Congratulations to Tanya, Connie & Anne, to Margaret & Holly, and to Karen!

Note: If you’ve had a story (or a book!) published, if you’ve won or placed in a writing contest, if you’ve gotten yourself an agent, or if you have any other news, send me an email so I can share your success. As writers, we’re all in this together, and your good news gives us all a boost. 

Also, be sure to let know if you're looking for a writers' group or beta readers; a notice in Quick Brown Fox, will help you find them. 

Email me at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

 

Dear Brian,

I wanted to share my good news with you: Dundurn Press has offered me a contract to publish my collection of essays, Carrying War. You helped me work on my pitch and introduction last fall at your writer’s retreat at Arowhon. This summer I shifted a few things, added a few more essays and submitted to Dundurn and a handful of other Canadian presses. 

Turns out, Meghan Macdonald, the chief publisher at Dundurn, has a sweet spot for Beirut in the 1980s! She’s very enthusiastic about the book, wants to get it translated into French and distributed around the world, including the Middle East. We are looking at a Spring 2026 release date.  Needless to say, I’m very pleased. 

Thanks again for your help with vision casting for the book, and for your ongoing encouragement of my writing. 

All the best to you, Naomi, and the family. 

Warmly,
Tanya 
Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt
https://tanyaallattbellehumeur.com/

To read about Tanya’s acclaimed first book, Peacekeeper’s Daughter: a Middle East Memoir, or to order a copy see here.

To read about her poetry collection, Chaos Theories of Goodness, see here.

For information about our upcoming writers’ retreats see here.

For information about submitting to Dundurn Press, see here.

 

Hi, Brian.

Guess what? I finally had a story accepted for publication! In the words of Taylor Swift, it's been a long time coming. I'm so psyched. It appears in Lit magazine's current issue. You can check it out here.

As a word of caution, there is dismemberment in the story. Hopefully you can still enjoy it!

Thank you so much for all your help on my writing. It's been invaluable.

See you in class on Friday!

Margaret

 

 

Hi, Brian.

Been a while since I wrote this novel during your writing classes in Burlington and Mississauga, but The Queen of Swords is finally out.

Many thanks to you and the fellow writers I met along the way. and for your help in my first book published in 2021, Follow the Money, A Diana Darling Private Investigator Novel.

Kind Regards,

Connie Cook

For more about The Queen of Swords or to order a copy, see here.

For more about Follow the Money or to order a copy, see here.

For information about upcoming writing classes, see here.

 

Hi, Brian.

I have an article published in Windsor Life magazine, honouring our veterans, here.

Holly Switzer

 

Hi, Brian.

I want to share that my debut historical fiction novel, Palmyra, recently won the Whistler Independent Book Award for Fiction. It's nice to finally get recognition after all the years of hard work and doubting one's ability. I want to thank you once again for the classes, workshops, and retreats you offer through Quick Brown Fox, which have helped many writers realize their dreams.

Karen Barrow
https://www.kamabarrow.org/

To read more about Palmyra or to order a copy, see here.

 

Hi, Brian.

I wanted to let you know that I spent the last two years writing my memoir, The Truth of Chasing Rainbows: Escaping Suburbia for the Dream Life in Costa Rica, about the time I quit my job, sold my dream house, and moved to the remote mountains of Costa Rica to become a trout farmer and B&B host.

The ebook version launched yesterday on Amazon. (The trade paperback edition will be available worldwide through Amazon, other bookstores, and local libraries in early spring.) My publisher, The Awakened Press, is a boutique hybrid publishing house in Arizona. Lindsay is from Toronto and started her career in the traditional publishing world before striking out on her own. As a publisher, she focuses on nonfiction self-help books and inspirational memoirs.

I’ll be featured in two local Burlington magazines and I’ll be organizing a launch event in the spring once I know the exact release date of the paperback version.

Anne
Anne Beaudoin
Dundas, Ontario

To read more about The Truth of Chasing Rainbows, or to download the Kindle edition, see here. (If you want a paper copy, you’ll have to wait a bit.)

