How to Build Your Story workshop, Saturday, Jan 19, in Oakville

The Neighbors, by guest speaker
Hannah Mary McKinnon

The Oakville Public Library presents…

How to Build Your Story

Plotting novels & Writing short stories

Saturday, January 19, 2019

10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Oakville Central Library, Auditorium, 120 Navy Street Oakville, Ontario (Map here)

This workshop will show you how writers plot a novel and will give you the best tips on writing short stories. We’ll also look at where to get your stories published and how to win contests. Best yet, you’ll see how to apply the story-building techniques you’ve learned to your own writing.

Guest speaker Hannah Mary McKinnon is the author of The Neighbors, a dark, suspenseful  woman’s fiction novel published in March 2018 by MIRA (HarperCollins USA) and Time After Time, published in June 2016 by AVON (HarperCollins UK), a novel about love, loss and second chances that’s full of humour. Hannah’s third book, Her Secret Son (MIRA Books), launches next spring, and her fourth book, The Other Sister (MIRA Books), will come out in 2020.

Hannah

When she’s not writing novels for adults, Hannah’s three boys give her plenty of material for children’s books. 

At the workshop, Hannah will be speaking about the different trial and error approaches she’s used to plot her novels and short stories. She’ll also be sharing her story of her writing career so far.

Visit Hannah’s website here.

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

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance by mail or Interac

or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 if you wait to pay at the door

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

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

Congratulations to Corinne on a huge contest win, to Hannah on selling book #4, & to Jane and Richard on publishing short stories, plus a call for your writing experiences and personal stories

Corinne by BBIMAGERY

Hi, Brian!

I'm writing to you with the exciting news that an excerpt from Haunting Charlotte, my novel-in-progress, has won the 2018 Penguin Random House Canada Student Award for Fiction!

The award along with a $2,500 prize will be presented to me at the Toronto International Festival of Authors at Harbourfront in October.

As always, thanks for your support and encouragement.

All the best,

Corinne Clark

Yay, Corinne! 

Hi, Brian:

Hope summer is treating you well!

FYI, my story “Cooler by the Lake” was published today in The Penmen Review. Thanks again for such a wonderful Intensive class this spring. I will not see you in September but do want to return in early 2019, so I’ll watch for your registration notice.

Meanwhile, all the best,

Jane Finlayson

Read Jane’s story here. For information on submitting to The Penmen Review see here.

For information about writing courses starting this September, see here.

Hi, Brian.

I’ve just had a short story published: “Pink Bunny Rabbits.” It can be found in the July-August 2018, The Last Guru, issue of Down in the Dirt.

Kind Regards,

Richard Tattoni

www.richardtattoni.com

Read Richard’s story here,

Hi, Brian.

Great news – it’s official!! Stellar agent and all-round Wunderkind Carolyn Forde sold my fourth novel The Other Sister to MIRA (HarperCollins). It’ll be published in 2020. (Novel #3, Her Secret Son is out in 2019).

Excited, who, moi???!!!

Thank you Carolyn!!! 😍 😍 😍 

Hannah Mary McKinnon

Hannah’s agent, Carolyn Forde is with Westwood Creative Artists (see here). If you’re interested in finding an agent for yourself, be sure to join us at an upcoming How to Get Published workshop. There’s one August 18 in Collingwood with literary agent Paige Sisley (see here) and another Nov 17 in Mississauga with literary agent Stephanie Sinclair (see here).

And, for sure, don’t miss the How to Build Your Story workshops where Hannah will be the guest speaker: on Oct 20 in Waterloo (see here) and January 19 in Oakville (see here)  ~Brian

Note: if you have any news to share with your fellow writers or you have something for "Writer to Writer" (you're looking for a writers' group or beta readers, for examples), send me an email at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Writer to Writer

Hi, Brian.

Anubha's first novel
Peacock in the Snow
launches Sept 28. Details here.

After a few grueling and pedantic months, I was able to complete the design and launch of my author website.

 Of course there is still work to be done, but I am grateful for support that I was able to elicit within my circle of acquaintances and cronies - especially for the two blog pages that I am about to talk about.  

 I am writing with a request to all our readers to visit the website, with the hope that there may be something to get them interested enough to engage at any level, write, comment or respond.

