Shakirah BourneJul 31, 20196 minHow I Got My Literary Agent – Part ThreeFinally! Continuing from Part Two. The rules of #pitmad were simple. If a literary agent or editor liked your pitch, it meant they wanted...
Shakirah BourneJul 9, 20197 minHow I Got My Literary Agent – Part TwoRight…continuing from Part One. I got my first rejection a few days after I sent that first query…and I was thrilled!!! Someone actually...
Shakirah BourneJun 8, 20195 minHow I Got My Literary Agent – Part OneBefore I got an agent I used to consume posts like these, so I think it’s only fair that I document my own experience for other persons,...
Shakirah BourneFeb 14, 20162 minWorking with Artists 101When I was in secondary school, I decided to participate in its beauty pageant. As you may know, the formal wear is a key segment, and so...
Shakirah BourneMar 19, 20144 minYou Win Some…You Lose SomeLast year, March 2nd 2013, I wrote a satirical post on how to handle a rejection email. It was meant to be all fun and games, but...
Shakirah BourneNov 23, 20136 minWhy I decided to Self-Publish my first book…Earlier this month I announced that I was going to publish a collection of short stories called “In Time of Need” and I received a lot of...
Shakirah BourneSep 18, 20133 minMeet My Best Friend, FearOn Sunday, September 15th, I was 4 pages away from completing my second feature-length screenplay; a psychological thriller called Two...
Shakirah BourneJun 29, 20136 minOn Dialect – How Caribbean people supposed tuh talk in a story, eh?In a previous post about how I met Olive Senior, I mentioned that I wanted to do a separate blog post on the Bocas Lit Fest session with...
Shakirah BourneJun 22, 20133 minToo Many Ideas Syndrome (TMIS)Last night I dreamed about a movie. It was one of my favourites because it is so brilliant – a fantasy movie with poignant main...
Shakirah BourneMay 1, 20135 minHow I Met Olive SeniorSo if you’ve been following my scribbles and read the post about the Evolution of my Writing voice, you would know that Olive Senior is...
Shakirah BourneApr 23, 20132 minSometimes I feel like giving up…I am angry. I do not want the “I’m sorries” and “My condolences”. I would like things to be fair. Good people – live. Bad people – die....
Shakirah BourneApr 23, 20134 minWatching Characters Come to Life – Payday the MovieDon’t laugh at me. But I was catching up on some old episodes of Glee, and Rachel Berry was singing “Don’t Stop Believing” in her dream...
Shakirah BourneMar 22, 20134 minWriting Creative Non-FictionI attended a workshop on Writing Creative Non-Fiction on Wednesday, March 20th, conducted by Andrea Stuart, and organised by the NCF...
Shakirah BourneMar 17, 20135 minThe Evolution of My Writing VoiceI’ve wanted to write this post since my partner in words, Hadlee Sobers, asked getWriters what writers most influenced their writing...
Shakirah BourneMar 3, 20132 min10 Steps to Handling a Rejection Email“You’ve got mail!” “Many thanks for sending your work to us at …… Your submission was interesting; however, after a preliminary internal...
Shakirah BourneFeb 28, 20133 minStructuring Your ScreenplayIt’s easy to lose your way when writing, especially in Act II. Here’s the diagram that I use to help me control the plot and structure of...
Shakirah BourneFeb 26, 20132 minDo you have a Dream Journal? Crazy Caribbean FantasyExcerpt from an unfinished novel: "Michael’s dreams taunted him. There was a world in his sleep that disappeared when he awoke. Even...
Shakirah BourneFeb 25, 20132 minI Confess: I love Mondays*Fends off the evil stares* Writing does not have a conventional 9-5 schedule, and that’s why we love it. I can sleep in late or wake up...