Great writing courses starting soon: Welcome to Creative Writing and Intensive Creative Writing

Welcome to Creative Writing

8 weeks of exploring your creative side

Summer session

Tuesday afternoons, July 5 – Aug 23, 2016

1:00 – 3:00 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.

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

Fee: 140.71 plus 13% hst = 160

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

Intensive Creative Writing

8 weeks towards mastering your craft

Offered at two times:

Wednesday afternoons, 12:15 – 2:45 p.m.

July 6 – Aug 24

First class emailing sent out June 30

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

And

Wednesday evenings, 6:45 – 9:15 p.m.

July 6 – Aug 24. First class emailing sent out June 30

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

This Intensive course isn't for beginners; it's for people who have been writing for a while or who have done a course or two before and are working on their own projects. Over the eight weeks of classes, you’ll be asked to bring in four pieces of your writing for detailed feedback. All your pieces may be from the same work, such as a novel in progress, or they may be stand alone pieces. You bring whatever you want to work on.  In addition to learning how to critique your own work and receiving constructive suggestions about your writing, you’ll discover that the greatest benefits come from seeing how your classmates approach and critique a piece of writing and how they write and re-write.

Check out a review of the Intensive course here. More reviews here.

Fee: 159.29 + 13% hst = 180

Number of attendees strictly limited.

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

This course will fill up; enroll early to avoid disappointment.

Instructor 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 Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published. 

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

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

Literary agent Sarah Smith seeks literary fiction, memoir and other nonfiction

David Black Agency

335 Adams Street

Suite 2707

Brooklyn, NY  11201

http://www.davidblackagency.com/

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

The David Black Agency has seven literary agents but only one seems to be accecpting queries:

Sarah Smith joined David Black Agency in 2012 after beginning her career in book publishing at Trident Media Group. She grew up in Georgia and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she graduated with highest honors in English and Creative Writing.  After college, she spent some time working and living in Argentina. 

Her interests, personal and professional, include cooking and eating great food, listening to and playing music, running across bridges, attempting to grow plants on her fire escape and reading good books by great writers. For three years, Sarah curated the weekly True Story: Nonfiction at KGB reading series at KGB Bar in the East Village.

Her nonfiction tastes lean toward memoir, biography, food and music writing, narrative history, and social studies, while her fiction tastes lean toward the literary. She lives in Brooklyn.

Query Sarah at: ssmith@dblackagency.com

Include the first three chapters of your manuscript pasted into the body of the email. Full submission guidelines here.

Brian at Arowhon Pines Resort Writers' Retreat

For those who love great food and a beautiful setting with their writing, Brian Henry has two Writer’s Retreats coming up at Arowhon Pines Resort in Algonquin Park: Friday, June 10 – Sunday, June 12 (see here) and Friday, Sept 16 – Sunday, Sept 18 (see here).

Brian hosts From the Horse's Mouth ~ Strategies for Getting Published on Saturday, June 18, with Barbara Berson of Helen Heller Agency, Michael Mirolla, publisher Guernica Editions, and Bhavna Chauhan, editor, Penguin Random House Canada, at Ryerson University in Toronto (see here).

Other upcoming workshops include  “Writing a Page-turner,” July 9, in Burlington (see here), “How to Build Your Story,” Saturday, July 16, in Midland (see here), and “Writing and Revising,” Saturday, July 23 in Kitchener (see here).

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

Finally, this summer, Brian will offer a variety of classes:

“Welcome to Creative Writing,” Tuesday afternoons, Tuesday afternoons, July 5 – Aug 23, in Burlington (see here)

“Intensive Creative Writing,” Wednesday afternoons, July 6 – Aug 24, in Burlington (see here)

“Intensive Creative Writing,” Wednesday evenings, July 6 – Aug 24, in Burlington (see here) 

See details of all three classes here. 

To reserve a spot, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

To register or for more information for any class or workshop, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

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

“Precipice,” by Gord Dupuis

“Oh my God!  My brakes are gone!” Harry shouted into his cell phone.

“What? Harry, what’re you gonna do? Can you pull over or something? Where are you?”

“I’m on Number 8, on that long hill approaching Greensville! And, no, I’m going too fast already to pull over. There’s nowhere to go. I’m gonna have to stop this thing somehow. Mandi, I haveta put the phone down.”

“Good luck, Harry!” Her voice was tinny and far away on the seat beside him. That there was no, “I love you”, registered vaguely at the back of his mind.

Harry flew into the corner at the Brock Road delta. He was already going fast enough that his balding tires squeaked their protest as he cranked the steering wheel to the right. He bounced jarringly over the curb and into the path of a motorcyclist who swerved out of the way.

