free ideas at Sugar Beach

I’m often asked where I get my ideas, as if they’re something I go out and buy, or maybe order online. I used to be tempted to reply, “Up at the mall, 40% off today.” Or, “Down at the farmer’s market, if you want...

Heart of YA Darkness

As soon as I read that now infamous Wall Street Journal article “Darkness too Visible”, which slammed Cheryl Rainfield’s Scars along with much of today’s YA fiction, I rushed to get her book. I’m sure many others did too.  In my day there were no YA books to give an...

playlist for the writing life

Do you listen to music when you’re writing? I know a lot of writers make playlists. Playlists for helping them create atmosphere, evoke a time period, bring characters to life. And playlists for you to enjoy while reading their books. But I find listening to music...

When magic happens in Publishing

The fantasy world we Earthling writers call Publishing is a bleak, competitive and discouraging place. We diligently write, blog, twitter and pray for a bestseller, even as Publishing’s traditional boundaries shift around us and tree-books morph into wild electronic...

a first draft kind of hike

First drafts make me crazy. I’m a reviser. I’ll happily spend days cutting, developing and shaping a story. But how to produce a has-potential-but-needs-work ms in the first place? Even with characters, setting and plot in mind for a new project, a blank...

Praise for Susan Juby’s Woefield Poultry Collective

Last Friday night I had the pleasure of attending the launch of Susan Juby’s new book, The Woefield Poultry Collective, at the Urban Beet in Nanaimo, BC. Here’s a photo of Susan signing her book for me.     I’m a big fan of Susan Juby’s YA books,...