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This article, published in Faith Today, involved spending a night on Toronto's streets, following the work of an outreach to prostituted women. Read it here. 

This article, about a tireless advocate against honour-based violence, was a pleasure and a challenge to write. Published in the United Church Observer in Nov/Dec 2013, click here to read it.   

Lots has been written about a writer's "voice" -- that distinct style/tone/temp/mood  of writing that is yours alone. But there is another writer voice that needs to be developed. That is your own strong, professional voice that is your salesperson, accountant, marketer, ...

I learned as important a lesson about parking as I did about punctuation at the Editors' Association of Canada copy editing seminar I attended last week. But I did sharpen my skills in both areas. 1. The extremely convenient yet odd-shaped parking ...

I did a "Rejoice Re-Read" of some favourite Munro this weekend, in honour of her amazing Nobel Prize for Literature win. I was struck once again how much a non-fiction feature writer can learn from Canada's short story master. Here are the ...

I'm really not an expert. But I'm travelling to Senegal in a week or so on a writing trip. The best part is that I'm bringing along my 15-year old daughter Holly. We will be observing a Samaritan's Purse shoebox distribution program ...

Last week Canadian Christian News Service launched in Canada to great fanfare. Just kidding about the fanfare. Still, the mood was celebratory in three offices in far flung towns and cities. Years ago, I was struck with one of my best ideas ...

Writing honestly is the best way. Anne Lamott, one of my favourite writers (precisely because she is so honest) says: “If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk ...

I don't like being interviewed. That's the first thing I learned. A fellow writer came to our home for a short profile piece she is doing on the contributing writers for Focus magazine, the local Scugog magazine I write for every now ...

Not every lead introduces itself to the writer. Some do. There have been times I'm in the middle of an interview, or research, and the lead jumps out at me in a spangly pantsuit and yells "Start your article with me! I'm ...

Nothing beats the freedom of summer reading. One book after another. On the dock, in the hammock, laying down, sitting up, even walking from couch to fridge there is so much time, space and place to read. During my most recent sabbatical ...

It's been my experience as a freelance writer, especially in the beginning years, that there can be stretches of time between assignments that can be a blessing in a very good disguise. Those gaps  between projects used to make me nervous, until ...