I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a workshop on How To Get Published which was given by Brian Henry as part of Moncton’s Frye Festival. A seemingly genuinely helpful and kind man, Henry filled a crowded room full of motivation, perseverance and a goal – increase the number of “pretty” good manuscripts in the mail.
Being one who has heard a lot of negative aspects of having an agent Henry counterbalanced this with the positive ones. Even so, I’m still undecided about whether or not I want to hire an agent but I’m not considering it as a more viable option than ever before.
Coming away from this workshop I am determined to make it as a writer. Being one of the younger attendees and one of the few who proudly could say their manuscript is completed, I know I’m well on my way. This workshop, Brian Henry and the people around me worked beautifully together to give me the goals I need, and thought I previously had, and the direction to take to meet them.
If you’re able to attend any of his workshops – do it! It’s worth every minute of it.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland – soon to be best selling author – what ever that means 
PS: Off to send some emails 
I just discovered that someone is giving away a 6 month premium home membership to Big Universe and wanted to share the opportunity to win with you. If you haven’t heard of Big Universe you may be missing out.
I’ll let Soleflor Mom explain it and the way to win. Just visit her site at SoleflorMom.com and read her article. Don’t miss out this is a value of $6.95 per month!!!
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
When my son held on to my book, Sending You Sammy, for the first time at 2 and a half months I was astonished! I immediately shared the picture with family and friends and knew when I discovered a photo contest where a newborn can be on the cover of a Canadian magazine I had the winning picture.
This shot of William is a cherished one and has taken the lead in the Baby Stages contest which I am so very grateful for. Because of you, my friend, my fan, my family my son is going to be a star in Canadians eyes, not just his parents eyes.
Although we are currently in the lead you can show your support by taking a minute of your time to cast your vote. Please do to show how much you care about literacy.Baby William for Baby Stages
Literacy is important in our daily lives all year round but January 27th was named Family Literacy Day to highlight all the possible ways you can encourage reading or mathematics in your life and for those around you.
For more information on today please visit its creators at:
ABC Canada
Whether you’re baking cookies, reading a favourite book, singing a song or writing one, take some time today to ensure your child, parent or friend knows how vital reading is. Recognize someone for taking part in something they normally wouldn’t and, maybe most importantly…
Thanks for reading!
Sarah Butland
Off to read Winnie the Pooh to my little one. What are you doing today?
This weekend brought back some sweet and not so sweet memories, friends and wonderful times but that wasn’t the best moment, although they were fantastic. The particular moment I’ll always remember, cherish and talk about is the comment on my parenting.
I was thinking how great it would feel to be told I was being a good mother to my two month old son. I believe I am, I know I’m doing my best and that my husband and I have made very many important decisions such as no television or soother; important to myself although they made not be consider right by every parent out there. I decided long before I had a child that I would not have my child become dependent on a soother or television. Thus far William hasn’t even seen a soother and has watched less than a minute of television (we had him watch Halifax ring in the New Year and the ball drop in New York).
I’m proud because I stayed true to my feelings and haven’t caved on my beliefs and am even more proud of my husband for following my leads and doing the same. Whether or not these decisions are correct or not we feel that we have been doing what’s best for our child.
Only a few moments after the thought of how great being recognized for what I’ve been doing was I told by someone I greatly respect that Paul and I have surprised him by being perfect parents. What I find even more compelling is who said it and that it was said completely randomly.
I trust the Law of Attraction, I know that it exists and this moment was still surprising but amazing at the same time. My weekend was complete with best friends, terrific memories, and lasting impressions that will forever be cherished.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
I am sick and tired of being reminded twice a week as to how our current government is allocating our tax money. About twice a week, every month or more, we receive unaddressed mail asking us to “vote” on which party in our country is doing a better job at __________ – every time it’s different. Normally the Conservative Party’s box is in much larger text than the others – is this because too great of the Canadian population cannot read?
Although these are printed in black and white the full sized papers too often only end up polluting our dumps and make our mailman come up our driveway only to deliver this garbage. We will vote when there’s a re-election which I wish was sooner than later. It’s ridiculous and discouraging to see what our tax money is paying for when so many dollars were taken away from crucial aspects of what makes Canada Canadian.
I’m an author struggling to spread the word of literacy and the solution to childhood obesity, meanwhile the Conservatives are conducting their own surveys asking the disturbing illiterate population which government is voicing the right platform.
Please let the government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Garry Breitkreuz, MP listen to their voters and make a difference instead of continually asking us if we think the other governments would. News to the Conservatives – you are currently in office, do something!
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
A friend just reintroduced me to the good works of Raffi, a Canadian writer, singer and entertainer who believes in Children Honouring and so has started his own organization to promote this. He also stands by not promoting his work to children as they do not need to be inundated with marketing ploys.
Raffi is someone I’ll now be looking further into not only for his positivity but also for his devotion to children – our future.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
With so many books on the shelves for children how do you know which one is the right one for your own child? I have a newborn and have been given many books already (people know I’m a fan of reading) and have found some “classics” to be books I don’t want to read a second time to my own family. Without first reading the book how do you know which ones you’ll want to read again and again and choose the ones your children will want read to them continuously?
Help Me!
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
Giving birth to my first child was a daunting experience even though I made every effort to remain positive throughout the entire pregnancy. I put forth the best of intentions to have everything go smoothly – concentrating on the date of birth and how long the delivery would take. I was surprised by the outcome for both – one more pleasantly than the other but I made it and now have a wonderful little boy on my hands.
When talking to him, as I am constantly doing, I put forth a great amount of effort to be extremely positive and feel that, for the most part, I’m doing a great job of this. There are times, of course, I say something negative and only realize it when it’s out into the universe. It makes things more difficult when people around us are constantly telling him negative things.
So far I’ve said “life is tough, isn’t it”, “what’s the trouble?”, “you’re so angry”, “why so sad?”, and these are just what I recognized and can remember (being sleep deprived makes you forget things). I’ve heard others say things like ‘life is terrible at this young age’, ‘doesn’t life suck?’ etc. It baffles me every day how negative of a world we live in especially when people (including myself) know how great things are when you remain positive.
If you have any advice at all for how to give little William the best chance of picking up only positive vibes please let me know. Every effort is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
Support a great cause and get your exercise while participating in the largest running event in Moncton, New Brunswick! On October 25th, 2009 kids, teenagers and adults will be meeting at Bernice MacNaughton High School, 999 St George Blvd., Moncton to begin showing their support for literacy efforts in the city – registration and warm-up start at 11:30 AM.
Make it a family event – kids can Go for 42 and take a step towards literacy. Don’t feel comfortable running? No problem, go for a walk to show your support.
For more details or to register now please visit Legs for Literacy today!
Although I can’t make it out this year I do plan to see you all there next year!
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
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