Noelle
The New Quarterly has just put out it’s contests page and details a whackload of writing contests focusing on Canadian writers and writing. Check it out and see if one feels right for your and your work. Contests include poetry, essay, and fiction. Good luck!
Click to go to TNQ contest page…
Ready to start looking for an agent and need some reminders about what not to do? Here’s a solid list of don’t to read in order to avoid the path of the giant slushpile!
Recently I read a telling post about the 7 bad habits of successful authors and it struck me – you don’t have to be successful as a writer to have the bad habits attributed to one. Go figure. That said, I think it clearly speaks volumes about the writerly types that we all are…
The written word is so powerful – especially when those words are secrets. Frank Warren is the creator of the PostSecret Project, a blog full of secrets anonymously shared via postcard.. “Secrets can remind us of the countless human dramas, of frailty and heroism playing out silently in the lives of people all around us.” (Frank Warren)
Click to view the TED video – Frank Warren: Half a million secrets
Dave Bidini caused quite a stir when he came into the WCDR breakfast. He took us on a wild ride - dropping the f-bomb, then discussing a section in his book where a musician plays the guitar with with John
Henry (ouch!), but after all – Bidini’s a rocker, so we got what we came for. He was a great speaker and I picked up a copy of his book hoping it would be more of the same. It’s safe to say I’m not disappointed. I’m loving On a Cold Road – how about you?
Discussions are about to start, and RAW has three shiny new faces that are stepping up to facilitate online chats on Bidini’s book about life on the road as a hardworking Canadian Band. I’m excited to get started – so let’s begin with introductions shall we? In order of their facilitating appearance, please meet:
M.E.Girard is a fiction writer and a YA Fiction buff, with a penchant for short fiction as well. You can check out her blog at: http://www.megirard.com/
Tobin Elliott writes horror, and says he writes ugly stories about bad people doing horrible things. Check him out (if you dare) at: http://tobinelliott.wordpress.com/about/
Dale Long, a fiction writer, also likes to scare the living daylights out of readers and is currently writing a gothic horror. You can go visit him at: http://drlong67.wordpress.com/about/
So discussions will start sometime this week…but feel free to start ranting now. No really…do it now. On a Cold Road by Dave Bidini…what did you think RAW readers?
A cookbook that you can eat after you’re done reading the recipes inside? A self-discovery book made of mirrors? What kind of crazy books are these?
Click for 10 Crazy and Unusual Book Designs
In celebration of National Poetry Month, Tim Lilburn, Governor General’s Award-winning poet talks about the power of writerly obsession. 
Check out this bit he did for the Canada Reads site on writing poetry.
Is writer’s block an authors worst fear? Maybe not…what about getting it on the page and having it disappear? That’s what happened to a blind woman in the UK who wrote the beginnings of her novel to find out her pen had run out and the pages were blank. Find out how the help from a local police station left her gobsmacked.
Click to read this lovely story about the hunt for lost words…
Are you making the most out of National Poetry Month? Need a kick start? Writer’s Digest is providing daily poetry prompts, to help you get stated with a daily attempt
at poetry brilliance in a Poem-A-Day Challenge. No excuses…get going!
Heather O’Neill is a Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist. Her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, was selected as the winner for the 2007 edition of Canada Reads. It went on to become an international bestseller. The book sparked a bidding war for film rights. She was named by Chatelaine as one of the most influential women in Canada. So when she has something clever or brilliant or interesting to say, I’m always compelled to listen. This time it’s both clever and brillant.
Check out Heather’s 10 things to know about loving a writer…
