In this post, we’re hearing from T.L. Tomljanovic, freelance writer and communications specialist located in British Columbia, and member of the Federation of BC Writers. We’ll hear about T.L. Tomljanovic’s writing journey, recent publications, and some advice for new writers on ways to branch out and become part of the larger writing community.
You have a background as a freelance communications consultant, and then you got into writing fiction more recently. How long have you been writing overall and what made you decide to explore fiction?
I’ve been writing professionally for about 20 years. My first paid gig was for a Calgary publisher where I worked as a photo researcher. Outside my usual nine to five, I researched and wrote children’s non-fiction books to spec meaning I had a very clear set of guidelines—word count, reading level, chapter headings, etc. I always wanted to write fiction—I was and still am a voracious reader—but my fear of failure paralyzed. It took the bigger fear of the pandemic lockdown in 2020 to spur me into action. I wrote a story about a goat hunter and Carousel Magazine published it.
Your fictional stories span multiple genres—literary, science fiction, horror, and so on. What inspires your stories and what are your go-to strategies to ensure that you can approach your work-in-progress with enthusiasm?
I would love to say passion or something equally inspiring, but I’m a world-champion procrastinator so I enter writing competitions. Deadlines, writing restraints, and entry fees motivate me to pull myself together and put fingers to the keyboard.
What does your writing routine look like? How do you balance multiple writing projects while tending to work-life-family responsibilities?
I don’t have balance. I have bouts of hyper focus, where I can be extremely productive and then crash and burn writing nothing for months at a time. There’s always time to write if I’m inspired to, even if it’s late at night after everyone has gone to sleep or in those quiet moments in the car or early morning. For me, the real trick is getting ideas in the first place. To conquer that, I’ve stopped forcing myself to write when I don’t feel like it.
Common writing advice I hear again and again is that writers must write every day. Who made up that rule? Who enforces it? There are no writing police. I do what works for me and try not to worry about comparing myself to others.
Your work has been published in a variety of journals and magazines. What are some of your favourite Canadian literary magazines and writing-related resources? How did it feel when you first sent your writing out to submission calls?
Check out Off Topic Publishing and its Editor-In-Chief Marion Lougheed. Marion runs monthly writing contests, publishes thoughtful short story and poetry anthologies, and is a regular contributor to Writer’s Digest.
Blank Spaces Magazine is a beautiful print and digital magazine. EIC Alanna Rusnak published one of my first short stories “Shelf Stable,” which explores motherhood and loneliness. I’ll never forget seeing my name on the cover of that magazine. The story was a New York City Midnight contest reject; it didn’t even make the first round of judging, which goes to show just how subjective the business of writing and publishing really is.
Who are your all-time favourite authors? Which contemporary author(s) do you recommend checking out?
Guy Gavriel Kay and N.K. Jemisin are my top two all-time favourite authors. I recommend checking out The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards by Jessica Waite, a Calgary author. Her book is a moving and surprising memoir on grief. I just got the phenomenal news that my friend Hilary Faktor’s debut novel Pretty Bird, a thriller set in the Canadian Prairies, will be released in 2026.
When writing for publication, an important consideration is that the public may not respond to your work in the way you imagined. What advice do you have for emerging writers about receiving feedback?
My sister once told me that when a story is out in the world, it no longer belongs to the author; it belongs to the reader. I didn’t much care for that comment since it was in direct reference to a horror story I wrote, which I felt had been misinterpreted by a few of my friends and family. But the more I write, the more I think she’s right😉
Writing is generally regarded as a solitary pursuit, but no writer can truly succeed alone. Tell us about the social and networking opportunities that you’ve participated in recently. What advice do you have for new Canadian writers who may be feeling isolated or intimidated by the wider writing community?
Community makes all the difference, but it can be labour intensive to find and maintain. I started looking for that community online during the lockdown. I’m active on social media and part of a small supportive group of creatives who met through the Canada Writes Facebook group. You and I connected on Discord, which I discovered via chat threads in the NYC Midnight writing competitions.
I have a fairly strong online network so currently I’m trying to connect with local writers in person. I met an author and educator, Julianne Harvey, at a free workshop at my local library. We followed each other on social media, met up for a coffee, and even ran into each other at a writing conference in Calgary this past summer.
I also recently joined the Federation of BC Writers, which provides multiple networking and workshop opportunities. It’s an ongoing process, but finding writers that I click with helps with imposter syndrome and makes the writing process a little less lonely.
Tell us about your work-in-progress. What are you up to? What can we expect to see from you in the near future?
In the New Year, a creative non-fiction piece about a naked boudoir photography session I did at age 38 will be published. I don’t write a lot of non-fiction, I find it too exposing, but I’m proud of this piece and where it landed. It can be cathartic to put your innermost turmoil out there for the world to see.
As for my WIP, I’ve been toying with an idea for a novel for years informed by my experiences living and teaching in Shanghai, but it will likely be a work of fiction and I may even add in speculative elements.
More T.L. Tomljanovic:
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Cover Image: Photo by Monica Silvestre on Pexels.com
Pauline Shen 
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