All My Bags AREN'T Packed

But I am ready to go. To Newfoundland. On Saturday. Or I will be when… Never mind.

Talking to a group of Keene teens a few years ago (Keene is near Peterborough, Ontario), I was mentioning how much I enjoy traveling roads I haven’t been on before, as I had that morning, and realized that what I’d said applied to my writing life, too. That’s why I’ve ended up writing such a range of stories, I think. An idea comes to me, I think, ‘I can’t write that. I don’t write…’ Fill in the blank: historical fiction, horror, biography, poetry. But it turns out that a great deal of the pleasure in writing is venturing into territory one hasn’t explored before, in terms of content, style, or genre.

I’ve enjoyed time in Newfoundland before – for National Book Week, for Children’s Book Week, and to present a session at an Eastern Horizons conference. But next week will take me on roads I haven’t yet traveled – from Corner Brook up the west coast to St. Anthony’s – and I’ll make a return trip from Corner Brook down the coast to Port Aux Basques, too. If you live in that part of the country, and our paths happen to cross on those just-waiting-to-be-traveled-by-me roads, please be sure to say hi. Mention that you read about my upcoming trip on my blog. Or, better yet, tell me you’ve been enjoying reading my books!