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The unpretentious atmosphere of Blue Heron Books with its comfy chairs, wood shelving and creaky floors lends itself to a long slow, browsing session, but under that sleepy atmosphere vibrates a strong pulse. The store has a quaint, old-fashioned look with an up tempo vibe, because there is always something happening. The store is a hub for the community and a bastion of calm chaos where everyone is welcome, even the local dogs that drop by with their owners for a treat from the tin kept under the front counter.
62 Brock St. W., Uxbridge, Ontario. 905-852-4282
Sue
Pen in Hand, Ink on Page
Five weeks of writing with instructor and certified AWA leader, Sue Reynolds
January 9 to February 6
Wednesday afternoons from 12:30 to 3:00
Do you have a hard time making sure that you get to your writing?
Each week this group will focus on some aspect of the writing craft, as well as writing in class to prompts designed to support each writer in his or her process. Leave each class with new pieces of writing begun to inspire you through the coming week and new understanding of techniques designed to improve your skills as a memoirist or fiction writer. Continue reading
“50 Shades of Naughty – How to write Erotica”
The advent of e-books has made it easy for readers to indulge in erotica anytime, anywhere.
The Fifty Shades of Grey series has topped best-seller lists around the world and is now available in 37 languages. The series has sold 40 million copies worldwide, and set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time. It has even surpassed the Harry Potter series. A Hollywood deal has been struck and it won’t be long until the movie bursts onto the screen.
Controversy abounds about the quality of the writing, the appropriateness of the relationship, the elevation of the sexual descriptions, even the concept that certain forms of stimulation, once considered deviant, might need to be reassessed in light of modern psychological profiling.
But no one is arguing about the success of the books. Continue reading
Book – Art Exhibition CALL FOR ARTISTS
Repurpose used books to new and funky objects!
Blue Heron Studio is celebrating its launch as a learning hub for the arts with a competition inviting artists and craftspeople to reimagine discarded books into new objects. These objects can be sculptural, functional or two-dimensional. You are invited to produce up to two objects for this event either in your own space or at our upcoming workshop on Wednesday, August 8th from 6:30 – 9:30pm. Submissions for the exhibition are due at Blue Heron Studio by Friday, September 14th, 2012 at 4pm.
For the more ambitious, we are also accepting proposals for installations which will be housed in various storefronts and retail spaces.
Please fill out the separate Installation Proposal Form, deadline: Friday, August 24th, 7pm.
The grand prize is $500. Jury selection for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize will be announced at the opening reception on Saturday, September 22nd. The public will be invited to select a People’s Choice Award during the exhibition of entries from September 22nd to September 29th
All work must be picked up between the hours of 5:30—8:30pm on Friday, September 29th, 2012.
Submission forms and books to be used as material can be found at the following locations, or forms can be downloaded from our website. You may also use your own books.
Blue Heron Bookstore
62 Brock Street West,
Uxbridge, Ontario
Uxbridge Library
9 Toronto Street
Uxbridge, Ontario
A Book<>Art workshop will be held at Blue Heron Studio on Wednesday, August 8th from 6:30 – 9:30pm. This will be a creative book-art session hosted by local sculptor Fly Freeman. (Admission by donation). All ages welcome.
Blue Heron Studio is located at 62 Brock Street West, in Uxbridge, Ontario (rear entrance behind Blue Heron Books).
To download a PDF of this information on the exhibition and the BOOK<>ART workshop, please click HERE.
Writing Stories from Our Lives
Sunday evenings, 7 – 9:30 pm, 8 weeks, starting Sunday September 23rd
Humans are the Story Species. It’s one of the few characteristics we share across cultures, across genders, across ages — we understand our lives and ourselves through the stories we tell.
In this set of eight writing workshops we will be practicing how to make our ideas into essays, our memories into memoirs and our lives into literature.
Each class will cover some aspect of the writing craft – the skills necessary to create strong prose that engages the reader and keeps them turning the page, including strong characterization, sensory description, vivid details, metaphors and accuracy. Continue reading
Paypal Page for Blue Heron Fall 2012 Writing Workshops
I would like to pay for:
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Learn from a Master – Writing with Donna Morrissey
Course Fee: $85 + 11.05 HST
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Sue Reynolds: Writing Stories from Your Life
Course Fee: $240 + 31.20 HST
(Please note: Shopping cart will show up in the sidebar at the top. Click on “Check out with PayPal” to complete the purchase.)
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Dorothea Helms: The Write Magic
Course Fee: $240 + 31.20 HST
(Please note: Shopping cart will show up in the sidebar at the top. Click on “Check out with PayPal” to complete the purchase.)
