On TV! Writing awards for IAG members

Here are Dr. Robert Schemenauer and I on CFJC TV talking about writing awards for members of the Kamloops-based Interior Authors Group:

http://tinyurl.com/gwt7jnp

More info about these awards is at: http://elmams.wixsite.com/awards

 

 

 

 

Article about book YesterCanada & contest for Kamloops & area writers

Nice article today in KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK: http://tinyurl.com/gr8p623 .

 

Calling all Kamloops and area writers

Calling all Kamloops and area writers! The Dr. Robert and Elma Schemenauer Awards are now open for submissions-- until March 21.

TWO CATEGORIES OF AWARDS

1. Writing with a Kamloops Theme

2. Writing Showing an Appreciation of Nature

 WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO ENTER

Each award will be issued annually to a member in good standing of the Interior Authors Group based in Kamloops. There's no fee to enter (besides the IAG membership fee, $35).

AN AWARD WILL CONSIST OF

- a certificate and a press release issued to local media announcing the winner

- a cash award of $200 to the recipient

- a cash award of $100 to the Interior Authors Group to support the growth and educational activities of the IAG

For more information, please visit http://elmams.wixsite.com/awards .

 

writing opportunities Jan 17, 2017

The theme for this year’s Askew’s Foods Word on the Lake Writing contest is Canada. This contest, based in Salmon Arm, BC, will close at midnight on 1 March 2017.  For details: http://www.shuswapassociationofwriters.ca/word-on-the-lake-writing-contest-2017/ .

 

Polar Borealis Magazine, based in the Vancouver Lower Mainland, specializes in Canadian speculative writing. They’re open to poetry submissions: http://www.polarborealis.ca/  

400 and Falling Press accepts submissions from emerging writers: http://www.400andfallingpress.com/submissions/

 

Somewhat off-the-wall electronic journal DIAGRAM is open to submissions: http://thediagram.com/subs.html

poetry submissions invited

Ascent Aspirations of Nanoose Bay, British Columbia, invites poetry submissions. If you’re interested, you can e-mail your poem/s to ascentaspirations@shaw.ca along with a brief biography. No payment as far as I know. You can read some of their previously published poems at http://www.davidpfraser.ca/fridays-poems.html .

 

Lloyd Jeck authored the book In the Shadow of the Peaks [fascinating story of his early life, mostly around McBride, British Columbia]. He also wrote British Columbia Trails Heading North [adventures in the history of the province]. He just shared this article with me. Thanks, Lloyd, and thanks for your kind review.

YesterCanada on TV

Here I am with my book YesterCanada: Historical Tales of Mystery and Adventure on CFJC TV in Kamloops, British Columbia. Susan Edgell interviewed me. Thanks, Susan! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMZK686pMWo

 

feeling funny?

Are you feeling funny, amusing, witty, humorous? The UK-based Short Humour Site is open to submissions of 300 to 500 words. Here are their submissions guidelines: 

http://www.short-humour.org.uk/submissionguidelines/submissionguidelines.htm

 

"Write what you know." Good advice?

"Write what you know" is advice often given to writers. Novelist E.L. Doctorow didn't agree. He recommended the opposite in a conversation with George Plimpton that appeared in Paris Review: "We're supposed to be able to get into other skins. We're supposed to be able to render experiences not our own and warrant times and places we haven't seen. That's one justification for art, isn't it: to distribute the suffering?"

 

Photographer and writer Brock Perks comments on that: "All fiction depends upon conflict, but conflict without at least inferred suffering is just action. Perhaps this gets us close to what is meant when people favour literary over so-called non-literary fiction. Doctorow could be saying that he ensures his characters do suffer, or at least pass on to the reader signals of pathos, rather than simply fulfil the requirements of a plot like empty approximations of humanity."

 

That resonates with me, especially the words "empty approximations of humanity." I find it a constant challenge to make my characters more than "empty approximations of humanity."

