Last week my students did an excellent series of tableaux to the tune of A Pittance of Time by Canadian singer Terry Kelly. It’s a touching video based on a true story which you can easily find on YouTube. Here’s a link: A Pittance of Time. I continue to be impressed by the maturity and […]
I love Jane Smiley’s 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel. Stuck on her current project, this author of many novels in different genres decided to read one hundred novels. Her journey makes fascinating reading. I love her personal insights and humble tone. A book essentially for readers and novel fans, there is also an
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Thursday night I took the bus from work to my new writing group (1.5 hours). The return trip was over 2 hours long, by which time I figured the BTT site would have so many comments, it wasn’t worth bothering with. It’s too bad this is the week Deb at BTT (Booking Through Thursday) decided
Booking Through Tuesday??? Read More »
What would you think of a twitter-based site that posts the first lines of books? At twitterlit you can get your reading inspiration, twice daily. If a sentence inspires you, click on the handy Amazon link for full title information. Happy reading.
I found a good essay on flash fiction at smokelong.com. This is a site which features lots of stories that can be read in the ‘time it takes to smoke a cigarette.’ I wonder if they’re addictive and dangerous as well. In other news: The first meeting of the new writing group was pleasant, although
The Giller prize short list is out. There are ballots in Canadian public libraries so your can enter their annual “Guess the Giller” contest. Lotus gives you the rundown better than I could. Writing Group Tomorrow night I’m off to a new writers’ critique circle. The group is over a year old and comes highly
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Lullabies for Little Criminals is unique. For days I’ve been trying to decide how to approach this review. If I outlined the plot, you would think it’s depressing. It isn’t. It’s a charming, hopeful tale about a motherless thirteen-year-old with an immature, heroin-addicted dad. It’s also about childhood’s irrepressible happiness. I’ve never read a story about
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I just discovered the Canadian Book Challenge. It looks like fun and best of all, the prizes include Kraft dinner or a hockey puck! I like the idea of reading one book from each province or territory over the next year. The Can Lit I most often read is from Ontario or Quebec and oh
Crazy Canucks love their writers Read More »
Happy Thanksgiving! Monday is Thanksgiving (in Canada) and I will be spending it with family at my parent’s cottage in the Kawarthas. I do have a pile of marking to do this weekend but I plan to goof off and enjoy my family as much as possible. My only other ambition is to convince my
Happy Thanksgiving, IFA & Richard Scrimger Read More »
Welcome aboard Japan! I just had a look at my mapping widget and I’ve had hits from two new places in Australia (East and West coasts) plus Japan, perhaps Tokyo. My map counter doesn’t name names so I’m going by general area. I have also had over 4000 views now. Very gratifying. Guess I won’t
WOTS – Final Clips Read More »