My 1999 self would weep at how totally broken the internet has become. AI slop, social media walled gardens that rot the brain, surveillance pricing and advertising, every single goddamn website has an endless cloudflare captcha loop before you get to read anything. Burn it all down.

I prefer to write longhand, but when I must finally turn to the laptop, I now use LibreOffice Writer, which so far is uncontaminated by AI “helpers.” I’ve been playing with Regular Expressions in ‘Find & Replace’ ... Here are some sample diagnostics you can use on your writing.

How cool is this? in Dartmouth! www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/nov...

I was the world’s luckiest 20-year-old when I got to work as a summer student at the weekly newspaper The Inverness Oran in the late 1980s. I felt fortunate then, even more so now.

Congrats to Sophie Kohn, Adrienne Gruber, and Elyse Maltin! I was proud to have shortlisted among these writers. Adrienne G led a multi-week workshop I attended a couple of years ago. A group of attendees from that workshop have continued to meet once a month. We call ourselves “Gruber’s Groupies”!

Whoa! So pleased to have made it to the shortlist for the CNFC-subTerrain contest, along with my West Coast friend, Adrienne Gruber!

This is beautiful. Read this, slowly, and then sit quietly with it for the rest of your day. We are not helpless against generative AI. Resistance is private and personal and slow, as soul-work has always been.

Seems The Antigonish Review has come back from the dead. (?) antigonishreview.com

Pleased to be on the longlist for the 2026 CNFC-subTerrain Creative Nonfiction Contest!

Still paying attention? Yesterday was a new extreme for the world’s most powerful terrorist organization. Trump-led, and abetted by the scum who profit from death and chaos. Take him seriously or not, we all breathe the same polluted air. I’m going offline for a bit, to find some clear pocket. Bye.

The snarling cur has never been weaker. These are his last days. Never weaker, never more desperate, and never more dangerous. Remove him now.

The lack of transit options in NS is staggering. Now is a great time for politicians to raise awareness on why car travel for all is unaffordable and unsustainable, and what can be done about it.

We now have 72 magazines in our #litmag directory! The best writing from new, emerging and established writers in Canada and beyond. See the full list here: litmags.ca/directory/

Trident Halifax is hosting TONNES of great events, with 4 this week alone! 08/04: Dal Creative Writing Spring Review! 09/04: Music w/ Agnes and the Orchard & co! 10/04: Phenology Wheel workshop w/ CCI! 11/04: Launch Graeme Bezanson's Ultra Blue! All upcoming events @ tridenthalifax.ca!

Halifax indie superstar Bookmark II has organized a poetry event for at the Old Triangle. Featuring readings by local poets Nanci Lee, Jaime Forsythe, and Nolan Natasha, as well as an open mic! I'm excited to be hosting. Event is free and open to all, so come on out! Wednesday, April 8, 6:30-9 pm. ✨

Here are the words I was looking for. Exactly.

At a loss for words. $4.4 million for AI? These days, when a government is rotten, it’s rotten to the core.

The most regrettable critical takes on AI come from writers, including very good ones such as Stephen Marche, I think because putting a contrarian spin on AI while still being critical of it supposedly creates a fresh space. Meh. I’ve got enough outrage in my life. Don’t need the manufactured kind.

Tim Houston didn’t tell me back in November 2024 that he intended to gut arts funding, et cetera. I wonder what will happen to his supermajority come next election.

Guy generates a novel based on stolen IP from other authors. That's not valuable and it's certainly not writing.

I quite like the answer I gave to @consumedbyink.bsky.social's question about writing advice in consumedbyink.ca/2021/02/17/q...

Suggestions needed! I want to build a very basic author website with an email newsletter and not much else. Not a blog or substack. Not Nazi-linked or AI-infected. Non-US would be a plus. What service fits the bill? I used to hand-code html web pages but I think those days are over.

That's definitely what they're afraid of -- people experiencing the joy of being in community and standing up for one another. How utterly terrifying that must be for politicians who practice the politics of division -- who want us to see one another as competitors for scare resources, not allies.

These protests are the first I’ve ever participated in, (in what I admit is a sedentary, pacific life). They were almost joyful expressions of solidarity about what is great about this province. I think we need to see some evidence that they were threats to democracy. This is very troubling.

