Adam Korn joins DeFiore literary agency

DeFiore and Company
47 East 19th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10003

Adam Korn has joined DeFiore and Company as an agent after a short stint at Vigliano Associates. He had been a Senior Editor at HarperCollins and, before that, an editor with Crown and Random House. “Adam's general non-fiction areas of interest include pop culture, humor, pop psychology, pop science, sports, music, investigative journalism, feisty memoir, and young business leadership/inspiration. And while he's very selective about the fiction he takes on, strong young literary novelists shouldn't be afraid to reach out!”

To query Adam, please send an email to akorn@defioreandco.com
If your concise pitch letter interests him, he'll request material.

General submission guidelines: http://www.defioreandco.com/submissions.html
Home: http://www.defioreandco.com/
Photo: John Grogan's Marley and Me, one of the most succesful books represented by DeFiore.

Note: For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Lake, creative non-fiction contest

Lake: A Journal of Arts and Environment
Dept. of Creative Studies, UBC Okanagan
3333 University Way,
Kelowna BC, V1V 1V7, Canada

Lake publishes essays, creative writing and visual arts related to the environment. The word “environment” is used broadly to emphasize natural and biological environments but also our geographical, social, economic, urban and cultural environments as they relate to the natural world. “Arts” includes literature, film, photography, painting, sculpture, performance, and new media. Our focus is on the art that is concerned about the natural world, although we are deeply interested in ecological issues and will from time to time feature ecological investigations that are of literary quality.

We publish work that has not been published before in North America by authors and artists who are from Canada or abroad. The journal is committed to high production values, with quality reproductions of artwork, a contemporary design, and an editorial vision that is in search of exceptional art and thought. The journal is published twice a year. We also publish reviews and poetry on our webpage.

Creative Non-Fiction Contest

one of my roots is the moon
another is a taste of cold weather
“Migrations” by Joanne Arnott

Lake invites submissions of creative non-fiction on the topic of “Migrations.”
Creative non-fiction forms include personal essay, lyric essay, narrative essay, and memoir.
Prize: $250 and publication in Issue #4 of LAKE: A Journal of Arts and Environment
Deadline: January 1, 2010
Length: 2500 words maximum
Entry Fee: $20, includes a one year subscription to LAKE starting with issue #4

General submission guidelines – Non-Fiction:

Lake invites writers to submit brief query letters outlining journalistic pieces, accessible academic articles, interviews, reviews and creative non-fiction. We are looking for narratives, interviews, personal essays, meditations, memoirs, reviews or critical essays of relevant books/ film/ exhibitions/ performances or cultural phenomena, and investigative essays, ranging anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 words. We see interviews as collaborative texts and request that a photograph accompany the interview. We also are looking for writers to review books.

In your query letter, convey clearly how your piece fits the “arts and environment” mandate of Lake and give us a sense of your approach, why the author and/ or subject is suited to our journal. Please include a CV and sample of your writing.

Submission guidelines – Fiction and poetry:

Lake publishes poetry and fiction that is concerned with the human relationship to nature. Unsolicited poetry submissions should consist of five to ten poems, in any style. We also publish long poems, linked poems and sequences. Fiction may range in length from 1200 to 8000 words. Please submit only one story at a time. (In the case of “flash fiction” or postcard stories, it is acceptable to submit up to six very short pieces.)

Submissions by mail only.  For full submission guidelines, including environmentally conscious formatting instructions, see here.

Note: For information about all the annual writing contests in Canada, order The Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar. Details here.
For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Every Second Thursday

Hi, Brian

Did you see that our recently published collection of short stories - Every Second Thursday - received wonderful attention in The Sun Times? (See here.)

Every Second Thursday features work from six local writers (a few of whom have been your students): Jennifer McGuire, Wendi Stewart, who recently won an Alzheimer Society writing contest, Danuta Valleau, Allison Kirk-Montgomery, Elizabeth Warren, and of course me.

