Hello, Members and Friends.

For the first time ever, my husband and I took a seven-day Caribbean cruise in August, and in my mind, I’m still there.

We have been on very few vacations together since we were married in 1991, and when I booked it - on impulse - in June, the travel agent said, “I am going to hook you for life.”

I wasn’t exactly skeptical - I’d had a very stressful year, and I figured the bar was pretty low - but I was rather concerned about practical things: like what if the ship is racked by rough seas and I’m overwhelmed with motion sickness? What if we run into Hurricane Erin? What if the electricity runs out and we experience a repeat of the Poop Ship?

But despite the fact that we were affected by the Air Canada strike and had to make other travel arrangements (which was stressful and expensive in itself), it was a really wonderful trip.

So wonderful that I had a hard time coming home and settling back into routine. A week on the MSC Seashore simply wasn’t long enough. The ship was beautiful, the seas were calm, the weather was hot and sunny, and I did nothing but enjoy the atmosphere, the food, the entertainment, and the smell of the sea. I even wrote the first chapter of my next writing project.

So far, I am indeed hooked. If you’d like to read more about that, you can check out my blog, which has moved to Substack. https://www.rhondabulmer.com/p/notes-on-my-very-first-cruise  (Substack is pretty slick, too, writers. If you have a blog, I think you should move it there. Soooo much easier than WordPress, and designed to build audiences.)

Regardless, time ticks onward, and here we are in September.

A Writers’ Weekend with Brian Henry.

I am super excited to meet and chat with Brian Henry at the end of September, in a unique venue – the lovely home of our generous member, Odette Barr. There’s still room to join us, either in-person or in the comfort of your home via zoom. Check that out ASAP. 

Buy a NB Book Day is September 20.

This program is no longer organized by the Frye Festival, but Marie Cadieux of Bouton d’Or Acadie is leading the charge this year. Make sure to promote and buy local. Encourage your local authors, and better still, buy their books from an independent bookstore.

Rising Tide

In conjunction with Friends of Fundy, we are participating in a Rising Tide event on October 10, hosted by Moonbrook Manor, a new event venue in Riverside-Albert. WFNB member Andrew MacLean will tell some Fundy stories from the pages of his Backyard History series, along with other participants. More info on this event to come.

Fall/Winter workshop lineup

Our fall/winter lineup of online professional development workshops is beginning to appear on our event registration pages. Check out The Foundations of Book Marketing workshop from British romance and historical author Melissa Addey, who will offer her wisdom on promoting your work on November 1 – coming all the way from London, England. And Chuck Bowie will teach us How and Why to Write a Cozy Mystery on December 6.

More fall/winter workshops event pages will appear soon: Look for The Indie Publishing Primer, led by Joe Mahoney– his workshop is coming up first, on October 26. Writer, editor and publisher Lee Thompson will also lead a workshop on Self-Editing (writing is re-writing, amiright?) in November. More details to come very soon.

Through the winter, we’ll also hear from Heather Browne on her Writing Well series, Sandra Phinney with a flash non-fiction mini-course, Elaine McCluskey will share the Short Story Love, and Wendy Kitts will talk about The Back Page – Pitching and Summarizing your work – elevator pitch, synopsis and query letter.

Submit to the NB Book Awards

Reminder: If you are a New Brunswick resident and you published (or will publish) a book in the 2025 calendar year (January to December), you can submit it to the NB Book Awards. Fill out the submission form and send two copies of your book to the office by December 1.

That’s it for now. All best wishes, Writers.

WordWorthy:

Writers ask, ‘Why is it so hard to get published?’ but editors always ask me, ‘Why is it so hard to find good stuff?’ So, GO home and write something EXCELLENT.

Brian Henry, during his workshop “How to Get Published,” May, 2010

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Hello, everyone! I hope you enjoyed a great summer. I’ll keep this short, by inviting anyone who is taking part in the Grown-Up Bookfair (see details below) in Mahone Bay, NS on Oct 11^th to visit me at my table, pick up a WFNB decal and proudly wear it. It never hurts to represent our federation. If you have any of our two-sided placards that outline 10 reasons to join the WFNB, bring them along too. Thanks.

WELCOME, NEW MEMBERS

Tracey O’Brien edits, illustrates and writes creative non-fiction, essays, journalism, memoir, non-fiction, freelance writing from Killarney Road. Welcome, Tracey!

