Writing & Publishing

Here is a collection of articles I wrote on one of the subjects I am most passionate about – the art of writing. If you want to get my perspective, please visit these entries.

Introducing My Newest Book: DAUGHTERS OF THE AIR

The Brutal Truth about Being a Writer – the most important ingredient you’ll need to make it as a writer, and it ISN’T talent

White Lies: How the CBC Ripped Off My Story – in 1998 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) made a movie that exploited and capitalized on my life. Problem is, they didn’t bother to tell me about it

The Road Less Travelled: Authenticity in the Age of Indifference – an article about integrity, authenticity, and how someone who was obsessed with Jews used relationships within the Canadian Jewish Congress to advance her career

Heal Your Wound, Transform the World – please just read this. I have no words to describe this post

The Most Important Book I’ll Ever Write – and why it needs YOU

Race Traitor MEDIA LIBRARY – a comprehensive but not complete media library to detail the situations described in my memoir Race Traitor

Race Traitor: The True Story of Canadian Intelligence’s Greatest Cover-Up – the most controversial book you’re going to read about Canada’s spy network.

Is traditional publishing the real vanity publishing? asks a provocative question that many of you may have thought, but few have dared debate out loud. Until now, that is.

Alice in Writerland is the official press release for my newest book, an intimate, candid memoir of my topsy-turvy experiences in the ugly world of publishing

Happy New Year to Fellow Writers Everywhere I wrote this inspirational new year’s message to all my writer friends and readers as a way to encourage them to believe in themselves and kick their asshole agents to the curb if necessary. Remember, YOU alone are the commodity. If you believe in your work, you are bound to succeed.

Small Press vs Self-publishing in the New Millenium If you’ve been rejected by the Big Six but are torn between the idea of self-publishing or going with a small press, I hope this article will give you some food for thought and help make up your mind as to the reality of publishing in the 21st century.

The freedom to dream, the courage to belong  If you’ve ever had a dream worth fighting for and you searched within yourself for the courage and resilience to move forward, you’ll want to read this.

Norway’s attacks – debunking the terrorist myth  A perfect example of how the tragic events of recent times are incongruent with publishers’ rose-coloured glasses – and why, if you have a story that can reach the masses, you owe it to yourself to put it out there.

Phone Hacking Deja Vu When past and present collide, and publishers are oblivious

How to lose your faith in the publishing industry in XX seconds or less  If you ever wanted an example of what’s wrong with the publishing industry, read no further than this account of what goes into a NY Times bestseller.

Random Thoughts on Writing presents my opinions on artist funding and self-publishing both as an author and a one-time judge on an Ontario Arts Council committee

Why I Fired my Literary Agent. The title says it all. This is one of my most widely-read pages. For anyone considering getting an agent, it’ll give you some ideas of what to look out for.

How I got an agent, fired an agent, and finished my book all in the same month…well, sort of 🙂

I Got a Grant from the Arts Council! captures my incredulous reaction at the news that I was awarded municipal funding on the sole basis of my writing

Be Unafraid to Demand Perfection – become a non-conformist. Create works of genius. What’s stopping you?

Final Verdict: I got my scholarship to Humber – I write about the process of competing for and finally receiving a Humber School for Writers scholarship

Renouncing Motherhood – a poetic prose essay on the liberating act of choosing to be child-free

Like Ink in Water-the Sensual, Surreal Process of Creation is a hypnotic poetic journey to the inner self that begins with a swirl of ink diluting in water.

The Sadistic Psychosis of Writing a Book Have you ever wondered what it is like to actually write a book? I mean, to be really trapped inside the walls of your fictitious story? This article tells it like it is.

Keep Focused for the New Year is a piece of silly fluff I wrote to encourage myself and other Nano writers to keep focused.

I’m a Nano 2007 Winner! – yes, I did it, completed another manuscript that will lay unedited and unfinished for another year, until I get around to blowing the dust off the front page. Hooray…lol.

40K on Day 16 – A wry look at a day in the life of a Nanowrimo challenge participant.

Words of Encouragement to Myself – check out this entry if you ever wondered how many times the manuscripts of Marcel Proust, JK Rowling and Anne Frank were rejected.

Notes from my Nanowrimo Diary – on the eternal debate over whether to write in first or third person

You’re not a REAL Writer if you self-publish or blog – exposes the reality that most people in the “industry”, agents or literary “experts” don’t want you to know – that it is indeed possible to succeed as a writer without getting their stamp of approval.

Expats, Writers, Degenerates and other Rarities is a reflection into my life as a teacher-writer in Korea, and the suicide of a fellow teacher-writer. It is a statement of realization: that the act of not writing, of not fulfilling your potential, is an act of defiance and betrayal of your own spirit.

Integrity vs. Literary Prizes – the title says it all. It is about the choice all writers have to eventually make: write like the status quo in order to gain recognition, or make a name for yourself based on your own original voice, at the risk of being branded as subversive.