Congratulations to Emily, Sandy and Brenda for getting published and to Oksanna who’s kids’ books have been optioned for a TV show; Plus beta readers wanted

Hi, Brian.

I wanted to let you know that the educational magazine Living Education has accepted another article from me! It's titled "The Grand Gap Year" and it's coming out in March! You're the one who introduced me to the magazine through Quick Brown Fox, so I have you to thank for this.

Regards,

 – Emily Zarevich

For information about submitting to Living Education, see here.

Hi, Brian!

I heard about CommuterLit in your workshop, so I sent them a story I’ve been working on and my story, “Controlled Burn,” has been accepted! I’m very excited :)

Thank you for your help and encouragement!

Sandy Kenyon

Read Sandy’s story here. 

For information on submitting to CommuterLit, see here.

Hello, Brian

One of my short stories is published this month in Focus 50+. This is my first published story. The title is “The Winter Vacation.”

Looking forward to the next workshop in Alliston in April

Brenda Short

The next workshop in Alliston will be Secrets of Writing a Page-Turner on April 6. Details here. 

Hi, Brian:

I have some very exciting news to share with you!  My Super Hammy books have been optioned by Blaze Productions Inc. for a potential children's animated TV series.  There's still a long way to go and many hurdles to jump over as I'm learning these things take time, but I'm enjoying every step of the process. 

It all began last year with an event called "Page to Screen" which is organized by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (now known as Ontario Creates). It brings publishers and producers together. We also had a chance to pitch Super Hammy at TIFF 2018! 

In the meantime, I continue to work on more Super Hammy books published by DC Canada Education Publishing.

It was in one of your courses that I got the germ of an idea for Super Hammy! Thank you.

All the best,

Oksanna Crawley
oksannacrawleyauthor.com

P.S. (The illustration is from a new book I'm currently working on tentatively titled "Super Hammy Goes Sledding!" I do both the writing and the illustrating.)

Writer to Writer

Hello, Brian.

My memoir, Concubines in the Desert: Tales of an Expat Female in the Middle East is now in beta stage. It has been significantly cut and revised after being critiqued by a publisher. She mentioned that it is an interesting subject and has a warm and lively author voice. However, it has been deemed an unsuitable fit at this point.

I just want to get it done with and self-published but I need a few beta readers. Could you put it out to Quick Brown Fox readers on your blog? I would love feedback about readability, pacing, mood and anything that you feel from the book. It's about 50,000 words. 

I’d also like to be a beta reader for books of this genre.

I've attached a short blurb about the book. I can be contacted at LaineyFab@yahoo.com

Thank you, Brian.

About the Book

“In Qatar, I started writing a blog. But that didn’t work out. In the Gulf Middle East, I learned to keep my eyes open and my mouth shut.”

Concubines in the Desert is a Canadian expatriate’s account of her bizarre, funny and sometimes scary, yet all true experience of living and working in the Gulf Middle East. Stories include getting caught in a live protest during the Arab Revolution, wealthy inattentive students, desert shady business, hit and run by a camel and what Arab women really wear under the veil. 

If you are willing to be a beta reader, please email me at: laineyfab@yahoo.com 

Hello Brian:

Really enjoyed the Kid Lit workshop I did with you recently. Wish I was closer so I could attend your weekly Intensive Creative Writing class. I am writing a novel. The main characters are twins: one suffers and lives a lonely life yet survives as a beautifully evolved heroine; the other is blessed in every way yet fails to survive or self-actualize. Christ is also a character in the story, though, it is not a Christian book.

Open to critique and willing to trade critiques. Also willing to take these characters and do short stories. 

Also, I took feedback from you and Yasemin {Yasemin Uçar of Kids Can Press} and revised my Dandelion picture book. Thanks so much, again your insight unlock some more of my creativity.

Thank you

Shelley Sukhdeo

If you’d like to be a critique partner with me, email me at: shelleysukhdeo@gmail.com

Tanaz

Note: The next Kid Lit workshop – this time with Scholastic Books senior editor Erin O’Connor and young adult author Tanaz Bhathena – will be Saturday, May 11, in Brampton. Details here.  

See Brian's complete current schedule here, including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Cambridge, 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.