Quick Brown Fox

Erin Harris of Irene Skolnick Literary Agency seeks literary fiction, upmarket commercial fiction, YA, etc.

2012-02-02T15:13:00.001-05:00

Irene Harris

Irene Skolnick Literary Agency2095 Broadway
Suite 307
New York, NY 10023
http://skolnickagency.com/

Erin Harris is an agent at the Irene Skolnick Literary Agency. Erin is looking for literary novels with compelling plots and international settings; literary thrillers and mysteries (She’d love to find the next Tana French!); noirs (especially starring headstrong female protagonists); and YA and middle grade novels that transport her to magical places.

She represents (among others): David Yezzi, executive editor of The New Criterion and author of the forthcoming biography Anthony Hecht: Poet and the Age (St. Martin’s Press); Rosalie Knecht, the English language translator of Cesar Aira’s The Seamstress and the Wind (New Directions); Bryan Furuness, author of the forthcoming novel, The Lost Episodes of Review Bryson (Dzanc); and Carla Power, a Times Magazine contributor and former Newsweek correspondent.

Submissions
Query Erin at submissions@skolnickagency.com
Your query should include: a description of your manuscript or book proposal, your contact information, and your author bio. In the author bio, be sure to inform us of any previous publications, awards, professional and/or academic affiliations, and media appearances. In addition, please paste the first ten pages of your manuscript or book proposal into the body of your email.

Brian Henry will lead "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshops in London, Ontario, on April 21 (see here) and in Oakville on June 2 (see here).

Brian will also lead "How to Get Published" workshops on Saturday, May 21, in Newmarket with Meghan Macdonald of Transatlantic Literary Agency (see here) and on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

How to Write Great Dialogue workshops, Saturday, May 5, Kitchener

2012-02-01T08:26:00.001-05:00

“How to Write Great Dialogue”
~ the writer’s most important tool ~
Saturday, May 5
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Forest Heights Library, 251 Fischer-Hallman Road, Kitchener. Map here.

Accessible to beginners and meaty enough for experienced writers, this workshop will show you how to use dialogue to make your stories more dynamic and dramatic. Whether you’re writing fiction or memoir, you need to be able to write great dialogue and need to know how to mix your dialogue and narrative so that your characters come alive. Come to this workshop and learn both the basics and the best tricks of the trade so that you'll never write a lifeless scene again.

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 their first book published and launch their careers as authors.

Fee: $38.94 + hst = $44 paid in advance
or $42.48 + hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
To reserve a spot now, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

How to Get Published workshop with guest literary agent Meghan Macdonald, Sat, May 12, Newmarket

2012-01-31T06:57:00.000-05:00

"Instructions for an Inexperienced Lover"
by Amanda Leduc, one of Meghan's clients

An editor & an agent tell all
Saturday, May 12
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Newmarket Community Centre and Lion's Hall, Hall #2, 200 Doug Duncan Drive, Newmarket (Map here.)

If you've ever dreamed of becoming a published author, this workshop is for you. We’ll cover everything from getting started to getting an agent, from getting your short pieces published to finding a book publisher, from writing a query letter to writing what the publishers want. Bring your questions. Come and get ready to be published!

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 their first book published and launch their careers as authors.

Guest speaker Meghan Macdonald is an agent with Transatlantic Literary Agency. Established in 1993 as a Toronto agency specializing in children’s literature, TLA has broadened into an international agency with offices in Canada, the United States and the Netherlands. In addition to its children’s authors, TLA now has more than seventy critically acclaimed, award-winning authors of fiction and non-fiction for adults.

After returning to Canada from the UK in 2009, Meghan joined TLA’s Toronto office as a administrative assistant and project co-ordinator and has more recently begun building her own list of authors. Her particular interests include urban fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction (that has been impeccably researched but is still a fictional narrative), and topical exposé non-fiction that is persuasive and/or a sustained polemic.

She is also interested in scholarly non-fiction, particularly historical treatments, that are intelligent but accessible without being simplistic (examples are Augustus by John Buchan, Apocalypse by Neil Faulkner, The Sea Kingdoms by Alistair Moffat, and Sailing The Wine-Dark Sea by Thomas Cahill).

Meghan Macdonald

Meghan’s clients include Zander Sherman, Danila Botha, Kevin Hardcastle, Amanda Leduc, Suzanne North, and Christine Fischer Guy.

More on Transatlantic Literary Agency here.

Special Option: Participants are invited to bring a draft of a query letter you might use to interest an agent or publisher in your book. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, 3 copies could be helpful.

Fee: $38.94 plus hst = $44 paid in advance
or $42.48 plus hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
To reserve your spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The New Quarterly annual contests for occasional verse and short stories

2012-01-30T09:25:00.003-05:00

Hello, Brian.
Firstly, we'd like to thank you for posting our contests on Quick Brown Fox last year. Your blog was our largest source of contest entrants (at least of those who chose to answer the question). We would greatly appreciate it if you could include our contests on your site once again. (Note that the deadlines have changed.)
Best regards,
Humberto Gutierrez
The New Quarterly
P.S. Your readers should also check out our regular submission guidelines here.

The Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest
$1,000 for one glorious poem

Sponsored by TNQ editor Kim Jernigan and family in celebration of the man who sparked their love of poetry, this contest is for poems written in response to an occasion, personal or public – poems of gratitude or grief, poems that celebrate or berate, poems that make of something an occasion or simply mark one.

Another $1,000 in prize money will be distributed as the judges fancy. The best of what we see will be published in The New Quarterly at our usual rates, and posted on our website. Deadline: Postmarked February 28, 2012. Entry fee: $40 for up to 2 unpublished poems, $5 each for additional poems. Submissions include a one-year subscription to The New Quarterly. Full contest details here.

The Peter Hinchcliffe Fiction Award
Sponsored by the St. Jerome's University English Dept.
Winning Story: $1,000

For a work of short fiction by a Canadian writer in the early stages. We define a writer in the early stages as someone who has not yet published a first story collection or novel.

Deadline: May 28, 2012. Entry Fee: $40 per submission (includes a one-year subscription to The New Quarterly). There is no word limit; all submissions are judged blind. Though there is only one prize, all submissions will be considered for publication. Full contest details here.

For information about all the annual writing contests in Canada, order the Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar. Just $23.50 including all taxes and shipping. For details email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

More about the Contest Calendar here.

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, reviewed by Bonnie Bouwman

2012-01-29T08:22:00.000-05:00

Random House, Canada, Trade Paperback, 688 pages, $22

Approximately three percent of all live births are twins. My own fascination with twins began in grade one when I encountered Tyler and Kyle, identical boys who spoke their own unique language which neither the teacher nor any of us were able to comprehend. In order to communicate with them, we resorted to body language. It was somewhat effective, but we knew that we singles were really outsiders, and frequently the butt of Tyler and Kyle’s private jokes. We called them by one name: the twins. Though individuals, they functioned as two halves of one person; simply put, they were, intriguing.

I was reminded of Tyler and Kyle while reading Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese’s first novel about Shiva and Marion Stone, conjoined twin sons of an Indian nun, who dies during their birth, and the British surgeon who disowns them. This gripping work tells how these boys, even though separated, first by surgery, then by continents and oceans, remain inexplicably interconnected throughout their lives until their destinies finally and irrevocably collide and remain united forever.

Verghese, himself a medical doctor and professor at Stanford, has given his readers fascinating medical information in language lay people can understand. There is the gynecologist's rule for estimating dilation: how wide – lime, lemon, orange or grapefruit? For the men, there's a detailed, step-by-step description of a vascectomy – don't try this at home folks! And for anyone who has faced life and death in a hospital setting there is the Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not operate on the day of the patient’s death.

Cutting for Stone is a story full of detailed description, vivid imagery and characters you will come to know, admire and loathe all in the same breath. Verghese weaves his plot from beginning to end as intricately and delicately as Thomas Stone’s nine fingers perform the ultimate redeeming surgery that matters most. This memorable novel will keep you enthralled and leave you with the certain knowledge that "fixing what is broken is indeed the task of a lifetime." I can assure you that it will leave you eagerly awaiting Verghese’s next novel.

*

Bonnie Bouwman has spent a lifetime observing people, a passion that is reflected in her creative memoir and short story writing. After decades of teaching children, she has begun to hone her own writing skills through creative writing courses. She is an avid book club member and proud library card holder. She is married to her husband Jake. They have five grown children and thirteen grandchildren, a close-knit, loving, but noisy bunch. Along with Virginia Wolf she believes that in order to write fiction, every woman needs a room of her own.

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Grain Magazine's 24th annual Short Grain writing contest for poetry and prose

2012-01-27T13:31:00.002-05:00

Grain, the journal of eclectic writing, is a literary quarterly that publishes engaging, eclectic, and challenging writing and art by Canadian and international writers and artists. Grain is published by the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild and appears in Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

In the last three years alone, writings published in Grain have been finalists for the Writers' Trust / McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize, nominated for the National Magazine Awards, singled out for inclusion in Best Canadian Poetry (2010 and 2009), Best Canadian Fiction (2011), and in numerous consecutive issues of the Journey Prize Anthology. Grain was a finalist for Magazine of the Year (SK) in the 2010 and the 2011 Western Magazine Awards, and non-fiction in Grain took home first prize in two categories (Student Writing and Gold Awards Best Article–Saskatchewan) in the 2011 Western Magazine Awards.

The annual Short Grain writing contest has two categories:
Poetry: (to a max of 100 lines) Poetry of any style including PROSE POEM up to 100 lines.
Fiction: (to a max of 2,500 words) Short fiction in any form including POST CARD STORY, to a maximum of 2500 words.

Three prizes will be awarded in each category: 1st Prize: $1,000; 2nd Prize: $750; 3rd Prize: $500.
The basic fee for Canadian entrants is $35 for a maximum of two entries in one category. Every entrant receives a one-year (four-issue) subscription to Grain Magazine.

And the Judges are...
For poetry: rob mclennan, author of over 20 trade books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction, including Glengarry (2011) and wild horses (2010).
For fiction: Lawrence Hill, author of The Book of Negroes and winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book.

Deadline: All entries must be postmarked by April 1, 2012. Full contest rules here.

Submissions
As a literary quarterly, Grain also accepts regular submissions. Grain has a nine-month reading period, September 1st to May 31st. Manuscripts postmarked and/or received between June 1st and August 31st will not be read nor returned.
Poetry: Individual poems, sequences, or suites up to a maximum of 12 pages.

Fiction: 1 or 2 stories, to a maximum of 5000 words each (stories at the longer end of the word count must be of exceptional quality). Please provide a word count!

Literary non-fiction: To a maximum of 5000 words. The key here is "literary" – imaginative, inventive, culturally/critically relevant (no academic papers or reportage)....Surprise us.

Other writing: Queries for submissions of work in other forms, less easy to categorize forms, cross-genre work, are welcome.

Full submssion guidelines here. Home page here.

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Carrie Pestritto of Prospect Agency seeks non-fiction, memoir, fiction and mature YA

2012-01-26T10:18:00.005-05:00

Prospect Agency
551 Valley Road, PMB 377
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
http://www.prospectagency.com/

Carrie Pestritto joined Prospect Agency in 2011 after working as an assistant at Writers House. With a B.A. in English from Amherst College, she has experienced all sides of the publishing industry, having worked as a ghostwriter, freelance writer, and in the editorial acquisitions department of the Greenwood Publishing Group. As an agent, she loves the thrill of finding new authors with strong, unique voices and working closely with her clients to develop their ideas and manuscripts.

For Carrie, extraordinary fiction and non-fiction share the ability to transport readers to new and exciting places. As a history and mythology buff, she is intrigued by books that introduce her to another culture or time period. She is looking for description and detail that will make her feel like she is inside the story and interest her in a subject she never thought she would want to read about or, conversely, introduce her to startling facts about something or someone she believed she already knew everything about.

Carrie is currently seeking non-fiction, narrative non-fiction, general non-fiction, and some biography and memoir. She is looking for authors who have a strong platform, such as a popular blog, published articles, or related professional experience. Topics such as New England architecture, modern Native American culture, the history of colonialism in literature, or different Cinderella variants throughout different time periods and countries would excite her. She also seeks mainstream prescriptive non-fiction, for example she would love to see a book about the benefits of locavore eating or a completely cutting edge relationship book.

In fiction, she is looking for literary fiction, historical fiction, and mature YA. She would love to see a thriller/mystery about Elizabeth Bathory, otherwise known as “Lady Dracula,” or a novel about a young teacher at a private high school who finds herself attracted to one of her students.

She is not currently interested in romance, science fiction/fantasy, or picture books.

Query Carrie at: carrie@prospectagency.com
Include three chapters and a brief synopsis. Full submission guidelines here.
All five agents at Prospect are currently seeking authors. For a description of their backgrounds and interests, see here.

Brian Henry will lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Writing for Children and for Young Adults workshop, Saturday, June 2, Oakville

2012-01-25T08:09:00.001-05:00

"Writing for Children & for Young Adults,
the world's hottest market"
Saturday, June 2, 2012
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Oakville Central Library, 120 Navy Street, Oakville. (Good all day parking on Water Street, across from the canoe club. (Map here.)

Whether 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 2 or 3 copies of the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel. (Or if 1,000 words will get you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter, bring that.) If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started on the spot!

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He is also the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc).

"Brian’s the real deal. He isn't just an inspiring teacher – he's plugged into the publishing world! He got me an agent who sold my first novel, Bitten, to publishers around the world. More recently, my young adult novel, The Awakening, hit number 1 on the New York Times bestsellers' list. And Random House Canada, Bantam U.S. and Little Brown in Britain have contracted my next seven books."
~ Kelley Armstrong, Aylmer, Ontario, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Calling and other supernatural thrillers for teens and adults.

Fee: $38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advance
or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Photos: Two books by Brian's students – The Calling, a young adult novel by Kelley Armstrong and Business in Bangkok, a picture book by Lynn Westerhout.

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Exploring Creative Writing course, Tuesday afternoons, April 17 – June 12 in Mississauga

2012-01-24T06:32:00.002-05:00

Nine weeks of fun and discovery
Tuesday afternoons, 12:45 – 2:45 p.m.
April 17 – June 12, 2012
Unity Church, Unit 8, 3075 Ridegeway Drive, Mississauga (Map here.)
Just north off Dundas Street, east of Hwy 403, west of Winston Churchill Blvd in a business mall.

In this course you'll explore 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 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 more than 25 years. He 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's helped many of his students get published.

Fee: $115.04 plus 13% hst = $130
Advance registration only. Number of attendees strictly limited.

To reserve your spot now, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Note: Brian's weekly writing classes tend to fill up, to avoid disappointment, register early.

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Ascent Aspirations Yearly Anthology Contest & a Children's Story Contest

2012-01-23T08:21:00.004-05:00

Yearly Anthology Contest for poetry (60 lines maximum) and flash fiction (maximum 800 words).

Our theme is disorders. These disorders can be for example alcohol/substance abuse, anxiety, bipolar, depression, eating disorders, OCD, PTSD, schizophrenia, disociative disorders, sexual disorders, sleep disorders and on and on.

We are looking for poetry and flash fiction that touches on this theme in any way and comments on the human condition. The writer can interpret the theme very broadly and come at it from whatever direction he or she wishes.

Deadline: January 31, 2012
Entry fee: $5 for one poem or $10 for 3; $10 for flash fiction
Prizes in each category: $100 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd, $25 for 3rd, and six $10 honorable mentions, plus all thrity-two winners and honorable mentions will receive a free copy of the anthology.
Entry information and complete contest rules here.

Children's Story Contest
Stories should be directed to ages 9 to 12 and be approximately 1,500 words. Ten stories will be published in a special anthology with a prize of $200 for the best entry.

Deadline March 31, 2012. Entry fee: $10

After selection, artists-in-residence from T.O.S.H. (The Old School House) will create fine art works to represent the stories. Our goal is to produce a special book that will give children great stories and exposure to a range of contemporary and original artistic styles. All profits will go to support T.O.S.H., a non-profit community arts centre in Qualicum Beach, BC.
Entry information and full contest rules here.

Submissions
In addition to publishing an annual print anthology, Ascent Aspirations publishes a monthly journal on-line. Ascent Aspirations accepts unsolicited manuscripts of:

Short Fiction, 1,000 words or less, on literary, science fiction, fantasy and horror or dark main stream
Poetry, preferably short enough to fill a page. (We do not publish long multi-page poems
Short Essays (1000 words or less) on life and the human condition
Reviews of current published works
Visual Art, (Paintings or Photographs) Send 8 jpgs for an exhibit with a bio and a photo.

