Visit my blog, Writer’s Life, to follow my writerly adventures.

Recent posts:

The great “YA” question: What is it, anyway?
Can we talk about YA, as a genre, a label, and a barrier to readers?

Why I love indie bookshops
A recent visit to an indie bookshop in Charlottetown, PEI, reminded me of the vital contribution these booksellers make to the writerly life.

A Gold Sticker: LARKIN ON THE SHORE and The Whippoorwill Award
Larkin is named to a list celebrating the best YA literature that “portrays the values of rural spaces, knowledge, cultures, and histories, and contributes to diverse representations of people and places.”

A Room of One’s Own
Yarn stash, mountain dulcimer, books, rug hooking – and a writing workspace. What it means to finally have a room of my own.

You Are Here
Feeling small in this big, crazy, pandemic universe? It’s okay. We’re all still here.

“Fresh Paint” and re-reading Testament of Youth
I’m having trouble finding new reading material right now, so I’m turning to re-reads. One of my favourites – and it’s timely, too.

Grit, and the writing life
In which writers get the respect they deserve – from a publisher who knows she could never to do the writer’s job

The ripple effect, for worse or for better…
We’re living through a pandemic, people. Please be kind.

This is what writing looks like
(You might be surprised…)

“Comparison is the thief of joy,” said Teddy Roosevelt. He was right.
In which I confess my unfortunate tendency toward competitiveness

Reviews: Love them, hate them, let the kids write them

Do you have a publishing dream? Here’s how mine went … (Yes, it has a happy ending) 
(All the things I didn’t have time to say in my presentation during the Breaking In Panel at CANSCAIP’s 2018 Packaging Your Imagination conference on November 10 in Toronto)

Book birthday looming: Is it normal to be terrified?

How The Next Chapter’s Shelagh Rogers helped me write my YA novel

Rejection and looking on the bright side. Also, pie.