Last week I painted my nails black, cast a few spells, spent two days whispering a 400+ page manuscript to myself, and then, on the evening of what would’ve been my mother’s eighty-first birthday, I sent a book-shaped thing called The Witches of New York to my keen-eyed literary agent, Helen Heller. You’d think by now I wouldn’t get jittery during this part of the writing process, but I do. I do! (Just ask my dear family.) It’s to be expected, I guess, because by the time I reach this point, I’ve become quite attached to the story and its …
Category: the writing life
Life… Maybe it’s because I’ve been writing about witches, but I’m feeling superstitious these days when it comes to saying anything about my current novel in progress. The work takes up the bulk of my waking hours and has seeped into my dreams as well. These are good things when it comes to writing and revising (hurray!) but it also means that there will be periods of radio silence in my online presence from here on out. Blog posts and social media updates will have to come in dribs and drabs until the book is finished. (But I promise there …
Like most of Eastern Canada and much of the Central and Eastern US, we had dismal weather to start the New Year. Freezing rain, followed by heavy snow, followed by bitter cold, followed by more freezing rain. It’s a good thing I adore my family and that we enjoy spending time with each other! Many rounds of Munchkin, D&D and (our new favourite game) Pandemic were played. Many cookies (so. many. cookies.) were eaten. Our black cat Xeno enjoyed watching what we like to call “cat TV.” This involves him sitting on the windowsill and staring down birds as they …
This year I finally took on the task of modifying the family recipe for Lebkuchen. The original recipe had been handed down from my great grandmother Tilly, to my Auntie Do, to my mother and then to me. The handwritten instructions called for ELEVEN cups of flour and nearly a pound of lard (or butter) and made enough cookies to feed Gram Tilly’s brood (and I suspect half the town of Saline, Michigan as well.) I began by cutting the recipe in half, and then substituted ingredients here and there for health and personal preferences. I think the reboot turned …
There’s nothing quite like the first few days of university life. As a goofy, giddy frosh I managed to find my way to classrooms and the cafeteria, twist my ankle running down a flight of stairs, and make a friend for life. Marta Pelrine-Bacon was a kindred spirit from the start. Even though she’d grown up in a small town in Florida and had never seen snow, we had more in common than not. She loved stories of magic and fantasy. Me too. She enjoyed staying up late and dancing to Howard Jones, Oingo Boingo, Crowded House, and OMD. Me …
A stroll through an art gallery, an evening spent at the theatre, the sight of a glorious sunset – these things invite my mind to dance with abandon and wonder. “Filling the well,” (the seeking out of new sources of inspiration) has long been a part of my artistic process and an essential part of how I find my way through life. Moments spent immersed in another time, place or space often bring clarity to whatever I’m grappling with in the present (writing-related or otherwise.) We humans like to make sense of things, to put ideas and events into perspective, …