Kudos to Karen for making the short list for the Guernica Prize, to Wendy for publishing an article, to Gail for self-publishing her latest novel, and to Elizabeth for getting a three-book deal!

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

 

Hi, Brian.

I am happy to share with you that my third novel, Palmyra, was short-listed for the Guernica Prize for Literary Fiction, with the winner being announced on December third in Toronto. Set at the turn of the 20th century on the island of Trinidad, Palmyra is a historical fiction that I have described as Caribbean Gothic Suspense ... nothing like being creative with the sub-genres.

I want to thank you, once again, for all the tireless work you've done in building a successful, supportive community for writers in the GTA and beyond. Though I moved out to BC a couple of years ago, I am still very much in touch with the writers I meet through your programs.

I'll contact you when I have details of when Palmyra will be made available to the public.  

Karen MacDougal

 

Hi, Brian.

I don't know whether or not this is the kind of thing you like for your blog, but I thought I'd forward it just in case it is.

I was asked to submit an article about a local man who is celebrating his 100th birthday. He is amazingly sharp and active and has a great many stories to tell. Actually, I wrote an article for his 96th and updated it for this one. It was in both the Huntsville Forester and Bracebridge Examiner, as well as online. 

The gentleman and his wife are both thrilled with this article. Tomorrow our entire village, and anyone who's interested, is invited to a surprise party for him, and my husband and I will certainly be there.

I just thought it was such an interesting life to write and read about that your followers might enjoy it. 

Meanwhile, my latest novel, Dead Serious, which you helped coach a bit, is doing well. I have a small publisher in Arizona, who has been great to work with.

Thank you.

Wendy Truscott

https://www.wendytruscott.com/

You can read Wendy’s article about Baysville’s last war veteran turning 100 here.  

For more about her novel, Dead Serious, see here.

 

Hi, Brian.

After taking several of your writing courses, I improved, gained confidence and successfully published several short stories. Then, my first novel, The Price of Loyalty was self-published in February 2022. I am delighted to announce that my second novel has just gone live on Amazon. It is called Allegiance.

The first book was an adventure for Middle Grade readers taking place during the American Revolution. My latest book is for Teens or Young Adults and takes place during the War of 1812. It is told through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old girl whose home has been taken over by enemy soldiers and turned into a surgical hospital. She must struggle with caring for the soldiers, the patients, and her own family. She sees death and despair and struggles when she starts to feel affection for the army surgeon. The situation is impossible. Both books are based on the real-life stories of my Loyalist ancestors.

The link to the book can be found here. 

Thanks, Brian! 

Gail Copeland

Hi, Brian!

I took your seminar with the agent this year, and really enjoyed it. And now I'm signed to a publisher in California – a new one, still small, but I have a very good feeling about her.

Here's the weird thing – when I saw her call for manuscripts, I didn't want to put two days into a query letter if, say, she was only looking for thrillers or romance or something. So I sent a quick email saying that I had a YA fantasy, if that would interest her. 

She asked for the first three chapters, and the next day requested the entire manuscript. Two months later she offered me a contract. (I had John Degen vet it – I'm not as starry-eyed as all that!)

The book is The Swan Harp, a YA sword-and-sorcery, and the publisher is Type Eighteen Books. Since I wrote, the publisher has asked for the second book, and now we're talking about a name for the series, so things are ripping along at warp speed. The second and third books are The Lost King and The Shaman's Wife.

Cheers,

Elizabeth Creith

Writer & Artist

https://elizabethcreith.com/

Note: Check out Elizabeth’s previous books: Erik the Viking Sheep (Scholastic) here and Shepherd in Residence (from the now defunct Scrivener Press in Sudbury) here or directly from Elizabeth. Email: elizabeth.creith@aol.com  

***

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

You're invited to the launch of Dead Serious by Wendy Truscott

Dear Brian,

 I’m excited to announce that Winged Publications has released my new novel, Dead Serious, a psychological thriller/romance set in the world of amateur theatre. On Tuesday, July 25th at 4:30 p.m. there will be an official book launch at the Baysville Library. {Note: Baysville is northeast of Bracebridge / southeast of Huntsville. Map here.}

Dana Williams never suspected starting a new life might end with her death.

Fleeing a devastating breakup, the aspiring playwright moves to a new neighbourhood. There, her future brightens, as she finds a new job, a cozy apartment, and most exciting of all, an offer to produce her first play.

While the world of theatre is mostly make-believe, the people in it are all too human. When disturbing events begin to occur around her, she realizes she is the target of a demented mind. When these events lead to murder, she is forced to question whom among her new friends she can trust.

It soon becomes clear almost everyone has something to hide, and Dana acknowledges how little she truly knows many of the people in her life, including the one who broke her heart. With her own life in danger, she must consider everyone a potential killer, even her new best friend, her landlady, and the woman’s intriguing nephew. Tensions build to a terrifying confrontation with a clever killer who has outsmarted everyone.