Submit by email to: ascentaspirations@shaw.ca. Full submission guidelines here.

For information about all the annual writing contests in Canada, order the Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar. Just $23.50 including all taxes and shipping. For details email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
More about the Contest Calendar here.

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Love Letters and Writer to Writer

2012-01-22T08:44:00.005-05:00

Hi, Brian:
I have some great news: Canadian Stories magazine will be publishing my memoir of Weyburn ("A Pretty Little Town With a River Running Through It") that I read in the Tuesday afternoon class in Oakville. They’re also publishing a pen and ink sketch that I did of a grain elevator to go with the story.

I'm so happy!!! Thanks for telling us about that magazine and for encouraging us to submit.

Kind Regards,
Oksanna Crawley

For information on submitting to Canadian Stories, a literary folk magazine, see here.
For information about upcoming weekly creative writing courses, see here.

Hi, Brian.

I’ve had another short story, "Entertaining Stranger" published on CommuterLit.com, and I’ve also published another short story, "Afterwards," on Chapter and Verse.

I love writing short stories and because as a writer I often feel that I work alone in a vacuum. To have someone else like what has been written feels just like receiving a breath of fresh air, a pat on the back, encouragement to continue.

Your encouragement and support means the world to me. Thank you. :-)
Audrey Austin

To read Audrey's stories on CommuterLit, see here. To read her story on Chapter & Verse, see here.For information about submitting to CommuterLit, see here.

Writer to writer:

Attention Writers Aged 16-25:
Open Call for Diaspora Dialogues Shorthand Zine

Diaspora Dialogues is inviting young writers between 16 and 25 to submit original short-form writing (poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, graphic fiction, or drama) to publish in Shorthand, our new online zine.

Submission deadlines for Shorthand will be rolling. Each submission must be in by 5pm on the 10th of the month previous to the month of publication. (February 10th for the March issue, March 10th for April issue, etc.)

Please send submissions electronically to jordan@diasporadialogues.com
with ‘Shorthand Open Call Submission’ in the subject line.

Diaspora Dialogues supports the creation and presentation of new stories, poetry and drama that reflect the complexity of Toronto through the eyes of its richly diverse writers. For more information, please visit us here.

Hi, Brian.
I’m looking for test readers for feedback on my recently completed adult literary novel about 2 writers; working title, "Rough Draft." Anyone interested should please email me at: thierrypapineau@hotmail.com

I'm compiling a list of publishers to submit my work to as well, thanks to your blog. Some want cover letters, some want synopsis, some want 10 pages, some want 30... it's madness!

Thanks for the support!
Thierry
thierrypapineau@hotmail.com
P.S. I might come down and see you in Kingston in April for the Bestseller Seminar.

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

"Invisible" by Jeanne Bannon

2012-01-21T19:20:00.001-05:00

A coming-of-age story that will warm the heart.

Lola’s not pretty. Lola’s not popular. Lola wishes she could disappear, and then one day she does....

For seventeen-year-old Lola Savullo, life is a struggle. Born to funky parents who are more in than she could ever be, Lola’s dream of becoming a writer makes her an outsider even in her own home. Bullied and despised, Lola still has the support of her best pal Charlie and Grandma Rose.

Not only is she freakishly tall, Lola’s a big girl and when forced to wear a bathing suit at her summer job as a camp counselor, Lola’s only escape from deep embarrassment seems to be to literally vanish. Soon after, she discovers the roots of her new “ability”.

Slowly, with Charlie’s help, Lola learns to control the new super power. The possibilities are endless. Yet power can be abused, too…

Then, when tragedy strikes, Lola must summon her inner strength, both at home and at school. She has to stand up for herself, despite the temptations and possibilities of her newfound super power.

You can buy Invisible in various formats for just $2.99 here. Check out Jeanne's blog here.

See Brian Henry's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Performance poet Charlene Jones will appear February 5, at Portobello Restaurant & Bar in Toronto

2012-01-20T19:54:00.002-05:00

"Bliss Pig" poetry by
Charlene Jones & Linda Stitt

Charlene Jones has been a performance poet for eight years. She'll join forces with her performance partner, Linda Stitt...

Sunday, February 5th, 2012,
Between 1:30 and 4:30
at Portobello Restaurant and Bar
995 Bay Street, Toronto (map here)
(where Linda hosts a monthly reading and music series)

Everyone welcome!

"For My Cat," Charlene Jones

I will miss the one body
soft light
in the cold upper air

I will
miss the snout, paw, maw
warmth of you/us/all

how one hand reaches
might be mine one heart beats
or sweat trickle down an arm
I long ago once thought I owned

this gift-ing, this give-ing
one morning I will remember, smile
and into the top side
rain a single sliver of gold.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Book launch for "After Philosopy" and for "Pressure to Sing" this Sunday, January 22

2012-01-20T10:34:00.002-05:00

Dear Brian,
I am honoured to invite you to the official book launch of my third book of poetry, After Philosophy, published by bojit press in Toronto. I hope you can join me for this long-awaited (at least for me!) launch of a book of which I am so proud.

The book launch, which is a joint one with Brandon Pitts, who is launching his own book of poetry, Pressure to Sing, will be held at the Masonic Lodge, 11 Thomas Street, Streetsville, Ontario, from 2 to 4 pm on Sunday, January 22, 2012.

Please pass this invitation on to others, as well. Everyone's welcome.

I hope you'll be able to join me. If not, you can order After Philosophy, as well as my previous books, from my website at here.
Sincerely,
Saskia van Tetering

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Farley Chase forms new literary agency, actively seeking clients

2012-01-19T09:40:00.002-05:00

"Your Dog is Your Mirror"
by Kevin Behan
represented by Farley Chase

Farley Chase recently founded Chase Literary Agency after nearly eight years with the Waxman Literary Agency. Before becoming an agent he worked in magazines; at both The New Yorker and Talk magazine, and at publishing companies; both The New Press and Miramax Books.

Interests: "I'm excited to hear about new ideas in memoir, journalism, science, natural history, military history, food, sports, international affairs, current events, business or biography. I’m drawn to voice-driven and original content written by authors distinguished by an expertise and passion for conveying what is new, interesting and/or entertaining about their subject matter.

"I'm interested in humor books and pop culture projects.

"I’m interested in photo, graphic, and otherwise illustrated books.

"I'm interested in books that can be adapted out of blogs or websites.

"My fiction list is selective and I concentrate on plot driven novels with a strong sense of voice, place and character. I do not represent young adult, romance, or science fiction.

"I'm actively looking for new clients."

Query Farley Chase at: farley@chaseliterary.com
"I prefer straightforward query letters that get right to the point about what the project is and which show the author to be familiar with the marketplace. If you're submitting fiction please include the first few pages of the manuscript with the query. I do not represent young adult, romance, or science fiction."

Farley Chase's website isn't up and running yet. (His agency is that new.) But his page at Publisher's Marketplace includes a list of books he's represented in various genres. See here.

Brian Henry will lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Exploring Creative Writing course, Monday afternoons, March 26 – June 4

2012-01-18T12:39:00.003-05:00

Nine weeks of fun and discovery
Monday afternoons, 12:45 – 2:45 p.m.
March 26 – June 4, 2012
(No class Easter Monday or Victoria Day)
St Cuthbert's Anglican Church
1541 Oakhill Drive, Oakville. (Map here.)

In this course you'll explore 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 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 more than 25 years. He 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's helped many of his students get published.

Fee: $115.04 plus 13% hst = $130
Advance registration only. Number of attendees strictly limited.
To reserve your spot now, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
Note: Brian's weekly writing classes tend to fill up, to avoid disappointment, register early.

See Brian Henry's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Freedom Bound by Jean Rae Baxter

2012-01-17T10:25:00.001-05:00

This is the final instalment of Jean Rae Baxter’s best-selling young adult trilogy. Eighteen-year-old Charlotte sails from Canada to Charleston during these final months of the American Revolution.

Charlotte needs all her wit and courage when she has to rescue Nick from being tortured as a spy in an alligator-infested South Carolina swamp. She must also find ways to bring freedom to a pair of teenage runaway slaves she has befriended.

Freedom Bound delivers a frank and realistic picture of the slave system and a powerful account of what was at stake for both white and black Loyalists as they prepared to find a new home in the country that was soon to be Canada.

Like The Way Lies North and Broken Trail, the two novels that preceded it, Freedom Bound contains a wealth of carefully researched historical details of one of the least known chapters of our history.

Freedom Bound will be released Febraury 1, 2012. and will be available in bookstores or directly from the publisher, Ronsdale Press. But you can buy a signed copy from the author at the "How to Write Great Characters" workshop on February 4, where Jean will be the guest speaker. Details here.

See Brian Henry's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The Writers' Union of Canada Postcard Story Competition & The Binnacle's Ultra-short Competition

2012-01-16T19:38:00.003-05:00

"Whoa! Two contests for short shorts!"
"Yeah, and one of them's free!"

The Writer’s Union of Canada Postcard Story Competition
The Writers’ Union of Canada is pleased to announce that submissions are being accepted for its annual Postcard Story Competition for the best Canadian story of up to 250 words in the English language. Are you up for the challenge? Can you create a dramatic, short, snappy piece in only 250 words? You can use humour, poetry, dialogue… anything goes!

Award: $750 and the winning entry will be published in Write: The Magazine of The Writers' Union of Canada and in postcard format.

Eligibility: This competition is open to all Canadian citizens and landed immigrants. Story must be previously unpublished, fiction or nonfiction.

Deadline: February 14. Entry Fee: $7.50. Submission instructions and complete rules here.

For a great example of a winning entry, read "The Invasion of the Snotty Badgers" by Karin Weber – it will only take you a minute. See here.

The Binnacle's free ultra-short competition for prose or poetry
The Binnacle is the University of Maine’s Literary and Arts magazine. It accepts submissions from writers all over the world and sponsors an annual contest that everybody should enter: The Binnacle’s ultra-short competition. There’s no fee and your piece doesn’t have to be long at all. In fact, for prose and poetry the maximum length is 150 words (sixteen lines max for poems).

All submissions should be made via email to ummbinnacle@maine.edu
Please include the work in the body of the email.

Winning entries will be published, and a minimum of $300 in cash awards will be awarded, with a minimum award of $50. At least one of the awards will go to a UMM student. Please submit no more than two works total, prose and/or poetry. When you submit your work, please be sure to include your postal address as well as a thirty-five to fifty word self-description.

Deadline February 15. No entry fee. Full contest rules here.

Regular submissions:
As a literary journal, The Binnacle accepts submissions, too, both from the students, faculty, and staff of the University of Maine at Machias and from writers and artists anywhere in the world. Please submit original poetry, short fiction, short short fiction, creative non-fiction, as well as photography and other works of visual art, both color and black and white. Please limit submissions to 2500 words.

The Binnacle accepts submissions year round, with submissions made September 15 to March 15 considered for the spring edition and submissions made March 15 to Oct 15 for the fall edition.

Full submission guidelines here. Visit the Binnacle's home page here.

For information about all the annual writing contests in Canada, order the Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar. Just $23.50 including shipping. For details email brianhenry@sympatico.ca
More about the Contest Calendar here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

“Kobo eReader – friend or foe?” by Francine H. Lee

2012-01-15T10:52:00.006-05:00

I am a better person with a book in my hands.

Having no ability to play music, to paint, to keep green things alive, my options are limited for creative self-fulfillment. From my very first memories, there has been a book near my bed – a book from school, from the public library, or the one my father was reading to me, sans bookmark. (We had to memorize the page, or he would not read to us the next night!)

Books have been a comfort through my childhood, through high school, through college, and into my adult life. A book is what I placed into the hands of my 15-month-old son when my identical twins were born. "Here sweetie, read to Mummie!"

There is something sensual about a book. Hardcover or paperback. Novel or short story. Fiction or study guide. It engages my eyes, my ears (flip, flip, flip,). A dusty old dusty copy of King Lear makes me sneeze when I caress the yellowed pages, the rumpled covers and profound words.

I usually have a hot beverage nearby, an unscented tea light flickering; perhaps heat from a nearby electric fireplace, but the feel of the book is paramount.

"I will never use an eReader!" I told my son. "It doesn't bend! But I will look into it for you."

The excuses continued to build as I paced through my local bookstore. A helpful young woman saw that I was trying to justify approaching the eReader zone. I listened to what she said and remembered nothing but still walked out with the little box in tow.

At home, even I could figure out how to charge it, download the installation data onto my PC, sync the 200 free e-books onto the Kobo, and marvel at the tingles I felt at the back of my neck. It was working! I could do this! No need for a teenager to thrust me aside and say, "Here, let me, Mum."

I sat a little taller, almost giddy at the thought of holding 200 books in my left hand. I even dared to buy a book, with credit card in hand, just to see if I could accomplish this, never stepping foot out of my home.

The Kobo (anagram of book?) has black text on a grey backdrop, rather than glaring white pages. The font can be changed to one of their limited options, allowing me to feel slightly in control. The size of the font can be magnified as the day progresses and my eyes fatigue. I can change from a tiny concise font for books, to a large decadent fancy font for poetry.

The entire thing is touch screen (no buttons) – there is an on/off for sleep mode and a menu button discreetly placed at the bottom centre. Nothing else distracts the eye from the words. No pictures (except of the cover). No adverts. Nothing but a tiny reference to what page you are on, and the remaining number of pages to go in the chapter.

I am entranced. This Kobo is my new pet (allergies prevent any other kind). It has barely left my side. It is the start of a beautiful friendship.

***

When not skulking in the lobby of the Stratford Festival hoping for a rush seat in the balcony, Francine Lee can be found in flux between watching Henry Fonda in Grapes of Wrath again, or Archimedes in The Sword in the Stone. Someday she hopes to grow up to be older than her 4 children! ;-) Until then, back to the kitchen for another batch of peasant soup.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Random House of Canada becomes sole owner of McClelland & Stewart

2012-01-13T15:55:00.002-05:00

Alice Munro

Mark Medley The National Post

McClelland & Stewart, the Canadian publisher of Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Leonard Cohen and Alice Munro, and one of the country’s most storied cultural institutions, has been sold to Random House of Canada, its long-time part-owner.

In 2000, Toronto real-estate developer Avie Bennett, who acquired the company in 1986, donated 75% of the publisher to the University of Toronto and sold the remaining 25% to Random House of Canada, a partnership with existed, relatively unchanged, for the past 11 years.

However, according to a press release announcing the sale, the “challenges facing publishers, including a difficult economy and digital-driven transitions facing the industry, have put significant pressure on M&S, and it has been experiencing financial challenges.”

“We believe with McClelland & Stewart fully within the Random House of Canada family we will more effectively be able to meet these challenges to ensure the growth and long-term stability of this iconic Canadian publisher,” said Brad Martin, Random House of Canada’s president and CEO, in a statement.

Michael Ondaatje

Said University of Toronto President David Naylor: “We greatly respect the care and attention with which Random House of Canada has managed their 25% ownership over the past eleven years and are confident that Random House of Canada’s commitment to McClelland & Stewart will help it achieve even greater success in the future.”

He was unavailable for further comment.

Random House of Canada is owned by German conglomerate Bertelsmann AG. However, according to the press release, the “needed regulatory approval has been obtained from the responsible authority.”

According to the press release, Random House of Canada intends to maintain the M&S imprint, as well as the New Canadian Library, Emblem Editions, Signal, and Tundra Books, the company’s children’s book division. Support was also promised for M&S’s lauded poetry program, as well as to fund the Journey Prize, an annual short story award for emerging writers, and its accompanying anthology.

Leonard Cohen

“Random House of Canada has been a wonderful partner for McClelland & Stewart for the past eleven years,” said Bennett in a statement. “The commitments they have made to upholding the tradition of M&S and the ongoing focus on Canadian publishing assures me that M&S is in good hands.”

Thus far, no staffing changes have been announced. Doug Pepper, M&S’s president and publisher since 2004, has been named to Random House of Canada’s Executive Committee. Also staying on is Executive Vice President and highly-regarded editor, Ellen Seligman. Although M&S maintained editorial independence from its corporate parent (and even competes against it when it came to signing authors) Random House of Canada shared support services with M&S, including sales, production, design and human resources. “Our processes really aren’t going to change that much, since we already are really quite integrated with them,” said Pepper in an interview.