MEMBER NEWS

The Seasonal Collective, which includes several WFNB members, has released their latest anthology, available now. Earth is the first in a four-part series of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

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Maritimes history is full of mysteries, and Andrew MacLean’s fourth book explores some of the most fascinating ones. The Backyard History series has grown from a newspaper column into a podcast, a TV miniseries, and now four books, all combining classic East Coast storytelling with deep archival digging. Find your copy at backyardhistory.ca

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Valerie Sherrard’s podcast interview about A Bend in the Breeze, is now available to listen here! https://www.burckhardtbooks.com/podcast/episode/7baf59a8/s4-ep180-valerie-sherrard-middle-grade-author-of-a-bend-in-the-breeze

NEWSY BITS

An announcement from The Writers’ Union of Canada:

As you will have seen in recent days, the U.S.-based AI-developer Anthropic has reached a $1.5 billion settlement in a class action lawsuit against them. The settlement damages will be paid out to members of the class whose books were obtained through pirated datasets.

Excellent information about the settlement, and next steps for authors (including Canadian authors) can be found on the U.S. Authors Guild website. The Writers’ Union of Canada has confirmed that Canadian authors are eligible to be considered part of the class in this case, as long as their books have met certain specific requirements, such as registration with the U.S. Copyright Office.

Here is the latest information from the Authors Guild:

All authors whose book(s) were downloaded by Anthropic from the pirate sites are potential members of the certified class, provided certain criteria are met. Such criteria include the legal or beneficial ownership of copyrights, the existence of an ISBN or ASIN number, and copyright registration with the Copyright Office (within three months of publication or before the infringement). Publishers are class members as well.

[TWUC note: If you are unsure if your book has been registered with the U.S. Copyright office, please contact your publisher.]

A trial is set for December 1. If the Plaintiffs succeed at trial and show willful infringement, damages will be minimally $750 per work and could be much higher.

To register with the class action, authors should visit the settlement website, and provide their contact information to the legal team.

More class action lawsuits concerning AI-training uses of published work are active in both the U.S. and Canada, and the Union will inform members as important developments occur.

Please note: The Writers’ Union of Canada is not part of the administration of any of the Anthropic lawsuit, and has no say over who is and is not part of the settlement class.

AWARDS PROGRAMS

The Next Generation Short Story Awards is a not-for-profit international awards program now in its third year, which is currently accepting submissions for the 2026 awards. Here are the key details:

• Submissions accepted: Short stories or poems in English (5,000 words or fewer)
• Categories: 30+
• Deadline: Thursday, February 26, 2026
• Prizes for winners: Cash awards, gold medals, digital promotional stickers, social media exposure, publication in the Anthology of Winners, and a complimentary copy of the anthology.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEER JURORS

Want to help identify the next great Canadian crime writer? Crime Writers of Canada seeks jurors with:

·  A passion for the world of crime and mystery writing, whether fiction or non-fiction.

·  The time and focus between December and April to read and evaluate numerous books or short stories.

·  The ability to work collaboratively with fellow jurors to identify a shortlist and winner

·  Fluency in English or French to judge works in the corresponding category.

· Ability to download and read submissions in digital format (PDFs).

Our jurors are librarians and booksellers, writers and justice professionals, readers and academics. We welcome applications from Canadian and international readers.

CWC membership is not a requirement.

Interested? Request the Juror Guidelines and Juror Information Form by email below:

Ludvica Boota, Awards Manager at awards@crimewriterscanada.com

or Jayne Barnard, Jury Chair at awardsjudging@crimewriterscanada.com

DEADLINE TO VOLUNTEER: 30 SEPTEMBER 2025

EVENTS

SACKVILLE

WRITERS’ OPEN MIC Sunday, September 28th
3:00 - 4:00 pm
Bill Johnstone Memorial Park Activity Centre
70 Main Street, Sackville, NB

The Writers’ Open Mic is a free monthly event open to all. Come out and read your poems, songs, short stories, comics, novels, essays, stand-up comedy, etc. Or just come to listen.

A projector will be set up for those with comics or other images or videos they want to share. Just bring your files along on a USB. Accessibility concerns and general questions can be directed to laurawatsonartwork@gmail.com. Follow the Writers’ Open Mic on Instagram at @writersopenmic for updates.

UPCOMING BOOK FAIRS

The Fantastic Grown Up Book Fair - Takes place at the Mahone Bay Centre (45 School St., Mahone Bay) on Saturday, October 11, 2025 from 10 am - 2 pm. Brought to you by Aren Morris and Karen Dean, this 3rd installment will be, yet again, a book affair to remember! The event includes:

- two FREE writing workshops to the public! (Authors/ writers providing those workshops will be paid for their time and announced shortly!)

- a one hour reading event of unpublished works. (Readers may join us from the wider community of attendees or from our own ranks, all at NO COST. Applications on the website.)

- a short Author Social directly after the event (2:30-3pm, same location), which will include nibbles and beverages before you hit the road. We hope it will be an excellent opportunity to network and meet other authors.

