Sit with my beloved family members who have already passed and have a mouth-watering meal cooked by my mother, Aunt Mary, and my brother-in-law Pat (he’s in charge of meatballs). Sit and smoke cigars with Mark Twain while we have a long chin-wag about literature. Find out the entire truth about JFK – who shot…
Category: Articles
Merry Whatever
To the Christians out there who are in a snit about saying “Merry Christmas”: say it all you want. Scream it. But don’t criticize me for having switched my general greeting to “Happy Holidays.” If I know someone celebrates Christmas, I say Merry Christmas. If I know the person is Jewish, I say Happy Hanukkah….
Weapons of Mass Distraction
I never thought I’d compare myself to George W. Bush in any way, but as a freelance writer, I may have to declare war on social networking, as it is fraught with weapons of mass distraction for writers. Take Facebook … please. I frequent that site mainly because I love the Scrabble-type and Solitaire games…
The Literary Dilemma
I loved The DaVinvi Code. There. I said it, and I’m not ashamed of it. I loved the book – inhaled it. Couldn’t wait to turn the pages and find out what happened.The book made me think. It made me question important values. It seduced my imagination. I didn’t read it for historical accuracy; I…
How Trend-y are You?
Want to jump-start your creative energies and increase your chances of having queries accepted by newspapers and magazines? Engage in some creative trend-spotting and beat other writers to the punch. I have had several queries accepted by editors who appreciated my proposing topic or topic angles that are new and different. Back in the 1990s,…
Write Your Way Out of the Economic Blahs
The past year has been a challenging one for all business owners, including those who write for a living. It’s easy to succumb to the negativity in the media, and of course, with prices rising, layoffs increasing and work dwindling, life can look dismal during economic dips. One thing to keep in mind is that…
Writing Fairy Contest Winners Announced!
OK everyone – ta da! We have our winners of the first-ever Writing Fairy Humour-Writing Contest! Congratulations to the winners whose writing rose to the top. We had nearly 200 entries, and there were 10 judges in total at the various judging levels. The writing had to have some sort of magic to make it…
Shelf Life
This essay tied for first place in the 3rd Annual Writing Contest by the Haliburton Highlands Writers’ and Editors’ Network and the Agnes Jamieson Gallery in June, 2005 As a person who values logic, it bothers me that I already own more books than I can read before I die even if I live to…
The Gift of Words
The following essay, which was featured in The Globe and Mail Facts & Arguments on January 7, 2003, won the Perioridal Writers Association of Canada’s 2005 Barbara Novak Award For Excellence in Humour and/or Personal Essay Writing. Validation can be as liberating for the teacher as for the student. He called at one of the…
Out of the Mouths of Husbands
The following essay, which aired on CBC Radio’s “First Person Singular” in September, 2003, explains best how Dorothea feels about The Writing FairyTM mission. Every now and then my husband says something profound. Last time it happened was in 1992 – the year I celebrated my 41st birthday. I was grumbling about the fact that…