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Writer’s Digest posts advice from Jerry Jenkins
There’s a post on Writer’s Digest titled “8 Basic Writing Blunders” directed at writers of fiction. Pretty standard stuff: avoid clichés of one sort or another; don’t tell the reader what s/he’s supposed to think; don’t be all preachy; don’t use more than one coincidence to drive the plot. But notice who wrote the article: [...]
Continue reading...Quit Facebook Day May 31st
19. May 2010
Facebook has taken some hits for repeated changes to its privacy policy that seem to compromise user privacy to the benefit of advertisers. Well-known users like Cory Doctorow have canceled their accounts. As Doctorow tweeted on May 14th: “Never made use of #Facebook, but #privacy awfulness from #Zuckerberg has prompted me to delete acct http://tinyurl.com/6rezxv.” [...]
Continue reading...Mt. Allison to confer honourary doctorate on Heather Reisman
16. May 2010
Mt. Allison University, one of Canada’s premiere undergraduate universities, has found itself at the centre of a controversy for its decision to confer an honourary doctorate on Heather Reisman. The annual convocation ceremony takes place May 17th, 2010 and includes the installation of Peter Mansbridge as the university’s new chancellor. The CBC reports that a [...]
Continue reading...Dead Baby Birds
12. May 2010
I shot this photo beside the entrance to the George Ignatieff Theatre on the U. of T. campus. Mounted on the wall is a sculpture made of iron rods, creating a mesh that’s ideal for bird nests. I noticed at least two different species nesting in the sculpture – sparrows and grackles. I’m assuming that [...]
Continue reading...Public Domain epub eBook Collections
11. May 2010
After I picked up my Kobo eReader, the first thing I did was go to the Gutenberg Library and download some novels in the epub format. The problem is: it takes a while to sift through all their titles. So … as a convenience to my readers, if you’d like to save yourself some time, [...]
Continue reading...Critics call on Atwood to boycott Dan David Prize
10. May 2010
Margaret Atwood and Amitav Ghosh were joint recipients of the 2010 Dan David Prize which includes a cash purse of $1,000,000. Groups supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestine called on Atwood to boycott the prize as a show of solidarity with Palestinians. Atwood chose to ignore the criticism and accepted the prize [...]
Continue reading...Harper says DMCA-style copyright bill in six weeks
5. May 2010
Michael Geist reports that PM Stephen Harper has resolved a dispute between Industry Minister, Tony Clement, and Heritage Minister, James Moore, by siding with Moore and opting for DMCA-style copyright legislation. This would bring us more in line with American policy notwithstanding the fact that copyright consultations last summer suggested that popular opinion favoured something [...]
Continue reading...Poem-a-Month Newsletter – Inaugural Issue
3. May 2010
View the inaugural issue of my Poem-a-Month e-newsletter. Okay, it’s not exactly my inaugural issue (seeing as I’ve been doing this for a couple years now), but it’s the first time I’ve sent out a poem-a-month e-newsletter from the nouspique.com domain. And it’s the first time I’ve sent it out in an expanded format, with [...]
Continue reading...I’m Ditching the Huffington Post
27. April 2010
I have now officially removed The Huffington Post from my news feed and have stopped following it on Twitter. Not because it’s too left or too right. But because it’s too vapid. Theoretically, an exclusive online news source which competes directly with the traditional players is a great idea. And I applaud its ability to [...]
Continue reading...Why Commas Matter
20. April 2010
Although I wouldn’t describe myself as a grammar Nazi, there are times when I think it’s important to observe certain fundamental rules. As for punctuation, while I prefer to take a minimalist approach, I wouldn’t describe myself as a dogmatist on this front either. The Walrus has posted a couple good pieces that frame the [...]
Continue reading...Scots and Toronto tourists
18. April 2010
Whenever I visit Scotland, I invariably have two or three conversations with strangers that go more or less like this: So you’re American? No I’m Canadian. Really? My sister’s husband’s uncle is Canadian. Small world. Lives in a wee town called Oakville. You know it? Well, it’s closer to me than Prince George. That’s for [...]
Continue reading...This Blog Doesn’t Allow Head Coverings
8. April 2010
This blog does not provide services to women who wear certain head coverings. If you are a female Viking, your browser will no longer work properly and you will be redirected to more suitable web addresses. Here are the reasons: 1. I am a white dude and it’s my god-given right to treat with suspicion [...]
Continue reading...Another Week of Canadian News Eh
12. March 2010
A wrap-up of Canada-related news for the week ending March 12, 2010: The James Cameron Blues Canadian filmmaker, James Cameron, was a bust at last Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, losing both Best Director and Best Picture awards to ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow. When asked for his reaction to the loss, he said he was feeling blue. [...]
Continue reading...The Nipple Revisited
10. March 2010
Tomorrow, I will be posting an eChapbook, a long short story titled Security. Breasts figure prominently in my story, or – not to make too fine a point of it – nipples. This isn’t the first time I’ve given serious attention to nipples. More than a year ago, in a post titled “The Nipple Exposed,” [...]
Continue reading...Attachment And Truth
9. March 2010
Here is a story which Thich Nhat Hanh recounts in his book, The Art of Power: The Buddha told the story of a merchant, a widower, who went away on a business trip and left his little boy at home. While he was away, bandits came and burned down the whole village. When the merchant [...]
Continue reading...New eFiction from David Allan Barker
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19. May 2010
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