What Were You Thinking?

Waubgeshing Rice, Waub to all those who know him, has been crafting stories from the age of 17. He started reporting when he was an exchange student in Germany, went to journalism school and worked for CBC Television as a reporter before his latest novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, enabled him to focus on writing full time. Anyone who remembers the blackout of 2003 will find parallels to that eastern seaboard chaos in Waub's novel. In this episode, Waub talks about his early experience as an exchange student, how his culture influences his writing, and how his grandmother is a voice he paid tribute to in the novel.

Buy Moon of the Crusted Snow

Follow Waub on Twitter

Read the Maclean's article where Waub shares his views on Ryerson

Listen to more episodes and learn more about your host, Dana Goldstein

Judith Clark absolutely set out to write a novel about a gay boy living in rural Alberta. The controversy in the province over GSA's - Gay Straight Alliances - inspired her to tell the story of a high schooler who choses to keep his sexuality a secret until he graduates. Gunnar has a lot at stake: his space on the wrestling team, his friendships and his plans to stay under the radar until his final day. Life gets in the way, and Gunnar is set on a path he never intended to take so soon.

In this episode, we talk about how Judith was able to get inside a teenager's head and her path to writing the novel.

To learn more about Judith and to purchase Under the Radar, visit her website.

To learn more about me, my books and for past episodes, visit danagoldstein.ca.

Brittney Morris performed what most writers would consider an impossible feat: she wrote an entire novel in 12 days. After being inspired by the Black Panther movie, Brittney decided to write a story about a 17-year-old high schooler who developed a game played by the global black community. Brittney wanted to participate in Pitch Wars, a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine for an agent showcase.

She had 14 days to produce an entire manuscript. So she did.

In this episode, Brittney shares how she feels the pressure to represent her race, how she overcame more than 200 rejections and what the full-time writing life means to her.

Learn more about Brittney on her website.

Check our her author profile on Amazon.

To learn more about me, my books and for past episodes, visit danagoldstein.ca.

When Canadian Karen Patterson moved to China, she fully intended to spend the rest of her life there. While there, she built businesses, learned the language, got married and gave birth to her daughter. She never imagined her life would be completely upturned when her husband, Chinese artist Wu Yuren, disappeared.

For years, Karen struggled to find him, and when she did, the fight to free him from the clutches of the Chinese government began. As a foreigner in a foreign land, Karen was the only one who could help. Taking on China is a riveting look behind the red wall - at the people, the art world, and the obstacles one woman faces in her search for freedom.

Purchase Taking on China.

To listen to more episodes, or to check out my books, visit danagoldstein.ca.

From the very first lines of Walking Through Needles, you'll know you're in for a ride. This debut novel, by Heather Levy, is rich with characters that will run you through the spectrum of emotion and will make you squirm. Yet still, you won't be able to stop turning the pages.

In this conversation, Heather talks about BDSM, Pitch Wars and the challenges of writing about sexual assault.

WARNINGS: We talk about some very adult topics: masturbation, assault, bondage, sadism and masochism.

Purchase Walking Through Needles.

Read the article about pain referenced in this episode here and her twenty year lie here.

Follow Heather on Twitter.

To listen to more episodes, or to check out my books, visit danagoldstein.ca.

Tammy Plunkett started writing Clinical Trial to quell the boredom of being a stay-at-home-mom to four children. Ten years after she first completed the book, she took it out of the drawer to revisit the romantic thriller, updated it, edited it and hit publish. It was perfect timing for this ex-ICU nurse to launch a book that reads like a string of Grey's Anatomy episodes. In the midst of a pandemic, there was something medical we could get into without feeling scared or overwhelmed.

Learn more about Tammy: https://www.tammyplunkett.com/about/

For more episodes, visit www.danagoldstein.ca

To inquire about being a guest, contact Dana.

I thought it was probably a good idea to introduce myself in a solo episode. I've kept it short (the self-effacing voice in my head tells me I'm not that interesting), and I've dropped a couple of weird things most people don't know about me. I've shared why I decided to start this podcast and how I use book reviews on Goodreads.

To learn more about me, visit www.danagoldstein.ca

You can buy my books wherever books are sold, or buy them directly from my website for signed and personalized copies.

Check out my other life as the owner of Digital Shoebox (where I offer video and written content for others).

Find me on:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Michelle Good took 9 years to write Five Little Indians. As a member of the Cree nation, she had first-hand knowledge of the experiences of those who had been sent to Canada's residential schools. She wanted her novel to answer two questions: what happens when the children are released and how do they function in the world. She answers both of those with an emotional, thought provoking novel.

Buy Five Little Indians here.

Learn more about Michelle.

For more episodes, visit www.danagoldstein.ca

To inquire about being a guest, contact Dana.

When Christina Sweeney-Baird started writing The End of Men, she was exploring the idea of a world without men. She gave serious thought to how the world would function without men filling typically male jobs: electricians, garbage disposal and infrastructure. When she was creating this dystopian world, a pandemic seemed a reasonable way to eliminate 50 percent of the world's population. What she didn't count on, was seeing the plague in her pages come to life in the real world.

Buy The End of Men here.

For more episodes, visit www.danagoldstein.ca

To inquire about being a guest, contact Dana.

Welcome to What Were You Thinking, a podcast about authors and their stories. We'll be meeting authors from all genres to discover the "What If..." moment that led them to start writing their books. We'll talk about their characters, their plots and how their books came to life.

FIRST EPISODE DROPS JUNE 15!