So here I am in Columbus for the 36th annual World Fantasy Convention, one of the highlights of my writing year.  It’s this big gathering of professional writers, editors, agents and dedicated fans of the fantasy genre, with panels about fantasy topics, readings by authors, and plenty of reunions with friends both on- and off-line. [...]

Nobody I know graduated high school and in looking forward to the future thought, “I want to be a freelance book editor.” I didn’t. In my first four years of college my dreams ran the gamut, reflected in half a dozen changes of my major. Languages, humanities, anthropology, psychology, and sociology. Later I earned a [...]

Last week, a reporter who was interviewing me commented that I was a successful author. I quickly said, “Oh no, not all that successful.” Partly because I’m Canadian and we’ve been taught that it’s unbecoming to claim “success,” but partly also because I know that, in the publishing industry, I’m really not successful. She pointed [...]

 Right before starting on this blog I emailed a couple of writer friends. Letting my hair down around them is nothing new so maybe I shouldn’t still get this warm and fuzzy feeling when its time to chat with Kate, Catherine, Karen, Gail, Tallie, etc, etc, and my newest bestest friend Lynda. But I do. And [...]