I’m giving a writing workshop in Toronto on May 28th, exclusively for fans of HarperCollins Canada’s Facebook Page. To be part of it, click on the link and see the details.  You have to ‘like’ the page and send HarperCollins Canada an email saying why you wish to be part of the workshop.  Hope you can join us!

Here’s what we’ll be doing:  “THE FOUNDATIONS OF GOOD WRITING: YEARNING AND SIGNIFICANT DETAILS” –  We’ll learn how to ensure readers care about the characters in our work, and explore the ways a writer creates emotion: significant, concrete details; specificity, memory flashes, physical signals, sensual selectivity, etc. We’ll look at examples, do writing exercises and generate story ideas.  Come prepared to do some writing and have fun!

As many of you know, I ditched Goodreads once Amazon bought it and have been hanging out at Booklikes and TheReadingRoom..  I like both sites, but wanted to share the press release from BookLikes I received today.  Love the fact they have a Canadian database.  There’s some great features on this site — with more coming about once a week — and I’d be delighted if you joined and ‘followed’ me there. . .

Here you go:

Blog Platform Designed for Book Lovers – BookLikes – Goes Live

Arthur Clutton-Brock by Sir William Rothenstein

I just came across this wonderful essay on writing (although the world “writing” could easily be substituted by a number of other things, I’m sure).  In fact, it’s SO good, I’m posting it here in its entirety. It was written in 1921 by Arthur Clutton-Brock, the British essayist and critic best known for his studies of painter William Morris and poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.  The essay was published in a book called “Essays on Vocation: Second Series,” edited by Basil Mathews (Oxford University Press).  According to About.com, in the introduction Mathews said that an individual’s vocation “is to carry his life through under the rule of the call to service.”

OUR DAILY BREAD

THANK YOU for the support so many of you have shown OUR DAILY BREAD by voting for it in the first round of Harper Collins’ March Madness.

Because of you, I’ve made it to the second round.  I’m delighted and incredibly grateful — especially since I beat out Colm McCann’s terrific book, LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN.