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SUMMARY:Bring Your Story to Life: Novel Writing Course with Mentorship & Group Support
DESCRIPTION:The Unbearable Lightness of Novel Writing – 6-Week Course Starting Sept 22  \nBlending online learning\, group work\, and one-on-one mentoring. \nLearn the fundamentals of novel writing—character\, plot\, setting—while developing your writer’s instinct for when a story’s working and when it isn’t. This six-week course will build your confidence as a writer in a fun\, safe\, and dynamic atmosphere where you’ll learn from each other while crafting your own story. \nThe course will cover: \nCharacter development and compelling dialogue\nPlot structure and narrative tension\nSetting and worldbuilding\nShow\, don’t tell techniques\nPacing and story flow\nSensory descriptions that captivate readers\nOvercoming writer’s block\nManuscript polishing strategies \nDiscover the story that’s waiting for you to tell it.​ \nYou’ll receive individual mentoring sessions\, group feedback\, and practical techniques that save time. By course end\, you’ll have a complete toolkit for crafting memorable stories and the confidence to move forward with your novel. \nTestimonials \nLissa is approachable and supportive while providing detailed\, specific feedback on student writing. She offers guidance that respects and applauds student voice. I felt seen and heard by this fantastic coach in the course I took with her. –Angela Mason \nWorking with Lissa Cowan was a transformative experience in bringing  Power of Fear to life. –P.W. Brown \nIf you’re looking for a course that will help you develop your voice while giving you the tools to shape your story\, I can’t recommend Lissa enough. –Antoinette Bekker (MFA) \n Space is limited. Course begins September 22. $399 until September 15.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/bring-your-story-to-life-novel-writing-course-with-mentorship-group-support/
LOCATION:QC
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SUMMARY:Book Launch—Messioph: The First Book of Ido by Geoffreyjen Edwards
DESCRIPTION:Saturday\, October 18\, 2025\, 10:00 amFounders Room\, Brookstreet Hotel (525 Legget Dr)\, Ottawa\n\n\n\nJoin Geoffreyjen Edwards for the launch of Messioph: The First Book of Ido (Untimely Books). As part of the Can-Con Science Fiction Convention in Ottawa\, Geoffreyjen Edwards will be launching his latest science-fiction novel on October 18th\, 10:00 am\, at the Founders Room of the Brookstreet Hotel. \n\n\n\n The event will consist of a short reading\, a small reception and book signings. \n\n\n\nAbout the Book\n\n\n\nSome family secrets destroy civilizations… What if such an evil follows humanity across the stars? \n\n\n\nCatastrophe strikes when Grolier Desius and his brother return from a confrontation with their family’s bitter enemy aboard a jonah—one of the living starships whose ancestors once roamed the oceans of Old Earth. As Grolier navigates the chaos\, he uncovers devastating truths about his family’s past. He must race through a web of family betrayals and institutional cover-ups\, confronting how intimate violence can become a civilization-threatening threat. His decisions will determine whether the bonds holding humanity and the ancient jonahs together can survive the deadly legacy of buried trauma. Messioph: The First Book of Ido\, the second volume in Geoffreyjen Edwards’s fifteen-book Ido Chronicles\, explores how personal wounds can lead to political crises.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/book-launch-messioph-the-first-book-of-ido-by-geoffreyjen-edwards/
LOCATION:QC
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,Festival
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251018T103000
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SUMMARY:Writing for Young(er) Readers\, age 12 to 20
DESCRIPTION:Three Saturdays\, Oct 18-Nov 1\, 10:30am-4:30pm       Open to allLimited to 12 participantsIn-Person Workshop* \n\n\n\nThis workshop is designed to provide a supportive framework for discussing and engaging in the process of writing for middle grade and young adult readers. (We will not be covering picture books or chapter books for younger kids.) Participants will be encouraged to bring a work-in-progress or idea-in-progress and optionally share up to 20 pages of their writing. We will cover topics such as… \n\n\n\n\nthe author’s responsibility when writing for young readers\n\n\n\nassessing the target audience\n\n\n\nchoice of material\n\n\n\ntechnical tricks of the trade\n\n\n\npopular genres\n\n\n\npitfalls\n\n\n\ndifficult subject matter\n\n\n\nediting\n\n\n\nillustrations / graphic novels\n\n\n\nindividual goals.\n\n\n\n\nThough not the main focus of the workshop\, information about publishing will be included. I will also send out a suggested reading list as soon as registration closes and will be interested in hearing about everyone’s favourite books. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place exclusively in-person at the QWF Office (Room 3\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Westmount\, Quebec). \n\n\n\nEdeet Ravel has written twelve novels for adults and young readers. She has been a Governor General’s Award and Giller finalist and has won various prizes for her work. Her book A Boy is Not a Bird and its sequel\, A Boy is Not a Ghost\, are based on the true story of an East European boy who is exiled to Siberia during World War II.  Her most recent book\, Miss Matty\, tells the story of a Montreal teenager in the post-Depression years who dreams of being a Hollywood star. 