“In a pretty challenging marketplace, especially in Canadian publishing, the kind of stability and vision for growth that Random House – not just in Canada but around the world – gives us is a good thing,” he added.

“It’s just a logical extension of what they’ve been doing all along,” agreed Toronto-based literary agent Denise Bukowski, who started her career at M&S. “I worked there for a long time in the 70s, and it’s a very beloved place to me. But I think it can only benefit from the kinds of modernization that Random House will bring to it."

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Dancing Cat Books seeks young adult and middle grade fiction

2012-01-12T07:53:00.002-05:00

Home Truths by Jill MacLean, a YA book
published by Dancing Cat Books
& nominated for the Red Maple Award

Dancing Cat Books is a new imprint of Cormorant Books. Dancing Cat publishes literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for the young adult and middle-grades, as well as picture books.

"The goal of Dancing Cat Books is to develop and nurture lifelong readers. We aim to begin children’s engagement with the power of the written word by publishing books that reflect their worlds and respect their points of view. Our books will endure because of character-driven story lines, evocative language, complex themes, and quality artwork.

"Dancing Cat Books is currently accepting submissions for young adult and middle grade fiction. We are not currently accepting children's picture book submissions."

Submissions:
Send a complete manuscript by mail. Include an author CV, for chapter books, a brief synopsis of the work (no more than 200 words), and a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of manuscript.

For Artists:
"We are looking for art portfolios (3 to 6 colour or black and white digital proofs) from artists who include a full biography and website address or online portfolio, if available."

Submissions should be sent to:
Barry Jowett
Dancing Cat Books
215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 230
Toronto, ON M5T 2C7

Full submission guidelines here.

Brian Henry will lead "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshops in St. Catharines on January 14 (see here) and in London, Ontario, on April 21 (see here).

Brian will also lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Good news for book sellers: eReader owners could double, but print-lovers growing, too

2012-01-11T12:59:00.000-05:00

The latest stats on e-readers and print books suggests that the prediction I've been making that we'll move to e-books as the norm within a decade or so may be off. The number of people buying e-book readers (and e-books) continues to soar, but the number of people saying they certainly won't be buying an e-reader has also solidified at just over half (and in fact has increased marginally).

On the other hand, as I've also been predicting, the advent of tablet computers and colour e-book readers is set to cause a boom in e-book sales for children's books.

The next big trend – that's still over the horizon – will be when authors begin specifically to write for e-books and begin to incorporate colour visuals into their works, and books will begin looking more like this blog and other attractive on-line media.
– Brian

eReaders Owners Could Double, But Print-Lovers Are Growing, Too
(From Publisher’s Lunch)

For the third consecutive year, at Digital Book World later this month, Jack McKeown from Verso Digital (and Books & Books Westhampton Beach) will present original consumer survey data and analysis on consumer habits regarding both ebooks and print books, from responses elicited from over 2,200 respondents after November's "Cyber Monday."

By their results, ereader ownership could as much as double over the next year--6.4 percent of respondents are "very likely" to purchase, and another 9.9 percent are somewhat likely, with 15.8 percent of people saying they "already own" an reader. (That ownership percentage is roughly consistent with what Bowker PubTrack's monthly survey has found.)

But perhaps most striking is that 51.8 percent of those surveyed said they are "not at all likely" to buy an ereader in the year ahead, the first time that number has been above half. As McKeown observes, "While e-reader ownership rates have increased in a dramatic fashion since our first survey in December, 2009, so too has the level of resistance.

The dynamic movement highlighted in this data suggests that over time, consumers have moved out of the 'not sure' category in one of two directions: a.) toward actual ownership, or a high probability of near-term ownership of a dedicated e-reader; or b.) into the ranks of resistors for whom the devices do not yet offer a compelling 'relative advantage' to overcome their conservatism re: printed books."

Meanwhile, Verso found that even ereader owners continue to say they buy basically equal numbers of ebooks and print books. (That's echoed by Amazon executive Russ Grandinetti at Amazon, who confirms to USA Today what has been the prevailing trend at the etailer: print and digital sales are both up, but 'digital is growing significantly faster'"--at least in units.) McKeown writes, "This points to an evolving hybrid market in which print and digital channels will need to co-exist and supplement each other in order to satisfy the expressed consumer preference for both formats. This has interesting ramifications for the future of bricks-and-mortar retail, as well as for new formats such as bundled e-books/print books."

Will Tablets Fire the Children's Market?
With color reading tablets like Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet and Kobo Vox selling strongly over the holidays and pulling consumers from plain old eInk reading devices, the market for digital children's books is poised for takeoff.

After initial strength from the iOS market and the Nook Kids, the new devices raise the question again of whether ebooks, enhanced files, apps or other platforms will lead the way.
…
Our own deal data confirms children's books as one of publishing’s key growth areas, and now the technology is prompting a real boost in digital children's products.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Call for submissions for Dreams Wedding Magazine

2012-01-10T10:43:00.001-05:00

Hi Brian,
My name is Vivek and I am Director of Dreams Wedding Show based in Oakville. Dreams initially started as Wedding Show in 2007. Since then, we’ve organized some fashion shows with multicultural brides fashions.

Now we’re publishing a Dreams Wedding Magazine, I would like to invite writers to submit articles about weddings, parties, travel, relationships, etc. Articles are also welcome for publication on our blog.

Please query me about articles or send completed pieces to dreams.shows@gmail.com

All the best,
Vivek
http://www.dreamsshows.com/

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The Toronto Star free Short Story Contest ~ $8,000 in prizes

2012-01-09T06:31:00.004-05:00

Winners of the 2011 Toronto Star short story contest:
Richelle Kosar (one of Brian Henry's students),
Erik Martinez and Samantha Craggs

The Toronto Star’s 2012 Short Story Contest – one of the largest in North America – is now open for entries.

The contest, which is now in its 34th year and is open to all Ontario residents aged 16 and older, attracted nearly 2,100 entries last year.

The winner of the contest will receive a grand prize of $5,000 plus the tuition fee for the 30-week creative writing correspondence program at the Humber School for Writers (normally overpriced at $3,000). In addition, the second-place winner will receive a prize of $2,000 and the third-place winner will receive $1,000.

For the third consecutive year, the Toronto Public Library is a partner with the Star in presenting the contest. “The library is very pleased to join the Star in encouraging writers of this wonderful literary form. We know there are thousands of stories waiting to be told, and we wish all this year’s entrants the best of luck,” said Jane Pyper, city librarian of the Toronto Public Library.

The Humber School for Writers is also a partner in the contest.

The judges for the 2012 contest are Jessica Westhead, author of the short story collection And Also Sharks; Jane Pyper, city librarian of the Toronto Public Library; Richard Ouzounian, theatre critic for the Toronto Star and author of six books; and Dianne Rinehart, the Star’s books editor.

The winners will be announced in April during the library’s Keep Toronto Reading Festival. Their stories will be published in the Toronto Star.

Deadline for submitting entries is Feb. 26, 2012.
Stories must be written in English and must not exceed 2,500 words.
No entry fee. For full contest rules, see here.

For information about all the annual writing contests in Canada, order the Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar. Just $23.50 including shipping. For details email brianhenry@sympatico.ca. More about the Contest Calendar here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

“Decisions” flash fiction by Cat Wilson

2012-01-07T11:16:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I just don’t listen. My husband Steve keeps telling me that my truck has seen better days, there is just too much wrong that needs work, and I really need to trade it in for something more reliable.

But as I said, sometimes I just don’t listen. My truck hauls around a lot of memories and I’m not ready to part with it. Besides, I like being high up and looking down upon all the little people.

But as I’m driving home today, I notice lights from a train coming in the distance, and I hurry it up a little so that I don’t get stuck at the level crossing waiting for the train to pass. I gun the gas and my truck goes into its usual overdrive.

But then it happens. She stalls – stalls right on the tracks. Then the gate comes down across the hood, and there I am – stuck on the tracks. My mind’s racing as I keep trying to start the truck again, and I’m too freaked to realize I should get out and run.

I look up to see the train speeding toward me, and that’s when the horror hits: I am going to die.

There’s the sound of screeching brakes, a piercing whistle, then darkness.

They say that your life flashes before your eyes. Well, the only thing flashing by me was all the bad decisions I ever made. Selfishness, greed, self-preservation – they led to a lot of bad choices for what I told myself were good reasons.

At least when I meet the big guy, I’ll be ready with my excuses. Except the Connie Francis tune keeps going through my mind: “Who’s sorry now?”

That’s easy – me.

My head hurts. Wait a minute – my head hurts! And I see a light.

“Ma’am, are you all right?””

“I’m not dead? That makes me wonderful.”

“The train hit the back of your truck and spun it out. An ambulance is on its way, but I think you’ll be all right.”

Yes, I think I will be … not just all right, but much better.

Photos: Napa Valley Wine Train and a section of the Eagle Nebula taken from the Hubble Telescope

Catherine “Cat” Wilson is a mystery writer in the making, she has been writing since she was fifteen and has a poem published in a national anthology. She also helped write and edit “A Journey Through Time” the Art of Steve Wilson, published in 2011. She hopes to have her first novel finished in 2012. She currently lives in Brampton with her husband Steve and her two dogs.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Literary agent Emmanuelle Morgen joins Stonesong, seeks adult & children's fiction, popular nonfiction, memoir, etc.

2012-01-05T17:22:00.003-05:00

Stonesong
27 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10010
http://stonesong.com/

Today (Jan 5, 2012), literary agent Emmanuelle Morgen starts at Stonesong. She will represent adult and children's fiction, including women's fiction and romance, historical fiction, and young adult fiction, and nonfiction in the areas of psychology, pop science, self-help, and memoir. Morgen was previously an agent with Judith Ehrlich Literary Management.

Founded in 1979, Stonesong has three distinct divisions: a literary agency representing adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction; a book development division providing concept creation, project management, design, and production services; and a self- publishing division collaborating with private clients to produce the highest-quality books and e-books.

New York Times bestsellers include The Sisters Grimm series and the NERDS series by Michael Buckley (Abrams/Amulet), The Daring Book for Girls (HarperCollins), and How Not to Look Old by Charla Krupp (Grand Central Press). Forthcoming titles include the widely anticipated Smitten Kitchen Cookbook (Knopf, Fall 2012), Small Plates and Sweet Treats by Cannelle et Vanille’s Aran Goyoaga (Little, Brown, Fall 2012), and Amy Atlas’s Sweet Designs (Hyperion, Spring 2012).

Stonesong’s books and authors have been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The View, The Martha Stewart Show, Live with Anderson Cooper and in O Magazine, People, InStyle, Parents, and Glamour.

Other agents:

Alison Fargis, Partner, represents a wide range of commercially successful, bestselling properties, including cookbooks, pop culture, how-to, fashion, health/wellness, diet, parenting, and children’s and adult fiction.

Judy Linden, Executive Vice President, Literary Agent, and Director, Digital and Print Media, has been a respected publishing professional for 30 years as an agent, book developer, and executive editor. Judy has represented top-selling properties in the following categories: cooking, fashion, design, crafts, health/wellness, fitness, psychology, parenting, popular science, business, and self-improvement.

Sarah Passick, Editorial Assistant, is a recent graduate from Tulane University and the New York University Publishing Institute. She is interested in acquiring narrative nonfiction and pop culture titles from and for twenty-somethings.

Submissions:
Please email your query to one agent: Emmanuelle Morgen, Alison Fargis, Judy Linden, or Sarah Passick, at submissions@stonesong.com
Include the first chapter or first 10 pages of your work.

Brian Henry will lead "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshops in St. Catharines on January 14 (see here) and in London, Ontario, on April 21 (see here).

Brian will also lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

"Rumours of God" by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, reviewed by Elizabeth Young

2012-01-05T07:30:00.000-05:00

Thomas Nelson, July 2011, 256 pages, Trade Paper $15.99, E-Book $14.99

I will admit, as someone who is a diehard for British spelling, the first thing I noticed about this book was the American spelling. Rumors? Something about American spelling makes me take an item not as seriously as if it had the ‘correct’ spelling (sorry, I know I’m outing myself as old-fashioned here). The wonderful thing is I couldn’t have been more wrong! This is an exciting book about the Church in the 21st Century, alive and well on planet Earth.

Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson are Australians who met at youth camp when teenagers, and subsequently attended the same youth group. They met together for early morning prayer, long before they were called individually to be a part of the Western Church. Their long and mutual friendship is what validates this book (they have known each other longer than they have known their wives), and though it isn’t mentioned, one cannot help but think of the Biblical relationship between David and Jonathan.

A tremendous amount of research has gone into this slim volume, and comparisons regularly done between what truly influences many Christians in 2011 and how the Scripture says we should live. This reveals the radical nature of the Gospel and the insidious influence of the world through things such as advertising, inordinate desire for wealth and possessions, concern over outward appearance, poverty and human rights.

“We are being persuaded to spend money we don’t have, on things we don’t need, to create impressions that won’t last, on people we don’t care about.” - Tim Jackson

Cultural differences are looked at with interesting insight, right from the first Church up to present day America, and it makes for fascinating reading. Easy to read and follow, this book reminds me of a meal where everything has been mixed together. The authors come alongside to gently clarify, sometimes with humour, what are the necessary meat and vegetables and what is the sugar that is addictive and adds nothing of nutritional value.

Oftentimes we are not aware of things we have been greatly affected by culturally; this book provides an excellent and timely wake up call. Rich and varied examples are provided of the Church in action according to true New Testament principles, and I found it a truly encouraging read, with a marvellous portrayal of true spiritual community.

The wonderful thing about the authors of this book is that they have put their faith into action. Darren Whitehead is the Teaching Pastor along with Bill Hybels as Senior Pastor at one of the most influential Churches in North America, Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. Jon Tyson is the Pastor of Trinity Grace Church in New York City (Trinity Grace has five Churches there; Jon and his family live in Manhattan).

The notes at the end of the book are extremely detailed and influenced by C. S. Lewis. At the end of the book there is a study on each Chapter that provides excellent material for any group to go through. I can imagine some great dialogue and debate arising from them, and highly recommend the entire book. I would give it five stars and a heartfelt thank you.

I would also like to thank BookSneeze who provided the copy of this book for me to read and review.

Raised in England, Elizabeth Young is a prolific writer from Barrie, Ontario, whose poetry has been likened to that of Emily Dickinson. Arriving in Canada on 9^th April, 1977, she relates fully to the immigrant experience. In addition to poetry, Elizabeth enjoys writing prose, articles and stories and has a work in progress about her paternal Grandmother. She blogs regularly at The Garden Gate: here.

Quick Brown Fox welcomes book reviews, interviews with authors and other book-related articles. Guidelines here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Love Letters & Writer to Writer

2012-01-04T08:26:00.001-05:00

Dear Brian
I've been in Traverse City, Michigan, where my novel Broken Trail received the Moonbeam Awards' Gold Medal for young adult historical fiction. This was a great honour, since entries for Moonbeam Awards came from 33 U. S. states, six Canadian provinces, and three countries overseas. It was especially thrilling to me to have a book telling about the Revolutionary War from a Canadian point of view receive such acclaim.
Yours,
Jean Rae Baxter

P.S. I just learned today that Milcah Klein, owner of Marenga Publishing in Tel Aviv, wants to translate my first short story collection, A Twist of Malice, into Hebrew and bring it out in Israel. She wants to get started on the translation as soon as I give permission. I know you'll recall this book, as two of the stories in the collection were started as exercises in your workshops.

Note: Jean will be the guest speaker at my "You Can Write Great Characters" workshop, Saturday, February 4, in Dundas, Ontario. Details here.

Hi Brian,
I thought I would let you know I had saw the posting for the Leap Local Travel Story contest on your blog, and I won runner up. Have a great day!
Jackie D

Brian,
I’ve had a piece published on CommuterLit.com. Read it here. It was one of my short pieces for the Wednesday night class.
Matt

For information about upcoming creative writing classes, see here. For information about submitting to CommuterLit, see here.

Writer to Writer

Hi, Brian.
I've started a new blog dedicated to raising awareness of the British Home Child movement. From 1870-1940 approximately 100,000 children were sent to Canada. Most boys became farm hands; girls, mothers' helpers. It's estimated that 10-12% of the Canadian population can trace their roots to a home child.

My grandmother sailed from England in 1912 at 8 years old with her brother and sister. To honor the 100th anniversary of her coming to Canada, I'm collecting stories of home children (with photos) and posting them. The stories will begin appearing on January 10.