***

See all my upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and four-day  retreats here. ~Brian

See where else you fellow writers are getting published here (and scroll down).

 

Note: You can get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to Quick Brown Fox on Substack here: https://brian999.substack.com/

Seventy-seven-plus Great Gifts for Writers

Stocking Stuffers

A tote bag for carrying around your books of manuscript that reads: “And one day the girl with the book became the woman writing them” – Kristen Costello. Here.

Sleep tight – you know you want a comfy, fleecy writer's blanket here. 

And naturally you want to work in your writers’ pajamas here.

Socks that say “I am a writer. I make the voices in my head work for me.” Here.

A gift bag of coffee or tea and snack foods, because writers have long thought that caffeine and sugar are their best friends. At one of our writing retreats,  we determined that Hawkins Cheezies are the best junk food ever – and they're Canadian. Yum.

Healthy snacks, because sugar is not truly your bff. If you're crafty in the kitchen, try some of these homemade treats here.

A bottle of Writers' Tears Copper Pot Irish whisky here.

More cool ideas:

Time away – a motel or hotel room for the weekend or the week. It doesn't have to be somewhere fancy; better if there are few distractions, as the idea is to get away and write. Alternatively, you could volunteer to take over a spouse's responsibilities for the weekend: walking the dogs or getting the kids out of the house in the morning, chauffeuring them to their activities, cleaning the house, cooking meals & doing the dishes etc. 

Or go big and send the writer you love off for a writing retreat (here).

More books of course! Always a great idea for writers. According to Chapters you can find the best books of the year here. And don't forget that writers have kids who also like books.

If you're looking for Christmas books, Penguin has a boxed set of six Christmas classics: A Christmas Carol by Dickens, Christmas at Thomspon Hall by Trollope, The Night Before Christmas by Gogol, The Nutcracker by Hoffman … here.

You can find a selection of kids' Christmas books here or here or here. Sixteen Canadian Christmas books for kids here ... There are a lot of Christmas books for kids.

Good lists of Hanukkah books for kids are hard to find. Try here or here, or see what's recommended on The Book of Life podcast here, or just buy all of Eric Kimmel's books here. 

Plus, Joanne Levy and Marissa Meyer have a middle grade Hanukkah / Christmas book just out, Let it Glow, here.

Gift certificates

A gift certificate to your local café, because a comfortable café is often the best place to write.

Gift certificates for the favourite take-out restaurants of the writer you love, because who can stop and cook or even sit down for a meal when they're in the middle of a creative frenzy?

A gift certificate to your local bookstore.

A gift certificate for a Brian Henry class, workshop, or writing retreat. See what’s coming here.

Random good ideas

Fingerless gloves (type and have warm fingers). You can also get a Pride and Prejudice scarf, a Sense and Sensibility pillow cover, a Black Beauty baby blanket ... here

Reading is Sexy button … here

Timer for writing sprints

AquaNotes waterproof notepads (for shower ideas—yes, these really work!)

Pens 

Highlighters 

A stamp with a happy face for critiquing your fellow writers 

Board Games & Creativity Helpers

Apples to Apples is a great creative game; you need to match a noun card in your hand to a given adjective card and convince the dealer that your (absurd) choice really is the best. We had a hoot playing this at the end of the day at the Algonguin Writing Retreat last June. ~Brian

“The Story Engine” deck of cards with extension packs. Very helpful for new ideas here.

Dixit may be the most popular writing board game out there. Players have to convince other players that their story card is the best way to tell the story.

With 540 cards, the Storymatic feeds the imagination. Just pull out cards from each category (such as “Obstacle” and “What-choo-want”) and let the storytelling begin. Great for writers experiencing writer’s block and collaborative writing groups.  

Writer Emergency Pack. It includes 52 cards with fantastic illustrations and loads of ideas. Whenever you’re struggling with a story, you can pull out a card and get inspiration! (Or at least a giggle.)

The Game of Things  makes everyone write. You’re given a category like “Things that Jiggle” and everybody has to write down a funny or crazy answer. Then the leader of the round reads them anonymously and you have to guess who wrote what. If you play with the right people, it’s fun and funny.

