Literature's multiple universes

Yesterday I had to make a plot decision in the novel I’m working on.  This is something that happens frequently…all the time, in fact.  Should a character wander off into the woods?  Or should she climb the mountain? Should she open the door?  Should he knock again? Kick it down?  Should he walk away? Credibility…

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Where the God of Love Hangs Out by Amy Bloom

The sad fact is that I read more mediocre, or even bad books, than I do good books; so when I read a terrific book I can’t help but want to pass along a recommendation.  So here it is:  get out there and order a copy of  Amy Bloom’s new collection of short stories, Where…

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Training for intuition

In the last week I’ve had a couple of interesting conversations. I was at a book launch for a poetry collection last week.  I won’t name the poet, since I fear my words might offend him, and I am uncomfortable offending folks.  The organizer had arranged a panel discussion between poets and scientists, to discuss…

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Writing as a butterfly net…

It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.  How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?  For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone.  That is where the writer scores over his fellows:  he catches the changes…

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The Truth Has A Price

A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE GLOBE & MAIL: In the New York Times recently, there was a review of a new memoir which is probably going to cause some controversy — Julie Myerson’s Lost Child: A Mother’s Story. In case you missed the firestorm in England when this…

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