What’s Up With Frenemies?

April 28, 2012 By 3 Comments
Frenemy

A frenemy is someone who is rooting for your success and your demise at the same time. They want what's best for you as true friends do, while wishing you get your worst, as someone who vengefully hates you might.  They are there for your biggest moments and your worst because they are your friends, which means you have given them access to your life, to your inner circle. Sometimes frenemy relationships last an entire lifetime, managing to balance themselves precariously at the exact right … [Read more...]

Filed Under: USEFUL

Ernest Hemingway’s Toronto Connection

April 24, 2012 By 1 Comment
Hemingway

We are both fascinated with where the writers whom we both admire once lived and worked.  The combination of talent and environment demonstrated right on the page of a writer's work resounds like an invitation to further explore them in that environment, so sometimes we do. Of course, a serious student of the nurture vs. nature theory would point out the flaws that looking at one of the possibly many places a writer has lived as having left any sort of mark on them as writers, and on the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ARTSY

Traits That Make the Byronic Hero So Appealing

April 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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In teaching Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, it's impossible not to discuss the Byronic Hero, and how this type of hero permeates not only Gothic romances like this one, but romantic literature in general.  The general characteristics of Lord Byron himself, the real life figure behind the type have prevailed over time.  Handsome, intelligent, connected, troubled, and artistic, he was in much demand in society.  Even then, he was considered to be a rogue (a word that should most definitely be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ARTSY

Does the Shoe Really Fit?

April 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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After returning to her finance job in a well-respected company, post-maternity leave, Jane, a good friend of mine, found herself suddenly unofficially demoted by the guy who was her immediate boss. Suddenly, the woman who was totally running things in her department, found herself being assigned tasks along the lines of filing, photocopying and cleaning up.  Not that there is anything wrong with any of this, but she was over qualified, and she was returning to a job that was legally held for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: INSPIRING

Fun Facts About Female Chick Lit Writers

April 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Many critics criticized the Chick Lit genre when it first became popular (don't they feel silly now?).  As we know, Chick Lit has continued to grow in popularity, and continues to entertain readers all over the world. While many new writers continue to emerge, some of the first female writers to break onto the Chick Lit scene are listed below (we know there are others but these are some of our favourites), and we've included some fun facts about each of them. 1. Helen Fielding, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ARTSY

You at 72 Writing Prompt

April 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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We do like writing prompts.  Looking into the future can be fun, so here's one in that spirit: On the eve of your 72nd birthday, you get an unsigned note with no return address. The note says, "I finally found the courage to say something to you.  Meet me later at _____________." So... Who wrote the note, what is it that he/she needs to tell you and where are you supposed to be meeting? Write the scene in one of the following forms: narrative prose, narrative poem, song, drama … [Read more...]

Filed Under: THE WRITE STUFF