If any of your readers/writers would like to participate, I'd be happy to post their stories. Writers interested in telling their ancestor's story can contact me at rosembrandon@yahoo.ca. An introductory posting appears on the blog here.
All the best,
Rose McCormick Brandon

Writer seeking quality contacts in Oakville area
I have recently moved to Oakville (Bronte). I am a retired International Creative Director (writer). During my 45-year career I have been transfered from Toronto to London, Paris, Brussels, Nigeria, Australia and New Zealand with International Advertising agencies.

Since retiring I have written and published 9 books. Eight were self published (IUniverse) ranging from fiction to biog adventures in the advertising industry. I have travelled the well worn paths trying to find an agent and a publisher with little success. Is there a quality club or group that can help me improve my craft and find the elusive publisher?

Sincerely,
D. Richard Truman
richardtruman@cogeco.ca

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Andrea Seto at Beverley Slopen Literary Agency is developing a client base

2012-01-03T09:59:00.003-05:00

Andrea Seto

Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
131 Bloor St. W., Suite 711,
Toronto, ON M5S 1S3
http://www.slopenagency.com/

Beverley Slopen represents a list of internationally published and acclaimed authors in fields ranging from literary and commercial fiction to history, narrative non-fiction, anthropology and biography. Beverley also handles some true crime and self-help.

Some readers will have met Beverley at the "Strategies for Getting Published" seminar I hosted at Ryerson University in 2006 when she was on a panel with Ellen Seligman of McClelland & Stewart and Joy Gugeler of ECW Press.

Like most Canadian agents, Beverley doesn't take on many new authors. "Our clients usually come to us by referral or we approach them," says Beverly.

Recently, though, I'd heard that Beverley's editorial assistant, Andrea Seto, was developing her own client base and emailed her to ask what she's looking for. Andrea is also the managing editor of a new e-book publisher, Bev Editions, so I asked her about that too....

Dear Brian,
Thank you for your email. I am working on building my own client base, but I'm still relatively new at this game and haven't developed much of a list yet.

I'm hoping to develop a Children's/YA list which the Slopen Agency has not focused on in the past, but I look at submissions for all types of genres both fiction and non-fiction for all ages.
Also, we've changed our submissions policy. We've gone paperless and no longer accept hard copy submissions. Authors should email queries to beverley@slopenagency.ca
Include, a bio, brief synopsis and a few sample pages of writing. If we want to see more we will contact the writer by phone or email.

A little bit about Bev Editions:
Bev Editions publishes original e-books to introduce readers to talented authors of fiction and non-fiction. Some titles are new book-length works by published, award-winning writers. Some titles are old favorites, now out-of-print, and made available once more.

This is a challenging and exciting time in book publishing, and Bev Editions is an unabashed experiment to explore the new realm opened by e-books. Yet, there are two constants. Excellent writing is a pleasure. And, a literary culture depends on engaged readers.

You can find out more on our website: www.beveditions.com
Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
Andrea Seto
Editorial Assistant
andrea@slopenagency.com

Note: I'll be leading "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshops in St. Catharines on January 14 (see here) and in London, Ontario, on April 21 (see here).

Also, I'll lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

See my full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T07:35:00.000-05:00

“Safe at Home,” a reminiscence by Jennifer Smith Gray

2011-12-31T07:40:00.000-05:00

"Woman on Couch" by Mari Mackie

You sit in your LazyBoy, feet up, head resting. Your eyes shift between the pages of a Nero Wolfe caper (glasses off) and the ball game (glasses on).

I lie on the couch, not watching the game, not talking to you, but wrapped in the quiet ease of both.

Late September chill spills down to the basement, though the furnace sits idle until next month. I tug the afghan up around my shoulders, snuggled in a half-dream.

A word from the sponsors steers you back to your novel. You cough, turn a page, and light another cigarette.

The voice of the Tigers jumps in and out of my head. The crack of the bat and Ernie Harwell’s play-by-play wakes me in waves. Between plays I drift back.

“Bullshit!” you jeer and I know the ump got it wrong.

Ernie, more delicately, agrees.

The room slowly dims as the sun angles behind the tall pine. The side door opens with a screech. Practice is over and the resident soccer player thunders down the stairs to off-load muddy cleats in the laundry room. Mom calls down for supper.

“The bottom of the eighth!” Ernie says, and I know the soup and grilled cheese will be cold when you and I make it to the table. I settle back in to daydream another inning.

“Trammell to Whitaker … Double play! … Two for the price of one.”

Saturday afternoon.

Jennifer Smith Gray is a graduate of the University of Waterloo's English - Rhetoric and Professional Writing program, and has extensive business and technical writing and editing experience. In recent years, she has been nurturing her inner creative writer, working on short stories, personal essays, and memoirs.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Call for submissions for One Thousand Trees online magazine

2011-12-30T12:04:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon, Brian!
I was one of the attendees at your workshop at Harcourt Church in Guelph, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

As I believe I mentioned then, in October 2010, I launched a website and online magazine, devoted to facilitating wellness and connection. See here.
Each month, I’m looking for articles (usually around 1,000 words, though they can be as short or as long as you need them to be) from individuals and organizations who are committed to the same goals and values that I highlight in One Thousand Trees.

My February 2012 edition will focus on Pets.

Please submit by email, either in the body of your message, or as a Word doc attachment, by the above-stated deadlines. Please do not send PDFs.

If you have not previously submitted an article for One Thousand Trees, please also send a brief (two to three sentence) bio of yourself, and a head shot in JPEG format. Although I don't pay for submissions, I would include a link to your website from my own, as well as including your photo and bio on the Contributors page of my magazine.

Sincerely,
Lisa Browning
lisa@onethousandtrees.com

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Whitecap Books

2011-12-29T07:44:00.002-05:00

"Whitecap Books is one of Canada’s leading independent book publishers. Our diverse list features full-colour gift books on almost every North American state, province, and major city along with books on food, wine, gardening, health and well-being, regional history, and regional guidebooks.

"We publish books for children and youth under our Walrus Books imprint." Unfortunately, Walrus is not currently accepting submissions.

Whitecap is interested in reviewing unsolicited manuscript submissions in the following categories:
Cookbooks
Wine and spirits
Regional travel
Home and garden
Canadian history
North American natural history

Submissions:
Please do not send a completed manuscript. When submitting an idea for a book to Whitecap, please include the following information:

Cover letter: Introduce yourself and include information about your experience including your educational and professional background, and your previous publishing credits. Tell us why your book idea is a good one: Why is a book like this one needed? Who would buy it? How does it differ from competing titles? In what ways is it like similar titles?

Synopsis of the book: For food and wine books, the synopsis should include a table of contents with a list of chapters. For cookbooks, your proposal should also include at least 15 sample recipes. Include information about proposed photographs; do you photograph your own food? If so, include samples (never originals).
If you are interested in having your previously self-published book reviewed, please include a copy of the book.

Submit all materials by mail to: 
Rights and Acquisitions
351 Lynn Avenue  
North Vancouver, BC V7J 2C4

Full submission guidelines here.

Brian Henry will be leading a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

How to Write a Bestseller workshop, Sunday, April 29, Peterborough

2011-12-28T07:31:00.003-05:00

How to Write a Bestseller
Sunday, April 29
1:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Jackson Creek , 481 Reid Street, Peterborough (Map here.)

This workshop will give you the inside scoop on what gives a novel best-selling potential. You’ll learn how to get readers emotionally involved in your story, how to raise tension, control your pacing and keep your readers turning the pages. But you won't just hear about some of the best secrets of the trade; you'll learn how to apply them to give your own writing a sharp new edge.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing teacher for more than 25 years. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published; some – such as Kelley Armstrong – have even landed on the New York Times bestseller's list.

Fee: $32.74 + 13% hst = $37 paid in advance
or $35.40 + 13% hst = $40 if you wait to pay at the door.
To reserve your spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest for speculative fiction

2011-12-27T09:42:00.005-05:00

The Friends of the Merril Collection are running a Speculative Fiction Short Story Contest in order to raise awareness of the Toronto Public Library's Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy.

The Merril Collection houses a comprehensive array of over 72,000 items of Speculative, SF and Fantasy Fiction, including hardcover and paperback fiction, first and rare editions, TPB graphic works and comic collections, pulp and later era magazines, fanzines, research material and critical essays/reference works and compendia – as well as donated original manuscripts from authors such as Phyllis Gottlieb and Guy Gavriel Kay.

The contest is open to international entrants without restriction on country of residence, entrant’s publication history (or lack thereof), or any other delimiting factors (though entrants not of age of majority will need a parent or guardian’s permission in order to enter).

Entries must be original, previously unpublished short stories with a maximum length of 4,000 words, and must be submitted as an e-mailed .rtf attachment (composed in Standard Manuscript Format) to fomsscontest@gmail.com

First Prize: $350 and 1 copy of the limited edition booklet containing the winning stories
Second Prize: $100 and 1 copy of the limited edition booklet containing the winning stories
Third Prize: $50 and 1 copy of the limited edition booklet containing the winning stories

Deadline: February 15, 2012. Each entry must be accompanied by an entry fee of $5. Visit the Friends of the Merril and find the full contest rules here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:40:00.000-05:00

"My First Canadian Winter" by Tammy the cat, with keyboarding by Barbara Fairhead

2011-12-24T13:43:00.004-05:00

"Bloody hell," thought Tammy as she jumped through the cat door and landed slap bang in solid cold wet white. She was so taken aback that she almost forgot why she was jumping through the cat door in the first place. So this was snow! She shuddered. She was beginning to miss her house in England, warm and cosy with lots of scrumptious wildlife in the garden. Somehow, a bunch of squirrels and the Rottweiler next door weren’t quite the same.

As she shook the snow off her paws, a traumatised Tammy decided it was time for affirmative action. Using the last vestiges of her digestive resources, she re-entered the house and peed all over a nice new pair of snow boots. This resulted in a lot of swearing and the purchase of a beautiful canopied litter box. Very satisfying. No more visits to the great outdoors – that’s for sure.

Tammy, an American shorthair with just a touch of Maine Coon, had come to Canada about three months ago. She knew it was three months because Neil and Barbara just got their OHIP cards and could now go and see a vet.

Honestly. What was the big deal? Tammy had never had an OHIP card and she saw the vet all the time. AND she wasn‘t that excited about it. When the kids came home for Christmas, one of them was very ill and had to go to the hospital. No card and LOTS of excitement. Go figure.

Tammy had come accompanied by Indigo, a magnificent Siamese, Chyna the dog, and the servants, Neil and Barbara. Quite understandably, Tammy was Barbara’s vision of cat beauty – a big stripy feline who spills over her knees. Beautiful, intelligent, a great hunter in her day (although nothing like the legendary Rocky, who dragged a duck through the cat flap, and if she never heard that story again, she would be very happy), she could now devote her life to sleeping. Sigh. Her favourite.

Sometimes, though, the nightmares would come. All those injections, being stuck in a box and put on a plane. Bad enough. But then it took Barbara and Neil HOURS to get them out of cargo handling at the airport – a girl can only hold it for so long, and then life gets very wet and smelly. Then three weeks house arrest with two idiot Labradors. The horror!

Tammy also liked sitting on the computer (honing her keyboard skills) – the new laptop was very comfortable – and beating up the dog. She also developed literary interests, which for a time were satisfied by chewing holes in whatever newspaper Neil and Barbara were reading. Now, however, she needed to create. What a good job she’d sent Barbara to that writing class.

She had had a terrible time trying to figure out which voice to use to write this little memoir. Should she use the first person or a narrator? She had been tempted to use the first person. That way she thought, “It would be me talking about me. And even if I’m not talking about me, it’s still me who’s talking.”

All a bit academic since Barbara had the computer.

Now that trips outside were no longer mandatory, Tammy could also devote herself to watching Chyna and Indie launch themselves into the garden, trying to decide which paw will go on the ground and how quickly they can lift it up.

Indie’s face when he hit his first snow pile was quite the picture. Indie didn’t say much but Tammy was sure that whatever he said started with an F...

Indie doesn’t like the back yard and keeps trying to escape through the front door. Weeks and weeks and weeks of snow, and he still hasn’t figured out that there is just as much snow outside the front door as there is at the back. Chyna isn’t too bright either. She now wears a red jacket and BOOTS when she goes for a walk. Although, to be fair, Tammy thought, that was probably Barbara’s idea.

Minus 4 and wind chill factor of minus 14, the weatherman said. That probably meant it was cold. And there was Indie throwing himself at the front door yet again. As for Neil and Barbara, they were going out! As Tammy always said, ‘No fur, no brain.’

Back to bed with Chyna. Not such a bad old sort after all. Chyna was a bit grizzled and had a bad heart but was perfectly trained. Occasionally, Tammy has heard Neil and Barbara talk about getting a new dog when Chyna died.

“Over my dead body,” thought Tammy. It had taken 14 years of hissing and gentle love taps for Chyna to learn her place. The thought of training another dog was just too exhausting….

Barbara Fairhead and her husband moved to Canada two years ago. They got to sit in the sardine section upstairs while their pets, Tammy, Indie and Chyna had to slum it in their individually designed, fully upholstered, turned-around-three-times Skykennels. Great Royal Family fans, the Fairheads celebrated the Royal wedding with royal blue trifle and fascinators. The enclosed photo is of Chyna wearing her fascinator. Barbara's was not quite so successful.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

When Hearts Collide by Kendra James (known to many of us as Bev Irwin)

2011-12-23T07:11:00.001-05:00

Molly Tanner, unjustly suspended from her nursing position, is choosing flight over fight. Driving along a lonely, twisting highway, Molly misses a deer, but the oncoming car is not so lucky. She rushes to aid the injured motorist. Slumped over the steering wheel, he is not moving, but Molly hears the cry of a child coming from the backseat.

Smelling gas and afraid of the car exploding, Molly pulls the driver and child to safety. Semi-conscious, Pearce beseeches her to pretend to be his wife so his daughter won’t go into foster care again. Remembering her own life in the system, she agrees. But while caring for Gracie, and her father, Molly finds she’s in danger of losing her heart to both of them.

When Hearts Collide is available from Soulmate Publishing here.
Visit Kendra on-line here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Rebecca Carter is joining Janklow & Nesbit's UK office

2011-12-22T16:44:00.004-05:00

New York:
445 Park Ave.
New York, N.Y. 10022-2606
London:
13a Hillgate Street,
London, W8 7SP, England
http://www.janklowandnesbit.com/

Janklow & Nesbit is one of the world's premier literary agencies. Rebecca Carter comes to the agency from Random House UK, where she has long been an editor, most recently with Random House's Harvill Secker imprint.

Rebecca's chief interest is in literary fiction, though she's also edited nonfiction. She has a particular love of unusual narrative history, and novels that explore hidden corners of the past (or present).

Books she has edited include Némirovsky’s Suite Française, Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Atiq Rahimi’s Earth and Ashes, Gerard Woodward’s August trilogy, Ma Jian’s Beijing Coma, Javier Marías’s Your Face Tomorrow, Diana Evans’s 26a, Tom Reiss’s The Orientalist, Faïza Guène’s Just Like Tomorrow, Tim Butcher’s Blood River and Xiaolu Guo’s A Concise Chinese–English Dictionary for Lovers. You can read an interesting piece written by Rebecca here.

Submissions
Query Janklow and Nesbit's New York office at: info@janklow.com
Query the UK office at: queries@janklow.co.uk

Brian Henry will be leading a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, reviewed by Michelle A. Greenberg

2011-12-21T12:13:00.000-05:00

Doubleday Canada, 2009, 304 pages; $14.40 (paperback).

If you were to cross Marie Curie with Nancy Drew, the result would be Flavia de Luce; a precocious child in the post-WWII English countryside with a passion for poison and a propensity for mischief. Canadian author Alan Bradley’s series of mystery novels surrounding the adventures of Flavia de Luce are written with the old-school charm of a vintage Agatha Christie novel. There is never a dull moment in the village of Bishop’s Lacey, and Flavia is sure to weasel her way into the heart of it.

In The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, you get to know Flavia and her beloved laboratory as she solves her first murder with a variety of impressive deductions. Of course, Flavia finds the body, and although the police are involved, she can’t help but investigate this one herself.

The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag follows Flavia over the course of yet another murder with a rather odd set of events that will keep you wondering what she will discover next. The third volume of Flavia’s adventures, A Red Herring Without Mustard, was released in 2011 with a fourth to be released in November 2011 and at least two more in process. If you love mystery with a touch of whimsy and a side of eccentricity, you won’t be able to put Flavia aside.

