New book: The Medal by Laurie Ness Gordon

Hi, Brian.
Borealis Press was on my list of publishers to – eventually – query about my YA novel, The Medal, but seeing Borealis showcased on Quick Brown Fox spurred me into action. Imagine my surprise when, a mere two weeks after mailing off my query, I received a call requesting the entire manuscript.

The Medal was published in October 2014. Set in Kingston, Ontario and Afghanistan, this contemporary coming-of-age story chronicles how the unlikely friendship between a troubled 16-year–old and an elderly WWII veteran helps the young man deal with his foster parents, a forbidden girlfriend and brushes with the law.

The book launch was a huge success. I expected 40-50 people; almost 70 showed up. To date, sales have been brisk. Some people have bought multiple copies, or purchased more after they’d finished it. Many adults as well as youth have read my book and the feedback has been uniformly positive.

The Medal is available at www.borealispress.com (here), Chapters.Indigo.ca, the Novel Idea bookstore in Kingston and Lighthouse Books in Brighton.  The e-book version should be available soon.

Thanks, Brian, for making Quick Brown Fox such a great resource.

Laurie Ness Gordon
Www.laurienessgordon.com

Note: For information on submitting to Borealis Press, see here.

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

New literary agent Kerry D’Agostino at Curtis Brown seeks literary& commercial fiction, narrative nonfiction and memoir

Curtis Brown Ltd.

http://www.curtisbrown.com/

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

Curtis Brown is one of the world’s most well established literary agencies. It employs more than 28 people, with offices in New York and Los Angeles.

Kerry D’Agostino is the most recent member of the team and like all new agents, she needs authors. Kerry started working at Curtis Brown in 2011 as assistant to Tim Knowlton and Holly Frederick in the Film and Television Department. Before Curtis Brown, she received her certificate in publishing from the Columbia Publishing Course, her masters in Art in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her bachelors from Bowdoin College.

In addition to her continued work with the Film Department, Kerry currently assists Peter Ginsberg, handles audio rights for Peter and Katherine Fausset, and is building her own list.

Kerry is interested in a wide range of literary and commercial fiction, as well as narrative nonfiction and memoir. Above all when evaluating manuscripts, she looks for a strong narrative voice and a protagonist with whom she (and others) can connect. She also has a soft spot for anything to do with Maine, Vermont, skiing, and sisters.

Query Kerry at: kd@cbltd.com

Include a synopsis and three sample chapters.

Martha Magor Webb

Brian Henry will lead "How to Get Published" workshops in Windsor (for my American readers, that's just across the river from Detroit), on Sunday, May 31, with Martha Magor Webb of the Anne McDermid Agency (see here) and in Mississauga on Saturday, June 20, again with Martha Magor Webb (here).

Brian will also lead “How to Write a Bestseller,” with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, Saturday, June 13, in Toronto (here).

For more information or to register, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Kelley Armstrong

Other upcoming workshops, include “Writing for Children and for Young Adults,” Saturday, May 2, in Oakville (see here), “How to Build Your Story,” Saturday, May 9 in London (here) and Saturday, May 30 in Guelph (here), and “Secrets of Writing a Page-turner,” Saturday, May 23, in Barrie (here) and Saturday, June 6, in Georgetown (here).

This summer, Brian will be leading two Intensive Creative Writing courses, one on Tuesday afternoons, the other on Thursdays, both in Burlington. He’ll also lead a “Welcome to Creative Writing” course on Thursday afternoons in Burlington (see here).

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

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

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

A Different Drummer Books invites you to join them Saturday, May 2, for their Authors for Indies Day

Joyce Wayne, author of  The Cook's Temptation,
will be one of the guests at the
Different Drummer's celebration of
independent bookstores

A Different Drummer Books joins writers, publishers, fellow booksellers and readers across the country in a celebration of Canada's independent bookstores, the inaugural Authors for Indies Day.

We're hosting a festive event Saturday, May 2, starting at 4:30 p.m. here at the bookshop (513 Locust Street, Burlington, Ontario ~ map here).

 We've invited many of the authors we greatly admire.

Confirmed to visit us are Melodie Campbell, Gillian Chan, Jen J. Danna, Jill Downie, Sylvia McNicoll, Janet Turpin Myers, John Lawrence Reynolds, Gisela Sherman, Joyce Wayne and Claudia White – and the roster is growing!

Come and celebrate Authors for Indies Day in the wonderful company of fine writers at your bookstore.  Thank you!

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

Love letters ~ Your fellow writers are getting published in Origami Journal, Near to the Knuckle, CommuterLIt, Canadian Immigrant....

Origami fox by Lexar from a design by Roman Diaz

Hi, Brian.

I am happy to finally write in with the news that a short story I created during one of your “Next Step in Creative Writing” classes has been published in the Spring edition of Origami Journal and will also be published this summer in Near to the Knuckle in the UK.

“Edge of Reason” was an exercise in trying to create a sympathetic antihero and was inspired by the sight of young cliff divers plunging into the Mediterranean surf of the Spanish Costa Tropical. 

Thank you once again for your guidance and words of wisdom.    

Karen MacDougall

Read Karen’s story in Origami Journal here.  For information about submitting to Origami Journal and Near to the Knuckle, see here.

Note: This summer, beginning at the end of June, I’ll be offering “Intensive Creative Writing” courses on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in Burlington. In the fall, I’ll be offering Intensive courses on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons and Next Step courses on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. For details or to reserve a spot, email me at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Hi, Brian.

I’ve got a story published on CommuterLit! You’ll have seen this story before in the Thursday evening Next Step class in Georgetown. But check out my edited and published version of “Silence” here.

Linda

For information on submitting to CommuterLit, see here.

Dear Brian,

I would like to share with you the amazing news that my personal short story titled "Our First White Winter" has just been published online in the Canadian Immigrant magazine. This was one of the stories I wrote as an assignment for your great Writing Personal Stories  course.

Thank you for your excellent guidance and great help to improve our writing creativity.

Have a wonderful and relaxing night,

Manuel Gomez 

Read Manuel’s story here. For information on submitting to Canadian Immigrant see here.

Note: The next session of Writing Personal Stories runs Tuesday afternoons beginning April 28 (see here). Then a new session will begin in the fall. Read reviews of my weekly courses here.

Hi, Brian.

I just wanted to thank you for the “Writing Great Characters” workshop on Saturday.  I have been stalled in my writing, and I realized at the workshop it was because I didn't have a clear picture of my character's personality and motives.  Your exercises and handouts have inspired me and I'm happy to say I spent the rest of the weekend writing.  Writer's block conquered (for now, ha)! 

Looking forward to all the upcoming workshops!

Marina Unger

Note: I’ll be leading “Writing Great Characters” workshops on Saturday, July 11, in Burlington (see here), and on Saturday, July 18, in Kitchener (see here).

See my full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond. 

Glimmer Train pays $700, Saving Bannister Poetry Contest, Near to the Knuckle, and Canadian Immigrant want submissions

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

Call for entries: Glimmer Train, one of North America’s premier short story journals, accepts entries year round. Pays $700. Stories should be a maximum or 12,000 words. No minimum word count, but they prefer pieces over 500 words. Maximum three stories per author per month.

Next deadline: May 31. Guidelines here.

The Saving Bannister 30th Annual Poetry Contest

 The Niagara Branch of the Canadian Authors Association is holding its 30th Annual Poetry Anthology contest for residents of Ontario. Entries must be in English, previously unpublished and not submitted for consideration elsewhere. Number of entries is unlimited, but no more than six poems from one poet will be included in the anthology.

Deadline: May 31, 2015

Entry fee: $15 for up to three poems and $4 for each additional poem

Prize: 1st prize: $200; 2nd prize: $100; 3rd prize $50

Details: www.canauthorsniagara.org/poetry-contest/  

Near to the Knuckle is a fiction site based in the UK. It publishes gritty short fiction across genres. No restrictions on length, but they favour short punchy fiction. They will consider serializations and strongly prefer previously unpublished work. No pay, just glory. Paste your story in plain text in the body of your email and send it to: close2thebone@hotmail.com

No attachments. Full submission guidelines here.

Canadian Immigrant magazine

Offices in Mississauga and Vancouver

If you are an immigrant in Canada, then Canadian Immigrant wants to hear from you. Canadian Immigrant’s aim is to “inform, educate, motivate and connect,” and they believe in learning from experience. If you have an interesting story to tell or want to write about issues and topics concerning immigrants, they invite you to contact them.

Each month, the Canadian Immigrant magazine and website include an immigrant “Success Story,” as well as other articles about immigrants in business, health, the arts and more.

They also publish first-person stories that give you a chance to write about your journey to Canada in your own words (600 words maximum). Want to sound off on immigration policy or news? Submit an editorial for the “Last Word” page (500 words maximum) or to the letters page.

If you have a story to share, email the editor, Margaret Jetelina, at editor@canadianimmigrant.ca

Freelance Contributions

If you’re a freelance writer interested in writing for Canadian Immigrant, send an email to: editor@canadianimmigrant.ca 

include:

§ A sample of your writing and a brief description of your writing experience

§ The reason you’re interested in writing for Canadian Immigrant

§ One detailed story idea or pitch

All queries will be considered in due course. Canadian Immigrant also accepts photography and illustration contributions. They will contact you to discuss details, including deadlines and fees, if they want to proceed with your pitch.

Full submission guidelines here.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond. 

Literary agent Leila Campoli of Stonesong Literary seeks nonfiction

Stonesong Literary Agency

270 West 39^th Street

#201

New York, NY 10018

http://stonesong.com/

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

Leila Campoli joined Stonesong as an agent in March 2015, and like all new agents, she needs authors. Before joining the agency world, she worked closely with authors as an editor at Palgrave Macmillan in business, economics, finance, international relations, and politics. 

She prides herself on putting the concerns of her authors and the quality of their books above all else. She is passionate about representing books that break our established understanding of the world.

Leila represents prescriptive and narrative nonfiction projects in business, finance, investing, science, pop culture, and current events. Her ideal author has a strong platform, groundbreaking ideas, and unique style. She’s particularly interested in books that offer a window into remarkable lives and little known operations. No fiction, poetry, or screenplays.

Some of her previous titles include: Mark D. White’s The Illusion of Wellbeing, Gudrun Johnsen’s Bringing Down the Banking Industry, Deborah Gregory’s Unmasking Financial Psychopaths, and Matt Ragas and Ron Culp’s Business Essentials for Strategic Communicators.

Brian Henry will lead "How to Get Published" workshops in Windsor (for my American readers, that's just across the river from Detroit), on Sunday, May 31, with Martha Magor Webb of the Anne McDermid Agency (see here) and in Mississauga on Saturday, June 20, again with Martha Magor Webb (here).

For more information or to register, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Other upcoming workshops, include “How to Build Your Story,”  Saturday, April 25, in Thessalon (here), Saturday, May 9 in London (here) and Saturday, May 30 in Guelph (here), and “Secrets of Writing a Page-turner,” Saturday, May 23, in Barrie (here) and Saturday, June 6, in Georgetown (here).

This summer, Brian will be leading two Intensive Creative Writing courses, one on Tuesday afternoons, the other on Thursdays, both in Burlington. He’ll also lead a “Welcome to Creative Writing” course on Thursday afternoons in Burlington (see here).

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

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

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

"Sewing Needle," "Is This What It Comes To?" and "An Invitation (aka Death by Chocolate)," three poems by Lori Edey

Sewing Needle

Sewing needle -

held firmly in the chubby fingers of the six year old.

“I’m sewing a button for my Brownie badge,” she explains,

eyes glistening with focus.

“Too tight,” Brown Owl says gently, “Try again.”

The fifth try is “just right”.  She wears her badge proudly.

Sewing needle -

held firmly in the expectant hand of the mother-to-be,

flannel nightshirt propped high on her belly,

boasting fishes of yellow and blue.

“Winter’s coming.” she explains, “My baby will be warm and cozy.”

She makes the hem’s last stitch and snips.

Sewing needle -

held firmly in the competent hands of the middle aged woman, surrounded by felt and material - scraps saved over time.

“Making Christmas stockings for new grandchildren,” she explains.

Everyone in Bridge Club’s had grandbabies for years.

Except her.  Until now.

Sewing needle -

held firmly in the arthritic fingers of the old woman.

She uses a threader now, sitting under a bright light

as she expertly pulls the thread through the hole – first try.

“Fifteen minutes at a time is all.” she explains. “Never sure whether my eyes or my fingers will go first.”

Is This What It Comes To?

They rock daily on the front porch

Companionably gossiping about the problems of the day

Offering unsolicited advice to the unhearing

Reminiscing about days gone by

Watching, watching….

Waiting for death

Or a visit from a loved one.

An Invitation:  (aka Death by Chocolate)

Come one, come all – I bid you, please come!

Come often, expectantly – I want to have fun!

My Eucharistic tub is prepared just for you

Frozen just right – solid through and through.

All who are nut lovers, choc’late, caramel, too.

And especially fruits, I’ve been frozen for you.

Dress me up?  Oh, you bet, I’ll surely be true.

Sprinkles, smarties, a cherry or two?

In the mood to be saucy?  Hot fudge melts me down!

Hold me in ceramic or plastic, I’ll never frown

In cones – plain or waffle, the choice is your guess

I love to be, preferably, with tongue … caressed.

Luscious lips do enhance my pleasure, my dear

Mutual delight unfolds as our dance steps are clear.

Lips to tongue, roof of mouth, cheeks and noses, too.

Oh, loved one, do come, I am waiting for you!

Lori Edey has worn a variety of hats:  cook, teacher, minister, counsellor/therapist among them.  The last several years, she’s been playing “dress up” with that of writer, trying not to take herself or her writing too seriously.  A convert to cats, she lives a “pussy-whipped” existence with her partner and beloved felines in Dundas, Ontario.

See Brian Henry's schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond. 

Welcome to Creative Writing course, July 2 – Aug 20, in Burlington

Welcome to Creative Writing

8 weeks of exploring your creative side

Summer session

Thursday evenings, July 2 to Aug 20, 2015

7 – 9 p.m.

Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Ave, Burlington, Ontario (Map here.)

This is your chance to take up writing in a warm, supportive environment. This course will open the door to all kinds of creative writing. We’ll visit short story writing and children’s writing, writing in first person and in third person, and writing just for fun. 

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 setting, where your words will grow and flower.

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.

Note: For a pair of reviews of the "Welcome to Creative Writing" course, see here.

See more reviews of Brian’s classes and workshops here.

Fee: 140.71 plus 13% hst = 159

Number of attendees strictly limited.

To reserve your spot, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

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