A book is transformed, slowly, from idea to physical creation to consumer product. The transformation from idea to physical thing is long and painful and fraught. Creating the thing isn’t easy and never was and never will be. If it has value, it shouldn’t be easy (though this is a kind of value judgement, I […]
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Ceci N’est Pas Un Blog Post
This is not a blog post about anything. This is not a blog post about the unimaginable inanities taking place in Quebec, or Washington, DC, or Syria, or anywhere else. This is not a blog post about what makes a blog post and what makes an essay and whether or not the word blog is […]
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Tagged blogs, Breaking Bad, Dinette Triple Crown, essays, Facebook, fried chicken, House of Representatives, irony, Jonathan Frenzen, LinkedIn, Magritte, math, novel, Quebec, Syria, writing
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What Do You Mean It’s The End of Summer?!?!
Summer was too short. Summer IS too short. I’m Canadian so I mean it. When summer already feels too short (and it does, I said it so it’s established) Labour Day (or Labor Day to my American friends) should not be allowed to fall on the first weekend of September. Or, to be technical, within […]
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Tagged @Vodka_samm, Grover, Grover Cleveland, Jewish New Year, Labor Day, Labour Day, rules, seasons, seersucker, summer
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Tell Me, Tell Me, Tell Me This Headline From Today’s Salon Wouldn’t Make a Great Title for A Great Short Story
I know I haven’t written much lately. I don’t have a whole heck of a lot to say. I’m a firm believer in not saying something just for the sake of saying something. I don’t believe in talking for no reason. I don’t think we should do anything merely because we can. (Like the executive […]
On Vacation
You go away with the stated intention of getting “recharged” and that’s just what you do. You get recharged. Recharging involves UNcharging in many ways, unplugging and finding a place off the grid so that all you do is read (and read and read – a bunch of my reviews of stuff I read is […]
And Yet Another Installment in the March of the Novel (or Slow Cooking is the Best Cooking)
The slow (but steady) march toward publishing, as inexorable as a stream finding the ocean, forward. Editing. Done. Copy Editing. Done. First two rounds of drafts for the covers. Yes. (this is going to be a good looking book, I can tell you that, this is the designer’s website) And then there’s more waiting. Holy […]
Great Pop Culture Bridges (another ArjunBasuList™)
Being someone who writes stuff I appreciate the metaphorical power of bridges. I get the whole connecting thing. I’m not alone, of course. Far from it. Very very far. Perhaps too far. See where I’m going with this? Here are the top 5 pop culture bridge references. Well 6. Because 5 is a tie. 5 […]
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Tagged bridges, bridgework, bryan bickell, chicago blackhawks, jeff bridges, The Big Lebowski
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Another Instalment in the March of the Novel
Since we last spoke. Or I wrote and you read. Or, man, what is the correct nomenclature here? I went through edits with my editor. Twice. The second one took less than a few hours. This process started with a breathtakingly lovely letter from her. And it ended with me pressing “send” a few weeks […]
Rejected Names for Canada (another ArjunBasuList™)
Pepe Le Pew Snowdon Bunchanothing Calis!tan BeaverCastor CastorBeaver Goose Droppings Canadian Tire Quebec Nordiques Sorryda