It also includes stories from guest authors who have read at The Downtown Bookstore: Allen Smutylo, Sally Cooper, Anthony De Sa, and Joseph Boyden (winner of the 2008 Giller Scotia Bank prize).

We're very proud of this little volume and hope you'll treat yourself to one. It fits nicely into a stocking and is only $10 (plus $2 for shipping if you can’t get to The Downtown Bookstore in person), so think of it for the coming season. It would also make a good book club selection!

A portion of the proceeds will go toward a bursary for a graduating West Hill High School student who has demonstrated excellence in creative writing.

Hazel Lyder
The Downtown Bookstore
945 2nd Avenue East, Owen Sound, Ontario
hlmlyder@yahoo.ca

Photo: Joseph Boyden with the Giller Prize he won for Through Black Spruce

Note: For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

"Welcome to Creative Writing," Feb 2 - March 30, Oakville

~ 9 weeks of growth & discovery ~
Tuesday afternoons, 12:45 – 2:45 p.m.
February 2 – March 30
St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church
1541 Oakhill Drive, Oakville

This course will open the door to all kinds of creative writing. We’ll visit short story writing and personal writing, children’s writing, memoir writing, and just for fun writing. You’ll get a shot of inspiration every week and an (optional) assignment to keep you going till the next class. Best of all, this class will provide a zero-pressure, totally safe environment, where your words will flow and flower.

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing teacher for 25 years.  He teaches at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Sudbury.  But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.

Fee: $114.29 plus gst = $120

Advance registration only. Number of attendees strictly limited.
To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Note: For information about all of Brian’s creative writing courses and writing workshops see here.

Quick Brown Fox is in the running for best Literary blog in Canada

The Canadian Blog Awards are now open. It only takes a few seconds to vote for your favourite blogs. If you enjoy reading Quick Brown Fox, I’d love it if you’d nominate it in the “Culture and Literature" category. Just paste the Quick Brown Fox URL – http://quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.com/ – into the nomination form. Fill in the other boxes, click, and you’re done. Thanks very much!

After you’re done nominating Quick Brown Fox, you might want to nominate blogs in other categories, too. Judith Millar’s MillarLite is in the running for Humour, and I’ve nominated Jennifer Bushman’s “Eat Planet, Discover the World” for the “Crafts, Cooking, & Other Activities” category. But to win, a blog needs many nominations – so get out and vote!

Judith Millar wins the John Kenneth Galbraith Literary Award

Congratualtions to Judith Millar for winning the 2009 John Kenneth Galbraith Literary Award with her short story, "The Insomniac." I confess to being one of the contest judges, but the judging is blind and I had no idea that Judith - and several other people I know - were among the finalists.  I was as delighted and surprised as anyone when Judith won - more suprised actually, because I think of Judith as a great comic writer and "The Insomniac" is a serious story. 

Judith used to live in Kitchener and often attended my workshops there and in London, Ontario, before she moved out to Nanaimo, B.C. in 2007.  Besides writing short stories, Judith also writes essays, poems and song lyrics. She is widely published, has won numerous awards for her creative writing, and is a frequent presenter at spoken-word events on Vancouver Island. She is currently working on a novel and a collection of short stories.

For a taste of Judith's sense of humour, check out her wonderful blog, MillarLite.

But first, read her winning story, "The Insomniac" here
 
You might also want to consider entering one of your own short stories for the 2010 John Kenneth Galbraith Award.  The prize is $2,000.  Check out the rules here.
 
To keep up with all the annual writing contests in Canada, order The Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar. Details here.
 
For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

The Sun Magazine

The Sun
107 N. Roberson St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

"We publish essays, interviews, fiction, and poetry. We tend to favor personal writing, but we're also looking for thoughtful, well-written essays on political, cultural, and philosophical themes. Please, no journalistic features, academic works, or opinion pieces. Other than that, we're open to just about anything. Surprise us; we often don't know what we'll like until we read it.

