Congratulations Patricia!

Patricia Anderson's short story, "A Guelph Boy's Christmas Hat Trick Ends Up in the Mail," appears in today's Guelph Mercury. She is a finalist in this year's Christmas Story contest.

Read her story.

Happy December

On Tuesday, five of us gathered at Symposium Restaurant for our monthly dinner meeting.

Dennis Fitter talked about the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar that was held in New York City last month. He enjoyed the experience and received valuable information about query letters, pitches and the first two pages of a manuscript. He encouraged us to join the Backspace online writing community. An annual subscription of $40 provides access to discussion forums with over 1600 writers from New York Times Bestsellers to aspiring authors in all genres. Dennis also gave each of us a copy of his book, A Colorful Shade of Gray. Great holiday reading!

Patricia Anderson talked about her misadventures when she participated in the OHBA Humanitarian Build in the Dominican Republic last month. Can you find her on Youtube?

Upcoming Contests...

The magazine, Our Canada, is sponsoring their first Short Fiction and Poetry Contest. Entries are due December 16th. For more details, visit their website.

The deadline for the Open Heart 6 Poetry Competition is December 25th. They are looking for poems that include a heart theme. All styles are welcome. Poems must not exceed 36 lines.

The deadlines for the Mysterious Short Story Contest is December 31st. To be considered, a short story must contain an element of mystery and be identifiably Canadian. All winning entries will be published in an anthology.

The deadline for the Here be Monsters Anthology #6 is January 16th. They are looking for unpublished works of speculative fiction in any genre.

Written by Joanne Guidoccio

Happy May

Last night, four of us gathered at Symposium Restaurant for our monthly dinner meeting. We discussed our respective writing journeys, covering a variety of topics: literary agents, query letters, social networking, NaNoWrMo and Patricia's upcoming trip to the Dominican Republic.

Upcoming Events and Contests...

• On Thursday, November 3rd, Edeet Ravel will be reading and discussing her work at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library. The fireside chat starts at 7:00 p.m.

• On Thursday, November 10th, Eveline Adomait will be reading and discussing her books at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library. The fireside chat starts at 7:00 p.m.

• On Tuesday, November 15th, Anita Rau Badami, Wayne Johnston, and Ami McKay will be reading at Norfolk United Church. Tickets are available at the Bookshelf Cafe.

• On Thursday, November 17, Nicholas Ruddock will be reading and discussing his books at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library. The fireside chat starts at 7:00 p.m.

• On Sunday, November 20th, Cindy Carroll and the Guelph Write Now group will conduct a workshop on pitches at Lucie's Restaurant. The workshop starts at 1:00 p.m. Visit the website for more information.

• On Tuesday, November 29th, the eReader and eGifting Options presentation will take place at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library. It starts at 7:00 p.m.

• The magazine, Our Canada, is sponsoring their first Short Fiction and Poetry Contest. Entries are due December 16th. For more details, visit their website.

Written by Joanne Guidoccio

All About Horror

On Wednesday night, Patricia Anderson, Cindy Carroll, Judy Emery and I attended the Inspiring Screams: Horror Writing workshop at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library. Teacher and writer, Erik Mortenson discussed the goals behind horror writing and how to get underneath people's skins.

A knowledgeable speaker, Mortenson referred to a number of films among them Jaws, Nightmare on Elm Street, Lizzie's Story, Carrie, Fatal Attraction, The Good Son, Psycho, Hostel, Pet Cemetery, Silence of the Lambs and The Stepford Wives.

Here are some of his tips for wannabe horror writers...

• Readers are afraid of death and losing control. In your writing, play with the illusion of control and make the reader confront the unknown.
• Fear inspires the most action.
  
• Take the everyday and turn it diabolical. For example, in Stephen King's novel, Kujo, a dog gets rabies and starts attacking people. Keep in mind that any animal can turn.
  
• Great horror is built on anticipation. In Jaws, the music played whenever the shark was approaching.
• When you limit what the reader knows, he/she will fell helpless.
  
• Anyone is capable of murder.
• Effective horror tries to bring out lessons.
  
• Play with...How much do we take for granted?...How much can go wrong?
• To make an even greater impact, have no definite conclusion or closure. For example, in Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal is not caught. The unknown makes everyone uncomfortable.
• If you are looking for a topic, ask yourself: What scares you? What do you fear?
• Play with the idea of science going bad. For example, what could be put in food? How terrifying would it be to lose all consciousness?

Written by Joanne Guidoccio

Happy October!