“Made that one,” he breathed.

But the bigger problem lay some 600 or 700 metres ahead. Dundas Hill was a steep decline down the side of a 200 metre escarpment. Number 8 led straight down toward the edge of the precipice until it made a sharp left turn into that decline. 

Either he was going to rocket over that precipice, or slam into the low rock wall the separated the road from the edge. Or, if he somehow made the turn, he would scream down the hill at 180 kph and take out half of King Street at the bottom.

He had a little bit of time, but not much. The road levelled out for 150 metres before it began its descent toward the abyss.

“Damn! Why didn’t I think of this before?” He pulled up frantically on the emergency brake, but it, like the brake pedal, had no effect. It had been poorly maintained, at least until yesterday when Mandi had said, “Harry, you need a little work done on this old heap.” And since his wife was a kind of modern-day

Rosie the Riveter, he had brought it to the garage she co-owned with her old friend, John Duke, where she had given the ’93 Honda a spring tune up. “How could she have missed…? No, she wouldn’t have… Would she? We’ve had our problems lately, but surely….Of course, there was that studly partner of hers at the garage… Oh, Jesus Christ! I’m screwed!”

The Honda had slowed a bit on the flat stretch, but it was still a missile as it hurtled toward the abyss.

“I’ll gear down. I’ll probably burn out the clutch, but…” But suddenly he had no clutch to worry about: the cable snapped with a clearly audible thunk.” Are you kidding me!? Bastards thought of everything!”

Harry Martin’s options were now severely limited. He could, he supposed, pull off to the right or even the left, but as panic seized him, he couldn’t quite bring himself to slam purposely into a ditch or a tree.

Then he saw ahead of him a transport truck slowing to make the turn down the hill. If he could catch up to it in time, before it made the turn, he could use the truck to slow him down, to stop him, even. It would be messy: the trailer would take out the entire upper half of his car, not to mention his own upper half, as he slammed underneath. He’d have to duck, wouldn’t he? It would be better than going over that cliff. Harry wasn’t good with heights.

But that option, too, evaporated. The truck was just a little too far ahead and had already begun its descent down Dundas Hill. Harry now had a clear, unobstructed path to oblivion. Dundas, the Valley Town, welcomed him. The Honda slammed into that low stone wall and stopped dead in an explosion of metal and glass. Harry Martin did not stop. There were no functioning airbags to slow his egress through the windshield. Out he flew over the precipice into a breathtaking view of the valley. Rapidly rising to meet him was the thirteenth hole of the Golf and Country Club. He was about to join a threesome just putting out on the green.    

Gord Dupuis is an English teacher who had always promised himself he’d write, but had never quite got around to it. Now, in his retirement, he is finally fulfilling that promise.

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

“Take Your Pick,” by Janice Emeneau

On a miserable November day in 1945, the mighty Jimmy Lucca was shot dead in the middle of Flushing Avenue just blocks from the NY City shipyards that Jimmy’d considered his own personal turf.  A puddle of his blood created a dark halo around his contorted features; his mouth stretched wide in a final curse; his lifeless eyes filling with frozen tears of icy November sleet. 

Jimmy’s dark gray over-sized top coat, tailored to accommodate the occasional weapon, only emphasized his substantial bulk and the pile of fine gray fabric lying in a heap in the middle of the road made him appear more like a wounded rhino than the vicious pit bull he’d been only moments before.  In the sudden absence of Jimmy’s brusque and barking baritone, the silence was deafening.

Just an hour ago I’d chauffeured Jimmy here for his Tuesday morning meeting with Camilletti - ‘Cutthroat’ Camilletti - the main boss from down at the docks. I’d held open the car door of Jimmy’s Lincoln Coupe and then watched speechless as he’d stepped into a rain of gun fire, his body jerking in time to the staccato shower in a macabre dance of death.  I stood there stunned, my jaw hanging slack.  Not because the killing of Jimmy Lucca was any great surprise -- there were lots of people who would have liked to see him dead.  No - it was just dizzying trying to guess who’d had the where-with-all to carry it off before anyone else.

Was it Camilletti?  Camilletti was Jimmy’s consiglieri and most trusted advisor.  Each man as ruthless as the other.   Had this snake in Jimmy’s pocket turned on him?  Definitely a possibility.

Or could it have been one of the many women in his life?  Jimmy’s love-hate relationship with America was a reflection of his love-hate Catholic confusion over a woman’s proper role in this world.  Jimmy worshiped his late ‘sainted’ mother, making it almost impossible for him to relate to a real woman.  

