Writing the first paragraph of anything is always difficult, because there’s so much pressure. That first paragraph, even more so, the first sentence, has to do so much: set the scene, get the story moving and grab the reader’s attention. But I took a lot of pleasure from that pressure last week and wrote […]
Photo: Building Blocks by Myfear on Flickr. Creative Commons licence. Periodically, my university student sons ask for writing advice for their assignments. Most recently, the elder asked for another word for “prelude” or “precursor.” What the Blond Raven wanted to do was describe how Algeria’s experience in the 1990s, when a number of religious groups […]
Today, November 11, 2014, is Remembrance Day in Canada, Veterans’ Day in the US, Armistice Day in the UK. It’s a day recognized under many names in countries around the world, marking the end of the First World War, called the “defining calamity of the 20th century.” That calamity, which took millions of lives and […]
By Rosa Storm What does choosing your own name say about you? What about when the chosen name is a mirror of the given name? One of my favourite indie authors is Cinta Garcia de la Rosa, who wrote The Funny Adventures of LittleNani for children. She has a distinct voice and style, and […]
I am excited that two good author friends and iAi colleagues have just released new books, Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar and Roger Eschbacher. First, Roger Eschbacher has published Undrastormur, a children’s book about a young Viking named Eirik. Here is the blurb: Eirik has a problem. A lot of problems, actually. While out gathering mushrooms, his small […]
by andrianart I’ve been having an interesting discussion over Facebook with author Robert Bidinotto around the importance of narrative in our society. It all started with a discussion about Ayn Rand. Robert’s contention was that, no matter whether you agree with Rand or not, she changed the popular narrative of her time. It’s an idea that […]
This blog was originally published a year ago, as the oil bubble is deflated. I have updated it in the context of the current election campaigns going strong in Canada and the US. The bubble blows It seems that everyone, including economists and political leaders, need to be reminded of the definition of bubble regularly, […]