-
Canadian landscapes
Just in time for Canada Day, I thought I’d let you in on Fiona’s Canadian homes. Once upon a time, I thought I’d like to live in north Toronto. I loved the old houses, the shade from the huge maple trees and the idea of walking to the local greengrocer and butcher shop. So when I wanted Another Glass of Tea‘s Fiona to live my dream, I invented her a house I would never have been able to afford, with room for her entire brood. Fiona and her husband Sam start their family there, close to his brother’s place. They… Read more…
-
All kinds of relationships
As Pride month comes to an end (in fact, Toronto’s Pride Parade is today), I’m thinking about a pair of characters in Another Glass of Tea who were a surprise to me. I intentionally set out to ensure that my secondary and tertiary characters reflected the wide variety of backgrounds and experiences I see in people around me, and in cities near me. That means that Fiona has a group of friends in Toronto with a variety of heritages. Different writers have different processes. For me, I knew there were certain markers along the way, and definite scenes and moments that would have… Read more…
-
From the cutting room floor: A little bit of onion, a little ketchup
A lot ends up on the proverbial cutting room floor in the editing process of a book. One casualty of trimming Another Glass of Tea down to an appropriate length was a scene of a concert that the main character Fiona and her friends attend. They go to hear storied singer Barış Manço in a small venue and dance and sing wildly like the teenagers they are. Barış Manço Museum In my own year, I was fortunate enough to see Barış Manço in concert. And yes, I admit that scene did bear some resemblance to my own memories. I never quite understood the… Read more…
-
What do you mean, a glass of tea?
In Turkey, tea is served in these little thin-waisted – ince belli, they call it – clear glasses. You grasp them by the very top rim, so as not to burn your fingers, and you sip the piping hot black liquid. The glasses sit in little saucers to catch any spillage. In my own kitchen, I have a stack of them, with designs of ladybugs, flowers and hearts, but the ones that seem to be universally available at tea gardens have red stripes. You might drink several glasses at one sitting – with sugar if you prefer, but never with milk. Tea seems… Read more…
-
Research makes the story come alive
I squeaked in some travel in the summer of 2021 that was really important. There’s a small part of Another Glass of Tea that’s set in the Turkish town of Datça on the Aegean coast. I’ve heard people talk about it, and seen photos of friends vacationing there. And for some reason I knew it had to be there. Another part takes place in the Istanbul neighbourhood of Kuzguncuk. Colourful houses of Kuzguncuk There was only one problem. I’d never actually been to either of those places. So when Canada’s COVID numbers were declining at the same time Turkey’s were, and second vaccines… Read more…
-
Where it all began
My first published piece! I’ve been writing all my life. As a kid, I scribbled stories in a little notebook I kept hidden under my mattress. I was first published at the age of 12, in my father’s company’s employee publication. I won a contest showcasing my family’s Christmas traditions. Spurred on by that success, the next year I “published” my first book about my dog Frisky – how she came to live with us, the villagers who fed her treats on her daily jaunt and the puppies she birthed (all nine of them!). My mother helped me type out… Read more…
