I’ve updated my list of Where Young Authors Can Submit. It includes contests, publications, podcasts, workshops and communities for youth who like to write. Welcome to my latest addition – YouthWrite camps for kids who write located in Alberta!
I’m happy to announce my next workshop with Whale Rock Literary Workshops. I’ll be teaching Writing Groups that Work: Give and Receive Feedback that Supports the Writer.
Date/Time: Thursday, June 6, 2024, 7:00–8:30 PM (EDT)
Cost: $30 US
Delivery: Online with session recorded for later viewing
Get the scoop on writing groups that work. In fact, why not invite your writing group (or writing partners) to join?
A well-run writing group can be a training ground for collective growth, support, and motivation to write. But some traditional groups can be unintentionally off-base, judgmental, and even harmful. In this 90-minute session, you’ll explore how to set up a writing group that centers on each writer’s needs, including creating a discovery experience to explore a project – where it came from, where it’s at now, and where the writer is inspired to take it next.
This course will cover:
This workshop is for any writer or writing group seeking ways to offer and receive targeted, constructive feedback that inspires revisions and meets writing goals.
To register, go to the Whale Rock website. While you’re there, please also check out their many wonderful offerings for new, emerging, and established writers for children and youth. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Whale Rock newsletter!
I’m honoured that One Tiny Bubble, illustrated by Dawn Lo, has been included in the TD Summer Reading Club 2024! This club is Canada’s biggest, bilingual summer reading program for kids of all ages, interests, and abilities. It’s offered at more than 2,000 public libraries as well as online. I love how it celebrates Canadian authors, illustrators and stories, and inspires kids to read!
Are you going to the Ontario Library Association Conference at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre? If so, check out the excellent line-up of author signings, including me! You can find me there on Friday, January 26 at 1 pm to sign copies of Monster vs. Boy. Just head to the Penguin Random Canada booth. Plus, I’ll be presenting at the CANSCAIP Book Tasting event at 10:30 to 11:30 am. Hope to see you there!
I’m happy to announce my next workshop with Whale Rock Literary Workshops. I’ll be co-teaching Feeling It: Creating Emotional Depth in Your Novel with US author and poet Laura Shovan.
Feeling It: Creating Emotional Depth in Your Novel
Dates/Times: Thursday, Feb 15, 22, 29 and March 7 at 7:00 to 8:30 pm ET (four sessions)
Cost: $499 US
Delivery: Online with sessions recorded for later viewing“I just didn’t connect with the character.” “The character didn’t resonate with me.”
How many times do writers hear these phrases when submitting to editors and agents? These dreaded, vague responses can often leave writers scratching their heads. Was it the writing? The plotting? How can they write stories that readers can’t resist?
Emotionally deep stories grab readers’ attention and encourage them to care about the characters and their world. It’s one way to improve your writing and craft stories that readers (and agents and editors) connect to. Join Whale Rock faculty Laura Shovan and Karen Krossing for a deep-dive into getting your characters’ emotions on the page.
Participants are expected to bring a chapter from a novel at any stage of development. Each session will tackle different ways to achieve emotional depth, whether you are connecting emotionally to your writer self, your characters, or your story ideas. Sessions will include exercises and side-writing assignments and will explore drafting and revising to achieve emotional depth. Participants will have homework to complete between sessions.
Each participant will walk away with a chapter of greater emotional depth as well as the tools needed to tackle all their manuscripts. Participants will submit ten, double-spaced pages and receive feedback from one of the instructors.
This Workshop Is For You If
- You are writing a middle grade or young adult novel.
- You love plot and/or dialogue, but struggle with getting to your character’s heart.
- You’ve received the dreaded “I just didn’t connect…” feedback on your manuscript.
- You would like to explore new ways of emotional connection in your writing practice.
- You are gearing up for submission and want to be sure your book hits the emotional highs and lows.
- You are a novelist looking to enhance your skills.
To register, go to the Whale Rock website. While you’re there, please also check out their many wonderful offerings for new, emerging, and established writers for children and youth. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Whale Rock newsletter!