YesterCanada, The Arts Connection, and Carolyn Arends

Here's Robert White of The Arts Connection interviewing me about my book YesterCanada: Historical Tales of Mystery and Adventure. I love the song Father, Thy Will Be Done by Carolyn Arends. It's among several of hers played during the breaks. http://artsconnection.ca/content/arts-connection-monday-january-2-2017-elma-schemenauer-yestercanada-historical-tales-mystery

 

Need an editor? Consider Erin Linn McMullan

I became acquainted with editor and publishing consultant Erin Linn McMullan when she lived in Kamloops, BC. Now living in Vancouver, she recently edited the book The Peasant’s Gold by Kamloops author T.D. Roth. He’s pleased with her work, as are others who have dealt with her. Erin is open to considering new clients. Here’s her CV:

 

If you have a writing project you need help to complete, I offer writing coaching and encouragement, editing and project management (to hire and work with cover and layout designers and with the printer to meet deadlines). I can work with you at your own pace to help you achieve your dreams. Rates are customized based on your project and an estimate provided after an initial free consultation to discuss your needs. Let's talk about how I can help!  

 

For two decades I have been providing writing and editing including print and online content, film, TV, stage, and radio. I have an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC. I am also the author of Northern Medicine: The history of the Porcupine District Medical Society (1924-2004): https://nosm.concat.ca/eg/opac/record/805395 Please visit my online portfolio. [Website http://erinlinnmcmullan.wixsite.com/fresh-horses ]

Editor and project manager: 

 

One Mush: Jamaica's Dogsled Team by John Firth, who won a sports writing award for this 'underdog' story.

https://www.amazon.com/One-Mush-Jamaicas-Dogsled-Team/dp/0986760307

 

Sambaa Ke' Then and Now, 2nd Ed. by Roberta McGregor, and working with Trout Lake's Dene Band to produce this community history:

http://libcat.mohawkcollege.ca/eg/opac/record/39800?query=Légendes%3Bqtype%3Dsubject

 

Editor and writing coach: 

 

The Peasant’s Gold, 2nd Ed. by T.D. Roth:https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01MZ0PSGV

Coyote Wisdom Visits Brooklyn and Travels the Universe (Linked stories) by Mallory Blair Randle: https://www.amazon.ca/Coyote-Wisdom-Brooklyn-T…/…/B017N3TPEI

Wings of Wonder (poetry) by Robert McAlpine:https://www.amazon.ca/Wings-Wonder-Robert-McAl…/…/0992092019

Inward Bound: A Journey From Sense to Soul (Memoir) by Katrine Geneau:https://www.amazon.ca/Inward-Bound-Journey-Se…/…/ref=sr_1_1…

Once in a Lifetime (Memoir) by Ursula Banke:https://www.ursulabanke.com/biography/

 

28 tips from literary agents

Good tips here. Most of them apply whether you’re querying a literary agent or a publisher. http://tinyurl.com/j7kdyqh

The Peasant's Gold: book about North America's first Chinese Mayor

Peter Wing, a Mayor of Kamloops, was North America’s first Chinese Mayor! Terry Roth, a member of the Kamloops-based Interior Authors Group, has a new book out about him. Congrats, Terry.

 

Here’s a bit more about the book: At the turn of the 20th century Chinese workers came by the thousands seeking their fortunes on the “Gold Mountain” of North America with the intent of returning to a life of ease in China. A few, like Eng Wing,came to procure “tiles over one’s head and soil under one’s feet” in Canada. His first son, Peter, was raised during the turbulent years of two world wars, the depression of the 1920s and the drought of the 1930s. The Wing family worked and waited patiently through the years of the Chinese Exclusion Act, finally being recognized as “people” and citizens of Canada in 1947.Through decades of political and social prejudice, Eng Wing established his business and raised his children. His oldest son, Peter, became the first Chinese Mayor in North America. This is his story.

 

The Peasant’s Gold is available online from the following sites.

 

Amazon.ca   http://tinyurl.com/gojnpk8

 

Chapters Indigo  http://tinyurl.com/jrnbq5o

 

Amazon.com  http://tinyurl.com/hcul878

 

Amazon Services International [including info in Chinese]  https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01MZ0PSGV