Great workshops this month: Writing for Children & for Young Adults and Writing Your Memoirs & Other True Stories

The Rising by New York Times
bestselling author Kelley Armstrong,
one of Brian's students

The Caledon Public Library presents…
Writing for Children & for Young Adults ~ the world’s hottest market
Saturday, January 18, 2014
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Albion Bolton Branch of the Caledon Public Library

150 Queen Street South, Bolton, Ontario (Map here.)

If you want to write the next best-selling children’s books or just want to create stories for your own kids, this workshop is for you. Learn how to write stories kids and young adults will love and find out what you need to know to sell your book.

Special option: You may, but don't have to, bring 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 publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers and is the author of a children’s version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Tribute Publishing Inc). But his proudest boast is that he’s has helped many of his students get published. 

Fee: $39.82 + 13% hst = $45 
Limited enrolment. Please pay in advance by mail or Interac to ensure your space. 

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

Note: “Writing for Children & for Young Adults” will also be offered Saturday, May 31, in Burlington at the Central Library. 

For more information or to reserve a spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Writing your life & other true stories (a one day workshop)

Offered in two locales:

Saturday, January 25

10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Harcourt United Church, 87 Dean Ave, Guelph, Ontario. Map here.

And

Saturday, February 8
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
St. Alban's Church, 537 Main Street, Georgetown, Ontario
(In the village of Glen Williams. Map here.)

Have you ever considered writing your memoirs or family history? This workshop will introduce you to the tricks and conventions of telling true stories and will show you how to use the techniques of the novel to recount actual events. Whether you want to write for your family or for a wider public, don't miss this workshop.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He has helped many of his students get published, including our guest speaker, Dr. Ross Pennie...

Ross Pennie is the author of The Unforgiving Tides, a doctor’s memoir of Papua New Guinea (Manor House Publishing). Ross also writes medical mystery novels, published by ECW Press. The first of these, Tainted, came out in 2010 and won Arts Hamilton Literary Award for Fiction.  Ross’s second mystery, Tampered, came out in 2011, and the third Up in Smoke came out October 16. (Ross's mysteries are available for sale here). At the workshop, Ross will speak on how to turn ordinary life into dramatic material and will answer questions about how he wrote his memoir and got it published.

Fee: $38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advance by mail or Interac
or $342.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door.

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

Note: “Writing Your Life” is also offered as an eight-week course on Tuesday afternoons, 12:45 – 2:45 p.m., Jan 21 – March 11 in Burlington. Details here.

See Brian’s full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Algoma, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.