Quick Brown Fox welcomes book reviews, interviews with authors and other book-related articles. Guidelines here.

Michelle Greenberg is a real estate professional in Toronto, Ontario. In her off-duty hours, she spends a lot of her time with her nose buried in a book. Sometimes, she likes to write her own stories and is working on improving her creative writing skills. In the past, she has contributed food reviews to online magazine Prospere and continues to blog irregularly here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Happy Hanukkah!

2011-12-20T15:54:00.000-05:00

When the sun goes down, it's time to light the first candle...
Best of the season to everyone!
- Brian

The 2012 Canadian Writers' Contest Calendar – available now!

2011-12-19T06:25:00.002-05:00

Whether you’re a beginner or advanced writer, if you’re looking for places to send your work, you should put contests on your list. The Canadian Writers’ Contest Calendar gives a full listing of contests in Canada arranged by deadline date. It lists contests for short stories, poetry, children’s writing, novels, and non-fiction – contests for just about everyone.

The 2012 edition is now available and costs just $20 at one of my workshops or classes or $23.50 by mail (all taxes and shipping included).

To order, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

If you already ordered your contest, expect it soon; I put them in the mail on Saturday.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

How to Write a Bestseller workshop, Saturday, April 28, Kingston

2011-12-17T08:29:00.001-05:00

How to Write a Bestseller
Saturday, April 28
1:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Lions Club, 935 Sydenham Road, Kingston. (Map here.)

This workshop will give you the inside scoop on what gives a novel best-selling potential. You’ll learn how to get readers emotionally involved in your story, how to raise tension, control your pacing and keep your readers turning the pages. But you won't just hear about some of the best secrets of the trade; you'll learn how to apply them to give your own writing a sharp new edge.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing teacher for more than 25 years. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published; some – such as Kelley Armstrong – have even landed on the New York Times bestseller's list.

Fee: $32.74 + 13% hst = $37 paid in advance
or $35.40 + 13% hst = $40 if you wait to pay at the door.

To reserve your spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The Travel Itch magazine seeks stories of your adventures and misadventures and your reviews of restaurants, travel books, movies...

2011-12-16T09:51:00.001-05:00

Hello, Brian
We are a fledgling, Vancouver-based online travel magazine. could you post this call for submissions for us?
- Bradley
http://thetravelitch.com/

You bet. That's what Quick Brown Fox is here for...

"The Travel Itch is the next best thing to experiencing Canada and the world firsthand. It offers fresh Canadian perspectives on travel that entertain and inform while agitating the itch to go. We are hunting for original travel articles from blossoming and bloomed Canadian writers about their travel experiences at home or abroad."

Adventures stories should be a maximum of 1,500 words. Travel Itch especially wants tales of far-flung places or experiences off the beaten path. Must include photos.

Misadventures should maintain respect for the people or cultures involved and should exhibit a strong sense of humour. Maximum 1,500 words.

Travel Itch also wants narratives from kids. Maximum 900 words.

Reviews of restaurants and local foods and drinks in far flung locales, and articles about unique recipes, culinary events, reviews of cookbooks, etc.should be a maximum 1,000 words.

Reviews of travel narratives, guidebooks, pictorials, travel films, etc. should be a maximum 1,000 words.

Full submission guidelines here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

InkTank call for submissions

2011-12-15T13:29:00.002-05:00

Hi, Brian.
It's Ricky Lima from your creative writing class last year. I'm writing you to tell you about a literary blog I’ve started with a couple of other people. It's called InkTank Magazine and it's a small online publication. We like to publish different creative works and really strive for quality. Each issue has its own theme.

January's the month to dispose of all the wrapping paper and toss out that old fruit cake. Pull up your stockings because this month InkTank is going through your trash. So let's tour he landfill, take some time to reflect on all the excess, or just keep on celebrating! How about some hair of the dog that bit you instead? Deliver us your best garbage on a silver platter. Tell us your tales of excess or discuss where the world is over-doing it or just falling short. Send us your prose or poetry by Dec 31st.

For the February issue, we're looking for submissions dealing with the theme Individuality & the Multitude. Use your imagination! Submissions due Jan 14 or Jan 31 for 2nd editon.

We accept a wide variety of content from many mediums and genres. This includes (but isn’t limited to) prose, poetry, editorials, opinion pieces, essays, multimedia, comics, etc. If you’re not sure it fits, email us a pitch and we’ll check it out.

Read our full submission guidelines here. Check out themes for upcoming issues here. And check out the December issue of Inktank here.

All the best,
Ricky Lima
http://inktankmagazine.com/

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Newmarket, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Love Letters

2011-12-14T07:50:00.003-05:00

Hello Brian,
I have attended a workshop of yours and have never stopped writing since. I recently tied first place in my local library writing contest with my short story "The Piano Lesson". I won $350! It is going to be in the Meaford Independant online along with the other winners of the contest.
Alison Hall
You can read Alison’s story here.

Hi, Brian.
Here’s my big news: I’ve sold A Shadow in the Past. It's the manuscript I brought to your Writing for Children and Young Adults workshop back in April. (Yeah, I know, it’s not a kid’s book.)

Since then, it underwent a major update and I entered it in the Mills & Boon New Voices contest. I got a lot of feedback from there, most of which was the beginning was too long. So back to the drawing board and I completely re-wrote the first three chapters.

I heard about the Muse It Up online writing conference so signed up for it and appointments to pitch to editors and agents. So on October 4, I pitched to Vivian Zabel at 4RV Publishing and she asked me to submit. I wasn't expecting to hear back right away since their website says 3 – 6 months and only if they're interested. You can imagine my surprise when later that evening, I got an e-mail from them saying, "We're offering you a contract."

The release date is scheduled for May/June 2012.

I really enjoyed the workshop in Kingston and am looking forward to more. I think there are only three that I've not attended.

Melanie Robertson-King
www.melanierobertson-king.com

Hi, Brian.
Another of my short stories, "The Gift" has been accepted for publication for the month of December at http://howyahdoon.blogspot.com/

Two of my poems have been published as well. "Floating" in the 60th Anniversary book of Tower Poetry Society, as well as my poem "Dancing Willow" which has been exhibited at the Art Walk in Dundas, Ontario.

I look forward to another time you come to Hamilton so that I might once again take another course.
Wilma Seville.

Hi, Brian.
I took your advice from the workshop you gave at the World's Biggest Bookstore and for the first time I submitted a piece of my writing – a poem, actually – and it was accepted by a publication and will be published next February 2012 in Poetic Pinup Revue!

I always felt my written pieces were like children and hesitated putting them out there into the world, but you gave me the nudge I needed. I'm ready! Thank you! As for the story I started in your workshop, I will be expanding on it, and changing the location.

Take care and have a great day!
Donna Ortolan

Hi Brian,
I took your Writing for Children workshop several years ago in Woodstock. I am pleased to announce, my novel, Search for the Quinset Keepers, has just been published by OakTara Publishing. I read the opening chapter at the workshop and it was discussed and a few suggestions offered.

It’s a YA science fiction adventure which I used to read to my grade seven students every year. The parents pushed me to find a publisher when I retired. Thanks again for your help at the workshop.
Armand Matte
More info about the novel can be found here.

Writer to Writer:
Published author/English teacher-in-training is eager to edit manuscripts for very reasonable rates. For more information, email brandon.c.crilly@gmail.com
Thanks,
Brandon Crilly

Hi, Brian.
Just heard from commuterlit.com and they're going to post my story, Life in Hand. Yay! This is the one I wrote during the summer class. Thank you for your helpful feedback and support!
Brenda Buchanon

Read Brenda's story here.
For information on submitting to CommuterLit, see here.

See Brian's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

How to Get Published workshop, Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of the Anne McDermid literary agency

2011-12-14T06:41:00.005-05:00

Eutopia by David Nickle,
one of Monica's clients

An editor & an agent tell all Saturday, June 9
10:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Four Corners Library, 65 Queen St E. Brampton (Map here.)

If you've ever dreamed of becoming a published author, this workshop is for you. We’ll cover everything from getting started to getting an agent, from getting your short pieces published to finding a book publisher, from writing a query letter to writing what the publishers want. Bring your questions. Come and get ready to be published!

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 their first book published and launch their careers as authors.

Guest speaker Monica Pacheco is a literary agent with Anne McDermid and Associates. The McDermid agency represents literary novelists and commercial novelists of high quality and writers of non-fiction in the areas of memoir, biography, history, literary travel, narrative science, investigative journalism and true crime. The agency also represents a certain number of children's and YA writers and writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy.

The McDermid agency's clients include distinguished literary authors such as Esi Edugyan, winner of the 2011 Giller Prize, Michael Crummey, Greg Hollingshead, Andrew Pyper, Nino Ricci, David Adams Richards, Michael Winter and Vincent Lam. The agency also represents writers of narrative non-fiction, such as Charles Montgomery and James MacKinnon, both of whom won the Charles Taylor prize for literary non-fiction in their years of publication.

More recently, the agency has been branching out to represent upmarket commercial fiction writers, such as Leah McLaren from the Globe and Mail, Robert Wiersema, and Peter Darbyshire.

Monica represents a growing list of writers, focusing on children's, young adult, science fiction and fantasy. Her clients include actress/writer/director Sarah Polley whose children’s picture book she sold to HarperCollins Canada, Yves Meynard whose fantasy trilogy she sold to Tor/Macmillan, Madeline Ashby whose science fiction novel she sold to Angry Robot in the UK in a two-book deal, actress Katie Boland whose short story collection she sold to Brindle & Glass , and Bram Stoker Award-winning horror writer David Nickle.

More on the McDermid Agency here.

Special Option: Participants are invited to bring a draft of a query letter you might use to interest an agent or publisher in your book. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, 3 copies could be helpful.

Fee: $38.94 plus hst = $44 paid in advance
or $42.48 plus hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door

To reserve your spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Intensive Creative Writing course, Wednesday evenings, March 21 – June 13, Mississauga

2011-12-13T07:07:00.001-05:00

Twelve weeks of creative growth
Wednesday evenings, 6:45 – 9:00 p.m.
First set of readings distributed March 21.
Classes run March 28 to June 13
Sheridan United Church, 2501 Truscott Drive, Mississauga (Map here.)

This course is for people who are working on their own writing. The format is similar to the "Intermediate" and "Extreme" courses: Over the twelve classes, you’ll be asked to bring in six pieces of your writing 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. You bring whatever you want to work on.

Besides critiquing pieces, the instructor will give short lectures at the start of each class, addressing 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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he's helped many of his students get published.

Fee: $170.80 plus 13% hst = $193
Advance registration only. These courses usually fill up, so enroll early to avoid disappointment.

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

See Brian Henry's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Intensive Creative Writing course, Wednesday afternoons, March 21 – June 13, Burlington, Ontario

2011-12-13T07:06:00.000-05:00

Twelve weeks of creative growth
Wednesday afternoons, 12:30 – 2:45 p.m.
First set of readings distributed March 21.
Classes run March 28 to June 13
Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington. (Map here.)

This course is for people who are working on their own writing. The format is similar to the "Intermediate" and "Extreme" courses: Over the twelve classes, you’ll be asked to bring in six pieces of your writing 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. You bring whatever you want to work on.

Besides critiquing pieces, the instructor will give short lectures at the start of each class, addressing 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 Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he's helped many of his students get published.

Fee: $170.80 plus 13% hst = $193Advance registration only. These courses usually fill up, so enroll early to avoid disappointment.

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

See Brian Henry's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

You're invited to a book launch for Shades of Teale by Susan Crossman, Sunday, December 18

2011-12-12T22:23:00.004-05:00

The new novel of love lost and hope restored

Hi Brian!
I’m telling everyone I know about my book launch, and you’re at the top of the list. Especially because I appreciate so much the insights and inspiration that grew out of attending your courses and seminars last year. They were all hugely valuable for me and great fun to boot!

Please drop by A Different Drummer Books, 513 Locust Street in Burlington (map here) on Saturday, December 18 from 1 to 3 p.m.

I'll be selling and signing copies of Shades of Teale and saying hi to all my friends. No reservation required, just drop in and say hello!

I’m also looking for volunteers to review the book(free copy provided!), so if anyone is interested, just let me know! You can find out more information about the novel here.
People can email me directly at susan@crossmancommunications.com

Best wishes for a bright and cheerful holiday season!
Warmly,
Susan Crossman

If you can't make the book launch to say hi to Susan and buy an autographed copy, Shades of Teal is available through Amazon.ca here. Or encourage your local bookseller to order a copy through the University of Toronto Press Distribution.

See information about Brian Henry's upcoming weekly writing courses here. See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

"L.C.B.O. Holiday Time" by Maureen Kozak

2011-12-12T09:52:00.002-05:00

I was working hard on Wednesday,
It was load day at the store,
We were schlepping lots of boxes,
Demonstrating “Door to Floor.”
A customer approached me
With her bottle of red wine,
“Is it nice?” she said unsurely,
“Of course, madam, it’s just fine.”
The demands they are unending,
I sometimes want to scream,
Instead I opt for action
Dummying up the Irish Cream.

“Merlot,” said the young man,
“Cabernet,” said his aunts,
“Pouilly fussé,” said the lady
With the silver spandex pants.

My energy is flagging
And I think I need a drink,
Thank god for staff selections
And the Aussie mob for “Pink”.
Lines at cash are unending
But the staff is of good cheer,
And the music reassures us –
“It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!”
The customers are demanding,
Sometimes we’re at a loss,
“I’m seeking a big promotion –
Where’s a cheap good wine for Boss?”

“Pinot Grigio,” said the young man,
“Chardonnay,” said his aunts,
“Pouilly fumé,” said the lady
With the silver spandex pants.

New Year’s Eve approaches
And the need for sparkling wine,
We’ll ring in “2012”
And champagne would be divine.
Again the stocks diminish,
Again the shelves are bare,
The customers search for product
And again it isn’t there.
Take heart, more wine loads cometh,
Once more, the store we’ll fill,
If there’s a way to solve your problems,
Then this staff has got the will!

“Amarone,” said the young man,
“Bardolino,” said his aunts,
“Manischewitz,” said the lady
With the silver spandex pants!

Maureen Kozak is an aspiring writer who lives in Oakville and works at the LCBO. When not dispensing holiday spirits to customers, she may be found at the back of the store setting up staff tastings.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Quick Brown Fox ~ The Cake

2011-12-10T21:41:00.003-05:00

This past Monday, we concluded our class in Georgetown with a bit of a party. Everyone read a piece aloud to the whole group and brought all sorts of wonderful finger food to share, including this marvelous cake in the shape of a thick, multi-layered book. Thanks, Joan!

The baker/artist by the way was Jackie Thompson of Butterfly Cakebox in Caledon. See some more of her amazing creations here.

And the cupcake was for Alejandra who had a birthday on Monday. Happy birthday, Alejandra!

- Brian

See information about upcoming weekly courses here.

See my full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The Malahat Review 2012 Novella Prize

2011-12-09T08:30:00.001-05:00

The Malahat Review, Canada's most prestigious literary journal, is accepting entries for its semi-annual novella contest for works of fiction, 10,000 to 20,000 words in length.

Deadline: February 1, 2012. Prize: $1500
Entry fee: $35 for entries from Canada; $40 USD for entries from the US; $45 USD for entries from elsewhere

Mail entries to:
The Malahat Review
Novella Prize
University of Victoria
PO Box 1700 Stn CSC
Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2

This year's judges will be Valerie Compton, Gabriella Goliger, and Terence Young. Read a recent interview with our 2010 Novella Prize winner, Tony Tulathimutte here. Read the full contest guidelines here. For information about The Malahat Review's other contests and about submitting pieces not as part of a contest, see here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Call for submissions ~ Speculative fiction wanted for "Here be Monsters" anthology #6

2011-12-08T09:27:00.002-05:00

Here Be Monsters is an anthology of short stories published out of Montreal.

"We are looking for unpublished works of speculative fiction in any genre, that are less than 10,000 words long. If you have a story that you would like to submit, please send it as an attached document to herebemonsters.info@gmail.com

"Put: 'Here Be Monsters Submission' in the subject line. In the body of the email, please give us your name, address, and an email or phone number where we can contact you.

"We are currently looking for stories for the sixth issue, which will be out in Winter 2012. The deadline to receive submissions is January 16th, 2012.

"Standard payment is $30 and a free copy of the anthology in which your story appears. Here Be Monsters will purchase first Canadian rights, non-exclusive anthology rights, and first online rights. We do consider simultaneous submissions, but please note this in the body of your submission email.

