I was heading east along Wellesley by St. Jamestown in Toronto, late from a long day at work. It was a lovely evening. The streets were bright…
The following excerpts are from material I prepared in 2012 while I was ‘getting to know’ my main characters better. They were introduced in the…
Sound: The misshapen amber ooze inside the stained tissue paper crackles to the counter top in a spray of needles and dried gum. It’s as if the…
I was returning to Toronto after a day teaching emergency services communicators (9-1-1 call takers and dispatchers) at Mohawk College in Hamilton.…
Friday Chopping onions dry-eyed Meatballs simmer red sauce scent of Tuscany. Saturday Cappuccino froths double dark in china mug Sunlight blisters…
The mist on the High Street was almost like rain, and it was starting to get dark. Mum would be mad worried that we weren’t home. The police lady…
I turned down the stub of a street lined with crayon-bright bungalows and Portuguese pocket gardens to avoid a clot of weekend traffic. There were few…
After retiring from the Metro Police Service, Jake Barclay started the firm with his long-time partner, Bosco Poon. Bosco wasn't interested in having…
Kenora Tedesco has reinvented herself after loss, betrayal, and getting fired. She’s found her footing as a licensed private investigator. At peace…
How many years did it take me to create the opening paragraph of The Fifth Man? Too many to count. I've lived with my characters in the Kenora &…
I’ve been writing short and long fiction for decades, but I never was much of a planner. I have boxes of dollar store notebooks and…
One hip pressed against the wall, her palm warm on my shoulder to steady herself, she’d ease out a square leather case with silver fittings…
I remember 1956. I remember 1956 because I was young, growing fast and usually hungry. My youngest brother – a chubby, happy guy – had been…
Fall is upon us so I’ve been preserving corn relish and canning black currant jelly made from the berries I picked from the garden in July. Today,…
During my undergraduate years, I commuted from St. Catharines to York University in Toronto. Travelling from the bus station on Academy Street…
Be Courageous! “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The…
On the boat from Aegina town, an earnest looking dyke with middle-aged ankles and feet shod in Soft-Mocs flips through a guidebook for Gay…
Another 40 degree day under denim blue skies on the island of Aegina, pistachio capital of Greece. We’re kitted up with our brimmed…
