Essays and Random Thoughts

Why Museums Matter

I went to a museum yesterday. Last year, I went to so many museums that I lost track, haunting special archival collections to ferret out

Back in early March, before it felt like we were trapped in a lousy cinematic mashup of Chernobyl, Contagion, and Zombieland, I was on a writing

From the moment I first declared myself a novelist in my twenties, there were doubters. My father, for starters. “You'll never make a living. Why

It's easy to give up on your writing. Whether you're working on a novel, a memoir, a short story, or an article, writing is hard. Not

My friend Scott is Canadian. This gives him a secret power: he's nice. It is therefore impossible to refuse him, because it would be like

Just a week ago today, my new puppy, Merlin, and I were rambling down another one of Prince Edward Island's red dirt roads with my good friend and

Within days of publishing her newest novel, Matchmaking for Beginners, author Maddie Dawson hit sales numbers most writers only dream about. I'm

After my beloved dog Leo died, I entered a thick fog of grief. I felt his absence keenly because he was such an integral part of my life,

I'm no athlete. I made the cheering squad in high school only because I was loud and had a job shoveling horse manure, so I was strong enough to hold