“Ella Mae and the Messy Day,” a story for small children by Suzanne Burchell

Ella Mae threw off the covers of her bed and tossed them onto the floor. Then she bounced out of bed and went to her closet to get dressed to go to school

First she tried on her new dress. No, too fancy! So she tossed it on the floor.

Next she tried her new jeans. No, too stiff! So she tossed them on the floor.

Next she tried her favourite skirt. No, too small! So she tossed it on the floor .

Maybe her track suit...? No, too dirty. So she tossed it on the floor.

Her closet was almost empty when she finally decided that the outfit her grandmother had given her for her birthday would be just right for school today.

Soon she was ready for school, but first she needed to kiss her Sweet Baby Cat goodbye.

“Sweetie!” Ella Mae called, but her kitten did not come.

Ella looked all around the house. No kitten. She looked all over the yard. No kitten. Ella Mae ran around  the block calling, “Sweet Baby Cat, where are you?”

But she couldn’t find her kitten anywhere.

Ella Mae went back to her room. “Sweetie!” she called once more, but her kitten did not come. Ella Mae began to cry.

All of a sudden her fancy dress started to move around on the floor, all by itself. Yikes, thought Ella Mae. There’s a monster under my fancy dress!

Her fancy dress moved some more and meowed!

Ella Mae picked up her dress, and there was Sweet Baby Cat!

Ella Mae hugged her precious kitty.  And from that day on, instead of throwing her blankets on the floor, Ella Mae made her bed. And instead of throwing her clothes on the floor, she put them in her dresser or hung them in her closet. So Sweet Baby Cat was never lost again.

But sometimes, just for fun, Sweet Baby Cat would hide under the blankets on Ella Mae’s bed and then pounce of her!

Suzanne Burchell retired from teaching secondary school drama after 38 years but continues to  lecture in Drama in Education at Brock University. She is developing a new profession as a story teller in Ontario after having a lengthy time of story-telling in the summer in her homeland of Nova Scotia. 

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Algoma, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Empty Sink, In Other Words and Geist seek prose, poetry and postcards

Empty Sink Publishing is an on-line magazine. It’s looking for professional-quality prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and visual media submissions that stretch the mind, defy convention, and offer a new perspective on life. We currently pay all writers with a pat on the back and a byline. We hope to change that soon.

Send submissions directly to emptysinkpublishing@gmail.com

Deadline ongoing. Full submission guidelines here.

Note: The editors seem to be very anal (even for editors) and caution you to follow their guidelines “to the letter.”

In Other Words: Mérida, an English language Literary Magazine based in Merida, Mexico, on the Yucatan Peninsula is looking for previously unpublished poetry and fiction that is exciting and inspired. 

“We are especially looking, however, for poetry and fiction that is exciting and inspired and written by English speaking residents of the Yucatan Peninsula, so please let us know if you are one of those. We won’t reject you if you’re not. We’ll just be sort of biased for you if you are. ‘Cause this is a literary magazine celebrating Merida and environs and the literary scene herein.”

Deadline ongoing. Full submission guidelines here.

Geist Postcard Contest

Send us a story and a postcard — the relationship can be as strong or as tangential as you like, so long as there is a clear connection between the story and the image. The story can be fiction or non-fiction; maximum length is 500 words. For a classic example of a postcard story, read "How to Survive in the Woods" or "Death in the Family." Visit the postcard story archive for more examples of notable stories.

First Prize: $500; Second Prize: $250; Third Prize: $150

All winning entries will be published in Geist and on geist.com

Entry Fee: $20. All additional entries are $5. Includes a one-year subscription to Geist

Deadline February 1, 2014. Full contest rules here.

Regular submissions to Geist:

Geist is a magazine of ideas and culture, with a strong literary focus and a sense of humour. The Geist tone is intelligent, plain-talking, inclusive and offbeat. Geist requires a Canadian connection in all non-contest submissions.  Geist does accept contest submissions, with or without a Canadian connection. 