In The Writer’s Toolbox, there are 60 games to play to inspire writers to create — be the first to create a story based on “First Sentences, Non Sequiturs, and Last Straws.” Also, use one of two spinners to generate a random detail that you have to include in your story. 

In Once Upon a Time, the leader plays cards to start a story, trying to guide the story toward his end card. Other players try to jump in and play their cards. First one to use all their cards up wins! Great fun for creative writers.

Bananagrams anagram game … here

Scrabble Magnetic Refrigerator Tiles … here

For Writers Who Outline

Index cards

Post-It notes

Corkboard &  pushpins

Whiteboard with dry erase markers and eraser

For writers who procrastinate

Start using the Pomodoro method: book here, Pomodoro Planner here, and a timer here, or if you don't like the tick, tick, tick of a mechanical kitchen timer, you can use an online timer here. {Many thanks to Kira Vermond! I'm getting  lot more done on the computer these days using the Pomodoro method ~Brian}

Or if you like procrastinating, give yourself a break from your screen time and get some magnets to mess around with while you're supposed to be writing here.

For Writers Who Don't Always Write on Computers

Notebooks! Book stores often have great selections of notebooks and other essential writerly tools. Personally, I have a pile of gorgeous notebooks, but I can't bring myself to just write in them. Instead, I go to the dollar store and look for something cheap, with a spiral binding so that it will open all the way and a stiff cover so that I don't need a desk.

Inspirational pencils here.

Technology Helpers

Programs like Scrivener for organizing and word processing

Typing program (learn to type faster!), such as KeyBlaze.

Wireless/ergonomic keyboard or mouse

Virtual keyboard for mobile use

Multi-dock charging stand for the truly addicted here.

Big Ticket Items

New computer

Bigger computer monitor

Ergonomic desk chair

Cover design or editing costs for self-published authors

Writing Craft and Publishing-Related Books

The Art of Fiction, John Gardner

The Art of War for Writers, James Scott Bell

The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron

Bird by Bird: some instructions on writing and life,  by Anne Lamott.

Conflict, Action and Suspense, William Noble

The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E.B. White

The Fiction Editor, Thomas McCormak

How Stories Work, James Woods

On Writing: a memoir of the craft, Stephen King
The Sense of Style, Steven Pinker

Spunk and Bite: A Writer's Guide to Bold Contemporary Style, Arthur Plotnik

Writing Down the Bones, Natlie Goldberg

The Thesaurus books by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi (The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, and The Negative Trait Thesaurus)

Save the Cat by Blake Snyder or Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

Rivet Your Reader with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

The Power of Point of View by Alicia Rasley

And don't forget, books are available at actual book stores.

Miscellaneous Suggestions

Comfort clothes (robe and fuzzy slippers, sweat pants, but be careful; you may never change out of them. See here!)

Gift basket full of writing-related ideas (pens, notebooks, special beverage and glass, inspirational items or quotes, etc.)

Gift cards for books

Gift cards for office supply stores

Fun reader/writer-type gifts (“Careful, or you’ll end up in my novel” mug, The Literary Gift Company, etc.) Famous first-line mugs here.

Subscription to music source; such as Spotify

Lithographs: Shirts and totes printed with images and the text of your favourite novels. Tattoos available, too … here.

Out of Print Tee’s: T-shirts, tote bags, iphone cases – all sorts of things, decorated with your favourite book covers (here).

Premium level of online service (Dropbox for automatic backups, Amazon Prime for free shipping/lending library, etc.)

Entry fee for a writing contest

Massage gift certificates, a back or foot massager

A head scratcher  – which surely no writer can do without! (Dogs love them, too. Cats will tolerate them.)

Earrings, t-shirts, candles, wax seals ... Etsy has a potpourri of trinkets for writers here.

And don't forget pajamas, because you don't need to dress up to write, but you do want to be comfortable here.

And check out some of the very best gifts for writers here. 

Plus, don't forget, try to shop local. Buy your books straight from the publisher or from a book store.