I’m giving a keynote address this Saturday at the SCBWI Canada east conference in Montreal, and my topic is creativity and the creative process, so I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Whenever I am to do something like this, I always think of the audience. What do they need to hear? What would I […]

Met a very interesting librarian this week. He spoke of how the librarians who are the most gung ho about bringing diversity and inclusion to their schools are often the ones who were ‘outsiders’ when they were growing up. I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘outsiders’ these days. From S. E. Hinton’s iconic novel to […]

In Islam we believe that when someone dies the angels go around recording ‘witness statements’ from others on what the person was really like. There’s a sentiment I remember reading in Western fiction that echoes this idea, referring to not speaking ill of the dead. It’s best to just keep quiet if you didn’t like […]

It feels like it’s been a while since I posted, and it’s because I’ve been busy with writing. When the writing is going well… the blogging gets sidelined. I guess it’s understandable. It’s been such an interesting past few weeks. That it’s been very busy, goes without saying. And yet I find myself doing a […]

I think the most charming situation I’ve ever encountered has to do with people trying to outdo each other in politeness! I mean talk about rivalry! That’s something to strive for! I went to a school recently, they were having a multicultural festival and I guess I was part of it. At the beginning, when […]

I was talking to my mom recently and she said something that surprised me. She said that you can tell when God is testing you versus punishing you based on your own behavior. She said during a trial, you are behaving correctly, within God’s parameters, you’re not doing anything wrong but you’re still not getting […]

Just got back from three days presenting in Kingston, Ontario, and I’m feeling a good kind of tired. It’s the kind of tired when you know you’ve given it your all, and you have high hopes that you changed a few minds and did some good. I visited six schools, in three days, did eight […]

I recently had an experience that really gave me quite a jolt. With it being Black History month I came across an image of a woman who was lynched (hanged) and what had happened to her. This was less than a hundred years ago, and it got me thinking about my own growing up in […]

I recently received an email from a person in Australia asking about a specific unpleasant incident she’d had with a Muslim couple. What was the protocol? Ever since I wrote an article on my website about Muslim Etiquette and Shaking Hands I often receive queries about people using the article in dealing with Muslim newcomers, […]

Last night I was shocked to hear about the attack at the masjid in Quebec city. Apparently two gunmen went into a masjid during Isha prayers (around 8 pm) and opened fire using automatic weapons. So far six people have died. Others are still in critical condition. And this happened after a weekend of protests […]