"We are looking forward to reading your stories. Thank you."

See the Here Be Monsters blog here. Submissions page here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

“Just another day at the office” by Lisa Nolan

2011-12-07T07:21:00.001-05:00

Nigel sweated in his expensive Boss suit, even though his office was fully air-conditioned. “Bloody, hot Toronto and its humidity,” he muttered. After two sweltering summers he still wasn’t used to the heat. The extra weight he was carrying wasn’t helping either.

“I can’t believe you’ve lost it!” he bellowed to his articled clerk, Bryan, who Nigel had already decided was an imbecile. “How could you lose something so important? I asked you to put them in a safe place!”

“I did,” Bryan muttered, his teeth grinding as he tried not to spit the words out. In fact, as he distinctly remembered, he hadn’t put the envelope anywhere. He’d just left it among the mounds on his desk. Only problem was, the bloody envelope had disappeared.

Nigel bounced into the room and reached for his handkerchief. “These are important documents. I need them by the end of today, and I need that statement gone over as well.”

Bryan winced, the words slapping him across the face. This was going to be another late night. He had for once made some plans with a potential date. Sighing, he put together a private email suggesting they meet for dinner another night and pressed send.

“I don’t feel you’re concerned about this!” Nigel griped from his inner sanctum. “And I can see you’re not looking for it.”

Nigel’s plush office had a much coveted view of Bay Street and of the Lake, but personally Nigel enjoyed the inner window overlooking his clerk’s office, even more. He watched Bryan scrabbling to action - overturning books, files and photocopy boxes in vain. “You know people are queuing up for your job,” Nigel said to see if that would speed the search along.

Bryan muttered silent curses. “The rise up the ladder is a climb,” he whispered, repeating his daily mantra. But bloody hell, if he ever got out of here, he was heading straight for the Grisly Goat. A shot of Scotch and the company of other battered clerks wouldn’t actually improve his mood, but at least they’d listen to him whine – no matter how late it was.

“Christ, I don’t know where I’ve put them,” he muttered and recoiled back in his chair, his mind going over yesterday’s events for clues.

The phone rang and Nigel picked it up. Bryan watched as Nigel munched on doughnuts and talked at the same time.

Bryan kicked around a couple of neglected files on his desk. Nope, the missing in action envelope wasn’t hiding there. He heard Nigel put down the phone and stepped up his search, becoming more animated as he knew the spotlights from the prison tower were back on him.

“There will be no escaping early for you today. Oh, and I’ve run out of doughnuts, “Nigel said, handing the empty box to his beleaguered clerk.

Bryan grabbed his suit jacket and with his reply of “Okay” and “Lunch” travelling at the same speed as his departure he was gone.

Susie, the blonde, tight receptionist with a Texas drawl that made Nigel shudder, poked her head into Nigel’s office. “Oh you are here. Line 3, sir, its Carmichael from the London office.”

Nigel dragged his gaze away from Susie’s geography and went back into his sweatbox to take the call from his old chum. He let his belt buckle out another notch as he sat damply down for his usual lunchtime call.

Bryan returned with a box of doughnuts while he was still on the phone. “Keep looking, “Nigel ordered, covering the phone. “It’s got ‘Brewster’ written across the envelope. He’s one of the firm’s most important clients.”

Bryan shook his head in disbelief. This can’t be happening on my watch, he thought as the afternoon stretched painfully out before him. He frantically resumed the search around his dishevelled office and felt his liquid lunch returning. He stumbled over his crammed garbage can, spewing the contents over the floor. Damn, another mess!

He started refilling the garbage can and his fingers stuck to a box hidden underneath some screwed up papers. Now what? He wasn’t surprised to realize it was an old doughnut box, no doubt thrown into his trash by Nigel.

Bryan lifted the box gingerly by what he hoped was a clean corner and tossed the box aside to take to the kitchen garbage. It landed upside down. There stuck to the bottom was the envelope. Doubtless it had been captured when Nigel had put his box on Bryan’s desk.

Relieved, Bryan unglued the envelope from the box and waved it with triumph.

“Found ‘em! The Blue Jays tickets for Brewster. Envelope’s a bit sticky. Seems to be donut jelly. Strawberry, I think.”

Nigel turned red and Bryan smirked. This would definitely be a good story tonight at the Grisly Goat.

Lisa Nolan lives and works in Mississauga, Ontario. Originally from the UK, she has been enjoying her new life in Canada for three years. Her passion for the written word began with children’s poetry and collecting antique books as a teenager. She has recently started writing short fiction and is at work on her first novel.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Defending Glory by Anne K. Albert

2011-12-06T10:37:00.000-05:00

Hi Brian,
I first had the privilege of meeting you many years ago via the Toronto Romance Writers. I also attended at least three (or perhaps it was four) of your workshops over the years.

I just wanted to let you know all the hard work has paid off. I've achieved my dream of being a published author, and I did it in both of my favourite genres - romantic suspense and mystery. :)

Vanilla Heart Publishing has released my romantic suspense novels, Defending Glory, the first book of myPiedmont Island Trilogy series ("where troubles outnumber residents") and Frank, Incense and Muriel, the first book of my Muriel Reeves Mysteries series. It was also selected as a Top Pick by Night Owl Reviews!

Thank you for helping make it happen.

By the way, it was good to see you at your October 22 workshop in Elliot Lake and look forward to seeing you again.

Kindest regards,
Anne K. Albert
http://www.AnneKAlbert.com
http://anne-k-albert.blogspot.com

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Eric Hoffer Award for short prose

2011-12-05T07:01:00.000-05:00

Each year, outstanding works of short prose deserve wider recognition. The Eric Hoffer Award for short prose recognizes excellence in writing with a $500 prize and various honors and distinctions.

Works of short prose (short stories or short creative nonfiction) must be less than 10,000 words, previously unpublished, or published with a circulation of less than 500. The winning prose and selected nominations are published annually in the anthology, Best New Writing.

Anyone can submit prose for The Hoffer Award.

Submitting to the Eric Hoffer Award & Best New Writing
1) Place your story in the body of an e-mail.
2) Place your personal information at the end of the story.
3) Place the word "submission" and your title in the subject line.
4) Send your e-mail nomination to submission@BestNewWriting.com

This e-mail address has been reserved for nominations only. Submissions are read quarterly following the last day of March, June, September, and December. You will receive a response within two weeks of those dates. If your story is promoted to the next level, it is being considered for the Hoffer prize. We will notify you of the judging progress between May and July, if not much sooner.

Full submission guidelines here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Tradewind Books seeks picture books, chapter books, children's poetry, and young adult fiction

2011-12-04T11:21:00.004-05:00

Tradewind Books
202-1807 Maritime Mews,
Vancouver, BC V6H 3W7
http://www.tradewindbooks.com/

Tradewind Books is a publisher of books for children and young adults. Tradewind Books accepts unsolicited submissions from both writers and illustrators. "We ask that writers show that they have read at least 3 of our titles before submitting a manuscript." (See current titles here.)

Picture Books:
"We accept submissions from both writers and illustrators. Writers should submit the entire manuscript of their picture book. If you are a professional illustrator submitting a picture book, please include the manuscript, a dummy, and a sample reproduction of the final artwork. Do not send original artwork."

Chapter Books and Young Adult Fiction:
"Please submit the first three chapters, a chapter outline and a plot summary. We do accept chapter book submissions from non-Canadians for books that will be illustrated. We accept YA fiction only from Canadian authors."

Poetry:
"Please send a book-length collection of your own poems."

Nonfiction:
"We do not publish information books."

Submissions:
"Please submit your manuscript by mail with a cover letter of relevant information, including your own experience with writing and publishing. All submissions must include a self-addressed and stamped envelope. We try to respond within three months. Do not submit more than one manuscript at a time."
Full submission information here.

Brian Henry will lead "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshops in St. Catharines on January 14 (see here) and in London, Ontario, on April 21 (see here).

Also, Brian will be leading a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, May 12 in Brampton with Monica Pacheco of the Anne McDermid Literary Agency (tentative date; details to come).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Bree Ogden joins D4EO Literary Agency, seeks young adult fiction

2011-12-02T16:37:00.008-05:00

D4EO Literary Agency
Principal agent: Robert (Bob) Diforio
7 Indian Valley Road, Weston, CT 06883
http://www.d4eoliteraryagency.com/

D4EO has over 1,000 published books under contract and has launched the writing careers of more than two hundred authors. The agency is based in Connecticut with associate agents in Seattle (Mandy Hubbard, Kristin Miller and Bree Ogden) and Destin, FL (Joyce Holland).

Bree Ogden is the newest member of the team. Previously she was an associate literary agent at Martin Literary Management for nearly 2 years. Bree has spent many years working as a freelance journalist and currently co-operates the macabre children’s magazine Underneath the Juniper Tree where she serves as Editorial Director. Bree is seeking Middle grade, Young Adult, New Adult fiction (readership: ages 18-30), Graphic Novels, YA Nonfiction, and Art books. She is especially looking for...

Young Adult:

• Dark (not angst-ridden)
• Realistic
• Psychological horror (with no paranormal elements)
• Hard sci fi. Meaning no fantasy, or magical realism at all
• A Dexter-ish type YA black comedy
• A Roaring Twenties historical for YA
• A manuscript written in the era of Mad Men with panache and style
• A unique and theme-driven art book

She will not look at:
• Paranormal or fantasy (that includes urban fantasy)
• Romance (unless there is a superb dark, psychotic element)
• Magical realism
• World building

Query Bree at: bree@d4eo.com
Paste the first 5 pages of your manuscript below the email; no attachments.

More about Bree here. More on the D4EO Agency here.

Brian Henry will be leading a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

Also, Brian will lead "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshops in St. Catharines on January 14 (see here) and in London, Ontario, on April 21 (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

"Poor Me," some thoughts on Adele's “Someone like you” by Susanne Toito

2011-11-30T06:29:00.001-05:00

We'e all been through it: heartbreak. The stuff of all the best love songs and love stories. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they live blissfully for an undetermined length of time that of course seems to stand still, then one leaves for some tragic reason and the other is left to wallow in self-pity until the next adventure begins.

Why do we fall for these depressing, soppy songs and stories? They are like the tissues we use up, crying over our lost loves: soggy, disgusting and useless. But deep down we relate to them.

We have all wallowed in the same feelings of self-pity. And what’s even more attractive is what these songs create – something we all would have loved to have gotten in those moments of self-pity: the pity of others. People to hear our story and think: “Poor you…” with a tear in their eye.

This, is what Adele’s "Someone like you" attempts. The song starts out innocently enough, with her nostalgic memories of the lovers’ time of their lives, their glory days that nothing could possibly compare to.

Ah yes, this is the stuff of our own memories of first love. But then, the lovers are torn apart, for reasons Adele conveniently perhaps omits. He finds someone else, settles down, and "is married now."

What does this woman do? Move on like any level-headed, self-respecting woman? No, she comes back into his life (she’s ba-aack), as if that is not bad, she even admits to coming back uninvited. If this is not the makings of a full-fledged stalker, I don’t know what is.

Adele repeated reminds us how he begged her not to forget him, but do you really think he was asking for a home wrecker? We all say things we don’t mean in relationships - cut this guy some slack, Adele.

Oayk, you would think we can still find some empathy for her. She is looking for closure – "for me, it isn’t over" – she's a woman, deeply hurt. But let’s look at his point of view: this guy went on with his life, found someone else, and got married. Heck, even Adele says "his dreams came true" and that perhaps this other woman "gave him things" she didn’t give him (like a sane, decent reciprocated love relationship, maybe?).

Why on earth would she want him back? What was she expecting? That he see her face, "be reminded" of his love for her and by some magic drop his dream come true to live with this self-pitying Jekyll and Hyde?

Yes, Jekyll and Hyde, because she takes us through her bittersweet memories, makes us feel her pain, then reveals that she is stalking him – yet she still wishes him the best. I cannot help but hear the threatening tone when she wails out “Never mind, I’ll find someone like you.”

Which brings me to the question: does she mean she will actually go on with life and find someone like he has done (and any sane person would do), or as the freakish nature of the song suggests, will she find someone just like him and do it all over again?

You can watch Adele perform “Someone Like You” on YouTube here.

Susanne Toito lives and works in Oakville, Ontario. Her love affair with the language and written word began as she bloomed into adolescence, in Mr.Clancy’s grade seven classroom. She enjoys writing poetry and short fiction, and has plans to complete a novel in the near future.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Marie Lamba of The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency seeks middle-grade and YA fiction, women's fiction & memoir

2011-11-29T09:13:00.001-05:00

Jennifer DeChiara Agency
31 East 32nd Street
New York, NY 10016
http://www.jdlit.com/

The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency is a full-service literary agency founded in 2001. The agency represents children’s literature for all ages – picture books and middle-grade and young adult novels – but also represents high-quality adult fiction and non-fiction in a wide range of genres.

The categories we are most enthusiastic about agenting are literary and commercial fiction; mysteries, thrillers, celebrity biographies; humor; psychology and self-help; parenting; health and fitness; women’s issues; men’s issues; pop culture; film and television; social issues and contemporary affairs.

Marie Lamba is the newest member of the team. Marie comes from the writing side of the business; she's the author of the young adult novel, Over my Head. As an agent, Marie is looking for young adult and middle-grade fiction, along with general and women's fiction and some memoir. Books that are moving and/or hilarious are especially welcome.

She is not interested in picture books, science fiction or high fantasy (though she is open to paranormal elements), category romance (though romantic elements are welcomed), non-fiction, or in books that feature graphic violence

Some recent favorite titles on Marie's reading shelf include: Searching for Caleb Anne Tyler, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, Paper Towns by John Green, The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger, Twenties Girl by Sophia Kinsella, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gayman, Shug by Jenny Han, and Doing It by Melvin Burgess. Marie also admits to watching many, many chick flicks. Marie blogs here.

Submissions:Query Marie at marie.jdlit@gmail.com
Put "Query" in the subject line of your email. For queries regarding children's and adult fiction, please send the first twenty pages in the body of your email, along with a one-paragraph bio and a one-paragraph synopsis.

For queries regarding a non-fiction book, please attach the entire proposal as a Word document (the proposal should include a sample chapter), along with a one-paragraph bio and a one-paragraph synopsis of your book in the body of your email.

Brian Henry will be leading a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, June 9, in Brampton with guest Monica Pacheco of The Anne McDermid literary agency (see here).

Also, Brian will lead "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshops in St. Catharines on January 14 (see here) and in London, Ontario, on April 21. See here.

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The Blotter's long form fiction contest, for novels, novellas and linked stories

2011-11-28T07:34:00.004-05:00

The purpose of this contest is to provide a venue for writers to have their work read and commented on by our editors and judges. Additionally, the winner of this contest will have his/her work published on the Blotter. And last but not least, the winner will receive a monetary prize! (Award monies are provided by the prize sponsor and the entry fee for the contest helps offset The Blotter’s costs.)

The award is open to all book-length fiction such as novels, novellas, collections of linked short stories, and manuscripts that merge genres. The first year’s winners included a literary manuscript, a crime novel, and a linked collection of short stories.

Prizes include $500 for first place and $125 for second place. Over $1,000 in books is split between the first through third place winner. All winners also receive a certificate. Winning entries are published in The Blotter’s print and internet versions.

Deadline: January 31, 2012. The entry fee is $25; all entry fees are used to offset the costs of the contest by the magazine. Entries consists of 10 to 20 pages, double-spaced, without the author’s name. A separate cover sheet should include the author, snail and email addresses, phone number, title of the entry, and a one-page synopsis. Full contest rules here.

Regular submissions:
The blotter also accepts regualar submissions of personal essays, short stories, ultra-short ficiton, poetry, etc. Full submission guidelines here.

Visit the Blotter's home page here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Writing for Children and for Young Adults workshop, Saturday, April 21,London

2011-11-26T21:05:00.001-05:00

"Writing for Children & for Young Adults ~ the world's hottest market"
Saturday, April 21, 2012
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
London Central Library, 251 Dundas Street, London, Ontario (Map here.)

Whether 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 2 or 3 copies of the opening couple pages (first 500 words) of your children’s book or young adult novel. (Or if 1,000 words will get you to the end of your picture book or to the end of your first chapter, bring that.) If you’re not currently working on a children’s story, don’t worry, we’ll get you started on the spot!

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He is also the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc).