"We pay from $300 to $3,000 for essays and interviews, $300 to $2,000 for fiction, and $100 to $500 for poetry, the amount being determined by length and quality. We may pay less for very short works. We also give contributors a complimentary one-year subscription to The Sun."

Submissions by mail only to the Editorial Department.  (No email submissions.)

Submission guidelines: http://www.thesunmagazine.org/about/submission_guidelines/writing
 
Home: http://www.thesunmagazine.org/

Note: For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Westwood Creative Artists

94 Harbord Street

Toronto ON M5S 1G6
416-964-3302

Westwood Creative Artists is the largest agency in Canada, representing more than 420 writers. Clients include Yann Martel, Conrad Black, Barbara Gowdy, Rohinton Mistry, Joseph Boyden, M. G. Vassanji, and Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk. (For the scoop on Gina and Janice’s latest book, see here.)

Westwood specializes in literary fiction and general non-fiction. It also handles some young adult fiction but does not handle other children’s fiction, hard science non-fiction, poetry or genre fiction.

"I'm passionate about finding new writers," says Bruce Westwood the agency’s founder. However, "Coming in cold and saying, 'I have just written a novel,' with no previous history is very, very difficult." Send stories to magazines, write articles – get your name out there before you approach an agent.

You can query by email: wca_office@wcaltd.com
But for this agency, I suggest querying the old-fashioned way by mail. Include an outline of your work and two sample chapters. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope and expect to wait two months for a reply.

Seven literary agents work at Westwood: Jackie Kaiser, Michael A. Levine, Linda McKnight, Hilary McMahon, John Pearce, Ashton Westwood, and Bruce Westwood.  To get an idea of who represents what you write, browse their 2009 Hotlist here.

Overall, the Westwood website is a candidate for the world’s worst, which just goes to show, you can still be the biggest agency in Canada, with no web savvy at all.  Check it out here: http://www.wcaltd.com/

Photo (by Ashley Hutcheson for National Post): Bruce Westwood, Agua, the office dog, Natasha Daneman (foreign rights), Michael A. Levine, Jackie Kaiser, Ashton Westwood and Hilary McMahon

Note: On Nov 14, Brian Henry will be moderating the seminar, Strategies for Getting Published, at Ryerson University in Toronto. This is your chance to get your questions answered by the most knowledgeable people in the publishing industry. Our three panelists will be literary agent Marie Campbell of Transatlantic Literary, Beverley Daurio, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Mercury Press, and Jack David, co-publisher, ECW. Full details here.

For information about all of Brian’s writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

“Intermediate Creative Writing,” Jan 13 – April 7, Burlington

12 great weeks of creativity, inspiration & growth

Wednesday afternoons, 12:45 - 3:00 p.m.
Jan 13 – April 7
(Note: We begin by email Jan 13, but the first class is Jan 20)
Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington (Map here.)

This course is for people who are working on their own writing. During, the 12 weeks of the class, you’ll bring in 6 pieces for detailed feedback. All your pieces may be from the same work, such as a novel in progress, or they may be stand alone pieces. They might be 6 different pieces or you might bring in some pieces twice.

Besides critiquing pieces, I'll also be giving short lectures at the start of each class. I’ll focus on teaching how to critique a piece of writing, and I’ll address other topics on request and according to the needs of the group.

In addition to learning how to critique your own work and receiving constructive suggestions about your writing, you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write.

This is a challenging course, but extremely rewarding.

Instructor Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing teacher for more than 25 years. He teaches at Ryerson University and has led writing workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Sudbury. But his proudest boast is that he’s helped many of his students begin their careers as accomplished authors.

Fee: $171.43 (plus 5% gst) = $180

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Note: The old, 8-week version of this course was called “Extreme Creative Writing,” but that name seems excessive.

