It’s coming! Young Voices 2013 – the Toronto Public Library‘s annual magazine of teen writing and art – will soon available at your local Toronto library branch. As an editor of this magazine, I’m proud of the talents of the Toronto’s teens showcased each year. You can also download a copy of the magazine here.
Art, photos, stories, poems, rants, and more – you’ll find it all within these pages. Young Voices gives the writers and artists of tomorrow an opportunity to publish their creations today.
Thanks to my group of enthusiastic editors from the Editorial Youth Advisory Group for an evening of friendly arguments, loud disagreements, and finally mutual understanding as we determined which pieces to select for the magazine. Thanks to the staff at the Toronto Public Library who give Toronto teens this fantastic opportunity.
This year, the Young Voices launch party will be held at the Toronto Reference Library on Tuesday, October 8 at 7:00 p.m. I hope the event will inspire these teen creators to continue to pursue their writing and art.
Don’t forget – it’s never too early to think about next year’s magazine! Check out the submission guidelines and deadline here.
Teen writers who are looking for hands-on writing workshops should check out the Toronto Public Library’s Young Voices 2013 Writers Conference. This freeone-day event is on October 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. How lucky are we to have the fabulous Toronto Public Library!
You can meet published authors and artists, improve your craft, get your work published in the Instant Anthology blog and magazine, and meet other Toronto teen writers.
My new novel for teens, Cut the Lights, is officially available on October 1. It’s one of three debut titles in the Orca Limelights series on the performing arts. To celebrate, I’m launching my video book trailer and hosting a Goodreads giveaway for one of ten copies of the book. Good luck!
The first review of Cut the Lights is wonderful. Here’s what the Quill & Quire reviewer had to say:
Karen Krossing’s Cut the Lights is a … complex offering, both in terms of storyline and character. Krossing is a confident, engaging writer, and the book’s setting is a kind of Glee-meets-Fame dream school that kids will find very appealing…. Given how many kids dream of stardom, the Limelights series is sure to hold wide appeal, especially if those lofty ambitions continue to be dealt with in ways that are encouraging and down-to-earth at the same time. Quill & Quire
You can download a sample chapter of Cut the Lightshere. Enjoy the trailer!
As I wrote in Part 1 of this post, I’ve been taking a writing break to “fill the creative well” and ponder my current work-in-progress, which was somewhat stuck at chapter six at the start of the summer. In fact, I didn’t know if I had a viable story idea that I could plot through to the end. So I wrote the first few chapters, took a break, and hoped for the best.
In the meantime, I re-finished our kitchen chairs into works of art with my artist daughter, Paige. (Statement of Truth: She’s the artist. I’m just the base-coat painter.) You can see our first three chairs in Part 1, including the themes cosmos, Aztec, and steampunk. As promised, here are the final three chairs: Doctor Who, floral, and collage.
For all you Doctor Who fans out there, we planned a spinning Tardis (the Doctor’s time machine) within billowing clouds coupled with our favourite quotes written in Gallifreyan (the language used by the Time Lords, displayed using a complex system of interlocking circles, hexagons and lines).
Here’s the front of our Doctor Who chair, including a close up:
Can’t read Gallifreyan? Curious what we wrote? Okay, here it is:
Front of backrest: “Do what I do. Hold tight and pretend it’s a plan!”
(The Doctor, Season 7, Christmas Special)
Lower-left seat: “Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good!”
(The Doctor, Season 2, Episode 4)
Upper-right seat: “Biting’s excellent. It’s like kissing. Only there is a winner.”
(Idris, Season 6, Episode 4)
Here’s the rear of the same chair:
This Gallifreyan quote says: “You want weapons? We’re in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world!” (The Doctor, Season 2, Episode 2).
Next, we created our floral chair, which is the only one that uses the natural wood grain:
And finally, here’s our collage chair, which includes images of the aftermath of Great Fire in Toronto, some of our favourite pastimes (books, dance, etc.), my family nickname (Karnage), excerpts from “What to Do in Case of an Air Raid” (a funny historical piece I found in a collectibles shop), several dragons (because who doesn’t like dragons), and a lot more.
