Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Posts from the “A Bit of Everything” Category

Creative Writing in Amsterdam – the basics

Posted on January 31, 2012

LiteSide Schrijft! Cursus creatief schrijven: Verhalen weven langs de Zijderoute. Borrelen er in jou ook verhalen, maar weet je niet hoe je ze op moet schrijven of welke vorm van schrijven het beste bij je past? Schrijf je al voor je werk, maar wil je je mogelijkheden uitbreiden? Dan is de cursus Verhalen weven langs de Zijderoute van LiteSide Schrijft! beslist iets voor jou! Are you, too, brimming with stories, but do you have no clue how to write them down or which genre fits you best? Is writing a part of your professional life, but would you also like to explore the creative side of writing? Now, you can sign up for the course Weaving Stories Along The Silk Road of LiteSide Schrijft! Inhoud cursus  In alle culturen…

Categories: A Bit of Everything

I’m Flying

Posted on January 25, 2012

A short post this time. Just to let you all know that in a couple of hours I will be on my way to New York, to the Winter Conference of the SCBWI. Main objectives? Meeting with my friends from all over the world, expanding my network, and learn a thing or two about the craft of writing. I’ll be at the Marketing Intensive on Friday, where I hope to find out more on how we writers can market our books and find our readers. One of the speakers is Susan Raab of Raab Associates, a stellar marketing firm working the field of children’s books. We are trying to get her to come to the Netherlands and enlighten us here, too. Saturday will be…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, Children's books, Thrillers, YA books

You’re Not Icarus

Posted on January 3, 2012

Or how to fly through 2012. A long time ago the works of the inimitable Panamarenko — artist, engineer, poet, physicist, inventor and visionary — grabbed me. Panamarenko has dedicated his life to the force of gravity, or rather to beating that force, to flight and speed, to movement and energy, to spaceships, aircrafts and submarines. From the moment I came across his work I was awed by how his amazing mind works, mesmerized by his pencil drawings, lightly colored and with scribbled calculations all over them, and intrigued by his installations. One of his projects drew my special attention, the one where he crosses my love for myth with my love for science: the Icarus Project. We all know about Icarus and about how he…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, YA books

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Just One More Day To Go!

Posted on November 30, 2011

One more day to go before the second Amsterdam Literary Death Match. I’ve told you how it works: 4 writers, 3 judges, 2 rounds and 1 epic finale. I know who I will vote for: Fantasy-fictionista Mina Witteman, author of The Soul Snatcher, The Weed Man and Dark Fiber. Hey? That’s me! Right, it is me! Unveiling just a shred of my strategy to win (and those who know me know that I’m merciless if it comes to winning)… I will be reading from my new and burning YA thriller THE WEED MAN. Prepare for a scare, people! The smell of weed and the stink of burning flesh will linger for a long, long while in the great Old West. The Booktunes Blog will play my anthem while…

Categories: A Bit of Everything

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Literary Death Match

Posted on November 15, 2011

Two more weeks to go before the second Amsterdam Literary Death Match. You know the drill: 4 writers, 3 judges, 2 rounds and 1 epic finale. I know who I will vote for: Fantasy-fictionista Mina Witteman, author of The Soul Snatcher, The Weed Man and Dark Fiber. Hey? That’s me! Right, it is me! Unveiling just a shred of my strategy to win (and those who know me know that I’m merciless if it comes to winning)… I will be reading from my new and burning YA thriller THE WEED MAN. Prepare for a scare, people! The smell of weed and the stink of burning flesh will linger for a long, long while in the great Old West. Buy your tickets now and let…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, Thrillers, YA books

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Setting Free the Genius

Posted on October 17, 2011

How is it that a book written in 1934 is still valid? This fall I enrolled in the three semester course Teaching Creative Writing at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. One of my first assignments was reading Becoming A Writer, written in 1934 by Dorothea Brande. It turned out to be a book that, to this very date, is thought-provoking and useful to all who aspire to be a writer. Brande had no knowledge of the right brain and the left brain, not the way we do now, but she shares her views as if she did, explaining about the two parts of a writer: the conscious part and the unconscious part. Her main objective in this book is to teach you how…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, YA books

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Just A Few More Seats Available

Posted on October 3, 2011

We are happy to announce that the preparations for the first conference of the SCBWI The Netherlands chapter are in full blast. The registrations are in, the speakers are lined up, the venue is ready! But… We have a couple more seats available, so we have decided to extend the registration period until October 8. First come, first serve! We also have two more spots available for manuscript reviews and some more for the portfolio reviews. So polish up your WIPs and dust off your illustrations, and send them in. Agent Erzsi Deàk and Writing Coach Sarah Blake Johnson are ready to provide you with the most valuable advice on your projects. Submission deadline: 8 October latest! If you sign up for a portfolio review…

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, Children's books, YA books

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