Yesterday evening, seven of us gathered at Symposium Restaurant to discuss our writing journeys and enjoy the wonderful food.

Welcome back to Dennis Fitter. We wish him the best of luck with his pitch for Mexico City at the Surrey Writers Conference later this month. Keep us posted!

Upcoming Events and Contests...

• On Wednesday, October 12th, Erik Mortensen will facilitate a workshop entitled "Inspiring Screams: Horror Writing" at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library. The two-hour workshop starts at 7:00 p.m.
  

• On Thursday, October 13th, Linwood Barclay, Maureen Jennings and Peter Robinson will read from their latest books at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library. The readings start at 7:00 p.m.

• On Sunday, October 16th, Cindy Carroll and the Guelph Write Now group will conduct a workshop on pitches at Lucie's Restaurant. The workshop starts at 1:00 p.m. Visit the website for more information.
  

• On Wednesday, October 19th, Kevin Nunn will spearhead the next session of The Sound of Writing at the EBar in the Bookshelf Cafe. Matthew Wren will be reading from his latest work. Email Kevin at nunnetal@gmail.com for more details.

• On Tuesday, October 25th, Maligie Koroma will read from his latest book at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library. The reading starts at 7:00 p.m.
  

• The deadline for the CBC Writing Contest is Tuesday, November 1st. The First Prize winner will receive $6,000, courtesy of the Canada Council for the Arts, and will have his/her story published in Air Canada’s enRoute magazine and on the Canada Writes website. The 4 runners-up will each receive $1,000, courtesy of the Canada Council for the Arts, and their stories will be published on the Canada Writes website. Submissions to the short story category must be between 1,200 and 1,500 words.

Written by Joanne Guidoccio

An Evening with Douglas Smith

Last night, Patricia Anderson and I joined a small group of writers at the Guelph Public Library for Douglas Smith's workshop on short story writing. Doug is a prolific writer who has sold over 150 pieces of short fiction in 30 different countries around the world.

He provided us with two hours of excellent tips and suggestions for writing and publishing short stories. Special thanks to Kevin Nunn for organizing this event.

Here are some of Doug's tips...

• Sell as few rights as possible for as much money as possible. You have only one opportunity to sell first rights.
  
• Find a good home for your work, preferably one that pays professional rates (at least 5 cents a word).
• Science fiction and fantasy writers can search for markets at ralan.com.
• All writers can find markets at Places for Writers and Duotrope.
• Before sending out your work, check each link on the site and make sure you understand all the submission guidelines. Check out the competition at archived issues of the publication. Make sure that your story is a reasonable fit for that particular market.
  
• Pick out your top five markets and start sending out your work.
  
• Keep your cover letter short. In the first paragraph, inform the editor that you are attaching or pasting your short story. Use the second paragraph, to talk about your publication credits. In the third paragraph, thank the editor for his/her time.
• Do not send simultaneous submissions (i.e. two markets at the same time).
• If you have not heard in three months time, send an email asking for an update.
• Set up a tracking system for your short stories. Doug uses a large spreadsheet to keep track of the titles, dates sent and responses.
• Keep writing and keep sending different short stories out on a regular system.
• Do not revise your story to reflect the feedback you have received. Each editor has different preferences and needs.
• There are only two things a writer can control: quality of the stories and the contract signed.
• Read the contract very carefully before you sign it. Point out anything you do not like or wish to have changed.
• You can sell second rights or reprints of your story for less money. Anthologies will often take reprints.
• Check out Doug's list of foreign markets.

Written by Joanne Guidoccio

Happy September!

Last night, five of us gathered at Symposium Restaurant to discuss our writing and enjoy the wonderful food. The conversation was animated as we covered a range of topics--everything from editing to metaphysics.

Welcome to Matt and Dave from the Guelph Write Now group. We enjoyed listening to Matt read from his novel. Good luck with the second draft!

Upcoming Events...

On Sunday, September 18th, the Eden Mills Writers Festival will take place in Eden Mills. Visit the website for more information.

On Wednesday, September 21st, Doug Smith will facilitate a free workshop, Marketing Short Fiction, at the Guelph Public Library. The workshop starts at 7:00 p.m.

On Saturday, September 24th, Brian Henry will run his popular How to Get Published workshop at Harcourt United Church in Guelph. I attended this workshop in Woodstock last month and enjoyed it immensely. Visit Brian's blog for more information.

On Sunday, September 25th, there will be two Word on the Street Festivals--one in Toronto and one in Kitchener.

Enjoy!

Written by Joanne Guidoccio