Review: Mr. Mercedes
There’s nothing like an absorbing story to take one’s mind off, oh, I don’t know, maybe civilian airliners getting shot down and renewed fighting over a thin strip of land allegedly promised to two peoples. …
writing
A Box Full of Happiness
My work has brought me a lot of cool things from concert tickets, to clothes, to opportunities to meet special people. And last week, my position as columnist for Sun Media brought me a happy box of stuff that could only appeal to someone like me. …
Headline Hilarity
There’s a real art to writing headlines. I have to do it for Blackburnnews.com and to come up with something in four or five words is often a challenge. …
Tragic, Violent, Controversial and the Rest
I’ve always told students to stay away from using adjectives in news writing. Â An example: never describe news as good or bad. Â Don’t tell listeners whether something is tragic or controversial. Â I have reasons for this even though it goes against the grain of what many of my broadcasting brethren and sisters do. Â …
A Selection from my Work Email
When someone wants to criticize our work at Blackburn News, they tend to either post a comment on the website or go directly to our News Director. …
It’s Flashback Week!
This week I’m bringing back some of my early posts from this blog. I’ve been moving some to a new overflow site on Weebly and while rereading them a few cried out for revival! So please indulge me while I go retro this week, which is also Reading Week for my students at Fanshawe. Comments are open.
Silence Those Squeaky Floors – House Proud, Sun Media
A squeak in the floor is more than just annoying. It ruins sleep. It interrupts a conversation. And it has the potential to wreck a really good practical joke. Just as you sneak up on your intended victim, the squeak gives you away. …
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Tough Advice
Occasionally I’m asked to read the writing of someone I don’t know very well. Â They occasionally approach me to ask for my opinion and I’m loathe to say no because it’s difficult for them to do. This isn’t a problem if they have talent but there’s no way to know at the start. Â And it’s just awful when the writing is terrible. Â By terrible I mean an inability to tell a story, not just bad grammar – an editor can fix that. Â …
Yet Another Year End Blog Posting!
Even though this end-of-year stuff is all man-made I still enjoy taking stock and setting goals and all of those things as the calendar is about to tick over.  2013 was a good year, all things considered.  There were no catastrophic illnesses in our family and everything hummed along. Some things improved and some improved greatly. …
Books That Sell Themselves
When my first book, Celebrity Tantrums, came out 10 years ago I was relentless in my pursuit of media coverage. Â …
In-Store Book Signing Alert!
I’m tickled to be a guest on the upcoming season of The Book Nook With Sarah on Rogers TV here in London. Sarah Hilton is a pro from the word go. She is a speaking coach and motivational speaker and taping the show with her was delightful. I don’t know the air date yet but she has already done something else that’s terrific to promote local authors. …
Review: The Fridgularity by Mark Rayner
I’m really torn about this review.  They say film critics are failed film students.  Well I wouldn’t call myself failed but I do know how hard it is to write fiction. …
Venus Rising – Now on Kindle!
Venus Rising: The humble beginnings of self-made women, is now on sale as a Kindle eBook. Â …
Book Cover Sneak Preview
I’ve been warned that it’s premature to release this, really, without a publication date for the actual book. It won’t be very long now, as it’s in the final editing phase.  I’m just so proud of it, I can’t wait to show you how it looks! …
From Drab to Fab – My Second Favourite Sun Media Column
My own, House Proud, is my first, of course! Â But Marc Atiyolil’s weekly column, which often appears a page or two away from mine, routinely contains a project I’d like to try. Â …
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The Forest for the Trees
Some days I really think I ought to stop thinking of myself as bright! Â …
Review: The Truth about Dandelions by Hayley Linfield
The best novelists make their writing seem effortless. When you read their stories you don’t even think about the writing and that’s tough for a fellow writer to do.  But Hayley Linfield has accomplished this with her debut novel, The Truth about Dandelions. …
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Sun Media article – Kitchen Cousins are Back in Action
The cousins are getting out from behind the kitchen island and taking their reno and design know-how to the rest of the house and even to the back yard. …
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