Road Trips are inevitable when you live in the middle of nowhere. Occasionally, you need to make a long distance journey elsewhere, sometimes through lots of snow, to reach a point where other writers are gathered to share secrets... secrets about the craft of writing. Today, I had company with me, on my two-hour car ride from Owen Sound to Orillia, to attend The WCSC (Writers' Community of Simcoe County) Meeting. A writer friend, Diane, asked to tag along with me because she was interested in meeting our key-note speaker, Susan Swan. Susan had been Diane's mentor in the Humber College Writing Program, many years ago. What a small world it truly is. |
Susan Swan, a Toronto novelist is an amazing speaker. She has been a published author and creative writing teacher for over 30 years. She has published novels in 15 different countries and has had her novels translated into eight different languages. A few of her novels have been made into motion pictures (shown in 32 countries) and they have also won many literary awards. She is a graduate of McGill University and has taught at University of Toronto, York University, Guelph University and Humber College.
BURN BABY, BURN BABY, Kevin Craig's fourth Novel, a contemporary young adult novel is being released by Curiosity Quills Press on December 11, 2014... that's TOMORROW. You can PRE-ORDER a copy today at AMAZON for only $4.99 for a Kindle version. Click the button below: Today, I have the pleasure of being part of the Burn Baby Blog Tour and sharing my Review of the novel with you. Before I do that, I just want to tell you that I am a huge fan of YA (Young Adult) novels. I'm an avid reader and I read books from every genre, but, I love the YA category the best. In fact, I am also a writer in the same genre, so believe me when I say, "I KNOW MY YA! With that said, I will just blurt out, Burn Baby, Burn Baby was a FANTASTIC QUICK READ! I read this book in one evening, while sitting in my rocking chair, wrapped in a fleecy blanket, chewing on my fingernails (especially during the last seven chapters or so). Actually, I believe this is the ONLY book I've read during 2014 (out of 83 books so far), that I have stayed up past my bedtime to finish reading it. It was that good. I do have a confession I want to throw out, actually it is more of a brag... I believe, I was actually in the same room as this writer, when he was pounding the keyboard during the Muskoka Novel Marathon writing this very novel. Kevin Craig is a machine. He hardly ever sleeps. I have been lucky enough to watch him create four novels over the past four summers and I can't wait to read each and every one of them. The amazing part of this, he was writing these novels while raising money for Literacy. What a wonderful cause to support! Kevin has a talent with developing characters you fall in love with like Francis, the main character who is abused and bullied almost all his life. I dropped a tear or two reading about specific moments he spent with his father. I just wanted to reach inside the book and hug the poor boy. Take him home with me and try and protect him. Kevin created Francis's best friend Trig, who continuously stood up for Francis and was his full-time protection against the meanest kid in high school, Brandon Hayley, who I couldn't help but despise. Kevin, also created Rachel, a girl who was able to look past the ugliness and find only things to smile about... and kiss gently. My emotions were all over the map on this book: I went from happiness, to anger, to frustrated, to horror with every page I turned. I could easily picture this novel as a movie, as Francis was quite often doing, and I feel that I actually knew a few of these kids when they attended my high school back in the day. This book was a fantastic portrayal of the every day teenage life, with sticks and stones thrown in to make us gasp, including some trial and errors of coping with his problems, using methods such as alcohol, that every child experiences at one time or another. Teens are often struggling to find the right path on how to deal with small issues, let alone larger ones that happen near the end of the book. Sometimes, it's hard facing the truth of what life is like behind the closed door...sometimes, you never know. I loved the references of the Shakespeare quotes and the Paul Simon mentions. I can't give this away though, no spoilers from me, so you'll just have to wait and read it yourself. It's not what you think, I promise. PLUS, I loved all the author's acknowledgements at the end of the book... I possibly shed a tear or two. Burn Baby, Burn Baby is a must read for all kids over the age of 12... and any parent who might have a child living in their house who may be abusive to others, or more importantly, may be the one getting tortured and is now scared to leave the house for worry, he may never come home alive. You should add this novel to your Christmas Wish List this year. ~ 5 out of 5 Stars.
I've known this exciting information for over a week and didn't even remember to share it with you. As you know, I was one of this year's Muskoka Novel Marathon organizers. This means, instead of blogging here on my own site, I was blogging over there at www.muskokanovelmarathon.com. If you are curious as to what the novel writing marathon is all about, go visit the site. It's worth a few minutes of your time.
The Muskoka Novel Marathon took place July 10-13, 2014 in Huntsville. The Official List of winners: Did you hear? There's a new 3-Day Novel Writing Marathon coming to Toronto. If you've never experienced a 72-hour writing marathon, you really should add it to your Bucket List. It is an amazing experience for a writer. I know, it sounds overwhelming at first, thinking about trying to stay up for 72 hours straight, but something happens to you...you find amazing strength, just like a superhero, and surprisingly, you can do it. You will write and write, until you hear the horn signifying the marathon has come to an end. It's all thanks to the little brain chemicals, called endorphins. Neurotransmitters send messages pumping through your nervous system, giving you the ultimate energy to keep going and going, like that little Energizer Bunny. I've had the pleasure of participating in quite a few 3-Day Novel Writing Marathons:
Check this opportunity out at: TaNoMa There is one very cool detail about the Toronto Novel Marathon (TaNoMa) that you may not know... the same guy, who is one of the co-founders for this new writing marathon was also a co-founder for The Owen Sound 3-Day Novel Marathon, The Muskoka Novel Marathon (MNM) and The Great Canadian Winter Novel Marathon in Pickering. The guy who gets all this credit is non-other than, Martin Avery! He has some amazing experience at organizing a writing marathon (and writing novels ~ check out some of his books HERE). This year, he has teamed up with an elementary school friend of his, Cynthia Langill, and together they are organizing a novel writing marathon to raise awareness and funds for Recovery from Addiction. Sponsors' donations will go to Renascent, an abstinence based treatment centre facility that treats men, women and families with addiction issues (a 12-step philosophy). TaNoMa Details
Think about it...this is your opportunity to participate in the FIRST EVER Toronto Writing Marathon!
You'll even get a cool T-Shirt to wear while bragging to all your other writing friends. Just go ahead and do it...SIGN UP NOW! :) REMINDER
One of the most important writing tasks of the year is happening in less than 22 hours... MNM Registration! If you forget to sign-up for the Muskoka Novel Marathon, you won't be spending an awesome weekend in July, in a room full of 40 amazing writers, creating your Great Canadian Novel. Registration begins at: 7:00 SHARP, Tuesday, March 18th, TOMORROW evening on the Home Page for the Muskoka Novel Marathon at: www.muskokanovelmarathon.com. Keep refreshing the page until you see the REGISTER ME! button. Then press it and start filling in all the empty boxes. Page One IS IMPORTANT. It determines the number you become on our Writer List. So, HURRY! You have 2 hours after you submit Page 1, to send information for Page 2 and 3. Your registration time will go faster if you have your author bio ready to copy and paste. Any questions, please feel free to send me an email at mnmwriterliaison@gmail.com Hope to see your name on the list tomorrow. ~ Lori Twining, MNM Writer Liaison |
Lori TwiningI love reading everything... books, magazines, blog posts and even manuals. I believe if you want to improve your writing skills, you MUST be a voracious reader. Archives
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