A Writers’ Blog: This is a call for interaction, your comments and experiences on A Writers’ Blog. The transition from a Writer to an Author is a learning curve for many. Whether you are a debut author or a seasoned one, in today’s  push-button world of instant gratification, changing technology and discerning reader tastes there is always something to catch-up with. Being a debut author can be far more challenging than it seems, although few know what they are getting into till they are deep into the flow of things. There are additional expectations of engaging with various social media, building an author brand, networking , presenting and doing all the right things.

The Writers’ Blog is an interactive space where each new post shares nuggets, tips, tricks, questions and challenges of this process and invites fellow authors and writers to exchange their experiences as well.

I am calling out for anyone who is interested in sharing their thoughts and ideas, whether short or lengthy, to build a community of interaction and make sense of it all.

Tell-Tale: Share Your Story:  

This is a call for you to share your tale – any part of it – here.  

When I thought of building a website, one of the challenges that stared in my face was how to make its content relevant for the community of readers, writers, authors. What could I post that would resonate and stay in people’s minds and hearts. So I asked myself, what makes writers, story-tellers, artists, authors tick? And the answer that I came up with was : People’s lives, their stories.

Everyone has a tale to tell. And each tale has a message. 

So I decided to build an interactive blog which journeyed into the worlds of diverse, unheard voices through their incredible, brave tales with a hope to discover pockets of sunshine, heartbreak, triumphs and setbacks, all wrapped tightly around the way they told their stories.

This is a call-out to all of you to share any part of your story. We don’t know who reads and interprets your messages as inspirational, informational, entertaining, and gratifying. At the end of each tale is a question to ponder for the readers, something to take back from your story for them.

I look forward to hearing from you on my website here.

Or you can email me at: info@anubhamehta.com

Warm regards,  

Anubha Mehta

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

“Sticky Notes” by Ally Cipiti

“Sticky Notes”
by Ally Cipiti

There’s more than my share of sticky notes.

I’ll give any excuse to buy them.

Like pens and pencils they come in many assorted colours,

for each mood of a day.

Most of them have quotes.

Some are little notes to myself.

Some are lost, then found.

Some I know I need to give away.

There’s more than my share of sticky notes.

I should remember this every time I’m at the store.

More than half the work is already written.

But I still have an entire lifetime.

However, let’s face the truth.

My words have already made you smitten.

I’ve written on so many sticky notes.

They’re spread out like a chain reaction.

They bring smiles,

they can definitely give comfort,

and sometimes repetition is the only way.

Messages do not always have to be extravagant,

they just need to be handled with respect.

So if you’re going to shoot an arrow,

you better make it straight.

There’s more than my share of sticky notes.

And not a single one doesn’t have an archetype.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t real.

Writers know from experience how much some words can hurt.

So they spend every minute they can,

writing words they know will heal.

I can give you more than your fair share of sticky notes.

Some you will need to highlight,

some you will need to erase.

Some you will need to add on to.

Some can be written on again.

But here’s a piece of advice that everybody should know:

Sticky notes are evidence of thoughts meant to stay.

Hey!

Guess what?

There’s more than my share of sticky notes.

Alessandra “Ally” Cipiti lives in Mississauga, Ontario. She discovered her passion for writing when she was ten years old. Her publication history includes four entries in consecutive poetry anthologies by Creative Communication, an organization introduced by her 12^th grade Writer’s Craft teacher, Mrs. Kerr, that devotes itself to the promotion, teaching, and appreciation of student writing. While pursuing her career in Creative Writing, she is employed at Erin Mills Middle School as a Lunchroom Supervisor.

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

Writing for children and for Young Adults workshop, Saturday, October 13, in Sudbury

Forest of Ruin a YA novel by Kelley Armstrong,
a New York Times #1 bestselling author
and one of Brian's students

Writing for Children and for Young Adults

 ~ the world’s hottest market

Saturday, October 13, 2018
10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

College Boreal, Room 4002, Sudbury, Ontario (Map here)

"Writing for Children & for Young Adults" is also offered Sept 22 in Oakville (see here) and  weekly Kid Lit course starts Oct 5 in Toronto (see here). Past these dates find upcoming Kid Lit workshops and courses here (and scroll down).

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

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

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor, author, 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. 

Read reviews of Brian’s classes and workshops here.

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53  at the door

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

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

Not So Stories, edited by David Thomas Moore, with a story by Wayne Santos

Hi, Brian.

As one of your former students, I just wanted to let you know that I've been included in a British anthology of international people of colour writers that is a "response" to Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories short story collection. They even asked me to contribute a blog post to the official publisher website.

Thanks for letting me attend your class!

Wayne Santos

Not So Stories, edited by David Thomas Moore

Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories was one of the first true children's books in the English language, a timeless classic that continues to delight readers to this day. Beautiful, evocative and playful, the stories of How the Whale Got His Throat or How the First Letter Was Written paint a world of magic and wonder.

It's also deeply rooted in British colonialism. Kipling saw the Empire as a benign, civilising force, in a way that's troubling to modern readers. Not So Stories attempts to redress the balance, bringing together new and established writers of colour from around the world to take the Just So Stories back, to interrogate, challenge and celebrate their legacy.

Including stories by Adiwijaya Iskandar, Joseph E. Cole, Raymond Gates, Stewart Hotston, Zina Hutton, Georgina Kamsika, Cassandra Khaw, Paul Krueger, Tauriq Moosa, Jeannette Ng, Ali Nouraei, Wayne Santos and Zedeck Siew, illustrations by Woodrow Phoenix and an introduction by Nikesh Shukla.

Buy your copy of Not So Stories from Abaddon Books here.

Read Wayne’s blog post about being included in this anthology here.

Hey, do you have a book you want to promote? I’m always glad to help by posting an announcement on Quick Brown Fox (though sometimes it may take a while). Just send me an email that I can post to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

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

Susan and Alexander Novotny open new literary agency seeks authors

Susan Novotny

Novotny Literary Agency

c/o The Book House

1475 Western Avenue

Albany, NY 12203

http://novotnyliteraryagency.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, and if you’re not yet on my newsletter list, send me an email, including your locale to brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~Brian

Susan Novotny, the owner of the independent bookstore The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, and her son Alexander Novotny have formed the Novotny Literary Agency. They want to "bridge the relationship between promising authors, successful publishers, knowledgeable and inspired booksellers and, most especially, readers." Like all new agents, the Novotnys need authors.

See the full submission guidelines and query Alexander online here.

Include: A separate page detailing your (1) publication history, (2) the history of the project, and (3) whether it has been previously submitted to any publishers or other agents.

The first 50 pages of your manuscript typed, in hard copy, in 12-point font, and double spaced. Or, if you’re submitting electronically, the first 50 pages in .pdf format, conforming to the hard copy guidelines.

Literary agent Paige Sisley

If you’re interested in getting published, soon or somewhere down the road, don’t miss upcoming  How to Get Published  workshops on Saturday, Aug 18, in Collingwood with literary agent Paige Sisley (see here) and Saturday, Nov 17, in Mississauga with literary agent Stephanie Sinclair (see here). 

For updated listing of How to Get Published workshops, see here (and scroll down).

If you’re interested in Writing for Children & for Young Adults, Brian Henry will lead a mini-conference with Yasemin Uçar, senior editor at Kids Can Press, children’s author Kira Vermond, and YA author Tanaz Bhathena, Saturday, Sept 22, in Oakville (see here), a Writing Kid Lit weekly course on Friday afternoons, Oct 5 – Nov 30 in Toronto (see here), and a Writing for Children & for Young Adults workshop Saturday, October 12, in Sudbury (see here).

For updated listings of Writing for Children & for Young adult workshops and for weekly Kid lit classes, see here (and scroll down).

Also coming soon: Writing Conflict: Fight scenes, Dialogue scenes & Love scenes, Saturday, Sept 15, in Toronto (see here), and Writing and Revising, Saturday, Sept 29, in St. Catharines (see here). 

The Briar's Resort

New: November at the Briar’s Writing Retreat, Friday, Nov 2 – Sunday, Nov 4. Three days to put up your feet, recharge your creative batteries, and get some great writing tips – all in the supportive company of your fellow writers. Details here.

This September, Brian is leading a full roster of courses, Introductory to Intense (Details of all six courses here):

Tree at The Briars

Welcome to Creative Writing, Thursday, afternoons, Sept 27 - Nov 9, in Oakville. See here.

Writing Personal Stories, Thursday evenings, Oct 4 – Nov 29, in Burlington. Sees here.

Writing Kid Lit, Friday afternoons, Oct 5 – Nov 30, in Toronto. See here.

And Intensive Creative Writing, offered in three locales:

Tuesday afternoons, Sept 25 – Nov 27 (first readings emailed Sept 18), in Burlington. See here.

Wednesday evenings Sept 26 – Dec 5 (first readings emailed Sept 19), in Georgetown. See here.

Friday mornings Sept 28 – Nov 30 (first readings emailed Sept 21), in Toronto. See here. 

See details of all six courses here.

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

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

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

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