URL:https://qwf.org/event/writing-for-younger-readers-age-12-to-20/2025-10-18/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251018T140000
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SUMMARY:Embodied Writing - Deep Red Fall Edition
DESCRIPTION:~Writing\, breathwork\, meditation & optional sharing circle~ \nSaturday\, October 18\, 2-5pm\nEspace BE\, 2240 Beaconsfield (NDG)\nDeep Red Fall Edition \n*** \nThe Deep Red Fall \nWriting stirs first in the body. The more you let your senses unfurl\, the more vivid and alive your language becomes. Each word you release has lived in you already—etched into your muscles\, your breath\, your bones. \nSo often we contort ourselves into stiff\, dislocated shapes to summon language. Yet the body is our oldest keeper of truth\, carrying both our wounds and our wildness. What shifts when we loosen instead—when we let the spine curve\, the hips sway\, the breath deepen? What words break open in the space where trauma is met with tenderness\, where movement tips toward dance\, where surrender becomes possible? \nThis season\, we lean into the deep red fall: into descent\, shadow\, ripeness\, and the sensual weight of presence. To write from here is to risk being altered\, to risk being undone\, to risk being set aflame. Our flesh and blood holds stories that ache to be broken open\, scrawled aloud. Birthing them into words can be grounding\, freeing\, and profoundly healing. \nWhether you come as a seasoned writer\, a beginner\, or simply someone longing to abandon yourself to the pulse that carries you\, this workshop opens the door to the charged and intimate meeting ground of body and language. \nOur practice will interweave: \n-Kundalini breathwork\n-Stretches & light movement\n-Creative writing prompts & exercises\n-Meditation\n-An optional sharing & discussion circle\n-Homemade chai & a sweet treat \nWhat to bring: \nYour journal\, a pen\, comfy clothes & an open mind. \nWhat to know: \nPens & paper will be available\, as will yoga mats/blocks/blankets/bolsters if needed. Seating options will include: chairs\, mats\, back jacks\, etc. There will be space to move around and shift positions as needed. \nAbout the facilitator: \nMaya Khamala is a lifelong writer of many stripes. From poetry to grassroots journalism to creative nonfiction\, word is her bond. She has collaborated with visual artists at a loss for words\, and has worked as a freelance copywriter and editor for the last decade. She has a shiny little MA in Creative Writing to list among her credentials\, and is an emerging novelist to boot. Maya has an extensive background in feminist\, anti-racist\, climate justice and Indigenous solidarity movements—work that has deeply informed the way she wields words. Aside from being a writer\, she is also a Kundalini Yoga teacher and Embodied Writing facilitator offering regular Montreal classes and workshops in Montreal. She got into Kundalini as a way of healing from childhood trauma and its many lifelong manifestations in her body\, as well as to counteract being a writer who sometimes forgets to step away from the keyboard…and just breathe. \nCost: $80\nAll are welcome! Limited spots.\nBook here: linktr.ee/heartfire.kundalini \nQuestions? Please email maya.khamala@gmail.com to discuss.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/embodied-writing-deep-red-fall-edition/
LOCATION:QC
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops
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