“Ecology of Story: World as Character” Workshop at When Words Collide, Calgary

The 2-hour workshop—based on my third writing guidebook: “The Ecology of Story: World as Character”—explored some of the major relationships in functional ecosystems and how to effectively incorporate them in story. 

We  briefly explored how ecosystems and ecological processes work and looked at several of the more bizarre examples of ecological adaptation.

I showed how treating world and place as character provides depth and meaning to story through its integration with plot, theme, and other characters. 

We looked at these story components as integral to help ground the reader in context and meaning of story. We explored place / setting as metaphor, symbol, archetype, and allegory.

Through literary examples of setting and place, we looked at how readers are drawn into story through metaphor, sensual description, and thematic integration through POV character.

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Then came the story-building part of the workshop—a snappy, fast-paced dialogue among all workshop participants. 

Using the book’s cover image as story-prompt, we worked through the story components of premise, theme, character, plot and setting. Following a lively discussion, we succeeded in creating a stunning first crack at a story that was both original and intriguing.

“The Ecology of Story” had only recently been launched at Type Books in Toronto and saw its first use at the Calgary conference. Books were sold out an hour after the workshop.

“TheEcology of Story” recently achieved Amazon Bestseller status in the Ecology category.

Nina is a Canadian scientist and novelist. She worked for 25 years as an environmental consultant in the field of aquatic ecology and limnology, publishing papers and technical reports on water quality and impacts to aquatic systems. Nina has written over a dozen eco-fiction, science fiction and fantasy novels. An award-winning short story writer, and essayist, Nina currently lives in Toronto where she teaches writing at the University of Toronto and George Brown College. Her non-fiction book “Water Is...”—a scientific study and personal journey as limnologist, mother, teacher and environ- mentalist—was picked by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times as 2016 ‘The Year in Reading’. Nina’s most recent novel “A Diary in the Age of Water”— about four generations of women and their relationship to water in a rapidly changing world—will be released in 2020 by Inanna Publications. www.NinaMunteanu.ca; www.NinaMunteanu.me

“The Ecology of Story” Launches at Type Books, Toronto

The launch of my third writing guidebook, “The Ecology of Story: World as Character” at Type Books in Toronto on July 4 celebrated writing and connecting with nature and place through reading, song, and talks with local artists and writers. The launch was well-attended by friends, colleagues, old and new writing students from my classes at UofT and George Brown College, and interested readers and would-be writers. Together, we made quite a party for that little book. Many thanks to those who attended and bought the book and to the presenters who joined me in celebrating place in story and the power of the natural world.

“The Ecology of Story” was created to address the need for writers to better acknowledge the central role of place in story and better address the interrelatedness of environment with character on a journey. The book appears in two parts; Part 1 is dedicated to basic ecology with a focus on strange and wonderful relationships in the natural world; Part 2 integrates metaphoric connections between character and place/environment to deepen meaning in story.

From Habitats and Trophic Levels to Metaphor and Archetype… “The Ecology of Story” teaches the fundamentals of ecology, insights of world-building, and how to master layering-in of metaphoric connections between setting and character in fiction.

Launch presenters

Launch presenters sang and read and spoke about topics of place, the natural world and the science of the natural world. These included urban waterways, the lost waterways of Toronto, special trees, and the use of binomials in the descriptive sciences. Presenters included:

Honey Novick: poet, voice teacher, singer and songwriter. Honey is the winner of the Empowered Poet Award, CAPAC, Yamaha Classical Music Competition in Japan, among others. Honey wrote music for CBC’s Morningside and sang for Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

Ted Nolan—E. Martin Nolan: poet, essayist, editor and voice of the trees. He teaches in the Engineering Communication Program at the University of Toronto and is a PhD Candidate in Applied Linguistics at York University. His latest work is a chapbook written in collaboration with some trees entitled: “Trees Hate Us.”

Maureen Scott Harris: poet, essayist, and rare books cataloguer. A UofT grad in Library Science, she received the Trillium Book Award for poetry for Drowning Lessons and was the first non-Australian to be awarded the 2009 WildCare Tasmania Nature Writing Prize for her essay, "Broken Mouth: Offerings for the Don River, Toronto."

Nehal El-Hadi: writer, researcher, editor and journalist, who explores the intersections of body, technology, and space. Her writing has appeared in academic journals, literary magazines, and forthcoming in anthologies and edited collections. She is currently a visiting scholar at York University and sessional faculty at the University of Toronto.

