Archive for April 2010
All's well that ends "well"
I read a novel yesterday by a promising young writer and although I enjoyed it, I was reminded of just how important satisfying endings are. Like openings, endings are tricky. When editors send back a short story or reject a novel, nine times out of ten they’ll say the ending didn’t work for them. It’s…
Read MoreNewsflash — nobody has a clue
Before I published, I had this fantasy that somewhere, perhaps on the top floor of a glittering skyscraper in New York City, at the end of a long corridor lined with books and the portraits of famous writers, was a room in which stood a heavy oak table surrounded by high-backed leather chairs. In these…
Read MoreApproaching the page… "Hello, Page."
I was out for dinner with a writer I admire last week, she asked me if I actually read poetry. I noted the word “actually” as a hint she didn’t. I said I did. “Huh,” she said. “I could never quite get into it.” Now, this writer is a non-fiction writer, and a humorist, and…
Read MoreIs that a bull you're burning on your altar, or are you just trying to annoy your neighbors?
Madeleine L’Engle, author of, among other things, A Wrinkle in Time, called Biblical purists “Fundalits.” She was quite fond of the fundamentals of the Bible, but highly annoyed by people who took them literally. I agree. As someone who takes the Bible seriously, I simply can’t take it literally. Thankfully, I’m not alone. My mother-in-law,…
Read MoreThe Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee
My review of Chang-Rae Lee’s latest novel, THE SURRENDERED is up on the Globe and Mail website. Hope it persuades you to buy this important book.
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