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| Paul Mackan's book Dream Girl, Dream is now available | ||||||||||
 Colleague and
FTNer, Paul Mackan, has just received word from PublishAmerica.com that his book, Dream
Girl, Dream, is now published and available.When Paul was contacted he could only say: " Rejoice with me. I'm proud of it. I will delay the launch until April, I think, in the hope of more palatable weather." (Watch for a future announcement.) However if you do not want to wait until spring, you can visit the PublishAmerica Book Publishing Company and purchase the book directly. The Web site is: http://www.publishamerica.net/product89202.html. They are listing it at $16.95 (probably in US funds). Here is what they are saying about the book:  "She thinks as a child.
She loves to think, does Saralee. Mostly of questions. Nothing unusual in that. Children can drive you batty with
questions. But when she asks, “Why is God invisible?” the fat hits the fire! Mother can't answer; Father can't,
and evidently God won't. So she issues God a challenge: OK for your side?I will never pray to you again until you
tell me why!Saralee is a stick-to-her-guns girl. She goes to bed prayerless and has a most fantastical dream: a figure made of fire sweeps her away on a great adventure with fish, fur, and feathers. The fire dons a straw “boater,” a pair of soft shoes, and does a song and dance. It's fun, scary and funny; whether it's true is up to you. Enjoy, enjoy! God may never seem the same again! "  Back to top |
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| Facebook Page - Freelancers Working Together | ||||||||||
| Freelancers Working Together is a "new Facebook group designed to allow
freelance writers worldwide to share news, information, gripes and suggestions, to help each other in this difficult
working environment", says Barbara Florio Graham. Conceived by Florio Graham, and sponsored by the Cassell
Network of Writers (who is offering members a $5 discount on any new membership, including a year's subscription
to Freelance Writer's Report), this is an interactive forum where members can exchange information, ask questions
and provide answers. Find a link to the forum at www.SimonTeakettle.com
and at www.writers-editors.com. Florio Graham felt there was a pressing need for a forum that includes writers from all countries and all genres, regardless of membership in writing organizations, to help freelancers band together to improve their situation. She asked the Cassell Network to sponsor this by offering writers an incentive to join the group. But membership in the Facebook group is free to all, whether or not they take advantage of the special offer. Click here to join. Back to top |
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| Children's writers? Difference between SCBWI and CANSCAIP | ||||||||||
| Is SCBWI the new name for CANSCAIP, or are they two different organizations? (We asked SCBWI member Rachel Eugster) SCBWI and CANSCAIP are two different organizations. CANSCAIP (for those who don't know) is the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers, and can be found here: www.canscaip.org. SCBWI, as I mentioned in my earlier message, is the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (www.scbwicanada.org for the local chapter, scbwi.org for the parent org.). One difference is that CANSCAIP is specifically Canadian, while SCBWI is an international organization, with hundreds of chapters all over the world. So one advantage to joining is belonging to a professional organization that is recognized by children's publishers around the globe. Of course, the biggest markets for Canadian writers and illustrators are Canada and the U.S., but belonging to SCBWI also got me a book contract in the U.K. Another distinction is that SCBWI has more of a presence in Ottawa, including annual events, while CANSCAIP seems (to me, at least) to be rather Toronto-centric. However, there is also a loose network that has occasional get-togethers for writers and illustrators who belong to either SCBWI or CANSCAIP (or both). That gives those who write or illustrate for children (and teens) a rare chance to network, talk shop, compare notes, and enjoy a little professional and social interchange in what we all know can be a very solitary effort! The acronym is pronunced like a British sneeze (ATICHOO), but I don't remember at the moment what the letters actually are, or how they were arrived at. I'm on the exec committee for SCBWI Canada East, and would be happy to answer any other questions. I've been a member since the first Canadian chapter was founded 11 years ago (which split into two--East and West--roughly five years later). Back to top |
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| Prime Crime Books is closing in March | ||||||||||
| (Ottawa - January 7, 2010) This E-mail from Linda Wiken of Prime Crime