SAINT JOHN

AT THE WRITE CUP BOOKSTORE AND CAFE

September 18, 2025 – 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm: Write Now Saint John: Pitch Prep Event

Our regular writing meeting will be transformed into a Pitch Prep event to help authors prepare for the big Pitch to Publishers event. Bring your prepared pitch and present it to our panel of experts to get feedback and experience before the big day.

September 20, 2025 – 10:15 am – 12:15 pm: Askance Publishing Event.

One of the publishers who is taking part in the Pitch the Publisher event is coming in early to do a workshop and signing with the crowd. If you ever wanted to know anything about publishing, this will be an excellent opportunity to ask your questions.

September 20, 2025 – 11:00 am - 1:00 pm:  First Chapter Book Fair.

This is a free event to get the first chapter of some of the books available at The Write Cup Bookstore Café. Check out the start of some of the books you may be interested in and see how important the first chapter really is.

Various local authors are participating, so come on in and check them out.

September 20, 2025, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm: By Donation Author Photos.

This is a chance to get a professional picture that you can use for your author page or resume. It's an excellent chance to give yourself a head start online.

This is a free event; however, the photographer will accept donations, and requests can be made for a larger photoshoot.

September 20, 2025 – 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Pitch the Publisher

In conjunction with Buy an NB Book Day, Partridge Island Publishing will be hosting a 'Pitch the Publisher' event to give authors and publishers a chance to meet.

Get your manuscript directly into the eyes and ears of publishers for your best chance to get a publishing deal.

The publishers included are: Askance Publishing, Merlin Star Press, and Partridge Island.

In addition to the opportunity to get published, we will also have a photographer on site to provide authors with high-quality author photos.

During the event, we will do a draw for our Review Local contest.

This is a no-fee event, but authors must register for the event in advance by emailing amanda@partridgeislandpublishing.ca

September 24, 2025 – 8:30 pm – 10:00 pm: 18+ Author Readings.

This is an 18+ event scheduled to take place after our regular hours.

We will have four local authors reading spicy scenes.

This event welcomes locals and visitors alike, as the scenes being read are chosen for their content rather than continuity.

We have a door prize provided by Pleasures ‘N Treasures (and a toy demo) and special drinks and treats during the event.

Authors will be on hand before and after the event to answer questions and sign books.

September 27, 2025 – 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Fog Lit Festival Workshop: Pathways to publishing.

If you missed the Pitch the Publisher event or want some information about the various ways to get published, come talk to our guest authors about the different ways to publish.

This workshop will cover the differences between traditional publishing, self-publishing, hybrid publishing, and vanity publishing.

September 28, 2025 – 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm: Saint John Voices

A literary open mic event. Sign-up is at 6:00 pm, and reading starts at 6:30 pm. The event features a range of literary works, including prose, poetry, and plays. Readers have 7 minutes to read their piece. Experts are available to offer feedback upon request.

Anyone can sign up to read, locals and visitors alike.

COURSES

Whether you’re working on a new book, writing up your research for a larger audience, or you want to develop your writing skills, the King’s Writing Workshops can help you become the author you want to be. Our non-credit 4- and 8-week workshops are open to everyone, even if you’re still at the idea phase or already have words down on the page.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Marianne Sawchuk, Artistic Director of Women At Play(s) 8th festival (coming 2026) is seeking original one act plays with female characters by Canadian women playwrights for a CAEA festival policy approved production in Toronto in Feb/Mar 2026.  There is no submission fee.  Submissions are selected by a jury. All characters must be female identifying.  Plays must original, not produced or published, and no longer than 20 minutes in length. Please submit before October 6,2025. Submissions may be emailed to womenatplays2023@gmail.com

Women At Play(s) is currently looking for new original one act plays from Canadian women playwrights, emerging or established, for it's eighth festival. 

Women At Play(s) provides a creative outlet for female identifying playwrights, directors and actors.  It was created to give women a voice and meant to inspire and showcase artistic achievements in theatrical performance for women.

For more information, please check out our Instagram and Facebook pages.

WOMEN AT PLAY(S) is a festival of short one-act plays written, directed, and acted by Canadian women identifying playwrights, directors, and actors. The festival has 6 one act plays of original works, 10 to 25 minutes in length, ranging in comedic and dramatic tones. Women At Play(s) provides opportunities and is meant to inspire artistic achievements in theatrical production for people who identify as women of all diversities, of all sizes, 2SLGBTQIA+ and different abilities inclusive, from Gen-Zs to Silver Foxes for an audience of all.
It is a grass roots non-profit and it is a Canadian Actors’ Equity Association production under the Festival Policy.

https://www.facebook.com/womenatplays/

https://www.instagram.com/women_at_plays/

https://linktr.ee/womenatplays