It’s no secret that many  journalists have a book manuscript tucked away. Or a great idea for the Great Canadian Novel.

It’s no secret that many  journalists have a book manuscript tucked away. Or a great idea for the Great Canadian Novel. But rare is the journalist who achieves big-time commercial success beyond the newsroom. Linwood Barclay, the former Toronto Star humour columnist turned author of suspense novels, and Lisa Gabriele, the former showrunner at CBC’s Dragons’ Den who found success with an erotic novel first published under a pseudonym (now turned into a trilogy), talk about the journey from journalist to bestselling author in this discussion with The Globe and Mail's Books editor Jared Bland.