Here’s a peek at our collage chair:
Now, we are resting on our chairs, irreverently sitting on works of art, and enjoying the fruits of our labours. And maybe, just maybe, that novel is ready to be written.
The writing process is a quirky thing. It’s somewhat like calming a screaming toddler in the middle of a department store while juggling twelve oranges. You’ve got to keep all the oranges in the air without further upsetting the toddler or getting kicked out by the security guards. Okay, I know. Bad comparison.
What I did discover one day in August was that I suddenly knew how to solve that niggling problem in my work-in-progress. One clear sunny morning while reading an information book for pleasure, an brilliant idea found me, told me how to finish the novel, and created a few exciting new characters in the process.
So I’m feeling that stepping away from my desk and letting my subconscious do the work was a terrific plan. Even though I wasn’t sure it would work. I guess those hours of painting chairs paid off in more ways than one.
Neil plays guitar with his family’s band, the Family McClintock, even though he can’t stand the Celtic music they play, he doesn’t dance, he hates the outfits, and every single performance reminds him that he isn’t as talented as the rest of the family.
When his buddy Bert convinces him to form a rock band and enter a local talent show, Neil’s playing improves and everyone notices, including a girl who shares his musical interests. He starts to think that all those years of practice might come in handy after all. But it all comes to a head when Neil has to choose between an important gig with the family band and the talent show. He’s only sure of one thing: whatever he decides to do, he’s going to be letting someone down.
Have you drawn on your own experience at all in writing this book?
I grew up in a small town on Cape Breton Island, where music is a way of life and many talented families perform at community events and outdoor concerts all summer long. I thought it would be fun to write about one of these musical families from the perspective of one of its younger members. I also did a lot of performing when I was younger, as a singer in small three-piece bands like the one Neil and his friends form for the talent show, so I had a lot of fun revisiting those days.
How did you come up with your title? What other titles did you consider?
I don’t want to give too much away, but the title fits perfectly with the story! I will say that Neil’s relationship with his well-known family and his desire to break away and do his own thing are the central themes of the book, and by the time things wrap up, the title makes perfect sense!
Did you find it challenging to describe the thought process behind the creative process?
Yes! I spend a lot of time listening to music, but when I started writing the book I quickly learned that it is incredibly difficult to describe music and dance in words. By its very nature, music is meant to be listened to, not described, so turning the musical scenes that fill the book into part of a compelling narrative was a real challenge. Eventually I got into a groove and began to enjoy the process, but as hard as I tried, a written description of a musical performance will never match the real thing!
Tom Ryan is the author of three novels for teens, including Way to Go and Tag Along.
Have you done any performing arts as a teen or adult?
I’ve done loads of performing. As a teen I sang in a few bands, and I was also into theatre, both acting and building and painting sets. Later on, after university, I worked in the film industry for several years and had the opportunity to meet and work with lots of really interesting and talented people. I still play guitar a little bit and I’ve always enjoyed singing, but it’s been quite a while since I performed in front of an audience.
If you could be proficient at any one “performance skill” what would it be?
I would love to be able to play piano. I took lessons for a couple of years in junior high, but I didn’t stick with it and I’ve always regretted that. I haven’t ruled out picking it up again, someday when I have a bit more time!
Thanks for the insights, Tom. Totally Unrelated sounds like a book that performance-loving teens won’t want to miss!
For an interview with Limelights author Robin Stevenson, visit Tom’s blog. For an interview with me, visit Robin’s blog. You can also read sample first chapters and enjoy the Limelights video trailer (made by Tom) at the Orca Limelights site. Enjoy!
It’s coming! Young Voices 2013 – the Toronto Public Library‘s annual magazine of teen writing and art – will soon available at your local Toronto library branch. As an editor of this magazine, I’m proud of the talents of the Toronto’s teens showcased each year. You can also download a copy of the magazine here.
