After the non-soundtrack post last week, we’re back on topic.  A Terrible Beauty most definitely had a soundtrack.  Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, Sarah McLachan’s 1993 album, turned out to be the perfect blend of mood and music for that book. The lines “The night is my companion/and solitude my guide/Would I spend forever here/and not be […]

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Blood and Chrysanthemums was not a music-enhanced writing experience in the same way the other books have been.  I listened to music while writing, of course, but the only specific music that related to the novel was a CD of classical Japanese music that I bought to listen to while writing the Fujiwara sections. B&C […]

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I listen to music a good portion of my day, though it’s probably more accurate to consider it a background soundtrack rather than an activity in which I actively engage.  I wear my Ipod during my walk and subway trip to work,  sometimes while I’m working, and it plays in the sound dock at night.  […]

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Or at least the 1970s.  During my early convention-going years, I did do the costume thing a few times, mostly as an excuse to dress up.   I didn’t have nearly the talent for it that today’s crop of cosplayers does but I did enjoy myself.  So here, in honour of FanExpo and for whatever dubious entertainment […]

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    I know that Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules for writing include “Don’t go into great detail describing places and things” but I love writing those. Part of the pleasure of travelling is watching out the window of the train, finding ways to describe what I see, or discovering the perfect graffiti on a dumpster […]

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Like all writers, I love interesting words. English is rich with expressive, specific, harmonious and sometimes odd words and we tend to use a fraction of them in our daily lives. There’s a Canadian project to not only reclaim these fascinating words but to raise awareness and money for a disease that robs us of […]

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The cover of Cold Hillside is done and it’s gorgeous.  It wasn’t at all what I was expecting but it works on many levels with the story.  Thanks to Vince Haig and the team at ChiZine.            

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  Not only can you ask me anything (or almost), if you RSVP now you have the chance to win the e-book collection. RSVP now!  (My old copywriting instincts are coming back…)

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The big news – the entire first draft of Cold Hillside has now been finished and sent to my editor at ChiZine Publications.   Now I’m just waiting for the rewrites to begin.  It’s been a long (18 years long) road to get to this place and it feels a bit strange to think that I’ve […]

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    NOTE FROM NANCY: Because you may have noticed I’m not exactly … prolific … I have inveigled the talented and funny Toveen into writing a guest post for me.   Enjoy! Night Vale is a quaint little town in a quaint not-so-little desert. It can be found, yes, though not without some difficulty; merely […]

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