Non-fiction: We publish short non-fiction, usually personal narrative, in the Notes and Dispatches section. Longer non-fiction pieces are published as Features. We are especially interested in photographs and stories about family history (see Julia L. Star’s “The Patio”) and in historical narrative (see Stephen Osborne’s “Signs and Portents”). Send a maximum of one longer piece or two shorter pieces.

Fiction: We publish short stories (see Michal Kozlowski's "Antonia") in the Features section. Send one story at a time. We also hold contests, including the annual Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest for short-short stories. Winning entries and honourable mentions appear in the magazine and at geist.com.

Poetry: Send a maximum of 5 poems.

Photography/Art: We look for art and photography to accompany written work in the magazine, and we also publish art and photo essays with text by the artist. For a good example of this, see "Memory and the Valley" by David Campion and Sandra Shields. When submitting artwork by mail, send digital media or photocopies only—no originals.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Algoma, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

How to Make Your Stories Dramatic workshop, Saturday, March 29, in Toronto

How to Make Your Stories Dramatic

Saturday, March 29, 2014
10:15 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Glenview Presbyterian Church, 1 Glenview Ave, Toronto (Three blocks south of Lawrence Avenue just off Yonge Street – map here.)

This workshop is geared to both beginners and more experienced writers.  We’ll look at the most important part of all stories whether fictional or true: the fully dramatized scene.  You'll learn some of the most successful tricks of the trade to make sure that you'll never write a lifeless scene again.

We’ll look at both dialogue and action scenes. You’ll learn how to write great dialogue and how to mix it with your narrative so that the interaction between your characters comes alive. But the most difficult scenes of all are climactic action scenes. Using fight scenes and love scenes as our examples, you’ll learn how to ramp up the tension you need for one of these high-octane performances. 

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing teacher for more than 25 years. He 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.

Fee: $38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advance by mail
or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door

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

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

Literary agent Katie Reed of Andrea Hurst & Associates seeks all sorts of fiction and nonfiction, especially YA and fantasy

Andrea Hurst & Associates

http://www.andreahurst.com/

Katie Reed is the newest member of the team at Andrea Hurst & Associates, and like all new agents, she needs authors. Katie obtained her Bachelor’s in English from California State University, Sacramento, but the most enlightening part of her college career was her internship with Andrea Hurst Literary Management.

Katie has worked as a freelance editor and enjoys helping writers develop their novels in preparation for pitching and publication. She understands how challenging the writing process can be and strives to her clients through it. Katie lives in the small town of Durham, California, with her incredible husband, her son, and Snoodles, her loyal cat. Besides her addiction to reading, she is also a diehard Miami Heat fan and obsessed with all things Disney.

Katie represents all areas of young adult and adult fiction and nonfiction, with a special interest in YA and fantasy.

Katie’s Wishlist:

All areas of YA fiction, particularly:

• Commercial, with a compelling hook and a protagonist who battles real life teen issues
• Science fiction (soft)
• Fantasy

Martha Magor Webb of the Anne McDermid
Literary Agency will be our guest speaker at the
"How to Get Published" workshop,
Saturday, Feb 22, in Oakville. Details here.

Commercial and Literary Adult Fiction in the following genres:

• Book Club Women’s Fiction
• Science Fiction (soft)
• Fantasy
• Suspense/Thriller
• Contemporary Romance

Nonfiction in the following genres:

• Memoir/Biography with a strong platform
• Self-help
• Crafts/How-to
• Inspirational
• True Crime (I would prefer to avoid this unless it is high profile and current)
• Parenting

Books I Love:

If I were stranded on an island and could only bring one book with me, I would cheat and bring one large book containing the entire Harry Potter series. My runner up list would feature The Hunger Games trilogy, Mercy Thompson series, Divergent trilogy, The Fault in our Stars, The Time Travelers Wife, Water for Elephants, The Shack, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Thirteen Reasons Why,P.S. I Love You, The Red Tent, A Song of Fire and Ice series, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and anything by C.S. Lewis or Jodi Picoult.

