Friday, March 30, 2018

You’re invited to the book launch for A Path to the Lake by Elizabeth Crocket


Join us for the book launch of 
A Path to the Lake by Elizabeth Crocket
Sunday, April 29, 2018
2:00 p.m.
A Different Drummer Books
513 Locust Street, Burlington, Ontario (Map here)

A Different Drummer Books presents Elizabeth Crocket and the launch of her debut women’s fiction novel, A Path to the Lake, published by Crimson Cloak Publishing.
Everyone welcome. We’ll have door prizes! Cupcakes! Bookmarks! And a good time.

A Path to the Lake by Elizabeth Crocket
Kate Browning seems to have lost herself. For the past two years, she’s been taking care of her parents. Since then she’s started a relationship with a man who seems to place a lot of expectations on her, and she’s flirting with another man who seems to have no idea at all of commitment. Still, she could surely figure it all out, if she could just figure out herself.
… Coming soon from Crimson Cloak

Elizabeth Crocket’s short form Japanese poetry has been translated into several languages, and published internationally. Her chapbook, Not Like Fred and Ginger, published by Red Moon Press, was shortlisted for the prestigious Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Book Award. Her chapbook Extra Candles was also published by Red Moon Press. 
Elizabeth has had short fiction and poetry widely published online (including in Quick Brown Fox) and in print. She has a diploma from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Elizabeth is married, has grown children, and six grandchildren. Visit Elizabeth online here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule hereincluding writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.




Wednesday, March 28, 2018

"letter love," crafted by liz white


letters sculpted from the alphabet are my friends.  but not the capitals.  they look bossy. the small letters, though, they’re the cast of characters who sit beside each other, creating words, thoughts and books.  i have always been in love with letters and not just the writing of letters or receiving of letters, which is always a delight, but the individual letters themselves.

in high school, i loved to string these lovely single characters together and doodle them on the covers of my notebooks.  i would mesmerize my friends when i’d slip personalized hand-written notes into their textbooks, going from desk to desk in science class and art class and making special deliveries to lockers, detailing the fun and feelings i shared with my friends while trying to figure out those teenage years one semester at a time. 

my letter stringing skills started to develop, and my love of crafting short phrases grew to encompass lengthy pages. but still, i’m drawn to letters themselves, their shapes, their sizes, and their individual personalities as they jump off billboards, transport trucks, marquees, and posters.

my earliest recollection of loving letter forms came from my beloved tiger beat magazine.  i would carefully inspect the glossy magazine covers with their enticing messages plastered across the pictures that donned the handsome grins of donny osmond, my personal favorite, david cassidy, my second personal favorite, and the loveable robbie benson, always good to stare deep into his eyes.  their celebrity faces staring back at me with longing enhanced my secret crush with dreams dancing in my head of my idols picking me to be their girl. one can only hope.

when the time for university and college planning came knocking, my interests sat clearly in the arts field. i applied to the design arts program in toronto where i was accepted and exposed to interior, architectural, manufacturing and graphic design.  my preference going into this program was interior design but what i discovered along my educational path was that graphic design came easy for me and i excelled at it.

my professor announced to our class that there was an opportunity to try out for a job that would provide experience and exposure in the design field.  he carefully explained that three students would be chosen from the course for the interview, but only one student would be selected for the position.  the position, which was only temporary, was to assist the in-house graphic artist doing paste-up for a local magazine. to my surprise, i was one of the three chosen. 

in today’s terms we might call it a co-op position; in my day we just called it applying for a job, and to my surprise and shock i beat out my two amazing design friends and was actually hired.  

sounds very romantic and professional – not so much.  i was hired at an electronics magazine, not vogue, not cosmopolitan, but for a magazine i had never heard of and never bought.  this magazine didn’t sit next to the tiger beat or the fashion magazines in store fronts.  no, this little magazine was situated in the “do-it yourself, techy, science section,” or as i like to term it, “nerd alert section” of the stores. 

sorry, smart pursuers of knowledge.  at age 20, i wasn’t doing any “do-it-yourself” projects yet, let alone figuring out how to build a circuit board!

but i was a paste-up artist, an intern putting the magazine together with supervision, issue by issue placing text, pictures and advertisements in their rightful place.  selecting fonts sizes and styles was like strawberry picking, selecting only the juicy ones, in hopes i would craft a sweet issue each month.