"Brian’s the real deal. He isn't just an inspiring teacher – he's plugged into the publishing world! He got me an agent who sold my first novel, Bitten, to publishers around the world. Recenlty, my young adult novel, The Awakening, hit number 1 on the New York Times bestsellers' list. And Random House Canada, Bantam U.S. and Little Brown in Britain have contracted my next seven books."
~ Kelley Armstrong, Aylmer, Ontario, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Calling and other supernatural thrillers for teens and adults.

Fee: $38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advance
or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door

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

Photos: Two books by Brian's students – The Calling, a young adult novel by Kelley Armstrong and Business in Bangkok, a picture book by Lynn Westerhout.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

"Just Pack Up and Go" by Matthew Oldridge and "Life in Hand" by Brenda Buchanan

2011-11-25T14:04:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to Matthew Oldridge from my Wednesday night class and to Brenda Buchanon from my Tuesday afternoon class: They've both had pieces published on CommuterLit this week
- Brian

Just Pack Up and Go
by Matthew Oldridge“You can go somewhere in your armchair you know – just pack up and go.”

Dave Goodchild always said that with a chuckle and a laugh like it was the funniest joke in the world. He was always up for staying at home, in his favourite worn reclining armchair, remote control in his lap, bag of unsalted pretzels and bottle of diet ginger ale beside him.

“The travel shows they’ve got nowadays, they’re just as good as being there. I actually feel like I’ve been all over the world, but without the trouble of travelling, and the annoyance of getting on a plane. Think of all the money we’ve saved!”

That’s what he told his wife, Mary. She had practically all of his favourite lines memorized... more

Life in Hand
by Brenda A. Buchanan
The suitcase carousel stood frozen as people migrated toward it. Soon containers full of holiday dreams and business fortunes would drop from above. It’s like a strange birthing machine, Jane thought. A bumpy ride into this new world but soon the suitcases would be paraded about, chosen then whisked away.

Jane stood waiting for her neatly packed suitcase — full of business suits, appropriate scarves, perfectly pressed and buttoned blouses. Boring, she thought. How boring my suitcase is. How reflective of my life.

Jane spotted a young woman in a bright orange t-shirt, wrinkled shorts, sun-bleached hair. I bet her suitcase isn’t full of boring clothes. Bet her life isn’t boring either.

As the mechanism started to hum and the carousel started to turn Jane got an idea ... more

For information on submitting to CommuterLit, see here.
For information on my upcoming creative writing classes see here.

See my full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

“Garden Gambit” by Charlene Jones

2011-11-23T09:49:00.000-05:00

My neighbour

Things might be returning to normal. I am unable to decide which of the garden implements hanging around the backyard works for shifting which bit of a soil. The hose looks impossibly long once more, and where exactly the water has to go for the new lawn to grow best seems a question of imponderable depths.

I mosey down to the dock and stand regarding yesterday’s results. Sod lies in appropriate places across the top of the hill behind our beautiful dock and gorgeous lake. When I turn around toward the water, it is in time to avoid stepping on one of the gifts of summer, dropped in appallingly large quantities by the chevron flying symbols of Canada itself, geese.

That soothes me. One cannot be expected to do anything with bits of nature’s own richness lying about getting in the way of a foot or a lawn chair’s leg. No, it is vital I leave, rise again and go, not to Innisfree, but to the top of the hill where the lane with its newly laid surface of 3/4 lime crush and its short distance to my house on its other side offers sanctuary for my eyes.

My other neighbour

Usually I cannot fathom the kind of queries my neighbors, for instance, seem bent on exploring: how to rebuild their house, what is needed to restore their septic situation, how to lay a new lawn, where to put a new deck, hand-built shed, or play house for their kids – after of course they build said deck etc with their own hands.

I am slightly imbecilic. I need help working a manual can opener. When confronted with grass – lawn to some – I have to consider virtues involving the potential of dirt to house insects, or other creatures. I must think about how the slant of my backyard invokes a sort of growth pattern of exotic grasses, unnamed weeds, wildflowers, bushes and shrubs of genesis incognito, of elementals and elves, trolls and...

The mind, or at least mine, does not stop, but my body more than compensates. I sit down at this point and write. Or think. Usually that is.

Yet this summer, so far much has been accomplished (in the parlance of those who do such things). An old fence came down, a fence dating back to pre-neighbors, back into the time when my parents were alive and lived here on this property instead of resting in their final abode just across the yard, safely snug beneath some flowers, tulips I think, which come up only in spring, quickly giving way to varieties of odd greenery, the fence itself green in summer and red in the fall from English Ivy belting its every plank.

Now my yard is so open that my kind neighbors, who put up with my deficiencies around building in much the same way I imagine they help their kids grow out of strange phases, with encouraging phrases and knowing looks cast back and forth between the two adults, these kind neighbors can see me in the morning. And speak to me. Which of course means I have to both see and speak back, nicely when possible.

Since last week I have risen, dressed in old blue jeans, and spent each day driving to the store, fetching sod, returning, raking, laying and watering. Over and over, along the way pushing new sod in with my booted feet, regarding the sight of both yards, naked of fence, exposed to summer sun, I have acknowledged that my participation in this event means the yard has won. It will be tended. I will attend to that tending.

At least, that seemed to be its intentions.

But this morning, if it is not too soon to say, I have arrived once more at the bumbling, inept state of inner confusion so comforting, so long part of my psyche when it comes to all things outdoors. I have wandered around, yes, placed the damn hose where a morning hose must be placed, looked to the arrangement for the next hour and considered watering, then boot crushing the top of the hill across that lane. I have done all this.

And now I have returned. Rather than consider more alternatives, which flowers, where sod, how water, and what next year might bring by way of changes, I sit, sipping my coffee, writing this confession of my inadequacies. I have returned to my accustomed state of contemplation, my preferred state of pondering. Truly, it’s more comfortable to consider the physical world only from a distance.

Charlene Jones has been a practicing psychotherapist and meditation teacher for thirteen years. In addition, Charlene writes for the Musselman’s Lake Residents Association website (here), is the Musselman Lake Correspondent for the Stouffville Free Press, and is at work on her first novel. She has two books of poetry to her credit, as well as several individual poems published in many North American magazines.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond

Love letters

2011-11-21T06:16:00.005-05:00

Hi, Brian.
My dream has finally come true. My novel, When Hearts Collide, a medical romance is being published by Soul Mate Publishing. It will be released in November of this year (in a couple weeks!) as an ebook and a few months later in print.

It will be available here from soulmatepublishing.com and through Amazon and Barnes and Nobel. And yes, "Kendra James" is me.

Kendra can be reached at kendrajames@rogers.com. Her website, www.kendrajames.net is up and running, too. Please do not confuse Kendra with the porn star of the same name. I cannot attest to the other Kendra's writing skills, and I won't even go there about comparing any physical attributes.

Thank you for all the help and support over the years.
Bev Irwin
Update: Just wanted to let you know that I just got an offer of another contract! This one is for Ghostly Justice my youth ghost story from Black Opal Press. Now I'm doubly excited!!

Andrea Seto

Hi Brian!
Just emailing you to let you know about the latest development in my efforts to get my first book published. I've received a request from Andrea Seto at the Beverley Slopen agency to see my entire manuscript. They liked what they read of my first five chapters and I owe you a lot of the credit for that. It wasn't until after I'd started taking your workshops that my writing really started improving. Thanks for all your help :) I'll keep you updated!
Larissa Benfey
For information about submitting to the Beverley Slopen Literary Agency, see here.

Hi Brian,
Just wanted you to know that with your encouragement I submitted a short memoir to Canadian Stories. It was one I began during your creative writing class in Georgetown. I received word from the editor today that it will be published in either the December or February issue. How fun!
Cheers,
Val Cureton
For information on submitting to Canadian Stories, a literary folk magazine, see here.
For information about upcoming weekly creative writing courses, see here.

Hi Brian,
just wanted to let you know that I have another item published. It's in this month's issue of Mississauga Life Magazine.
It's called "Lest we Forget," and it's a tribute to our veterans in honour of Remembrance Day. I hope you enjoy reading it. Looking forward to your course in January.
Ann Ivy Male
You can read the beginning of Ann's piece here. The entire piece is on page 18 of the magazine here. You can read another story by Ann here.

Hi Brian,
It's small but it's a start. The Citizen, a rural newspaper in Huron County, is publishing three articles (Remembrance Day feature) that I wrote on members of my family who are serving in the Canadian military.

Your workshops/classes have been an excellent resource for me as I continue to learn about the writing world. Thank you!

Looking forward to seeing you on November 26th in Kitchener (for How to Make Yourself Write).
Warmly,
Shari Simpson

Hi Brian,
Just wanted to let you know that I have a (self-published) short story collection up on Amazon.com and one of the stories originated in your class. You suggested a writing exercise and I came up with a short story called "The Fortune Teller." I took it home, tinkered with it, and it eventually ended up in Sex, Death & Mind Control for fun and profit. (See here.)
Thanks for the inspiration. It worked out very well.
All the best!
Rob Chazz Chute

Hello, Brian.
We’ve just had news that Chapters at the Oakville Town Centre, off Dorval, will carry Dottie Flowers and the Skinner Gang, starting November 1. The address is 310 North Service Road. With the holiday season almost here, the timing could not have been better.
We hope that you’ll take the opportunity to buy the book for friends and family members. And please spread the word!
Sincerely,
Sheila and Ted Gale
For further updates, check Sheila's Website: www.sheilagale.ca. For a review of Dottie Flowers and the Skinner Gang see here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Reading nights at CJ's ~ Here's your chance to read to an audience or to just come and listen

2011-11-19T06:11:00.000-05:00

We have three nights of readings coming up:
Thursday, December 8
Monday, December 12
& Thursday, June 23

All three evenings start at 6:30 p.m.
at CJ's Café, 2416 Lakeshore Rd W, Oakville (Map here.)

Besides coming to hear the readings, you're also invited to come as a participant, to give a public reading of your own writing – if you’ve ever published a piece on Quick Brown Fox (or you have a piece in the queue waiting for publication) or if you’ve taken any of my “Intensive,” “Intermediate,” “Extreme” or “Advanced” creative writing courses.

If you’ve done this before, you know what a charge it is. If you haven’t done it yet, don’t miss this opportunity! To reserve your spot on the readers’ list, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

We can have only a limited number of readers in an evening, so don’t delay, these nights will fill up!

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

New books: Otherworld by Erin Hatton & The Unraveling of Abby Settel by Sylvia May

2011-11-19T06:09:00.000-05:00

A prostitute who thinks she's unlovable, a betrayed lover searching for his lost one, a love that transcends time and space... Otherworld, by Erin E.M. Hatton

Hi Brian,
I’m happy to say that I’ve self-published my first novel, Otherworld, with Word Alive Press, after garnering an honourable mention in their annual publishing contest. Thanks for all your help!
Erin E. M. Hatton
http://www.erinemhatton.com/Otherworld is available from Amazon.ca here.

Hi Brian,
I'm thrilled to be able to tell you that my first novel, The Unraveling of Abby Settel, is now available. It's published by Turquoise Morning Press, a small American publisher, and is available in both print version and as an e-book and can be found on Amazon and other online bookstores, or ordered through an actual bookstore since it is being distributed by Ingram's.

The Unraveling of Abby Settel
Abby Settel's well-ordered life is falling apart. Her son is behaving suspiciously, her aging parents are deteriorating, and her husband loses his job. His new position compels them to move hundreds of miles away, where Abby is plagued by guilt and loneliness. When she discovers a group of women facing the similar challenges, together they seek a way out of their unhappiness. This is a story of mid-life reinvention, letting go to embrace the present, and the importance of friends.

Best wishes to you, and all the writers who benefit from your wonderful workshops (like me),
Sylvia May
www.sylviamay.com
www.lucyarlington.com

The Unraveling of Abby Settel is available in print or as an ebook here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, reviewed by Francine Lee

2011-11-18T07:40:00.005-05:00

House of Anansi Press, October 2011, hardcover 336 pages, $22.95 or $12.43 as Kobo download.

Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. Winner of the Writers Trust Fiction Prize. Shortlisted for the ScotiaBank Giller Prize. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Amazon.ca’s Best Book of the year.

A mere glance at the cover of this macabre gem about two hitmen in the wild west. convinced me I wanted to leap into the saddle to read this new adventure at full gallop. What a remarkable ride it was!

It is said that scars heal but never fade entirely. In this paradoxical romp through the west, the two main characters are bonded by brotherhood, unusual and intense circumstances, and a pecking order that seems tried and true, not to be messed with. Well, Mr. deWitt intelligently and sympathetically messes with their bond, turns it on its ear, and leaves us trying to balance our emotions throughout the entire story.

As the events unfold the nameless faces of folks and animals encountered by Eli and Charlie, take on a dreamlike quality. Nothing is as it seems. Nothing is for certain. The characters who seem strong and resilient, are the first to drop, while the weak take on a role of heroic proportions. The clinical discussions that lead to truce after family truce, become disturbingly logical to the reader.

We learn about the life of these hired killers: Who they track, what they must live with, what visual vignettes they must take to their own graves. We expect to dislike them and empathize with their victims. Sometimes this is the case, but often not. I had as much pity for an injured horse as I did for any of the human wretches the brothers encounter.

The story changes pace, location, and loyalties. It launches us at times into the future and then recedes into the past. We collect details, like the fact that the brothers never use contractions with each other; thus the dialogue is often more formal between these two men than it is when they encounter strangers. They do not seem relaxed with one another, although all things are familiar. The theme of friendship surfaces many times. We find ourselves laughing along with the characters at things that are just not funny. Is it nervous tension or detachment?

I empathized with the absurdity, drawing to mind my own experience riding the Gold Rush Trail in British Columbia. A rather comical undertaking for me, with animal allergies having plagued me all of my life. It seemed ridiculous to attempt it, but I strapped myself into that saddle for the Fam Trip of a lifetime, complete with kleenex box wedged between my knees, long sleeves buttoned over my leather elbow-length gloves, scarves to cover my hair and face, jeans tucked into misfit boots.

I was out of my element, felt like one of Shakespeare's fools, had no prior riding experience. That is exactly how I felt reading this book. That I did not belong, but was determined to persevere in my trespassing, and thoroughly enjoy the experience. Most of you will not need to go to such extremes. Just stay in the saddle and let the author take you for a most refreshing trail ride into a not so distant past. It is an honourable journey, with delightful dignity and searing wit. Well deserving of any and all accolades!

Francine Lee can be found most days on a picnic with her 4 kids, combining her 4 most cherished things: travel, nature, food, books!

Quick Brown Fox welcomes book reviews, interviews with authors and other book-related articles. Guidelines here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Three agents at Transatlantic Literary Agency accepting new clients

2011-11-17T16:42:00.006-05:00

Patricia Ocampo with author Kenneth Oppal
and his wife Philippa Sheppard

Transatlantic Literary Agency
72 Glengowan Road
Toronto, ON M4N 1G4
Canada
http://www.tla1.com/agents.php

Transatlantic Literary Agency has three literary agents who are looking for clients:

Patricia Ocampo will represent children's authors. In her first position in publishing, Patricia Ocampo divided her time between the children’s editorial departments at HarperCollins US and HarperCollins Canada, working out of the Toronto office. Since 2008, she has worked in sales, both at HarperCollins and Hachette Book Group.

Patricia is interested in children’s books only (early readers, middle-grade, young adult). Picture books will only be considered by referral from another TLA client or if you have been previously published. Absolutely no poetry or verse.

Please email complete manuscripts in PDF to: patricia@tla1.com
Submissions with only a summary or sample chapters will be immediately deleted. This applies to all submissions, not just picture books. The body of your email should include a short synopsis, your current place of residence, and an indication if it is a multiple or exclusive submission. Due to the volume of submissions received, further enquiries will be sent only for submissions being actively considered. If you have not received a reply within twelve weeks, you can assume there is no further interest.

Meghan Macdonald is accepting queries for adult fiction and nonfiction. She does not handle children's books, poetry, screenplays, YA, or YA/crossover manuscripts.

Meghan lived in the UK for two years,working for literary agent David Grossman. Upon returning to Canada in 2009, Meghan began working for TLA as an administrative assistant, researcher and assistant to the agents. She has recently begun building her own list as a literary agent with TLA.

Meghan says: "I am accepting queries for adult fiction and non-fiction. I do not handle children's books, poetry, screenplays, YA, or YA/crossover manuscripts.

