It's a launch!

Who likes free books?

Until April 23, enter to win a free copy of Melanie Dugan's forthcoming novel, Bee Summers!


Bee Summers is available for sale May 15, but what if you want a copy held for you? Well, you can pre-order it!

About Bee Summers
The spring Melissa (Lissy) Singer is eleven years old her mother walks out of the house and never returns. That summer Lissy's father, a migratory beekeeper, takes her along with him on his travels. The trip and the people she meets change her life. Over the years that follow, Melissa tries to unlock the mystery of her mother’s disappearance and struggles to come to terms with her loss.

About the Author Melanie Dugan is the author of Dead Beautiful (“the writing is gorgeous,” A Soul Unsung), Sometime Daughter (“Stunning debut,” Kingston Whig-Standard) and Revising Romance (“heartwarming, amusing and … downright sexy,” Midwest Book Review). Her short stories have been shortlisted for several awards, including the CBC Literary Award.

Dead Beautiful is an audio book!

And it's read by the author, Melanie Dugan.

 


Every night, my four-year-old gets to hear stories read to her at bedtime. Being read to is such a luxury--go ahead and have a listen.

A nice problem to have

When I'm not micro-pressing, I'm teaching at St. Lawrence College, and like many teachers, I just can't read for pleasure during the school year. Maybe it's because I do so much reading when I mark. Maybe it's because I'm tired at the end of the day. Maybe it's because I'm lazy.

But the winter semester ENDS NEXT WEEK. I am a wee bit giddy at the thought of sitting in the pale spring sun and....wait for it...reading for pleasure.

But what to read?

I will start by re-reading Melanie Dugan's next book to be published by UpStart; Bee Summer will come out spring 2014. It's going to be an excellent summer read!

But seriously, what to read? Maybe it's time to figure out how Goodreads works so I can find some good recommendations.

                                                                                            

 

What are you doing tonight? Maybe you should listen to CFRC's Finding a Voice and hear some more readings from the Lake Effect 6 launch! Five to six pm, 101.9 FM on your dial.

Listen to the radio

CFRC (101.9 FM on your dial, but you can listen online too, natch) will be featuring readings from the Lake Effect 6 launch this Friday, April 12.

"Finding A Voice" is a rare thing--a local host features readings and interviews with local poets. On a local, independent radio station.

Tune in between 5 and 6 pm to hearmy introduction, Carolyn Smart's opening remarks, and readings by three of Lake Effect 6's authors.

And you should tune in other times, too. It's an awesome cool radio station. Here's the schedule so you can plan your listening.

Writers and workshops ... a romance

We do love workshops, don't we? Getting into your character workshops, how to get published workshops, developing your narrative workshops, get that novel finished! workshops.

We love them so much because we spend so much time all alone, writing writing writing. We need to talk to someone about the writing. We need to share the writing. We need some help with the writing. We need some perspective on the writing. We need to figure out how to publish the writing.

And sometimes we just need a break.

Kingston Writers Workshop will be offering a series of writers workshops starting in the fall of 2013. So far the line up includes a day-long session called "Mysteries of Publishing Revealed: What Writers Need to Know From Publishers, Marketers, Editors, and Designers."

Sounds fun, no?

Another workshop will be delivered by broadcaster and speech coach Carl Richards: public speaking for writers--interviewing, TV and radio skills, how to read at your launch, sound bites, and more.

Some of us adore the spotlight. Some of us would like some help, please. Carl helps!

Who *is* Kingston Writers Workshop? We are editor Carla Douglas and (UpStart Press) author Melanie Dugan and yours truly, the Christina Decarie half of UpStart Press. (Who did our cool logo? The other half of UpStart Press, Darryl Joel Berger.)

Drop us a line if you'd like to be contacted about Kingston Writers Workshops in the future.

 

Lucky Lake Effect

Ten years ago, I was lucky enough to find myself in one of Carolyn Smart's creative writing courses at Queen's University. I remember commenting to a fellow classmate near the end of term, "I don't think I've ever met a teacher who so *believes* in her students." (What Carolyn taught me about being a teacher is fodder for another blog entry).

One of the ways Carolyn demonstrates her belief in her students is by publishing them. Every two years, she compiles and edits Lake Effect: An Anthology of Work by the Creative Writing Students at Queen's University.

I was lucky to be in Carolyn's course. I made lifelong friends there, including Laurie Lewis, the original publisher of Lake Effect. (Laurie is one of those astonishingly cool people that make you say, Oh my god. I can't believe I *know* her!)

I was lucky to be in the first volume of Lake Effect. (I even got to name it!)

And I am lucky now to have the privilege of publishing Lake Effect, Volume 6.

Darryl designed it; that's why it's so gorgeous.

The launch is Wednesday, April 3, 7 pm, at the Renaissance. (Click through. It's gorgeous.)