I’ll be at Chapters Waterloo this Saturday at 1pm to talk about my books, the writing process, and prove that anyone- yes, anyone- has what it takes to start a story. This event is free and would be perfect for young readers and writers ages 8-15, and any adults who are young at heart.
I will also be signing, so even if you’re not interested in the workshop I’d be happy to sign a copy (or two) for you, your niece, your grandmother, or whoever else in your life appreciates a fun Canadian story!
The wonderful staff at New Tecumseth public library are holding a teen writing contest which I will be judging along with 3 other distinguished judges. If you are a teen in the Alliston, Beeton & Tottenham area, check out the guidelines here. Entries are due July 17th. I will be visiting with teens on July 24th to award the winner and hold a writing workshop.
This little festival-that-could has a great line-up and features unique and interactive workshops for all ages. Held in the beautiful Westfield Heritage Village and featuring events for readers of all ages, it’s a wonderful destination for the entire family. Telling Tales works with some great literacy initiatives and does a lot of outreach, and I’m thrilled to join their line-up this year.
Muskoka is one of the most beautiful places to be in the fall, and by the looks of this festival’s 2012 line-up, one of the most literary, too! I’m looking forward to chatting about Clarissa, Benji, and all things middle grade among the fiery autumn leaves!
That beautiful building seen above is Buena Vista school, which turns 100 next year. This was my first stop on my last official day of my tour of Saskatchewan. The students here had lots of questions about the ins and outs of publishing and being a professional writer. Then I zipped over to Aberdeen to speak to grade 7,8, & 9 students. I was thrilled to discover that a contest had been created in preparation for my visit. Check out the fun categories below:
Next I returned to Saskatoon to visit with the pelicans (who apparently come to fish here every spring) and have a lovely dinner with new friends. Tomorrow I will be signing at McNally Robinson Saskatoon at 11am, then it’s tourist time for me. Luckily I have Ann at Shopping Detox to guide me through Saskatoon’s shopping district. Check out her SK shopping guide for a taste!
Most played song on the radio: That’s What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction, which is kind of growing on me.
Most unexpected sight: Pelicans at the Weir! Did you know there were pelicans in Saskatoon? I certainly did not!
Question that stumped me: What world leader do you most admire? It’s pretty sad that I couldn’t think of one off the cuff. We are in serious need of some political inspiration these days.
Favourite Student Interaction:
Young (Male) Avenger: If you could be any superhero who would you be?
Me: Rogue.
YA: Figures.
Me: What’s wrong with Rogue?
YA: Nothing, it’s just that girls always pick girl superheroes.
Me: What girl superhero would YOU be?
YA: Mystique. Then I could turn back into a boy.
And so concludes my trip. Thank you so much to TD Financial Group and The Canadian Children’s Book Centre for providing me with this amazing opportunity. Special thanks to Saache Heinrich for creating my itinerary and pulling together all the details.
If you are at all interested in YA you should have heard of TheDivergentTrilogy by Veronica Roth by now. This series is taking over the blogosphere like nothing else in recent memory. Check out the #DivergentNation tweets on twitter or the Divergent series page on facebook to get a taste of the fervor. Divergent is being named the sucessor to The Hunger Games and things are certainly lining up that way. Summit Entertainment has bought the rights and a script for the first film is in the works, stores across Canada (and in the US) have been preparing for release day parties and events, and the books have been hitting bestseller lists.
So what’s the big deal? Why Divergent and not one of the other dystopian trilogies? Firstly, timing. Divergent was released nine months after the release of Mockingjay, just after The Hunger Games movie was cast and the spotlight on YA fiction was heating up. Dystopia to the general public (though not diehard YA fans) was still fresh and the market was not saturated. Secondly, a catchy concept. In Veronica Roth’s world, people choose one of five factions to train with and live in. Soon readers were aligning themselves with certain factions (I’m Amity with a healthy Erudite streak, in case anyone was wondering). People (particularly teenage girls) love identifying with a particular group (think of all those Seventeen, Teen People, or Cosmo quizzes you took and you’ll know what I’m talking about). Thirdly, a great plot with strong writing. Young as she is, Veronica Roth knows how to evoke time and place and writes with urgency. She is a born storyteller and one to watch.
