author talks, What's New, writing, writing workshops, young writers

MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Festival 2023

It's back! In person! And I want to see you there. Young writers and artists in eastern Ontario and western Quebec can sign up now for the MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Festival (MYAIF) to be held in Ottawa on April 4th. This year's Festival will offer one day of workshops at the fab venue… Continue reading MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Festival 2023

Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest
author talks, contests, What's New, writing, writing workshops, young writers

Awesome Authors 2023 is on!

The Ottawa Public Library's Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest is back! Young writers of the nation's capital, get to work on your poems, short stories, and comics. You could win publication, glory, cold hard cash! The contest opened on January 10th and it closes on February 24th. Learn all the details from the Awesome Authors… Continue reading Awesome Authors 2023 is on!

book covers, books, contests, What's New, young writers

Pot-Pourri 2022

It's here, awesome authors! The latest volume of Pot-Pourri, containing all the winning stories, poems, and graphic narratives from Ottawa's Awesome Authors aged 9-18. Buy your copy today. Check out the gorgeous cover design by Gaurinanda Abhilash: Once again, the anthology is generously produced by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association (FOPLA), with… Continue reading Pot-Pourri 2022

author talks, What's New, writing, writing workshops

Online Character Workshop

Join me online on Saturday, January 14th at 1pm EST for a one-hour workshop on characterization: Nice is Not Enough, part of the SCBWI (Canada East) "Digging Deeper" workshop series. Here's the blurb: Nice is Not Enough: Developing Likeable and Unlikeable Characters: What makes us root for a character? How flawed can a protagonist be?… Continue reading Online Character Workshop

authors, book awards, What's New, writing

Judging the 2022 Ottawa Book Awards

It was an honour to be on the jury of the Ottawa Book Awards this year, with fellow jurors Conyer Clayton and Faizal Deen.  We considered more than 80 submissions in the English Fiction category, including poetry and prose for all ages. With such a talented pool of authors in Ottawa, it was difficult to… Continue reading Judging the 2022 Ottawa Book Awards