author talks, authors, contests, public libraries, What's New, writing, young writers

Ottawa’s Awesome Authors Contest

'Tis the season for the Ottawa Public Library's Awesome Author Contest! Local writers aged 9-17 have a couple of months to shine up their best poems and stories for the 2016 competition. If your work is already shiny, you can enter it right now. If you want some professional help in polishing your words -- or digging up words… Continue reading Ottawa’s Awesome Authors Contest

writing

Make a WISH

For the second week in a row, I met some friends on Friday morning for an hour of silent writing in a local tea house. I call it a Write in Silence Hour, aka a WISH. Okay, yeah, people have been doing this for centuries by other names. You might head to a cafe for a… Continue reading Make a WISH

contests, monday markets, writers' markets, writing, young writers

Monday Markets: Upcoming Writing Contests and Calls for Submission

Looking for somewhere to submit your work? Fishing for a topic for your next story? Here are a few suggestions and opportunities coming up in September and October 2015. For Teachers and Students: The Ocean Trash Write-Away Short Fiction Contest: Writers under 25 are invited to envision solutions to the problem of ocean trash for… Continue reading Monday Markets: Upcoming Writing Contests and Calls for Submission

Friday Fables, short stories, writers' markets, writing

Friday Fable: The Novelist and the Literary Journal that Paid $30

You may know the old story, "The Angler and the Little Fish:" An angler spent all morning casting and reeling in the hot sun, dreaming about the bucketload of trout and walleye he might catch, how delicious they'd taste fried in butter, how his wife would welcome him home with kisses, how his neighbours would gossip about his… Continue reading Friday Fable: The Novelist and the Literary Journal that Paid $30

authors, children's books, writing, writing conference, young writers

MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Conference

Next week I'll be a guest author at the annual MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Conference, which runs from April 21-23 in Ottawa, Ontario. Students in grades 4-8 from eastern Ontario and western Quebec will be bussed and driven to the Canadian Aviation Museum to attend the Conference for one day each, taking a day away from school for some… Continue reading MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Conference