The series takes place in a speculative Chicago, in which society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). When citizens turn sixteen, they publicly select which faction to devote their lives to. In the first book, Divergent, Beatrice Prior shocks everyone by giving up peacekeeping Abnegation for rowdy Dauntless. What follows is a competitive, violent and dangerous initiation. Not everyone makes it through, but Beatrice-who renames herself Tris- proves to be worthy contender. There is a boy (of course), and trouble is brewing in the seemingly perfect Chicago, trouble that has something to do with the secret Tris has been hiding.
Divergent was all about Dauntless- what it stood for, how it had been corrupted, what it was like to seek and obtain membership to a very exclusive community. Divergent is violent; in some ways the violence felt more graphic than the violence in The Hunger Games. But like The Hunger Games, Roth is careful to point out that extreme violence (violence for violence’s sake) is in fact a perversion of what it means to be Dauntless (brave, fearless, protective). In Insurgent, Tris’ world becomes much bigger. She learns about the other factions, gets insight into Four and his family issues, and deals with major insurrection and social breakdown. You know, just your regular day in a dystopian YA novel.
Like Katniss, Tris is fearless, a little moody, and an anti-hero. She is far more aware of her feelings than Katniss is and there is a genuine romance between her and Four with no third party distraction. In Insurgent we get to see the growing pains stage of their relationship; how it stands up to challenges, perceived betrayals, and of course, incredible danger. Brava to Roth for exploring the ups and downs of a single relationship instead of creating the all too familiar (but completely unrealistic) love triangle scenario.
There were a few too many pure action scenes for me, which started to blend into one another after awhile, and I would have liked more development in the downtime between action scenes. This being said, I read the entire book in about three and a half hours and I truly love and admire Roth’s ability to twist the plot and keep the momentum up for almost 500 pages. This is a worthy contender for the status of Next Big Thing and don’t expect it to go away anytime soon. Now the question is what will the title of the final installment be? First Divergent, then Insurgent…perhaps Convergent? Resurgent?Any guesses?
If you’re not already hyped up, check out this awesome ad created by a HarperCollinsCanada colleague of mine (gotta love those drums!):
A few years ago it seemed like every other picture book featured penguins, and why not? Penguins can be cute, funny, resourceful, family-oriented, quirky, survivors, or figures of environmental tragedy. Think of Tacky the Penguin, Oliver Jeffer’s Lost and Found, Karma Wilson’s Don’t Be Afraid, Little Pip and many other books featuring penguin protagonists. Thanks to movies like Happy Feet and March of the Penguins, you couldn’t help but see them everywhere.
Lately I feel like I’ve been seeing less penguins and more porcupines. I get it- porcupines, at least when rendered in children’s book illustration- are adorable. I mean look at that image of Pearl! So cute, so joyous! So perfect for picture books! There is much fun to be had with the prickly/difficult to love aspect of the porcupine, and not being able to give or receive hugs is especially tragic to the under 6 set.
From Paul Schmid we have the adorable Hugs from Pearl, the protagonist featured above, soon to be followed by Percy’s Big Idea:
A sketch from the up-coming Percy's Big Idea
New Canadian Christmas classic A Porcupine in a Pine Tree by Helaine Becker replaces the stuffy old partridge of 12 Days of Christmas Lore with an almost cuddly looking porcupine, as rendered by Werner Zimmerman:
Mr. Prickles: A Quill-Fated Love Story (Kara LeReau and Scott Magoon) is the story of two porcupines who find love despite trials and tribulations (in the form of some mean-spirited woodland creatures) along the way:
All of these recent books owe much to the 1989 classic A Porcupine Named Fluffy, interestingly enough brought to you by Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger, the same team who created the Tacky the Penguin books. Clearly this duo has a magical ability to create picture book trends:
Fluffy is rocking some rad hair in this cover
And just in case you were concerned that the cute factor of porcupines was being misrepresented, here is a video of a young porcupine with the hiccups that will put your fears to rest. Why are animals infinitely more adorable when they have the hiccups?