4th rally in 3 weeks. Because arts, culture, heritage, and so many other things matter. Because I still haven't received a reply to my letters. Because this is the first time in NS history that the House has been closed to the public for more than a day (and it was closed bc of singing. go figure)

FRIDAY. NOON. PROVINCE HOUSE. ALL HANDS ON DECK: WE WON'T STOP SINGING! We've been thousands strong before. Can we grow even more, and surround the whole building with song?

When the Houston Conservatives were elected, I thought, not my first choice, but maybe they’ll govern in a Red Tory way, fiscally conservative but not anti-progressive. Instead, we get smashing everything precious, fiscal irresponsibility, and a provincial pipsqueak version of the culture wars.

“Experienced” rally signs to give away! I won’t be able to make it to this Friday’s planned rally at Province House demanding the Houston government present a new budget. Message me if you’d like to have them! (I’m in Bedford.) Very sturdy, each 2 feet across.

“Experienced” rally signs to give away! I won’t be able to make it to this Friday’s planned rally at Province House demanding the Houston government present a new budget. Message me if you’d like to have them! (I’m in Bedford.) Very sturdy, each 2 feet across.

Interested in learning about how I use archival records to tell stories? I'll be giving a short talk at the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia this Saturday! #halifax #halifaxhistory #novascotia #novascotiahistory

Call for Creative Non-Fiction! We're looking at things forgotten, things remembered this fall and would love to see your creative non-fiction on the topic! Deadline: May 4th, 2026 Details: www.prairiefire.ca/call-for-cre...

Brilliant. “... meaning resides entirely in the quality of our attention ... to watch the sunlight catch a river or to register the laughter of children against the thrum of a passing bus is to realise these are no longer background noise; they are the destination.”

It is the first day of spring, it’s official at 10:46 am in at least one time zone, we expect all harmful events, policies and peculiarities to dissolve immediately at this time, thank you for your attention to this matter.

Your final chance to make some noise before MLAs and Premier vote on this budget. The Premier and Ministers have *still* not even bothered to acknowledge receipt of my letter, let alone actually reply to it, and reports are that they're refusing to speak with constituents before the vote. Appalling.

Facts, from the NS Arts Coalition. Because you're definitely not getting them from Tim Houston and his merry band of ministers who aren't able to respond to simple questions.

Reading through drafts of four different essays and they are sniffing at each other like dogs in heat and I don’t know if I can keep them separated and please send help.

Jonathan Byrd, one of my favourite songwriters, once said: "Some mornings, I write so much that I can't fit it all in the wastepaper basket". I've taken that as words to live by. I don't believe in writer's block. We're all literate, so no blank page can stop us. I reserve the right to write crap.

Have a Fucking Website www.otherstrangeness.com/2026/03/14/h...

A richly deserved shaming on an international stage for @nsgov.bsky.social and Tim Houston specifically (read Tamara Deverall’s complete quote in the alt-text)

For some reason I’ve stopped receiving email newsletters from LitHub. I went to the site and signed up again but nothing. Anyone else having issues? @literaryhub.bsky.social

For some reason I’ve stopped receiving email newsletters from LitHub. I went to the site and signed up again but nothing. Anyone else having issues? @literaryhub.bsky.social

I think we know who the deranged scumbags are.

Only a couple of days left to enter the CNFC-subTerrain contest! Learn more here: creativenonfictioncollective.ca/cnf-contest/

SUPPORT NS AUTHORS - save the date for a big bash! Grateful to be included in a special April event that will showcase 19 Nova Scotia authors, you read that right - 19 authors - at Indigospirit Sunnyside Mall in Bedford, NS. Look at the line-up! Save the date! April 11! 📚

If you’re wondering why artists and arts organizations can’t just sell more tickets, sell more paintings, sell more records and be self-sufficient, this one’s for you. Photo by the magical @stoo.ca

They’re weakening. They won’t pass this budget before March Break, which means you’ve got an extra week to ask your MLA to make these cuts make sense. If you need help with facts and figures, let me know and I will help you. Let’s go, Nova Scotia.

What’s this?? A literary magazine with a strategic plan, out to 2030! More good stuff coming out of Ireland. stingingfly.org/wp-content/u...