Mystery Bookstore: Dear customers & friends, It is with regret but also anticipation that I'm closing Prime Crime as of March 13, 2010. I have attempted to find a buyer but been unsuccessful and feel I can't put if off any longer. I will miss the store and all of you but it's time to put my energy into other challenges. I sincerely thank you for your support and friendship over the years. Stay tuned for news about upcoming sales and of course, my New Vistas party (NOT a retirement party). Please be sure to use any credit notes or gift certificates by March 13th. Also, we will no longer be buying any books for the used section. Again, thank you for loving crime fiction and in particular, supporting Canadian crime writing. Cheers, Linda Back to top |
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| Introducing Storyteller Magazine's Book Self-Publishing Service | ||||||||||
| (Ottawa, December 10, 2010) At Storyteller Magazine (Tyo Publishing) we've been publishing Canadian writers for
over fifteen years. Now we're ready to produce your book as a partner in your self-publishing project. Background History More than a decade ago, Ottawa's Terry Tyo, publisher of Storyteller, asked himself why, whenever he wanted to read short stories, he was turning to American magazines and books to find them. And what he was finding was magazines and books devoted to only one type of story. Where was the variety? Although Canada has a reputation for great writers and a wide and literate audience, he couldn't find a Canadian magazine devoted to the short story that published mystery, or adventure, or even comedy. Thus was born the concept of Storyteller. Terry's reputation for excellence continues. About Tyo Publishing In 1994, we recognized that there were so few markets for Canadian fiction, that we launched Storyteller, Canada's Fiction Magazine. We featured over four hundred writers-many of them published for the first time-in the pages of Storyteller. On behalf of our writers, we were honoured to win or be short listed for national writing awards including the Arthur Ellis Award and The Journey Prize. Over fifteen years, we also found that there were gaps in Canada's book publishing industry: first, that there are many talented, aspiring writers with few venues to get published; second, that unfortunately not every writer is destined to sign a book deal. It's with this same 'can-do' spirit that we've launched our contract publishing service. We invite you to see your book to completion and hope we can help you in your task. How To Start We start with a free consultation to understand your vision for your manuscript. Then our team goes to work to produce a professional layout and quality printed product that you'll be proud of. For more information on our self-publishing service, email us at tyo@rogers.com, or call 613-822-9734 and we'll send you our information brochure. Back to top |
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| The Canada Reads line up for 2010 | ||||||||||
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The annual battle of the books, Canada Reads, involves celebrity guests defending their choice of novel. They debate their choices every day for a week on CBC Radio One before choosing a single book they believe Canadians would enjoy reading. Five Canadian books will be celebrated for three months online, at public events and on air. It all leads up to a week-long show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi. In this annual title fight, five celebrity panelists defend their favourite work of Canadian fiction. One by one, books are voted off the list, until one panelist triumphs with the book for Canada to read this year. The contenders are:
Last year's winner was Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes. The half-hour Canada Reads debates will air on CBC Radio One from March 8 to March 12, 2010, at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. in Newfoundland). The program will also air on CBC's digital channel bold from March 8 to 12 at 6:00 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. NT, 3:00 p.m. PT) and on Sirius 137 on the same dates at 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET; it will also be available online and via podcast. To learn more about Canada Reads Click here. To read the
announcement for this year's event, click
here. |
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| Lights in the Dark is looking for your submissions to help their community. | ||||||||||
| (Ottawa, Wed, 18 Nov 2009) Lights in the Dark is a small group of people who have all been touched by suicide
in some way. We want to create a resource of positivity for those dealing with the issues of suicide- people looking
for hope or positivity, people dealing with the loss of a loved one to suicide, people considering suicide, really
