Tag Archives: author

November 4, 2014 · 7:23 pm

More Eldritch To Come…

So true! (Bill Watterson)

So true! (Bill Watterson)

Okay, I think I can finally make it official… I have signed with Dundurn for two (yes, two!) Eldritch Manor sequels. I am nearly finished writing Book 2, actually sprinting/stumbling to the finish as we speak. Which would be why I’ve been neglecting this blog and not leading a writing club at the library this fall. Must… focus…

(Obviously on the to-do list: come up with a title!)

Thanks to everyone who urged me to write more about Willa and her friends, and thanks of course to Dundurn, for agreeing to more of this creepy foolishness!

Stay tuned for more details about release dates! I’ll pass them along as soon as I know more.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to work.

 

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September 5, 2014 · 5:10 am

Writing Process Blog Tour: My Fiddly, Neurotic Way of Doing Things

The summer disappears into the sunset and here I am, back with something called a Blog Tour post… it seems to be kind of like a chain letter but without the promise of quick easy cash. Oh well.

Nobody's+DogWhen I attended the Festival of Trees events in London and Toronto in May I met many talented and enthusiastic children’s authors, including Ria Voros, who was nominated for the Silver Birch Fiction Award for Nobody’s Dog. Ria teaches in Nanaimo, BC, and her young adult novel-in-verse The Opposite of Geek came out in 2013. She also co-created Fork and Fiction, a blog about the love of food and books. Visit her at www.riavoros.com or www.forkandfiction.com.

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BC beach bums

Recently Ria came with her family for a short visit to my little Salt Springy Island and we sat on a beach and talked of serious, writerly things. (Well, not entirely.) We did chat vaguely about starting some sort of writing support group for curmudgeonly BC writers (or maybe it was just me who was curmudgeonly). Anyhoo, now she has tagged me in this blog tour about Writing Procedure. You can find her post on the topic here.

And now it’s my turn…

Question 1: What are you working on? Continue reading →

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May 23, 2014 · 9:13 pm

Forest of Reading Trip: the final chapter

The day after the Harbourfront hoopla (or was it more of a hootenanny?), I hopped on the GO train to meet more students in Ajax… Another fun day with wonderful authors and fabulous readers.

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May 21, 2014 · 9:22 pm

Forest of Reading trip: On to Toronto!

After London we all traipsed into Toronto. I visited a couple of libraries and chatted with students… a very lively group at the Danforth/Coxwell branch had a ton of great questions for me, grilling me mercilessly about how I wrote my book, and about the cartoon shows I’ve worked on.

Then it was time for the Main Event – the big big big Festival of Trees at Harbourfront.

IMG_6687A total zoo. In a good way. And here was the most astonishing thing of all… Continue reading →

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May 20, 2014 · 8:48 pm

Forest of Reading Trip, first stop London!

Wow, what a week I’ve had! From my quiet country life to the raucous, celebratory hullabaloo that is the Forest of Reading Festival! And now that I’m back home, on my sunny deck listening to the wee birdies twitter (actual birds, not the 140-character ones), I’m ready to share my adventures.

First stop was the mighty city of London, Ontario, and their first-ever Festival of Trees event.

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Kevin Sylvester (author of the Neil Flambe series) and I arrive at the Progress Building fully caffeinated and ready to go. (photo by Kevin)

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January 8, 2014 · 9:26 pm

Fiction is the lie…

 

Neil Gaiman
“We writers – and especially writers for children, but all writers – have an obligation to our readers: it’s the obligation to write true things, especially important when we are creating tales of people who do not exist in places that never were – to understand that truth is not in what happens but what it tells us about who we are. Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all.”
– Neil Gaiman

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November 1, 2013 · 9:07 pm

School Talks in Toronto, Day 1

I hit the ground running on this trip – on our first full day here I did 3 talks at our old school, Runnymede P.S.

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I spoke to three massive groups in the school’s wonderful library, first the Grade 7/8s…

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Then the 5/6s…

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And finally the 3/4s…

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Holy Mackinaw! Coming straight from small-town life to this was quite a shock. On Salt Spring when you get ten people in one place it’s considered an unruly mob…

It was a whole lot of fun to talk to them about being a writer, making up stories, and the importance of reading, though it turns out the last topic was entirely unnecessary because they already seem to be rabid readers. It’s fantastic to meet kids who are so excited about books!

And at the end of the day I was so exhausted I could have slept for a week. But, as they say, it was a good kind of tired…

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October 28, 2013 · 7:12 pm

We Leave Tomorrow!

caudron_dualAll systems are go for our big trip to Toronto!

We haven’t been back since moving away over a year ago, so it will be fantastic to see as many of our old friends as possible. But also, of course, I’ll be busy with Eldritch Manor -related events:

Wed, Oct 30 – visiting Runnymede Jr & Sr Public School

Fri, Nov 1 – visiting Warren Park Junior Public School

Sat, Nov 2 – Book Signing at Chapters Runnymede – 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

Mon, Nov 4 (morning) – visiting Allenby Junior Public School

Mon, Nov 4 (afternoon) – reading for school group at Bloor/Gladstone Public Library

With all of that, plus Hallowe’en fun, we’ll be pretty busy! Keep checking in for updates and photos of events.

Writing Club friends: I will do my best to put up a prompt or two to keep you going while I’m away!

HAPPY HALLOWE’EN!

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October 21, 2013 · 7:28 pm

Book Signing at Chapters Runnymede – Nov. 2

190411411_8be2c2959aDuring my upcoming trip to Toronto I’m doing a book signing at the magnificent Chapters store in the neighbourhood we used to live in, Bloor West Village. Come one come all! Looking forward to hanging out in the old ‘hood and seeing lots of friends!

Book Signing

Runnymede Chapters store

2225 Bloor St. W, Toronto

Saturday, Nov. 2 – 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

(here’s the facebook event link)

 

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October 15, 2013 · 6:21 pm

OLA Silver Birch nomination for Eldritch!

1226_silverbirch_logo_new1Very excited to get the news that Eldritch Manor has been nominated for a Silver Birch Award in the Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading program!

Ten books are nominated for the Silver Birch Fiction award, which is aimed at readers aged 8 to 12 (grades 3-6).  Readers from all across the country are encouraged to read at least 5 of the 10 books and vote on which should win.

I will post more news on the OLA Forest of Reading events as they come up, but for the moment, I’m just totally chuffed!

Will you read the 10 nominees? See the list here.

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