A Different Type Of Writing Workshop For Connecticut Writers

The Storyteller's Cottage in Simsbury, Connecticut is offering a  writing workshop on Sunday, February 25, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Getting From Once Upon a Time to Happily Ever After: How to  Write Your Novel is described as a "fun and practical writer's workshop designed for authors ages 13-113 on the journey to publication." The event Facebook page also calls it a family workshop.

What makes this program a little different, besides the tea and sweets included, is that the instructor, a traditionally published NESCBWI member, will be using a persona, the Book Fairy. We may be hearing more about her.

Connecticut's Tassy Walden Award Winners For 2016

The winners of this year's Tassy Walden Awards have been announced. The award is for unpublished Connecticut children's writers and illustrators.

Picture Book Text

• Winner: Linda Zajac for Ice Is Speaking: Exploring Ice in Alaska
• Honorable Mention: Patricia Nozell for Jacky and the Magic Seeds
• Finalists: Karen Adams for Davie & Duck, Kira Sexton for A Tale of Brave Ulysses, Michael Weiner for Egbert's Firehouse, and Linda Zajac for Sliders and Gliders: Tracking Penguins with Robots

Illustrator Portfolio

• Honorable Mention: Barbara Mansilla

Illustrated Picture Book

• Winner: Tim Perra for The Dog Who Lost His Rhyme
• Honorable Mention: Abi Cushman for Aardvark & Zebra Star in Yet Another Alphabet Book
• Finalists: Charlice Culvert for Dae's Night, Yvonne Page for Stinky Poo, Catherine Ransom for Fantastical Animals A to Z, and Veronica Voorhies for A Year of Full Moon Parties

Middle Grade Novel

• Winner: Melanie Meehan for The Giving Key
• Honorable Mention: Pamela Kelley for Finding Home
• Finalists: Linda Anderson for Mom and John Wilkes Booth, Dory Berstche for Enough Light to See By, Heather Sherlock DiLorenzo for Sheltered, and Shana Moore for The Wicked Christie Sisters: The Mystery at Northnoor Abbey

Young Adult Novel

• Winner: Holly Howley for Mad River
• Finalists: Brianna Agnew-Weber for A Noble Lie, Mark Fitzpatrick for The Blaze Arising from Sugar Street, Miriam Giskin for Which Lies to Tell, Nancy Pfeiffer for My Checkerboard Life, and Rudy Vener for Upgrades.

The Tassy Awards are significant here in Connecticut because of the number of former winners who went on to publication.

FTC Transparency Info: I am acquainted with Linda Zajac through the NESCBWI, and Holly Howley and Heather Sherlock DiLorenzo are members of my writers' group.

Ellen Hopkins In Connecticut

Ellen Hopkins' pile of books.

Author Ellen Hopkins, who has written a pile of books, is touring to support her new YA book, Traffick, as well her adult book, Love Lies Beneath. Last night, she was touring here in Connecticut. She presented some intro material, did a reading, and answered questions.

I am not familiar with Ellen Hopkins' work. However, I found much of what she had to say interesting in terms of writing.

• Hopkins writes two books a year, spending 3 to 4 months on each book.
• She's been spending around 100 days a year on the road, but is trying to cut down. She's able to write while traveling. Yesterday she put in 4 hours of writing between a school visit and the store appearance.
• She receives around 200 messages a day from readers spread among various social media platforms.
• Her adult novel Triangles and her YA Tilt are companion books. They deal with the same situation from adult and YA points of view. As a writer, I think that's fascinating.

Hopkins attracted a nice crowd at our local Barnes & Noble, including a number of teenagers. Her YA book coming out next year: Chameleon.

She also had some writing advice that I'm save for a Weekend Writer post. 

August Connecticut Children's Literature Calendar

Thank you, Marc Tyler Nobleman. Connecticut would have had an extremely slow month for children's author/illustrator appearances without you. Many libraries in Connecticut used the theme "Every Hero Has a Story" for their summer reading programs. Nobleman's biographies of the creators of Superman and Batman fit that theme well, so I'm guessing he's doing an end of summer reading tour.

Sunday, August 2, Suzanne Cordatos,  Bank Square Books, Mystic 1:00 to 3:00 PM

Monday, August 3, Marc Tyler Nobleman, Easton Public Library, Easton 3:00 PM

Monday, August 3, Marc Tyler Nobleman, Brookfield Library, Brookfield 7:00 PM

Tuesday, August 4, Marc Tyler Nobleman, New Canaan Library, New Canaan 3:00 PM

Tuesday, August 4, Marc Tyler Nobleman, Richmond Memorial Library, Marlborough 6:30 PM

Wednesday, August 5, Marc Tyler Nobleman, Norfolk Library, Norfolk 3:00 PM

Writer Training At The Twain House

Here I am, hammering on training once again. Because, you know, you can't say too much about it.

This summer, writers in central Connecticut can train at the Mark Twain House in Hartford.  The organization is offering eight programs, most of which involve more than one session. One of them will be conducted by Jennifer LaRue Huget, who has written, among other things, children's books. She'll be teaching a workshop on self-editing.

Connecticut's 2015 Tassy Walden Award For Children's Writers

The Award

Connecticut's Shoreline Arts Alliance in Guilford sponsors the Tassy Walden Award for New Voices in Children's Literature. This is a program for unpublished Connecticut writers and illustrators, and awards are given in five categories. Entries are judged on the basis of literary or artistic quality, and the organizers are quite clear at the website that didactic and popular content are not considered. (Didactic material frequently raises its preachy head in children's literature.) The Tassy Walden people even run informational workshops for writers interested in submitting.