Merridy Cox: naturalist, photographer, editor, indexer and poet. She is also managing editor of Lyrical Leaf Publishing. Merridy has a degree in biology and museum studies;  her poetry focuses mostly on the natural world around her; her poems and photographs are published in several literary anthologies. She has edited several books, including this one!

Costi Gurgu: graphic designer and illustrator as well as an award-winning science fiction and fantasy novelist and short story writer who is published in anthologies and magazines throughout the world. He is a former lawyer and was art director for lifestyle and fashion magazines in Europe before moving to Canada. His latest novel—RecipeArium—was called the new new weird by Robert J. Sawyer and was nominated for an Aurora Award.

Cheryl Antao-Xavier: editor, interior book designer and publisher with IOWI. She has been publishing emergent writers since 2008 and continues to offer self-publishing solutions to writers and companies and organizations. She recently released her book: “Self-Publishing the Professional Way: 5 Steps from Raw Manuscript to Publishing.” 

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of award-nominated speculative novels, short stories and non-fiction. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s recent book is the bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” (Mincione Edizioni, Rome). Her latest “Water Is…” is currently an Amazon Bestseller and NY Times ‘year in reading’ choice of Margaret Atwood. Nina's latest novel "A Diary in the Age of Water" will be released by Inanna Publications in 2020.

Interview with Simon Rose on The Children's Writer's Guide 2

I’m pleased to welcome back Simon Rose, author of fifteen novels and many nonfiction books for children and young adults. He’s also the author of eight guides for aspiring authors and has just released the second installment of The Children’s Writer’s Guide.

So what’s this latest book all about?

The Children’s Writer’s Guide 2 is ideal for writers not just of books for children and young adults, but also features information that’s applicable to writers in all genres. The first installment of The Children’s Writer’s Guide has a wealth of tips and advice, including suggestions regarding how to get started as a writer, dealing with writer's block, conducting research, choosing appropriate names for your characters, the editing and revision process, as well as the world of marketing and promotion.

This second book further explores the writing process, examining topics such as developing memorable characters, creating effective dialogue, the importance of book covers, the value of blogging, age levels and appropriate content for books for children and young adults, networking, and the process of submitting your work to publishing houses. In combination with The Children’s Writer’s Guide, this second book provides invaluable advice and support for both established and aspiring authors of books for children and young adults.

What inspired you to write this book?

The first instalment of the book came out a few years ago and at the time I had some material left over that didn’t quite fit. I considered writing a second part to the guide, but didn’t have anything else to add at the time and as with many other writers, other projects took priority. However, I did add sections when I had time and finally late last year I had enough to produce the second book.

Simon Rose

Have you written and published other guides for writers?

Yes, in total I’ve written and published eight of these types of books. In addition to the two guides for children’s authors, there’s The Time Traveler’s Guide, which examines the writing of time travel stories and historical fiction, The Working Writer’s Guide, that explores the many ways that people can try to make a living as a writer, and The Social Media Writer’s Guide, which features tips and advice about writing online content for websites and social media. Where Do Ideas Come From? is all about creating workshops and presentations based on your books. Exploring the Fantasy Realm and School and Library Visits for Authors and Illustrators are very small books and the material also appears in the first part of The Children’s Writer’s Guide.

Is it important for aspiring authors to read books like this?

Yes, I think so. You obviously need an idea before you can start writing any book, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction and are largely on your own during the writing process. However, it’s always good to conduct research and seek out information that might help you along your journey and both parts of The Children’s Writer’s Guide are very helpful for writers, and not just those writing for children and young adults. Much of the information in both books is very much applicable to writers in all genres, whether for younger readers or for adults.

Where can people purchase your book?

The Children’s Writer’s Guide 2 available as a paperback on Amazon and as an ebook on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The ebooks are available in ePub, Kindle, and pdf formats.

 

Ebook Amazon Kobo Smashwords Barnes and Noble iBooks

Paperback Amazon Barnes and Noble

The Children’s Writer’s Guide is also available in all formats at these locations.

Where can people find out more about you and your books?

You can learn more on my website at www.simon-rose.com or online at the following social media sites:

·      Facebook

·      Twitter

·      LinkedIn

·      YouTube

·      Google +

·      Pinterest