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It’s summertime, and the living is…
I grew up with books and plenty of trips to the local library. Inevitably, the games that would attract me as a child usually had to do with words. And the el supremo word game had to be Scrabble. Especially in summertime. On those long, tranquil summer evenings at the cottage on Lake Winnipeg, our… Read more
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“Murder Your Darlings”
Every aspiring author – and certainly anyone whose bothered to take a creative writing course – has heard this sage advice. But only recently did I come across a book with the title. I’d like to say I’d read it and taken all the advice offered before beginning The Ravenstones series, but since the book… Read more
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Unexpected Arrivals
Sometimes unexpected books arrive in one’s life. From surprising sources. Through unlikely routes. About subjects one never usually reads. And then, once started, one is compelled to read right to the very end and, finally, write about. Such was the case for When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanthi. The book recently travelled from my… Read more
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On the Fate of Eider Ducks
Recently, courtesy of Canada’s national television broadcaster (the CBC), I came across a historical vignette about New Brunswick’s Kent Island. The tiny island sits off the coast of Grand Manan (in the center of the Bay of Fundy). It measures about 800 metres wide (at its widest point) and three kilometres long. It’s too small… Read more
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The case of the disappearing philosopher
The original title for this post was: “A Popular History of Philosophy”. My second choice had been: “Whatever happened to Maurice Kaunitz?” However, doubting either subject heading would entice anyone to read what came next, and imagining no one would ever bother opening the resulting post, I figured I’d better change it. I hope you’ll… Read more
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In Praise of Little Libraries
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about Richard Nixon. But not just Nixon. I’ve also been entranced by a now-famous Botswana detective agency. And a certain well-known Belgian detective traveling on a train through pre-war Eastern Europe. And a Norwegian police detective dealing with both murder and his personal demons in Oslo. And an honourable… Read more