Trend tracking is a delicate and tricky thing. The minute you stumble upon one, the trend seems to have passed. But I can’t ignore the number of YA plague novels that seem to be on the horizon. It can be argued (successfully) that plague books fall under the larger umbrella of dystopian fiction, but I find that in most cases, a plague is mentioned as the cause of the society’s current dystopian state, but the main action of the book takes place in the aftermath, not during the outbreak itself. There are also an awful lot of zombie novels that begin as plague novels, in which the zombies function as the plague, infecting the living.
I find outbreak stories genuinely terrifying, moreso than traditional dystopian novels. Plague books have an element of “this could really happen” because it HAS already happened, a number of times in history. Nothing is more leveling than disease. I love scary books and I love trying to imagine what I would do if I was- god forbid- running around a plague-stricken city (currently knocking on all sorts of wood). Here are two of the most promising looking plague books on the market.
First up, Megan Crewe’s hotly anticipated THE WAY WE FALL (Disney/Hyperion), the first in a new trilogy. There’s been lots of pre-publication buzz for this book and I couldn’t be more thrilled for this young Canadian author. When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back. Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. Inspired by books like Stephen King’s The Stand, Doomsday Book (Connie Willis), The Plague (Albert Camus), and awesome middle grade title Life as We Knew It (Beth Pfieffer), this book promises to be like the movie Outbreak but with teenagers on the brink of adulthood. Honestly, what more do you want in a book?
Check out this GREAT trailer:
Bethany Griffin’s MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (Greenwillow), based loosely on the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name, is due out in May. This creepy gothic novel takes place in a city that feels a little like Paris and a lot like New Orleans. A plague has decimated most of the world’s population and Araby’s father, a scientist, has discovered a mask that filters the air and provides protection. The only catch is that maniacal Prince Prospero controls who gets a mask and the masses can’t afford them. Everything in the book oscillates between lavish and squalor- incredible gowns and balls and corpses rotting in the streets. I am not a love triangle girl (I maintain that Peeta and Gale exist to help Katniss fulfil her role and develop into the woman she will become, not as romantic polar opposites for her to agonize over. I will not comment on that *other* famous YA love triangle), but I admit to getting caught up in Araby’s struggle between manic genius and consummate bad boy with a cause Elliott, and works-all night-in-the-debauchery-district-wearing-sexy-eyeliner-in-order-to-support-his-orphaned-younger-siblings Will. If it’s not yet clear, I LOVED this book- full review to come later.
Both of these novels are by promising young authors who’ve taken a genre and made it their own. Plague books may be a close relative to dystopian novels, but there is something even more immediate and chilling about them. Let’s hope more authors get infected (sorry, I almost went an entire post without a bad plague pun) by this fledgling genre.
There was a whole lot of love at the Toronto launch of Love is a Four-Letter Word. It was wonderful to see so many friendly faces. In addition to the regular launch fun, I am proud to announce that a total of $230 was raised for DayofPink’s anti-bullying, homophobia and discrimination initiatives. To celebrate, here is a photo essay…
First up, the cupcakes. Look at those works of baked art! They tasted even better than they looked. Thanks to Bonnie and Tiffany Clayton for whipping up this lovely purple treat.
Take a look at all of those books! This is the before pile and I’m thrilled to say that many of these books went home with readers. Thanks to Mandy and Eleanor at Mable’s Fables for mastering the book sales. For those of you who missed out on the launch but would still like a signed copy, head on over to this fabulous children’s bookstore and pick up a copy!
The turnout was incredible- check out the view from the wings! And yes, that’s black light. It was a very rock n’ roll kind of event.
Once again, I was honoured to have so many incredibly talented performers come share in all the love. See how much fun Sef Wood is having? Also pictured is the fabulous accompanist, Shari Porter.
Instead of listening to me read a chapter, I adapted chapter two of my book into reader’s theatre and cast the most wonderful group of actors to play the roles. Here they are, doing me proud.
Here is a shot of people being very patient, waiting to get their books signed.
And here I am signing, barely containing my excitement!
It truly was a LOVEly experience. Thank you to everyone who came out, performers, friends, family, readers, new friends- I definitely felt the love. Looking forward to next week’s Vancouver Kidsbooks event; west coast, here I come!
Well, not really, but the French title of my book Words That Start With B is C comme Catastrophe. Pretty neat! The French edition will be available this fall. You can pre-order it here.