anyone going through a tough time. Our vision is to create a daily ray of hope for people who need it. To those ends we are creating a blog called "Lights in the Dark: A resource of Hope" and we are hoping people will share with us how hey were touched by suicide through submissions of stories, testimonials , art, poems, meditations, music, videos, anything creative that might help someone dealing with the same issues. We are approaching local schools to have children draw pictures and write about why they are happy to be alive today or about what makes them happy. We are contacting writers and artists groups in Ottawa and hoping we will receive creative contributions that will help people. We are happy to credit submission as the author or artist prefers and add links to web pages or other sources or to post anonymously and we will remove any content at any time, upon request. Those interested in contributing or who have questions can contact us by email at: submissions[at]lightsinthedark.ca. We are hoping to get our site online soon but it is not live yet. Back to top |
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| *Sugar Mule: The Canadian Issue* is now on-line | ||||||||||
| Thanks to Susan McMaster for this item... (Ottawa, Tue, 17 Nov 2009) *Sugar Mule: The Canadian Issue* is now on-line. This international literary magazine is based in the States, and the current issue was compiled at the request of editor Marc Weber, who shows a welcome interest in reaching beyond American borders to connect a community of poets and readers worldwide. The Canadian issue features well-known and established poets alongside an unusual selection of prize-winning and interesting mid-career and novice poets. Take a look, and if you like it, please circulate this information to your own email/Facebook list. Comments are welcome and will be passed on to the writers. If this collection is well received, we plan to publish it as a book in future; please indicate your interest in knowing more about this by means of an email to ae414@ncf.ca. The more such emails we receive, the easier it will be to arrange for publication. A subject line of "Sugar Mule Book - pls send info" is all that's needed. Also, if you are a poet yourself, the magazine is currently accepting submissions for its next issue, which will be a general issue, and *Sugar Mule* reaches a wide audience. Enjoy! Susan McMaster, guest editor, *Sugar Mule: The Canadian Issue* -- Susan McMaster . 43 Belmont Avenue . Ottawa ON K1S 0T9 . 613-730-1497 Summer . 3575 Hwy 215 (Minasville) . Walton NS B0N 2R0 . 902-369-2186/ Sumac Editing //& Writing/ . http://web.ncf.ca/smcmaster. smcmaster@ncf.ca Back to top |
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| Saturday Citizen "Literary Events" page, switches to a web-based system | ||||||||||
| Thanks to Listserv member Randy Ray for this
item... (Ottawa, Tue, 18 Aug 2009) In case you haven't heard, the Citizen is changing the way it accepts events listings, which for those of us in the writing community, means book signings, readings, meetings and book fairs. Below is an email I received from Ute Mikula at the Citizen, who can be reached at: (UMikula@thecitizen.canwest.com) if you have questions: ``As of Saturday, August 22, 2009, we are switching to a web-based system and will no longer accept listings via e-mail. Please go to ottawacitizen.com/eventsform to complete your future listings. We'll enter any listings already received into our system. Meanwhile, go to ottawacitizen.com/events to see the searchable database for yourself.'' The Ottawa Sun recently killed the events listings that once appeared daily in the paper, choosing instead to list events on its Web site where in my view they are not seen by as many people. Click here to go to the Citizen Events listings. Back to top |
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| Richard Bercuson Book: "Assume the position - One guy's journey through prostate cancer" | ||||||||||
 Richard writes: My new book "Assume the position" is now available.
Subtitled "One guy's journey through prostate cancer," it chronicles my journey from early
diagnosis to surgery and finally to two years post-op. All of the book's proceeds go to the Prostate Cancer Association
of Ottawa which subsidized its publication.There are cover testimonials from former federal minister Allan Rock, a pc survivor himself, as well as Dr. Chris Morash, a prominent urologist. Further details as well as excerpts can be found on my new web site, www.richardbercuson.ca. (Photo courtesy Chris Mikula, Ottawa Citizen) The book is available through the web site and is also now in Collected Works Bookstore on  Wellington at Holland. Further bookstore locations to come. A media campaign will begin shortly as the book will be promoted at various cancer and prostate cancer events both locally and across Canada. It is also highlighted on the Canadian Prostate Cancer Network's site, http://www.cpcn.org/02_whatsnew.htm, and has been featured in the Ottawa Hospital's Challenge magazine. Readers of this listserv can obtain copies by writing to me at richard[at]richardbercuson.ca. Retail price is $15 + $2 shipping. Purchasing through the web site involves using PayPal which is slightly more. Back to top |
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| Death of a literary institution - Storyteller Magazine | ||||||||||
