Award-winning short story writer and author of two novels for adults, Brent van Staalduinen brings us a powerful YA debut that sheds light on a story that is commonly left untold. In Nothing but Life, we follow the story of Dills whose memories are raw from the day a shooter came into his school library and opened fire. He struggles to talk about the day, but most of all, he struggles to come to terms with the stepfather he loves who has committed the crime. We asked Brent to share some insight into the making of Nothing but Life: 

PI Dan Sharp interviews his creator, writer Jeffrey Round

DAN SHARP: If I might dive directly into the subject at hand, what drew you to the story of Toronto’s now-notorious serial killings?

I have been quietly sitting here by the phone waiting to be interviewed about my new book, You Can Have a Dog When I’m Dead.

It’s already been three days and the only calls I’ve received are from people asking me to put out used clothing and a man trying to sell me a roof that lasts for one hundred years. Maybe I should have called the book, “I Won’t Need a Roof When I’m Dead”.

Meet Kate, she’s the Marketer here at Dundurn. She’s basically the woman who makes sure marketing’s ideas become a reality. “I work with the marketing team to develop marketing plans and make sure they are executed as expected.”

Definitely the person you want on your side when it comes to planning ahead.

She’s also responsible for organizing and preparing for the many events Dundurn attends every year. And, of course, advertising.

If it seems like managing all of these can be a little like trying to wrangle an octopus at times… it is. But that’s the fun part.

Halloween is tomorrow and acclaimed author Philippa Dowding, (The Lost Gargoyle series, and The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden) sits down with us to talk about her new book Jake and the Giant Hand.

Tell us about your book.

Sam Wiebe lets us interview him today about his brand new release Last of the Independents. Booklist gave it a starred review and called it ". . . a literary achievement." Sam tells us more.

Today Lynn Kositsky, author of the new release The Plagues of Kondar, sits down with us to talk about her new book, the best advice that she's ever received as a writer, and what she's reading right now!

How did you come up with the idea for this work?

Today Robert Priest, author of The Paper Sword, book one in the Spell Crossed series, talks to us about his new book, the series overall, and which character is his favourite!

Tell us about your book.

Today we interview John Moss, author of the new release Blood Wine, the fourth book in the Quin and Morgan Mystery series. He tells us about this new book, his creative process and what he's currently reading.