For information about all of Brian's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

You're invited to a book launch!

for Canadian Voices
Tuesday, November 10
6:30 p.m.
The Supermarket Art Bar, 268 Augusta Ave, Toronto

Dear Brian;

This has been a great year! In July my story, “The Forgetting,” placed first in The Alice Munro Short Story Contest. I also learned that an excerpt from my novel, Homecoming, was accepted for publication in Canadian Voices, an anthology of emerging Canadian Writers published by Bookland Press. The cover is fabulous, reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour.

The launch is on November 10 at The Supermarket Art Bar in Kensington Market. Details on the Events Page on my website which I launched last month. Not only do I have an ISBN number, I'm also a dot com! I invite your readers to pay me a visit at www.sherryisaac.com

I wish to extend my gratitude both to you and to the many writing peers, now friends, that I've met through your classes and workshops. And a special nod to SUDS {my writing buddies}. I couldn’t have come this far without your encouragement, support and vigilance!

Sherry Isaac

Don’t miss the book launch!
RSVP by email to mekm@rogers.com

Delacorte Young Adult Novel Contest

Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers

is proud to announce the Twenty-eighth Annual

Delacorte Press Contest for a First Young Adult Novel

The prize of a book contract (on the publisher’s standard form) covering world rights for a hardcover and a paperback edition, including an advance and royalties, will be awarded annually to encourage the writing of contemporary young adult fiction. The award consists of $1,500 in cash and a $7,500 advance against royalties.

The contest is open to U.S. and Canadian writers who have not previously published a young adult novel. Manuscripts submitted to a previous Delacorte Press contest are not eligible.

Submissions should consist of a book-length manuscript with a contemporary setting that will be suitable for readers ages 12 to 18. Manuscripts should be no shorter than 100 typewritten pages and no longer than 224 typewritten pages. Include a brief plot summary with your covering letter.

Manuscripts sent to Delacorte Press may not be submitted to other publishers or literary agents while under consideration for the award.

Manuscripts must be postmarked after October 1 but no later than December 31.

Entries will be judged by the editors of Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers. The award will be awarded on the basis of originality, style, and creativity. The judges reserve the right not to award an award.

Delacorte is a division of Random House. Other than in a contest like this, Random House doesn’t accept manuscript submissions or queries, except from literary agents.

Full contest details here: http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/writingcontests/
(Scroll down past the contest rules for the Middle Grade Contest (which is in the spring) to get to the rules for the YA contest.)

Note: To keep up with all the annual writing contests in Canada, order The Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar. Details here.

For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

"You Can Do Cartoon Voices Too!" by Sunday Muse

The Sunday Learning Series presents…

You Can Do Cartoon Voices Too!

a book and CD by cartoon voice professional Sunday Muse

Sunday Muse is my 7-year-old’s voice-acting instructor. She’s good. Of course, William is incredibly talented and that’s why he landed the role as Tiny Pig in the new Wibbly Pig cartoon series (shown every day on TVO and just recently picked up in France). But to give you an idea of how good Sunday is, I should tell you that many of the other kids in Wibbly – and the kids acting in practically every cartoon produced in Canada – have all passed through Sunday’s workshops. And now she’s explained her method and put her knowledge in a new book with an accompanying CD: You Can Do Cartoon Voices Too!

This book gives kids a chance to practice reading scripts and preparing for auditions and will teach them to connect their reading to their body and voice. This makes reading a lot more fun, and may improve reading skills and comprehension. Sunday teaches voice acting workshops for children and teens in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, New York and LA. Besides teaching, Sunday is voice actor herself. She’s been heard on popular cartoon series such as Rolie Polie Olie, Angela Anaconda, Jo-Jo’s Circus, and as Cheer Bear in Nelvana’s Care Bear movies.

For more about Sunday Muse and to purchase a book, please visit Sunday online at: www.sundaymuse.com

For information about Brian Henry’s writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

"Where the Water Is," Linda Laforge

I sit here in the black of night beside the graves of those who came before me. Unfortunately, they left before me too, or I wouldn’t be here lamenting on days past. Both my brothers and my dad lay here beneath the earth.