Query Katie at: katie@andreahurst.com

No attachments. Do not send proposals, sample chapters or manuscripts unless specifically requested by an agent. Please indicate if you are simultaneously submitting to other agents. Expect Katie to take some time to respond—in busy periods this may take several weeks.

Full submission guidelines here.

Literary agent Olga Filina
of The Rights Factory will
be our guest speaker at the
"How to Get Published"
workshop, Saturday, April 19,
in London. Details here.

Brian Henry will lead a “How to Get Published"workshop with guest speaker Martha Magor Webb of the Anne McDermid literary agency in Oakville on Feb 22 (see here). He’ll also lead “How to Get Published" workshops in Thessalon in Algoma on March 23 (see here) and in London on April 19 (see here).

Also, Brian will lead a “Writing for Children & for Young Adults” workshop in Caledon at the Bolton Library on Jan 18 (see here).

Brian also has a number of weekly courses coming up in January. You can scroll through the details for all of them here. 

He'll lead a “Writing your life & other true stories” on Tuesday afternoons in Burlington (see here) and a “Welcome to Creative Writing” course on Tuesday evenings in Burlington (here).

Brian will lead “Next Step” courses on Tuesday mornings in Burlington (see here), Thursday afternoons in Mississauga (here) and Thursday evenings in Georgetown (here); and he'll lead “Intensive” courses for more experienced writers on Wednesday afternoons in Burlington (here) and Wednesday evenings in Mississauga (see here).

To register or for more details of any course or workshop, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

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

Love Letters ~ Where your fellow writers are getting published

Hello there!  

Just wanted to say thank you for judging the children’s division of the James McIntyre Poetry Contest again this year. The awards night was last night, and my daughter Erin received a certificate for her acrostic poem about Clifford the big red dog.  My poems took 2nd & 3rd place in the adult free verse category, and my three sons were all there to take photos and clap, as good boys should!

You continue to inspire, indulge, and delight your newsletter followers, Brian.  Thank you for that!

Francine Lee 

I remember Erin’s poem about Clifford well! Judging for the contest is blind, though. So I had no idea who wrote it! Congratulations to Erin! And also to Francine! – Brian

For information about submitting to the James McIntyre Poetry Contest, see here.

Hi, Brian.

I was one of the winners of Best of Wordhaus 2013 with a story I wrote in your class! "Worth Your Weight in Gold?" was voted as one of the best in the Sci-Fi catagory, and will be published in an upcoming collection.  Thanks for encouraging me to create. Hopefully I'll have more success stories for you in the future.  You can find the story here.

Thanks,
Sebastian Tolhurst
sebastian-tolhurst.blogspot.ca/

For information on submitting to Wordhaus, see here.

Hello, Brian.
I just wanted you to know that my story, “Daisy Chained,” was accepted by Commuter Lit. Thanks so very much for sending me in their direction. Even more, thank you for the tip you gave me at the last workshop. That one small suggestion of yours led me to add one line at the end of the story and I am sure it was just the change the story needed to succeed.

At last night's Sudbury Writer's Guild meeting it was suggested we have you back in the spring and I sang your praises loudly.

Thanks again,
Vera Constantineau 

I am returning to Sudbury, on Saturday, March 22, to lead my “How to Write Dramatic Stories” workshop. Details here.

Hi, Brian.

Thank you for telling me about CommuterLit – now I’m being published there! Take a look on the website, on the right under “Tuesday’s story.” Yay! It’s my story, “Saving Ellie” here

Have a great week,
Hannah
Hannah McKinnon, Oakville

P.S.  Now I’m having a second short story published on CommuterLit. It’s called “A Day Off” and is a different, uplifting view of the traditional death storyhere.

Brian,
Just thought I'd let you know: Commuterlit.com accepted the short story I sent to them J Thanks for the great tip!

