Before Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, there was the same sort of talk of young men sacrificing their lives so that a country might grow - that somehow it had been a great nation-building success for Newfoundland.

If you are having trouble with a story, it may not be an issue with the quality of the writing - there may just be too much of it.

Beaumont-Hamel sits within a thousand acres of French agriculture. The trenches are under this blanket of grass. In the 1920s, a park was established here and trees from Newfoundland imported to encircle the battlefield so you get the feeling of being within a copse of woods.

If you look at footage of the Newfoundland Regiment, you see they are at rest and giddy and being silly with one another. Silliness is the antidote to trench warfare.

I think self-doubt, as grim as it can be, makes me a better writer. Stasis and hubris would probably be the death knell for my career.

Like in combat when you're in chaos, a Navy SEAL in chaos, you cannot be afraid of dying for a cause.

As we all know, many people remain buried under tons of rubble and debris, waiting to be rescued. When we think of their suffering, we feel deeply and profoundly that we should be there, in Haiti, with them, trying our best to prevent death.

No matter how prepared you think you are for the death of a loved one, it still comes as a shock, and it still hurts very deeply.