Local authors shortlisted!

Two Thessalon-area authors have been shortlisted for the Louise Kiriline Lawrence award in non-fiction. This award is given each year by the Ontario Library Service – North to a book by a Northern writer.

Paton Lodge Lindsay’s book “The King of Algonquin Park” and Elizabeth Creith’s book “Shepherd in Residence” have both made the short list. The winner will be announced sometime in September, and the awards ceremony is held in Sudbury on September 25th.

We will keep you posted on how our two authors fare!

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The Story Contest…

…deadline has passed, and we had a decent response to our very first contest. We’re so excited that so many of you wrote your stories and sent them in to us. The judges have them now, and we’ll be announcing the results here and on our Facebook page on August 31st. Stay tuned!

Aside from the fun and the glory, we have fabulous prizes.

First place winners in each category recieve $50 and publication on the Stories in the North website.

Second place winners will receive $30 and publication on the Storiesin the North website.

Third place winners will receive $20 and publication on the Stories in the North website.

In addition, each winner will receive a copy of a handmade, limited-edition book containing all the winning stories.

Bear in mind that publication on Stories in the North is a paid publication credit, and can be used towards qualifying for grants through the Ontario Arts Council. The Arts Council supports Stories in the North and we’re ever so happy and grateful that they do. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to bring in our guest authors, give workshops, or run writing contests, NaNoWriMo events or Open Mike nights.

If you didn’t have time to get it together for this contest (and really, we know summer is busy, busy, busy!), we’ll be doing it again in 2014. Start thinking about it now!

Sssssshh! Silent Auction!

Stories in the North has a silent auction running from now until noon on August 2nd. It’s at the Northern Credit Union on Main Street in Thessalon. We have some great summer reading, a pack of books with Thessalon connections, a genuine Japanese kimono in silk and cotton, gardening kits, a pamper-yourself spa basket and more goodies.

To bid, just drop in to Northern Credit Union during open hours and add your bid, name and phone number to the sheet. The proceeds go to support Stories in the North and help them produce their author events and Open Mike nights.

Don’t forget about the short story contest! There’s still time to write your up-to-5000-word masterpiece and submit it. The postmark deadline is July 31st, 2013. Get the details on our Writing Contest page!

King of Algonquin Park

Paton Lodge Lindsay’s book King of Algonquin Park was launched June 1st. It’s the true story of an exceptional and notorious wilderness man and his struggles to survive in the remote, rugged terrain of Algonquin Park in childhood, the Depression, and through the war years. It’s also a story of love between two rather unlikely people.

Paton has lived in Northern Ontario since the late sixties. She runs the Good Knight Inn with her husband, Keith Hoback. King of Algonquin Park is, in additon to being a story of wilderness survival, rich in wilderness lore. Paton has always been drawn to the wilderness. Even as a child in Toronto, she explored the ravines and viaducts around her home. Northern Ontario has been both an inspiration for her writing and painting, and also a focus for her care and compassion for wild animals.

Markus Schwabe interviewed Paton on CBC’s Morning North at the time of the book’s release, and King of Algonquin Park has also been a featured book at General Store Publishing House.

Paton recently received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council to assist in the completion of this, her first book. She is now working on a second book.

Call for workshop proposals!

The next Stories in the North workshops/reading event is October 5th and we are giving you a chance to teach a workshop. We pride ourselves on offering top-notch, interactive workshops so it’s important to us that you give participants a learning journey with chances to create and share work.

Our workshops typically run for two hours and we have $175 + expenses to pay you.

If this opportunity excites you, mine your experience for a topic and send a proposal to Angie Gallop at angiegallop@gmail.com. Proposal deadline is July 18th.

Please write us a one-page proposal which includes the following:

1. A 35-word workshop description. (We’ll use this on our posters.)

2. Interactivity: How you plan to get people writing/involved?

3. Outcomes: What will participants have when the workshop is finished?

4. Summary of your experience.

We look forward to seeing your proposal!

If teaching workshops isn’t your thing, we are also looking for three volunteers to select our winning workshop proposals. If you feel up to this mission, please e-mail angiegallop@gmail.com.

The Short Story Contest theme!

Here it is, the long-awaited theme of the Stories in the North Short Story Contest. Drumroll….and – the envelope, please!

Summer Outdoors

There it is – write what you will, romance, a ghost story or a fishing trip, science fiction, fantasy or slice-of-life, humour or horror, it doesn’t matter. Just make sure that summer outdoors is an integral part of the story. It doesn’t have to be the central thing, but it has to be more than a mention.

We have no lower word limit, but please no more than 5,000 words. If you live in ALgoma for any part of the year, and are not part of the Stories in the North Board, you are eligible. Entries must be postmarked by July 31st, 2013.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your wordprocessors!

Write for fame, glory and – oh, yes – cash!

We at Stories in the North are holding our first-ever short story contest. Anyone who lives in Algoma, even for part of the year, is eliglble to enter. Oopsy, unless you’re on the Stories in the North board, of course!

We have two categories – young writers up to 18 years of age, and adult writers for anyone 19 or over. Get the details at our Short Story Contest page!

We’re hoping for lots of entries. You know how to find a writer in Northern Ontario, don’t you? Chuck a rock – whoever you hit is probably a writer, or knows one, or is married to one, or is related to one. WIth that in mind, this should be a great contest!