| (The Ottawa
Citizen - December 11, 2008) Some stories should be told. Such was the idea behind Ottawa-based Storyteller
Magazine, which recently tiptoed into literary extinction. Its departure is bemoaned by lovers of short narrative
fiction and most certainly by its writers. Some stories should be told. Such was the idea behind Ottawa-based Storyteller Magazine, which recently tiptoed into literary extinction. Its departure is bemoaned by lovers of short narrative fiction and most certainly by its writers. As Storyteller's long-time editor Melanie Fogel commented, today there are few venues left for short-story writers to have their work published. "If you write crime stories, there's none," she said. "Same for romance or western. Maybe if you write speculative fiction or sci-fi, you have a few more options. But for straight narratives, telling a story where something is actually happening, which was the kind of stories we wanted, it seems to be gone." Storyteller -- and Ms. Fogel will cringe at the cliché -- was the brainchild of Ottawa's Terry Tyo, a lover of short fiction. When the magazine shut down in October after 15 years, it left him with a house full of back issues yet a satisfaction that it had run its course. "I really think we accomplished everything we set out to do," remarked the publisher of east end weeklies for the Transcontinental chain. "I can't say I have any regrets. We did a great thing for a long while and when it's time, it's time." The unfortunate reality was that, in this country, short non-literary fiction had limited market appeal. Storyteller, billing itself as Canada's Short Story Magazine, retained a strong subscriber base till the end, even when it was no longer available in stores. For much of its existence, it sold about 3,000 copies per year when 5,000 for a book is considered a bestseller. Marketing and paying for the venture were not for the faint of wallet, though Mr. Tyo said it either broke even or made a few dollars most years. Yet finding advertisers and attracting sponsors were always a challenges. For a couple of years, provincial grants helped the cause. Surviving on grants was not, in his view, a way to function. "I wasn't against grants generally," he says. "I just felt you have to stand on your own." When it began, Mr. Tyo lived in Kanata but for the majority of its life, the magazine was based in his Alta Vista area home. ("Our virtual office," he adds. "No overhead.") There, he and the volunteer staff prepared the quarterly issues, fitting the 10 best stories into the only magazine of its kind in Canada. Storyteller blossomed from a $20 ad in the Citizen in 1994. His phone rang non-stop for four days and within a couple of months, he was inundated with nearly 300 story submissions. Clearly, he'd hit on something. Ms. Fogel, who teaches evening creative writing courses at Glebe High School where she's also working on a student anthology, used to pour through about 400 stories per issue. "I think my proudest moments," she said, "came when writers would e-mail us about their books coming out. They'd thank us for being the first to publish them. Then we'd get acknowledgments in their books or web sites; they'd always have nice things to say about Storyteller." For instance, Ottawa writer John Kupferschmidt's first short story, "Wanderer of refugee," won Storyteller's annual Great Canadian Story contest. Last year, he captured the Arsenal Pulp Press three-day novel contest for In the Garden of Men, now in bookstores. Although submissions came from across the English-speaking universe, numerous Ottawa writers made it into the magazine, many having their first fiction published. Among them are crime novelists Mary Jane Maffini and Barbara Fradkin. I was among those rewarded a few times with the Fogel/Tyo Seal of Narrative Approval. One year, I garnered the Mystery Writers of Canada Best Short Story award, the Arthur Ellis. No shadow of a doubt about it: Ms. Fogel's incisive and thorough editing was a large part of the award, as well as the successes of many other writers. So when I learned of Storyteller's demise, I poignantly recalled a day in the fall of 1994. I'd driven to Slater and O'Connor streets to meet Terry Tyo and receive payment for my opus in the magazine's second issue. He handed me two complimentary copies and thanked me. I beamed at my story's name on the cover and thanked him. Quite profusely, it seems now. These days, Mr. Tyo claims he's enjoying spare time he hasn't experienced in ages. Nevertheless, Storyteller's absence has become like another cliché. For short story enthusiasts, we didn't know what we had till it was gone. Richard Bercuson is a teacher and writer. Back to top |
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Other related journalism/news sites:
* Internet Sources for Journalists and Broadcasters
(Hal Doran's bodacious site!)
* Ottawa Public Library E-News |
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List
member Barbara Florio Graham writes:
