Writing With a Broken Tusk

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Writing With a Broken Tusk began in 2006 as a blog about overlapping geographies, personal and real-world, and writing books for children. Since March 2024, Jen Breach (writer, VCFA graduate, and former student) has helped me curate and manage guest posts and Process Talk pieces on this blog.

The blog name refers to the mythical pact between the poet Vyaasa and the Hindu elephant headed god Ganesha who was his scribe during the composition of the epic narrative, the Mahabharata. It also refers to my second published book, edited by the generous and brilliant Diantha Thorpe of Linnet Books/The Shoe String Press, published in 1996, acquired and republished by August House, now part of Reading Is Fundamental, and still miraculously in print.

Posts on this site reflect personal opinion and commentary protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Stalking the Spirit
art of writing Uma Krishnaswami art of writing Uma Krishnaswami

Stalking the Spirit

Earlier this year I was in the position of juggling not one, not two, but three works in progress, all under contract, each needing different parts of my brain to give it attention.

Then a new story idea turned up, appearing like a mirage from the pages of a nonfiction book I was reading at the time, calling to me from far down the road like a ghost.

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