How I Keep My Tools Sharp

My latest manuscript, Black Tupelo, took me three years to complete. I worked on it every day — creatively or editorially — weekends included, for months at a time. Every once in a while I would take a break for a week or two, but never for very long; when I’m writing a novel, I [...]

WHAT I’M WORKING ON NEXT

I wrote my first two novels — neither of which was published — in the 1980’s. The first one, called Country Music, was a coming of age story about a group of young men in Haliburton, north of Toronto. It almost made it; it was with Doubleday for eleven months, and the young editor who [...]

Review round up

Tess Bridgewater of the Waterloo Region Record on Pat Mattiani Mestern’s Granite:
“What Mestern does best is paint evocative pictures of the lovely rural area in the rolling hills between Fergus and Collingwood, and Shelburne to the east.
The book is worth reading for this alone, especially if you are familiar with the area.”

Alberta History on David Elliott’s Adventures [...]

Out of the Mouths of Teens

Although I enjoy reading what the critics have to say about our juvenile and young adult novels, I really enjoy finding out what teens have to say about them. KIdsWWwrite is a wonderful e-zine that posts reviews from teens. Here’s a round-up of what they had to say about some of our fall books.
“I think kids should read this book [...]

View From the Bar – The Twelve Trees Book Launch

When I first started blogging I had every intention of blogging on a regular basis but then BookExpo Canada, which was this past Sunday and Monday, crept up and swallowed a huge portion of my time. So while I was busy organizing author signings and booth furnishings (”can you throw in two more shelves for [...]

Father’s Day Books

Scratching your head trying to figure out what to get your father for Father’s Day this Sunday? Well stop racking your brain, Dundurn is here to help!
Have a father who’s a history buff? How about getting him Lake Erie Stories: Struggle and Survival on a Freshwater Ocean by Chad Fraser, which takes a fresh look at [...]

Visiting Elizabeth

Author Gisèle Villeneuve recently sent us a look back at the writing of Visiting Elizabeth.
1. Tell us about your book.
Writing my novel Visiting Elizabeth turned out to be one of my most exhilarating creative projects to date. The high energy of the voice that kept flowing on the page sustained me throughout the various drafts [...]