So, the news is out—the process to adapt The Birth House into a television series has begun! (If you missed the official press release, there’s a link to it at the end of this post.) Because so many of you have been along with me on the novel’s journey from the start, (can you believe it’s been 13 years?) I thought I’d share a few behind-the-scenes glimpses into this new chapter in the book’s life. A few weeks ago, two members of the AMAZING team behind this project—Kerri MacDonald (Frontier, Little Dog, Republic of Doyle) and Elizabeth Schofield, (Director of …
Category: The Birth House
I’ve been dying to make this announcement for awhile now, and it looks like today’s the day. The news first went out this morning via Playback Online, (“Canada’s production, broadcasting and interactive media destination”) and this afternoon on TV-Eh? but for those not normally in the TV/Film news stream, (myself included) I’m posting the entire press release below. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sherry White, Kerri MacDonald and Omnifilm Entertainment adapting Ami McKay’s, THE BIRTH HOUSE. Vancouver, BC, Friday May 24th 2019 Omnifilm Entertainment has secured the rights to the #1 Canadian and international bestseller, THE BIRTH HOUSE (Penguin Random House Canada)—authored …
In certain circles in the 19th century, drinking tea was considered a dangerous habit. More specifically, working class women were discouraged from engaging in the practice because if they were taking time from their daily chores to congregate around a pot of tea, it could only mean that they were up to no good. In short: “Sipping tea was once thought of as a reckless, suspicious act, linked to revolutionary feminism.” (Alison Aubrey, for npr.org) No wonder I love it so! My love affair with tea began in my early 20’s. Up to that point, I hadn’t given it much …
During the big rewrite/revision/edit of The Witches of New York an important milestone came and went. I didn’t exactly miss it, I just didn’t have time to stop and acknowledge it, (at least not in any way that felt fitting or right.) Now that the manuscript for Witches has gone into “pages” (the magical process where the story gets arranged by the wonderful crew at Knopf Canada into the actual pages of a book,) I can take some time to yank the weeds from my garden and my brain, and think on all the things I pushed aside while I was immersed in a world …
It’s been a while since I’ve written about midwifery on my blog, but it’s a subject that’s near and dear to my heart, and never far from my mind. My homebirth baby, Jonah (pictured above) is now thirteen, and in 2016, my novel The Birth House (inspired by the midwife who once lived in my house) will be a decade old. Time flies! In the last couple of weeks I’ve noticed there’s a new hashtag popping up in my Twitter feed, #MidwifeMondays. I have to say, I’m really enjoying reading the tweets from the Canadian midwifery community and beyond. …
Crone…the word alone conjures the image of an elderly woman with a wrinkled, warty face and penetrating gaze. In fairy tales, she’s often referred to as a hag or a witch, and (to the dismay of many an unwitting character) her advice and her voice is dismissed until it’s “too late.” In some ways, things haven’t changed much since such folk tales were first told and written. All too often we push women aside as they age, relegating them to the fringes of society, leaving their wisdom unnoticed (and to our great loss) unheard. What is it we fear in …