How to Write a Bestseller – Brian Henry Workshop Saturday, June 18, Mississauga

Here’s the scoop on the workshop I’m attending on Saturday in Mississauga. I’ve attended a number of Brian’s workshops in the past and have thoroughly enjoyed them and come home from them energized, inspired and ready to write.

With book editor Brian Henry & New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong

Saturday, June 18
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Chartwell Baptist Church
1880 Lakeshore Road West, Mississauga (Map here.)

This workshop will give you the inside scoop on what gives a novel best-selling potential. You’ll learn how to get readers emotionally involved in your story, how to raise tension, control your pacing and keep your readers turning the pages. But you won’t just hear about some of the best secrets of the trade; you’ll learn how to apply them to give your own writing a sharp new edge.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing teacher for more than 25 years. He has helped many of his students get published, including guest speaker Kelley Armstrong…

Expected Cover for Counterfeit Magic

Kelley Armstrong lives in Aylmer, south of London, Ontario, with her husband and three children. She used to program computers and attend Brian Henry workshops. Now she writes international bestsellers. Kelley has hit the New York Time’s bestseller list with both her supernatural thrillers for adults and her urban fantasy for teens.

Kelley’s principal publishers are Random House Canada, Bantam U.S., and Warner in Britain. To date, she’s published two dozen books, most recently Tales of the Otherworld (all proceeds for which go to Literacy Canada) and Waking the Witch.  By June, she’ll have two more out: Counterfeit Magic and The Gathering.

 

Check out Kelley’s website here.

Fee: $38.94 + 13% hst = $44 paid in advance
or $42.48 + 13% hst = $48 if you wait to pay at the door
To reserve a spot now, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

For information about all of Brian Henry’s writing workshops and creative writing courses, see here.

Night Watcher by Chris Longmuir featured on June 15th on Sinclair Books

Night Watcher by Chris Longmuir

Chris is being featured on this month’s Book of the Month in Alex Sinclair’s blog, Sinclair Books. Alex features one of the books each day and her slot is on the 15th.

In addition to being featured tomorrow on the blog, you can vote for her book to be the “book of the month”. To vote you need to click on the book title Night Watcher, which is about the middle of the list of books that go down the right hand side, then click on vote button at the bottom. Here is the link that will take you there. http://sinclairbooks.blogspot.com/?zx=405fec9b25c68a1d

Although Chris’s book is featured tomorrow, you can vote at any time during the month. At last update she had 15 votes and is trying to get that increased as there are other book on his site with lots more.

Come on folks, lets make Night Watcher Alex Sinclair’s book of the month for June 2011.

House of Silence by Linda Gillard

I finished reading this earlier today. I first saw this title on the Festival of Romance Online. The cover immediately drew me in. Dark, gloomy sky and English manor house. The fact that it was set in Norfolk was an added bonus for me having travelled through there in 2005.

House of Silence
House of Silence
by Linda Gillard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting read. Plenty of plot twists kept me wondering exactly what currently was happening behind the closed doors of Creake Hall and what had happened there in the past.

View all my reviews

Behind Blue Eyes Trilogy

Audrey Hawkins, who writes as Joanna Lambert, makes her home in south-west England near Bath. While she loves the city, her heart remains in the country where she grew up in a small village on the edge of the Salisbury plain – well known for its World Heritage Site – Stonehenge.

According to her author website, Audrey describes herself as a Saga Writer.

Her Behind Blue Eyes Trilogy began its life as one rather large manuscript with the working title “In Sunshine or in Shadow”. Now the story is told over the course of three books, the first of which is “When Tomorrow Comes”.

Book 1 is set in 1967 and introduces the reader to eighteen year old Ella Kendrick.

Loves, Lies & Promises, the second in the series, begins at Christmas 1968.

The final book in the trilogy, The Ghost of You and Me, takes place after the birth of Ella’s baby. But that’s all I’m going to say for now.

 

I’m the associate reader for this author at http://loveahappyending.com/

The Behind Blue Eyes Trilogy can be purchased from the following locations in paperback or Kindle format:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/
http://www.amazon.com/

or at the following…
http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/
http://www.tesco.com/
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/
http://www.lovereading.co.uk/

Last night’s (June 8, 2011) storm

Looking out my front door

This photo doesn’t really do it justice. The trees behind the neighbour’s house were blowing like crazy from all directions at almost the same time. The rain was coming down almost horizontally, the wind was so fierce.

I have a small roof over my front door – similar to those in the photo – and I was getting wet standing in my front hall, foyer, vestibule whatever you prefer to call it!

I shot this picture with my Blackberry and had it held tight against the screen so that the camera wouldn’t focus on the mesh. Not bad but…

Still pretty freaky sky. I was only home from work about ten minutes when it all started. It was really black north of the 401 and I watched the sky darken in my rear view mirror the closer I got to my wee house.

