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Mar 01
2010

Report from the Young Authors' Conference

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IMG_22222.jpgI'm just home from a happy day at the Young Authors' Conference here in Montreal. It'

Feb 28
2010

Super-Conference!

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IMG_1111111111.jpgSo I'm just back from Toronto, where I attended the Ontario Library Association's

Feb 24
2010

Writers Share their Writing Secrets

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Even when I was growing up and getting published was just a dream, I always loved reading what writers had to say about writing. I remember hoping that if I paid careful enough attention, I'd figure

Feb 22
2010

Can You Spell

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IMG_111111.jpg"Theriatrics" was the word that won Christopher Scarvelis the Canwest Canspell Regional Spelling Bee here in Montreal yesterday.

Scarvelis, 13, goes to Loyola High School -- and let

Feb 18
2010

A Story That Made My Arms Get Cold

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The way I know if a story feels amazing to me is that my arms get cold  when I hear it (or tell  it). Just ask my students -- they've been there in class when this has happened to me.

Feb 15
2010

Trouble -- in a Story -- is a Fine Thing

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If you've read my books or been in one of my classes, you'll know by now that I have an unnatural interest in trouble. Not in my own life, of course, but in my stories! (And for those of us

Feb 13
2010

Thinking About Reviews

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You write a book and if you're lucky enough, like me, to find a publisher, you send it off into the world... and then, people read it and respond.

I know of one author -- short-listed for

Feb 12
2010

Meet Neale McDevitt

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Yesterday, Montreal journalist and short story writer Neale McDevitt came to do a talk at Marianopolis College and also

Feb 08
2010

Work and Play... and an Upcoming Conference

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This morning, in my "Writing for Children" class at Marianopolis College, I was trying to explain a tricky concept. The students are beginning work on the texts for their own picture books

Feb 05
2010

A Visit with our Friends at Tukisiniarvik School

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Photographer Thomas Kneubuhler and I spent this morning with our friends at Tukisiniarvik School in Akulivik, Nunavik. Now how did we manage to