BOOK TOPICS

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CREATIVE COACHING
Advice: Following intuition, living courageously, telling your own story, writer’s block, daily writing rituals, fostering creativity at any age or stage in life
Instruction: Uncovering Your Values, Exploring Your Dreams, Taking Action

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POETRY
Advice: Developing your craft, opportunities and challenges in publishing today, working with a mentor 
Spotlight: Interviews and original poetry of aspiring poets 
Instruction: Erase, Expand, Escape writing technique (the process and sample first and final drafts of a poem)
 

SONGWRITING
Advice: Developing your craft, opportunities and challenges in the music industry today, collaboration, the role of an artist manager, maximizing your voice and your potential, composing for television and film
Spotlight: Interviews with aspiring singer-songwriters
Instruction: Co-Writing, The Live Show (the Key to Success), Your Music (Hobby or Business), Lyric Writing (the process and sample first and final drafts of song lyrics)
 

SCREENWRITING
Advice: Challenges of becoming a professional screenwriter, stages of a pitch meeting, the role of a talent manager, importance of story structure
Spotlight: Interviews with aspiring screenwriters 
Instruction: Skill Development and Collaboration in Filmmaking, Funding and Distributing your Film, Screenwriting (the process and sample first and final drafts of a short film screenplay)
 

MUSICAL THEATRE
Advice: Collaboration, challenges of writing and producing a new musical
Instruction: From Page to Stage – Getting Your Show Produced, Collaboration, Creating a Demo (the process of working with a co-writer, vocalist, and producer, and a sample medley)

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BlueInk Review (July 2017)                        

- "offers solid advice for aspiring writers" 

- "altogether, the book forms a useful primer for would-be writers"

- "anyone trying to break into the fields covered here will benefit from reading this book" 

- "aspiring writers will find a wealth of useful - even inspirational - information to mine in these pages"

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IndieReader Approved! 4 Star Rating (July 24, 2017)

 

"Unlike other “how-to-get-into-print” works, this collection of interviews with

accomplished and pedigreed writers and writing coaches, although succumbing to

non-literary nuts and bolts advice with the publishing world (which occur, perhaps

tellingly, when the subject is the music and movie industry—arguably the highest

paid avenues for writers), actually deals with the writing process and not navigating

through the world of pitches, sizing up editors, and copyrighting.

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As a result, the reader/writer is presented with advice on technique and how to

overcome that dread writer’s block. The reader will get the sense that this advice

was hard-earned, and is trustworthy. Ultimately what works for one writer may not work

for another; and those interviewed in the book realize that.To paraphrase Raymond

Chandler who was once asked what advice to give budding writers, he stated that a published

writer can only show a student what not to do; their imagination has to take it from there."

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~ Ron Capshaw for IndieReader (full review available here) Learn about IndieReader Approved reviews here!

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Writer's Digest (January 2018)

"There’s much to admire here. I was worried that the book was going to seem excessively long, but it didn’t at all. I felt no pressure to read it at one sitting, or in any particular order. I was impressed by the poems themselves and was glad that the editor was able to include them.

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I’d like to see a more vivid cover and subtitle: the actual contents of the book were much more exciting than what the title led me to expect.

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One of the main things I like about this book is its expansiveness and the variety of voices both in the mentors and the contest entrants. I particularly enjoy the “inside view” of the mentoring process between Heidi Stock and Shannon Bramer. I also appreciate the first draft/final draft renditions of the screenplay."

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~ Judge, 5th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards

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BOOK CONTRIBUTORS (in addition to contributor and editor, Heidi Stock)

Creative Coaching - Patricia Pearson, Laurie Wagner, Chris Kay Fraser, Allyson Latta, Kelly McNelis, Janice Cunning

Poetry - Catherine Graham, Shannon Bramer, Catherine Owen, Stuart Ross, George Elliott Clarke, Ana Rodriguez Machado, Nora Grove, Jill Talbot, Natalia Darie, Whitney Sweet, Isabella de Almeida Aidar, James Hinds, Chloë Catán, Basia Gilas, Marina Black

Songwriting – Luba, Lesley Pike, Luther Mallory, Katie Rox, Melanie Durrant, Theo Tams, Amir Brandon, Elias James, Rebekah Stevens, Maurice Laurin, Ryan Luchuck, Daniel Ingram, Juliette Jagger
Screenwriting - Geneviève Appleton, Maureen Dorey, Elise Cousineau, Bryce Mitchell, Navin Ramaswaran, Amanda Clarke, Wendy Chan, Dawn Prato, Stefan Cap, Stephanie Palmer, Perry Zimel, Diane Drake, Stéphanie Joalland
Musical Theatre - Landon Braverman, Joseph Trefler, Michael Rubinoff, Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Susan Dunstan, Elise Dewsberry, Jennifer Ashley Tepper, Louise Pitre, Robyn Hoja, Julian Troiano, Murray Foster, Marion Abbott

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MENTOR ME ~ MENTOR YOU!

Here's a list of contributors to our book who offer online mentoring products or services.

Interested? Check out their websites and contact information directly below.

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MENTORS

offering online classes/courses or online one-on-one/group mentoring sessions

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CREATIVE COACHING

• Chris Kay Fraser, Firefly Creative Writing, contact directly at http://fireflycreativewriting.com/contact-2/

• Allyson Latta, Writer, Editor, Instructor & Coach, contact directly at http://www.allysonlatta.ca/contact/​

• Kelly McNelis, Women For One, visit http://womenforone.com/meet-kelly 

• Laurie Wagner, 27 Powers, contact directly at https://27powers.org/contact/

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POETRY 

• Catherine Graham, contact directly at http://www.catherinegraham.com/contact.html

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SONGWRITING & LIVE PERFORMANCE COACHING

• Luther Mallory, contact directly at http://www.luthermalloryproductions.com/ 

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VOICE TRAINING

• Ryan Luchuck, contact directly at http://torontovoicelessons.com/

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SCREENWRITING

• Geneviève Appleton, contact through http://www.aspiringcanadianwriters.org/contact

• Diane Drake, contact directly at https://dianedrake.com/contact/

• Stéphanie Joalland, contact directly at https://frenzyfilms.co.uk/contact-us/

• Stephanie Palmer, visit https://goodinaroom.com/store/

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MUSICAL THEATRE​

• Elise Dewsberry, Outlining & Bookwriting Lab, online study through http://www.writingmusicaltheatre.com/ 

• Murray Foster, Music / Lyrics / Script Consultation, http://www.murrayfoster.ca/contact/ 

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Please note that ACWC will determine if this list of mentors will be maintained and available on our website after 2017 just as mentors will determine their availability as online mentors throughout calendar year 2017 or later years (2018 onward), if applicable. The availability of any mentor is subject to change. All terms of the mentor/student relationship, mentoring sessions, and course or session fees are set by each individual mentor.