author talks, books, children's books, contests, public speaking, school visits, writing, young writers

Immersed in Student Writing

This Tuesday, I had the pleasure of calling the names of twelve young writers whose short fiction won places in the Ottawa Public Library's Awesome Authors Contest. What a pleasure to be one of this year's judges and to read excerpts from the fantastic mix of winning stories: humour, drama, sci-fi, horror, and sad, sad… Continue reading Immersed in Student Writing

author talks, authors, children's books, What's New, writing, writing conference

The Art of Story: SCBWI Canada East Conference

I always look forward to my regional SCBWI conference. This year it's especially exciting because I'll be giving a workshop myself. My topic: revision. I used to dread revisions. I loved drafting; I loved polishing; but I loathed the grunt work in between the two. I spent the past year revising a middle-grade animal adventure… Continue reading The Art of Story: SCBWI Canada East Conference

contests, monday markets, What's New, writing, young writers

Awesome Young Authors in Ottawa

Yes, it's on! The Ottawa Public Library is holding its annual Awesome Authors Contest for youth aged 9-17. If you're a young person in Ottawa with something to say, get to work on saying it well. (BTW, the 9-year-olds don't have to compete with the high-schoolers. The contest is divided into three age categories: 9-11;… Continue reading Awesome Young Authors in Ottawa

books, contests, public libraries, short stories, What's New, writing, young writers

Good Reading

I just received my copies of the latest Pot-Pourri -- that's the annual volume of youth writing published by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association (FOPLA). This lovely book contains all the winning poems and stories from last year's Awesome Authors Contest, a youth writing competition held every winter by the Ottawa Public Library.… Continue reading Good Reading

book covers, books, writing

Judging Books by their Covers

While browsing my online library catalogue, this book caught my eye: It captured me not because of its great reviews but because I could have sworn it was in my TBR pile with a different name. I searched through the pile and found this: Ah yes. Not quite the same book. Extremely similar cover, completely different book. Apparently, this… Continue reading Judging Books by their Covers