from my early days of paste-up, my love of letters sent me on a quest to learn calligraphy – the beautiful art form of cursive handwriting using a pen or a brush.  over the years, though, every time i searched for a course in calligraphy, nothing was available until this past november when my search was rewarded and i found the perfect place to explore this art form.

over the phone, the course leader steered me into enrolling in “brush marker lettering,” an easier form of calligraphy used with markers instead of ink, pen holders and nibs to fuss with.   the master instructor explained that this technique of cursive writing was easier to grasp before venturing into the land of calligraphy and ink. 

at my first class, just the studio name, “quills,” told me i was where i was meant to be to further my love affair with letters.  this wee studio was situated off the beaten path in downtown hamilton above a little cafĂ©.  what could be more charming, coffee and letters!  as i walked up the simple staircase, three well placed windows lit the one room studio and flooded my senses.  as i came to a rest at the top of the stairs, i was stilled by the rows of stationery, inks, pens, markers, bookmarks and stamps.

along with a grumpy old turn of the century printing press sitting quietly by itself off to the side.

as i gazed around the studio, breathing in the beauty of this spot, i spied a framed quote fashioned in brush lettering sitting next to a floor-to-ceiling wall of vintage typewriters exclaiming: “either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”   then i spotted another framed quote: “coulda been the willie nelson, coulda been the wine” ~ tragically hip

oh man, i love this place!
  
in front of the vintage typewriters lay an expansive table set with individual place mats made from 8” x 14” white paper.  the names of each student sat happily etched at the top of each page with clever curvy loops of brush marker lettering marking our place.  each name was as unique as the individual letters.  

on top of the place mats sat a clipboard with instruction sheets, a full set of brush markers, a blank practice booklet, a pencil, a candy cane, a small bottle of perrier with a straw, and at each end of the course table waiting to be enjoyed were fresh, warm right-from-the-oven apple fritters. life at that moment couldn’t get any better!

our trusty instructor, jenn, placed herself at the head of the table, standing next to an easel with chart paper firmly attached with brush marker in hand and clever wit ready to begin our first drawn letter.  that letter was the letter “i”, the easiest letter to master.  from there all the other letters filed out from the alphabet in random order from easiest to hardest onto our practice sheets.  

watching our master instructor demonstrate each letter was awe inspiring.  her letter composing skills was like a conductor directing her symphony.  the  “ooo’s” and “ahh’s” of each brush stroke was riveting to watch.  she brought life and personality to each letter while making it look so easy.  

but it was just the opposite for the novice, a real learning curve.  holding the marker at just the right angle while learning to adjust the pressure with each turn from the down stroke to up stroke was a lesson in patience and patience.  and did I say patience?   and of course, practice.  during our practicing, our master instructor would reveal tidbits for technique as well as other nifty information such as, “it is advised that caffeine not be consumed before attempting brush lettering, as shaky hands makes for uncontrolled uneven strokes.”

really! that should have been in the disclaimer section before i consumed my morning cup of joe!

with a practiced alphabet under our belts, our last lesson came down to creating a framed piece  to take home.  this piece would be a favorite quote or whatever we liked. at that moment panic and fear entered the room.  what, no practice sheets?  you’ve got to be kidding me!
       
with gentle encouragement our master instructor reassured us we could pull this off.  

one by one, quotes started to appear magically on the thick white paper: “you go girl” and “i love you to the moon and back” and “our nest.”  it didn’t matter what the quote said as long as the letters got to hang out with their friends. 

to this day, i write personal letters and practice brush marker lettering whenever the desire strikes. you should see my grocery lists.  

Liz White is a lover of words who was looking for a writers group to inspire her to write on a regular basis.  “Writing Personal Stories” with Brian came to her hometown of Burlington that fit that niche.  She plans to work her way through Brian’s courses to better her writing skills.  She aspires to craft her own story and be published one day.