"My particular interests are in literary fiction, mystery novels, historical fiction (that has been impeccably researched but is still a fictional narrative), and topical exposé non-fiction that is persuasive and/or a sustained polemic. I am also interested in scholarly non-fiction, particularly historical treatments, that are intelligent but accessible without being simplistic (examples are Augustus by John Buchan, Apocalypse by Neil Faulkner, The Sea Kingdoms by Alistair Moffat, and Sailing The Wine-Dark Sea by Thomas Cahill).

"Initial queries should be sent via email to meghan.macdonaldtla@gmail.com
Include your name and the title of the manuscript in the subject line (example: Query: John Smith - My Manuscript). Please send a 1-page cover letter in the body of the email and as an attachment, and attach a 1-page synopsis and the first 30-pages of the manuscript double-spaced, or thereabouts where a natural break occurs. Make sure all your attachments are free of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. I want to see a polished excerpt or manuscript, not your first draft."

Marie Campbell has worked in children’s publishing in London, UK, and in Toronto for more than 20 years. As an agent, she specializes in children’s writers, with a particular interest in middle-grade fiction. She is not actively acquiring new clients at this time but is open to concise query letters via email. No non-fiction or poetry collections.

Query Marie at: marie@tla1.com
Highlight past publishing credits and/or referral from published authors/TLA clients. Do not submit further writing samples, either by post or email, until contacted. Due to the volume of submissions received, unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned. Replies will be sent only for submissions being actively considered.

Brian Henry will be leading a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, December 3, in Oakville with guest Ali McDonald of The Rights Factory literary agency (see here).

Also, Brian will lead a "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshop in St. Catharines on January 14, 2012 (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Writer-to-writer: critique group wanted, services for self-published writers, co-author wanted...

2011-11-16T07:44:00.002-05:00

Members of the Blank Page Writers in Gravenhurst

Writers' group wanted
I am looking for a writer's group for people writing for children who live in Ancaster or on the Hamilton mountain. If interested, please email me at jen.jormakka@sympatico.ca
Thank you.
Jennifer

Line-editor wants work
I'm a retired English teacher willing to do line-by-line grammatical editing for authors seeking to self-publish. Reasonable rates. Contact Patricia at pstockc341@rogers.com or 519-679-5229.

Co-author wanted
My name is Efim Cheinis. I immigrated to Canada in 1995 from Russia, where I worked in Saint Petersburg research institute as scientist and earned PhD degree.

In 2008 I published a book for immigrants “How to Find a Job in Canada. Common Problems and Effective Solutions” (See here.)

Now I have finished a new book for immigrants “Your First Year in Canada. Everything You Need to Know and Do to Overcome Immigration Barriers and Successfully Settle Down in Canada in 52 Weeks.” Also I created website www.firstyearincanada.com

Unfortunately this new book and website both were created in Russian language only. Because of my limited English skills I need help to make this book in English.

I am looking for qualified co-author to make this book in English and create good book proposal, which will be sent to publishers. My co-author does not need to know Russian language, I will translate this book into English by myself, and my co-author has to edit English version.

Anyone interested in participating in this project, please email me. I will be happy to meet with you, show you a printed copy of this book and discuss our cooperation.

Sincerely,
Efim Cheinis,
workvision@sympatico.ca

Ready to Self Publish?
Linda Laforge, a graphic designer and illustrator with 15 years experience in marketing and advertising, is there to help you meet with success as a writer, publisher and marketer of your precious manuscript.

You’ve done it! You’ve proven yourself completely nuts by completing an entire manuscript. You might also have already spent lots of time and effort writing Query letters and contacting publishers and literary agents. I know I have!

Self Publishing isn't a new concept. Writers have been self publishing since publishing began. James Joyce self published Ulysses! John Grisham, author of A Time to Kill, was turned down by 15 publishers and 30 agents. He ended up publishing it himself. Dr. Seuss was even turned down 24 times. (Click here for a nice long list of famous self-publishers that will make you feel much better…)

It’s just been made easier since the internet has come along and matured before our finger tips. Amazon is making it even easier to be a credible online author, in any genre, from science fiction to personal memoirs. So, you have to ask yourself ~ is self-publishing the way to go for me?

Click here to discover "6 Things You Need to do to Publish your Own Book"

I can help you with:

- Book cover design
- Cover and interior illustrations
- Page layout
- Obtain Canadian ISBN number
- Get & place Bar Codes
- Website strategically designed to sell your books, including Blog set-up, Shopping Cart and Social Media programming
- Assistance setting up Amazon Accounts
- Design of Marketing Material to support book sales
- Writing and Distributing Press Releases
- Strategic Business Plan

Linda Laforge
artist@lindalaforge.com

“The Pink Glass Hen,” a true story by Suzanne Barteaux Burchell

2011-11-15T09:39:00.000-05:00

I knew I was in trouble when Mom was waiting for us on the front porch with the wooden spoon behind her back. The look in her eyes said it all.

Mom had said she would take Diane, my best friend who was a year older, and me to the carnival that night.

“No, she won’t take us,” said Diane. “Your mom breaks promises all the time. So forget it, because they’re taking the rides down tomorrow and going to a new town.”

Diane knew a lot. She was a year older and in grade four. So it looked like now or never.

When Mom lay down for her afternoon nap, I decided it would be now. Dad’s pink glass hen in the china cupboard had plenty of change in it. Dad sailed ten months of the year but when he occasionally got home for a few hours, he’d deposit the contents of his pockets into the glass hen. No one would miss a handful or two, I thought. So when Mom lay down I dug in, careful to extract just the silver.

Diane and I filled our pockets and raced up the hill to the fair grounds. We heard the rides before we saw them. The merry-go-round organ music, the screams from the roller coaster and calls from the games spurred us on to our afternoon of sheer joy.

Diane put a pile of change on the ledge of the ticket booth. In return we got the longest string of tickets we’d ever seen – not like the short meany strings Mom bought when she took us to a carnival.

Off we went, first to the Ferris wheel where we rocked the basket until the man yelled for us to cut it out. No merry-go-round for us – that was for babies, and after all I was seven. Our fav was the Tilt-a-Whirl, which hurled us around and swung us backward till our necks hurt and we almost lost our grip.

Eat and ride, eat and ride and eat and ride. Diane picked the rides and I picked the eats. We gorged on candy floss, hot dogs and caramel corn. This was the best time in my whole life, and there were still tickets left and Mom was still asleep. This was heaven right here and now.

Five times we ran up the ramp of the Tilt-a-Whirl. Five times we gripped the dirty safety bar and shrieked our joy. But that fifth ride was our nemesis.

The tilting and the whirling got us screaming in no time but Diane started to make real strange gurgly sounds. Then whoosh – out it came all that floss and popcorn and hot dogs, all over the seat, and all over me and Diane.

We tilted and whirled and slid back and forth in a river of puke. Our little sear sucker dresses soaked it all up, and what our dresses did not absorb was smeared on the old leather seat. Diane howled, which made the ride man speed us up cause he thought were having so much fun and he saw we still had more tickets sticking out of our pockets.

The ride finally stopped. We staggered off, catching a glare from the man who realized what was on the seat when he smelled us. We tried to wash off the puke with a hose by the toss the ring game. Two kids walked by and we threw the remaining tickets at them.

Our walk home was grim. The heat of the sun dried the puke into stiff stained patches and seemed to increase the stench. It was hard to breathe in the fumes. Why did Diane have to get sick and end it all? And we’d still had tickets left!

But it got even worse. There was Mom waiting on the porch wide awake with a wooden spoon behind her back. I knew one of her “good lickings” was coming. Why she said “good” I do not know, because they never ever felt good at all. She told Diane to go home that her mother was waiting.

Then the killer came when Mom said, “Wait till your Father gets home and you tell him what you did.”

Oh boy. Telling Dad would sting more than any old wooden spoon.

There on the kitchen table was the pink glass hen with a dent in the mound of coins. How did she know? Seems I had left the china cabinet door open.

Today, decades later, I still have that hen in my china cabinet. But I never put change in it, lest temptation return. I remember Dad’s look. And I have never been on the Tilt-a-Whirl again since that summer day of the pink glass hen.

Suzanne Barteaux Burchell has been a secondary school drama teacher for 37 years and a part-time lecturer at Brock University in Dramatic Arts. She has written a play and had it done publically in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. She is also an amateur story teller and has had four articles published in the Forum magazine for the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers’ Federation.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

The Open Heart Poetry Competition

2011-11-14T06:30:00.001-05:00

Poems must include at least one of the following Heart themes: Love won, Love lost, Love of family, Love of animals, Love of Humanity, Valentine poems, Bonding, Charity, Generosity, Compassion, Courage, Heart health problems, Heart wood, Broken heart, Heartache, Hard hearted, Emotions carried in the heart.

Poems not to exceed 36 lines, including stanza breaks. All styles welcome.

Deadline: December 25th, 2011

Fee: $5 for the first poem, additional poems $1 each.

Grand Prize: $100 for the best poem, plus $100 to be donated to the author’s favourite charity. Plus 18 Honourable Mention Awards. All winning poems will receive a fancy certificate, publication in a chapbook, and the winners will receive one free chapbook. On your cover page, state Charity and mailing address for the Charity of your choice. Additional copies of the chapbook will be available for $7 each (postage included).

Open to Canadian residents only. Complete rules at the the Ontario Poetry Society web page here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Thistledown Press seeks short story collections and teen fiction

2011-11-12T11:31:00.005-05:00

Thistledown Press
Allan Forrie: Publisher
118 - 20th Street West
Saskatoon, SK S7M 0W6
http://www.thistledownpress.com/

Thistledown Press started in 1975 as a publishing house for prairie writers, particularly poets, but has since expanded to become a broader general Canadian publisher of novels, short story collections and poetry and juvenile literature.

Thistledown's Current Publishing Interests:
Teen audience fiction
Juvenile audience fiction by writers who have previous book publications
Collections of short fiction by emerging writers who have publishing credits in journals and magazines
Novels by writers who have previous book publications and poetry collections by writers who have previous book publications

Submissions:
Do not send a complete manuscript. All queries and follow-ups must be by post. Please do not phone or email.
All submissions must contain a writing sample and an outline of the proposed publication. It is important that you let us know your perceived audience and your plans for assisting in the marketing of your work.
Novel samples should include a first chapter or significant representative sampling that highlights form and style
Short fiction samples should include two stories that demonstrate the collection’s audience target and subject range

Full guidelines here.

Brian Henry will lead a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, December 3 in Oakville with guest Ali McDonald of The Rights Factory literary agency (see here).

Also, Brian will lead a "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshop in St. Catharines on January 14, 2012 (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Andrea Brown Literary Agency seeks juvenile lit

2011-11-11T15:29:00.002-05:00

The Andrea Brown Literary Agency was founded in August 1981 and has offices in the San Francisco Bay area, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The agency specializes in juvenile books. In fact, nearly 98% of projects are either juvenile fiction or nonfiction.

The two most junior agents (and hence the two most in need of authors) are Mary Kole and Jennifer Mattson:

Mary Kole, Associate Agent

Mary joined the agency in August, 2009. She has also worked in the children's editorial department at Chronicle Books and earned her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of San Francisco. Mary is passionate about exciting, high-concept story ideas and editorial work. With all of her clients, she uses her well-honed editorial eye to develop each project to its full potential. Mary lives in Brooklyn and operates the East Coast office of the agency.

At this time, Mary is only considering young adult and middle grade novels and truly exceptional, funny, quirky and character-driven picture books (she especially loves working with author/illustrators). She's seeking fresh, unique voices and idiosyncratic characters who, by book's end, are more flesh than fiction. Her favorite stories are upmarket, high-concept, character-driven and well-plotted...featuring a mix of fast pacing, emotional resonance, and beautiful writing. In essence: literary spark with commercial appeal.

While she's not interested in high fantasy (think Tolkien), she would love to consider realistic/contemporary, character-driven fantasy (think Graceling), urban fantasy, action/adventure, issue books, romance, light science fiction, and absolutely unique paranormal (no vampires or werewolves or Greek mythology), and humor manuscripts. She is especially looking for horror, ghost, mystery, dark/edgy, thriller and dystopian tales.

One of her favorite genres is magical realism: a story set firmly in our world, only with a twist—something that turns "reality" on its ear—to make things more interesting. Favorite themes include: family, home, unlikely heroes, discovering one's voice, and finding one's equilibrium after a big life event. Mary adores manuscripts that make her laugh, make her tear up or punch her in the gut. She also loves YA stories of friendship, romance, and betrayal; manuscripts full of those "first time" moments that make teenage life electric and unforgettable.

For all projects, voice and character development are absolutely essential, as is a high-concept or upmarket commercial premise. Make sure your manuscript is as strong and polished (revised, revised after feedback, revised again) as possible. She looks forward to reading your work!

Check out some of the books Mary is representing here.

Query Mary at mary@andreabrownlit.com
Paste the text of your picture book or the first 10 pages of your middle grade young adult fiction into your email. Author-illustratos should include 2 or 3 illustration samples (in jpeg format), and text of picture book, if applicable

Jennifer Mattson, associate agent

Jennifer comes to Andrea Brown Literary Agency after nearly five years of reviewing children's literature as part of the staff of Booklist magazine. That adds up to close readings of around 1,000 books, lending Jennifer a wide-angle view of the tastes of individual houses. Prior to Booklist, Jennifer was an Associate Editor at Dutton Children's Books.

In the picture-book arena, Jennifer is interested in authors and author-illustrators who bring a distinctive, well-developed point of view to their work; at this time, she is not acquiring illustration-only clients. She loves picture books that are story time-ready stories (no one-joke tales or mood pieces) that resonate with universal childhood experiences and concerns; fables and folktales aren't for her.

For the older set, she is drawn to richly imagined fantasies that depart from old-hat heroic quests (alternate realities, magical realism, and steam-punk are all styles/premises to have recently caught her notice). She has a special interest in dystopian fiction for middle graders and in sprawling, atmospheric tales with Dickensian twists and satisfying puzzles. But as much as high-concept novels pique her interest, the most mind-blowing premise can't hide a flat narrative that rarely reaches for unexpected descriptions, fully fleshed characterizations, or a zinging narrative voice.

Recent fiction sales include Tom Leveen's second contemporary-realistic YA novel Zero, following up Party (both Random House); and Jenny Meyerhoff's comic middle-grade The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger (FSG). Recent picture book sales include author-illustrator Gail Page's How to be a Good Cat, the latest entry in her picture book series about Bobo the dog (Bloomsbury); and Ten on a Sled, a picture book written by Kim Norman (Sterling).

Query Jennifer at: jmatt@andreabrownlit.com Paste the text of your picture book or the first 10 pages of other fiction into your email. Author-illustrators should include 2 or 3 illustration samples (in jpeg format), and text of picture book, if applicable.

Andrea Brown Literary Agencye home page here. Full guidelines here.

Brian Henry will be leading a "How to Get Published" workshop on Saturday, December 3 in Oakville with guest Ali McDonald of The Rights Factory literary agency (see here).

Also, Brian will lead a "Writing for Children and for Young Adults" workshop in St. Catharines on January 14, 2012 (see here).

See Brian's full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, OrangevilleGravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Book Fair and launch of "Cassius: Blood Rights" by Heather Anne Lambert, Dec 2 in Newmarket

2011-11-08T07:58:00.004-05:00

Calling All GTA-Plus Writers: Book Launch and Book Fair – Taking place December 2nd in Newmarket, Ontario

York Region author, Heather Anne Lambert, launches her action-packed page turner – Cassius: Blood Rights – in partnership with the Literacy Council York-Simcoe on Friday, December 2nd from 5-8 p.m. Includes a Book Fair with local authors.

For Writers:
• Take advantage of this great opportunity to sell your books in time for the holidays!
• 25 vendor spots available for local authors to sell their books right before Christmas!
• Vendor Fees - $15 of which $5 goes directly to the Literacy Council York-Simcoe. The remainder supports this event.
• Help create an event that could provide annual exposure (& Sales!) for your books.
• Contribute to a charity that supports adult literacy – our reading public.

Event Details:
• Launch of brand new vampire series, Cassius: Blood Rights – a book you can really sink your teeth into!
• Book fair features local authors who personally autograph and sell their work.
• The Book Launch and Fair supports local writers while offering the community a chance to shop for unique holiday gift items!
• Reception, book signings and refreshments – come mingle with our authors.
• Readings from Cassius: Blood Rights by author Heather Anne Lambert
To become a vendor at this exciting event contact: Heather Anne Lambert at halambertWriter@rogers.com or 416.464.5513

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.