Getting Ready to Put the Poster in the Window! August 2010
I have always been lucky. Like many people, I believe that in most cases luck is the result of hard work paying off at the right time, but I can’t deny that in my life, I have had what seems like more than my fair share of good fortune. One of my luckier happenstances was walking into The Flying Dragon Bookshop almost four years ago.
One of many beautiful displays
Many people dream of working in a bookshop, and whether they realize it or not, the ideal bookshop they are imagining in their heads is The Flying Dragon. It is the perfect space: cozy, luscious, beautiful, warm, comforting. It is a true book lovers oasis, a space that one young customer described as akin to “walking into Narnia.” This is due in part to the gifts of Cathy Francis, who can look at a space and transform it with a bit of sand, a bit of greenery, and a few great-looking books. The pieces she has hand selected for the store look like they grew out of the ground, or perhaps were discovered in cast off room at Hogwarts. She has found a way to translate her own compassion and love into a physical place for people to visit.
Flying Dragon Staff in the Spiderwick Tree, Summer 2009
But a beautiful space is given true vibrancy by those who occupy it. We truly have the best staff in the world. Everyone has such passion for life, and their love of books stems from this love of life. I am grateful to Cathy and Nina who welcomed me into their store and into their lives with open arms. The Flying Dragon mission is to enrich the reading experience, but what these two women have effectively done is enrich the lives of every person who enters the store, staff included. I come in to work everyday wondering what incredible stories I am going to hear, what life lessons I will learn, and not from the books on the shelves, though we have plenty of those. I could write entire posts about the individuals who have come through The Flying Dragon; maybe someday I will.
A Few Friends of the Flying Dragon at Words That Start With B Launch, Sept 2010
And our customers. In the store, we refer to our customers as ‘friends of the Flying Dragon,’ because the word customer does not adequately describe the supportive and welcoming people who we serve every day. These customers remember my birthday, brought flowers to the launch of my first book, let me hold their babies, lent me books from their own collections to read, sent me postcards from Harry Potter World, invited me to their book clubs, and offered me a hug and asked me what I was going to do next when we announced our closing. These are friends and role models and book lovers who I have been lucky enough to spend time with. Not enough time, but when has anyone ever had enough time?
In the days to come you will hear people talk about the Flying Dragon magic. This is the kind of statement that may induce eye rolling. I know, because I am of that generation that perfected the art of the eye-roll. But my time at The Flying Dragon has taught me that magic comes in many forms. It is hard to explain the magic unless you have been in the store and experienced it firsthand, or better yet, watched a child experience the store for the first time. For it is certainly a kind of alchemy that takes place when we are able to connect to a customer and hand them the perfect book. Perhaps it wasn’t even the book they were looking for, but a good bookseller knows that sometimes the best book is the most unexpected one. Since our announcement went public, the number one comment I’ve been hearing is how the store was a magical place. How fitting that like magic, which is fleeting and intangible, the store has also had a brief but powerful moment in time.
Cross Promotion: Me and Wallace Edwards
We dragons may be leaving our roost, but who knows where we will land next. I have been lucky to begin my career at the kind of classy, top notch establishment many people strive to end their careers in. I am leaving the store enriched and fufilled and my experiences here will ensure that I never settle for anything but the best. I will leave the Flying Dragon on June 30th feeling extraordinarily lucky to have been given so much time there, among the books and the people that will forever be in my heart. Until then, please come visit us and celebrate the magic with us.
Dragon Ladies: Cathy Francis, Me, Nina McCreath at Words That Start With B Launch, Sept 2010
For more Flying Dragon love, check out these links:
If I haven’t made it blatantly obvious, one of my missions in life is to bring people joy and enlightenment through YA literature, and so it was with great pleasure that I compiled a personalized list for my favourite sassy gossip blogger, Elaine Lui, of Lainey Gossip and CTV’s etalk*. Lainey often gives her two cents about great books, and it turns out we have very similar tastes in both adult and YA fiction. Lainey and I have been trading gush-fests about our fave teen titles, and today she gave me a shout-out in her intro!
How cool is THAT?
*Celeb gossip may be a guilty pleasure of mine, but I like my fluff to have a little substance. Enter smart-mouthed, book savvy Lainey- her blog is one of the highlights of my nutella-on-toast-and-mint-tea-while-browsing-the-internet morning ritual.
