Tag: Writing Community

Interviews

Check-in with Alanna Rusnak

Pauline Shen

In this post, we’ll be hearing from writer, editor, and publisher Alanna Rusnak. She updates us on her writing and publishing projects, while also offering us a glimpse into her inspirations as well as challenges. If you missed our original interview, take a look here: Interview with Alanna Rusnak

Check out Alanna’s author bio:

Alanna was born in the wrong decade and dreams of abandoning everything to live in a van and travel across Canada. She’ll call it “a book tour,” but it’s really an excuse to unleash her inner hippie.

A collector of typewriters and John Travolta VHS movies, she believes life is too short to not indulge in the things that bring you joy and in keeping with that philosophy, she left a stuffy office job of 18 years to launch a full-time indie press out of a chicken coop on her childhood property.

An author of literary and speculative fiction, Alanna likes to play in dark spaces, but always leaves room for redemption. Her latest novel is about burning down the world in order to set things right.

Settled in West Grey as a four-year-old, it has always been her home and source of inspiration and she’s working hard to build bridges between the various arts communities. With no immediate plans to abandon this, she will certainly leave it all behind the moment her husband gets on board with the van-life idea.

Alanna it’s been two years since our last interview. What did 2025 look like for you in your multiple roles as a writer, editor, and publisher? What’s on the horizon for 2026?

It’s actually hard to look back and articulate everything that happened in 2025 because the publishing world requires eyes forward at all times. As a solopreneur, I am keeping many balls in the air and though I’m always tired. I’m also always invigorated by the exciting projects that are constantly on the go.

I made a big decision in 2024 to keep my submissions closed in order to nurture my existing roster, roll out the titles already in my queue, and focus on follow up titles from writers already in my catalogue. This has been a game-changer in terms of workload and time management. I was working on an unsustainable (but totally exciting) publishing calendar that demanded a title was released every month. From a financial standpoint, this makes sense; from a human perspective, something had to give. The de-escalation has given me space to more fully invest in myself as a writer, and I learned that I have to treat myself like a client in order to find a good balance.

Now that we’re in 2026, I’m just beginning to see the effects of that 2024 decision. And as things are feeling more manageable, I’m able to push out titles with more care and discernment.

Who are your mentors or role models in the business? Tell us about one person who has inspired or supported you in your journey as a publisher.

I love following other scrappy little indie outfits who, like me, have a heart for writers and a desire to see them succeed. I’ve built a nice relationship with the owner of Byzantium Sky Press out of Delaware and we are often trading tips and tricks back and forth, commiserating over AI, and celebrating one another’s accomplishments through emails, Instagram DMs, and Zoom chats. It’s refreshing to find people who don’t look at you as competition, but as comrades in the same battle for creativity.

Chicken House Press is a flurry of activity! Alanna, tell us about your authors’ forthcoming appearances and readings. How can interested readers support their work?

Continue reading “Check-in with Alanna Rusnak” →
Interviews

Interview with M.C. Joudrey

Pauline Shen

In this post, we’ll be hearing from M.C. Joudrey. He tells us about his sources of inspiration, shares networking advice for new writers, and drops a few hints about his work in progress. Check out his bio:

Image courtesy of M.C. Joudrey

M. C. Joudrey is an award winning Canadian writer, artist and designer. His second novel Of Violence and Cliché was released September 2013, followed by his collection of short stories Charleswood Road: Stories in August 2014, which was nominated for a 2015 John Hirsch Manitoba Book Award. His novel Fanonymous was released in 2019 and won the Independent Publisher gold medal for best work of fiction for Western Canada. It was also nominated for two Manitoba Book Awards, including the Margaret Laurence Award for best work of fiction. His forthcoming novel Marmalade Parade (Guernica Editions) releases May 2026. As a designer, his work has been awarded four Alcuin Design Book Awards and the Manuela Dias Manitoba Book Award for Design. He is also a bookbinder and a number of his works are held in galleries internationally.

Matt, you’re not just a bookbinder—you’re a bookmaker! You design and print books as well as do the layout in addition to the actual binding. You’re also known for using unconventional materials, such as stained glass, in this process. Tell us about your most ambitious bookmaking project to date. What sort of considerations went into the design and materials used?

I’m thinking about a book we are just starting to work on. I can’t say much, but it will be the most ambitious project we’ve done to date. What I can tell you is we will be taking our time with this one. It’s going to take a couple of years to see it to fruition. It will be challenging, to say the least, but exciting.