Leslie Bulion and Lorraine Jay

The Tassy, as you sometimes hear it called hereabouts, began fifteen years ago. Two of the founders were Leslie Bulion and Lorraine Jay.  There are cash prizes for the top winners, but what really makes this a significant award in this state is that a number of winners have gone on to be traditionally published. Among them are A.C.E. Bauer,  Leslie Bulion, Stacy DeKeyser, Frank Dormer, Deborah Freedman, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Martha Seif Simpson, and Jane Sutcliffe.

And The Winners Are 

 

 The 2015 Tassy Walden Awards winners, finalists, and honor mention designees were announced a few weeks ago. Last night a reception was held for them at the James Blackstone Memorial Library (pictured above) in Branford. Attendee and finalist Nancy Tandon provided Original Content with photographs of the event.

Winners

To the left are the winners:

Edward Tucchio - Illustrated Picture Book

Janet Croog - Illustrated Portfolio

Kelly Hill - Young Adult Novel

Jeanne Zulick - Middle Grade Novel

There was no winner in the Picture Book Text category this year, but there were four finalists: Erika Bajrami, Charlene Haukom, Cherish Ann Lisee,Wi and Linda Zajac.

Other finalists and honorable mention authors:

All honorees

Illustrated Picture Book: Carolyn Bull and Gabriella Svenningsen

Illustrator's Portfolio: Diane Holtzworth, Dominique Monroe, and Virginia Zimmerman

Young Adult Novel: Holly Howley, Karen Lindeborg, Christine Dokko, and Karen Fortunati

Middle Grade Novel: Jacquelin Devlin, Heather Sherlock DiLorenzo, Meira Rosenberg, Nancy Tandon, and Rudy Vene

New Voices

Remember, this is an award for unpublished authors. Good luck to everyone going forth with your careers.

Jack London Letter Found In Connecticut Library

Here's some local literary news I missed: A 1905 letter Jack London wrote to his publisher was found in a copy of White Fang among some "rare books in a storage closet" at the Pequot Library in Southington, Connecticut. The book had belonged to the publisher, George Brett, who had a connection to the library.

Either I had to read London's To Build a Fire, or one of my kids did. I recall it being kind of grim. I listened to an audio book of The Call of the Wild and rather liked it, but I was trapped in a car.

Nonetheless, a 100+ year old letter just found in a book... That's worth noting.

Connecticut News Round Up

I've noticed a few things going on locally that are worth rounding up for a post.

First off, Bank Square Books in Mystic is expanding. This is an attractive bookstore, anyway, that does neat author luncheons, though I've only been to one and it was a while ago. But it was neat then, and there's no reason to believe anything's changed.

Connecticut author Tommy Greenwald appeared on the local Fox affiliate late last month, talking about his new book, Jack Strong Takes A Stand. Speaking of lunch, as I was just a para ago, I had lunch with Tommy once.

The Connecticut Center for the Book, part of CT Humanities, maintains a list of Community Reads projects. Cheshire is reading Alice Bliss and East Hartford is reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

I recently stumbled upon science writer Linda Zajac's blog. In addition to her posts on writing and science, she has posts on Connecticut state parks. I have to have been to some of these places, because I've been to a lot of Connecticut state parks. However, I keep a trail album, and once I've put my material in it, I pretty much leave it there. By the way, speaking of lunch, as I was a couple of paras back, I think I may have had lunch with Linda Zajac, too. Can't be sure. I've had lunch with a lot of people, but a Connecticut science writer named Linda sounds familiar.

Oops. Here's a little something I meant to mention. The Florence Griswold Museum is doing one of those weird little faerie house things they do, this one with a Wizard of Oz theme.

Connecticut Sci-fi Event

The Jim Lafayette Memorial Series of Writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy is coming up in Norwich on Wednesday evening. Claire S. E. Cooney will be the keynote speaker. I met the program coordinator, Faye Ringel, last spring.

Connecticut Literary News

First off, the Connecticut Center for the Book is back. I didn't know it was gone, but according to an April Hartford Courant article, after four years with the Hartford Public Library, ending in 2011, it is now with Connecticut Humanities. While at the Hartford Public Library, the Connecticut Center for the book sponsored the Connecticut Book Awards. Right now Connecticut Humanities is rethinking an award. "Book awards are fraught with challenges," according to Amanada Roy, program officer for Public Humanities Programs for Connecticut Humanities told the Courant. "We need to recognize great work going on in Connecticut, but no matter how careful [the process], picking a winner is tough." She goes on to say, "We want to shine a light in the best way and make it as meaningful to authors seeking recognition as singling out just one."

Though the original hardcover edition of Saving the Planet & Stuff was a finalist for the Connecticut Book Award back in 2004, I have to say that I think moving away from an award to doing something that can support many Connecticut writers could be a very good thing, especially since the Connecticut Center for the Book, part of a nationwide program connected to the Library of Congress, is supposed to promote reading as well as writing. My understanding is that running awards can be expensive and time consuming. Perhaps that kind of energy could be spread around to benefit more people, whether writers or not.

In other news, Walter Wick, who is very much associated with Hartford in these parts, has a new Can You See What I See? book out this spring. He's profiled in the Hartford Courant's Walter Wick's World.