Working away on NaNoWriMo, querying my epic fantasy, and waiting to hear from the On Spec editor about the story they bought.

The writing life is good.

Melanie Marttila

Hi, Brian!

I wrote a short story in your September dialogue workshop in Toronto and CommuterLit said they love it and would like to publish it!

My story is the one about the air-conditioning and the boyfriend who wants more time with his girlfriend - you might recall the infomercial jokes. I read the story out loud and you encouraged all of us to submit. I will mention in the bio that I wrote this story in your workshop.

Thank you!

Marisa Baratta

Read Marissa’s story here.

For information about submitting to CommuterLit, see here.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Algoma, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

CommuterLit Selections, edited by Nancy Kay Clark, reviewed by Charlene Jones

You may be on a bus, streetcar or Go Train, but whatever vehicle of transport you use regularly, there’s good news: Nancy Kay Clark continues to sift reams of fiction and poetry to bring you the best for reading on your commute.

Nancy’s website, www.commuterlit.com, has attracted many dedicated readers and writers. Now some of the best pieces from the on-line site can be hand-held in an old-fashioned printed book. The compilation, called Commuterlit Selections brings you an impressive variety of short stories and poetry.

With writers from distances as great as Australia and as nearby as Main Street in Stouffville, the selection truly represents the whole world. The authors spring from those whose first appearances in print happened in Commuterlit, to those such as John Donlan, poetry editor of the prestigious Brick Books.

Along with such diversity of minds naturally comes diverse subject matter.

Catherine Sword’s skillfully written artistically rendered “Crow Visits” reveals through her careful choice of words the point of view of, yes, a Crow, flying near her backyard. Celynne Grewe-Hinzmann’s sweet offering about mother-daughter relationships and the ironic ways in which life may offer surprise endings, is a feel good piece. Brad Gischia’s “The Hall” does the opposite. A parent's natural end of the day choice of comfort over their child’s irrational fears creates conflict with a surprisingly chilling end.

Poetry by Joan Vinall-Cox also appears in
CommuterLit Selection

The characters springing from such a range of writers compel through their differences. The female protagonist in Gloria Jean Hansen’s amusing “Honour Thy Roots” is a tequila-swilling mama. She stands starkly in contrast with the gifted psychic in Frank T. Sikora’s provocative piece, “Hey Miles, What’s the Plan?” One leads the reader into an increasingly constrained corner, the other out into the vast realm of the human heart.

The poetry reveals an equal consideration of diversity of subjects, from Cassie McDaniel’s quartet of homages to all things computer and techie, to Dianne Korchinski’s ironic articulation of freedom through the Hajib.

Clark is to be commended as well for her choice in set-up. The book keeps to the weekly consistency offered by her online site, as one might expect. What isn’t expected is the opening page for each week with its quote from personalities as diverse as Dale Evans and Tolstoy.

Unexpected, yes, but where Nancy Kay Clark is concerned, a reader quickly learns to expect the unexpected, and is deeply rewarded for it. Get this hand held version of the online site. And make the online site your “go to” for those times during the commute when your head needs an interesting escape. You will find no better anywhere. 

* 

For the Christmas season, CommuterLit Selections is on sale at 40% off the regular price. You can buy a copy here. (Psst! lots of other great gift ideas for the writer in your life here.) For information about submitting to CommuterLit, see here.

Quick Brown Fox welcomes reviews of plays, movies, restaurants and especially books. Right now, I’d especially love a review of 

- Blood by Lawrence Hill
- A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay
- The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lamb
For more information or to send me a review, email me at brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Charlene Jones has most recently published pieces on Commuterlit. She also writes for her radio program Off the Top with Whistle Radio, 102.7 fm (aired every second Tuesday from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m.) 

You can see Charlene perform her poetry and prose at Linda Stitt's inimitable monthly salon at Portobello Restaurant and Bar the first Saturday every month in Toronto. Charlene blogs at www.Charlenediane.com

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Algoma, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.