What inspires your book designs? Who are your mentors or role models in the business?

Everything is considered as inspiration. Magnificent things and trivial things, inanimate and alive, colour and halftones, sounds, smells, great design, bad design. It all inspires in some way. There’s no single person who serves as the bulk of inspiration, rather, an individual work that is scintillating, so much so that it shines without the sun.  

In addition to creating and designing, you also write! What does your average day or work week look like? How do you find balance with so many roles to fill?

I don’t. I haven’t slept in 20 years. I’ll run until there’s no wax left.

Matt, you travel a fair amount, attending events such as the Frankfurter Buchmessein Germany. What books do you pack when flying? And do you read ebooks?

Continue reading “Interview with M.C. Joudrey” →
Interviews

Interview with Carol Anne Shaw

Pauline Shen
Photo courtesy of Carol Anne Shaw

In this post, we’ll be hearing from Canadian author Carol Anne Shaw. Check out her author bio:

Carol Anne Shaw, resident of Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, is the author of the award-winning Hannah series, plus four young adult novels, and writing guidebook That’s Another Story: Writing with Heart.

For budding writers, the prospect of completing a full-length manuscript can feel hopelessly out of reach. Carol Anne, what advice do you have for writers who are just starting out with a book idea?

Oh, I love this question! And it makes me think of a famous quote by writer Gene Wolfe, who said, “You never learn how to write a book. You only learn how to write the book you’re writing.” So true! I thought once I had a book published, it would be easy street from that point on. Nope.

Writing every book has had its ups and downs, just like the one before it, but I’ve learned that that’s just the way it goes. The middle part is the hardest! That’s when the idea is no longer new and shiny, and it starts to feel like real work. My advice to writers just beginning would be, don’t overthink it. Don’t get hung up on editing or minute details. Just get the ideas down as they come.

If you’re stuck, write a random scene—one that will show up at some point in the novel. You can stitch everything together later on. And probably the most important thing of all? Turn off your phone, or put it in another room. Distractions will KILL your focus.

Carol Anne, share 3 ways you push through a plot snag.

Ew. Plot snags are beasts. Usually, I shut things down and go for a walk. Or, I write a random scene that I know I’ll be able to use in another part of the novel. That keeps my confidence up and the wheels in motion. The third “trick” might be opening a book by an author I admire and just familiarizing myself with how other writers weave stories. I learn so much from them.

In addition to writing, you give back to the community by speaking to groups of children. Your presentations have been described as “fascinating and inspiring.” What has been the most surprising part about giving these author talks? In what ways does this sort of public speaking differ from your previous experience as a high school visual arts teacher?

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Candid Talks, Writing

How to Choose a Literary Journal …for Submitting Your Work

Pauline Shen

If you’re writing for publication, you need to know where your work will fit. After you’ve written a short story (or poem, or nonfiction piece…), you’ll need to send it somewhere. But where? Do you simply send your work to any and all journals that have an open submission call?

Or should you devote some time to reading current literary journals? It is a good idea to look for the best fit for your writing, so you ought to consider reading a selection of journals first. Now wait… there are so many literary journals out there! So, to avoid being overwhelmed I’ve developed a system to help narrow the field when you’re just starting out. It goes like this:

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Writing

Balancing Writing Projects – How to PART TWO

Pauline Shen

How does a writer organize different projects? PART TWO

In PART ONE of this topic, we established what sort of projects a writer must balance in order to move forward in the profession. The full scope involves writing, but a significant amount of creativity and drive must go into levels of different projects, not just one. Even if you’re independently wealthy and have the luxury of just sitting down to type out your novel, there’s always the marketing side of things. So, you’d still need to devote time and energy to multiple projects in addition to your manuscript.

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Writing

Balancing Writing Projects – How to PART ONE

Pauline Shen

How does a writer organize different projects? PART ONE

First, let’s examine what is meant by “different projects.” Writers, effectively, are artists. It’s a craft that carries high risk in terms of outcome versus expenditure of time, energy and effort. In order to market anything in the artistic realm, the maker (in this case, writer) needs to consider the full scope of the endeavour. There’s a lot of talk from writers about the challenges of getting work done and whether “writer’s block” is indeed a real phenomenon. However, that’s just one aspect of the creative process. And it’s only a nugget of the profession overall. Does that sound strange? Let me explain.

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