Kenora Tedesco has reinvented herself after loss, betrayal, and getting fired. She’s found her footing as a licensed private investigator. At peace…
How many years did it take me to create the opening paragraph of The Fifth Man? Too many to count. I've lived with my characters in the Kenora &…
I’ve been writing short and long fiction for decades, but I never was much of a planner. I have boxes of dollar store notebooks and…
One hip pressed against the wall, her palm warm on my shoulder to steady herself, she’d ease out a square leather case with silver fittings…
I remember 1956. I remember 1956 because I was young, growing fast and usually hungry. My youngest brother – a chubby, happy guy – had been…
Fall is upon us so I’ve been preserving corn relish and canning black currant jelly made from the berries I picked from the garden in July. Today,…
During my undergraduate years, I commuted from St. Catharines to York University in Toronto. Travelling from the bus station on Academy Street…
Be Courageous! “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The…
On the boat from Aegina town, an earnest looking dyke with middle-aged ankles and feet shod in Soft-Mocs flips through a guidebook for Gay…
Another 40 degree day under denim blue skies on the island of Aegina, pistachio capital of Greece. We’re kitted up with our brimmed…
We order Greek salad from Stella every day for lunch, and it’s glorious. Ruby chunks of tomatoes juicy with sunlight, cucumbers thick with the…
It’s nearly noon but the Athens subway is surprisingly crowded with people of all ages and shades of the human rainbow, most either carrying…
The 15 meter sailboat (small by Greek standards) tugs quietly on the rope lines, rocking slowly against fat bumpers on the jetty. Its hull…
I was thrilled that Becca, of Writers Helping Writers asked me to be a guest contributor for this important and sensitive topic. I’m not an expert,…
Ordinary people = engaging suspense Many writers assume suspense novels require elite detectives, international spies, or people who apparently…
When people think about international sporting events, they often picture the action inside stadiums jammed with tens of thousands of screaming fans.…
using Memory to Serve the Story Flashbacks are storytelling time machines, but like any powerful device, they can either illuminate your narrative or…
put Ordinary People into Extraordinary Situations The secret to making my characters believable isn’t perfection—it’s authenticity under…