Jimmy and his current wife had recently been seen going head-to-head at his daughter’s wedding, his Ex (the daughter’s mother) taking the occasion to lord it over her usurper.  Yes, either of them would have had the connections to get the job done.  The only woman in his life that I’d cross off the list would be Jimmy’s latest flame, a blatantly ambitious, stupid but sizzling redhead, who’d imagined lots and lots of diamonds in her future.

Then there were his ‘buddies’ in high places that ranged from the Mayor himself to some shady connections as far up as the Pentagon.  Some rumours had it that these connections went even higher and beyond. When the US finally entered the war, the power and influence of the NY Mafia were a convenience the higher ups couldn’t resist as an easy fix to the threat of Nazi or Fascist sabotage on the NY waterfront.  

I’d heard Jimmy bragging on more than one occasion about his connection to the war effort.  He’d near killed himself laughing about how this legitimized so many of his activities. God! He’d been getting away with a boat-load of crap. Yes, Jimmy had laughed, but the laugh had always been raw and bitter.   It stuck in his craw that, rich as he was, he would always be on the wrong side of the American Dream.  Yes, there was a better than even chance it was one of this bunch, tying up loose ends now that the war was over.

So take your pick.  So many motives and so many willing hands to do the dirty work.

I turned to the detective as he came over to take my statement.  I looked him straight in the eye and told him with a sincerity that was as black and thick as the blood of Jimmy’s halo -- “No Officer, I have no idea who could have done this to Jimmy – everyone loved the guy.”

Janice Emeneau is a writer of short fiction, living in Burlington.  She is a spokesperson for a number of charities and runs a life coaching and image consultancy – Transitions & Transformations.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops, writing retreats, and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Alton, Barrie, Bracebridge, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, St. John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Ingersoll, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

From the Horse's Mouth with literary agent Barbara Berson, publisher Michael Mirolla and Penguin Random House editor Bhavna Chauhan, Saturday, June 18, Ryerson University

From the Horse’s Mouth

strategies for getting published

Saturday, June 18
1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Ryerson University

Ted Rogers School of Management,

Room 1077

575 Bay Street, Toronto (At the corner of Dundas, one block west of Yonge. Map here). 

From the Horse’s Mouth is a round table discussion with three members of the publishing community, moderated by writing instructor, writer and editor Brian Henry. Following the presenters' introductory remarks, discussion will be opened up to the floor to address the concerns and questions of those aspiring writers present, both of fiction and nonfiction, interested in improving their chances of getting published. Questions addressed will include: What are the editors looking for?

Our panel:

Barbara Berson, Literary Agent with the Helen Heller Agency. 
Barbara has been an editor for the past 30 years, first in her native New York, then in Toronto, where she was most recently a senior editor with Penguin Canada, one of Canada’s premier general publishers. Barbara has worked with both established and emerging authors of literary fiction, nonfiction, and young adult books. Her authors have been the recipients of numerous prizes, including the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award. “I’m looking for literary and YA fiction, as well as narrative non-fiction,” says Barbara. “I’m keen as well on YA fiction – dark, funny, energetic, compelling – and narrative non-fiction, too.” (See more on the Helen Heller Agency here.)

Michael Mirolla, Publisher and Editor-In-Chief, Guernica Editions.

In 2010 Michale and his partner Connie McParland took over Guernica Editions from its founder. Guernica was the first press in Canada to consciously feature a multicultural blend of Canadian and foreign literary authors in translation. Michael has also created a new imprint, MiroLand, which is open to how-to books, memoirs, speculative fiction, graphic novels. At Guernica, Michael does a bit of everything from evaluating and assessing incoming manuscript submissions to dealing with author contracts; from making decisions on the type and number of manuscripts to be published annually to working with the publicist for marketing and promotion; from dealing with the distributors and sales reps to overseeing the grant application process. 

Michael has also written a clutch of novels, a novella, and short story and poetry collections. His most recent poetry collection, The House on 14th Avenue, won the 2014 Bressani Prize for Poetry. His novel Berlin took the same prize (for fiction) in 2010. His short story, “A Theory of Discontinuous Existence,” was selected for The Journey Prize Anthology; and the short story “The Sand Flea” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Bhavna Chauhan, Editor with Penguin Random House Canada.

