Merilyn Simonds

Birds are back and so am I! New Books Unpacked on writing the lives of others buff.ly/3s8Elrn

"Refuge is bejewelled by fine writing...in terms of structure and imagery, it is a marvel." Little pleases more than a well-written, thoughtful, insightful review. Thank you @debramartens and @CanadaNY Canadian Writers Abroad canadianwritersabroad.com/20… @ecwpress

In my novel Refuge, Cassandra MacCallum—a Canadian nurse in Mexico—is called upon to photograph a neighbour's daughter, who has died. I stared at Reva’s portrait of the dead child: this was the picture I had imagined Cassandra taking. bit.ly/2OEyyJp @ecwpress @lithub

Photographs uncompromisingly honest, yet poetic—Reva Brooks' mid-century portraits eerily match those of the heroine of my novel Refuge. “Had I heard about her —or tapped into some female-photographer truth?” lithub.com/at-the-intersecti… @lithub @ecwpress bit.ly/2OEyyJp

You can run, little icon-man, but you can't hide...#streetsigns

I just finished @Sandra_Gulland new novel Game of Hope. I was spellbound, as will everyone with a special love for the Josephine trilogy. Sandra shows us Napoleonic France through the unique perspective of Josephine's young daughter Hortense. Enthralling!

Lovely event @wots with @heidisopinka. Thanks @jaelrichardson for great moderating!

Atwood's World, a scrapbook of 1979-1981 reviews of Atwood's novels, purchased for $1 at a Perth charity book sale—the best (early) birthday gift ever. Reviews pasted into religious workbook plus Atwood letter-to-the-editor in defense of Toads.

Look what I got as an early birthday gift: Atwood's World, reviews and clippings from the late 70s/early 80s, pasted into an old religious workbook. $1 at a charity sale, and worth every penny, especially her Letter to the Editor in defense of Toads. @MargaretAtwood

"This reading is shifting what I write about...changing how I write, too. These Mexican writers give me courage." On Reading Abroad canadianwritersabroad.com/20… @ecwpress @Sandra_Gulland @maiawilliamsx @chrishixon71 @KerryReads @JaneFriedman

Today is pub day for Refuge—14 years in the writing. So happy it waited to be part of the current convo: who we give refuge to & why @ecwpress @MargaretAtwood @profnickmount @stevenbuechler @KerryReads

There’s a saying that a book is never finished, it’s just whisked out of a writer’s hands by an editor who yells, Stop! From Books Unpacked Blog, "The Cutting Edge" buff.ly/2FGtGA1 @CarlaJDouglas @Sandra_Gulland @MargaretAtwood @ecwpress

It’s not easy to follow the classic advice to kill your darlings, but writers learn to be ruthless. They grow their own second set of eyes. From Books Unpacked Blog, "The Cutting Edge" buff.ly/2FGtGA1 @SusanMToy @swanscribe @HalWake @JaneFriedman

Vladimir Nabokov: “I have rewritten—often several times—every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.” Gone are the pencils, and the erasers, too. From Books Unpacked Blog, "The Cutting Edge" buff.ly/2FGtGA1 @AnitaChong9 @NitaProse @KerryReads

The best editors are not Lish-like Svengalis, but smart, articulate ur-readers who, if the chemistry is right, will engage a writer in the deepest conversations of her literary life. From Books Unpacked Blog, "The Cutting Edge" buff.ly/2FGtGA1 @MargaretAtwood @zOlivia_84

Before the brilliant editor Ellen Seligman took me on, she invited me to lunch. Midway through our meal she leaned across the table. “Are you editable?” she said. I had no idea what she meant. Yes! I said. From Books Unpacked, "The Cutting Edge"@ecwpress buff.ly/2FGtGA1

Influence or Plagiarism: Far more important to me than money is acknowledgment, because when a source is named, that book becomes part of the cultural conversation. buff.ly/2FzxP5k @profnickmount @CarlaJDouglas

Influence or plagiarism? Naked Lunch, is riddled with lifted bits. Jonathan Letham: “Burroughs was interrogating the universe with scissors and a paste pot.” buff.ly/2F1PmC0 @gammarino @stintzi @leannedunic

Influence or Plagiarism? How many words am I allowed to use without raising an alarm? According to the plagiarism-detectors, 16 identical words in identical sequence are almost certainly copied. buff.ly/2FzSsyp