I remember planning these funerals with my mother. The funeral directors – glorified salesmen – tried to sell us the most expensive caskets, with satin pillows, for comfort I suppose, and lead lining so the worms and bugs wouldn’t have a meal of our men.

I’d have to admit, I’m not the best of Catholics, but as I understand the premise, when we die, our souls are going elsewhere. We’re saved, providing we’ve been good enough to get through the pearly gates.

I had difficulty looking at my brother’s dead body. Cerebral Palsy jailed him within his body, unable to say “Hey, how are ya,” and unable to grow up to run, play, learn and unable to ever have a life of his own. I watched him suffer his whole life and I watched him find joy in chocolate birthday cake and family visits to his nursing home. I had to pray beside his dead body with my family and when I looked at it, I didn’t see him there. It wasn’t in the absence of breath or movement. He just wasn’t there.

David died a few years later. He had AIDS, so the funeral home insisted that he be cremated. That disease ravaged the body of a young, strong, vibrant man who died in the presence of my parents. When I got home, to my mother’s annoyance, I wouldn’t go downstairs to see him. I already knew. He wasn’t there. Seeing his broken carcass would do nothing more than make me sick to my stomach over what he had endured. A broken heart was enough.

Seven years later I watched my father deteriorate for a month in the hospital. This time I got to tell him how much I loved and admired him. I got to tell him I was sorry for the times I was a selfish, rotten daughter. I got to say goodbye before they pulled the plug. At that point, the machines were keeping him alive in a clinical sense, but I felt his presence too.

At his funeral I watched his casket from a distance. He wasn’t there. Christopher wasn’t there. David wasn’t there when they burned him to ashes. None of them are in the ground as the worms and the bugs make a meal of their bodies. Their souls are soaring off in some magnificent journey, while we’re here, left to try to make sense of this world as we bury them and try to let them go.

That’s why I come here. To sit by their headstones and talk to them. I know I can talk to them from anywhere. This black night I sit here and almost see their rotting corpses beneath me and their brilliant spirits in flight above. I’m in the middle, but what makes me so different? I’m alive and so are those ghosts of fancy. The worms and bugs below are alive, and don’t they have a right to a good meal?

Life, even unseen and imagined is around me as I seek a meager understanding of it. I think the only difference between my life and those of the spirits is water. From what I hear a human being is 75% or more water, not unlike the planet we live on. We need at least a few litres a day for good health and energy.

We use it to bathe in and to clean most of our things. We use water to cook with and to eat with. Water relaxes us. It calms us as we swim in it and even as we watch it reflect the blue sky. Oceans, seas and lakes provide a source of food to us, with all its critters swimming and wriggling around in it. We drink it and we pee it out almost as fast. It feels good as we drink it and even better as we relieve ourselves of it.

We like to talk of how we reinvent ourselves. Nothing reinvents itself with the fluidity of water as it’s poured into a glass or as it pours from a river into a lake or an ocean. Nothing is more immense or more attractive. Even the sky, almost as big, if it wasn’t the purveyor of rain that it is. Like God, it is everywhere and in everything. Only the desert knows different, and is likely the reason hell is often described as burning.

Water is the difference between us and them.

Water.

Angels are usually depicted with great wings and pleasant faces. Cherubs pointing darts at peoples, I suppose because love hurts. When a movie ghost has a drink, the liquid runs through their non-corporeal selves onto the furniture. These guys don’t live here the way we do. They don’t have thirsts to quench. They don’t need to take a shower. They don’t need water.
Do they need love? Do they have jobs to do up there in the heavens? They must; otherwise they’re living the lives of house cats and everybody knows cats have the brains the size of chicken eggs. Thinking of these brilliant beings soaring the heavens with messages to deliver and papers to file is the only way I can find for it to make any sense. They’re not like us, but maybe we could be a bit more like them.

