate to have my collection picked up by a press with such an amazing reputation, and fortunate, too, to have Stuart Ross as my editor. The poems in Deboning a Dragon were [...]

2019-10-30T07:48:32-04:00October 30, 2019|Home Page, On Writing, Writing Retreats|

Our Costa Rica Writing Retreat

Sometimes, we all need to retreat. From work, from responsibilities, from our endless Canadian winters. And more importantly, we don’t only retreat from – we retreat to. On our annual creative writing retreat in Costa Rica we retreat into nature, healthy food, daily workshops, an immersion in writing, wonderful weather and a community of likeminded souls. We come back rejuvenated and with fresh inspiration for our creative projects. This past 10 days, I took 11 […]

A Pilgrimage to Spain

Why is it always easier to write when you step out of your daily life and head somewhere new? The Finding Place was written on a beach devastated by a tsunami. Flying Backwards with Pelicans was written on a ranch in Chile. Beyond Chaos began life as the sun was rising over the rainforest in Costa Rica, and the final words of Girl Awake were written in the same hammock. Two weeks ago, I set […]

2019-05-04T17:01:09-04:00November 22, 2018|Home Page, On Writing, Writing Retreats|

A beginning, a middle and an end.

On the wall of our arts studio in Toronto, there is a photograph of a woman writing under a tree. The caption reads: “all stories should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” I was thinking about this quotation today. Is it too basic for us to think of a story as having a beginning, middle and end? Too reminiscent of our elementary teachers? When we talk of rising […]

2019-05-04T17:01:44-04:00November 22, 2018|On Writing, Writing Retreats, Young Writers!|

A Creative Week in Costa Rica!

Our third annual writing retreat to Costa Rica took place last week, and what a fabulous adventure it was. Here’s a list of our most memorable experiences: The Group! A wonderful collection of people from across North America. We had seasoned writers, and participants writing creatively for the first time. Poets, playwrights, short story writers, novelists, memoir writers and people trying various forms. Some of us had attended retreats before, while others had barely travelled. […]

2019-05-04T17:20:55-04:00February 13, 2018|Home Page, Life at Centauri, On Writing, Writing Retreats|

Costa Rica Writing Retreat – The Adventure Begins

It’s day one of our 2017 writing retreat week, and I’m excited, nervous, eager to meet this year’s writers as I thread through the manic crowds of San Jose’s international airport. It seems everyone is shouting, the voices echoing the thrill I feel inside. I join the throngs of tour guides and drivers, each of us holding aloft a sign, jostling for space outside the terminal as the doors swing open to reveal the next […]

2019-05-04T17:22:01-04:00November 28, 2017|Home Page, On Writing, Writing Retreats|

Writing and Teaching Writing – Both Matter!

A few years ago, I was interviewing to find a new writing teacher for our arts camp. One applicant told me in the interview: It’s good that teaching positions exist because when you can’t make enough money in the arts, teaching is the next best thing. Wrong. If an artist views teaching as financial fallback, then I would question how they define what it means to be an artist. As A.L.Kennedy puts it in her […]

2019-05-04T17:23:14-04:00November 23, 2017|Home Page, On Writing, Uncategorized, Writing Retreats|
Go to Top