On Saturday, May 24, 2025, you can find me at the first-ever Appleby College Festival of Authors, located in Oakville, Ontario! Its goal? To celebrate the incredible work of Canadian authors. I’m thrilled to see this new festival joining the literary landscape. Let’s help it be a big success so that it can continue for years to come.
At this year’s festival, you’ll find panels of speakers who are all there to share their books and delve into their creative journeys. Whether you like fiction or memoirs, thrillers or romance, picture books, or YA, you’ll find an author and books that are right for you. Tickets are only $10 and are available here.
I’ll be speaking with moderator John Corr and panelists Richard Scrimger and Sylvia McNicoll about The Power of Friendship in Stories. Plus, A Different Drummer bookstore will be on site so you can pick up new books, including my latest – Monster vs. Boy. I hope to see you there!
Writing Craft Talk at CANSCAIP
On June 11, I’ll be speaking at the monthly CANSCAIP member’s meeting at 7 p.m. ET. Meetings are via Zoom, and you can contact CANSCAIP for membership options or a onetime invitation as a guest.
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!
Sometimes, you receive a book review that gets what you were trying to achieve.
“A book whose story of a boy hunting a monster is really about mental health and learning to accept the darkest parts of oneself…. Stated differences in racial and sexual identities also feed into themes of acceptance and support the idea that Dawz must appreciate everything about himself, just as those around him accept and appreciate each other. Monster vs. Boy is a supportive novel in which a boy learns to address his trauma—with his community’s support.“ Foreword Reviews
Six more sleeps until this book launches into the world with a gorgeous cover by Markia Jenai!
One month until the release date of my middle-grade novel Monster vs. Boy with Charlesbridge Publishing! You can watch a video sneak peak of it here. The gorgeous cover and illustrations are by Markia Jenai. Here’s what Publishers Weekly had to say about it:
“With realistically limned characters, the author explores pensive themes surrounding acceptance of oneself and of others to deliver a sensitive rumination on personhood and kindness.”
