by Annette | Apr 18, 2017 | Annette's Blog
The Best Kind of People is one of my favourite books this year. I read it in three days, unable to put it down. Whittall kept her readers off balance so we didn’t know whether the popular teacher, George, accused of sexual harassment and rape by several of his...
by Annette | Apr 29, 2016 | Annette's Blog
On the day before I find out if Peace is an Offering will win the BC Book Prize in the Children’s Illustrated Literature category, I received a letter in the mail that meant as much to me as any literary award (though I’d be I thrilled if...
by Annette | Jan 26, 2016 | Annette's Blog
The premier says betcha, learned that schtick from Sarah Palin, sitting in a helicopter shooting wolves, she ordered a wolf cull in BC, gave the go-ahead for poison and shooting, likes to emulate her American sister in the hood of the U.S. of A. It’s about...
by Annette | Nov 18, 2015 | Annette's Blog
Erasure: This is a process in which a writer extracts words, in the exact order as they appear in a text, ‘erasing’ the rest, to create a poem. I chose Susan Sontag’s On Photography. I opened Sontag’s book at a random page, spotted the word ‘Paris’ and began. For...
by Annette | Nov 14, 2015 | Annette's Blog
In Memoriam for Bailey Jerome Swaggart I’ve never met Bailey Jerome Swaggart, a young soldier from West Monroe, Louisiana. I got to know him through his grieving mom, Shalia Swaggert, a woman I admire for her ability to find the brightness in even the darkest day—...
by Annette | Mar 25, 2015 | The Stories Behind The Books
I wrote Peace is an Offering shortly after 9/11. I knew that after the planes hit the twin towers that the U.S. would go to war and that the world would be irrevocably changed. So I began to write the poem as a text for a picture book for children. I remembering...
by Annette | Mar 25, 2015 | Reviews
‘A list of small lessons, that when added up, have a great impact…” Peace is an Offering is ‘affecting and heartfelt.’ Kirkus Review Peace is an Offering is a ‘beautiful book.’ … “(It’s) a wonderful way to remind not just children but yourself of the wonderful things...
by Annette | Feb 16, 2015 | Sliding Images
by Annette | Jan 3, 2015 | Annette's Blog
Ellen in Pieces by Caroline Adderson is my favourite novel of 2014! It is laugh-out- loud funny, sexy, and very moving. The word that first comes to mind is delicious. The novel is a gossipy treat, entertaining as hell, but at the same time brilliantly written with...
by Annette | Dec 3, 2014 | Annette's Blog
It was raining hard as my husband and I trudged up Burnaby Mountain. We had dressed in layers, fleece jackets and rain gear, hats and hoods and gum boots. To get to the Kinder Morgan drill site, we had to circle half way up a hillside where the mud was thick and...
