Richard Larson/ fame/ Athabasca University

This is on my www.badcb.blogspot.ca

Mar. 7: I need to focus on my goals more.  By going through and reading these articles I cut out, I can focus.

Richard Larson: On Jun. 4, 2011, I cut out this Edmonton Journal article by Codi Wilson:

Canadian teen up for book award

Grande Prairie writer surprised his sci-fi novel makes final three from 5,000 submissions

By the age of six, Richard Larson was an award-winning author.

His short story on Mexican freetailed bats used as radar-guided missiles in the Second World War garnered the Grande Prairie native a children's short story award at the public library.
"It wasn't that good but it was good for a six-year-old," he says with a laugh.

Today, Larson, 19, is a semifinalist for Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award.

The winner receives a $15,000 cash advance and a publishing contract with Penguin Group (U.S.). He is the only Canadian remaining in the competition.
His submission, a 51,000-word science fiction novel called Devolution, is a futuristic thriller about a computer virus capable of infecting the human brain.

The competition started with 5,000 entries. Larson was surprised to learn he is one of the three finalists in the young adult fiction category.
"It's really more like winning the lottery. It was a lucky break."
Larson's inspiration for the novel stemmed from a longtime love of science fiction. "That's what I read mostly when I was young. I was still imaginative enough that I didn't want to read about the real world."

Larson spent his early childhood in Niger, West Africa, where he was home-schooled. His parents often took him to the library.
To support her son's writing endeavours, his mother found Canadian author Kenneth Oppel's home phone number and called him.

Oppel, author of the Silverwing series, was receptive to giving the aspiring writer some advice. The conversation helped give Larson the confidence to pursue writing professionally.
"That was a neat moment for me. I realized authors are people and I'm a person and I could be an author."

Though he is pleased to have made it to the finals, he doesn't expect his novel to win.
"Sci-fi traditionally is not really a crowd-pleaser. It's not typical young adult fiction."
Larson hopes the experience will give him some exposure. He will be returning to the University of Alberta this fall, studying creative writing.

Larson completed his most recent book a month ago and is starting to move away from sci-fi.
"I don't want to lock myself into a genre. I'm going to start writing more general fiction."

For more information, go to amazon.com/abna.

Kindle readers can link to an excerpt from Devolution and can vote for their top choice.
The winners will be announced June 13.

My opinion: I went on the internet and it turns out Jill Baguchinsky won with her book Spookygirl.  That’s great that he got this far into the competition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Breakthrough_Novel_Award#2011_competition

http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/archives/story.html?id=1ab7e039-c561-4488-ae3d-290f9b666689

Fame: I was thinking about how famous do I want to be?  What famous writers are out there?

Jonathan Goldstein: He’s a journalist for the National Post; that’s a national newspaper.

Omar Mouallem: He is a local celebrity.  I went to Professional Writing with him in college.  He was the Edmonton Public Library writer in residence.  He wrote for the Edmonton magazine Avenue and Metro newspaper.

Michael Hingston: He is a journalist for the Edmonton Journal.

Lynn Coady: She won the Scotiabank Giller prize for her book Hellgoing.

They are famous writers, but I don’t know if they get approached in the middle of the street.

Mar. 8 Fall 2012: Does anyone remember the Fall 2012 TV shows?  I only watched the Elementary pilot and it was average.  I didn’t connect with it.  I only kept watching Arrow after the pilot.

In Fall 2013, there were a lot of promos for these pilots and they all looked so interesting.  However, I watched a lot of them and I didn’t connect with them.  I only kept watching Dracula after the pilot.

http://www.tvguide.com/special/fall-preview/newshows.aspx

Mar. 10 Taming of Chance: I got this email for a contest to submit a short story, short film, or creative work.  You can win money prizes like $500 or $2000.  I checked it out and you have to be 25 and under.

http://tamingofchance.vretta.com/

Mar. 22 TV cancellations: I read that the TV show Hostages got cancelled.  CBC cancelled Artic Air and Cracked.

Mar. 25 Canadian Literature: I was looking for some publishing companies to work for.  I found this Canadian magazine.  I looked at their submissions and they print non-fiction and book reviews.

Publishing companies: There is a list of publishers all across Canada.

http://canlit.ca/publishers

Athabasca University:

AU Press operates on the model of a knowledge-based economy, to which we contribute by providing peer-reviewed publications unfettered by the desire to commodify thought or to restrict access to ideas.

AU Press is the centre of scholarly publishing expertise for Athabasca University, Canada’s Open University. It is the first scholarly press to be established by a Canadian university in the twenty-first century. We are dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge and research through open access digital journals and monographs, as well as through new electronic media.

AU Press will offer its imprint only to scholarship of the highest quality, as determined through peer review. In keeping with Athabasca University’s mission of overcoming barriers to education, we intend to work with emerging writers and researchers to promote success in scholarly publishing.

http://www.aupress.ca