I sit here by the graves of my boys in the dark of night, I take a swig of beer and I realize I should probably be drinking water. A tear comes to my eye. We even need water to cry.
Do spirits cry? I take another swig and remember stories of religious icons crying. A statue of the Virgin Mary crying blood and even a marble Jesus with true tears.

There’s my proof.

I shed another liberating tear, just because I miss my brothers and my dad. I shed a tear because the world is so full of uncertainty and contradiction.

When the spirits cry, it’s because of us. When they cry, they have to do it here, on earth, where the water is.

*

After 15 years in the marketing industry as a graphic designer, Linda Laforge now devotes herself to painting, writing, and teaching drawing classes for kids and adults at the Huronia Arts Academy in Barrie. Check out her website here: http://www.lindalaforge.com/

Note: For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Canadian Stories, a literary folk magazine

Canadian Stories features family stories, personal experiences and memories of the past. It is written by "ordinary" Canadians sharing material that is extraordinary.

Publisher Ed Janzen says: "Readers identify strongly with our stories and reach back into their own memory banks to find pleasure and strength in their own histories.

"In Canadian Stories, you will find excerpts from olden-day memoirs alongside new material set in the present. We have also published essays speculating about the future. We like family stories about pioneer days, and about life during the Great Depression and the World Wars. Country life, the joys of moving, encounters with animals, vacation experiences, the significance of Remembrance Day – these are just some of the themes that have been presented in Canadian Stories.

"Traditional, structured poems and free verse sprinkle our pages. Children's stories are welcome; in fact, we have a young writers' page for authors aged ten to nineteen. Some fiction is also offered, particularly if it is Canadian in setting, plot or characters."

Website: http://www.canadianstories.net/

Full guidelines here: http://www.canadianstories.net/guidelines.html

Note: For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

George Bick joins Doug Grad Literary Agency

Doug Grad Literary Agency
156 Prospect Park West
Brooklyn, NY 11215

George Bick has joined the Doug Grad Literary Agency as an associate agent. A sales and marketing veteran of over twenty years at Warner Books, Random House, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins, he was most recently svp, director of sales and associate publisher.

George is actively looking for narrative non-fiction, business, diet/self-help, pets/animals, science, humor, pop culture, travel, and memoir.

In fiction, he wants science fiction, horror/paranormal, thrillers, military, romance and comics and graphic novels.

The Doug Grad Agency is new. It opened for business on May 1, 2008, after Doug had spent the previous twenty-two years as a senior editor at four major New York publishing houses: HarperCollins, Penguin, Ballantine, and Simon & Shuster.

The agency handles a mix of non-fiction and fiction. In fiction, Doug has mainly handled first novels - mostly mysteries or crime fiction.

See a list of the agency’s sales here: http://www.dgliterary.com/sales.html

Submission guidelines: Query by email: query@dgliterary.com
Please do not send more than a brief letter explaining your book. No sample material unless requested.

Home: http://www.dgliterary.com/

Note: For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Writing with Style, Jan 23, Brampton

With guest author Jean-Rae Baxter
Saturday, Jan 23, 2010

10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Four Corners Library, 65 Queen Street East, Brampton

If you do any kind of creative writing, fiction or non-fiction, and your prose needs some panache or a dash of sass, this workshop is for you. We’ll tackle the nitty-gritty of putting words on paper in a way that will grip your reader’s imagination. You'll learn how to avoid common errors that drain the life from your prose. And you'll discover how to make your writing more vivid, more elegant and more powerful.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing teacher for more than 25 years. He has helped many of his students get published, including guest speaker Jean Rae Baxter. In fact, Jean started two of the stories in her acclaimed short story collection, A Twist of Malice, as exercises in Brian's workshops.

