Clark MacLeod

There are a number of adjustments we’ve made since moving home, back to the old country. I think of PEI the way characters in films or books talk about returning to some small town in Italy or a quiet corner of Europe after decades living in what was once considered modern — America.PEI is quaint, quiet, and slow. Which can be nice.I know I’ve written somewhere about how the medical system fails patients and professionals alike, and how entrenched the bureaucracy and fiefdoms are that resist…

I haven't quite made up my mind about AI. I am influenced by many who think it's a greater scourge on our lives than any technology previously introduced, and I'm not entirely sure they're wrong. Working alone, though, I do find it has some uses — mostly in being able to run ideas past it, particularly when it reminds me to suspend my desire to tell partners they are wrong in ways that don't actually help.For instance, it talked me out of sending this: This reads like a Nickelodeon bumper from…

I have had the pleasure of interacting with a great many writers these past couple of years, many of whom are interested in memoir. Writing, I have seen, is a creative pursuit that people put off most of their lives until they reach an age where their schedules open up and allow them to work on things that have no relation to family or work responsibilities.Memoir is not something I have a great deal of interest in, nor even a slight bit of talent for. If you are to write about the events of…

I'm reading On Writing And Failure by Stephen Marche — it's a book you could finish over a couple of cups of coffee if you're so inclined. One of its benefits is that it was published in 2023 — newer than most books on writing or the creative life I've read.Even only two-thirds of the way through, during my morning coffee, I find it capable of giving new perspective on what I'm so fortunate to fill my days with — a mediocre writer making a living writing.The fact that he can fill a book about…

From an email I sent out earlier.We live in an old, rickety house on a small lot - about seven-tenths of an acre - up on a hill by the Montague River in Brudenell. The house and property are over 125 years old. Trees on one side, the river and trees on the other.Last year, before the snow set in, a couple of trees came down in high winds. One landed across our red shed. Another old tree on the abatement - the strip separating our property from the neighbours' - leaned toward the house at an…

An early proof arrived in the mail this week from England, where it was printed. There are many changes to make, including the cover. The inside reminds me of my ve...

Soreness is a tipping point. Constant soreness leads to injury, and at my age, there's no question more recovery time is needed — whether I like it or not.Running on a treadmill — this very expensive machine that sits adjacent to my desk in what is an extremely messy office — is not the same as running on pavement. That would seem obvious to most, but it wasn't to me. I realized quickly that staring at an electrical panel is not nearly as enjoyable as running through the countryside, but that...

It's a beautiful day. The sky is a wonderful clear blue, the trees stark against it, not yet ready to bud. The air is crisp and clean. I can hear a few small birds ...

The boy on the left was just named captain of the Mount Allison swim team. The girl on the right is a Chinese interpreter for clients around the world. Kids bring h...

The snow has largely melted, but for a few stubborn piles here and there. It’s Prince Edward Island, so that means nothing. It could snow in June. Last weekend an incredible amount fell in a single afternoon, hardened overnight, and became a serious chore to move. Winter here doesn’t leave so much as it retreats.I don’t like this time of year much. If I had my way, the calendar would go summer, fall, summer again. Spring earns its place mostly because it means growth, and summer is close behi...

I finished, or mostly finished, Robert Caro’s book Working. It came recommended as a book on writing craft, and while there turned out to be little of that in the sense of an author telling you to do this or that, one point is repeated endlessly by example: good work takes time.Caro would spend a week trying to experience what his protagonist experienced, so that a few sentences would be as accurate as possible. He would spend years working full-time before releasing his books on Robert Moses...

These are good people whose work generally goes unrecognized. Whenever I get the chance I listen to their thoughts, maybe share mine, but mostly listen. I always co...

Last year in workshop I related how I hated editing. Not just because rewriting a piece numerous times is hard, but because with each attempt at fixing things, something gets taken away. The paragraph loses its roughness, its edge, its imperfection. I see people rewriting whole novels multiple times and I just cringe.That's one of the reasons I like writing for this blog. I'll open a white page on the iPad and just scribble down my thoughts — like I'm doing right now — and not worry about thi...

Perhaps it’s the images of children huddling in fear as bombs fall. Or the picture of a young boy mourning his sister in an elementary school that was likely deliberately targeted. Lately I find my sense of calm replaced with grief.Each time I make the mistake of checking the news it’s the same uninformed nonsense. The same twisted worldview. Endless chatter about lack of strategy, stupid decisions, effects on the economy, rising gas prices, how the women of Iran will be free — after they dig...