Review by Cheryl Antao-Xavier  |  The poems in Adebe D.A.’s aptly named Sea Change probe the depths of intimate relationships reflecting starkly on the vicissitudes of love, in the backwash of a reality check. Crashing illusions effuse self-revelations that surface as a new consciousness and understanding of oneself and one’s sense of self: “for me/it is in hopes that I evade/the traditional female destiny/of longing/for you/to take back the absence.”

A strong undertow of subliminal messaging tugs the reader along in a personal connection on a voyage to emotional maturity: “and do not call me with your old depths/for I am learning to sing a new song/learning to find/a new grammar of beauty/mornings where memories burn/and the poems return.”

The aqueous metaphor is carried through this collection of exquisitely-crafted gems of the deep. The poetry flows effortlessly, the verbal imagery captivates, the wisdom resonates: “that all poems/must be listened to with eyes/and all bodies are poems.”

Sea Change is a compelling read and an impressive first collection. Hopefully we will see a lot more from this young Canadian poet.

• Cheryl Antao-Xavier is a poet and publisher

By Jim Green  »  Even established authors get the thumbs down from publishers on submission of new work.

I should know because despite having 37 traditionally published titles under my belt, I have around a dozen still unpublished.

Here is what I did and what do if you'd like to cash in on your rejected non-fiction works...

• Take the strongest; the best piece of advice from the selected tome 
• Convert it into a PDF file

Now just give it away...

Why give your best information away for free?

By Farzana Doctor  »  I’ve been thinking alot about the Canadian publishing industry and how I wish more people would support Canadian writers.

Here is a little tip sheet I created. I wrote an earlier version of this when my novel Stealing Nasreen first came out (and friends and family asked what they could do to help – and it was so heartwarming how they came through for me).

RESOURCES | By Catherine Johnson  » One of the first things writers seeking agency representation should learn is that legitimate agents do not charge author fees. These include agents who charge reading fees simply to read your manuscript; evaluation fees to review your manuscript; agents who require writers to pre-purchase books; or pay some of the publication and/or marketing costs.

There are a host of agent scams preying on authors desperate to see their book in print. One of the absolute best resources on the Internet regarding questionable agent practices can be found on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) site under the section called "Writer Beware". SFWA is constantly researching and updating the Writer Beware area to help educate authors and avoid the endless writer-related scams.

RESOURCES | By Jennifer A Swanson  »  So you think you have the Next Great Novel rolling around in your head? Well, why not? Everyone can write. It doesn't take a lot of money (which is a plus in this economy) and it doesn't take a lot of time, right? 

Well, let's think about that last one. While it is certainly possible to write a novel in a few weeks, (ever heard of the 30-day challenge), most of us can't sit down and write all day, every day. Instead, we have to fit our writing time into the chaos that is our life. This usually means that we don't write at all or at very odd hours of the morning.

RESOURCES | By Joe Nassise  » How exactly does a book get accepted? And what happens after that? These are two important aspects you need to understand if you want to make a living as a novelist.

When I first started out the entire process was a bit of a mystery to me and it is something that comes up time and time again whenever I teach a workshop or make a convention appearance. So I thought I'd give a short primer on the steps from proposal to publication.

RESOURCES | By Cheryl Antao-Xavier  »  Of all the how-to’s I’ve heard on getting the creative juices flowing, jumpstarting the Muse, the one that stuck in this otherwise transient memory is something a writing teacher at Ryerson insisted upon: “Keep a journal!” he said. Or otherwise don’t come to my class is what he implied. 

Every day we had to pen a paragraph, a page, or if really inspired—a full-blown article, about something, anything that we saw, felt, experienced, thought off during the day. There had to be an entry for each day, even if you sat the night before the class and wrote out seven entries.