First it was the wind. Violent. Then the rains came. Then the thunder and lightning. Mostly just rumbling thunder but every now and then, to keep a body on their toes, there was a huge boomer!

Storms don’t bother me. I’ve sat outside and watched many a good thunderstorm over the years. And after the power goes out, what else is there to do? That isn’t to say that an unexpected loud clap of thunder doesn’t make me jump – it does. But unlike some people who have a real phobia when it comes to storms, I’m not that phased by them. Luckily, our lights only flickered a couple of times and the worst was over in time for us to cook supper on the BBQ and better yet, it didn’t interrupt my viewing of Coronation St.

june 8 2011 storm video I shot a video using my Blackberry from out on the covered portion of our deck overlooking the back yard. Because our yard slopes downhill away from the house, the effect of the storm wasn’t nearly as dramatic. The biggest event that happened was my disused, rusted out metal clothesline pole came down. I was hoping that when I was shooting the video I would have captured some good lightning flashes or loud thunder claps but alas, I wasn’t so lucky. However, I did manage to capture some emergency vehicle sirens… in addition to the water pouring out the end of my gutter.

Again tonight there’s a chance of another thunderstorm. Call me weird, but I can’t wait.

 

1923: A Memoir by Harry Leslie Smith

World War II veteran, Harry Leslie Smith, was born in 1923 in Barnsley, Yorkshire England. After the war, he worked in a number of professions and now splits his time between Canada, the UK and Portugal.

In this first volume of his memoirs, Smith chronicles the tragic story of his early life. He presents his family’s early history-their misfortunes and their experiences of enduring betrayal, inhumane poverty, infidelity, and abandonment. )I can relate to this because my father’s family was poor and they were forced to send some of their children to The Orphan Homes of Scotland.)

1923: A Memoir presents the story of a life lyrically described, capturing a time both before and during World War II when personal survival was dependent upon luck and guile. During this time, failure insured either a trip to the workhouse or burial in a common grave. Brutally honest, Smith’s story plummets to the depths of tragedy and flies up to the summit of mirth and wonder, portraying real people in an uncompromising, unflinching voice.

I can’t wait to curl up and read it. I think I had best keep a box of tissues at hand because I think I’m going to need them.

Paperback: 312 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781450254137
ISBN-13: 978-1450254137
ASIN: 1450254136

1923: A Memoir is available in paperback or for the Kindle, Nook, or Kobo at the following

Amazon.com (buy) US: http://amzn.to/kxlKsv 
Amazon.co.uk (buy) UK: http://amzn.to/m3sbtN
Nook (buy): http://bit.ly/kxnjDY 
Kobo (buy): http://www.tiny9.com/u/1664
FaceBook 1923 A Memoir: http://on.fb.me/lboRcM
Twitter Account @1923Memoir: http://twitter.com/#!/1923Memoir
Author Website: http://1923thebook.ca

My Authors at loveahappyending.com

Here is the information on the two authors I’m supporting at loveahappyending.com

First, Audrey Hawkins who writes as Joanna Lambert on the loveahappyending.com page
http://loveahappyending.com/joanna-lambert/ She also has her own website at http://ladywriter.moonfruit.com/

Second, Harry Leslie Smith’s loveahappyending.com page http://loveahappyending.com/harry-leslie-smith/ Harry also has a website set up for his book 1923 A Memoir at http://www.1923thebook.ca/

I’m looking forward to my involvement in this exciting project and hope I can do my authors justice.

Wish me well!

Check out loveahappyending.com to see what all the buzz is about!

Our 36th Wedding Anniversary

wedding day photo
June 7, 1975

 

Off with my husband for a night out to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The wedding photo above was on the front of the invitations I made for our 25th anniversary that we celebrated in Scotland where we renewed our vows in the church at Quarriers Village (the orphanage where my father was raised).

 

 

Exciting New Website

I’m involved with an exciting new website that brings readers and authors together. It’s called http://loveahappyending.com

The plan is to have thirty authors and a number of “Feature Readers” and “Associate Readers” who will read and review books by the authors on the site. As an Associate Reader, you choose as many authors you wish to support and promote them via the various social networks and your own blog/website etc.

In addition to Janice Horton, who first put me on to this fantastic idea, I’m supporting two other authors who have yet to have reader support.

My first author is Harry Leslie Smith, author of 1923 A Memoir. His book is available on Amazon.com. I’m looking forward to reading it.

The other author I’m supporting is Joanna Lambert. Her trilogy Behind Blue Eyes includes When Tomorrow Comes, Loves Lies & Promises and The Ghost of You and Me.

The official launch day of http://loveahappyending.com is June 29th. Keep watching the official site, my blog, Facebook and Twitter for further updates.

You won’t be disappointed.