The “Dear Lucky Agent” Contest is a recurring online contest
with agent judges and super-cool prizes. This year they are looking for Science
Fiction novels (adults or teens) and any kind of Young Adult novel. If you write
in these genres, then this contest is for you. If not - try again next year,
they will have different niche genres. The contest is live through January 31,
2013. So enter now. More details found here: http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/13th-free-dear-lucky-agent-contest-young-adult-and-sci-fi

It's almost time for spring break. And spring break means, play season for the under 18 class. It's the time when day camps are launched and kids are putting on costumes and makeup and learning to sword fight.
There are plenty of great play scripts written just for kids by kids on this website. Through the DramAntics program and an earlier incarnation of my playwriting program I ran with the Girl Guides - I have loads of scripts just waiting for another stage. So if you have a youth theatre, a youth group, a class, or a bunch of kids in a basement looking for play to put on - check out the scripts. They're free, easy to stage, and easy to memorize. In fact, the majority of the plays were staged in just one week.
If DramAntics can do it, you can do it too.

Did you ever see a big red button marked Do Not Push and just have to push it? Could you resist the urge? Find out what happens. Find the Do Not Push button on the Boiled Cat page and give it a go. It's just one of the many interesting things that are going to end up on the Boiled Cat website coming this spring.
Boiled Cat - Hours of Mindblowing Entertainment.

Two truths and a lie – ever played it? It’s a game where you say two things that are true about yourself and one thing that isn’t and the people you are with try to pick out the lie. The more detail the lie has, the more it tends to be believable. It’s like that in writingThe more details you add, the more senses you use, the more you know about your subject – the more your writing sounds real.

I was writing a creepy scene where my main character walked through a rather rundown neighborhood in London, England. I had never been to this neighborhood in my life. The last time I was in England, I was twelve and nowhere near this place. So to research I found a walking tour on the internet. It was just visuals, but it gave me a good impression of things. Then I read articles about the neighborhood, just a couple, for flavor. I found out about how the police handled things and what was socially acceptable. After that I picked one image for each of my senses to work into my scene. Then I plotted the whole thing out.

I think the resulting scene is one of my best works. One of the people in my critique group said, “I can really tell you’ve been there.” That made me happy. So bring the techniques of two truths and a lie into your work and see just what it can do.

I've been dabbling in animation lately. Here's a couple of shorts I've created.
Bomb
Paper Surfer

I can't recommend the WordsWorth program enough. If you are a youth writer, go to this retreat. It will change your life.
Drink the Wild Air
Come join us at the WordsWorth Winter Retreat! March 1-3 at Camp Chief Hector.  Why there, you ask? “Nature has no outline. Imagination has” William Blake
March 1-3 we’re heading to the mountains for another Creative Writing Re-treat and of
course, we hope you’ll be there!  But why do we keep bringing our writing to the outdoors?William Carlos Williams said things close to the nose aren’t proper subjects.  Not all writing can be direct self-expression.  Looking inward can keep poets and writ-ers from looking outward.  And so we’re taking you outdoors this time to Camp Chief Hector to partner with the outdoor staff to notice evocative new images and to have fresh adventure. And then we’ll  create time to take these new images and experiences
...and collaborate them with language.  So even if you already have a relationship with
the natural world, this one will be new.The locale of the happening always colours the
happening, and often, to a degree, shapes it novelist Elizabeth Brown observed. 

So join us and DRINK THE WILD AIR March 1 – 3, 2013 at Camp Chief Hector
YMCA in Kananaskis, Alberta. Thaw your brainfreeze with warm words and we hope
you will find an unexpected connection between the outdoors and words.
To register or click here: http://drinkthewildair2013.eventbrite.ca/
We will be outdoors, indoors writing, up late writing under the stars, sleeping
late -ish.  There will be campfire, music, parlour games, Exquisite Corpse Games... the fun will never end.
Oh, yes it will. On Sunday just after lunch. But in true Words-worth fashion, we will pack the fun in.  We’re even offering a bus out from Calgary on the Friday night.

I just got some awesome news. There was a positive review in Resource Links magazine about my book Hook Up.
Here’s a short excerpt:
 “A powerful portrayal of the impact that having sex can have on a relationship. Teens will appreciate Firmston's honesty and use of realistic language... confronts aboriginal stereotypes with skill and insight." Rated G-E, Good to Excellent!
The magazine has aslo selected Hook Up as One of the Year’s Best for 2012!

Ahh! The cover of my new, self published book Boiled Cat came in today. I was asked which draft I liked (there were two) and what changes I wanted (I get to make changes twice and then it's set in stone - unless I pay more money). This is so stressful! I toyed with the cover. Tried to make it as best I could. I tried to make it appealing. Made notes. Felt sick to my stomach. Second guessed myself. Then finally sent everything back to the publisher. Now I have to wait five days to find out if I made the right choices. This self publishing thing is hard. I wish I had a crystal ball to see how it all ends. Then again... maybe not.