Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

EP 396 - Waubgeshig Rice on Community, Publishing, and The Creative Journey

Jan 10, 2025

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Mark interviews Waubgeshig Rice, an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation, and the author of four books, most notably the bestselling novels Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments, a personal update and word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by Superstars Writing Seminars: Teaching you the business of being a writer which takes place Feb 6 through 9, 2025 in Colorado Springs, CO.

Use code: MARK1592 to get $100 off your registration.

In their conversation Mark and Waubgeshig talk about:

Waub's interest in high school with English classes but still feeling like there was no strong connection and that not many of the books and stories being taught in Ontario in the 1990s were all that relatable
Being shown books by indigenous authors via his Auntie that weren't being studied in school -- books by authors such as Richard Wagamese, Lee Maracle, Louise Erdrich -- and how that blew his world wide open and included thoughts such as maybe he could do that himself some day
The Grade 12 Writing Course taught by Tom Bennett at Parry Sound High School that helped Waubgeshig in shaping stories
Being side-tracked from creative writing by studying and beginning a career in journalism
The benefit of getting to know writers and artists in the Toronto area in the early 2000s
Applying for his first writing grant from Canada Council for the Arts in 2004
Waub's first book, Midnight Sweat Lodge, a connected short story collection
How things really changed when Waubgeshig's Moon of the Crusted Snow first came out in 2018
Leaving full time journalism employment at CBC to become a full-time writer in 2020
The Northeast Blackout of 2003 and how his experiences being back home at Wasauksing First Nation near Parry Sound when it was all going down is what inspired Waubgeshig in writing Moon of the Crusted Snow
Coming to the realization that home was the best place to be if this were actually a world-ending electricity blackout
The stereotypes and mythologies about what life on a reservation is, and how, during that dark moment, it was a reminder of the resources and the beauty that place could actually be
Expressing the heartfelt spirit of community that has withstood a lot of violence historically, and how that helps a group of people survive this latest major crisis
Deciding to set the story in a location that a little further removed from Southern Ontario than where Waubgeshig actually grew up
Waub's approach in writing the sequel and wanting it to take place several years after the events in the first novel and how that came to happen
How the second novel explores the way the people of the community are able to live more autonomously on the land as Anishinaabe people
The interesting publishing path that Waubgeshig's first novel took in landing at ECW Press
Working with acquiring editor Susan Renouf and how great an experience that was and the wonderful suggestions she made to improve the raw manuscript
The speculative fiction elements of a post-apocalyptic novel and Waub feeling so accepted in the SF/F community
How the success of Moon of the Crusted Snow led Waub to getting agent representation by Denise Bukowski
The path that led to Penguin Random House offering the contract for the sequel Moon of the Turning Leaves
The new project that Waub is working on now
Advice that Waub would offer to other writers
And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on several different things he was thinking about during and after the conversation.

Links of Interest:

Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation.

He’s written four books, most notably the bestselling novels Moon of the Crusted Snow, and Moon of the Turning Leaves.

He graduated from the journalism program at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2002, and spent most of his journalism career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a video journalist and radio host.

He left CBC in 2020 to focus on his literary career.

In addition to his writing endeavours, Waubgeshig is an eclectic public speaker, delivering keynote addresses and workshops, engaging in interviews, and contributing to various panels at literary festivals and conferences.

He speaks on creative writing and oral storytelling, contemporary Anishinaabe culture and matters, Indigenous representation in arts and media, and more.

He lives in Sudbury, Ontario with his wife and three sons.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0