Penguin Random House Canada is the Canadian division of Penguin Random House, the world’s most global trade book publisher, which was formed on July 1, 2013, by the merger of Penguin and Random House. Worldwide, the company employs more than 10,000 people, and it’s the biggest publisher in Canada. It publishes all kinds of books for both adults and children. Bhavna has been involved in the publishing industry since 2008 when she started as the Assistant to the Publisher at Doubleday Canada. She moved to McClelland and Stewart in 2011 and then to Penguin Random House in 2014. As an editor, Bhavna acquires and commissions manuscripts, both fiction and nonfiction, and works directly with the authors to develop their books.

Moderator 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 Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published.

Fee: $115.72 (includes hst)

Register online with Ryerson here.

Or reserve your spot by emailing me at: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

And on June 18, bring a cheque or money order made out to Ryerson University for $115.72 (No cash and absolutely no credit cards, please)

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

See Brian’s full schedule here, including writing workshops, writing retreats, and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Alton, Barrie, Bracebridge, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, St. John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Ingersoll, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

InfectiveInk pays for short stories, $10,000 poetry prize, Phase 5 wants sci-fi, etc,LUMINA wants luminous words and Chicken Soup wants Canadian soul...

InfectiveINk.com is interested in great fiction. They’re open to all genres and styles, except erotica, and they pay $10 per Short Story. (Except for Short Story submissions under 1500 words or for any Flash Fiction submissions – bragging rights however, are priceless. InfectiveINk.com is a prompt-driven publication. Be sure that the story you're submitting corresponds to one of their prompts before sending your work.

Full submission guidelines here.

Entries are open for the annual Rattle Poetry Prize: $10,000 for a single poem plus publication in the winter issue. Ten finalists will also receive $200 each. Entry fee: $20 (includes subscription) for up to 4 poems. Open to writers worldwide.

Deadline: July 15, 2016. Guidelines here.

Phase 5 publishes fiction and art in the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror genres, including speculative fiction of all lengths. Submit complete manuscript. They’re currently actively looking for cover art for various projects (see here).

Full submission guidelines here.

LUMINA publishes an annual print journal and a new bi-annual online journal. Both are looking for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and art submissions. 

Full guidelines for the online journal here; guidelines for the print journal here.

Hi, Brian.

The folks at Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing love our Canadian stories, so Chicken Soup  for the Soul, The Spirit of Canada is being compiled to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation, which is July 1st  2017.

Do you have a great story? If so, it could get published, and yes, you would get paid!   

We're looking for true, personal, dramatic, heartwarming or inspirational stories that celebrate our unique Canadian Spirit. As always, we're seeking stories that inspire and open the heart of the reader; that make them laugh or cry, give them goose bumps or cause them to gasp and say,  "I'm so glad I read that story!"   

The best stories are written in the first person, and might be founded on traditional Chicken Soup themes of: 

Overcoming Obstacles 

Living Your Dreams 

Triumphing in the face of adversity 

Love and Sacrifice 

Kindness, family, community 

...and making a difference

Here are a few suggestions to get you thinking:

Tell a story about a local hero that inspired you, or one of our greatest Canadian heroes that impacted your life.

Do you live in a community that has suffered a challenge - and experienced the kindness of neighbours or first-responders  who showed up to make a difference?

Are you, or is one of your family members in the Canadian Military? Do you have a story you can share?

Are you an immigrant, or the child of immigrants, who came to Canada for a better life? Is there a moving story that might involve courage or sacrifice?

Share your favourite holiday stories from our precious summer long weekends, including Victoria Day and Canada Day, the Civic Holiday and Labour Day.

Share your story about Thanksgiving and other holidays, and how we do them in Canada.

Tell a great story that happened at the cottage - any time of the year!

Do you have a great story about camping or canoe tripping, or hiking in the Rockies, water skiing of snow skiing or skating? And we LOVE hockey stories!

Tell a story that comes to life in the region you live - from the west coast to the Maritimes, the prairies, the Rockies, our hundreds of lakes and rivers, the far north, and everything in between.

Did you travel the world with a Canadian Flag on your back pack?

Feel free to include our unique Canadian expressions eh, (use our unique Canadian spellings,) and don't forget how we obsess over the weather!

This book is scheduled for publication in May of 2017, right before Canada Day, but we need a steady flow of stories to create and edit the book, so the first deadline is March 31st 2016.   

 For full writers guidelines, sample stories and how to submit your story, visit

www.canadiansoul.com 

 Love to you,

Janet Matthews

Co-author of

Chicken Soup for the Canadian Soul &

Chicken Soup for the Soul O Canada

The Wonders of Winter & 
Chicken Soup for the Soul, Christmas in Canada 

janet@janetmatthews.ca  

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

See Brian’s full schedule here, including writing workshops, writing retreats, and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Alton, Barrie, Bracebridge, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, St. John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Ingersoll, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.