It’s a themed contest, and the theme will be announced here and on our Facebook page on June 21st. Then rev up your pens or word-processors and get writing! Deadline for submission is July 31st, 2013. First, second and third place in each category will be awarded cash prizes and publication on this site.

Watch this space!

A Day with the Horrorista

Susie Moloney bills herself as a “horrorista” on her Facebook page, but she is much, much more than that.

To start with, she’s a great workshop leader. The morning workshop was about backstory. Even if the character’s backstory doesn’t end up as part of the story on the page, the author has to know it in order to create a full character instead of a cardboard cutout. Susie gave us prompts and exercises to use in creating backstory for a character. One of the really fun parts of this and the afternoon’s workshop was hearing the read-around. The variety of characters and circumstances in the room was impressive.

The afternoon workshop, “The Six Rules of Writing”, gave us an intensive workout in creating story, using five simple prompts with five to ten minutes of writing time for each prompt. At the end, again, participants who wished to read their work aloud had the opportunity. Of course the stories weren’t polished, but, again, the variety and imagination impressed all of us, and also Susie.

The evening featured Susie reading from her work, not only her most recent novel, The Thirteen, but also The Dwelling and part of a short story from an upcoming collection. Susie is an excellent reader and performer, holding her audience spellbound as she read. 

Alternating with Susie’s readings was great jazz music by the Jeff Holmes Band, a quartet of talented musicians who treated us to classics such as Black Coffee.

Oooh, did we mention coffee? Among the door prizes were copies of The Thirteen and The Dwelling along with a pound of Stories in the North’s own Looming Deadline coffee blend, made for us by St Joseph Island Coffee Roasters.

A few pictures from the evening:

Patricia Wynter with her door prize, our new Stories in the North coffee-blend, Looming Deadline.

Kathy Gallop receives a copy of The Thirteen thanks to the luck of the draw.

Pauline Clark hands Bernice Walker a copy of The Dwelling.

Susie Moloney, looking gorgeous and hanging out with members of the Jeff Holmes Band. Those lights are dancing from the energy level of the evening.

“Finding Grace” book launch

Local author Mary-Lynn Murphy will be launching her brand-new novel, Finding Grace, on Saturday May 11th at the Sault College Native Student Centre (Enji Maawnjiding).

Finding Grace is a “stark yet humorously whimsical coming-of-age story set in Northern Ontario and Toronto”, hot off Scrivener Press. Mary-Lynn will be reading from the book, and poet and singer Mark Dunn will provide music for the evening. This sounds like a perfect literary beginning-of-summer treat.

The show starts at 7:30, with free admission and free refreshments. (The parking is free in the evening, too – ignore the signs.)

Everything is happening in Room G1200. To find the venue, take the Willow Avenue Entrance #1 (most southerly entrance) and drive all the way to the end, J, the South Parking Lot.

Spring Workshops and Show with Susie Moloney: She’s Come a Long Way Baby!

Visiting Author Susie Moloney Coming to Thessalon on May 4th, 2013 

Stories in the North is proud to announce it will be hosting Susie Moloney on Saturday May 4th, 2013 for a day of workshops and an evening performance of her work alongside jazz stylings from the Jeff Holmes Band.

Formerly a resident of Manitoulin Island, Moloney has worked her way from menial jobs to support her family as a single-mom to life as a successful novelist, (and mother!) who splits her time between Winnipeg and New York City. Tom Cruise’s production company scooped the rights to one of her novels and she has been published around the world.

Now you have a chance to spend a day with Susie and learn from her experiences. She has put together two great workshops for us:

10 am-noon

Back Story: Even the bad guy had a mama

For a character to be rich, full-bodied, and blood-pumpingly real, s/he has to have a rich, full-bodied, and blood-pumplingly real history. In this one-and-a-half hour workshop, participants will come with a character in mind, and work out a history, or “back story” that not only suits the character, but provides evidence for their actions in the plot. If someone was actually raised in a barn, would they leave the condo door open?

2-4 pm

The Six Rules of Writing

There are six hard and fast rules to becoming a good writer: read, read, read, and write, write, write. In this two-hour workshop, participants will write multiple scenes using fun, fast writing prompts. Bring your lap top if you have it, if not, bring a pad and a pen full of ink. Get ready to read your scene aloud.

Our workshops are popular and the size of the group is limited to 25, so sign up asap by e-mail or by calling 705-842-2451. Leave a message for Angie, with your name, e-mail, phone number and workshop preferences.
Workshop location: Zion United Church, 224 Main St. Thessalon.
Price: In advance = $25 or $40 for both. At door = $30 or $50 for both.

Jeff Holmes Jazz Band and Evening Reading

When the workshops wrap up, the fun has just begun. Be sure to come back in the evening. (Or stick around, Tina’s on Main has comfy couches and welcomes those who want to hang out.) Susie will be reading selections from her novels alongside the four-member Jeff Holmes Jazz Band. We include a fabulous snack buffet in our ticket price and offer a cash bar. What a fabulous opportunity to network with other writers in our area.
Time:Doors open 7 pm
Location:1OOF Hall, 146 Main St., Thessalon.
Price:$10 at the door or $8 in advance (For the advanced price, get on the guest list via e-mail or by calling 705-842-2451.

In the meantime:

Check out Moloney’s latest book, The Thirteen focuses on a group of suburban witches who lure a “good girl” protagonist back to her hometown in an attempt to recruit her.  Check out the hilarious book trailer. You can get your hands on a copy at our fabulous Thessalon Union Public Library.