Jean Rae Baxter is an author of many talents. Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine named Jean's short story collection, A Twist of Malice (Seraphim Press), one of the best collections in years. She has also published, The Way Lies North (Ronsdale Press), a young adult historical novel set during the American Revolution. Most recently, she published, Looking for Cardenio, a literary murder mystery. Jean will publish a sequel to The Way Lies North in 2010, and a second short story collection (for adults) is also in the works. Visit her website here: www.jeanraebaxter.ca

Fee: $39.05 plus gst = $41 paid in advance

or $42.86 plus gst = $45 if you wait to pay at the door

To register, please make out a cheque to Brian Henry and mail it to:

Brian Henry
110 Reiner Road
Toronto, ON M3H 2L6

To reserve a spot now, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

For information about all of Brian's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Jennifer Bushman, Eat Planet

Jennifer Bushman is one of the most talented emerging writers I know. You can check out a chapter from her novel in progress, The Ming Bowl, here.

Over the course of a year, Jennifer's attempting to cook a recipe from every country in the world, and she's writing about it on her blog, Eat planet. Discover the world.

She doesn't just give the recipe, she also writes about the country the recipe's from, so her blog becomes part memoir, part travelogue and part fabulous recipe book.

Recently, I've especially loved her posting about Bhutan, where they eat seriously spicy food and "embrace the concept of gross national happiness as opposed to gross national product." But my favorite recent posting is on Benin, Voodoo and Lagos ...

When I was five we moved to Lagos, Nigeria. I loved living there, but my mother was relieved when we finally left two years later. We had to deal with coups, power shortages, American hatred, and bouts of hepatitis. There was always the fear we’d stumble across a dead body lying around. They were common on Ikorudu Road near the airport where there was lots of heavy traffic; people would get hit by cars and left lying in the street. Bodies were also seen floating in the harbor washed up along the beach. And then there was always the chance you’d have a juju put on your house ... more

Photo: Kewa Datshi and Ema Dashi, two dishes from Bhutan

Note: For information about Brian Henry's upcoming writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Writers' Union Short Prose Contest

The Writers' Union of Canada

Short prose contest for developing writers

Entries restricted to Canadian citizens or landed immigrants who have not been published in book form.
First place: $2,500
Entry fee: $25
Submit nonfiction or fiction up to 2,500 words.
Deadline: November 3
Details: http://www.writersunion.ca/cn_shortprose.asp

Note: To keep up with all the annual writing contests in Canada, order The Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar. Details here.

For information about Brian Henry's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

You're invited to a book launch

Hi Brian,

We wanted to let you and the readers of Quick Brown Fox know that our second novel, Ciao Bella, is available in Canada and the U.S. from St. Martin’s Press as of October 13, 2009.

We will be having two launch parties, to which all are invited:

Sunday November 1

2-4 pm
Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, 55 Ontario Street, Kingston

Hosted by Novel Idea Bookstore
and

Wednesday November 4

7-9 pm

Ben McNally Books, 366 Bay Street, Toronto

Thanks for all your support!

Gina Buonaguro & Janice Kirk

About Ciao Bella

When her husband, Ugo, joins the Italian Resistance, the Canadian Grace becomes Graziella and goes to hide with Ugo's family in the countryside. When Ugo fails to return, even after the war is over, Grace begins to feel stranded and isolated, especially since Ugo’s family has never approved of his marriage. The arrival of a young American soldier makes her remember her long-lost life as Grace, and she begins to dream about leaving Italy. Are love and loyalty permanent, or does the horror of war remove certain obligations? A compelling combination of romance, adventure, and serious thought, this slim novel is sure to appeal to many audiences.

Gina Buonaguro was born in New Jersey and now resides in Toronto. Janice Kirk was born and lives in Kingston. Ciao Bella follows up on their first successful novel, The Sidewalk Artist. They are now working on their third novel together. Gina and Janice are represented by John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists.  For information about Westwood, see here.

