Stories
Feeding the Little Free Libraries one final time
The last of my backlist books found their way into Little Free Libraries a few days ago—this time with the help of a small assistant. They’re now known around here as Tiny Libraries, and my autumn project of giving away four boxes of books sent by a bankrupt publisher has come to a slightly-belated close. […]
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All
May you find sunshine this December, and some roses in the snow.
Book Review: The Body in Question by Jill Ciment
I’ve been called for jury duty two times. The first time was pretty routine. I sat in a crowded room for a day before being told I could go home and didn’t have to come back. The second time, a clerk told us they were selecting a jury for a murder trial, a complex case […]
What You Get Is So Much Stranger Than What You Expect
I know it’s eccentric, distributing your backlist titles in Little Free Libraries. But when one of my publishers went under, I was left with eighty copies of two of my books, a novel and a memoir that I left in the basement—for years. Then, as I wrote last time, it occurred to me to slip […]
Flaneusing Around Toronto’s Little Free Libraries
On a lovely warm fall day, I set out on a walk with my friend Alicia to take a tour of Little Free Libraries in her neighbourhood. With intent. In our backpacks were copies of two of my books from a publisher that had gone belly-up, hmmm, more than a dozen years ago. At the […]
Book(s) Review, Continued: A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas and Starter Dog by Rona Maynard
Memoirs are my guilty, gossipy pleasure. They don’t offer the worthy, crunchy, authoritative examinations found in non-fiction titles bristling with footnotes. Nor do they have the license of novels to take us flying into imaginary worlds. I think of them as a hybrid, especially after encountering gaps in my own memory. “Remember him?” my husband […]
Book(s) Review: Starter Dog by Rona Maynard and A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
I lie when highlighting just two titles. I’m actually going to write about three memoirs, not only the ones above but also Abigail Thomas’s more recent book, What Comes Next and How to Like It—a title too long to fit in the headline. All are connected. All involve dogs, and while the dogs are important […]
Adventures in Chile and how to write them
When I teach creative writing, many of my students want a formula, rules, step-by-step guidance. And of course there are structures that can be learned (and modified). Formulas to be studied (and tweaked) along the path to writing a short story, novel or screenplay. Yet it’s crucial to remain open to serendipity, especially once you’ve […]
Two lives collide: The Story of a Friend’s Death (Part Two)
Moments before 3:30 pm on January 24, 2023, the lives of two men fell apart on an ordinary stretch of Danforth Avenue in Toronto. My friend Michael Finlay was pushed into a wooden holiday planter and died a week later of his injuries. The man who has admitted to pushing him, Robert Cropearedwolf, was sentenced […]
Sentence Handed Down in Michael Finlay’s death
Robert Robin Cropearedwolf was sentenced in the Ontario Court of Justice today to three years in prison for manslaughter in the death of our friend, CBC journalist Michael Finlay. Given time already served in custody, Mr. Cropearedwolf will spend 20 months in prison. At the end of that time, Justice David Porter has ordered that […]
Book(s) Review: Semi-Detached by Three Writers
Real estate, the age-old obsession. It’s an ideal subject for writers, and one I think is under-utilized. Because, of course, houses are as concrete as you can get, but also thoroughly symbolic. They’re not just about shelter, but class and status. Where can you afford to live? What will you aspire to or settle for? […]
The Joy of Visiting Korean Spas
Spas, soaking, hot springs. I love them all, and earlier this month drove to a Korean spa in the northwestern corner of Toronto, a non-descript place in an industrial park near Finch and Dufferin. My friend Alicia knows about spots like this from having been a production designer in film, which means she’s explored odd […]
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