Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Love Letters

Brian,
I appreciate you mentioning my new book, Sable Island, on Quick Brown Fox.

Also, I’m working on a middle grade fiction novel called Camp Evil – that was the title you gave us for the writing exercise in the Children’s Writing workshop in Moncton.

I kept writing it, and while I was living in San Diego, I took a Middle Grade / Young Adult writing class at UCSD and continued. Almost finished now. It's not a scary book - I took it as a sarcastic title – a play on Camp Eve, about a girl sent to summer camp against her will.

Will keep you posted as it goes.
Wendy Kitts
For more on Wendy’s book, Sable Island: The Wandering Sandbar, see here. For upcoming book signings and presentations, see Wendy's website here.


Hi, Brian.
Just wanted to share a little article CBC News has done about me. Check it out here.
Sue Crossman
Author of Shades of Teale

Now this is what I call self-promotion. Well done, Sue! - Brian


Hi Brian,
The first review of my book, Canadians at War: A Guide to the Battlefields of World War I, will appear in The Great War Magazine, published in Yorkshire, England. I’ll forward the actual review when it’s published. You appear among the book’s acknowledgements, by the way.
Susan Evans Shaw

For more on Susan's book, Canadians at War, see here.



Hello Brian,
Congratulations on curing me of a creative writing block that lasted about 20 years! Who knew that by going to your last workshop in London in April (and my first writing workshop ever) I would be published for the first time less than six months later?

I'm so appreciative that you took the time to answer my questions at the session and gave me advice. You suggested the Jersey Devil Press "Brilliant Disguise" feature as a starting point and encouraged me to just write, write, write whenever I can find a spare minute. It seemed simple enough, so I've been trying.

It hasn't been easy, but here it is: You were right. “Coda,” the one short fiction piece that I have managed to finish and submit was accepted by Jersey Devil Press.

I'm so happy! A little validation goes a very long way in this case, and I can't thank you enough for your helping hand in it. I definitely have November 5th circled on my calendar for your "How to Make Yourself Write" seminar at the London Library, particularly since finding time remains such a challenge.

Thanks again,
Danielle Stewart

Read "Coda" here. For information about submitting to Jersey Devil, see here. I’ll be leading the “How to Make Yourself Write” workshop in London on Saturday, Nov 5, (details here) and in Kitchener on Sat, Nov 27 (details here).

See my full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Kingston, Peterborough, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Georgetown, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Dundas, Kitchener, Guelph, London, Woodstock, Orangeville, Barrie, Gravenhurst, Sudbury, Muskoka, Peel, Halton, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

1 comment:

  1. I read this warm appreciative note, from Danielle to Brian, which prompted me to read the CODA story too. It was excellent. I had coincidentally just finished a book by Sam Kashner about the beat generation called When I Was Cool, and his final chapter was called Coda. I had never heard the word before, since I have never studied music, I just enjoy it, and had to look up the meaning. Perfect title Danielle! No wonder Jersey Devil snapped it up! It was nice to see the two of you yesterday, in conversation at the London workshop, after having read how helpful Brian was to your writing process. It was delightful to spend the day with you both, and with the others in the room, all sharing a love of words. It was rather daunting to sign up for the workshop, but I was thrilled to participate. Wonderful to see that so many of us are in the same boat - we know what we want to do, we just need help finding a way to do it. All the best to both of you.
    Encouraging-Lee, Francine (F.H.Lee)

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