Category Archives: On Writing

Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven: A Brilliant Apocalypse with an Almost Fatal Flaw (Part 1)

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

From Mary Shelley to Margaret Atwood, I have a deep interest in women’s sf and speculative fiction. It is not just a question of perspective and hearing other voices. Rather, it simply that some of my favourite writers are in … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian literature, On Writing, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Emily of New Moon’s Visitation of Beauty with Father Cassidy (L.M. Montgomery Series)

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

The story I want to share, the tale of Father Cassidy in Emily of New Moon, is looked on a little darkly in some parts of L.M. Montgomery studies. Part of this is because the Emily books can be read as a … Continue reading →

Posted in L.M. Montgomery, Memorable Quotes, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 36 Comments

“Stay in the Valley if You’re Wise”: Advice on Writing in Emily of New Moon (L.M. Montgomery Series)

Posted on May 24, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

While L.M. Montgomery could be viewed as a writer’s writer for her prose, imaginative vim, and her shaping of characters, her novel Emily of New Moon is almost a textbook on the writer’s life. A friend tipped me off to the … Continue reading →

Posted in L.M. Montgomery, Memorable Quotes, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 38 Comments

C.S. Lewis’ Pretty Awful and Peculiarly Interesting Letter on Writing

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

How many times have you heard of the struggling writer providentially bumping into an established author or writing a letter? And then that writer on the edge of hopelessness becomes the recipient of a little piece of advice or encouragement … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Memorable Quotes, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Octavia Butler’s and Robert Heinlein’s Rules of Writing

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

My most significant alien encounter this year has been in the science fiction of Octavia E. Butler. I have only dipped into her work, enjoying her Xenogenesis Trilogy (1987-89) and a collection of short pieces, Bloodchild and Other Stories (2nd ed., … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments