In its fifth year the Ithaca Literary Festival, Spring Writes, presents a weekend full of workshops, readings, and performances. Check the calendar for the full schedule of activities. Here’s a few highlights to entice to you to one of the dozen venues downtown to participate in the festivities. There are more than 30 events to inspire you. Sponsored by the Community Arts Partnership in Tompkins County, all events are free and open to the public. Friday, May 2, 5:30pm-7:00pm at Buffalo Street Books The Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts presents an all-local group of past and current Saltonstall Fellows. They include Sarah Jefferis (2014 Non-fiction), Fran Markover (2010 Poetry), and Bob Proehl (2013 Fiction). Saturday May 3, 10am-11:45am at Buffalo Street Books If you’ve ever heard the expression “Write what you know” and thought, “Hey, I don’t know anything worth writing about,” this is for you! Especially geared to teens with an interest in storytelling, three local fiction writers — Anne Mazer, Shawn Goodman, and Rob Costello — will lead a fun and freewheeling workshop designed to introduce some of the basic writing tools that can help any writer spin a good story out of practically anything. Pen, paper, and imagination are all that’s required! * Anne Mazer is the author of 45 books for young readers: The Salamander Room, The Oxboy, The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes series and more. * Shawn Goodman is the award-winning author of the Young Adult novels, Kindness for Weakness, and Something Like Hope. * Rob Costello has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young…
POV. Point of View. When you begin to write, you must decide who will tell the story. You will, of course. Duh. You are the narrator if you are the writer. But who are you? Are you the heroic character? The omniscient voice of God? The fly on the wall? Journalist reporting from the scene? How do you find the right narrator’s voice? One of… [Read More]
Tina L. Peterson’s debut novel OSCAR AND THE AMAZING GRAVITY REPELLENT, about an intrepid third-grader who takes on bullies and other forces of nature with the help of a magical potion, to Alison Deering at Capstone, in a nice deal by Jill Swenson of Swenson Book Development, February 11, 2014. Tina L. Peterson has been fighting gravity her whole life. She was never any good at… [Read More]
Jill Swenson: Congratulations on the forthcoming publication of your book, Leaning into Love: A Spiritual Journey through Grief, by Larson Publications in fall 2014. What is meant by the title of your book? Elaine Mansfield: After Vic’s death, I leaned into his love. I leaned into the love of the land, the life I created with him, our sons, close friends, and found support. Spiritual help came… [Read More]
While a great first chapter may interest acquisitions editors in reading your full manuscript, your last chapter may determine whether you get a contract offer or not. Reader dissatisfaction with the ending is the kiss of death to book sales. Perhaps you’ve even put down some of these books that have very well crafted first chapters that landed them a book contract but couldn’t sustain… [Read More]
The Pew Research Center reported last week that one in four American adults had not read a single book in the past year. The number of non-book readers has nearly tripled since 1978. If you want someone to read your book, you know it has to be good. Better than good. The 18-29 year old demographic is the most likely age group to have read… [Read More]