The story is set in The Beach neighbourhood of Toronto, where I grew up, and many will recognize the location on the cover. Like my first two novels, Haunted Journey and MacGregor’s Curse, it also has a strong Muskoka connection.

Dead Serious is available on amazon.ca and .com or through me at www.wendytruscott.com or on Facebook: Wendytruscottnovels.

Haunted Journey and MacGregor’s Curse, both YA historicals set in Muskoka, are available on Amazon, Chapters/Indigo, Barnes & Noble. They also appeal to adults who enjoy stories of families and communities pulling together during difficult times.

Thank you, Brian. I hope to join another of your valuable courses before long.

Wendy Truscott

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.                 

“A Prickly Situation” by Wendy Truscott

Wendy's dad, James Lawson

I believe in temporary insanity, because I’ve seen it. 

The adventure began with Mom’s long-standing request for an open-concept living room. Arriving home from Sunday School one late winter afternoon in 1955, I was stunned to find Dad suddenly demolishing walls in our small semi-detached Toronto home. 

Mom was thrilled, and then flabbergasted. Dad actually had two projects in mind: opening up the room for Mom and building a boat in it for himself.

At that time we were new cottagers, and having searched for the perfect property, we had hacked a long trail through the bush, felled trees, hauled lumber across the lake on a raft, erected a basic cottage, and eventually built a road. 

Dad was now ready for something bigger than his rowboat with its five-horse power motor. Promising Mom his new craft would be ship-shape and out of the house in six weeks, he embarked on his project.

We became accustomed to strange sights like hot rags wrapped around wood pieces, bending them to the shape of the hull, and to the queries of puzzled neighbours and delivery men who couldn’t believe a man was building a boat in his living room. The mailman knocked on the door regularly to check on construction progress and, shaking his head, would tell Mom that he didn’t know many wives who would put up with this.

The promised six weeks turned into three times that, and then the great day came when it seemed the whole neighbourhood gathered to see if Dad could “launch” the boat out of the house. He never doubted it for a minute and was vindicated when it passed through the kitchen door and was at last delivered to the cottage. With its shiny coat of varnish, it was a delight to behold and sat beautifully in the water. All was right with the world: Dad had his boat, and Mom had her larger rooms.

We hadn’t counted on the porcupines.

It used to be said that the porcupine population, like many natural things, had a cycle; every seven years or so, there was a bumper crop. This was such a year. We would hear them moaning at night under the cottage, see them up in trees and on the road.  Where we never expected to see them was on the new boat.

Arriving late one Friday night in the almost primeval darkness of the lake, our headlights shone on the water and lit up a tableau that became frozen for all time in my mind; at least two big porkies were sitting on the boat’s deck,  feasting on Dad’s cherished handiwork. It looked as if they’d been at it for some time. After a moment of stunned silence, Dad raced out of the car, grabbed a piece of wood and, cursing, drove them away. The rest of us kept pretty quiet, realizing the magnitude of his frustration and anger.                 

The light of day revealed the damage: tooth marks and gnawed sections of the lovingly crafted and varnished deck. From that moment on, it was war. Porcupines in trees were shot, while those unfortunate enough to be seen on the ground were whacked with oars, or whatever was at hand.                                                                                                    

Ultimately, the moment came when nothing was at hand. Late one night, as Dad carried an armload of bedding for guests staying in our second small cottage, temporary insanity struck. A hapless porcupine ambled across his path. With his arms full and nothing available with which to attack, Dad, obviously deranged, simply jumped on the beast.   

James's boat, built in the Lawson family kitchen

I don’t remember if he jumped more than once, and I don’t remember the fate of the porcupine. I will always remember the sight of the quills lodged in my father’s lower legs and the sight of poor Mom trying to remove them. We had heard the pain would be lessened if quills were cut in half before removal. I think that was just another northern myth.

Mom had always described the moans of porcupines under the cottage at night as sounding as if someone were dying. Their pitiful moans paled in comparison to the ones coming from Dad that night. And if you’ve ever heard that expression, “the air turned blue…”, well let’s just say it turned a very deep, midnight blue.

A year or so later, the boy I would eventually marry confided in a friend that he was going to take me out. The friend, who happened to be a neighbour of my family, said, “Not that girl across the street? Her father’s crazy! He built a boat in their living room!”

I’m glad he didn’t know about the porcupines.

***

Wendy B. Truscott has taught Kindergarten and French in Toronto, but primarily, she was a Domestic Goddess (stay-at-home mom). After she and her husband moved to their home on a peaceful lake in Muskoka, she joined a memoir-writing group and was encouraged to try fiction. She has now published two successful YA historical novels, Haunted Journey and MacGregor’s Curse. Other interests include painting, genealogy, and memoir-writing, often including comical anecdotes of life experiences, which she hopes future generations will enjoy.  

Visit Wendy's website here.

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.