Category Archives: Author, Author

Author Niki Jabbour Answers 25 Questions

By Richard | Published February 5, 2012

I’m not sure why it’s always been there, but I have a soft, quiet spot in my heart for gardeners. And lately, for this gardener in particular. We’re friends. But, surprisingly, Niki Jabbour and I have never met. Niki and I both wrote for The Halifax Daily News in the 1990s, where I was a [...]

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Author Chris Benjamin Answers 25 Questions

By Richard | Published October 4, 2011

Even though he’s much younger, I want to be like Chris Benjamin when I grow up. He’s the respected Sustainable City columnist at The Coast, Halifax’s progressive weekly, and I delight in watching him skewer the ecologically inept even as he finds the heart of the matter in issues that are pressing for the planet and [...]

Also posted in 25 Questions, Books, Canada, Global Warming, Nova Scotia, Sustainability | 2 Comments

Conflict and Storytelling

By Richard | Published September 5, 2011

The characters in the Secrets of the Hotel Maisonneuve were a sweet gift. I woke from the long nightmare that was 14 years of daily migraines, and found an idea for a late-middle reader swimming around in my recently-unaddled brain. Interestingly, the story swirled around characters created by Kristina for a picture book that she [...]

Also posted in Writing | 4 Comments

Dragons, Queries, and the Shards of Narsil

By Richard | Published July 31, 2011

If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans. None of my plans for this year have come to fruition, yet I still feel as if I’ve handled a difficult illness with a modicum of grace and good humor. And that, and a double-loonie, will get you a cup of coffee at [...]

Also posted in Books, Life, Wall-E—The Neuroendocrine Tumor, Writing | 4 Comments

Bait

By Richard | Published July 19, 2011

I don’t often enter writing contests. But I took an hour on Monday morning to work on an idea that seemed to fit, and then entered Jason Evans’s Clarity of the Night contest. Several writing friends have already done so. In a nutshell, writers create 250 words of prose or poetry based on a prompt [...]

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Is This Microphone On?

By Richard | Published June 17, 2011

The intrepid Peter Dudley — a man among men which, interestingly, makes him a man among many women — asked writing friends to post audio or video clips that show us reading recent work. (I may not have done this properly, but I don’t fraking care! It’s been a rough month. :-) Making a recording [...]

Also posted in Books, Entertainment, Writing | 5 Comments

Author Alissa Grosso Answers 25 Questions

By Richard | Published April 13, 2011

I dare anyone NOT to like author Alissa Grosso. In fact, I double dare you. It is just not possible. Admittedly, we don’t know each other in the real world, so I’m wondering if my online friends see her in the same way that I do — as someone who is exceedingly kind, open and [...]

Also posted in 25 Questions, Authors and Promotion, Books, Publishing Industry, Writing | 6 Comments

25 Questions with Author Catherine McKenzie

By Richard | Published April 10, 2011

Author Catherine McKenzie Catherine McKenzie was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. A graduate of McGill University (B.A. ‘95 in History (Hons)) and McGill Law School (BCL & LLB ‘99), Catherine practices law in Montreal. Her first novel, Spin, was published by HarperCollins Canada in January, 2010. It debuted at #15 on the Globe & [...]

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A Book Meme

By Richard | Published March 11, 2011

The book I am reading: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. To be honest, I simply don’t love the series like most readers. I don’t find the writing is compelling enough to make me believe in this future (unlike Ship Breakers by Paolo Bacigalupi, which is also about a broken world, and which felt frighteningly real). My [...]

Also posted in Books | 1 Comment

Authors and Websites

By Richard | Published March 10, 2011

Last December, I was desperate for good news, so I sent my manuscript out to literary agents before it was ready. It was a rookie mistake, and I’m still kicking myself because I knew better. I had done my homework. I should have sat on it for a month, to allow my critical eye one [...]

Also posted in Authors and Promotion, Publishing Industry | 2 Comments