I'll admit it; I tend to be hyper-critical of people trying to teach writing, but only because I've spent over 35 years doing so myself. So when I signed up myself and the young teen I'm mentoring to a seminar on how to get published, I had a cynical edge. I was prepared to spend from 10:00 to 4:00 on a Sunday closeted in a small room in the back of Toronto's World's Biggest Bookstore only because a colleague I respect spoke highly of Brian Henry's impact on her writing, and because the seminar fee was relatively low, aspiring writers being a frugal crowd.

It didn't start well. Just after 10:00, standing outside the locked doors of a store that didn't open till 11:00 on Sundays, directly in the wafting stream of pot smoke, with a 16 year old entrusted to me by her parents - I was having negative thoughts. Then I saw someone approaching the door from the inside; it was unlocked and we were escorted in.

We found our seats, and settled in. Within 10 minutes, I was won over. As a long time teacher, it was clear to me that Brian Henry knew both his stuff and how to manage a class. When participants focusing on their own specific questions interrupted, he answered clearly and then steered back to his (well) planned presentation with no show of irritation. I really enjoyed his sense of humour, and his passion for what he was teaching. Both my young friend and I found him easy to understand and we felt we learned what we needed to know for our next step in getting her novel published - how to write a query letter. Listening to an actual agent who is taking on authors was a bonus.

So thanks, Brian Henry - http://quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.com/ - and here's my recommendation to any aspiring writers in the GTA - sign up for one of his seminars - http://quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.com/search/label/*%20%20Brian%20Henry%27s%20schedule

Joan Vinall-Cox
JNthWEB Consulting - http://jnthweb.ca/
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