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James Dewar: Get Published Poetry
Course Fee: $240 + 31.20 HST
(Please note: Shopping cart will show up in the sidebar at the top. Click on “Check out with PayPal” to complete the purchase.)
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Sue Reynolds: Words are Worth 1000 Pictures – Writing Your Memoirs
Course Fee: $240 + 31.20 HST
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Payment for Outrageous Writing April – May 2013
Click here to pay the course fee of $180 plus HST of $23.40. Your link to the PayPal portal (to pay by credit card or PayPal) will appear in the top left sidebar after you click.
Payment for “A Taste of Ink” Classes
Use this button to register for the set of all six classes, or register for your individual class choices below.
$180 plus HST for the genre buffet – all six different writing classes.
January 9 – Sue Reynolds – Mamba with Memoir
Learn how to tell the stories inspired by your life
$40.00 plus HST for individual “Mamba with Memoir” class
January 16 – Sue Reynolds – Writing to Heal
Writing that promotes health and healing
$40.00 plus HST for individual “Writing to Heal” class
January 23 – James Dewar – Rhyme is No Crime
Rhyme is making a comeback in poetry – brush up on your skills
$40.00 plus HST for individual “Rhyme is no Crime” class
January 30 – James Dewar – Have You Heard Spoken Word?
Secrets of slam poetry, today’s most popular poetry form
$40.00 plus HST for individual “Secrets of Slam Poetry” class
February 6 – Dorothea Helms – Turning the Box Upside-Down
Mine counterintuitive ideas that can catch the eye of nonfiction editors
$40.00 plus HST for individual “Turning the Box Upside-Down” class
February 13 – Dorothea Helms – Putting the “fiction” in Nonfiction
Learn to use fiction techniques to invigorate your magazine and newspaper stories
$40.00 plus HST for individual “Putting the “Fiction” in Nonfiction” class
Small Worlds
Writing Short Stories
Short stories are still one of the best ways to break into the literary publishing market. This course will focus on the particularities of this literary genre. Character development, narrative structure, story arc and plot construction will be explored by weekly readings of published short stories, as well as by participating in writing assignments.
Week by week, participants will be working on short stories of various lengths. By the end of the course, writers will have created three short stories with a view towards submitting them for publication or to short story contests. Participants will also have one of the stories produced during the course published in the course anthology.
The best writing in the short story class as chosen by the Blue Heron Selection Panel, will be forwarded to editor Adrienne Kerr at Penguin Canada for personal feedback and consideration.
Course fee includes a copy of the text.
Starts March 6, 2012. Tuesday nights from 7:00 to 9:30
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Susan Lynn Reynolds is a writer and an accredited writing instructor in the Amherst Writers and Artists method. She is past president of the WCDR and current vice-president of the national organization Canadian Creative Writers and Writing Programs (CCWWP).
Her novel Strandia won the Canadian Library Association’s national Young Adult Novel of the Year award, and she won the Timothy Findley Creative Writing Prize three years in a row for her short stories and poetry. Her area of specialty is the therapeutic use of journaling and memoir, and her thesis on that topic received the Canadian Psychological Association’s Award of Academic Excellence in 2006.
She has been leading writing workshops for female inmates at Central East Correctional Centre for seven years, a program for which she received the 2007 June Callwood Award for Outstanding Volunteerism for that program.
She and her partner James Dewar run a freelance writing and web design business, and teach creative writing in a number of freelance workshops, at Durham College, and in their year long course A NOVEL APPROACH where participants take one year to write their book length novels or memoirs.
PayPal page for Blue Heron Summer Programs
I would like to pay for:
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Ted Staunton’s Fractured Fairy Tales Summer Camp:
Course Fee: $160 + 20.80 HST (+$15 material fee)
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Diana Lopez-Soto’s Puppetmania Summer Camp:
Course Fee: $160 + 20.80 HST
(Please note: Shopping cart will show up in the sidebar at the top. Click on “Check out with PayPal” to complete the purchase.)
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Find Your Funny Comedy Camp:
Course Fee: $160 + 20.80 HST
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Computer Game Camp:
Course Fee: $160 + 20.80 HST
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Payment for Courses – (905) 852-4282
Our technology expert for online ordering is very close to our e-commerce solution but we’re not quite there yet. To complete your registration, please phone (905) 852-4282 to pay by credit card, or drop by the store to pay.
Space is limited, and your attendance in the course is not confirmed until payment has been received.
Thank you for your registration for our Fall 2011 Writing Course at Blue Heron!
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