The next Writing Personal Stories course is on Friday afternoons, starting April 13 in Toronto (see here). See details of all seven weekly classes, from Introductory to Intensive,  starting this spring here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule hereincluding writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Coming soon: Writing Conflict, Secrets of Writing a Page-Turner, and the Writing Kid Lit mini-conference

Writing Conflict: Fight scenes, Dialogue scenes & Love scenes
Saturday, April 7, 2018
10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Askennonia Senior’s Centre, North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre, 527 Len Self Blvd, Midland, Ontario (Map here)
This workshop is geared to both beginners and more experienced writers.  We look at the most important part of all stories whether fictional or true: the fully dramatized scene. You’ll learn how to write great dialogue and how to mix it with your narrative so that the interaction between your characters comes alive. 
As a bonus we'll look at how to create the most difficult scenes of all: the fight scene, the dialogue scene and the love scene. Best yet, you'll learn some of the successful tricks of the trade so that you'll never write a lifeless scene again.
  Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 at the door
To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

The Sudbury Writers Guild presents …
Secrets of Writing a Page-turner
Techniques for making any story more compelling
Sunday, April 8, 2018
10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
College Boreal, Room M3360, Sudbury, Ontario (Map here)
Ever stayed up all night reading a book? In this workshop, you’ll learn you how to build that kind of tension.  And we'll help you put into practice the techniques professionals use – on every page and in every kind of story – to create drama and tension.
Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53  at the door
To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong,
a New York Times #1 bestselling authors
and one of Brian's students
Writing for Children and for Young Adults
  the world’s hottest market
A mini-conference featuring three guest speakers:
  Literary agent Barbara Berson
  Simon & Schuster Children’s Books editor Patricia Ocampo
  and Young Adult author Tanaz Bhathena
Saturday, April 21
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Waterloo Regional Police Station, Community Room
45 Columbia St E, Waterloo, Ontario (Map here)
If you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love and find out what you need to know to sell your book.
Special option: You may, but don't have to, bring 3 copies of the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel (or 1,000 words if that will get you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter.) If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started on the spot!
Barbara Berson, is a  literary agent with the Helen Heller Agency. Barbara has been an editor for the past 30 years, first in her native New York, then in Toronto, where she was most recently a senior editor with Penguin Canada, one of Canada’s premier general publishers. 
Barbara has worked with both established and emerging authors of literary fiction, nonfiction, and young adult books. Her authors have been the recipients of numerous prizes, including the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award. For Young Adults, she’s especially looking for fiction that’s dark, funny, energetic, and compelling.
Read more about the Helen Heller Agency here.
Patricia Ocampo joined Simon & Schuster Canada as Managing Editor in 2015. She was also named Children’s Book Editor in 2016. She is a past president of the Canadian division of the International Board on Books for Young People and a former literary agent.
Patricia is currently accepting agented submissions of early readers, middle-grade fiction, young adult fiction, and parenting books.

Tanaz Bhathena was born in Mumbai and raised in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Toronto. Her first YA novel, A Girl Like That has just been published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. and her second YA novel, Last Days, First Days, will be coming out with FSG and Penguin Canada in the winter of 2019.
Tanaz is also the winner of the 2009 MARTY for Emerging Literary Arts, a semi-finalist for the 2013 Jeffrey Archer Short Story Challenge and the Readers’ Choice pick for the 2015 U of T Magazine Short Story Contest. Her short stories have appeared in various journals, including BlackbirdWitness and Room Magazine.
Visit her website here.
Fee: $49.56 + 13% hst = $56 paid in advance or $53.10 + 13% hst = $60 at the door
To reserve a spot now, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers, teaches creative writing at Ryerson University, and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get their first book published and launch their careers as authors. 
See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox. ~ Brian

See Brian’s complete current schedule here,  including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond. 

Monday, March 26, 2018

Three agents at Canadian literary agency the Helen Heller Agency seek adult and young adult fiction and nonfiction

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena,
represented by the Helen Heller Agency

The Helen Heller Agency
4 – 216 Heath Street West 
Toronto, ON  M5P 1N7 
http://helenhelleragency.com/  

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox. Also, if you’re not yet on my newsletter, send me an email, including your locale, to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~ Brian

The Helen Heller Agency describes itself as a full service boutique literary agency specializing in internationally successful front-list adult and young adult fiction and nonfiction, with clients at the top of the New York Times and London Sunday Times lists, including such authors as Kelley Armstrong and Linwood Barclay. (The agency also represents Corrinne Clark, who many Quick Brown Fox readers know from my classes in Georgetown.  ~Brian)
As a boutique agency, they “are proud to be able to maintain strong relationships and work closely with our authors at all stages of the publishing process.” You can follow the agency on Twitter @TheHHAgency

The newest member of the team is Barbara Berson.  Barbara has been an editor for the past 30 years, first in her native New York, then in Toronto, where she was most recently a senior editor with Penguin Canada, one of Canada’s premier general publishers. 
Barbara has worked with both established and emerging authors of literary fiction, nonfiction, and young adult books. Her authors have been the recipients of numerous prizes, including the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award.
“I’m looking for literary and YA fiction, as well as narrative non-fiction,” says Barbara. “What I mean by literary fiction is a great story, excellently told. My taste has always been somewhat eclectic, but defined consistently by strong writing, authentic characters, thematic ambition, and a deep engagement, even inventiveness in story form and in story itself.  The brilliant writer Zsuszi Gartner said something that stayed with me, to the effect that how one tells the story becomes the story itself.
“I’m keen as well on YA fiction – dark, funny, energetic, compelling, and narrative non-fiction too.”
Query Barbara at: info@helenhelleragency.com
Put it to Barbara’s attention and include a short sample of your work. No attachments.

Note: Barbara will be one of three guest speakers at the 
Writing for Children & for Young Adults min-conference on Saturday, April 21, along with Patricia Ocampo, Children's Books editor at Simon & Schuster, and Young Adult author Tanaz Bhathena. (Details here)
.
The two other agents at the agency are also accepting new authors: agency founder Helen Heller and her daughter Sarah Heller, who specializes in establishing new authors…

Helen Heller has spent her career in publishing and specializes in thrillers and major front-list fiction. She likes a big story well told and handles a number of internationally bestselling and multiple-award-winning authors. One of Helen’s bestselling authors is Kelley Armstrong, who many Quick Brown Fox readers will know from Kelley's appearances as a guest speaker at Brian Henry’s workshops. Helen is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives.
Query Helen at: info@helenhelleragency.com
Include a short sample of your work. No attachments.

Sarah Heller has developed an internationally and New York Times bestselling list. She specializes in establishing new authors with a focus on front list commercial YA and adult fiction, with a particular interest in high concept historical fiction. Sarah received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University, and is a graduate of the Advertising program of the Ontario College of Art and Design.
Query Sarah at: info@helenhelleragency.com
Include a short sample of your work. No attachments.

Full submission guidelines here.

Author Tanaz Bhathena
Barbara Berson of the Helen Heller Agency will be one of three guest speakers at the Writing for Children and for Young Adults mini-conference on Saturday, April 21, along with Simon & Schuster children’s editor Patricia Ocampo, and Young Adult author Tanaz Bhathena (see here).
If you’re interested in writing for children or young adults, you’ll also want to sign up for the Writing Kid Lit weekly class, Thursday evenings, April 18 – June 13, in Burlington, which will feature guest authors Jennifer Mook-Sang and Kira Vermond (see here).

Also in April, check out Writing Conflict: Fight scenes, Dialogue scenes & Love scenes, Saturday, April 7, in Midland (see here), Secrets of Writing a Page-Turner,  Sunday, April 8, in Sudbury (see here), and Writing With Style, Sunday, April 29, in Brampton (see here).
And don’t miss Writing Your Life on Saturday, May 5, in Burlington (see here), and Saturday, June 23, in Mississauga (see here) and Writing and Revising, Saturday, May 26, in Oakville (see here).

Also, starting very soon – a full range of weekly writing classes, from introductory to intensive and including Writing Personal Stories and Kid Lit. (Details of all 7 courses here):
Welcome to Creative Writing, Wednesday, afternoons, April 18 – June 13, in Burlington. See here
Writing Personal Stories, Friday afternoons, April 13 – June 8, in Toronto. See here.
Writing Kid Lit, Picture Books to Young Adult, Thursday evenings, April 12 – June 14, in Burlington. See here.
The Next Step in Creative Writing, Thursday afternoons,  April 12- June 14, at the Woodside Library in Oakville. Details here.
Intensive Creative Writing, Friday mornings, April 6 – June 15, in Toronto. See here.
Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, April 10 – June 11, in Burlington. See here. (Wait list only for this one.)
Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, April 11 – June 13, in Georgetown. See here. (Still lots of spaces in this one.)
          Details of all 7 courses here.

To reserve a spot in any workshop, retreat, or weekly course, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule hereincluding writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Navigation tips: Always check out the labels underneath a post; they’ll lead you to various distinct collections of postings. Also, if you're searching for a literary agent who represents a particular type of book, check out this post.