Allow me to introduce: Susan Forest

One of Canada’s best-kept secrets, Susan Forest is an award-winning author, artist and publisher. And if you haven’t read her work, you should. She pushes boundaries, examines human relationships in impossible situations, much in the way of Candas Jane Dorsey (another of Canada’s best-kept secrets) and the illustrious Ursula K. le Guin. Susan first came to my attention in 2011 after an introduction from Robert Runté. He suggested we consider putting together a collection of…

An editor considers character development

What is it about a story of fiction that sweeps you away? Aside from other key elements, I’m pretty sure it’s a fully developed character who speaks to you from the page or screen. It’s that character’s voice that whispers to you in your sleep, who disturbs you at work, during your commute, who becomes so real sometimes you ache for conversation with that person, you cry if they die, or crow when they triumph….

Defining the “Canadian” in the Canadian Voice

“What is Canadian literature? What is a Canadian novel? I am not going to be so foolhardy as to attempt to define these terms; many have wandered into this wilderness—and returned, what else but bewildered if they were honest, or with simplistic or outdated notions if they were naive; this is hardly surprising—the country is changing around us even as we speak, stirring up a host of conflicting ideas and interests, and to look for…

Why We Published: A Method to the Madness, edited by Michell Plested and Jeffrey Hite

There are times we all need a little silliness in our lives, something to take us out of ourselves, our work, the humdrum of the day-to-day. For some of us that escapism involves humour. Sometimes the more ridiculous the better. It was that very basic concept that sold me on an idea Michell Plested (author of Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero), and editor/writer Jeffrey Hite pitched to me one Saturday afternoon over a Skype conference. I’d…

Why We Published: Type, by Alicia Hendley

Alicia Hendley first made her publishing debut with A Subtle Thing in 2010. Alicia Hendley (right)with brother Nate Hendley (left)at Q Space launch of Type. In 2012 she presented Five Rivers with a YA novel based upon a society structured around the tenets of Jungian Myers-Briggs typology, gone horribly wrong. The concept was enough to pique my interest. What followed in Hendley’s first draft demonstrated a very strong narrative which only required minor revision and…