For more about Ciao Bella, please visit: http://www.ciaobellanovel.com/

Note: For information about Brian Henry's upcoming writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

"My Last Tweet," Gene Wilburn

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get Twitter. But with everyone advising you to use it in conjunction with Facebook and other social media to keep an Internet profile, I gave it a try.

I located some friends and ‘followed’ their ‘tweets’. I followed the tweets of some well known personalities. I tried Twitter as an ‘update service’ to let me know about articles, news items, and new web entries.

I understood all this, but I still didn’t get it ... more

If you've come to any of my workshops at the World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto, you may have met Gene. He blogs here.

Note: For information about Brian Henry's upcoming writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Gwendolyn Heasley joins A&A

Artists & Artisans

244 Madison Avenue,

Suite 334,

New York, NY

Gwendolyn Heasley has joined A&A as a literary agent. Gwendolyn is the author of the upcoming YA novel, Confessions of a Teenage Recessionista, which will be published by HarperCollins.

She earned her B.A. from Davidson College in North Carolina, and her Master’s degree in Journalism from University of Missouri-Columbia where she wrote her thesis on why women read Us Weekly. In the past, she has sold greeting cards and taught creative writing to young adults.

You'll notice Gwendolyn's bio inculdes no publishing experience at all, and so far as I know, she hasn't made any sales yet, so she's as green as they come. On the plus side, she's certainly in need of authors.

Gwendolyn is actively seeking authors of Young Adult manuscripts of all genres, specifically manuscripts that have a sharp voice and vivid settings.

Adam Chomry and Jamie Brenner, the other two agents at A&A, are seeking authors of adult fiction, narrative nonfiction and practical nonfiction.

Submission guidelines: Query via email. For fiction, include a brief author bio and the set-up or premise of the book. For non-fiction, begin by reading Larsens's "How to Write a Book Proposal" and Deval's "Publicize Your Book."

Submission details: http://www.artistsandartisans.com/submission%20info.htm

Home: http://www.artistsandartisans.com/

Note: On Nov 14, Brian Henry will be moderating the seminar, Strategies for Getting Published, at Ryerson University in Toronto. This is your chance to get your questions answered by the most knowledgeable people in the publishing industry. Our three panelists will be literary agent Marie Campbell of Transatlantic Literary, Beverley Daurio, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Mercury Press, and Jack David, co-publisher, ECW. Full details here.

For information about all of Brian’s writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Writing Romance, Jan 16, Hamilton

“How to Write & Sell a Romance Novel”

~ An editor & an author tell all ~

Saturday, January 16, 2010

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Westdale Library, 955 King St. W, Hamilton

Get the inside story. Whether you want to write chick lit (like Bridget Jones’s Diary,) a traditional Harlequin-style romance or woman’s erotica, this workshop will show you how. Learn the "secret formulas" and how to brainstorm a story line. Find out how much money authors earn and where the best opportunities are to get published now.

Workshop leader Brian Henry had been a book editor for more than twenty-five years, including seven years with Harlequin, the world’s largest romance publisher. He teaches a credit course in writing romance novels at George Brown College and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Sudbury.

Guest speaker Brenda Harlen gave up a career as a family lawyer to be a stay-at-home mom in Hamilton and pursue her dream of writing romance novels. She soon learned that with two busy children, she isn’t actually at home much, but she has no regrets about the choices she made. Sometimes she even finds time to write.

The Engagement Project, her January 2010 release from Silhouette Special Edition, will be her 16th book and the first in a new “Brides & Babies” miniseries. It will be followed by The Pregnancy Plan in April and The Baby Surprise in July.

Fee: $39.05 plus gst = $41 paid in advance

or $42.86 plus gst = $45 if you wait to pay at the door

To register, please make out a cheque to Brian Henry and mail it to:
Brian Henry

110 Reiner Road

Toronto, ON M3H 2L6

To reserve a spot now, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

For information about all of Brian's writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.