I love book signings, sales and other events where I can talk with readers directly. Last year, I did a bunch of events. Some were terrific, with lots of traffic and interaction. Some were … not so much, where I sold one or two books. But still, the experience was positive enough that I have […]
This instalment of “the best and worst” is by mother, author and blogger DG Torrens. Her blog, My Books and I, covers the writer’s experience as well as book reviews and previews of her own book (kind of like this one). I have also contributed a guest post on her blog. But read this one […]
Sometimes when writing, I feel like I’m just rolling nicely. The word count climbs, I describe setting and action, important events flow onto the pages and then, WHAM! I’m stopped by some tiny detail that I need to research. I like the fiction I write to contain as much fact as possible, whether it’s a […]
I hope all readers and everyone in the world has a happy, healthy and loving 2019. I have a lot of plans for the coming 12 months, so stay tuned. Or better yet, subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss an update or a chance to win some free books and swag. What are […]
I have had some pretty adventuresome vacations: Banff, where I had my closest encounter with a grizzly bear; whitewater canoeing in Ontario and Quebec; and last year, when we got uncomfortably close to the wine country wildfires. And last month, I encountered a different kind of adventure in Portugal. It’s a wonderful place, and […]
This was intended to be a live blog from the Authors’ Market in front of the ByWard Market in Ottawa. But I found the limits of my iPad and wi-fi. Yesterday was my fifth live book selling and signing event so far this summer. And as you can see in the picture, I had something […]
Writing can go fast, and then you run headfirst into a wall: how did ancient people live? What did they eat? What kind of clothes did they wear? What were their houses like? This gets more challenging the more obscure you get, particularly when you’re dealing with pre-literary cultures. I’m deep into writing The Triumph […]
11:30: All set up Never open with the weather, said Elmore Leonard. Okay. Now that I’ve opened, I can tell you that it’s a beautiful, clear, sunny and hot day in Stittsville, Ontario. This is my second year at this event, just a few kilometres down the bicycle trail from my home in Kanata. No, […]
Real evil reaches depths that most writers who want to appear credible would never dream of—not if they wanted to be taken seriously. Last weekend, families carried out two terrorist bombings in Indonesia. Parents and children. On Saturday, May 12, a family of six suicide-bombed three churches in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city. Dad drove a […]
I’ve been working on The Triumph of the Sky, the sequel to my first-published novel, The Bones of the Earth. Both books are set around the turn of the fifth to the six century, the darkest part of the Dark Age. I thought I should familiarize you with this fantastic, yet historical universe so you’re […]